City Council - Regular Meeting

Thank you.

music music

Thank you.

Please roll call. Madam Clerk. Council Member Carr.

Here.

Council Member Pandura. Here. Council Member Sandu.

Here.

Council Member Tonneson.

Here.

Council Member Williams. Here. Vice Mayor Bertani.

Here. And Mayor Moy. I'm here. Thank you. And tonight, our invocation will be presented by Pastor O'Neill Young Jr. of Greater Purpose Church. Come on down. Yes, please. Thank you.

Good evening, and also thank you for having prayer in your agenda. Let us pray. Our Father, we acknowledge you as our creator and the one true and living God. We come before you with gratitude and humility, thanking you for the city of Fairfield, for its people, its families, its businesses, and for every individual who calls this community home. We thank you for the diversity and resilience and the potential within this city and for the responsibility entrusted to those who lead it. We thank you for entrusted leadership in this city Your word, as in James 1.5, reminds us, if anyone lacks wisdom, they should ask, and you will generously provide. So this evening, we ask not casually but intentionally for wisdom and clarity, morality, courage, and sound judgment for every council member, city leader, and decision makers in this room. Father, guide their thoughts, their hearts, conversations, and decisions. Let their leadership reflect what is right, what is moral, what is fair, and just according to your truth. And we pray tonight the words of Micah 6 and 8. Help us act justly. Love mercy and walk humbly. Let integrity prevail over pressure, and let long-term good rise above short-term convenience. We ask for your spirit, O God, of unity across perspectives and backgrounds and differences. In a time when division has plagued our community, country, and the world, we can still easily arise and so establish in this meeting a spirit of cooperation, a spirit of clarity and mutual respect that enables this city to move forward together with purpose and in love. Father, we lift up the people of this city, families and singles, Children, youth, and elders, we ask for peace in our communities, stability in our housing, wisdom, oh God, in our school, and direction and protection for our children, youth, and young adults. We lift those persons and families facing economic crisis and pressure, uncertainty, displacement, or lack of opportunity that through this meeting and your power, pathways would be open doors of opportunity would unlock and support will be bolstered as you have promised to supply all of our needs according to your riches in glory we also pray for the areas that carry weight in this city public safety housing stability economic development and community trust give leaders in this room and beyond The strength to make decisions that protect, provide and position this city for long term growth. As your word teaches us in Jeremiah 29 and 7, seek the peace and prosperity of the city. And we do so now. So we do not pray, God, in just a haphazard fashion, but for the city of Fairfield to be a place of safety, order, opportunity, and accountability, a place where people and families can grow, where young people can build a future, and where faith and leadership produce transformative outcomes. Now, God, surround this council with love, Wisdom, honest counsel, and the ability to discern what is right and best for the people of Fairfield. Cover this city with your protective presence. Strengthen its foundation with your love. Guide its leaders with divine conviction and clarity. Establish peace in its neighborhood and purpose among its people. It is in the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord, we pray. And we all said, Amen.

Thank you, Pastor. Now I will ask that, let's see who's here. Councilwoman Pandura, would you lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance, please? Thank you. And now we will turn to council reports and I'll start with Councilwoman Williams, please.

thank you um 24 years ago uh the most amazing experience that changed the trajectory of my life um i would like to wish my son miles a happy birthday he's my single de mayo baby and the reason why i am dedicating my city council report to him today is because a i want to embarrass him And then B, in just reflecting on that moment, it did change my life. And his birth was the catalyst of me being here today. As an infant, I remember writing him this letter that said to live fearlessly and never hold back. And then I realized that I was not living fearlessly, and that I was holding back. And so I reset my life, thought about all the things that I wanted to do in my life, including going to law school, being a business owner, a community advocate, and even being on this dais. I had this vision of... something surrounding City Council around that time and was thinking that guy is doesn't look like the community what do I need to do to be there so all of that was the catalyst of where I am here today so with that happy birthday miles thank you oh thanks I'll be I'll be brief we

Most of us attended the League of California cities this week. It was in Sacramento It's always a learning experience. You always get new ideas from surrounding council members and it's It's pretty humbling too because you are I mean everywhere you look there's a mayor or a council member Walking around so it was it's a really good time and it's a really good learning experience.

That's all for me Thank You councilman car

Yeah, I'll be brief too. Thank you, Mayor. Real quick, the Hope event is tomorrow at Liberty Church parking lot. It's the church in the Walmart parking lot. If you know anybody that needs clothes, socks, shoes, showers, they're going to be all set up for that. We got some food set up too. I'll be there with my work. come on by or make donations. Also, a lot of us here went to the air show out at Travis. It was as good as ever. A lot of people. It was a little cold, though. It was a little chilly and windy. And then also, I just want to wish my wife her birthday's on the 7th. I love you, girl. She's probably watching on TV. And happy birthday. That's all I got. Thank you, Mayor.

Councilwoman Pandura.

Thank you, Mayor. Good evening, everyone. So just continuing off of the air show. So I was also there. I was there for work. I should have had a t-shirt that said I survived the air show because it was extremely windy on Sunday, on Saturday, I should say. But it was still a great time. This year, we did have the Thunderbirds that came out and performed, which is really amazing to see them. But specifically around that, I wanted to congratulate Fire Captain Francisco Trujillo for being recognized by the Air Force Thunderbirds as their hometown hero. And for being recognized, he actually got to fly in one of the planes. So he got to fly in Thunderbird number eight. So on Friday, if you heard them over your head, he was probably in one of those planes. So it was really awesome that he got to be honored. And individuals who are part of the, who get recognized, it says who are individuals who go above and beyond in service to their communities, those who exemplify dedication, sacrifice, and leadership. So congratulations and well deserved to Captain Trujillo. Then also last month myself and councilmember Doug are part of caps on Oh the caps on Oh JPA committee so this is the regional board on homelessness and so we had kind of two big items that passed and so one of them was that we are moving forward with the search for a new executive director so right now we have an interim executive director which is Michael Wilson and he is term ends on on in July so we have a few months left before we can get so we can have a new executive director on board with regards to other staff so this is a this is a group that started about five years ago and so since then we've been working really hard as a region to get our staffing together and so aside from a new executive director we already have a homeless services director we just hired a project manager a staff analyst and accounting clerk so we are well underway to be fully staffed SO THAT'S VERY EXCITING. THE OTHER ITEM THAT WE DISCUSSED AND MADE A DECISION ON WAS WE HAD GONE THROUGH AN RFP FOR A COORDINATED ENTRY SYSTEM. SO A COORDINATED ENTRY SYSTEM IS THE PROGRAM THAT THE COUNTY USES, AND IT IS A FEDERALLY REQUIRED COMMUNITY-WIDE SYSTEM TO CENTERDIZE AND EXPEDITE THE PROCESS BY WHICH PEOPLE EXPERIENCING HOMELESSNESS CAN ACCESS HOUSING AND RESOURCES. SO THE COORDINATED ENTRY SYSTEM think for the last three years for community Solano County resource connect resource connect and so the new service provider is not going to be a boat and so that was those two decisions that were made and then I did attend the quarterly city of Fairfield Fairfield Sassoon Unified School District Joint Committee meeting and so just the main thing out of there is I know this is a few months away but so we can put it on your calendars and I schools not even out yet but I They already have a date for the back-to-school resource fair, so that's going to be on Saturday, August the 8th, from 9.30 to 12.30 at St. Mark's, and this is for preschool to 12th graders that attend FSUSD, and they are looking for volunteers, for folks to donate, and anyone to host a table, so they have all that information on their website, and they're also looking for sponsors, so any businesses out there that would be interested in sponsoring the resource fair, they also have sponsorship opportunities this year. And lastly, because some folks have said it, today is Cinco de Mayo, so happy Cinco de Mayo. And I just want to share that this day commemorates the Mexican Army's unexpected victory over French forces at the Battle of Puebla on May 5th, 1982. led by General Ignacio Zaragoza. While a significant symbol of resistance and patriotism, it's not Mexican Independence Day, but it is celebrated primarily in Pueblo, Mexico and widely across the U.S. as a celebration of Mexican American culture and heritage. Thank you, Mayor.

Thank you. Madam Vice Mayor.

Thank you, Madam Mayor. Thank you, everyone, for coming out this evening. It's always a better meeting when you're here in the chamber with us and watching from home. So I just have a few announcements. The Clergy Action Network will be hosting the National Day of Prayer. That's Fairfield-Cann Clergy Action Network. That is this coming Thursday. May the 7th from 12 to 1. So that will be the National Day of Prayer event. If the weather allows us, we will be having that event instead of inside the chamber, outside in the courtyard. and we're looking forward to this event it just gets better and better every single year and i can say pastor o'neill young i hope you're coming on thursday because that was really a fantastic and powerful prayer so thank you and then will be hosting the public table event it's just a series of town hall meetings that I'm hosting all around the city this week it will be on May the 9th this coming Saturday at Mancos neighborhood center which is a at 2800 Owen Street, all are welcome and all are appreciated, and it truly is the public table. It's an opportunity to talk about issues that may not wind up on a city council agenda, but are very important in our neighborhood. So I hope to see everyone is invited on this dais and everyone within the sound of my voice is definitely invited to attend. And you know, we have these meetings because they're solution oriented. solution oriented. So we're not just there to hang out and huff and puff or whatever. We're actually solving problems in the neighborhoods that are brought forward. So you're all invited to that this coming Saturday and that's from 10 a.m. to noon. 10 a.m. to noon. So everyone is welcome. And then I am really proud to say that the Clergy Action Network will be hosting our Juneteenth Festival this coming Juneteenth on the actual day. So that's on Friday, June 19th. It will begin at 4 o'clock. We're going to go from 4 to 7. It'll be at the county lawn. And we are looking forward to good weather. We'll have lots of food trucks, live entertainment, and just a good family fun event to celebrate and acknowledge this very important day in my history and your history as well, in the history of this country. And then lastly, The Clergy Action Network, along with the City of Fairfield, including our police officers, are hosting or will be attending the Band of Believers of Solano County. It's the Unity in the Community event, and that's on Saturday, July 26th. from 5 to 7 p.m., once again, right here on the campus. And it's just another opportunity to network, to celebrate the power of prayer and unity, and it is just what the event is called, unity in the community. And with that, that is my report. Madam Mayor, thank you. Thank you.

And Councilman Sandu.

Thank you, Madam Mayor. As mentioned a bit earlier, myself and a few others from the council had the privilege of attending the Cal Cities Conference in Sacramento. One point to highlight, we had the chance to go and speak with Assemblymember Wilson in her office. And one of the discussion points was really to thank her and the rest of the legislature in finally passing a state income tax credit for California for veterans, so they can claim up to $20,000. This has been something. that we as a city and as a state have been advocating for for a long time to be more competitive with the rest of the country. And 20,000 isn't all of it, but it's a start. And this item specifically in the legislature took years to get done. So it's a small win, and it was really nice to see that finally get done, especially for our community, which has so many veterans. And the second point was I had a blast at the air show, and I'm sure a lot of other folks did too. So hopefully we'll have another one in about two years. Thank you.

Thank you. And I'm going to skip tonight. Yeah, I'll do that. So now, Mr. City Manager.

Yeah, just one thing. This is Public Service Recognition Week, so I just want to take a moment and recognize certainly all of our city employees, council members. You are public servants as well, and Public Service Recognition Week began in 1985 to recognize employees at the federal, state, and local level. You know, our hardworking folks here at the City of Fairfield keep the water running, keep the streets paved, keep our city safe. They respond to emergencies when we need them. They watch our checkbook and our finances. They ensure that our employees are taken care of. They provide recreation and park services for the community. The whole gamut of services that we do is because of the wonderful people we have here at the city. But I'd also like to give a shout out to some of our other partner agencies, Fairfield Sassoon Unified School District, Travis Unified School District, Fairfield Sassoon Sewer District, which the council is also the board of, as well as county supervisors. county supervisors and some of our other partner agencies. All of those folks dedicate their careers to ensuring high quality of life here in Fairfield and Solano County. So I just want to recognize them all. And I know we have a little presentation here in a moment that Farbode will give. That's my report.

Thank you. And Mr. City Attorney.

Thank you, Madam Mayor. At your direction and at the direction of the council, I want to report out from closed session and give a little bit of background because this is a different one. So as the council and the public are aware, at the general session meeting of April 21st, 2026, the city council took up a discussion and direction regarding the future state of landscape and lighting maintenance districts and assessment refunds. That discussion was held with a waiver of the attorney-client privilege in open session on April 21, 2026. At that time, the council voted 6-1, with Councilmember Sandu voting no, to set the assessment rates for the upcoming 2026-2027 year for eight LLMDs. to the 1996 levels the council then moved on to discussion of how much if any refunds to refund for those eight districts and those eight districts are llmds one three six seven eight eleven twelve and thirteen council deadlocked at that meeting three two to two over whether to pay a refund of four years The difference of four years from the 1996 levels, a difference of one year from the 1996 levels, or to issue a full refund. At approximately 11.30 PM, the council voted seven to zero unanimously to continue that matter at the next general session, which is tonight, May 5th, 2026, but also instructed the city attorney to set the matter for closed session, which normally would not be allowed for an open session, but because the attorney client privilege had been waived, They chose to re-invoke their right to confidential attorney-client privileged conversations and set a closed session for today at 5 p.m. So if you're still following with me, at 5 p.m. the city council met in closed session for this matter and had a discussion to just continue and see if they could break the deadlock on how much to issue for the refund. On a vote of five to two with a motion by Council Member Tonneson seconded by Council Member Carr on a motion to provide a refund difference of four years from the current levels minus 1996 assessment levels. That motion passed five votes to two with Vice Mayor Bertani and Mayor Moy the two no votes. So to recap, on a continuation from the waiver of closed session item from April 21st, the council has indicated that they will assess assessments for the 2026-2027 LLMDs, the eight that I mentioned, to 1996 levels. and for refunds for those eight llmds will set a refund to homeowners in those llmds for the difference of four years of the current assessed rate minus the 1996 rate and just one last time the llmds are one three six seven eight eleven twelve and thirteen and that's my report

So to clarify item m3 which is the continuation that he talked about was completed in closed session. You just heard what happened. We had closed public comment. And so a majority of the city council wanted to do this in closed session. And that is what they did. And the result was what the city attorney just reported. So item M3, if you're here for it, it is no longer on. We're not going to hear anything. It was all done in closed session.

And Madam Mayor, I apologize. The city manager made a good point. I want to clarify that the refund difference that the council authorized is going to be automatic. There's not going to be a need for any residents in those eight LLMDs to submit any request for a refund. They will get the difference for four years of the current rates for those years minus the 1996 rate. Thank you. And so, yes?

Do you need to mention the fact that the full refunds can be applied for? OK, so I will report that if people have already applied, they will get the full refund for the four years, and that you can apply to get the full refund. But you'll automatically get the refund the majority of the council voted for. OK? And the form is going to be simplified as well. It was very complicated, unnecessarily so. So the entire council asked that that happen. Okay? All right. So now, Madam Clerk, do you have any report?

Yes. So we have some positions open. So our planning commission is open right now if people are interested in applying. We have three seats. The deadline is June 5, 2026. um if you want to apply please go to fairfield.ca.gov apply or if you have any questions you're welcome to come up and ask me or email cityclerk fairfield.ca.gov as always we still have a position open on the landscape oversight committee district 2. we also still have a couple of positions open for youth commission and i just want to highlight some things for the month of may speaking of public service It is also the 57th Annual Professional Municipal Clerks Week this week, so clerks are important. This week honors the vital role that clerks play in local government by managing public records, overseeing elections, and ensuring transparency and community engagement. I also want to highlight in May really quick, it is also Mental Health Awareness Month. It's a time for us to come together, support one another, promote overall well-being. Mental health affects every part of our lives, and taking time to check in with ourselves and with each other matters. Please encourage everyone to practice self-care, seek support when needed, and help foster compassion and understanding. Together we can make mental wellness a priority. And that's my report, Mayor.

Thank you. And Madam Clerk and Karen Reese, our other Madam Clerk who isn't here tonight, we appreciate you. Just wanted to let you know and everybody that works over on the fourth floor to make the public's and our work so much easier. Thank you.

And now we will turn to presentations. Presentations. Employer Recognition Ceremony presented by Assistant City Manager slash Human Resources Director Farbode Roseman.

Good evening, Madam Mayor, Madam Vice Mayor, members of the City Council. Just a quick report for you. As the city clerk just mentioned, this is the Public Service Appreciation Week, and we usually have our ceremony this week for that specific reason. We generally give out three main categories of awards, number of years that folks have been with us, departmental awards, and also the City Commendation Award. For the City Commendation Award, we do have videos that we put together because it showcases the good work that some of our folks have done for the last year. So we're going to play that for you in one second. But in aggregate, we truly appreciate everything that all the staff does, and we know that you do as well. So thank you for your support.

What stands out about Leonard for me is just his willingness to be helpful and be a team player. Leonard loves working for the city of Fairfield. We love having him on the team and he's just a good solid guy that's good to be around and cares a lot about the city and the citizens of Fairfield. I nominated Leonard because for the last three years, he's been the sole maintenance provider for Rockville Park and the open spaces, which combines about 1300 acres. And he takes care of the maintenance of the parks as far as gate maintenance, the parking lots, litter removal, boardwalk repairs, gate and fence repairs. When he does that by himself and he doesn't complain and he's never said no to anything that I've asked him to do. So he's just a rock solid guy that I like having on our team. and I felt like he deserved to be recognized for his contributions to the city of Fairfield. Leonard makes the city a better place by being the person he is. He cares about the city of Fairfield, he cares about the citizens, and he cares about the job he does. We're proud to work with Leonard and have him on our team.

I like working for the city of Fairfield. I work at Rockville Park, and I think that's kind of one of the hidden gems of the city of Fairfield a lot of people don't know about. I really enjoy working there every day because I think the pride in my job shows at Rockville. You know, we try to keep the place nice and clean for the visitors and safe for the visitors, for them to enjoy with their families.

Hey.

. .

What stands out about Alex? He's an extremely humble person. I would consider him a consummate professional, someone that's an up-and-comer in the agency. I've just always been appreciative of how willing he is to help other people. I nominated Alex because he shouldered a ton of responsibility this past year, at times doing multiple jobs in my opinion. I thought it was a major feat of his to take on as the SWAT team leader, first one not assigned as a sergeant. And to be a leader of cops is difficult at times, but to do it as they are your peers and to do it well is extremely impressive. Alex makes the city a better place. He's just a very kind person. He's a professional. He's always trying to get better at his craft, very objective, and he's always willing to help other people.

The reason I want to work for the city of Fairfield is I was born and raised here. So I grew up here in Fairfield, my family still lives in Fairfield, so being able to interact and help the community that I was born and raised in means a lot to me. What keeps me coming back to work every day I would say is again the opportunity to help those that I kind of grew up around and to help our officers become more competent and more confident in their abilities, therefore making them safer and therefore making our community safer.

Hello. What stands out about Tish is just her welcoming demeanor, her positive attitude, how much pride she takes in her role with the city. She makes the city a better place just because of the pride she has with the campus. She talks about how lucky we are to work in such a beautiful location and she just goes the extra step to maintain it, keep it clean, do her part. My nomination reflected the impact she has on the employees, on the campus, and even the Ducks. And I appreciate that her peers and other employees value those same things and that she's receiving this award.

I love working for the city because of the people. The bosses, my colleagues, the customers. I love the people.

So in reverse order, Tish Venn, then Hoke is from finance. You just saw her. Alex Aldridge, police officer Alex Aldridge from the police department, and Leonard Giano from the public works department. If you have any questions, I'm happy to answer them.

Any? Great choices. Love every single one of them. And Tish gives great hugs.

Thank you.

Yes. Thank you. All right. I guess we're done there.

OK. Now we will go to public comments. Madam Clerk. Public comments. Persons wishing to address the city council on subjects not on the agenda but within the jurisdiction of the council may do so at this time. The council cannot discuss or take action on matters not on the agenda for this meeting, but council members may briefly respond to statements made or questions raised by the public. ask for clarification from staff, refer the matter to staff, request staff to report back to council at a subsequent meeting, or place the matter on a future agenda. To speak on an item, please use the raise your hand feature or press star nine on your phone. Speakers are limited up to three minutes per item as determined by the mayor. Our first speaker is Rick Johnson.

It's your lucky night, Rick. You get three minutes. Yeah.

The indebtedness for Vista Ridge. Did a deep dive into all the paperwork. The total loan principle, the city of Fairfield has entered into a secured financial agreement for a total of $22 million. There's some additional fees. Provided from the state Homekey Plus program according to the secured promissory note document. This amount is not forgiven partially every year, but is a fixed lien that remains 100% active against the property for the duration of the term of 55 years. Interest. Per Section 2.3 of the Development Loan Agreement, a debt carries a 3% annual simple interest rate. Accrual, not a payment. This interest is not paid out of the annual budget. Instead, it accrues to be added to the total balance owed. no interest forgiveness the legal documents contain no language providing for the annual forgiveness or waiver of this interest financial growth the result of the additional six hundred and sixty thousand dollars of debt added to the ledger every year by the end of the fifty five-year program the total liability the principal plus accrued interest will be fifty eight million three hundred and three hundred thousand one dollar The 55-year balloon payment under Section 3 of the note, the entire principal together with all accrued and unpaid interest is due and payable on maturity date, which is 55 years from the anniversary of the agreement. There is no incremental forgiveness, example, nothing like 1 55th of the amount every year. The city remains liable for the full non-depreciated amount until the final day of the 50th. 55th year. The accelerated and default risk or failure. If the project fails to meet the state's operational requirements at any point, for instance, say year 15, the state has the authority to initiate an immediate call in of the debt. Section 6 of the note allows the state to declare the entire unpaid balance, the $22 million plus all interest accrued to that date, immediately due and payable in a single lump sum. In year 15, that balloon payment would be approximately $31.9 million. In year 35, the balloon payment would be approximately $45.8 million. If we make it to year 55 in 2060, we will owe nothing. but it's a gamble. To summarize, this agreement commits the city of Fairfield and all of its 120,000 residents to a 55-year, $58.3 million total liability. If a deferred payment obligation were to be, the city is 100% liable for both the full principal and the total accrued interest until the 55th year. I urge that none of this information was provided to you before the votes. And I urge there be not just a citizen bringing this to your attention, but a deep dive on this. Because this is my review of all the records that you have in this transaction. And I'm not a paid lawyer. And you definitely need to know what is due. And this is what my result tells me.

Thank you. Your time is up.

Thank you.

Thank you. Our next speaker is .

Our next speaker is Patrick Williams.

K. Patrice Williams has built a public image around community empowerment, accountability, yet the residents who question her actions I'm sorry, is this, what's the feedback, we're good? Okay.

He's gonna check on it.

Okay, should I?

You wanna just stop and I'll restart. He's gonna try to fix it, our apologies.

Yeah, you can just talk normally, it's an area. All right, cool.

You reset that, please, Madam Clerk. Thank you. You can go ahead, sir.

Thank you. Kay Patrice Williams has built a public image around community empowerment and accountability. Yet the residents who question her actions, her political ties, her growing web of influence are often dismissed, smeared, mocked, or slandered, all while she plays a victim. That's not leadership. That's insecurity. The issue is not just one vote, one contract, one organization, it's a pattern. The overlap between her political power, nonprofits, influences, public funding ecosystem, business interest, activist networks has become so dense that many residents no longer believe there's any meaningful checks and balances left. and it appears she has allegedly profited significantly from her elected position. When residents speak up about it, instead of transparency, they get intimidation, like her taking pictures of me at the last city council meeting. Hope you like the picture. Or just slander, calling people racist or making them out to be a fool or whatever. I mean, all good? Yeah, you do you. The public office is not a shield from criticism. It's an obligation to answer it. The people are not racist for asking questions. They're taxpayers, residents, and voters demanding accountability from people who should be working for them. This city should not belong to political networks, insider circles, Unions, corporations such as California Forever, which she has a lot of ties to and she's more than likely a backer of, it should be belonging to the people. And for anyone who's not aware yet, go to solanowatchdogs.substack.com and do your own research on this power-hungry, allegedly corrupt individual sitting up there. Have a good day.

Our next speaker is Sahej Thakkar.

Hi. Good evening.

You're okay. Just speak.

Good evening, Mayor Moy, Vice Mayor Bertagni, and other members of the council. For some context, my name is Sahaj Dakar. I am an eighth grader at Green Valley Middle School. You may remember me as a member of the Youth Commission. You may remember the public comment given by my colleague, Daniel Gonzalez, at the April 7th meeting.

You can keep going.

You may remember the public comment given by my colleague Daniel Gonzalez at the April 7th meeting. This was regarding the tobacco retail license resolution that the commission is planning to pass. I'd like to share with you today some information I think would be beneficial, as well as an update on the work of the commission. I'd first like to tell you about something I experienced that made me understand how widespread this issue is. Throughout the past year, we've seen a growing number of students smoking both in school and out. Not only has the number of students increased, but the variety of students. We've seen students in my school specifically as low as sixth grade smoking tobacco. And after seeing this, I looked up some statistics on the issue. According to a survey conducted by the CDC and FDA, 5.4% of middle schoolers and 10% of high schoolers are current tobacco users, meaning they've smoked tobacco in the past 30 days. According to a report from the US Surgeon General, nine out of 10 adult smokers had their first smoke before they turned 18. And note that these are just the ones who admit to smoking. The number is most likely far higher. Oh, okay. I'd now like to tell you a bit about what the commission's doing about this. The commission's currently in the process of creating an ad hoc subcommittee tasked with drafting the resolution that we've already talked about. This resolution largely aligns with the work the city is already undertaking. regarding the use of tobacco. The resolution would urge the city council to use the tobacco retail license to limit the amount of tobacco selling stores in Fairfield, going from 70 stores to approximately 40. And the resolution would also urge council to end the selling of tobacco within 1,000 feet of a school. We are aware that council is already acting on this issue, but hope this resolution will act as a formal piece of youth input on this matter. Thank you.

Thank you, and we appreciate that. We like to hear more and more, as you know, as a former youth commissioner, we want to hear from you more. So thank you for coming.

I have no more public cards or speaker cards, and there are no hands raised online. Alrighty then.

Then we will go ahead and move on to the consent calendar, please.

Consent calendar. All matters listed on a consent calendar are to be approved with one motion unless a member of the city council or the public requests that separate action be taken on a specific item. And I also don't have any public common cards for consent calendar as well. All right.

I think that Councilman Sandu has something you want to pull or comment on.

Madam Mayor, may I pull item K-5?

Yes. So we'll take that now, item K-5.

Item K-5, Resolution 2026-71, authorizing the city manager to execute Amendment No. 2 to the Professional Services Agreement between the City of Fairfield and Bennett Engineering Services, a National Environmental Policy Act clearance for the Markley Lane Reconnection Project. And our presenter is Public Works Director Sanjay.

Good evening, sir. Good evening. Just a couple of questions for you. Could you reiterate to me what is the status of this project now, given this influx of funding? Where does it put it now?

So currently, we completed a preliminary survey work for the project for the preliminary design. And after this is completed, the next step would be really approaching the landowners there to actually see how much land we need for the project. And at the same time, we'll be conducting the environmental study for this project. So that's where we are. And this particular staff report actually brought to you BECAUSE WE RECEIVED $850,000 FEDERAL FUNDING, SO NOW WE HAVE TO COMPLETE A NEPA STUDY. THE CEQA WAS ALREADY AFFORDED EARLIER THROUGH THE FUNDING FROM THE COUNCIL BEFORE, BUT BECAUSE OF THAT IS NO FEDERAL FUNDING, WE'RE GOING TO COMPLETE THIS NEPA AS WELL.

GOT IT. THANK YOU. DO YOU HAVE A TIMELINE ON ROUGHLY HOW LONG IT MIGHT TAKE TO COMPLETE THAT STUDY?

THE ENVIRONMENTAL STUDY ITSELF PROBABLY SIX TO EIGHT MONTHS WILL TAKE. BUT IF A PROPERTY ACQUISITION THAT WE DON'T KNOW HOW LONG, IT DEPENDS ON HOW WE CAN NEGOTIATE WITH THE PROPERTY OWNERS. SO THAT COULD ADD SOME MORE TIME.

AND THAT PART OF THE PROJECT WILL COMMENCE FOLLOWING THE COMPLETION OF THE SECOND STUDY? Thank you. Just wanted to state for my colleagues this issue back when I was on the school board we advocated a lot at the federal level for this and I wanted to thank the city for continuing to make it a legislative priority for us at the federal level and to thank Congressman Garibendi for pushing this nationally to get this done. For many of you this might be a few year project potentially but for me I've been living it for like the past decade from when this first started. So I think from start to end, by the time this is all resolved, I don't want to, maybe 20 years. I think it's not a crazy number to say. But from when this first became an issue to by the time this is resolved. So I just want to thank the city on the work that they're doing in collaboration, not only locally, but also nationally on this. Because it's going to make a real difference by the time this is all said and done. So thank you for the clarification.

Okay, thank you.

And any other comments on this? I will make a comment as well that our colleagues here have been really good about looking for money, taking it from other sources. Our colleagues and the whole STA board has been engaged and so it's been at all different levels and then our city manager as well sta's lobbied and then i believe the travis school board has done that as well and this is going to take a heavy lift for a while but i also want to make the point that it's clear, I've spoken with both our fire chief and police, that it is inaccurate to say that there's no way for people to get in and out in an emergency and in fact, by law there has to be a plan and the school district itself has that plan that the fire district worked well I'm sorry our fire department worked with them to get it done so they do have safe and in and out there and I just want to make that clear so nobody is Overly concerned about that. Of course, it'll be slow It's always slow as we know from the fires around here that it's slow to get in and out but the plans are in place and I think everybody should know that All right, so I'll entertain a motion then to go ahead and approve this so moved And I'll second that. All in favor? Aye. And that was unanimous. Thank you very much. Now we'll go back to the rest of the consent. I will entertain a motion for that.

So moved.

Second.

All right. All in favor? Aye. OK, that was unanimous. Thank you very much. And now we are going to move on to new business, please.

Doing public hearing first, so I just hear it.

Oh, sorry.

Yes. Sorry. I'm so sorry. Yes. We're gonna have a public hearing Okay public hearings resolution 20 26-7 to approving the fiscal year 20 26-20 27 community development block grant annual action plan and our presenter is my issue Garnett

Good evening, Mayor, Vice Mayor, and City Council members. I'm Aisha Garnett. I'm an analyst in the Housing Services Department. Today, we request to hold a public hearing, and we bring forth one resolution for approval of the CDBG Fiscal Year 2026-2027 Community Development Annual Action Plan. Each year, the city receives CDBG program funds from HUD, and each year, these resources are allocated through the city's annual action plan. The annual action plan is essentially our plan to discuss with HUD and the community what our approach is towards the strategic plan for the upcoming fiscal year. The goal of the CDBG program is to create viable communities by providing decent housing, suitable living environments, and expanded economic opportunities with a focus on benefiting low and moderate income households. Fiscal year 26-27 is the fifth year of the consolidated plan. If you recall, when we did our comp plan, we chose to do a two-year, three-year cycle. So this year, we did not accept any new applications for CDBG funding. What we did do was monitor those currently receiving funding to ensure that their programs are still in compliance with all of our funding requirements. We also met with our CDBG advisory committee who reviewed our current subrecipients. They also reviewed our funding recommendations. We made all of the information available to the public for review as a part of our citizen participation plan process. The strategic plan portion of the consolidated plan was approved by council in October of 2021. Four priority needs categories were established. They include public services with a focus on homelessness, youth, and special needs populations, non-public services, including affordable housing, public facilities and infrastructure, as well as economic development, fair housing to further fair housing, and administration to support the CDBG program. These priorities and goals guide our funding decisions throughout the consolidated plan cycle. So for fiscal year 26-27, our entitlement grant amount is $866,668. Our public services cap is 15% of the total allocation, and we plan to allocate $128,214 to our subrecipients. The administration cap is 20% of the total allocation, which is $173,334. There's no cap on non public services. So we plan to allocate the remaining 65%, which is $565,120 to non public services. So each subrecipient submitted an application for funding in fiscal year 23-24. The amounts they request in their application is the maximum amount of funding that we can provide to them. So in fiscal year 26-27, we plan to provide each of the subrecipients with the maximum amounts requested. For Empowered Aging and Lions Center, the allocation remains unchanged from the past two fiscal years. For Meals on Wheels and the Levin, their amounts will be increased to their requested amounts in the application. The remaining 65% of our allocation will be utilized on non-public services, which is everything that's not a direct service to the community. We plan to divide the funding between the Housing Revolving Loan Fund for homeownership, for home ownership rehabilitation, for a multi-family housing rehabilitation project, and to workforce development. Our CDBG Advisory Committee reviewed these funding recommendations and they approved them. So we request to hold a public hearing and adopt the resolution approving the fiscal year 26-27 CDBG Annual Action Plan. Any questions?

I'm going to go ahead and open the public hearing. Do we have any cards, any public speakers?

I have no cards and no hands raised for this item.

All righty. I will close the public hearing and come back. Yes, Councilman Tonneson.

I sat on CDBG many, many years ago. How many applicants this year?

No new applications were accepted this year, so we're on the third year of our two-year, three-year cycle. So we'll begin accepting new applications for the fiscal year 27-28, which will be a part of the new consolidated plan.

Do you remember how many applications we received in 23-24?

OK. OK. Good job. Good presentation.

Thank you.

Any other questions?

Yes, Madam Vice Mayor. Good presentation. Thank you. And when will the new applications be pushed out into the community and how?

So we're currently in the outreach process. So our current five-year consolidated plan will end in fiscal year 27. So we're working on the outreach for the 27 to 2032 consolidated plan. So our community needs survey is available now. It's live and will remain live through July 15th. Later on during the year, we'll be holding capacity building workshops for those interested in applying. We'll be informing them on what the application process will entail and what the program eligibility requirements will be. So those workshops will be upcoming later this summer and into the fall.

And then when will applications be available, or have you not decided that yet?

There isn't a concrete date, but those applications should be available in the fall. In the fall.

Yes. And then this will be applications for the new strategic five-year plan.

Yes. So we're doing a couple of things simultaneously. We're in the midst of doing the outreach to determine what the new goals will be for the five-year strategic plan, as well as opening up the NOFA process for applications for funding for fiscal year 27-28, which will be the first year of the new consolidated plan cycle.

And NOFA is Notice of Funding Availability? Yes, ma'am. OK. To let the public know what's available for your new strategic plan cycle. Yes. OK. Thank you. Of course.

All righty. And I want to say that you did an excellent job with this presentation. Very direct. Thank you so much. I'll entertain a motion to approve.

So moved. Second.

All in favor? Aye. That was unanimous. Thank you. Thank you very much. And now we will move on to new business.

New business. Contract negotiations with the Downtown Theater Sorry, actually, we're still thinking. Contract negotiations with the Downtown Theater Foundation for the Arts. Discussion direction regarding contract negotiations with the Downtown Theater Foundation for the Arts. And our presenter is Community Economic and Development Director, Dave Zellers.

Good evening, Mayor and Council. And let me be the first to say, because we're all getting these birthdays and holidays in, happy Mother's Day this Sunday. All right?

Make sure you got those flower orders in already. I'm looking at you, Dave Gassaway.

All right. All right, well, council, pleased to come to you tonight. I have two questions for you. I wanna keep it as brief as possible so you can get to your discussion, give us the direction we need as staff to move forward. Back at the end of last year, you gave direction to have us as staff negotiate a new contract for the downtown theater operations with the Downtown Theater Foundation for the Arts. We've had very collegial negotiations. Included in your packet was a letter that we sent them after our most recent session that detailed where we've come to agreement on some new terms and conditions, again, based on the expectations that this council has laid out prior for a more robust oversight of the operations of the theater under a new contract. So, as I said, two questions. Question number one. Your prior direction was to have a two-year contract in our negotiations. DTFA has asked us to consider a longer term than those two years. As staff, I recognize the value in a longer contract. I think it will give us an opportunity under this new, more robust structure that we're putting in place to better evaluate the operations. Also, some of the deliverables that have been proposed will give them more time. In your staff report, I proposed for your discussion the consideration of a three-year initial contract term with up to two extensions each up to 18 months. And what I envisioned in that as we would operationalize it is we would be coming to you annually. i want to make sure that as we come to you and report out on the performance and what's going on that we are able to if we need to do a new rfp at your direction we can ensure there's still time on the contract so that if another provider was selected there'd be an opportunity for an orderly transition WITH THAT, I ASKED YOU THE QUESTION THEN, IS COUNCIL'S DIRECTION TO STICK WITH THE TWO-YEAR TERM AS YOU ORIGINALLY SAID TO STAFF OR ARE YOU WILLING TO ALLOW FOR A LONGER TERM AND IF SO, WHAT WOULD THAT BE?

I FIRST WOULD LIKE TO ASK IF THERE ARE ANY PUBLIC COMMENTS ON THIS AND I'D LIKE TO TAKE THAT AND IF THERE'S ANYBODY FROM THE DOWNTOWN THEATER FOUNDATION WHO WOULD LIKE TO SPEAK.

I don't have any public comment cards, nor do I have any hands raised online. All righty. So yes, Councilman Tonneson.

So I was pushing for a two-year. But I've had conversations with you, and I would be happy with a three-year, with a two-year, 18-month options as long as there's measurables in there. And like what we've discussed today, we want to give them time. We want to be true partners in the community. So I, for one, would be good with three years, two 18-month options.

What kind of do you need a hard vote or do you want direction? I'll take direction just direction. All right Well, you know, I'm gonna Just a second ask The manager of the theater to come down and I just want to ask you because none of us are Theater experts up here I'd like to know if a three-year with 18 months puts a crimp in your style, if we will, as far as your seasons and making sure that it rolls appropriately. Is that something? Does a three-year work for you with two 18-month extensions? It does. We operate on about a five-year period.

No question on an extension with the direction we're going That gives us the venue books about 12 to 18 months out That helps me a lot.

Thank you for answering that Okay, so I will concur with councilman Thomas and Owen Councilwoman Williams has a question

Thank you. So I pushed for and agreed with a two-year contract. There were things that I was concerned about surrounding alcohol license and reporting. There were just some operational things that I was concerned with. I guess it's more of a question for you versus you, Day. But there were a bunch of things that I was very, very concerned about. HAVE THOSE ISSUES BEEN THAT WE BROUGHT UP AT THAT LAST MEETING, HAVE THOSE ITEMS BEEN ADDRESSED?

IF NOT FULLY ADDRESSED, IN THE PROCESS OF BEING ADDRESSED THROUGH THE NEW CONTRACT. license issue. So we've done some research on this. A nonprofit like DTFA has the option to use daily licenses from the California ABC, which is what they do. And actually, this evening, I signed a handful of forms for them. When they apply for those, they have to get the signature of the property owner, in this case, us, the city. They often get the signature of our police department to get approval before they can take that form to the state. And they can take it to the regional ABC office to get approval. And those are one-time licenses. And they're very common for nonprofits that have events because... A nonprofit wouldn't need a license in the same way a restaurant would, right? So we have a process in place. And actually, earlier today, they provided me with a folder of about a year plus of records of those applications. and the canceled checks to ABC for those daily liquor licenses, or alcohol, you guys don't call them that, alcohol licenses as well. The other things, particularly that had to be addressed in the marketing of the facility, what we've done, and as you'll see in your packet, recognizing that you know, the marketing of the facility and how we can all better work together on that. There's a deliverable, will be deliverable in the contract by term that after the new contract is executed within six months, that new marketing plan would need to be prepared and finalized. And part of that is too, I think we want to make sure that we can bring some of our partners into that conversation, our own mod team into that conversation. And it's a learning opportunity for us as well, along with the DTFA, to really figure out the best way to market that. In the original RFP write-up, it was very broad. I mean, we were talking about everything under the sun, from billboards to TV advertisements. Financially speaking, that is not possible, right? We as a city couldn't afford that on our own. So I want to give them time to develop that. The other thing that came out of it was some reporting requirements, and those you'll see are being addressed in the new contract as well. A much more structured engagement plan on our behalf. You all know Jen Rice from our Community Development Department. She'll be leading that at the staff level. Moving forward partly because she oversees our real estate portfolio and the theater being part of that portfolio as well Surrounding the I call license for a non-profit.

Is it the same for a venue?

The license is for the nonprofit operating out of the venue.

Mm-hmm the alcohol license. Yeah, so yes And so I couldn't find my notebook from back then. I'm trying to think of the other issue that we identified as having an issue with. Do you have a recall of that?

Not specifically, but, you know, again, as I think we've tried to address as much as possible in the negotiations. And, again, it's been very collegial, these negotiations. In the staff report, I included my most recent correspondence with the DTFA and where we've put some of these new terms in for oversight and compliance.

I just, my colleague just gave me recall. So us being on the board of directors, someone from the city.

That's my next question for you. So as soon as I get an answer to this one, we'll roll to that question.

Yeah. So for me... I really feel like two years, I really appreciate working together very closely over the last six months of what have you. But for me, I would absolutely want to stick with the two-year contract. I don't like the fact of just automatically renewing and all that. I just feel like there was enough pause at the time, that two year is sufficient to really show good faith for a good time, not just, hey, I'm back on track for the moment, and now there's a hard, to be able to reset again. I think two years fair to hit that mark, really have this body of two years body of work, reporting, marketing, how did that go? How are we communicating with other people that want to engage? It just gives us a better body of work is my opinion. Thank you.

so we have two of us that are okay with the three and 18 months um for the rest of you did you have something to say councilman

I had a question, Madam Mayor.

Yes, go ahead.

In regard to the extension timeline, how did we determine 18 versus 12? Can you repeat the reasoning behind that?

Sure. So two things. One, if the negotiations understanding better kind of how their seasons operate and their bookings operate. Secondly, two, based on the city's experience with the golf courses and the transition that the city went through there, it was before my time. I guess some of that was right around the time I came on board. But there were bookings for those facilities that went out beyond. And that was about the length that some of those went beyond. So operationally, what I would envision is, again, we're going to come back to you every year on this, whether it's at the retreat or in a council session, to report out on what's going on. And as we get closer to that first point, I'm going to ask you, based on what I've reported to you, do you want me to issue an RFP or not? And you're going to give me that direction at that time. You know, two things also. Of course, we always have boilerplate language in our contract that we can make a change if we need to based on funding or other things. Secondarily, on those extensions, you know, again, you would have the option to say, well, we don't want to go full 18 months there. Maybe we'll go 12 months at that point. THIS IS REALLY ABOUT PUTTING SOMETHING IN PLACE FOR THE CONTRACT TO SET THOSE EXPECTATIONS. AND AGAIN, I THINK ALLOW OPPORTUNITIES ON BOTH SIDES TO EVALUATE AND SEE WHERE THIS CAN GO WITH THE NEW EXPECTATIONS THAT THE COUNCIL HAS LAID OUT THROUGH THE PROCESS.

IF I CAN FOLLOW UP ON THAT. WOULD IT MAKE MORE SENSE TO THEN HAVE, FOR EXAMPLE, TWO 18-MONTH CONTRACTS and then the two 18-month extensions tied on versus doing three 12-month contracts, then extending it to 18 months after that. Do you see what I'm getting at?

I do. So the first contract would be 36 months. got right dot dot three twelve three thirty six months yes and then it would be eighteen eighteen uh... and i would say you know part of it too isn't again when you mindful of if we need to know our fp which again you'll direct us to do you're learning from the one we just did it it was about a six seven month process right so We would get into that once we, you know, we get into that and then allowing for, we have to plan for a transition, whether or not what happens through that process. I don't want to prejudge. Obviously, that's, you know, a future date and time to be determined. But I want to, I always would advise and guide that we try and build that into our thinking when we're drafting a contract.

ONE QUICK CLARIFICATION, BECAUSE COUNCILMEMBER SANDU, WHAT I HEARD YOU SAY IS THREE 12-MONTH CONTRACTS. WHICH IS 36 MONTHS. IT'S 36 MONTHS. WHAT MR. ZELDERS WAS REFERRING TO, AS HE SAID, IT WOULD BE A 36-MONTH CONTRACT. WHAT HE WAS SAYING ANNUALLY IS ONE OF THE THINGS THE COUNCIL ALSO ASKED FOR WAS FOR MORE FREQUENT REPORTS ON THE PERFORMANCE OF THE DTFA. AND SO THAT'S WHERE ANNUALLY THERE'S GOING TO BE A REPORT BACK TO THIS BODY ON THE PERFORMANCE OF THE CONTRACT. AND SO WHEN HE WAS SAYING ANNUALLY, THAT'S WHAT HE WAS REFERRING TO.

GOT IT. SO WOULD IT BE FAIR TO SAY OPERATIONALLY THE THEATER OPERATES MORE ON AN 18-MONTH CYCLE VERSUS A 12-MONTH CYCLE?

I THINK MS. SPEARING ESSENTIALLY CONFIRMED THAT IN HER COMMENTS EARLIER, YEAH.

THANK YOU.

Yeah, I'm okay with the recommendations of three years. I just am going to be firm on the one-year reporting. I think that that has to, the annual report in detail is a very important thing to bring to council. Thank you.

Councilwoman Pandura.

Yeah, I'll second that.

Okay, and so do we want to make a formal vote then? Do you got a second on it? All in favor?

Aye.

Aye. Aye. Oh, I'm sorry. Did you want to say something, Madam Vice Mayor? No, I just wanted to say

that I'm encouraged by the communication. I think that the communication has been better. And because of that communication, we're reaching a decision that has been well thought through and both sides have been able to engage in the negotiation process. And I guess that maybe has not always been the case for whatever reason. So I'm encouraged by the communication and the fact that we're We're working partners with this very important facility in our city and the kind of, you know, nucleus almost of downtown. So I just want to say great job working together, communicating and reaching a consensus that both sides can live with. So that's a job well done. And I will say yes to the, yeah.

Okay. So I think Councilman Williams, you were still a no on that. IS THAT CORRECT?

I'M STILL A NO, BUT APPRECIATE WHAT'S GONE THROUGH SO FAR. IT IS IMPRESSIVE. I JUST HAVE CONCERNS. THANK YOU SO MUCH.

THANK YOU. SO A 6-1 ON THAT. SO YOU HAVE DIRECTION. QUESTION NUMBER TWO.

I'M TRYING TO COMMENT ON THE BLACK AND WHITE PICTURE. I'M A LITTLE DISAPPOINTED. I DUG DEEP INTO THE MOD ARCHIVES ON THAT. QUESTION NUMBER TWO. THIS IS ABOUT THE BOARD MEMBERS.

WHO WAS IN THE PICTURES?

You've been around this town a lot longer than I have there. So you tell me.

I bet Dave could tell us.

All right.

Well, let's go to question number two before we stumble too far down that rabbit hole.

Question number two. So as part of your direction also, you asked that we be able to, in the contract, include provision that we appoint two board members to the DCFA board. Their bylaws allow a maximum of 12 board members. They have five, had five operationally present. We did have some interesting back and forth on this through the negotiation. Their counsel did express some concern about a Brown Act issue. Mr. Lim and his team looked at that. I provided the guidance here on the screen, what it would be essentially to not trigger a Brown Act issue. Council would not want to appoint one of yourselves to the board, and you would not want to appoint someone to the board that you've appointed to another city entity, so the Planning Commission, for example. But you could appoint staff, or you could appoint members of the public. So with that, however, also through the conversation, you know, DTFA's been understanding, appreciate our position on this. What I have for you is a concept that I've seen work in other cases for your discussion and direction, In my prior work, there was a nonprofit organization that oversaw tourism in the county where I was. They were independent from our county government, but our county commissioners appointed all their board members since they got the hotel tax. What they did, again, in a collegial way, that organization's board would recommend folks not nominate, but recommend folks for the county commissioners to meet with and consider for appointment to that board. Commissioners could obviously choose to go a different way if they wanted to, but at least it was a collegial engagement. Obviously, as you can imagine, in that case in the tourism community, as much in this case in the arts and culture community, You know, the DTFA may have some names and know some folks who you may yourselves know or maybe you don't know, but have some interest, one, in seeing the facility prosper and thrive, and two, you know, have some important knowledge that would benefit the board and all our shared hopes for the facility moving forward. The provision would not require you to accept who they were necessarily recommending you interview, but it's a collegial way to engage. And hopefully, it does lead to some good appointees to the board through that process.

Councilman Tonneson.

How many 12 board members? That seems like an odd number. Where did that come from?

It's in their bylaws right now.

How many board members do they have?

They have five currently.

I'd like to see that number reduced. And I don't know if they do that or if we do that.

So they're an independent 501c3. They have, in the negotiations through some of our back and forth, and some of it's reflected in the correspondence I shared in the packet, agreed to make some changes to the terms of their board members. And that wasn't so much, I want to be clear, that was more about helping them operate more in best practices as a nonprofit. Again, I come from a background where I did a lot of that work earlier in my career, helped nonprofits work on their bylaws, develop their strategic plans, things like that. So refining those things. Again, we have no – we could not legally – force them to do something like that. Other than through the contract, they've agreed that that'll be a term of the contract. And that's going to help them better operate as a board in the long run as well. The number 12 is a little wonky. Usually it's an odd number, but it's also up to 12. It doesn't mean they have to have all 12. That's how it's worded in their bylaws. And some organizations do that. They'll appoint folks, know that they're going to drop off at some point, things like that.

I would make a recommendation of dropping that to seven, but if that's not something we can do, that's fine. When I sat on the FMSA board, Fairfield Main Street Association board, it was like 15 members and we had five. So it became where you had to do some maneuvering to say if five members show, you know, you had to change the numbers to have a majority. So that was easier for us. Maybe it'll be easier for them. I know that's their call. I would be okay with not having to be a Planning Commissioner, somebody, one of us. But individuals that we get to interview, let you guys hash that out on what that looks like. But yeah, two members of the board, reduce the size of the board. But what are your thoughts on how they report to us?

So I think a couple of things. One, first and foremost, because my department's overseeing the contract now, I'll be providing my reports to city manager. And what needs to filter up to you, we'll filter up through Dave in terms of any issues or anything else. In terms of the board, a couple of things that we've included in the contract. One is we've put a provision in that twice a year the board will have an open house at the theater for the community to come in and engage with the board members. And thank you for the theater. Again, it's part of marketing. Hey, we're having an open house. come on in hear about what's coming up at the theater over the next six twelve months whatever it might be right it's just a good opportunity for our community um i think the other opportunity again for that report out is um on in the annual report obviously you'd want to see board members here as part of that and then the staff will be meeting on a regular basis with the executive director and the board president and you know my expectation is that we will have staff at the board meetings as well

So as I noodle this in my head, I'm seeing two board members are city representatives. How would they report differently to us than the board would report to us? Or is it just two people that we appoint? Because all board members are going to have the same access to us. It's not going to be something

Yeah, and this is where I think we're threading a needle here very delicately. Again, it is an independent 501 . The board members, and it was pointed out in negotiations I think fairly by the counsel for DTFA, those board members have a fidelity to the board which they are appointed, not who appointed them to the board. However, I think ultimately what guides us there, and it goes back to something that we've talked about before. I may have it on my last slide. I don't have it on my last slide, but I know it's in the staff report. Ultimately, the DTFA's mission is for the support of the facility. That is their stated public mission. Our goal is the same, to see success of the facility. So that's where, yeah, any of the board members can show up at any time and report to the council or talk to you all. I think in this case, it's having two other individuals who are specifically from this board, because it is our facility, because we have a very vested stake in seeing this nonprofit be successful, and all parties have a very vested stake in seeing the facility be successful. Because ultimately, that's what we're selecting here, right? An operator for the facility. That's what matters most. I'm seeing that better now.

OK. Councilman, I'm going to have the city attorney would like to address this.

I just want to clarify. I apologize, Mr. Zellers. He didn't know I was going to chime in. So I just want to clarify that the question I was asked by staff was whether two members of the council sitting on the board would trigger the Brown Act. That question is a yes.

Yes.

I was not, and I'm not blaming Mr. Zellers, I do not know that if this council appointed two representatives, that are not commissioners or council members to the board, whether that would trigger the Brown Act. That was not the scope of my research. So I just want to be clear. Like, if I come back later, I'm like, hey, that triggers the Brown Act.

Do they follow Brown?

Well, by law, if any organization is deemed to be a legislative agency, then they must follow the provisions of the Brown Act. And attorney general opinions have stated that if two or more members of the legislative body sit on any other committee, including a nonprofit board, that triggers the brown act it doesn't it's not a matter of being a government agency or not it's whether or not there's elected officials conducting the city's business i'm i'm asking i'm sorry to interrupt you are they fault do they follow brown now do they no because currently they don't have any elected officials right yeah okay yeah councilman doug um as far as the board members is there could we have somebody from our youth uh be part of that board or do they is there an age limit

don't think they're being age limited but i think again if you're appointing one of those members let's say somebody's just on our youth commission i would advise now okay yeah and councilman sandu uh mr city attorney what if it's only one member of council does that still also trigger the brown act if it's just one member of the body

So I apologize. It's been a while since I did this research.

Do you remember what my advice was?

I think if it's any of you, any individual, I think just because you are part of a Brown Act subject body already. So if you're appointed by this subject Brown Act body already, and you go somewhere else to do this work, then yeah, it would potentially trigger that.

One follow up would be, how did that COUNCILMEMBER, HOW DID THAT POINT OF NEGOTIATION COME UP IN THE FIRST PLACE TO THIS POINT? HOW DID THAT START, THINKING ABOUT HAVING SOMEBODY FROM THE CITY ON THEIR BOARD?

IT WAS COUNCIL DIRECTION AT THE DECEMBER MEETING WHEN WE WERE GIVEN DIRECTION TO NEGOTIATE WITH DTFA. I BELIEVE IT WAS COUNCILMEMBER TONNESEN WHO SUGGESTED THAT THE CITY APPOINT TWO MEMBERS TO THE BOARD.

AND THE REASON I DID THAT IS BOARD NOTES, BOARD MEETINGS, BOARD OF DIRECTOR, I COULDN'T FIND ANY OF THAT STUFF. SO WHEN WE WERE GOING THROUGH THE RFP PROCESS, THAT'S WHAT I CAME UP WITH. I wanted clarity on that.

And just to clarify as well, I know that the question is, is there a compromise by which the city council could appoint somebody that would not make the board subject to the Brown Act? There are nonprofit boards who are subject to the Brown Act. And remember, the Brown Act is just an open transparency law where You know, they have to notice their meetings and have certain open and transparent things. That's a target for negotiation. It is not illegal for any nonprofit board to be subject to the Brown Act. But obviously if the board for this organization doesn't want to, that's a sticking point for negotiations. Then I think, I just want to make clear that it's not prohibited. It's just a point of negotiation.

Councilman Tonneson, if I can follow up with you, are you still looking for that?

As we noodle this out and as they're going to be coming before us and they're going to be having notes, minutes, public board meetings, maybe that's not such a priority now because we're handling this through the contract.

So I want to be fair. They're not having public board meetings. We did talk about that in negotiations. That was a non-starter. Again, they're not subject to require to, because they are a private nonprofit. So that's where we're threading a needle a little bit there.

Are they required to have minutes? Yes.

They should have minutes as just, again, as a best practice of nonprofits. And we've asked them, for example, to post things like their 990s on their website, which they don't currently do. Again, we can go back and negotiate and say, we'd like you to post your board meeting minutes. We'd like you to do things like that as well. If that's an alternative direction to appointing board members, which I'm starting to get the sense might be the case.

Councilwoman Williams. Thank you. The reason why I agreed to putting people on their board is and just reading through their paperwork and documentation and just hearing some of the public comments and hearing community comments that this was just an amazing organization but operationally there was some struggles. I kind of saw that as giving us visibility and also giving them support. in having maybe a different breadth of knowledge, operational knowledge, maybe not specific to theater. And the reason why I saw it as important is because there is a vested interest. We do want them to not only succeed, but to continue to bring thousands and thousands of people downtown. I wanted to give you a background why I supported that is giving us visibility so we're not caught off guard if something was not going well. And, you know, we probably have all sat in nonprofit board meetings. There's something about having, you know, non-family, non, you know, that are like, what's this? What's this paperwork? What's this, you know, what are these financials? This doesn't look right. Fix this, da, da, da, da, da. because that board is the boss. They are the bosses. So if one of us are not sitting on the board, I think the second piece that's of question is us having someone sit on the board. If that doesn't make sense, staff being at board meetings, to me, that would give me the, in my mind, the exposure that would make me feel super comfortable.

Yes.

Councilman Sandhu.

If I can ask your question, sir, do we have a historical precedence in when we've done this with other organizations we've given contracts to?

Not to my knowledge, no.

I don't love the idea of the precedence. I used to have a lisp growing up. That this sets for organizations that we give contracts to. We give contracts to nonprofits a lot and for-profits. So just wanted to state that I don't love the idea, I guess, especially if we are improving our relationship through this negotiation process.

And I appreciate that. What about when... When I was a planning commissioner, I sat as a liaison on the Rockville Hills Advisory Board. Would something like that be more palatable? Because that wouldn't follow Brown or anything. As a liaison, I wasn't a voting member. I just went to all the board meetings.

So I think that's what Dave's trying to say is what they've agreed to is that there's likely going to be city staff attending those meetings. As opposed to the council appointing people, they will submit names that you could still interview. I mean, I think that's sort of the middle ground where they're willing to work with us on that. It's just not exactly as the way that the council previously expressed that specific direction to staff. So before we just come back to you with something that's a slight tweak, a little bit different than what you specifically asked for, we wanted to just come and get direction. I can tell you in terms of as Dave's been briefing me and I've been sitting in some of these meetings, ULTIMATELY THE ORIGINAL INTENT AND WHAT I HEARD YOU JUST SAY A LITTLE BIT AGO, COUNCILMAN TONNESON, THERE WAS A SENSE OF SOME LACK OF TRANSPARENCY AROUND THIS ORGANIZATION THAT WHILE THEY HAVE REVENUES FROM ELSEWHERE, PREDOMINANTLY IS GETTING MONEY FROM THE CITY. And that was the concern at the time. I think through the contract provisions that we have agreed to in our negotiations, as well as this fix, this kind of meaty middle ground here that's been negotiated, there's a lot more eyes. There's a lot more availability of us to see information, to understand how they are operating as a nonprofit. with their predominant funding source coming from taxpayers.

And I agree with that, and I agree with you, Councilmember Sandu. I think that there's more teeth in this now.

I'm happy with where we are and my time was executive director of two non-profits. By law, they have to show their 990s to anybody who comes and knocks on their door. Those are their taxes, their tax returns, to show how much they brought in, so on. That's all public record by law. And the same thing with their minutes. They must keep a binder of them, and they must be available to the public according to state law. And I think federal law, but for sure state law. Because I'm sure others who've sat on nonprofits understand this. So those are things that anybody can go look at. And so I just wanted to bring that. And I'm happy with where we are. And also with not having any of us or anybody that we appoint from any of our commissions, I think that's a big no-no. Yeah. We don't want to trigger that. This is a 501c3, and I appreciate what they've given in these negotiations.

And if I can just counter that, I agree with you, but that information wasn't accessible. We couldn't access minutes. We couldn't access, so I think that was the frustration from my part that came out in the RFP. It's like, where is this information? So now it seems like we're, again, putting teeth into this, and I trust the staff.

Very good. You should have come to me. I'll get it for you. Just kidding. Yeah. Yes, Councilman Sandy.

Thank you, Madam Mayor. Maybe one idea for us to consider. For example, when it comes to the educational aspect, we have these two-by-twos, which are not official governing bodies by any means. It's a quarterly check-in. Maybe we can do a version of that for, say, the first 12 to 18 months.

If we think we need it.

It's any other questions on this. Do you have direction now?

So we're not going to appoint any board members the council will basically you are Over we're trusting staff.

It sounds like Could you please go to them to Mike day Could you come up to the mic day? day Mike day, oh

We've had several people inquire about being on the board in the last six months, and we're holding off for this direction.

How many names can we present to you? We're about to probably not do that and let you do it and let staff. I think that's the direction we're going.

I think that it looks like we're all nodding. Whoa, whoa.

Get the hook.

Madam Vice Mayor.

Yeah, I agree that we can trust the process that is now a lot more structured And just to the extent that this documentation can be posted on a website for public consumption, that just really makes it easy for anybody who's interested, including any of us, to just hit the link, just like for city council meetings and everything else. But I trust this process. It sounds like it's been robust, transparent. and a good negotiation where both sides can maybe not have everything, but both sides can live with what we have decided on. And that's the art of a great negotiation. So I think that makes sense. And to do away with appointing the board people.

Councilman Pandero, did you have a comment?

Yeah, I was just going to add with my colleagues that I also feel more comfortable going in this other direction. I think obviously we said those things for a reason at the beginning when we were first talking about this. And I think for myself, seeing that the negotiations have been going well and communication has improved, I do feel more comfortable with just trusting the direction that we're currently going in.

So just to summarize, question one, we are going with staff recommendation. Question two, we are reversing course or not?

We're reversing course. Sounds like a majority of us, or all of us, say that we are not going to appoint. All right.

Then I have nothing else. And again, happy Mother's Day.

Thank you so much.

Thank you. Good discussion.

Yes. OK. Thank you. We are now moving on to item M2, please.

Item M2, discussion and direction regarding a request to begin a Proposition 218 balloting process in Landscape and Lighting Maintenance District number 13, North Cordelia, and recognize the Green Valley Community Landscape Group as a primary community liaison. And our presenter is senior management analyst Chris Lewis.

Good evening, Mayor, members of the City Council. The item before you tonight includes two separate but related requests. First is the request from the Green Valley Community Landscape Group for council's approval to proceed with the Proposition 218 balloting process in LLMD number 13, North Cordelia, better known to the locals as Green Valley. And the second request is from both the Green Valley Community Landscape Group and public work staff for the council to formally recognize the Green Valley Group as a primary community liaison for this Prop 218 effort. Starting with the Green Valley Community Landscape Group, who are they and what do they do? I have mentioned them at the last couple council meetings, so tonight I finally get a chance to introduce them to you formally. This group is made up of 11 LLMD 13 property owners, all of whom, including Landscape Oversight Committee member Reginald Nelson, all of whom have attended Council Member Williams' LLMD community meeting on May 1st of 2025. And if you recall, at the end of that meeting, the Green Valley residents there, they voluntarily withdrew from the Prop 218 process that was being offered at that time because they recognized that community engagement and education was one of the biggest challenges for their district in 2023, during the 2023 process. So they wanted to just take a little more time to reorganize themselves before they jump back into that process. So this group of 11 volunteers that attended that meeting did just that. And since that May 1st meeting, the group has held at least six meetings with city staff and at least three meetings independently amongst themselves, probably more since the writing of my staff report. They've attended a bus tour with city staff of all the landscape areas in their district so they can get a firsthand account of their district's needs. They've collaborated with city staff to review the existing landscape contract and help us find some cost savings where appropriate and possible. They've independently developed their own website to provide their community with LLMD education and news and to help encourage participation among their neighbors. They've hosted two community trash mob events to clean up several high visibility areas within their district. And in those areas that they cleaned up, they actually went in with their own funds, not city funds, purchased their Green Valley Community Landscape Group branded signs. And placed it in those cleaned areas so they can start letting the neighborhood know who they are advertise the impact That's right there. Thank you. We have the group here today so they can start letting their neighbors know what they're all about They have also initiated conversations with their local HOAs and started thinking about and developing plans on how they're going to approach Businesses in their area. They do have a lot of commercial properties in the in LLMD number 13 And finally, they've been in regular communication with city staff to research the Prop 218 process, the timeline, everything that's required on the administrative and legislative side. They've worked with us to start digging into their district's budget. They've started studying their current landscaping services contract. And they've also conducted independent research into what services and which service providers they'd like to see in their district in the future. So this group has been extremely busy. and very proactive in their efforts to move the Prop 218 process along in their district. So based on all of that, all of the work they've done over the last year, but also on the fact that these property owners are longtime Green Valley residents who participated in the 2023 process. And like all of us, they have learned a lot. They know what it takes now to run a Prop 218 process. They would now like to officially submit their request to the council for approval to begin to start a Prop 218 process in their district. And specifically what that means is that this group would continue to do their community education and engagement efforts and staff would now have the approval to engage an assessment engineering consultant to develop an engineer's report and then start working towards a balloting process with target assessment rates, new assessments effective July 1, 2027. Of course, we always know that based on community needs, that date may change. And then the second request, of course, is that the Green Valley group, together with city staff, we would like council to formally recognize this group as a primary community liaison for this Prop 218 effort. Now, this recognition would be similar to the way Council recognizes the Rolling Hills Neighborhood Network, for example, as just a primary sort of grassroots collective, a group of people who have organized and who are entrusted with not only relaying information from the city, city staff, to property owners in their district, but also with speaking on behalf of those property owners they represent. And I just want to make a note that we understand that the Rolling Hills Neighborhood Network and the Green Valley Community Landscape Group they don't necessarily represent the opinions of every single property owner in their district so this recognition definitely does not preclude any other community group from from forming their own groups in their area and the city would certainly welcome and work with any and all members of the public who wish to learn about the Prop 218 process, or maybe they have a different idea of what outcome they'd like to see in their district. So the city, of course, welcomes all of those people as well. This simply just gives credence to this Green Valley group so that residents who are maybe new to the LLMDs or don't know where to start, they now have a place to start on how they can start engaging with their neighbors. And it also provides some direction to staff to let us know who you, what you envisioned as far as staff working towards a community engagement effort in the Green Valley area. So before I take questions, I do have Dr. Craig Gillespie, one of the members of the Green Valley group. And just real quick so that the council members can see, would you guys mind, all of the group, would you guys mind just giving a little wave here so they can see who you are? Thank you.

Chris stole all my steam of what I was going to be presenting so I will abbreviate what I'm talking about here that she's pretty well introduced us. I would say that the first meetings we started meeting with the city staff monthly back in I think May of last year and in those meetings we really got up to speed on what LLMDs really are and how you can modify them and we even discussed what were the stumbling blocks that led to losing the prop 218 vote previously so a lot of that went on in that once we got kind of our footing we decided that we'd be more efficient really just meeting as a subcommittee on the side and so in January of this year we went ahead and started meeting monthly among ourselves and then we saw that we were getting momentum so we changed in April to meeting twice monthly and I might add that we had a hundred percent attendance at all those meetings. So you can see that kind of we're all committed and I think that goes a long way. She mentioned most of what we had done. I would say that we have come up with a website and that we have a link on the city's website to get to our website and we also have a barcode so that if you hold up our sign again anybody can click into our barcode and get into our website also. The other thing in community outreach I think that was interesting to us is that there are actually nine HOAs in our group and so we had to identify the nine HOAs and then reach out to those nine HOAs and we're starting to meet with their boards trying to get the education process going and outreach and individually as members of our subcommittee we have decided that we would each every two weeks reach out to another neighbor and meet with them and talk to them. We have generated a half sheet of bullet points of information that we think we really need to give them to educate them to understand why we need to pass the new 218 and we've committed to do that and then keep track of these people so that there are contacts and know who is willing also to help us. And I think lastly, the question would be why are we requesting now to move it forward? I think that we kind of startled ourselves with how much we were able to get done in the time that we've been meeting together and so we thought rather than losing the momentum and going longer without extra funding for our area that we would request that we can go ahead and have the vote in 2027 instead of 2028. And lastly, why should we be acknowledged as the group that you're working with or at least passing information to? It's because we're engaged. And I think that that really is the answer. So thank you for your time.

Thank you, Dr. Gillespie. Look out, Rolling Hills Neighborhood Network. Just kidding. Anyway, that's such excellence. Love it. So I am going to take any public comment on this before we ask questions. Is there any public comment?

Yes, we do have one card. And our speaker is Nora Dizon.

Good evening.

First, I want to say thank you for approving the automatic refunds. That is really wonderful. For those of us who are watching to see how our city council is working in taking care of correcting mistakes, that is wonderful. Nothing against the group that's been working together, but David Thacker did us a good thing by making sure we followed the law. And I hope that we can stick to the law and not make another mistake because this group, again, nothing against all the effort that's gone into it, but it's not a grassroots organization. It was created with the influence of the city. And let's learn from Thacker. Let's not encourage more lawsuits. I really think it's a mistake to do this. And with the number of people that I've spoken to, they're more interested in refunds, not in paying more. Not right now. Thank you.

Thank you.

Are there any other comments? I have no more cards, and I don't have any hands raised online.

All right. Council, back to you. Do you have questions?

Not a question, but just a comment. I just want to thank you. Community, that should be the definition of community right there, is what you guys have done. And I would really like a hat.

Yes, Councilman.

Will this be for the upcoming November election or no, it's just what year is this for.

It's a special election. So it's going to be done by mail and the latest we need to do it is March. Send out ballots is March, April of 2027. Got it.

Thank you.

Other questions.

No, I thought that that was that was inspiring. And your your energy is is palatable. So thank you.

Councilman Williams.

I would like to thank this group. From the moment that we met, Vice Mayor, you came with me to meet with this group to see, to just have the conversation about what can we do. And from there, here we are. And so for that to happen in a year and to just watch the magic happen has been truly inspiring. I wanted to bring up two other points that I thought were just amongst a whole list of high points. I really love that in the beginning you all were like, North Cordelia, that does not make sense. People do not understand that that is Green Valley. And I think that is, is that one of the decisions we're making today to turn that, change the name?

No, I'll be coming back with a formal resolution probably on the 19th of May.

okay thank you but I thought that was brilliant because there were so many people that it just it did not click even though they were receiving things that it was them and now they're seeing the the the you know the what happens when a no vote happens. Now they see the deterioration of their landscape. Also, a high point for me is when the group were like, I would like to see the budget, and took the budget along with the tour and matched up and said, We don't need this land, why is this landscaping here? This needs, this is high visibility. This needs to be thought of. Why is this tree shaped this odd? Why is, I mean, it was things that I was a little blinded to and I was just like, yeah, that is crooked. or maybe that's not the right tree because that needs too much water. The level of insight and compassion and care for our landscape that this group did, It was a learning lesson for me. And so I just wanted to say thank you, and I would ask to you, my colleagues, that we support this group in moving forward. They've done everything and above of what we would ask before bringing this vote forward again. They've done it, and they've done it in a year. Is that a motion? That is a motion.

Yes, two comments. Councilman . No, no, I know. You're fine.

I get it. Thank you, Mayor. I just want to say well done. I'm on the website now, and it's great. It has FAQs. It has explanations of what a Prop 218 is and what it means. So it's a really great resource page for folks. And again, that's greenvalleyclg.info. And I can proudly say that it's my family. So I am very honored that they have taken this on. to lead this effort with their neighbors. And it really does show what was said before with this is their role model. And just thank you for all the work that you guys have all done. Thank you. Madam Vice Mayor.

Yeah, I just wanted to say job well done also. And in my definition, this is the absolute poster child for grassroots. This is it. And this is how LLMDs get passed. This is, in my opinion, grassroots. Now, has staff provided information? Of course, the 218 process is not exactly intuitive. right and but staff did that with our last llmd round in 2023 so i'm i don't know i don't see any impropriety in doing that but i think that this is this is a textbook definition of the kind of grassroots efforts that um went on in paradise valley that hopefully will be resumed in Rolling Hills, because we're not gonna let you beat us. Okay, you gotta know that, right? So we got Rolling Hills coming. But this is it. This is a perfect example. of what is necessary to get these votes through. And it's really grassroots communication, knocking on doors, providing information on the website, and really talking to your neighbors. And this group has hit all of those boxes in spades. So I robustly say yes, Dr. Gillespie, to both of those questions, 100%.

So anybody else? Good. We have a motion on the floor. Is there a second? Second. Second. All in favor? Aye. Aye. That was unanimous. Thank you very much, and thank you all. Go get them. Godspeed. Yeah.

We're going to move on to item M4 now, please. Item M4, presentation on the appraisal for the Vista Ridge Permanent Supportive Housing Project. And our presenter is Housing Services Director LaTan Jones. Good evening, LaTan.

Hope you're doing all right.

Hello?

OK. Great. We got you.

All right. Thank you very much. My name, once again, is LeTan Jones. I'm the Director of Housing Services, and tonight we're going to be discussing the Vista Ridge appraisal. Let me start out here, is that the Vista Ridge project initially was the SureStay Hotel. It applied for Homekey financing. With regard to the guidelines for the Homekey program, every application that is submitted to Homekey must also submit a copy of an appraisal of the site by which you want to convert. Section 300 of the Homekey guidelines actually defines the parameters for the appraisal that must be submitted. In this particular case, also, the project was requesting that the state cover the cost, the full cost for the purchase of the site. That stated, the state of California reviewed the appraisal, approved the appraisal, and also provided 100% of the funding to purchase the site. The city of Fairfield did not pay any of its contribution toward the purchase of the site. the city of Fairfield did provide financing to the project in the amount of $1,535,540. But I'm just trying to round up a little bit. That was composed of $500,000 of the city's own funds. And then the $1,035,000 was also state funds that were provided to the project. So in essence, the city did not control the appraisal. The parameters of the appraisal was controlled by the Homekey program, as I indicated in section 300 of its guidelines. The city reviewed but did not approve the appraisal because 100% of the financing for the site acquisition for this project came through Homekey. then Homekey was the entity that approved the appraisal. And then finally, the city did not pay any of its funding toward the actual site purchase. That was all covered by the state of California. That stated, as a result of the city investing $500,000 of its own money in the project, the city is now the lien holder or the lender, not the borrower, but the lender OF $23,071,081 FOR THE OVERALL PROJECT. NOT READY TO GET THERE YET. ON PURPOSE. NO PROBLEM. THAT STATED THE CITY, WHILE INVESTING $500,000, is now the state provided those funds for the home key program as a grant to the city and the city loan those funds back out toward the project fairfield north texas lp is the one that is the borrower in this situation not the city of fairfield now moving on the actual appraisal. In this project there were two appraisals that were done for the project. The first appraisal was commissioned by the development entity And that appraisal was for $12 million. In the appraisal for both the purchase of the site as well as the after rehab appraisal, they utilized two methodologies primarily for the actual valuation. There was a sales comparison approach and an income capitalization approach. The sales comparison approach essentially looks at comps for the project. And you're looking at projects that are similar in physical, functional, and economic characteristics. for the home key program because there are not always very many hotels or motels within a certain area the home key program in accordance with the guideline encourages you to actually have a more regional approach when you're actually looking at sales comparisons because They're trying to find hotels or motels that are similar and recognize that they will more than likely not always exist within the local area by which you exist or the motel or the project is located. next moving on the income capitalization approach that approach essentially looks at the net operating income for a project and then that net operating income is divided by a capitalization rate and essentially a capitalization rate is basically the rate of return of your investment that equation or that information is utilized in order to be able to determine the value. So, as I indicated, initially in 2025, there was an appraisal that was commissioned by Daneco, the developer, That appraisal was looking at the 100-unit motel and that appraisal came back at $12 million. The actual per unit valuation was $120,000 per unit. I will tag one other thing here for the average of the two thousand and twenty five home key projects the actual appraisal or the purchase price for most of those motels usually had a per room value of $200,000 to $300,000 per unit. So the $120,000 per unit fell at the lower end of the spectrum for the actual applicants for 2025 Homekey project. And then secondly, after the appraisal was done for the purchase of the site, then after we was going through the closing process, The closing process takes place after all the loans are provided toward the project. After you have completed the conditions of the lenders, you're starting the closing process. Then the bank, which is the only permanent lender in this project, they provided a little bit over $3 million toward this project. They conducted an appraisal. that is a typical process that takes place in the closing process not at the time when finding is being provided but after all the funds have been provided because the bank is interested in trying to make sure that with all of the loans with all of the requirements With all of the bids that come in with regard to these construction projects and the final scope of work, there is enough value in the property in order to be able to substantiate its loan. They generally do not want to loan monies that is in excess of 70% of the value of the property. In this case, they were way under that particular projection. So there, the bank's appraisal came in at $7,270,000, which is about $142,549 per unit. A side-by-side comparison of the two appraisals. You can see, as I indicated, looking at the income capitalization approach, the annual gross revenue for the 100 unit motel is $1.7 million, and I am rounding. And then the annual gross revenue for the 51-unit permanent supportive housing project was $1,065,000. Then if you move all the way down to annual net operating income, you will be able to see that the annual net operating income, and that is basically derived from subtracting the expenses from all of the gross revenue, you have $748,697 for the project as a motel. And then you have $393,869 for the project as a permanent supportive housing project. The appraisers utilize 6.5% for the cap rate for the motel and then 5.75% for the cap rate for the permanent supportive housing project. Using that formula, net operating income divided by cap rate, you derive the actual value of the site. For the motel, it came in at $11,518 million. And for the permanent supportive housing project, it came in at $6.849 million. Now, the appraisers, I am not an appraiser, so I can only go so far. I can generally talk about some of the things associated about the appraisal. That is not my profession. I'm a houser. But that stated, they use discount rates in order to be able to add additional value, so they came up with a value of $11.8 million. They also, because it was a hotel, the fixtures, furniture, and equipment that was left and thrown in with the site provided a valuation towards that. OF $168,000, AND THEN THAT IS HOW THEY ARRIVED AT THE FINAL VALUATION FOR THE MOTEL AS $12 MILLION. UNIT PERMANENT SUPPORTIVE HOUSING PROJECT, THEY CAME UP WITH A VALUE OF $7.2 MILLION. AND THAT IS BECAUSE THEY HAD AN ESCALATION RATE OF 3% BY JULY 1, 2027. THEY ADDED THAT TO THAT PARTICULAR VALUE UP ABOVE. AND THAT WAS BECAUSE BY THAT TIME THAT IS WHEN THE PROJECT WOULD BE SUBSTANTIALLY LEASED UP ENOUGH TO START PRODUCING REVENUE. And so those were the two valuations for the site. The key valuation, the differences. One, we're looking at a hotel with high turnover rates. You have transient occupancy. It's unrestricted market rate. You can charge whatever the market will bear. So that resulted in a higher net operating income. And then you have the 51-unit permanent supportive housing project with a lower cap rent, reductions in the units from 51 to, excuse me, from 100 to 51. So those income-producing mechanisms were reduced. And then because it's a permanent supportive housing project, there were social services that were required. And those also increased the actual operating expenses for the project. So that further reduced the actual net operating income down, so of course that affected the value. So what do we have here? The real difference between the appraisals was because of the unit count reduction because of the 55-year affordability covenants that existed on the property once it would be converted as permanent supportive housing, as well as the supportive service expenses because you have to have the case management and social services in order to be able to support the homeless residents that would live there. When you change the use of the property, the value also changes. And that was the reason why there was a different valuation of the property when it was evaluated as a permanent supportive housing project versus a 100-room hotel. One is restricted and capped by the rents because no matter what type of value-add improvements you put in the property, it's still going to be capped by the rents because the income that it produces is the measure by which value is determined. And so if that income is capped, that value is also capped despite the improvements that you put in the property. And I will stop there, and I am available for questions.

Thank you. If we have public speakers, we'll go ahead and take those.

Yes, I do. I do have public speakers. Our first speaker is Rick Johnson, followed by Elaine Gatka. Hopefully I pronounced that right.

Good evening.

I'll try to speak louder so the sound system won't squeal. That's all we've got to do, by the way, guys.

Talk loud, and it won't do that. The recent appraisals revealed a staggering gap of a $12 million purchase price versus a 7.2 as completed value. And Mr. Jones correctly points out that the use of the property is not the same of the two appraisals. I am an appraiser. I am a residential appraiser, and he did an admirable job of explaining the process by which a property is valued by its ability to garner money in the market, market value. In the case of the sale price, the $12 million was not offered to the marketplace, so it was really not market tested, but their comparables that they used did indicate that that's a good value. You alter the property, it's like taking a school bus and turning it into a race car. You no longer can use it as a bus, so it's not worth what a bus was worth. And it's a race car now, and it's probably cheaper because it's smaller. So shortening up what he said, that's my definition of that. But the concern is what he has started with is that he's telling you that the city is the lender and that if this defaults, It just goes back to you. There's no money lost. That fact, if that's true, did not come out at a time where it should have for your consideration. What also did not come out, I'm sorry, is when reviewing your paperwork, all the documents, I don't see that anywhere in there. And as a body, I believe you really want to hear who's on the hook show me chapter and verse i did chapter and verse check when i came up with the information i gave you earlier that's what the documents say i do not see anywhere in the purchase documents any referral to the debt reverting back to the city because the city made a five hundred thousand dollar uh inclusion of funds It doesn't say that. And I could be wrong. I'm not perfect. I tried my best, but I'm not perfect. So if we could, I'm highly recommending that you require, before you do anything else, is verify. You are on the hook for how much or none. That would be great if he is correct. That would be wonderful and great. I don't see the state giving you $22 million and saying, hey, hey. It's money that they are responsible for also. So please, get the actual chapter and verse from appropriate people that are outside of this transaction, unbiased, that have no dog in the hunt. then you'll have something you can rely on. And that's what I'm looking for. Again, back when I think Vice Mayor Bertani asked the question, are we going to be on the hook for money? The answer that Mr. Gassaway gave was yes, but did not come back with the explanation that we heard tonight. If that was known, that would have been great, and I wouldn't have to say this tonight, but it was not known and it was not advised to you. So my recommendation is that you get that actual number, get the actual number from somebody who's unbiased. If it defaults, do you lose $58 million, or does the city or the state give you the funds?

Thank you.

Thank you.

Next speaker is Elaine Kaka, followed by Nora Dizon.

Mayor Moy, Vice Mayor Bertani, and City Council members. My name's Elaine Gatka. I'm a 23-year resident in Fairfield. And I'll basically cut to the chase, and then I'll give some explanation here. I and many others respectfully demand that you vote to stop the Vista Ridge project this evening. And here's why. Number one, it's a waste of tax dollars, of our tax money. It has no oversight, which is the duty of the city and the council, nor does the city have any idea if the federal or state government will fund the vouchers for the next five years, let alone the next 55 years. It seems that only the hotel owners and developer come out ahead on this project. Vallejo has already gone over budget on their project home key and has spent $6 million plus out of their general fund to keep their commitment. We know from US Attorney and the FBI Task Force that Project Homekey in California is under investigation for multiple cases of fraud, and realtors and developers have been arrested already in Southern California. The President of the United States has formed a task force with our Vice President leading it, and one of the main targets is Project Homekey in California. They have already cut funding for permanent supportive housing by two-thirds and are saying they want to eliminate it completely as Housing First does not work. Stop the Vista Ridge project before the money is spent and we taxpayers are on the hook to either keep it going or to refund the state of California $23 million. As an alternative, make something good in that location, mixed retail and residential. High-end apartments or condos. Get the money already spent back to us. Perform the proper oversight and spend $10,000 on a new appraisal from an independent auditor on the hotel as is. Was it really worth $12 million? The comps used were in higher-priced cities and probably were not as dilapidated as the sure-stay comps. El Cerrito, Castro Valley, Martinez, and Sacramento hotels are all on more valuable real estate and command higher rents than Fairfield does. Also, audit the $14 million build plan from Danco. Why spend $14 million on a building and land that will only be worth $7.2 million when completed, and the annual profit will only be $150,000? Not a good business plan, and something's wrong here. going forward. And after hearing Rick Johnson's deep dive information earlier, the fact that council didn't have this information when it made the decision and the vote back in November, it's one more reason, I think, that myself and many others respectfully, again, demand that you vote to stop the Vista Bridge project tonight and don't move forward with it.

Thank you. Our next speaker is Nora Dizon followed by Sue Campbell.

Good evening again. I'll keep it short because you've heard it so many times. But really, this decision, the approval of the Vista Ridge project, I'd say is the major reason that residents simply are throwing up their hands and not interested in supporting our city. We need Measure P to be passed. You've got this singular decision, and what does it say? It says our city staff, our city council members are not concerned about being fiscally responsible that I'm not concerned about putting a 55-year commitment on this city in a situation which you would not be surprised if you've got a bunch of repairs that have to happen there. I mean, you make a decision like that and then you want us to pass Measure P Please think about it. I think you might still have a chance to change your mind. Maybe people will start thinking about supporting the city. Thank you.

Thank you. Our next speaker is Sue Campbell, followed by Carol Haddock.

Okay, so I'm glad to meet you.

All right.

I've been wondering where you were.

Okay.

Where do we get this figure of $22 million, which we see as a total project cost? I'm sorry, what? That's what everyone's saying, that this were on the hook for $22 million, and Rick gave all the figures on that. That's what I want to know. It just kind of... What do I know that you don't know? Let me just say what it is. What I know is as a real estate investor and property manager for over 50 years, I have traveled all over the state of California. I have managed properties everywhere in California and beyond, but mostly in California. And I know that when Project Homekey came through It was a big thing sponsored by Gavin Newsom, who said, we're going to pour all this money into the communities. They can buy up motels, and they can get the people off the street once and for all and off my desk. A very short time later, he said... There can be no oversight of this. No oversight. They won't even be seen. They're just putting money down the drain again, okay? That's what has me concerned because as a property manager, I have dealt with homeless people on every one of my properties. Am I boring you, Scott? I must be. And I have offered them food. I have offered them coffee. I have offered them jobs. And in return, they have said, no, no. I have never licked this in 50 years, or as much as the homeless were out in the streets. But I've swept a lot of needles out of parking lots. I've had to go after people and have them removed from properties. And they've rewarded me with pulling a piece of copper out of an HVA system that then cost me $8,000. And they sell it for $100. I'm telling you, these figures do not match up. I am sick about this. I'm a resident of Fairfield. I moved here. I love this town. I had so much faith and hope in our leadership. That's all gone. I come here and I say, well, how do these people possibly do this? Bring urban blight to this Butte? I tell you it will be urban blight. It is everywhere because up and down the state. I've seen these home key projects. And I promise you that they're boarded. I know tons of tradesmen who tell me we go in there, they pay us to paint it, we come back the next day and the whole place is trashed. They're boarded all over the state. And the thing that really has me worried now to the point of almost tears for Fairfield, and I mean that, is that the feds are now in this state actively looking at home key projects. They're trying to find $28 billion that have mysteriously disappeared. Doesn't that bother you? What if they come here in Fairfield? I mean, look at me. How can you do this? You guys need to change this up. You need to save this town.

Our last speaker is Carol Haddock.

Madam Mayor, I'm sorry, I need to make a statement. So pursuant to State Bar Rules of Professional Conduct 4.2, communications with a represented person, in representing a client, a lawyer shall not communicate directly or indirectly about the subject of the representation with a person the lawyer knows to be represented by another lawyer in the matter, unless the lawyer has consented to the other lawyer. In this matter, Ms. Haddock is a plaintiff against the City of Fairfield. In the matter of Quincy Tan and Carol Haddock versus City of Fairfield, she's represented by Attorney Michael Terhorst. I have confirmed with Mr. Terhorst that he does not want me to communicate with Ms. Haddock or any of his plaintiffs. So at this point, in an abundance of caution, I will recuse myself from the dais and the room. When Ms. Haddock has completed her communications, if someone could come outside and get me so I don't hear the contents of her conversation. So if you could wait until I leave.

Yes, thank you. If you could just wait a moment, Ms. Haddock.

Golfers have to wait a lot. I've played with you. It's not that bad.

You may speak now.

Good evening. Two weeks ago, I came representing the Citizens Against Vista Ridge and Dr. Quincy Tan of the Paradise Dental. And we presented a petition to you, which had 130 or so actual of our group and some business owners who really had amazing things to say. And I submitted a revised petition this morning that had 168 signatures and comments. And I think if you took the time to read it, and I believe all of you got it, I hope you did, it really tells you a lot of what the people who live near the Vista Ridge area want. And we are demanding the council have a vote to reconsider uh... their november eighteenth vote because there are so many things that have come to your attention that you did not have the information or was not presented to you by staff or government has changed them since november eighteenth new information since november eighteenth for the two appraisals while i understand what lieutenant jones has said i also agree with rick johnson and sue campbell that depict Castro Valley, Martinez, El Cerrito, Sacramento hotels, who probably are not as dilapidated, or have leaking ceilings, or bed bugs, or roaches, or mold, or closed pools. And that picture you had up, Latana, sorry, that's ancient. That pool's been closed for years and, you know, very early open. The feds have cut funding by two-thirds, went from 87% of what permanent supportive housing is to 30. The White House has a task force. And of course, Rick Johnson's $58 million, which he went and researched, think, wow, that's larger than we thought it was. It's a problem. What you need to do is oversight. You need to go find out if any of this is true, because if the vouchers aren't coming. And here's the numbers. $12 million to buy the hotel that may or may not have been worth that. Get an independent appraisal and find out. $14 million to refurbish with $2 million in profit for the builder. $7.2 after the build. The rents annually from the people who live there are 163K that they get automatically deducted from their welfare. The vouchers are 882K. Well, what happens if they don't get that 882K? The profit, gross profit, annually $400,000 to the Vista Ridge building. And after the debt service of $313,000 on their interest-only loan is $85,000. Who does that? They're going to sell this building. And we do have an attorney. He wins cases. And we're coming. And I'm eight seconds. I have a lot more to say. But we're coming. And I am not allowed to say what it is. But please vote no and stop it now. And we won't. No more lawsuits. Thank you.

Are there any other public comments?

I have no more cards and no hands raised online.

All right. I will bring it back to counsel if there are any questions or comments. Can bring oh, yeah, we could let our city attorney back in he's coming Thank you, thanks for the reminder The item that we're discussing is the appraisal, right? That's correct.

Thank you

The city attorney is back in the room and seated. Okay. Comments, questions about the appraisals? Madam Vice Mayor.

Thank you. And thank you for the presentation this evening. So this sales comparison versus income capitalization methodology for the appraisals and the evaluations, was that explained to the city council in November before we voted on this? That's a yes or no question.

No, we did not talk about the appraisal in November, and nor was the February-dated appraisal completed in November. Okay. Because that wasn't something that was our appraisal, as LaTan identified.

Thank you. Okay. So the answer to my question is no. This dichotomy between these appraisal methodologies, that was not explained to the city council in November when we voted. That's a no, right? I'm talking to you, Lieutenant.

Yeah, I just answered you, Madam Vice Mayor.

No, we did not. But then you interrupted me. So I just want to have the record clear for people who are looking from home and who are in this audience. I just want to have, let me answer my question, ask my questions if that's okay.

You can answer your question.

Okay, so this information that you presented tonight was not before the City Council in November. Now, the appraisal that came out in February 2026. Obviously, that was not before the city council in November 2025, correct?

Correct, as I just stated.

OK. The information in the 2026 appraisal, that information is new to me and it's material to our understanding of how this project is actually going to work. Can you answer that, LaTan? YOU WANT ME TO TALK TO YOU? OKAY. THAT'S FINE.

NO PROBLEM. TO BE FAIR, WITH ALL DUE RESPECT, I DIDN'T HEAR A QUESTION. I HEARD A STATEMENT.

WHAT YOU HEARD IS A QUESTION AT THE END. IS THE INFORMATION IN THE 2026 APPRAISAL MATERIAL TO THIS PROJECT?

I mean, I don't believe so. The project is a permanent supportive housing project where, as LeTan described, the city took $500,000 plus a million dollars that the state gave us that we leveraged the $500,000 against to receive an additional close to $22 million grant in order to develop, in partnership with Danco or North Texas, a permanent supportive housing project to get 50 units worth of homeless individuals off the streets in Fairfield.

So the answer to my question is no, the 2026 appraisal is not material to our making a decision on whether we should have this project in Fairfield or not? Is that your answer?

Yes.

Okay.

Because what the council was voting on in November and multiple times preceding that November vote, and I heard a couple of the speakers say that some of this information wasn't before the council. You can go to the November agenda report, and there is a resolution, city loan agreement, affordability restrictions and regulations, deed of trust, city promissory notice, ordination agreement, and an HCD standard agreement. So all of that information was available and there. What the city council was voting on throughout the entirety of this project was accepting grant funds for a permanent supportive housing project to get homeless people off the streets in Fairfield.

Okay. So I will state again for the record, I believe that this 2026 appraisal is a material document and it is a document that should have been before the City Council before a final vote on this project I believe that this decision should be reconsidered by the City Council I think that the record before the city council in November was incomplete. And I just, for one, I mean, I know that there are a lot of moving parts with this project, but what I believe is that, at least I can say for myself, I'm still learning new information about this thing now. That has not been discussed and disclosed to this city council in November. And I think that that is unfair, and I think it's irresponsible, and I just want to be very clear on the record. With the state of the record on Vista Ridge right now before this city council, there's no way on earth that I would vote for the... I mean, and we're only... Restricted to discussing the appraisal I get that so I'm not going to start talking about all the other points that we've already made I think that the record was incomplete in November the factual record and I disagree with the city manager I believe that because the valuation in The February 2026 appraisal impacts a decision that I'm making on behalf of, you know, that will impact taxpayers. I do believe that that is material information, and I believe that it's a basis for this city council to reconsider this project.

Madam Mayor, if I may. I hate to do this, but I represent the city council as a municipal corporation. I must remind the council I am prohibited under rule 4.2 from making comments directly on this matter because there is a plaintiff in an active case against the city on this issue. Tan versus Bullock versus City Fairfield sitting in the front row of the chambers. As vice mayor was speaking, she was taking notes and she was texting. As your attorney, I am not allowed to comment because it could be indirectly seen as a communication to a represented party. But what I've heard here is placing the city, a municipal corporation, in jeopardy because you are considering and have made comments with an active plaintiff and active litigation sitting here listening to everything you're saying. I recommend that you move to table this matter, make no further public comments, and go into closed session. We have a plaintiff actively working against the city, and it does me no pleasure to say this. We have two members of the council who have executed declarations in that same litigation against the city. We need to go into closed session. You need to table this matter. I'm highly recommending that you table this matter, that there be no further public communications on this matter. There is active litigation where the city as a municipal corporation is at risk.

I am going to move us into closed session at this point. I know the Vice Mayor is, but I'm also going to, Mr. City Attorney, I will be agendizing a reconsideration of this, and I will ask that if the City Attorney has a conflict, if we have somebody from the public here who has filed suit against us, that we bring

another city attorney in point of order madam mayor yes uh for a motion to reconsider does it have to be made by a member of the from who voted in the majority in favor i recommend we go into closed session i'm the mayor and i set the agenda thank you yes all right

Yeah.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

There's a large group on their way over now.

What's that?

It's a lot of the people who are in here. They're still coming. They're filing back in.

All right, we finished with closed session. Mr. City Attorney, do you have anything to report out?

No.

All right. So we're going to close this meeting now. And I will be agendizing this item in the future. We'll let you know. It will be agendized. And that's what we have. And this is the end of the meeting.

What are you going to be agendizing, Madam Mayor?

What I'm going to be agendizing is a look at all of the new information, including I put in a Public Records Act request for the body cam of the code enforcement person who went inside the motel before it was appraised. or during the time and it will show that it was dilapidated and there is no way that it could have been worth, in my opinion, I'm not an appraiser, but half of the rooms were not usable. And the body cam will likely show that, but it is a public record and I will be getting it, and the whole city council will then just have it. So it's new information as the second appraisal was. The second appraisal, none of us knew about it until the whistleblower, the original whistleblower, who's not involved with anything else, She's a single mother who lost her job for telling me what she saw. And she's the one who told me, did you know that they're doing another appraisal? And I start asking the city manager about it. And I demanded it and ultimately got it. We will be discussing all of that new information. And I'll leave it at that. We're going to close and I want to say happy birthday To my daughter who's born on Mother's Day and her birthday is this Sunday. So happy birthday Zen. I love you Thank you all this meeting is adjourned