City Council - Regular Meeting

Good evening, and welcome to this the March 9 meeting of the Livermore City Council. I call the meeting to order. Roll call, please.

Sorry. Council member Beriantos? Aye. Council member Branning?

Here.

Council member Dunbar?

Here.

Vice mayor Wong? Here. Mayor Marshand?

Here. You'll please join me in the pledge of allegiance. I pledge allegiance to the flag of The United States Of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Thank you. Question for the city attorney. Is there any reportable action from the closed session?

Closed session's continued. Correct? Yes. No reportable action.

Thank you so much. Okay. No proclamations or presentations. No advisory body appointments. Now we'll move into the open forum. This is an opportunity for people to speak, on an item that is not on the agenda. The city clerk will, tell public how they can participate.

We have two speakers. The first is Sai Mettin.

Okay.

If this is on already there. Good evening, honorable mayor and city council members. There's two things happened since I was here last time. Number one is United States Of America have decided to get rid of the bad government of Iran, which I'm born over there. And then the terrorists, they were creating terrorists all these years.

And I'm very happy and thankful to the people of United States Of America, and I'm really honored to be an American. And my son, who was in the college, decided to go join the United States Air Force after 09/11, and I'm honored to say that. And that's number one. Then number two is I joined I moved from Pleasanton to Livermore, beautiful city of Livermore, and to dedicated myself. I met telecom professional but changing my direction to become an educator.

And I joined Livermore School District and really worked hard for so many months. But and the goal was to become a physics teacher, but, unfortunately, some issues that they have, I was terminated. And I just want to the city know that this is not fair what they did, and that's all I had to say. Thank you very much.

Thank you. Next speaker?

The next speaker is Molly

Hello. Can you guys hear me? Alright. Hi. I'm a my name is Molly Scheide.

I'm a Livermore resident and a reporter for the Open Governance Initiative. And at opopgov.news, we strive to promote transparency and bridge the gap between local government and the community. So, I've already started covering some local stories as well as city council meetings, but I wanted to come here tonight to hear directly from you guys about the most pressing challenges facing Livermore and for residents here or listening at home. So I will be following up with council members via email. And then if anyone is listening at home or here tonight and wants to share their stories or perspectives, you can email me at molly.s@leadforearth.org,4likethe number.

And that's it. So thank you.

The address again, please?

What was that?

What was the email address again?

Molly,molly,.s@leadfour,4likethenumber,earth.org.

Thank you.

Yeah. Thanks.

That's it. Are there any speakers?

That's all the speakers for the open forum. Yes.

Okay. In that case, I'm going to close the the open forum, bring it back to the council for the consent calendar. We're going to be pulling six point one and six point three for separate consideration. So if I could have the the motion for six two through six seven without 6.3. Oh, the public comment? Just public public comment for consent?

Yes. We have several speakers.

I'm sorry. Oh, well, let's do this. Okay. I believe six point one and six point three will one of our council members will need to recuse themselves.

Can I go now?

Yeah. Go ahead and go now, and then we can bring you back for the for the rest of the consent calendar. Okay. So six point one and six point three. Do we have any public comment for six one or three?

No. We do not.

Okay. In that case, I will, entertain a motion for, six point one and six point three.

I'll move approval of six one and six three.

Motion made by council member Dunbar.

I'll second.

Seconded by vice mayor Wong. Any discussion on the motion? All in

favor? Aye.

Any opposed? Any, abstentions? Passed unanimously. Okay. If you could bring in, council member Barriantos again.

Alright. Thank you. Okay. Do we have any public comment on, any other part of the consent calendar?

Yes. We have public con we have one public comment for six point four, Jean King.

Miss King, six point four? If you could speak into the microphone, please. No worries. There we

go. There I go. Okay. I still gotta read it. Okay.

Jean King on six point four. Affordable inclusionary housing should be part of each community. The staff report states that this mixed income multi residential apartment project of two ten residential units will have 20% or 42 units of inclusionary housing. The affordable units will be integrated throughout the project and constructed to the same standards as market rate units, including comparable amenities, fixtures and finishes, which I hardly agree with. These 42 units will be distributed with 6% or 2.56 units reserved at very low income, 50% of area median income, 7% or 2.94 units at low income, 80% of area median income and 4% or 1.68 units at median income, a 100% of area median income, and the balance 83% or 36.12 units at moderate income, a 120% of area median income.

I am extremely disappointed that out of the two ten total number of units, only 13% or 5.46 units will be for below median income residents, and 87% or 36.54 units will be for median and higher income residents, and the remaining 168 will be market rate. I don't know about the fraction of units but wish that the number of units would be rounded up and not down to make a whole number. I believe that we need more units for low income residents. I believe that our RENA numbers for the low income housing are inadequate. Thank you very much.

Thank you. Any other comments?

Our next speaker is Ken Wong.

Hi,

mayor and council members. My name is Ken Wong. I serve on the board of association the wine grower associations. I'm here to speak and strongly support of the Livermore Wine Heritage District for the next five years. And last over the last five years, our the associations, the the district has made tremendous progress and also make a lot of progress over the last since in inceptions.

And our region has actually gained a lot of increasing recognitions both nationally, locally, nationally and internationally. So our wine, the quality of our wine has also continued to be increased, the quality of wine, and be gaining reputations as our wine growers and our winemakers are making working really hard to actually gain and compete with other wine district. The district also has support educational programs that can actually keep our wine professionals updated, current and with new skills as well. We are committed to continue to support the we're con continue to to commit ourselves as partners and advocates for the greater of the Liffre Morme wine community as well as community as well. We're gaining additional visitors to the areas to support our local restaurants, shops, and local business.

So in short, our the the wine District is actually working well, and I would like to encourage the council to continue to support the the the district over the next five years so that we can continue to build on this momentum going forward. And I thank you for your time and consideration.

Thank you.

The next speaker is Alan Marlink.

Mayor and council members, this is in regards to item 6.5, which is where Livermore will spend over $1,000,000 on Microsoft three sixty five licenses. Not only is the thought of putting more money in the pocket of Bill Gates disgusting, but the quality of Microsoft is too low and the cost too high. If Microsoft truly is the optimal choice for computing, that is tragic. And I worry Livermore will end up having to spend even more money on tech support when the software fails. Thank you.

Next speaker is Joe Lee.

Well, I I came with a mistaken assumption that maybe this had already passed, and I so I was I had prepared a well shucked statement saying, well, it was a lofty goal to migrate to a free software op office suite like LibreOffice. So I didn't expect much change immediately. I was going to propose, though, something similar to what government of Denmark did, which was they, it migrated half the systems to, as in a pilot program to see how that went and made observations. This was in June, last year, and I haven't really heard much since then. I'm I'm hoping there will be an update, but maybe we could be even more conservative and migrate a quarter of our systems to LibreOffice and see how that works and how inter interoperable it is and how how they how, the system's using, on LibreOffice, whether it works well with the the Microsoft Office systems.

That that that's it for me. Thanks.

The next speaker is Jenny.

Good evening, mayor and council members. My name is Jenny O'Leary, and I'm speaking on matter 6.7. I work in marketing and communications with the Livermore Valley Wine Growers Association. I'm here tonight in support of renewing Livermore Valley Wine Heritage District, and I want to share from a marketing perspective just how much this program has made possible. The Heritage District funding has given us the ability to show up where it matters.

We've been able to invest in advertising across multiple platforms, digital, social, radio, and print, reaching wine lovers throughout the Bay Area and beyond who may have never considered Livermore Valley, as a destination. These are not just impressions. They translate, into visitors who come explore and return. Without this program, that level of consistent regional advertising simply would not be possible. Beyond advertising reach, the Hawaiian Heritage District has opened doors to opportunities that benefit the entire community.

It has allowed us to pursue meaningful media partnerships, coordinate press visits, and participate in regional tourism conversations at a level that elevate all of our wineries together, not just individually. We have been able to align our efforts with larger events, attract travel writers and content creators, and position Livermore Valley as a serious wine country destination rather than a hidden gem that only locals know. Equally important is what this funding allows us to offer our winery members directly. Through the district, we are able to provide marketing support that many small family owned wineries could not afford on their own. Co op advertising opportunities, shared promotional campaigns, social media amplification, event coordination, and communication tools that help each winery tell its story.

We are able to function as an extended marketing arm for our members with which strengths strength which strengthens the collective voice of Livermore Valley wine community and wine country. We are operating in a challenging time for the wine industry, one where visibility and relevance require ongoing strategic investment. Renewing the Wine Heritage District ensures that we can continue building on the momentum we have worked very hard to create and that our wineries have the support they need to weather this moment and grow into the future. I respectfully urge the council to vote in favor of the renewal. Thank you.

The next speaker is Bob.

Also discussing the the Heritage District. And after Jenny's speech, I think I'll just copy portions of hers. She did such a great job. I'm fairly new to the to the region and into into the wine business. We opened a tasting room about coming up on three years ago on a historic property on East Avenue.

My family and I or my wife and I came here about twelve years ago and very much have found Livermore to be the best community we've ever lived in and some place we're gonna be a long time. We've got a lot of respect for the for the community, and I I come out of the tech world as a leader in in several publicly traded companies, so I can bring a fair amount of objective to the objectivity to this as well. Several things that I that I that I've I've observed that I consider very favorable about the Heritage District, Aside some of the points that Jenny made of marketing, of visibility, and our visibility now Livermore's visibility now is not just qualitatively improved, it's quantitatively improved as well. The data out of various competitions, including the SF Chronicle, really have put Livermore in a very strong position, and we are we are definitely on the on the map now in areas that we previously wouldn't have been. I'm in the tasting room.

Almost almost every day we're open. I I frequently am talking to customers about how the the Heritage District and what we're doing is is received, and it's received very well. They they know what we're doing. They know how the wineries struggle, and and, you know, they're happy to pay the relatively small amount that gets added to their to their cost to support the wineries, to support the community that they really love as well. So that's one piece of it that I've seen with customers.

Education for the wineries and and causing all the wineries to to do better, both in hospitality and wine quality, is is another. The marketing piece, of course, is is a big one, and as I said, both qualitatively and quantitatively. So as I look at the benefit of what we have done with the Heritage District and serving as a board member, observing personally just how those funds are used in a very effective manner and definitely focused on the community at large and not just specific wineries. It is one of the best things that I've seen have been done in this kind of community in in most of my career. Thank you.

Thank you.

Next speaker is Brandy. Good evening, mayor and city council members. I'm Brandy Lombardi, executive director, and I'm here tonight and speak to speak in support of renewing the Livermore Valley Wine Heritage District on behalf of the Livermore Valley Wine Growers Association. I would be remiss to not start with thanking Brandon, Jake, and Teresa for their tireless effort in supporting me and supporting this process as we move through the task of renewal. This program has become an essential funding source for supporting and promoting the wineries that represent the Livermore Valley wine country.

It helps bring visitors to our community, strengthens local businesses, and creates opportunities for collaboration that benefit not only the wine country, but our larger Livermore Valley. Right now, the wine industry, as all of us know, are facing significant headwinds. Across California and the wine countries that surround us, wineries are dealing with shifting customer trends, higher production cost, and a noticeable slowdown in wine consumption. During times like this, programs that support regional visibility, collaboration, and tourism are more important than ever. The Livermore Valley Wine Heritage District functions as one of the spokes in the wheel that helps sustain our wine country.

It connects marketing, events, and visitor engagement in a way that introduces people to the story in the history of Livermore Valley wine country. It allows and encourages them to the wineries, vineyards, and businesses throughout our valley. This partnered with plans in the works to enhance the Vasco Row expansion, to increase the gateway and winery signage, the additional funding and support for the sewer expansion, the support and funding for additional lodging, and the commitment to strategic and collaborative marketing ensure a strong vehicle for us to be a major wine country destination for the Bay Area and beyond. Having all this in balance strengthens the entire economic ecosystem, from growers and winemakers to restaurants, hospitality, and small businesses that depend on wine tourism. It also reinforce reinforces the connection between us and the city of Livermore and the agricultural heritage that surrounds it.

Renewing this highly successful program means continuing to invest in the long term sustainability and visibility of Livermore Valley wine country, especially during a challenging period. I respectfully encourage the council to support our renewal request of the Livermore Valley Wine Heritage District and help ensure that our wine country continues to thrive for years to come. Thank you for considering.

Thank you. And by the way, congratulations on the remarkable celebration of women winemakers and chefs. That was that was truly a remarkable evening.

Thank you. It was a fantastic event. Thank you. I have a speaker card for Bob Bruitt. You already spoke. Okay. Thank you. The next speaker is Carl Wente.

Mister mayor, city council, as always, thank you to those that served in this experiment and those who put on a bulletproof vest to go to work. We salute you. Those that protect first responders, we salute you. The staff, the city of Livermore, thank you all for what you do. Continue to do open government of the people by the people and for the people.

I'm the vice president of the Growers Association. I've had the Growers Association and that which covers the Heritage District as well. I think very importantly that I haven't heard before, but I think it's evident, is just the impeccable integrity of governance that we have all the way through that system to make sure that we are representing ourselves well and that you all can vote with great confidence that we are doing the right things for the health and ongoing sustainability of Livermore Valley wine country. So I salute you all in advance. I wanna echo to mister Cardwell for leaning in and how are we gonna go.

To mister Ross, thank you so much as to how you're looking at how we can have this industry thrive and go on. Think what we're seeing out of other regions following this model as a great example is the best kind of compliment that we could have. So we were early out in it, and this wouldn't have worked without Brandi Attington and the leadership she's bringing to the table, the collaborative nature of how she shows up for this because it takes a village. Mister Ken Wong, I salute you for being chair coming up of of the association. Good on you, mister Pruitt, for how you're showing up.

Darcy Kent, who's been part of this and been awesome all the way through. Madam president, Gina Cardero, I'm not gonna be able to mention everybody because my mind's not working great right now, but all the names of the people that are I've been on the board that are serving to make our wine country the best place it could be. So I say thank you in advance for your consideration. It's well run. We are doing the best we can with the dollars to continue to promote this region.

Your citizenry has obviously spoken that their wine country is very important to them and the ongoing success we've seen through measure p. We've seen through the polling, seen through the things we have going forward. So thank you in advance for your consideration. Again, thanks to those that protect us. Thanks to those that are crazy enough to run for elected official in this in this world country, state, city as we go, but it only happens when you all show up. So thank you. Again, Brandy is doing a rocking job. Jenny, I should have mentioned you too. Thank you for what you got going. For all those people I forgot that you know you're doing as much as anybody, thank you as well.

There are no other speakers.

Okay. In that case, I'm going to, close the, consent calendar, comment period, bring it back to the, council. Any questions or comments? Customer branding.

Alright. Couple of things. First of all, this is a really packed consent calendar, so, a lot of really great things on here for anyone. I know sometimes we pass all of these, you know, just as a motion. They're not talked about.

There two are items I wanted to talk about really quickly. First of on the wine heritage district, I just wanna say, like, how awesome I think the work you guys have been doing is. It's an incredibly efficient organization too for the budget. Like, the dollars you're spending, administrative costs are relatively low compared to other organizations of its size. You're really spending the money directly on, you know, marketing, promotion, training, making sure our wine growers are the best they can possibly be and are really getting the recognition that they deserve.

For staff, I wanna thank you for working with the wine growers. They are an integral part of our community, an integral part of our culture. This is just one small part of our partnership, and so I continue to encourage staff. Like, the wine growers are one of the backbones, one of the the pillars of our community, and really doing all we can as a city to support them. This isn't the only thing, but it is one big thing.

The other item I wanted to talk about a little bit is 6.5 on the Microsoft license. I've been speaking with staff about this, I've had conversations with, mister Lee about it. And at this time, I am comfortable moving forward with the license for the five year recommendation. My conversations are we just really aren't in a place yet where we're ready to move forward on, open source software. However, I would like to continue that conversation with staff.

This is a five year window. I know things don't always move at the speed of you know, government doesn't always move at the speed people would most like it to move at. However, I I would like us to take this five year period to really examine deeper. Are there opportunities and options in the open source software? Because this is a large amount of money and not necessarily I I I agree with mister Lee, actually, that I don't know if we're necessarily getting services that are are not replaceable with a more affordable option.

I've started using actually LibreOffice just a little bit. I've realized I don't actually do as much word processing as I used to in my current role, but it it's very functional. It took a bit of a learning curve for me to figure out how to use it, but then it actually has proven to be more powerful and have more options. Mhmm. So I've I've quite enjoyed it actually as an option. I know there's a lot to consider in this. That's why I'm saying I'm kinda leading this off with we have five years now. Let's look at what we can do when this comes back up in, you know, four and a half years. Are there other options? So

thank you.

Alright. Any other, customer bring it to us?

Well, I in turn, I'm gonna speak on the 6.7, the wine. Yeah. I appreciate the wine industry. It's cornerstone of our area. And I do get it's when you drive out there and then all of sudden you see all these vineyards getting torn up, especially on Tesla, you know, they ripped all those vineyards out real quick. And it is sad, and I think it's a cornerstone and important part of our history here in Livermore and that we and we support it as best we can. And, the other thing is can I speak on 6.4? That wasn't sure.

6.4? Yes.

Okay. That's on so when I first started, I kept hating the word affordable, and it came up one time on very low. No one want to offer very low, you know, units. Now some of these developers are not doing the in lieu. They're straight going in offering units.

Right now, this on 6.4, they're offering 14 very low income units. So I I appreciate that the city or the developers are now instead of in loom funds, which lots of people didn't like because they weren't sure how the money was being spent. Now with the developers actually housing and building low income and affordable units, I think it's a good way to go. That's it.

Alright. Great. So to that question, somebody asked about the the fractional units and how those are accounted for. Do they round up? Do they round down? Does that move over to another another project?

Thank you, mayor. I'm Fran Earl. I'm the housing and human services manager. To answer your question, mayor, they do round. So if they're fractional units that are they're added up and then attributed to the lowest income unit. So in this case, the very low category got an additional unit.

Okay. No. It's just it we do make it up somewhere around.

Do make it up. Yes.

Great. Thank you. Councilman Dunbar.

I'll just add to echo what councilmember Branning was discussing on the licensing contract I expected mister Lee to appear, so thank you and keep at it. Like mister Branning or council member Branning, we're not in a position to move forward towards that just yet. I think mister Lee acknowledges that as well as well at this particular time. Take a look at the way that this licensing structure is done at the state level. It's a giant statewide contract that's bid down to lower groups, and that keeps the cost competitive. If there's a state level competitive contract for an open source, that would make it a lot easier for a lot of different cities to know that they have the security for local agencies to take this on going forward. Thank you.

Vice Mayer?

I'll be brief because I'm basically echoing what councilmembers Dunbar and Branning said. I I also would like to see us use the this five year period to consider open source software, and I'd like the idea of perhaps pilot letting a smaller piece of it as a test. And I wanted to thank all the wine grower folks who are in the room tonight. I know wine growers start their days very early, so I appreciate you being here in the evening. And I agree that what the wine heritage district has done in marketing and promoting our wineries has pound for pound been one of the most effective uses of money that I've seen.

And I'm constantly reading about Livermore wine, and I almost anytime there's an article about wine now were mentioned and the success of our wines and competitions and all of that is really exciting to see. And in these challenging times, this this is needed more than ever, and I really appreciate the work you all do and put in on your own time outside of what you already do with your own businesses. So thank you so much.

Just one other quest quick question. I know that some cities, the requirement to maintain affordability is limited to five years. At what how long of a window do we have requirement to maintain affordability? I'm talking about six point four.

Mister mayor, Paul Spence, your assistant city manager. Fifty five years is the requirement here.

Okay. Thank you very much. Because, you know, some of the jurisdictions, somebody hits the they they hit the lottery. They got an affordable unit, and they can sell it at market rate in five years. The fact that we maintain it for fifty five years, that's that's great.

That it continues to serve the community. And also, back to the Wine Heritage District, it's working because at the San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition, we took 239 medals. So we have certainly ramped up the quality and the the quality of the grapes and the the wines that we're producing. So it's obviously working. So congratulations to everybody on making all that happen. Okay. Any further comments or questions on the consent calendar? Okay. I'll accept a motion for the the balance of the consent.

I'll move the balance of consent.

Okay. Moved by council member Branning.

I'll second.

Seconded by council member Dunbar. Any discussion on the motion? All in favor?

Aye.

Any opposed? Abstentions have passed unanimously. Thank you. Moving on to public hearing. This is a tax equity and fiscal responsibility act. This is a TEFRA hearing and resolution for the re reissuance and amendment to bond documents for the financing of the 250 unit multifamily rental housing project known as Heritage Estates.

Honorable mayor Marsham and members of the city council, this is your city manager, Mariana Birch. Item 7.1 is going to be presented by Eric Pearson, finance manager. Thank you.

Good evening, mayor and members of city council. My name is Eric Peterson, your finance manager. Tonight, the city is holding a TEFRA public hearing regarding the reissuance of bonds related to the existing and completed Heritage Estates affordable housing project. In 2005, the city's former redevelopment agency was the conduit issuer of tax exempt bonds that provided financing for Heritage Estates, a 250 unit affordable housing project. The borrower, Heritage Estates, is looking to amend the bonds, which cause a reissuance of bonds under federal tax rules, and this action requires a public hearing and city council approval.

This resolution before you has three main elements. One, conduct a TEFRA public hearing for the bonds to remain tax exempt. Two, approval of a supplemental indenture required because the city acts for the former redevelopment agency as a conduit issuer. Three, approval of subordination agreements to confirm that a loan made to the project by the redevelopment agency in 2002 will stay subordinated to the bonds. As the conduit issuer, the city is not liable to repay the bonds.

Staff recommends that the city council conduct a TEFRA public hearing regarding the reissuance of multifamily housing revenue refunding bonds to refinance the original bonds used for the acquisition and construction of Heritage Estates and adopt a resolution approving the reissue reissuance of the bonds, the amendment of the documents relating to the bonds, and other related agreements and actions. Once again, as the con as a conduit issuer, the city is not liable to repay the bonds. Thank you. Staff is available for questions.

Okay. Any questions for staff? Do we have any public comment?

We have two public comments. The first is Jenny.

I think that was for that might have been for the, for consent.

We have one Alan Marling.

Mayor and council members, it sounds this sounds complex to me, but it is important that we have affordable housing and a way to pay for it. So please do consider this motion carefully and approve it. I and I and other speakers today have had the good fortune of already having housing in Livermore. My work in is also in the Tri Valley, and my commute is only fifteen minutes. My coworker is not so lucky. She lives outside the Tri Valley and has to commute an hour and a half. She's at the mercy of traffic and sometimes will arrive late. We work in a health field. When she arrives late, the team suffers and treatment suffers. When she arrives tired, the team suffers and treatment suffers.

If she arrives frustrated because she spends her free time in congestion rather than sleeping, relaxing with her family, then the team suffers and treatment suffers. Affordable housing and housing writ large helps everyone, both workers and current residents who depend on that work. Also, my my coworker is a person of color. Minorities disproportionately benefit from affordable housing, and it is also a matter of racial justice. On the subject of affordable housing, I was shocked but not surprised that Jean King opposed item 6.3 on the consent calendar because it didn't have enough affordable housing or so she says.

But with curious frequency, Jean King finds a reason to oppose development needed by the city. And if she truly cared about affordable housing or social and racial justice, Jean King, you would not have bankrolled campaigns and lawsuit to oppose Eden Housing. Jean King, I want you to hear me when I say your hypocrisy is detestable, and your obstruction is harmful, fascist, and racist. Thank you.

We have no additional speakers.

Okay. In that case, I'm going to close the TEPRA public hearing and bring it back to the council. Questions or comments from the council? Councilmember Dunbar?

Just a comment in in broad sense, just to note that although this was through bond structures and through the redevelopment agency, this is an example of a project where in do go to a specific use case where residents need special services, and having them in that group is very important. It is typically our policy that the units be distributed wherever possible, but there are use cases where those are very important. And given that we don't have redevelopment agencies anymore, this is one such example for this type of thing, not in this specific instance. But other than that, I don't have no further comments.

And this this was why redevelopment agencies were created, was to create affordable housing. And we've gone through protracted litigation over 130 units of affordable housing in our downtown, and this is a 103 units of affordable housing in our downtown. There was also is it I I was struck by the irony that when we were talking about the Cornerstone development, there was a significant amount of discussion about the stigma of this affordable housing in this development north of the freeway. And yet, we have had a 103 units of affordable housing in our downtown as part of Heritage Estates, and nobody's had any stigma about that. It's an opportunity where seniors are able to stay in our community and to continue to be a resource.

So I think this type of development is extraordinary. It's extraordinarily valuable to our community, and I wholeheartedly support this. And as I said, this was why we created development why redevelopment agencies were created. So with that, I'd be willing to entertain a motion if there's no further discussion. Moved by council member Varientos.

For the staff recommendation, yes.

Yes. Second. Council member Dunbar. Any discussion on the motion? All in favor?

Aye. Aye. Aye.

Any opposed? Abstentions? It passed unanimously. Thank you very much. K. Moving on to matters for consideration. There are none. Council reports and matters initiated.

Councilor Dunbar. My report's in the staff report. I've been watching a lot of very excellent live music, around Livermore these days. Go out and support as the weather is good. Okay. Very

good. Councilor Branning.

Yeah. So I've had a very busy couple of weeks, although it's not reflected in the supplemental material because most of it was from my day job. I will start with was able to go to the Muslim community center for their community iftar last weekend. This is open to, everyone. They do events multiple times a year.

If anyone is curious or would like to learn more, please contact them. It's a wonderful organization, and they're just really great with the community. I do wanna say also just for, you know, people who are watching. Today, Dublin teachers went on strike for the first time in, I believe, forty four years, give or take. There's, you know, a lot of issues when teachers go on strike.

It is really a challenge for the community, and for the teachers. Our educators are doing everything they can to serve our students in Livermore, Pleasanton, and Dublin. There have been really contentious contract negotiations. And while this isn't directly part of the city's responsibility, I do wanna say as a city, you know, or at least myself I will speak for myself in supporting, you know, our educators. And could Livermore ever find ourselves in a situation where our teachers do end up unfortunately going on strike?

I'd like us to consider that as a possibility, and what are some of the options we could have for supporting the students, and educators who are displaced during that time. Childcare becomes a major issue during a, work stoppage. And so I think there might be opportunities where if, you know, that unfortunate event does ever happen in our city, we could stand in solidarity with our educators. And if you are, you know, someone who will be in Dublin anytime tomorrow, do bring water, snacks, to our educators. They're out there working hard and really doing their best to serve their students. Thank you.

Thank you. Councilor Berrantos.

Because a lot of things I I don't report because I'm on Lions Club. I'm not sure you know that. We had a big fundraiser this weekend, and, like, I had a guest buyer, Bob Carning, came by and purchased a bucket of cioppino.

It's really good.

And then my wrestling program's over, so I'm done till next November.

Very good.

I

went to a lot of things, but I just wanted to bring up a couple of events. One is mayor Marshawn and I joined Livermore Valley Chamber at the opening, the ribbon cutting for Imperial Dade, which is a distribution supercenter. It's 300,000 square feet in Livermore, and it's really awesome, and we're so happy they're here in our community. And then I just wanna mention that part of the reason I've been so busy running around is this is a very spiritual and cultural time of year. Last time, I mentioned Black History Month and Lunar New Year, but I also attended I've attended two iftars so far for Ramadan, and there's Purim and Passover is coming up and Lent, and it it just feels very spiritual all around.

And I love that we can celebrate all of these events right here in Livermore and that communities immigrant communities and spiritual communities find ways to gather and celebrate and often have part of the time where they invite people who aren't part of the community to join them and and which is how I've been invited to IFTARS for multi ethnic, multi faith sort of events, and it's been really great. So happy holidays for all the people who are celebrating the various holidays going on right now.

Thank you. So some of the fun stuff, Livermore Downtown Inc had the Livermore half marathon last Sunday. Excuse me. And there were I got to the event about a half an hour before the event, and I found parking. This number the number one demand that we had heard from our voters, I found parking.

The new parking structure was open, and we had plenty of parking in the downtown. So we had 4,500 runners from over 30 states and as far away as The UK. So this is gonna be one of the most beautiful courses that they ever run, and so we're happy to support that. And then there was a big health fest in the downtown afterwards. The Hindu Community and Cultural Center had their annual grant in aid program where they gave funds to a lot of the nonprofits that do tremendous work throughout the community and around the world.

And we also attended the vice mayor Wong and I attended the groundbreaking the virtual groundbreaking for the new women's shelter for the Tri Valley Haven. So looking forward to that and the continued community support that we have for that. So with that, we'll be moving back. Yes. Council member Dunbar.

That, I just wanted to remark that a reminder that there is a phone app available where you can see exactly how many parking spaces that are all in all your garages before you leave.

Before you leave your house, you can get the So the app and find out where the ADA parking is, where the electric vehicle parking is, and where the general parking is. So with that, we're gonna be going back into closed session. Anybody wish to speak to the, closed session? Seeing none, meeting is adjourned. Alright.

I know all this stuff.