City Council - Regular Meeting

and the city council on success agency to redevelopment agency regular meeting court council chambers Thursday March 19th 2026 5:00 pm to order a roll call please council and agency member Miller here. Council and agency member Burks here. Council and agency member Garcia Arzola here. Mayor Pro Tim and Vice Chair Pacheo. Mayor and Chair Oglesby here. You do have a quorum.

Thank you so much. Uh we will have a um moment of silence and then I will ask the mayor prom to lead us in pledge allegiance if you would please. I aliance 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. We'll move to item number four which is the review of agenda. Mr. C manager, any additions or relations to the agenda?

Mayor, there no requested changes to the agenda.

Thank you. We'll next go to item number five which is public comment. Members of the public wishing to address the city council underneath the jurisdiction underneath matters underneath our jurisdiction may do so now for up to three minutes. We ask that you hold the comments on items that are on the agenda until that item is called. You will have three minutes. During that time, it's also the time to comment on presentation items. For the benefit of the uh public, it will be helpful if you state your name. Public comment is now open. Uh hello. Uh I'm someone that lives uh nearby Deéja Blue and I've been having noise issues with Deja Blue. Um it's not only me in a sense. Now uh Deja Blue has a use permit uh currently uh that was approved back in 2023. It has not been confirmed with me with legal documentation as of now, but supposedly it supersedes the municipal code. Now, one approach or solution is trying to amend the sound continuation part of the use permit to be closer to code 9.12.030 of noise ordinance or noise regulations and use of a code as the current one is currently useless for neighbors. Now, one of the key reasons when it came to approval um back in 2023 was that code enforcement has received no complaints regarding the operation of the nightclub since its opening. Um that is actually not really the case since I actually submitted back in 2021 and noise complaints uh to code enforcement and do have evidence of them trying to help me uh through email back in 2021. Now, my noise issue is primarily Friday and

Saturday nights, 9:00 p.m. to 1:30 a.m. with Deja Blue. 90% of it is actually not even to do with uh not necessarily to do with music. This is what I mean when I say music. Traditional instruments, concerts, for example, guitars, drums, singing, saxophone, and the electronic side would be radio playing songs. These are actually okay. And the acoustic phone that the business has absorbs those frequencies as well. What is not what is not absorbed well and I have issue with which is just supplemental to music playing is our bass. A low frequency sound that goes uh through windows and walls a lot easier as a thumping sound because they amplify it so much. This I find especially for night hours played to not be compatible with the area and doesn't let doesn't let us sleep until they stop. I have a video evidence for a sound meter that properly gets the actual bass when they play the bass and nights when they are closed for comparison that has already been done. Just like the acoustic film, my ear plugs cannot effectively block out the thumping sound. More than enough evidence consistently in 2025 has been submitted to the city, the code enforcement, city management uh documents, video evidences, etc. And it's not going to be stopping until the city intervenes. I would just like the uh city council's help with this. Thank you. Members of the public in the chamber, please approach the podium. Members of the public on Zoom, please use the raise your hand feature or dial star9 if you're calling from the phone.

Is this your tablet?

Good evening, honorable mayor, members of the city council, city attorney, and city manager. I'm Bobby Maxwell and I'm currently the president of the Police Activities League and I'd like to take this opportunity to extend an invitation to our end of the basketball season celebration at the Embassy Suites on April 10th at 5:00 p.m. the doors open. And I would also like to say thank you for allowing me to work with the youth of this community for all these years because as of now I'm I'm really feeling that this is going to be my last time uh up here representing PAL and inviting you to this event. So, I really do thank you, this council and past councils for allowing me to work with the youth because that's where my heart is is is with uh promoting the youth and showing them a a better path hopefully uh you know with collaboration with different entities and stuff like that. But I I just really want to thank you all. Appreciate Members of the public in the chamber, please approach the podium. Members of the public on Zoom, please use the raise your hand feature or dial star9 if you're calling from a phone. The caller ending in 2287. You now have the floor to make your public comment.

Can you hear me?

We can. Okay, thank you. Yes, city council mayor, uh, citizens of Seaside, this is Peter Kaiser, longtime resident. And, um, please give the city council wisdom. Help them to, uh, know the, uh, the guidance from God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and to follow the the wisdom and the truth from the Bible and their decisions. And of course, this is the middle of the 40 days for life to protect the most innocent, the freeborns in our city. So come and pray on Wednesday and Friday mornings if you can do to at Planned Parenthood on Hillby near Fremont. And u we hope that they'll they'll be uh protecting the lives of the freeborn in the city. And also we'll pray for the u the war going on in Iran that there would be a strong revival going on in Iran for the Iranian citizens that they would come to Jesus Christ and surrender and that they would um disarm and have no nuclear weapons and that they would uh do no more uh the government would be do no more terrorism around the Middle East especially against our allies. U in the Holy Land and there would be a long-term peace and we would sending our ships and our soldiers home hopefully in maybe a couple of weeks before Easter and also Lord um helped the straits of Hormuse to be open and get the flow of natural gas and uh petroleum to the uh destinations they need to have. And also um Lord help there to be uh uh this uh we have a presentation

uh coming up in a few minutes on climate activism and adaptation plan. make sure this has nothing to do with the agenda 21 or agenda 30 which is this UN climate alarmist plan or the Paris accords which have been overruled and discounted by this current administration and we want to make sure that uh we have lots of fossil fuels in the state of California and lots of u uh refineries that are opening up again. I just bought some diesel fuel that was $6.70 a gallon. So five gallons is like $35. We don't need to have this. And pass the uh the uh ruling going in the state of California legislature to maybe uh temporarily cut the tax, the 88 cents a gallon tax from California. and let's open up the uh pipelines uh back to California and not not bringing any uh gasoline or petroleum from other places. God bless you. Thank you.

Thank you for your comments. Members of the public in the chamber, please approach the podium. Members of the public on Zoom, please use the raise your hand feature or dial star9 if you're calling from a phone. Mayor, no other members of the public have come forward to make public comment. Uh, thank you. Public comment remains open.

Mayor, no other members of the public have come forward to make public comment. Thank you so much. Seeing no one hearing no one public comment is closed with item number six which is public agency communications 6A seaside city news broadcast and comments from the city manager or city manager.

Let's play the news. Let's dip into this week's edition of Seaside City News, covering more of the events happening this March. The city of Seaside is seeking community input to help guide priorities for the community social services grant program. This funding supports programs intended to strengthen youth outcomes, community well-being, and quality of life. Your responses will help inform program eligibility, funding priorities, and evaluation criteria for future grant cycles. Survey results are advisory and will be used to inform city council policy discussions. For more information, visit the City of Seaside homepage and click the survey link or scan the QR code. The Avery Gallery inside Seaside City Hall proudly presents this year's youth art competition. From March 11th through May 1st, the gallery will showcase the incredible creativity and talent of our community's young artists. Join us for a special reception on March 20th from 6:00 to 8:30 p.m. Enjoy an evening art viewing. Celebrate the artists and help us recognize participants as prizes and ribbons are awarded. Attention Seaside residents. On Wednesday, March 25th, the city will be performing important sewer repairs at the intersection of Broadway Avenue and Noa Street. During construction, the westbound lane of Broadway at Noena will be temporarily closed. Drivers can expect detours directing traffic down San Lucas Street and Olympia Avenue. The repairs are expected to take one day, but please note that final intersection

work could extend into Thursday the 26th. We thank you for your patience and encourage drivers to plan ahead. Stay tuned for more updates as we work to keep Seaside running smoothly. Get ready for a hopping good time, Seaside. It's time for the city of Seaside's annual Golden Egg Hunt. Join us on Saturday, April 4th from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. at the Ultimire Center. Bring the whole family out for a day of fun, prizes, and of course, plenty of eggs to find. Whether you're searching for the golden egg or enjoying the festivities, there's something for everyone. Don't miss this community favorite. Mark your calendars now and make it a day to remember. The Seaside Recreation Department invites you to a fun, family-friendly night at Laguna Grande for Movies in the Park on Friday, March 20th at 700 p.m. This month's feature is the live action version of Lilo and Stitch. So, bring your blankets, grab some snacks, and enjoy an evening of entertainment with friends and family. It's the perfect way to spend your Friday night, so don't miss out on the fun. Thursdays in Seaside means it's time for the Seaside Farmers Market at Laguna Grande Park. The spring market runs from 3:00 to 7:00 p.m. with box distribution happening from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. or until the boxes run out. Do you know someone in the community who shines bright? Because nominations for the Seaside Stars Awards are open until March 31st. This is your chance to recognize outstanding individuals who make a difference in the city of Seaside. Whether it's a dedicated volunteer, an inspiring leader, or a community champion, we want to hear about them. Submitting a nomination is easy. Just visit bit ly/seasidst stars and fill out the form. But don't wait too long. You only have until March 31st. Join FOSPA on Saturday, March 21st at Farion and Highlandot Parks and on the 28th at Lincoln Cunningham Park for a day of service and outdoor fun. For more information, including future workdays and locations, visit friends of seaside parks.org.

Attention residents, business owners, and local commuters. Here's your chance to learn about the future of Broadway Avenue. The city of Seaside Engineering team is hosting a special open house for the Broadway Avenue complete street corridor project. Join us Tuesday, March 24th from 6:00 to 9:00 p.m. at the Seaside Fire Station at 1635 Broadway Avenue. This important project will transform Broadway Avenue between Fremont Boulevard and General Gymlore Boulevard beginning in fall 2026. Planned improvements include new roundabouts, dedicated bike lanes, and enhanced roadway features designed to improve safety, accessibility, and traffic flow for everyone. Stop by to learn more about the project details, construction timeline, and how these upgrades will benefit our community. City engineers will be available to answer your questions and gather your feedback. The open house is free and open to the public Tuesday, March 24th from 6:00 to 9:00 p.m. at the Seaside Fire Station. We appreciate you tuning in to Seaside City News where we work to include, innovate, and inspire. We'll be back with more exciting events to share with you this April. Until then, be safe, live fully, and enjoy all our city has to offer. Thank you, Seaside. Just a few additional updates. Uh this week, the police parking lot rehabilitation project is nearing completion. We have our uh security fence installed, awaiting uh the final gates uh for completion of that project. And then lastly, I want to reiterate our community social services grant survey is available. Uh please take a minute, scan the QR code or follow the link. Uh that survey will be open until the end of the month. We have implemented some new survey technology that hopefully uh makes that a little user friendly and a fun process for people that we uh intend to use that technology moving forward in

our community engagement efforts. And that's it at this time. Thank you. Now we'll move on to item number 77A, update on the climate action and adaptation plan. Uh Mr. city manager. We will hear a update on our climate action and adaptation plan by senior planner Beth Brook.

Hello, mayor. Hello, city council uh colleagues and community. Here to provide an update on what's happened since last summer when the council adopted the climate action plan. But before we talk about where we're at now and what we're going to do moving forward, I just wanted to provide this slide as a reminder of what has been done. Going back to 2017 and in looking at all the details on this slide, it gives you a comprehensive overview of commitments, policy actions, and investments that the council has made. Uh concrete items, some symbolic, but mostly involving real change and action. um leading the community towards making impactful change as well as our responsibility as a neighbor to the Monterey Bay Sanctuary. And another reminder of what the CAP is essentially it's a policy framework and implementation guide. Um we were fortunate at the time that it was being developed that it came on the heels of a lot of other long range documents being approved and adopted by the council. general plan 20 240, the park and wreck master plan, capital improvement program which is updated more frequently as well as the council strategic plan. So in developing this plan, things were looked at from a very current lens where all relevant items in other plans are aligned so that we're capitalizing on the momentum that we have and moving a lot of other of the city goals forward. there are uh specifically 42 mitigation strategies and 39 adaptation strategies. And what we're looking at in terms of the implementation of that plan, like I said, it's similar to a lot of long range documents, um starting off with phases. And even though phase one is going to happen first, phase one will not come to completion before a phase 2 starts. So there's going to be a lot of overlap and things are going to be

chipped away at at various uh paces and stages. As a reminder of what was presented when this was adopted by the council, uh full implementation of the cap, like any long range document, is going to take about 15 to 20 years. and then staff in collaboration with the environmental commission which reconvened more recently in September um will be moving forward certain initiatives and we're going to cover those um next and some of these items you'll recognize as things being items that you've taken action on already. So looking at the urban greening and tree planting initiatives. Um this covers something a little bit more new as well as a program that's been in effect since 2023 with the residential tree giveaway program. Both of these items when you think about um planting trees, what does that do? On the surface level, people know most of the benefits, the shade and the greenery, mental health benefits associated with that. Um but on a very simple biological level of what a tree is doing is it's sequestering carbon. That means it's taking our pollution out of the air. It's taking it in. It's using it in its biological functions and it's holding on to that and then it's releasing oxygen in response to that. So they hold on to it that it is their building block of their life. Um so a little bit more detail on those two items. UGT1 as far as what council has done to support this so far. Fiscal year 2425 dedicated $4,500 towards that uh earmarked force FOSPA to spend in the parks. The Friends of Seaside Parks Association uh to date they have taken some of that funding approximately half and they've planted 45 native and fruit trees as well as 180 treelike shrubs. And moving on to details of the residential uh program council supported

since 2023. 49 trees were planted in the first year. A goal of 100 trees was met in 2025 and we're very near to that with 80 applications submitted already. Um all of this information uh has been kept in various places and what we now need to do with it being an official measure of the cap is gather it, refine it and quantify it into uh carbon emission savings. So once we have a little bit more of that data refined, we'll be able to do that. Um and a thank you to the community who has participated in this and making a successful program. uh applications are still open and if you just go to the city's website and you add a forward slash42 and then a forward slashparks that will take you to the application. They say the best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. Um second best time is now. So if the community continues to support this it will be a very good thing. Two other strategies that are new that staff is implementing um have to do with water saving measures. We see that somewhat in policy with the ADU program and the retrofits that are required of people in order to receive an allocation from the city. That will continue as well as us giving information to the public at very critical times that they come to us. somebody's applying for a building permit, it might be a strategic time to provide them with information that if they do may be one more simple step that they can make a decision that ends up saving them money in the long term. Two more measures related to that also are recycled water and drought tolerant landscaping. We'll see the drought tolerant landscaping appear in new policy with the form book base code updates that planning is currently working on and MPWMD being our water partner in some regards our regulator um has a turf replacement

program. So we're continuing to push out information and rebates and incentives that are available through other local agencies. That brings us to six that we're implementing at this level. And if we go out a bit further, it's not being it's all good. Um multi-jurisdictional and regional collaborations. Um these next two items are being handled by the engineering department. And in addition to these two, there's about seven other uh adaptation and mitigation strategies that they're chipping away at, but aren't at the point yet of presenting information to you for uh true progress. but they're handling a lot of of work. The first is resilience center funding. This is a collaboration with Amag CC REN um looking at backup energy system equipment as well as cooling systems and they're in the planning stages of this. So, you know, when the state requires something to be done or has a certain level of concern, there's most likely going to be funding associated with the planning level of things. When implementation comes to play, it's a whole different game. Um but resiliency centers are essentially places where the community can go at times of uh environmental stressors or emergencies or anything that might uh impact a group of people in the community. Uh place where our community already gathers is the older Meyer Center. that could be and very likely is the site that's being looked at for these potential um planning explorations as well as the potential um of getting future funding to do those. And then the next item that they're working on um through 3CE who hired a subconsultant to assist them is the plan your fleet program. Again, a state law requiring 100% of light duty, but what we're focusing on is mid duty

to large vehicles in the city fleet with EVs by 2035. So, relatively short time frame. Um, but again, in the planning stages of this and benefiting from what's available locally in terms of support and expertise without impacting the city's budget too much. As far as potential collaborations go on, um there's a group called the regional climate project working group. They formed definitely more than a year ago. We've been attending both planning engine and engineering as um guests to their meetings. Um more recently planning and engineering attended about a half day session with them on the progress that they're making. what their belief is is that we're an area, a region that has similar impacts even though on the municipal scale we're dealing with very different things, but regionally if we don't address the regional impact, um if our neighbors have things going sideways and we don't, it's very not likely to be the case, but we're all going to be impacted no matter what. Um the idea as well is that if we come together then applications for grants are going to be more attractive because it's going to have a larger benefit and impact towards change. And then as far as next steps go, we're going to finalize the implementation of phase one measures. I will be going back to the EC on a regular basis um to talk to them about what they recommend bringing forth. Some of those items may not require any budget. Um, some of those items at times will require budget which then we'll return to you at that time. We'll continue to track the progress being made by other departments and we'll return to you whenever you want to update but maybe it will be annual, maybe it will be more frequent. That concludes my presentation.

Uh, thank you so much for that wonderful update. Are there any questions? Council member Garcia, thank you for the presentation. on on slide six for the regional climate project working group. It says that since 2022 they've received $33 million in grants. What is the process for the municipalities to acquire that funding or or or how does the dispersement of the grant funding work? Uh you have to be a member of the group. Uh there's a sliding scale to become a member. Um we do have a list that we can share with you if you're all curious to see what that funding has been for. One that comes to mind was one for EV chargers, which of course on the federal level a lot of things got halted. Um, but a lot of local cities received that.

And that was sort of my next question as well. Has have the federal uh tendencies hindered the ability for us to secure some of these grants or really implement is that one of the reasons why we're we're not fully implementing phase one?

Uh phase one is being fully implemented. I would say, you know, the goal in the plan was three to five measures. We're moving forward with six. Engineering is working on two in addition to that as well as seven that they're kind of dipping their feet in the water with. So things are moving um beyond what we thought we would. If we're talking about 15 to 20 years for 80 measures, you know, let's do some math and we'll see that we're a little bit ahead in terms of implementation.

Yeah. Awesome. And then on slide 10, phase one, implementation strategies, water saving measures. Um, the water efficient appliance and fixtures. That's a really that that really caught my my attention. And I guess where I want to go with this question is I I know you said if someone's remodeling their home or doing upgrades or or doing construction, we that would be an opportunity for us to offer this type of program or or talk about this program. What is the have have we talked about really honing in on on our low-inccome constituency and and and our middle income constituency as well? Can they benefit from this program? Is is there going to be a different set of outreach or I I hope

No, I got you. I think it's a a different layer of involvement with those mostly being properties that are being rented and managed by owners, right? So there has to be some strategy with communications on who we connect with. Um it's a little bit more complex. Yeah. Okay. But the conversations have been have like have conversations been had around how we might address that or not really. And it's fine if not like I I just I'm just curious.

Uh not at this point. This at this point we're in theformational stage of working with for example like our building official on uh finalizing handouts on rainwater collection systems and graywater systems because permits are and aren't required for some or maybe if you're doing a re- roof it's opportune time to think about your roof water collection system. That's awesome. Um and then I know you said 49 trees were planted in the first year of the program and then we had 100 trees in 2025. That's that's that's a it's a 50% jump. Um was that due to more outreach or just um what was that attributed to?

I know that there was a survey done at a certain point. I know that you know the people who are going to be aware to take that up on the first year are going to probably be the people who are more aware of just being involved in what the city is doing. And then word of mouth.

Okay. I I I really like this. I think when when when the idea was planted of a climate action adaptation plan, there was some concerns of what that might look like or or is this a viable option? Will we have anything substantive out of this? And I think what we're seeing here is uh a clear description of the good that we're doing in our community and how we're really leading as a city and and the fact that you all are taking a regional approach to this as well in collaboration with key agencies and really utilizing our resources. To me, that that that shows how effective and how forward thinking our staff is. So I I just want to commend you all those who've worked with you and and city manager as well for for helping us with navigate this as well. So thank you.

Uh anyone else I had a couple questions. Can you go back to I don't know slides. What is it 16 maybe? Yeah. Is there 16? Yeah. Yeah. Who's all in that the the collaborative that membership? Is that all the entities right there? Uh I believe so. Is it is it closed for some reason? I mean what why are we taking notice of them? Have we received any grants from this group or anything like that?

Uh they've looped us in on a lot of communications. I think that's how they get people involved is by inviting them to their events and making us aware of what they're doing on a regional level and whether or not that piqus our interest and whether or not we feel like that could be a good return on investment is a whole other discussion to have. Okay. I as far as I didn't understand that I didn't get the question was have we received any money from that collaborative? Of course not. I don't what do you mean of course not

we're not uh part of the group so we would have no financial benefit associated with anything that that group would have applied for and received. Okay. So why are we highlighting them then? I don't think we're highlighting them. I think the presentation went from being zoomed into what we're doing on a staff level and then it zoomed out a little bit more to what engineering's collaborating on with other um partners in the community and then this is a potential future collaboration should we decide to become part of it.

Okay. Yeah. Uh same manager what are your thoughts? What's what's going on here? Yeah, we could we could look at uh the financial uh benefits and and and and drawbacks to being a member of this if we want to take a look at the funding sources, right? I'm not I'm not necessarily suggesting I'm trying to figure out we have our own plan. So, I was just wondering, you know, that group is doing at a regional level and so are we tracking with them? Are we working with them or is that the goal to get to get within that group or we're just going to I believe we're tracking with them. I think we need to discuss the the financial piece of the of becoming a member and what that would entail. And at this time, I don't have that information.

Okay. All right. Thanks. Uh thank you so much. Let's go on to uh the consent. Oh, my last question was I guess is for you. The last point was uh return to council provide an annual update. That seems quite quite like a long time. Is nothing going to change? There's, you know, is there any significant actions being taken place within that time that we don't need to know about? We don't need to hear about. It's just

No, I think staff staff said we're we're doing a lot of efforts in that and and certainly we can provide an update to council on the frequency and cadence that you desire.

Okay. All right. We'll go to item number eight, consent agenda. 8. A approve minutes for March 5th, 2026 regular meeting. B approve and file city checks. C approve and file success agency checks. D. adopt a resolution uh approving a proclamation recognizing April 2024, 2026 as Arbor Day and raise the Arbor flag from April 24th through the 30th, 2026. E approve appointments to the city commissions. F approve a mayor's youth fund contribution request of $3,000 from the Monterey Peninsula Unified School District to assist with the cost associated with their 2026 MPUSD upcycle prom closet. G adopt a resolution authorizing the submission of active surface program grant application for ADA trails and abutment improvements to the San Pablo bridge. H adopt a resolution authorizing the submission of the regional surface transportation program grant application for the co avenue and general Jmore boulevard and seaside middle school intersection improvement project. I adopt a resolution authorizing the purchase and installation of a two to fiveyear-old playground equipment at Lincoln Cunningham Park from Spec Play for 165,778.77 plus a 10% contingency for a total amount not to exceed $182,356.65.

J adopt a resolution approving the specifications for the 2026 pavement improvement on call contract awarding construction contracts to the two lowest responsive responsible biders non-shaping company Inc. and QA Construction Contractors Inc. and authorizing an annual not to exceed funding limit of $2 million. That concludes the reading of the consent agenda. Is there any items anyone would like to pull off the consent agenda? A

uh A was pulled off the consent agenda. All of the items. Is there any item from the public would like to hold off the consent agenda? Hearing none, Tina. Okay. Bringing it back to the council. What is the will of the council? Like to approve the consent agenda. Second. It's been properly moved and second. Uh, are there a public comment on approval of the consent agenda?

Members of the public in the chamber, please approach the podium. Members of the public on Zoom, please use the raise your hand feature or dial star9 if you're calling from the phone. Hello, my name is Malika Velasquez and you guys know me as a commissioner on the SEESAT commission, but I also serve on the Monterey Peninsula Unified Monterey Peninsula Unified School District School Board and I also am the one that started the upcycled prom closet for MPSD. Um, this was our third year. Each year it has gotten bigger and bigger. Um and we are actually at a point now where we actually are having sponsors and we are are actually receiving donations and um starting to gather uh an abundance of clothing uh for the students including male or male students which has been um something that has been very hard since the beginning because when most people think of a prom drive they think of gowns and dresses and cocktail dresses but they rarely think of tuxedos and suits. And so, um, this year our goal was to increase the amount of that clothing for those students choosing to wear those items. And, um, with the generous donation from the city, um, we have now been able to do that. Um, we've been able to honor some very distur uh, well-deserving students, um, in regards to tuxedo rentals. And also we have a student that um earned himself a fullbride scholarship to Princeton University and so he will actually have a tailored suit um because of his work. Um and then also of course uh we were able to do um some more clothing in regards to just in general for the um donation. So, um, from myself and NPOSD, we would like to thank the city of

Seaside. And I actually went ahead and got a gift, um, for you guys because I just wanted to do that. Um, I know it's a bit presumptuous, but you guys really came through for us. And so, um, I have a plaque for, uh, the mayor and city of Seaside, um, with our greatest appreciation presented to Mayor Ian Oglesby and the city of Seaside. And then for our thank you, it says, "We would like to thank you. Thank the city of Seaside for your support of our 2026 MPSD upcycled prom closet. Our event would not have been a success without your participation. Your contribution directly benefited students at Monterey, Seaside, Marina, and Central Coast High Schools. We are so grateful for your support and hope to continue working with you in the future.

Thank you. One of you, one of you, one of you. Wow. Take a look.

Thank you. I I'll just Well, okay. just on behalf of the the council, we want to say thank you and what you do in the community to to make sure our kids feel special and welcome for their prop, you know, their special day of the year, doing all the work to get to where they're at. And so, I want to thank the city manager and and and Mr. uh Mis right here, D Mus, assistant city manager, for acting and responding so quickly. But if it wasn't for you and your leadership by telling the community, we need help, we couldn't have respond. So on behalf of the council and the residents want to say thank you for all what you do to make that special day for those kids.

Yes, it's you know everyone in here knows these kids are our hearts and you know we have a lot of students that are unhoused foster and come from low-income families and certain things um you know that have to do with schooling in regards to prom and you know grad night and other things. a lot of families, you know, are, you know, they're going through hardships and so that's why we do this prom drive to make sure that everyone can participate and then make it affordable for all students. So, thank you. Yes. Thank you.

Of the public in the chamber, please approach the podium. Members of the public on Zoom, please use the raise your hand feature or dial star9 if you're calling from the phone. Diane Nielsen, you now have the floor to make your public comment. Thank you. This is Diane Nielsen. Good evening, city council. I I hope this is appropriate. I tried to raise my hand to have the Arbor Day flag um uh item. I wanted to make a comment on that. It's it and if I can right now. Can I do that?

Go ahead.

Okay. I wanted to thank you for continuing to raise the flag for Arbor Day and uh showing support for the vitality of our our physical, mental health and community health uh that trees provide and I appreciate you know knowing the importance of that. I also wanted to know if there is a way that you could publish or let the public know what the uh public works department is going to do to plant trees this I forget which Friday it is maybe the 29th or 30th I don't know what the usually it's on a Friday that they plant trees and if you can let the public know they might want to stop by and watch that. And those are my comments. Thank you very much. Thank you for your comments. Members of the public in the chamber, please approach the podium. Members of the public on Zoom, please use the raise your hand feature or dial star9 if you're calling from the phone. Mayor, no members of the public have come forward to make public comment.

Thank you so much. See no one here, no one else. Public comment is closed. Uh on the question, all those in favor of passing the consent agenda say I. I. Have the same right. Abstensions hear none. Eyes have it. Motion carried. We go to item number 8A. Approval of the minutes from March 5th, 2026 regular meeting. Uh, Council Member Miller.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Dominic, is it possible to pull up the proposed including minutes? Thank you, Dominique. Uh, if you look on page one, it accurately scroll up just a little bit. It accurately demonstrates that four council members were present. One council member was absent, council member Burks was absent. Now, if you scroll down to the fourth page on the first vote, which is the vote on the consent agenda, item seven, it says there eyes four council members, nose, one council member Burks. And then it says absent none. And I believe that might be a clerical error. I'm willing to still um I guess my question is is can that be fixed now or does it need to be on a future agenda to be fixed? But I don't think this accurately demonstrates the correct vote. Um unless I don't know it's council member Burke's position to vote no there. I was I'm not sure but she was absent. So I just wanted to clarify clarify that.

Okay. Yeah. That was a that was a typo. Period. Period. That's it. Okay. All right. Uh and then uh anyone else had anything on on this one on amendments? I do do have something. I think we also were in the process of of of the uh proclamation. Did you want to say anything? Council member Garcier. I I did. I I if I'm not mistaken, we approved the proclamation recognizing Caesar Travis. Yeah. I I just want to make sure you establish that, but I I spoke to the city clerk earlier. I did not sign the proclamation, so it could be changed. Perfect. without any issue. Okay.

If if you amend it uh today. Yeah. Uh that was one of the things I wanted to do. Um see if we are able to just change the name. I know the state legislature is talking about considering it farm workers day instead of Caesar Chavez Day in light of the recent events that have transpired. Um, and I think it would be nice considering city hall will be closed and to let the community know where we um where we stand and why we're closed, which would be changing the name to Farm Workers Day.

All right. And I'll just check with the city attorney and see uh the proper path to make sure that's successful either today or later. Uh, yes. Um it's I I wouldn't do it here on the minutes actually. Um proclamations can be changed after the fact and we can make that change based on council direction and city clerk can do that. Well, in a minute they would say it, but how will we do it in practice?

Correct. Correct. So, we need to make some statement

you you can do it in these minutes. So today there will be a a discussion of on the consent agenda and that will be noted in the minutes for um today's minutes. You're available then? I are you comfortable with that? Um, okay. So, that is uh as we as we had a discussion fully about the minutes, we had the correction. Uh, I think we'll take it out to the public to see if there's any more.

Members of the public in the chamber, please approach the podium. Members of the public on Zoom, please use the raise your hand feature or dial star9 if you're calling from a phone. So, uh, just for clarification, so we're talking about Caesar Chavez day. We're changing it. Is that what this is about? Okay. Well, my name is Mel Mason. I think as most people know, I a new Caesar Chavez and I work with the United Farm Workers Union for quite a few years. And so this has been uh devastating uh certainly for me and for a number of other people as well. Um at the village project for instance, we started uh celebrating that day even before it became a state holiday and what we're discussing now is what we're going to change that too. Um, we still want to do things like give folks time off, but I think the um farmworker uh um change in using that name I think is is really appropriate because the one thing that I and others had to come to grips with is the fact that um a movement is bigger than one person. And so it this was about farm workers. It wasn't about Caesar. It was about farm workers. Of course, he was identified as the leader, you know, as at that time he should have been, but it's really about those workers. And so, um, while I'm still wanting to see a a celebration on on on that day and and there's a possibility that that could be moved as well because March 31st is his birthday. But for right now and I think because of the immediacy um that if we could just um say you know farm work a day, you know, I think that that would be really really appropriate and certainly something that all of us I think could support.

Members of the public in the chamber, please approach the podium. Members of the public on Zoom, please use the raise your hand feature or dial star9 if you're calling from a phone. Mayor, no other members of the public have come forward to make public comment. Thank you so much. I see no one here. No one else public comments closed. Uh on a question or or what is the will of the council? Just can I make a question or

Yeah, you can you can ask a question. Can we be real clear that it's going to at this meeting say council I mean staff will go back and make the change to farm workers day so it's upfront and and personal yeah now so it's heard loud and clear yeah the thing is I will sign a proclamation on behalf of the city and it'll say farm workers day thank you sir thank you thank you. Um, okay. All right. Uh, we need looking for a motion to pass the the minutes.

I'll make a motion to approve with the corrections. Uh, it says that she was uh knows several times throughout the minutes. So, that's corrected and the park stays corrected. Then I move to approve. Second. Yeah.

Uh, yeah. It's we got the corrections. like you know city worker I mean city worker city cl city city clerk is a very hard worker uh those are uh just uh u so-called clerical errors uh council member uh Burks was not here uh and then I would just ask all council members uh those type of clerical errors if we could just let the city clerk know they could be corrected uh before we get to the meeting. Uh but that's definitely why you have 30 days to adopt the meeting the minutes at the next meeting so to speak. That's the whole reason. So we thank you for highlighting and making those corrections. Uh um bring them to our knowledge. Council member Miller. Uh been properly moved and second. All those in favor of sound by I

nays have same right abstensions. Eyes have a motion carried unanimously with uh Council Member Burks here. That concludes the consent agenda. Let's move on to item number nine, which is public hearing. received recommendations from the homeless commission and adopt funding allocations for community development block grant public service programs, public facilities and infrastructural projects for fiscal year 2026, 2027 and 2027 2028. Mr. City Manager.

Yes. Thank you, Mayor. Tonight we'll hear a presentation from Harun Nori, administrative analyst, too. And I'm sure Andy Mrick will also have something. Our housing planning manager. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. City Manager. Uh, good evening, honorable mayor, um, council members, staff, and members of the public. My name is Haron Nori, and I serve as the administrative analyst for the community development block grant program. Um the purpose of tonight's item is for council to receive homeless the homeless commission's recommendation um regarding CDBG funding allocations for fiscal year um 2627 and 2728 and to provide direction to staff moving forward. to start with a quick overview. Um, CDBG is a federal program administered by the US Department of Housing and Urban Development or HUD and is funded through an annual allocation along with program income uh from the embassy suites landly agreement. Um any activity funded with CDBG funds must meet a n had national objective in align with the city's adopted consolidated plan for the CDBG program and it must primarily benefit um low and moderate income um seaside residents. Um also the c the uh city's program operates on a two-year funding cycle which helps with planning and implementation. And lastly, funding applications are solicited through a process called notice of funding availability or NOA. for the fiscal year 2628 uh funding cycle. The city issued a comprehensive notice of funding availability um or NOA on November 10th uh 2025 followed by a pre-proposal workshop intended for applicants on December 10th, 2025 with applications due on January 9, 2026 earlier this year. Um, in response to the NOA, the city received um nine public service uh program applications as well as four public facility and infrastructure project um applications.

And to briefly walk through the process, um following the application deadline, um city staff conducted an initial screening of all applications and determined that all um applications were eligible for further consideration. On February 4th, the homeless commission received presentations from each um of the applicant agencies to better understand proposed projects in uh public service programs. Following the February 4th meeting, the commission um um each uh commission member independently evaluated and scored each application. Um staff then tallied all scores and determined that all applications met the minimum required score of 70% to remain eligible. And finally, on March 4th, the homeless commission convened um another meeting to review the results and develop their funding recommendation for the city council. As far as funding availability for this cycle, the city is currently anticipating $581,000 for fiscal year 2627 um and approximately $500,000 for fiscal year 2728. These totals include the city's annual CDBG allocation, program income, and prior year funds um in the first year. Um I would like to note that the CDBG allocation amount noted on the slide is still an estimate as of today. HUD has not yet released the official allocation amounts. So these numbers may shift slightly once um finalized. This slide highlights um the key rules that guide how CDBG funds can be used under HUD regulations. Public services are optional, but if funded, they are capped at 15% of the city's entitlement and program uh income. For example, um if fully funded, um those amounts would be approximately $80,000 in fiscal year

2627 and 75,000 in 2728. Um next up, planning and administration, which is also an optional category. Um uh that is subject to a 20% cap um which would equate to approximately 116,000 in fiscal year 2627 and 100,000 in 2728. Should the city council allocate the full 20% to this category, the remaining funds can be used for public facilities and infrastructure which are not subject to a percentage cap. Some more information. Um HUD does not require the city to allocate funding across these three categories. However, the city has traditionally allocated CDBG funds across um these three categories to help maintain a balanced approach. Additionally, the city does not have does have flexib flexibility to prioritize city-led projects and programs as long as they meet CDBG ellegibility requirements and benefit low and moderate seaside residents. So, at its March 4th meeting, the homeless commission uh considered several funding allocation approaches presented by staff for public service programs. uh city staff presented three potential options which I'll walk through in the next few slides. However, this the commission ultimately recommended a fourth option which is a hybrid approach that combines elements um of the the two approaches presented by staff as far as public facilities and infrastructure as well as program administration which I'll again I'll cover in the next few slides. The commission generally supported staff's approach. This includes fully funding the public facility and infrastructure projects um and then applying the remaining balance towards program administration. This in the next two slides show the public service allocation options

presented to the homeless commission. This this first option is equal distribution which divides the available funding um the the available public service funding evenly among um um the nine public service applicants. This slide shows the second option under this rankbased approach. Higher scoring programs are funded first until um the available funds are exhausted. And this slide shows the third option score-based um under which funding is allocated based on each um program's evaluation score. Again, these were presented as tools to guide the commission's discussion and not as recommendations. This slide shows the homeless commission's recommended hybrid approach. Um as discussed in the previous um options, this approach combines elements of both the rank and scorebased uh methods. Under this approach, the two highest programs receive fixed funding um or the maximum funding of $12,000 per year while the remaining programs receive funding proportional um to their scores. And before I move on to the next slide, I would like to note that there was um um a formula um calculation issue. Um so my staff report um uh reflects slightly different values for the seven um applicants and I've since updated I just noted it noticed the issue with the numbers just right before the presentation, but this slide reflects the correct um dollar amounts for the seven um subreients. This slide shows the homeless commission's recommendation for public facility and infrastructure projects, namely the Boys and Girls Club um

clubhouse uh VRO project, Seaside Public Works um ADA curb ramps project in the improvements at the Genesis and Elm House um houses um uh by Community Human Services and improvements to the community kitchen by meals on wheels. Um, consistent with staff's approach, all projects um are recommended to be fully funded at their requested amounts. This slide shows the homeless commission's recommendation for planning and administration. Um, this category is funded last with the remaining balance applied here. Um, these funds support program planning and administration, oversight, compliance, environmental review, federal reporting, and other administrative costs such as software related. And this slide provides a summary of the recommended funding funding um, allocations across the three categories. As shown, public service programs are funded at the 15% um, HUD caps. uh public facilities and infrastructure received the majority of funding and the remaining balance is allocated toward planning uh program planning and administration. Since the actual CDPG allocation amount has not yet been finalized, the homeless commission also recommended a contingency approach consistent with HUD requirements for public services. The commission recommends adjusting funding amounts proportionally among all um applicants except meals on wheels in the village project. Um for public facilities and infrastructure, the commission recommends applying any necessary reductions to the ADA curb ramp project. And lastly, for program planning and administration, the commission recommends adjusting funding proportionately in the event of either an increase or decrease while remaining within the 20% cap.

This slide um outlines the next steps in the process. Following tonight's city council consideration and direction, staff will prepare an annual action plan and release it for a for a 30-day public review and comment period. After that um after the comment period and once HUD releases the final allocation, staff will return to council with the draft um action plan for adoption. The city will then submit um the annual action plan to HUD under HUD requirements. The plan must be submitted by May 15th or within 60 days of the allocation announcement. So, the recommendation tonight is uh for city council to receive the homeless commission's recommendation, approve CDBG funding allocations for fiscal years 2627 and 2728, and authorize staff to prepare the um annual action plan for fiscal year 2627 and make it available for a 30-day public review in comment period. And um and that concludes my presentation. And before I open it up for any questions, I would like to acknowledge um uh Miss Lisa Baker with uh Michael Baker International, the city CDBG consultant, who's in attendance, as well as Mr. Andrew Mrick, housing and program manager, um who's in attendance at the chamber. Uh will all be available to answer any questions. I also believe we have some applicants in attendance who may be able to assist with any program specific questions and I thank you for your um time.

Thank you so much for that wonderful and thorough report. Are there any questions? Uh, council, uh, Mayan, thank you. Um, this may be redundant, but I want to be really clear. Um, this is a competitive grant. Is that correct? That is correct. Uh, Mayor Protemp,

that's fine. Thank you. Um, in the CDBG public facilities program, to clarify, we are allowed to use funds for affordable housing, repairs to city facilities, improvement districts, and enhance a business district in the infrastructure program. Is that correct? It is correct that the city can use CDBG funds uh to support um housing rehabilitation programs. Um we do have a goal that supports those kinds of activities

affordable housing as well as I don't know repair the streets repair whatever I mean it's a broader than just streets I mean housing right like correct doing the roof if we want to do the roof at city hall we can use that one as a poor example but an example

not for government buildings but but yes any another residential home that is in need of repairs and the the person occupying or the household occupying that house is uh meets the income um limits. Uh yes uh repairs to repair such rehabilitation efforts can be funded with CDBG funds.

Well, we're allocating a lot of funds towards streets and I totally support it. what other kinds of projects internally could this program fund and I didn't want to go through but I am yes so we're doing streets we've done um other things within the city in the past sidewalks etc is there any other program areas that we can can do as our legally

well the the the current the the goals that are currently included in our consolidated plan uh one of which is preserve and maintain affordable housing. Um is again under that goal we could support housing related uh programs and um a viable program would be uh rehab um housing rehabilitation programs. I'm going to leave it there. Then uh the council can re recommend 100% or any per portion uh thereof to the city city of seaside infrastructure. Is that a true statement?

That is correct. As long as those projects meet the one of the national objectives as well as align with the consolidated plan uh objectives. If we do not have a goal supporting any of the activities, the city will have to amend the consolidated plan um and had will need to approve that.

No, and I'm totally good with following the guidelines set forth. I just make sure we can we have other opportunities. Um I believe you mentioned u in the contingency plan the recommend and I I was at the meeting as you well know um their recommendation was to cut streets in lie of the the other programs outside programs. Is that a true statement? That is correct. Um yeah, for right now that's all the questions. Thank you, sir.

Thank you so much. Anyone else? Council member Garcia. Thank you. Um Mr. Nori, uh just for clarification purposes, and I hate to do this to you, can you can you just summarize what the intention of a C DBG program is? like what is it used for? What is the main purpose of that funding that we receive?

So, um and again I might defer some of these questions to our consultant um because she might have better technical terms for it, but um any public service um CIP public um facility um project um that will benefit low and moderate seaside residents. So, so emphasis on the residents if I'm not mistaken. Correct. That is correct. Yes. Any any program, any project, um the outcome um has to result in benefiting low and moderate seaside residents.

And what happens if if we misuse any type of funds or direct them to something that even may look kind of iffy like this? Can can you just confirm that this set funding is supposed to be utilized for a set specific type of initiative?

That is correct. Yes. Um there's uh specific HUD national objectives. One of which is uh that you know any activity must benefit uh low and moderate um residents. Um and then there's also a whole matrix of eligible activities. So there's u not just one thing that we can we screen an activity against but there's a a multi-layer matrix that an elig an activity gets screened against and should we not utilize those fundings for that set goal what would happen or should we misuse the funds what happens then

we should not be um this so the the city is the cityb administrator any project that's not eligible should not be um considered for funding um in period. Good. Mayor,

thank you. Um so if there is an intentional, you know, there would be a review if there were a mclassification of funds and HUD would review that. They would um uh audit it. There might be findings. that could have corrective actions. You might have to the city might have to repay loan or repay the funds. You know, there are lots of things that can happen in a uh misuse type of a situation. And so there's no one answer or penalty. I think it depends on the nature and extent of the misuse and if it's an intentional misuse or a accidental misuse and that you know there's kind of scale of the remedies that might be pursued

and I'm assuming if if if they do find anything um we might not even be granted this funding in the future. That is an extreme penalty but it is something that could happen. Okay. Thank you. Those are all my questions. Uh, mayor,

they would not would not recommend should not recommend anything to come in front of this council that has not been blessed or approved or the vision for the future if it was not appropriate. You would not do that because that would be the burden would be on you by bringing something forward. Is that a fair statement

through the mayor? Uh that is correct. Yes. And staff would if um we received an application for an ineligible activity, we would still include it in the staff report but um recommend that that activity to not be considered for funding which we have done in the past. Right. Thank you. Anyone else? Uh Council Member Burks.

Yeah. So, first thanks to the homeless commission and to the staff for all their work. Um, I think what we're this is maybe not the appropriate time. Um, but I think moving forward if we could look at like what the goals are and combined what the criteria are so that we can compare that to what city um issues we we're trying to fund um so that we're in the legal rights to do it. Um but unfortunately our budget this year and for several years forward like many other entities um is going to be tight. Um, but I don't think doing something right now in the middle of a process is ideal. Um, so I think just sharing that I appreciate the work that was done, but it sounds like this is something we might as a council want to revisit later.

Okay. Anyone else? Uh yeah, I t I tend to agree with that and what I you know, we'll go out to public comment in a minute, but uh the real question is I heard about heard about uh I don't know at least five different options and so that's that's the question right now. Uh and then of course uh you know we could change whatever those options are but and what they did give us about five different options and I do support uh the work of the homeless commission uh seem to be very thorough seemed that you know to go through those those five options seemed very well thought out uh uh for you know seemed like they had a lot of reasons behind the different percentages and the way they wanted to do it. Uh, so we'll go out to public comment, then we'll bring it back and see what the council wants to do. Public comment is open.

Members of the public in the chamber, please approach the podium. Members of the public on Zoom, please use the raise your hand feature or dial star9 if you're calling from a phone. Okay. Um, good evening, Mr. Mayor, members of the council, Mr. City Manager, Madame City attorney. My name is Nel Mason, and I'm uh the co-founder and the alleged retired um CEO of the Village Project. Um, I was also at the meeting of the homeless commiss homeless commission in which they came up with this final recommendation to you. Um, as I always mention at a time like this, this is when I feel like an ogre every year because our organizations are partners and allies throughout the fiscal year and then we come to this time where we're actually competing against each other and it never feels comfortable um in um watching the commission kind of wrestle with this funding u uh process. They went through an arduous process and I know that the mayor prom was there as well and watching them wrestle with that watching them do formally kinds of thinking and it was a it was a heck of a process that they went through to arrive at what is I guess in out of those three the the second one the the middle um proposal was the one that they actually had I believe adopted uh to recommend to you and I just want to say that watching that process and certainly being you know one of the organizations uh that I actually support you know that process where you have meals on wheels on us and then the other people on the great Asian

funding basis. So I just want to support that work that was done by the homeless commission with regard to that. Hello back up here again. Um I'm actually speaking as just a city resident now. Um uh my father had passed away in 2017, but prior to that I had been researching for him and my mother um programs or grants for elders in regards to uh certain types of upkeep for their homes. So fences, roofs, things of that sort. And um I called as far as Sacramento and was told about the uh block grants and that um in some parts of the country um there are programs for senior citizens, disabled and veterans in regards to repairing fences and roofs and things of that sort. And so my question is uh for the city council and the mayor is if there is such a program in Seaside. And I only ask because I have neighbors that have been here since the 70s. They bought their homes in the 60s and 70s and some of their fencing seems to be from that time period. Um but now that they are retired, they don't have um the income to repair those things and sometimes their fences are being blown over. Um some of them are dealing with termites and things like that. And so I wanted to know if there was um such a program that could help them or if um somehow in the coming years if the block grant could be used for such a program. Thank you. Members of the public in the chamber, please approach the podium. Members of the public on Zoom, please use the raise your hand feature or dial star9 if you're calling from a phone.

Ben Strickland, you now have the floor to make your public comment.

Uh hello, city council and mayor. Uh thank you so much for uh the opportunity for public comment. I'm the uh chair of the Seaside Homeless Commission and I just wanted to say that it was a real pleasure to do work on this process. Uh our commission did a lot of uh hard work and we wanted to thank everybody who applied and and congratulate all the applicants for uh um achieving the the maximum scores on their applications. Um please uh council and mayor um consider all the uh the hard work and deliberation that the homeless commission did uh to present to you um uh the process before you today. Thank you so very much. Thank you for your comments.

Jessica Allen, you now have the floor to make your public comment. Hi, good evening. Can you hear me? Yes, we can.

Oh, hi. Um, good evening, mayor and city council. Um, I'm Jessica Allen. I'm the head of the school at the International School of Monterey. And I just wanted to compliment the homeless commission and the council on the hard work that everyone has done on um trying to find a fair process that represents the needs of the city and the people who applied. uh I was one of the applicants and I was also at the meeting uh previously and it felt very fair uh like uh the village project had mentioned it's always difficult when we have to compete for funding but um it felt like a very fair process and I just wanted to compliment everyone who was part of the process as well as the council for having um employees and members of their um organization that really try to make sure that they hear everyone's needs and try to deliberate thoughtfully and use their uh time to give the money and funding in a way that represents all the needs in Seaside. So, I just wanted to say thank you. I thought it was a really great process. Thank you for letting us be a part of it.

Thank you for your comments. Esther Hobbs, you now have the floor to make your public comment. Good evening. I've actually been trying to race there really quickly. I'm only by the embassy suites right now, so I'll just make my comments on phone. I wanted to say Oh, can you hear me? Yes, we can.

Oh, good. I just wanted to um first of all say thank you very much. The application process is quite arduous and I would love to sit down next year with any of the council members um and show them kind of what the steps are because it is very rigorous. I also am very grateful for the homeless commission that it was a stunning display of community efforts that evening. I also I hope it's okay to just kind of mention briefly to before the person who brief who asked about repairs to senior homes. Meals on Wheels. This is not part of the CDBG grant, but we do have a program that will offer small-cale repairs for uh residents in Seaside Monterey, Monterey County basically. And we just recently received another grant for the same process for veterans specifically from the Home Depot Foundation. So, please reach out to Meals on Wheels of the Monterey Peninsula and we can help you.

Thank you. Thank you for your comments. Anginette Love, you now have the floor to make your public comment.

Angelet Love, you now have the floor to make your public comment. Hello. Can you hear me? Yes.

Okay. Thank you. My name is Anget Lev. I'm the program facilitator at Gathering for Women. Uh on behalf of Gathering for Women and Community Human Services, we just want to let you know we are grateful for your past support. Uh it was helpful in supporting our uh single women and families with uh families with children at Casaden Noa and we appreciate your consideration this uh this round. Thank you. Thank you for your comments. The caller ending in 2287, you now have the floor to make your public comment.

Can you can you hear me? Yes, we can.

Hello, this is Peter Kaiser, Seaside resident. Um, I commend all the work that's been done on this and the applicants doing their homework. Uh I would like to ensure that I have done some volunteering with the homeless myself that the um that that there would be um realistic uh um spiritual, mental and emotional sobriety and also uh leading people to total self-sufficiency and long-term cures. And uh we have to uh there was a wonderful book which given to the homeless commission chairman called gathering of the sheav by Mr. grant that actually dealt with how in certain circumstances uh helping can deter some people in in in actually get gaining their total self-sufficiency and hopefully becoming mature believers and Christians where they would actually themselves have a sufficient income where they would actually be helping other homeless people. So I think that would be a wonderful thing a and as a goal and we want this to be done in a in a fairly quickly in a reasonable amount of time because some people have actually been on the street for for I know some people have been there decades. So yes, gathering the she of the sheav is a wonderful book by Grant and it helps uh go through a lot of these issues so we don't repeat any problems and we need to have hopefully mature, sober uh self-reliant uh graduates of these programs where they can actually be helping other people in Jesus' name. Thank you so much.

Thank you for your comments. Members of the public in the chamber, please approach the podium. Members of the public on Zoom, please use the raise your hand feature or dial star9 if you're calling from the phone, city council, mayor, city manager, uh, city attorney, Pastor Le Bethl Baptist Church. Um, oldtime member of the homeless commission. um part-time member of the homeless commission, just one that would sit in the homeless commission meetings. They work very hard to focus on making change for the city and the citizens of Seaside, those that are fortunate and less fortunate. Um I'm asking that you all would continue to be the council you have been to help those that are less fortunate in the city of Seaside. um continue to support the homeless commission in their efforts to continue to be a vehicle for those that are less fortunate in Seaside. All of the entities up there that are receiving money are strong and viable in our city. Um the Village Project number one has been here since I was born. So I think that the necessity for them to continue to be a leader in in making change is is vital and crucial. Um, I just want to make it noticed that we do have a a a homeless issue in our city. We do have a less fortunate of those in our city. And I appreciate the mayor's leadership and the city council moving an effort to make a change within the Monterey County cuz most cities do not. Most cities ignore it. Um, and I am one that is able to personally say that it is a need from seniors to less fortunate to singles to uh families that are in trouble to living in your car um on the side of the road in the church parking lot at other

facilities, Robert's Lake, etc. Um, our city, the city of Seaside, is one that leads the way in making change for those that are less fortunate. I'm asking that you all would continue to do that and to continue to support the commissions and the entities that you all are over to continue to make our city be the one that meets everybody's need. Thank you. Members of the public in the chamber, please approach the podium. Members of the public on Zoom, please use the raise your hand feature or dial star9 if you're calling from a phone. Mayor, no other members of the public have come forward to make public comment.

Okay. Uh thank you. Uh public account remains open. Mayor, no other members of the public have come forward to make public comment.

Thank you so much. No one see no one public comment is closed. U bringing it back to the dis for uh questions or comments motions. So excuse the mayor. Mayor Proton

appreciate it. Um I'm kind of I've been around for the first four or five years of my tenure going to those arms. So I'm kind of passionate about what they do and how they do and I stopped when they start um balancing the money across the board. Now you can see it it's a competitive grant where people have to earn the right to for the funds and show that they are worthy of the recommendation. Um I am for the hybrid method uh recommended um which included meals on wheels 12,000 and village project 12,000 and then went down the list. But I have some comments that I want to make that are important to me. Uh and I think there's some understanding that maybe because of my long term in the city want to remind the council uh and it won't go until later and it's prepared. So I'm going to be full and calm rather compassionate. Uh that's that's the goal. Um so these funds go to affordable housing as mentioned. They've gone to parks and qualifying neighborhoods. uh they've gone to um streets as such in neighborhood things and that's a good thing. We as a council can recommend 100% of those funds to go to the city of seaside programs for housing etc. We've done that under the Tim Brown administration when times are tough. It is not a new con and I'm not suggesting that but I remind you this council some council has done that. So the question is simple. Should we prioritize fully funding our own city programs, which we have countless needs to include street improvements that reduced in the contingency plan that were reduced in the contingency plan, but I think we should strongly consider u the Boys and Girls Club is a strong

organization. They do important work for many kids in our community. I'm just going to tell you how I feel and I think it's important to me. But at the same time, the city and Seaside has invested over a million dollars over the past 10 years of direct and indirect funds, not including donating land for this wonderful facility that meets the need to penny. This year the request is $225,000 over two years because I believe that I believe it is a fair to expect a strong consistent partnership return especially when a large funding request is being made that includes ensuring the city has appropriate access to facilities at this at times so we can continue to serve all our residents and youth. the city, I believe, and this is old school, uh, has had no respect over the years by the boys on Cliff. It's kind of like the Rodney Danger full line uh line. He has no respect and that's how I feel we've been treated and that's me and I've been part of that system. I believe there should be defined commitment respecting the city and allowing youth and adults of the community to share in after hours. The key word share in after hours use when the facility is closed. Currently staff has to beg I couldn't think of a cleaner word beg to use their facilities that include all our use. Uh I noticed Reverend Lusk and I know Bobby and I know a few others when we used to sees high and then we just Saturdays and now we're throwing out often in general. This is not about taking away from one group. It is taking making sure our investments reflect balance, accountability and what is best for the entire city. It is about recognizing fairness, equitability and making a partnership that makes that

benefit the whole community, not just one group. Working together everyone benefits. Working as one has been the history of this group has limited benefits sharing not the goal of their teamwork but the goal of one group. At the end of the day we are our responsibility is to make decision that strengthen seaside as a whole. we better together and community benefits is achieved through communication and true partnerships that create action to vent all the residents and I think we can do that and I think there needs greater cooperation and I think we need to visualize the need for gyms or at least the accessibility when we're donating such large money over over decades we could have built a gym our own gym over 10 years but that two million I think it's more like $2 million so and And I it's just frustrating when our kids that are playing our programs can't use the facility nor play on the streets and it's just hurtful and we need to do better and we can do better and we should do better and I'm sorry mayor for being passionate but it it's it's a it's a it's very I just been around a long time and I've seen a lot of kids get disfranchised because they can't use the facilit I apologize.

Anyone else? I just Miller.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Just to follow up on the mayor prom's comments. If I understand you correctly, you are wanted to do something else with that 150,000. Is that what I'm understanding? All I'm suggesting if there's a contingency that's needed, our streets and seaside should be a priority because all our residents drive the streets, not just a certain segment. And our streets in the Lokim areas, especially um Euseite Street by um your school and the the housing area, you see dirt on the roads. There's areas that are that are not being taken care of. and this is an opportunity or affordable housing. I'm fine with that and what the lady said. But partnerships is vital, I believe. And it's got to be a two two-way street. And right now it's I do not believe in my humble opinion, it's not a two-way street. All I'm saying is if there's contingency funds, let's put them toward their own city. Make seaside number one. That's all I'm saying.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. And to Mr. Nori, we talked earlier uh my colleague mentioned about uh forbidden or uses that we can't use it for. But it seems like this can be used for public infrastructure in certain areas. Do I understand that correctly? That is correct. As long as again um that benefits um low and moderate um income seaside residents. So that would only be certain or or certain presumed qualified um population like persons with disabilities. If a project is intended for that kind of uh population, that project may also be a presumed um eligible benefit project.

Would that be certain sections of the city? It could be. There's but there are different ways to qualify a project based on that metric. Um but uh yeah like the for example the ADA program project um that is intended um that's intended to help persons with disabilities and is um is automatically an eligible project um because it helps um persons with disabilities in our community.

Okay. Thank you. and you know to um I upon listening to the mayor prom I I am compelled by his argument. I I think he's presented a fair fair argument that um our our city has many needs and uh the the argument that he's made over certain areas and and streets uh for me is compelling and I hope the council will consider that. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Well, yeah. Thank you. I mean, but what do you say? You saying don't give the Boys and Girls Club any money? I mean, no. No, I'm not.

No, I got No, I think I understand what you said, but you know, you guys are you're saying what you want to say, but we're here now. Let's talk about action. And so, two other people can can share their thoughts, too. But we have to move towards action. So, somebody has to um I can make a motion. I don't know if other people want. Oh, okay. I can make a motion. Yeah. No, I got you. But I you tell me if you I don't know if she has something she wants to say.

So again, I don't think this is the right time to change up the rules. Um we had people the homeless commission um work hard to do this as people have shared. We've had I've been told the process for the application is very challenging and there are other people that didn't apply this year because it was just it's a lot to do. Um so I still feel that um I would still take on the homeless commission recommendation as is. Um, but it's something for us to look forward and discuss versus having our rules change mid process. Anyone else?

I I would I would also agree with Council Member Burks. I think right now is not the time to do this. When we're talking about financial and budget deficits, you're right. there it is going to get challenging and I think we have to really confront this issue right now when it comes to protecting and safeguarding and doing the most that we can right now because in the future we don't know where we'll be at. So I I I do agree with you that it's not the time to start making any changes right now and this can be revised at a later date. But I think it does it it's a disservice to the homeless commission and to all those who already participated by making changes at this point through the mayor. Yes.

This council continually makes changes and recommendations continually. And let me say this, my recommendation, I I'll make a motion, then if it dies, it dies. To fully fund as recommended with the exception, if there's a contingency needed, take that whatever dollar that is to give it back to the streets and making I'll just leave that and give it back to the streets. That's the only change I am suggesting. Any contingency or reduced deduction, it couldn't be cut from city projects. Cut it from the group that's getting the largest amount. I clear that's all I'm saying. And that's not a change in the plan. That's not a change in the direction. That's not a change in the rules. That's something we do frequently. We did it with the $420,000. We do it all the time. It's nothing new and it's just a tweak. It's not a significant change. It is a small tweak and the federal government gives everybody the same as last year. The Boys and Get Girls Club follows the same rules. If it gets cut a little bit, our streets go back to fully funded. People drive on our streets and it's a danger. I walk on those streets three or four times a week and there's areas where you walk down and someone's going to fall and get hurt. All I'm saying is if there's money to be cut that which there might not be, give the money back to our streets so more people can walk safely in our neighborhoods. That's all I'm saying. Second clerk, did you you get that? What was the motion?

What? Can you you repeat it? You want me to repeat it? You got it. What is it then? So that everybody understands it. Can I clarify? Uh, no. I I think the same manager wants to jump in there.

Yeah. Through the mayor. Yeah. I I I I think what I heard was a motion to approve the homeless commission's recommendation and if there was uh the a part of the homeless comm commission's recommendation was a contingency plan if the funding is short from CDBG that uh the first place of cutting on the public facilities and infrastructure projects would be the seaside public works ADA ramps. What I'm hearing u Mayor Pro Tim say is that uh agreeing with the homeless commission recommendation. However, there's a contingency that the city would ensure they're fully funded for our needs prior to uh the other the Boys and Girls Club recommendation. And did everybody understand that city manager? So,

I got it. Right. Right. That makes sense to everybody.

Yeah. Yeah. I'm I'm supportive of that concept. The The thing is there two things, Ray. you know, the homeless commission did a lot of work to get here and I think um in a sense the mayor's pro well the motion itself uh respects that and and tries to move that concept forward. I I do think uh like I I think I shared before is we need to look at this a little bit better next year and going forward as the budgets continue to be tight from the federal government through the state government. Uh and then but that means we need to give uh whoever handles this when it comes up again uh uh the new updated instructions and I think we have time for that. So, I I'll be supportive of of supporting the uh homelessness commission's recommendations in full. If there is a clawback or a less amount from the my understanding less amount from the federal government, then then that money will come out of somewhere other than the uh 88 ramps, curves and ramps.

All right. All those in favor use right side vote which is I I ns have the same right abstensions n's eyes have it motion car all right let's go with the item number 10 which is business items a adopt a resolution accepting the annual end midyear financial report and amendments to the budget and street funding policy for the fiscal year 2025 526. Mr. City Man. Yes. Thank you, mayor. We'll hear a presentation from the city's finance director, Jessica Riley.

Good evening, Mr. Mayor, members of the council. Tonight, I will present a fis the fiscal year 2526 midyear financial report covering the city's financial performance through the second quarter ending December 2025. The presentation primarily focuses on the general fund. Uh we'll be reviewing revenues, expenditures compared to the adopted budget and prior years and highlighting key trends that may impact the city's financial outlook. Uh I'll note before I begin that this is not an audited report and the figures are preliminary and subject to change as the year progresses. And also uh this is an abbreviated version of a more detailed report that was attached to the agenda and also available on the city's website. Uh and I will conclude this presentation with also a brief uh look ahead as we begin preparing for the fiscal year 2627 budget.

On the next slide uh again I'm just highlighting the purpose of the midyear review which is to evaluate performance through the first six months of the year identify trends and assess overall fiscal stability. At a high level, the city's financial position remains stable at midyear. As shown on this slide, revenues are generally in line with expectations. Expenditures are trending below the mid-year benchmark, and overall performance is consistent with the adapted budget. However, the report also highlights longerterm structural pressures from rising personnel and pension costs, ongoing infrastructure needs, and continued reliance on the general fund to support streets and capital project spending. These pressures will be more important as we look ahead at future budgets. Uh, this slide summarizes the budget at the time it was adopted. The key takeaways is uh includes the city adopted a balanced operating budget with a small surplus uh but also planned for the use of fund balance to support streets and capital projects. So while operations were balanced total spending including capital projects actually exceeded our operating revenues and this was a deliberate strategy. The city continued investing in infrastructure um or plan to continue investing in infrastructure for 2526 but at a slower pace. So while we begin to stabilize finances following prior revenue softness that uh particularly took place in fiscal year 2425. Council also took steps to strengthen reserves, such as deferring capital projects and reducing street funding, which did temporarily delay fully addressing street operations funding shortfalls. But overall, this helped the

city meet its reserve targets at adoption. Since adoption, council has approved 325,000 in budget amendments, all related to capital projects. Specifically, the amendments included 300,000 for the police department parking lot project due to unforeseen construction conditions and 25,000 for the emergency replacement of a damaged light pole at Cino Park. And I will point out that these amendment amendments were not funded from operating surplus. They were funded through the release of capital reserves. So they represent an adjustment to the planned capital spending and not the ongoing operations. So looking at revenues through the second quarter, total general fund revenues were approximately 22.2 million and the full year's revenues are projected to at 49.2 2 million which is approximately 929,000 above budget as shown in this chart. Um um this is slightly higher than the prior two years which are characterized by a slowdown in revenue growth. Revenues for fiscal year 2526 are projected to be 3% above the prior fiscal year and 4% above the fiscal year 2324. And so the 2526 revenue trend reflects a stabilization of performance. The slide also shows a three-year comparison of the city's top five revenue sources, including sales tax, property tax, transient occupancy tax, vehicle license fees, and utility user fees. Key trends include property taxes, which continue to uh grow steadily. Sales tax is stabilizing but still tied to economic conditions especially in the

outdoor sales sector. Transient occupancy tax has recovered. Marijuana tax is which is not on this uh chart but it is now um oh I have it in the corner there uh below the chart. It is now declining for the fourth consecutive year as more businesses open in other jurisdictions and business there's more business turnover in the city of seaside. Turning to expenditures, total fiscal year 26 budget uh including transfers and use of fund balance is approximately 56.1 million and through the second quarter total general fund expenditures are projected at or 24.9 million which represents about 44% of the annual budget. So for comparison, at this same point last year, expenditures were approximately 45% of the annual budget. So overall spending is very consistent year-over-year. And looking at a breakdown uh shown on this slide, personnel services total about 17 17.3 million or roughly 48% of the personnel budget. Services and supplies are about 4.5 million which was 47% of the services and supplies budget and capital outlay is approximately 500,000 so far this year as uh shown in the three-year comparison chart. Personnel costs continue to be the dominant expenditure and both personnel and services are tracking closely to prior years. uh spending is slightly below the mid-year benchmark and that difference is primarily driven by vacancy savings in personnel and the timing of certain operating and capital expenditures

at the departmental level at or below budget. Public safety remains the largest area of spending as expected. And a few items to highlight include public safety overtime, which is elevated in some divisions, but is offset by salary savings from vacancies, which is typical given shift based staffing. building activity remains strong requiring additional subcontracted inspection services and the economic development department has a small personnel related variance which staff is addressing through adjustments requested on the later slide. So overall the operational and timing related despite operational and timing related differences um there's no structural concerns in the department level budgets. Um personnel costs uh continue to be the city's largest expenditure about 36 million annually or 75% of the budget. As mentioned on the earlier slide, personnel costs totaled about 17.3 million through the second quarter or 48% of the personnel budget. Compared to last year, costs are up about 5% due to salary adjustments, pension costs, and other compensation factors. However, year-end costs are projected to come in below budget, primarily due to vacancy savings. So this slide also shows a broader trend uh including services and supplies. So over the past three years, the city has taken increasing steps to control costs including reductions in operating services and supplies budgets and freezing vacant positions. So the current staffing level remains below optimal services by about 11%. This slide shows a longerterm trend in fund balance. Even with stable

operations, fund balance has gradually declined since fiscal year 2223 due to the planned use of fund balance for capital projects and street related expenditures. Um while reserves remain within policy targets, this trend just highlights the importance of careful long-term planning. Looking at the fullear projection, revenues are expected to exceed expenditures by about 1.8 million. However, once we include planned street funding and capital expenditures, the city is projected to use about 3.6 million in fund balance overall, resulting in an ending balance of approximately 33 million. It's also important to note while only about 615,000 of new capital project funding was budgeted for this year, many capital projects carry forward from prior years, which is why the total capital spending on this slide is higher. Staff is recommending media budget amendments totaling 694,000 from the general fund. These are primarily personnel related adjustments and administrative corrections and other mission critical items to support operations for the remainder of the year. Nearly half of this amount um is related to one item which was higher than expected water costs for the golf course. Other amounts requested are coming from special revenues such as grants, water user fees and existing budget. there. These are technical and operational adjustments to align the budget with actual conditions. So, uh after applying these adjustments and also applying policy allocations,

the remaining available balance is shown on this slide at 576,000. Policy allocations include 20% of a available funds uh at midyear to the pension trust and 30% to street funding. This year the street allocation is being directed primarily to street operations such as maintenance and lighting due to a more immediate funding shortfall in that area. Staff is also proposing a refinement in the a minor refinement uh street funding policy shifting from an estimated amount at midyear to an actual year-end amount similar to the pension policy and the objective is just to improve accuracy and consistency in our allocation policies uh our midyear allocation policies. So after all these allocations the unassigned fund balance is about 4.2 2 million. And this this slide shows how the fund balance is structured. A significant portion is restricted for reserves committed to capital projects designated for specific purposes. As a um as a result, the truly flexible portion of the fund balance, which is at the bottom uh listed at 4.2 million, is relatively limited. In fact, this amount creates a funding gap, particularly when considering future needs like major development investments such as campus town phase 2, which will cost over 6 million to complete the building demolition in order to prepare the site. Looking ahead, the key issue is not current performance, but long-term sustainability. At the same time, reserve policies limit

flexibility and development projects require upfront investment. So, moving forward, the city will need to balance maintaining reserves, funding infrastructure, and supporting economic development. In summary, at midyear, revenues are stable, expenditures are controlled, and overall performance is consistent with the budget. However, long-term challenges remain, including personnel and pension cost growth, ongoing infrastructure needs, and reliance on fund balance. These will be key considerations in the next budget, uh, cycle. And so, uh, staff recommends that the council accept the mid-year financial report, approve the proposed budget amendments, and adopt the proposed updates to the street funding policy. And just briefly looking ahead, the fiscal year 2627 budget is already underway with study sessions uh scheduled for May uh 26 and 27 and adoption planned for June 18th. And with that, I'll now accept any questions.

Thank you. Any question? Council member Miller,

thank you. Thank you for the presentation. Uh last uh fiscal cycle we uh froze positions. Are you re are you forecasting us freezing positions the budget year and will any of those positions potentially be unfrozen? So this slide at the bottom of this slide shows uh the trend in how the staff has balanced the budget over the past 3 years. So in 2324 we cut services and supplies 6% than what initially we thought we needed to uh for that year and we froze six positions. In 2425 we cut services and supplies 8% and we froze 11 positions. In the current fiscal year we cut services and supplies 10% and we froze 20 positions. So I don't think there's anything material that's changed in the city's revenue projections. Um so all things the same, this trend is likely going to continue in the 2627 budget cycle. And to get ahead of that, we are updating our internal strategy for the 2627 budget to start with what was more closely aligned to the 2526 budget. So we're going to probably start out with the same number of positions frozen,

but not in because we're increasing every year frozen positions. Are are we looking at keeping at 20 frozen positions or that number is going to increase? Would what city manager wants to jump in? Thank you, mayor. Um, yes, it's most likely we will have to uh have positions frozen in the upcoming budget, but at this point it's too it's too early to to determine how many. Understood. I know this is all forecast, so thank you, Mr. Manager, and thank you to our financial director. Uh,

anyone else? I may. Thank you. This is once was my prepared question, but I heard a comment today on the news that with the co cost of um gas prices due to wars in different countries, it impacts the cost of goods coming to seaside equipment. Uh less in the past years less tourists to the air because of the cost of gas. And the only reason I'm asking the question because it said and I don't know if it was correct but it takes 3 to 5 years from that to that for that impact of of high grass to come back to where it was initially. Are we concerned about the impact of gas rising and the tourism and the cost of transporting items etc. I know that may be a budget question, but I it it kind of touches in the future a little bit. Is that a fair question?

What what answer the question, but what I want to do is stay focused on this midyear review, not what's coming up in May. Okay, that's fine. No, I'm saying just, you know, that's for everybody. This is the midyear and we should wait to they present their, you know, their next year's budget. Okay. So we can discuss it in May cuz some of the things that that you may want to do and not want to do is appropriate talking about in May, not right now.

So answer No, hold on a second. So go ahead, answer the question. So for the mayor, to your point about focusing on the mid-year review, I would say that the recent spike in gas prices doesn't change the projections currently presented in the midyear view, but they will certainly contribute to uncertainty. So not necessarily a downward revision in revenues because when prices go up a sales tax revenue may temporarily go up but it may deter tourism which would impact toot. Uh so I would just say the impact right now is just uncertainty.

Okay. So the report says I believe we have about 1.1 million ballpark in surplus funds after the 600,000 700,000 adjustment. Is that correct? That's a good question. I think it really is about different stages of the calculation. So revenues are projected to exceed operating expenditures by about 1.8 million. And from there, if we take into account staff's proposed budget a adjustments requests of 694,000, that brings the remaining operating balance closer to 1.1 million. And then per council policy, the 20% allocation to the pension trust and 30% to streets brings it down uh remaining amount approximately 576,000. And that's why I wanted to get to that 1.1 million. So, and this next one ties into what you just said. We, as I recall, have serious pension issues that may have serious impact in our future budgets. Is that correct? And how serious of a problem is it 10 5 10 years from now? I'm just throwing that number out.

So the primary pressure is coming from the unfunded acred pension liability which is essentially the gap between what we have to uh pay in the future for pension benefits and the uh different assets that we have already set aside and have in place. So that liability uh which is kind of like a debt uh is uh estimated to be about $60 million and the city's required to make annual payments to that that uh amount. So for the current fiscal year that debt payment was $5 million and it's uh expected to increase every year through 2032 uh to a peak of 8 million. So to your question about the impact on the operating budget because the schedule of annual payments is funded from the operating budget um it will continue immediately to put pressure on future budget cycles.

Okay. I'm not going to ask you for but from what I I was told that it's significant if we don't up the annie in our donations in our not our donations but our payment to them is it's it's not a little worry it's 10 years from now it's going to bite us I don't want to say bite us but that's what got us hurt hurt us bad uh if we don't do the pension allocation it will be a direct setback from the initial plan that was established when we um uh created a pension 115 trust and the goal was to fully pay off the UL debt uh by 2040.

Okay, that's is there any financial concerns related to barracks or those buildings that were in the campus town area? If that if so, how bad is that concern? And can the surplus funds, do we need that? Do we need some money somewhere to make sure we move forward in the future to get that stuff done?

From a financial perspective, I think the key issue is balancing near-term investment goals and long-term benefits. Um, we know that Campus Town phase 2 is going to be a significant near-term investment over $6 million for the site demolition uh, and preparation. Um, so at the same time, um, I showed on this slide the city's unassigned fund balance against uh, the amount we want to invest in campus town. Uh so this fund balance also at the same time is typically used for uh ongoing capital in infrastructure improvement and street operations. So the challenge is limited flexibility with resources and how we're going to face short-term operating needs and the long-term of revenue growth with the investment of those funds in our development projects.

I will turn it the city manager last question, but I'm the kind of simple kind of guy. Um, and I apologize for that, but do we need money to knock down those buildings or whatever we're going to do to ensure that campus town um moves forward in a timely manner that we can use those campus dollars development to benefit the city in the near future? Is that a fair question? Um, I I think I may defer to the city manager on that, but I I would say that I I believe we are obligated to uh prepare this site and uh perform the building demolition, which is estimated to cost over 6 million, but I'll defer.

So, I'll come back to that last question. It's a really one that'll tie it all together for you. So, my last two questions, I guess. Well, yeah. Can we allocate funds for pavement rehab so actually people can see work done? Could we do that if we chose to do that? I'm not saying we should. I'm just asking a question.

Um, that's a great question and both those items have been identified as areas of uh uh you know having shortfalls in funding. Okay. But it would take away from our flexibility in the upcoming budget cycle. So then tying this together, um does the city manager have any thoughts, recommendations if we should use a surplus dollars or not? Um just tying it together uh because of all the opportunities or challenges depending on your perspective.

Yeah, thank you. You know, I I think we we've spoken that we are in a situation of fiscal constraint at this time. And so when we look at the midyear snapshot is what we're looking at. We're looking at revenues and expenditures in a snapshot of time, not the complete budget. So, um we would recommend u receiving and filing this report, making the proposed changes that are necessary for operational and timing discrepancies, but um again, we're in a good place right now with showing an operating surplus, but we still have significant amount of the fiscal year left. And then that will allow us to have more flexibility in the upcoming budget process. So, uh, you are meeting your your with what we've shown today, you're meeting your insurance or your, um, your pension liability policy and you're meeting your streets liability policy and you're still showing a operating surplus of 575,000 that should that we recommend is rolled back into the upcoming budget process that allows council to make those decisions with available funds.

Thank you. Uh, anyone else? Let's take it out to um public comment. Public comment is open.

Members of the public in the chamber, please approach the podium. Members of the public on Zoom, please use the raise your hand feature or dial star9 if you're calling from a phone. Mayor, no members of the public have come forward to make public comment. Thank you so much. Public comment remains open.

Members of the public in the chamber, please approach the podium. Members of the public on Zoom, please use the raise your hand feature or dial star9 if you're calling from a phone.

No members of the public have come forward to make public comment. Thank you. Um seeing no one hear no one public comment is closed. Bring it bringing it back to the das. What is the will of the council?

Move approval. It's been properly moved. St. It's been staff recommendation been properly moved. One second. Uh on the question, I do want to say uh quickly that uh I want to appreciate the finance director and the city manager for um working together and of course with the department heads, but uh bringing us this midyear review and and just being straightforward with it and and um uh giving us the ability to move forward with informed data and information. And I did like the little emojis and little cute little pictures that were in there. I thought they told the story well. And so with that all those in favor use the reg which is I

I n have the same right abstensions hear none motion here carries unanimously. Let's go to item number 11 I believe. 11 council members requests. Uh 11A, new council members request uh discussion regarding establishing a business district for the downtown area on Broadway. Council member Miller.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. And uh tonight I'm I'm requesting possibly uh coming back with either a presentation or a uh disc a look at potentially uh forming a a business district in our downtown area um or presentation from our from our manage management team on what that could potentially look like. There are 483 cities in towns in California and 120 districts, special districts. Uh so about about 1/4 of the towns and cities throughout California have an improvement district have some kind of special district, improvement district, business district or association. and they function uh in in the capacity of trying to improve an area, revitalize, work on the area. Um, and my thought is on the lower Broadway corridor. uh and I know that vacancies have been an issue and discussed at this uh on this dis and so going with the vacancies this could be another look at to see if a business district would be viable for the area also for vacancies uh and to look at you know what kind of businesses what kind of um strategies we want to use. Uh districts oftentimes have their own formation of, you know, a manager or outside, you know, people that are looking at exactly what they envision for the for the area and then come back to council and and give us kind of um you know, a a recommendation instead of uh because currently I feel that our council is kind of trying to solve some of the issues down there um

when I think we would be better served by a district coming here or an association coming here and explaining to us uh what the needs are of that area. So, uh at this time, I'm just kind of requesting a presentation or a study or some kind of um report back on what a business district for the downtown area would look like. That was my all I was thinking. Thank you. Uh thank you so much. Is there any support for that ideal? Yeah, if you have a question. Yeah, go ahead.

For city manager, is this something that's in alignment with your what you're already working on as far as your plan for our city or is it something in addition, you know, like instead of double doing double the work?

A business district is a very val valuable and powerful um economic tool uh in in in for redevelopment of a district. the the key is how you get there and how you apply uh that and and that will be part of um a economic development strategic plan that we plan on working through C jobs Jobs uh to start that conversation as a as a as a more robust uh document with with all of options uh for incentives and improving um districts. Thank you.

Is is there any support for that? Uh I don't hear any I for for me I like the city man this is what we have city manager work on I guess I don't know how many how many months you've been working on it you're supposed to be so when do you think um you know I think it's the same thing and I think you just gave an answer but my point I did want to say that is part of what you're supposed to be working on anyway of the whole city in a sense

correct yes that'll be something that that is included in the draft plan of of discussion of of of the of a business district and and what that would do uh benefits and and and opportunities for the downtown area that will be included in the draft strategic plan and the first part of that process is a presentation to the C jobs uh commission which will be the I believe the second Monday in April. Okay. Okay. There's no support for that. Okay, that's fine. Uh we'll go to item number A2. develop a action plan for economic development incentives. Uh uh Mayor Promp,

could you turn on your mic, please? I'm requesting the city manager to present a plan that increases opportunity that enhances positive impact on closed storefronts and the overall business areas no later than the first meeting in August. This plan can and should be all inclusive of all ideas. Is there uh any support for that land that put that on agenda for two weeks from now that discussion? I would insert but just to be clear.

Yeah. if uh all I'm asking is that we give him time as of August one to come up with something so it's not a definite report they have to give us you know I'm just trying to simplify it a complete plan as such I say manager seem like you have something to say yeah I actually think both of these requests are are pretty well aligned for um the draft economic strategic plan which will again start in April so I think we we will actually address both of these requests um in that process and that come from what we voted on before a couple months ago as in you what plan are you working on then?

Yeah, the economic development strategic plan. Okay. All right. Is that Well, yeah. Yeah, that I guess we're all It's all I I talked to the city manager prior to this and it's within his uh I don't thought process. I don't hear no support for it, but it sound like he's going to answer both of the questions and concerns. Uh so follow up on previous requests.

Just a quick update uh on um Council Member Miller's request to discuss 1281 Broadway. We do have a a a meeting scheduled on the books with the county CEO and their team to discuss 1281 Broadway and any city county um discussions regarding that property. That meeting is not till April 23rd. And so we'll have to we'll follow back up at the time. Okay. Uh item number 12, city attorney, city managers, city council, and mayor's comments and reports on committee assignments. Um Mayor, yeah, of course. Did you ask if we want to put anything on the next agenda? I didn't. Uh I thought I did, sir. Any new council members requests? Okay. I just have one.

No, I may have missed I didn't hear that. I No, I may have missed it. Yeah. So, any new council members request? Um, I'm not sure. I'd like the city manager staff to meet with the Boys and Girls Club to look at a memorandum of understanding, better use, shared usage of the facility as well as um the Catino Park. Well, we'll we'll put that on the agenda to talk about. Yeah, that's all I'm asking. Okay. However you feel about it. Yeah. All right. That'll be on next month's next week's the next regular meetings agenda. See if

there's any three people that agree with that. All right. Okay. City attorney.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor, members of the council, members of the public. Um, I had the wonderful opportunity to go to Washington DC in the past week and I attended the National League of Cities conference where I attended policy sessions uh, federal briefings and uh, participated in direct advocacy focused on federal local partnerships, infrastructure, environmental remediation issues. Overall, the trip provided valuable opportunities to one reaffirm seaside's um commitment to its federal relationships with its uh departments that it works with and it allowed us to or allowed me to gather um valuable information on potential future funding opportunities and policy tools that could support related obligations and uh other community priorities. So, it was a great trip. thank the city council for allowing me to go to that and um looking forward to using some of those tools from that trip.

Mr. City Manager. Yeah, I'm going to echo those comments and share uh the excitement for the National Cities Conference and the Legislative trip to DC. Um again, uh I it was a pleasure to see the city of Seaside involved in the military communities council, the university communities council, and just um being a part of of of trying to bring back uh economic activity and and and and uh progress to the city of Seaside. Thank you, Council Member Miller.

Uh thank you, Mr. Mayor. Uh nice to throw out the first pitch, the Sony uh seaside pony baseball and also the surviving of the uh the surviving the game at the older center with our youth resource center was there for that. And then on Monday I was invited to the women's council for the MCAR had their annual panual panel with two other council members from the local area and we had our AMBA meeting on Wednesday night. Nothing to report out. Um, I was appointed on the executive committee for the AMBback. So, the next meeting I'll have more to report out then. That's all the reports. Thank you. Thank you, Council Member Burks. I have nothing to report tonight,

Council Member Miller. I mean, uh, Garcia,

thank you. I attended the community Human Services um, Banning Together event. It was hosted in Monterey. Um but nonetheless it was a very important event that gathered community partners really focused on drug prevention homelessness but um really raising awareness on an issue which is um uh the importance and the good work that community human services does in in seaside through Genesis House or Kasa Noa and through their Monterey location at Schuman heart house. So, I was able to express some words and uh talk about the great things that they're doing here in Seaside and greet the crowd. So, it it was a it was good weather as well. And like Council Member Miller mentioned, uh we were all at the Seaside Pony uh kickoff game. Uh I don't even know if that's the right term, kickoff.

That's a football thing.

Thank you for correcting me. Uh, nonetheless, it was it was it was a great event uh full of warm weather. Uh, and the mayor threw out the first pitch. Um, Mayor Prom was there as well. Um, really great event. And then I attended the CO 19 memorial um celebration in Selenus um at the Mari County Board of Supervisors Chamber. They unveiled the CO 19 memorial um display and then I had a meeting with the diversity center um and they got to share with me a lot of great things that they're planning to do here in the Monterey Peninsula region as well. So um I sat down and met with them and looking forward to seeing what they can continue to accomplish here in the Monterey Peninsula and that that that's all from from my end.

Uh thank you Mayor Pro. Um, I attend that that's all we did. Uh, the grand opening of Seaside Pony Baseball. Um, I think it's important to remember that because of the development of of that area with the BBO project and their donation or their contribution, it makes it a community versus just a bunch of houses. And I think uh, we need to remember that for the future. Communities, houses are nice, but the communities that create opportunity for young people and parents should go hand in hand. Uh, I attended the Laguna Grandandy Regional Park meeting. Again, news provides an update on what's happening as far as the park, uh, all the animals that we have to protect and when we can use the park and when they can do work on the park. and he also reported on the uh 50th anniversary of the park um coming up on same day as Earth Day. Uh just from my probably biased opinion, um I think Dan over the last two years uh has taken a significant lead in the operations of that program uh and making sure that the frogs are protected in a timely fashion. and he's doing that well and uh often without to say to be nice he's taking the lead and making sure stuff happens. I attended the Monterey Selena's transit meeting. Uh the surf project is going well. They have numerous outreach to the peninsula community. The board received an update from the state and federal lobbyist. Everybody's concerned about the federal government and what they're going to do and what they're not going

to fund and if they're ever going to make a decision on and how they're going to make decisions, but that was kind of a a focal point that I grasped. Uh it's just challenging times. I attended um water 101 by hosted by the League of Women Voters Educational Opportunity. Mr. Miller was there as well as along with about approximately 100 people of peninsula people that have concerns. Uh and then the fossil park cleanup just falsely continues. We say that repeatedly uh the mayor and I as far as what they do and how they do and how important it is that parks um are better because of their effort I guess. Um so that's about it. Thank you sir. Thank you. Uh okay ten at the uh Monterey Peninsula Water Management District strategic planning just figuring out how we're going to attack the next year uh going forward all the things we have to do particularly the uh the bio of Calam and keeping the public informed of the other things that we have to do to um ensure the proper flow of the Carmel River and supporting the salmon and all of that stuff. steel head and all those things that u go up that river up and down the river and protecting the bank. Uh I was proud to throw out the first ceremonial pitch uh for Pony League on behalf of the citizens of the city of Seaside and it was great to have all the council uh members there. I think the word that we were looking for is opening day. That's what it's called in baseball, opening day, right? Uh, but that's, you know, you have to play a little bit to that.

And I I know I played when I was in seventh grade in the neighborhood. So, yeah. Well, I was going to mention that, but the mayor for Tim uh was right. Uh, I I threw out the pitch and and some people may have said it was a wild pitch for those that know about baseball. Uh, but luckily, nobody was on on on base, right? So, so it was I think it still counts as a ball though, right? Still count as ball, but nobody's on base, so they didn't score.

Uh, attended the Seaside County Sanitation District uh meeting still going strong. I think we're starting to do some work in in the city of uh Del Rio Oaks. Uh so we look forward to doing work for the city of Del Rio Oaks. uh attended the Monterey Selena mosquito abatement district meeting. Uh that went well. Uh nothing new from there. Um met with supervisor Root Escu, our supervisor had a good conversation about how we could continue to work together and get things done. She mentioned Eucalyptus and the trail head and and all those good things. So, I want to appreciate her for taking the time to meet with her mayors and and I know she's working hard every day to to get stuff done on behalf of her district. So, I want to thank u our supervisor attended the Monterey County um business council's uh lunchon. Uh it was a lunchon given in honor of Mr. Um Dan Bowwin on his soon to retire from the uh uh the community foundation uh of Monterey County. A wonderful wonderful uh uh gentleman, wonderful leader. I think when he took over, I think I think he only been there about 16 years, but when he took over the foundation was only had underneath their control about $13 million. $130 million. No, $113 million when he left this year coming up is controlling over $485 million. And so, um, he'll be the first one to say he didn't do it on his own, but but through his leadership advocacy, he convinced people to put back their money back in the community. And it takes a special type of person to be able to talk you out of your money and and

volunteer. But I say that because um he's a good leader and he allows people to be comfortable leaving the money uh with that foundation because they do great things with it and that's under his leadership. So uh gay, welcome to the United Black Student uh United of California's uh annual event. It's really a group that comes together and they've been working for the last 53 years uh on how do they how do you motivate how do you keep uh young African-American uh high school students uh motivated and focused on their education so they can improve their lives and their communities. And uh that was a good event to be at and we want to thank them for hosting it at CSUMB. uh Toy um Will Mills, I believe that's her name. Uh but the object is they're doing the right things to help to benefit the young people to make sure they know why it's important to continue their higher education. So, we want to thank them for that. It was students from all over California. I want to put that in there. uh uh attended the fourth annual uh surviving the game uh he held at the Odmar uh highlighting the positive outcomes from good behavior and people changing their lives especially in our community. So I want to say thank you to uh Nancy Black for her vision uh putting that together. Uh thank the city of uh Seaside the council for uh co-sponsoring that. Uh, and then I really want to give a shout out to the uh, Seaside Car Classic Car Club for always being there for these type events, always showing uh, the young people a life beyond what

they may see uh, in their vision right now. So, we want to thank the Seaside Classic Car Club Monterey Peninsula Chamber of Commerce annual award dinner. Uh the lifetime achievement award went to uh Keith uh Severson and uh just uh I believe yeah he's retiring or he did all his work over at Granite Rock. So he was being awarded for that. Public official of the year was Robin McCrae. We all know her from CHS. spent the last 32 years uh running that organization and uh just a wonderful wonderful lady and welldeserve all the good things that um she has done and it should be some type of way that Cases says thank you also uh community impact award went to Dan Bowwin you know again for uh his running of the community foundation for Monterey County so he received the community impact award from the Monterey Peninsula Chamber of Commerce uh for the impact he has made over his 16 years. Uh citizen of the year award went to Kelly Ud Doll and Steve Snder. Uh they run the car magazine and a couple other entities and it's just the way they have uh you know photograph tracked uh the magazine does a lot of good stuff and so they will award the citizens of the year award and then the business of the year award is uh bakers bacon. If you haven't had bacon, you a you haven't had bacon if you had beggars bacon, right? But you got to go to Marina to get it. So I've Right. Which nothing wrong with that. I I I love Marina and Mayor Bruce Delgado. But if you want some good bacon, uh I'm sure some in uh Baker's Bacon. uh attended the uh National League of

Cities uh convention uh with the uh city manager and the uh city attorney uh representing the city uh you know a lot of good things are going on there networking and uh talking to folks meeting folks with the same type of challenges I I was in a couple different breakout groups and then um I'm part of the um military communities coalition and um uh the the chair president of that that group. Um he had just I'm talking about the budget now, right? Just you know because you hear a lot of good stuff, you know, he's from a current what is it? Um the city come to me in a second. But the point is he has a $300 million budget and he was talking about he may be short 100 million. Right? Let that sink in a little bit. Right? He wasn't shy about saying that. Uh, and I don't think he was exaggerating, you know, but if you got a a $400 million budget and you you think you may be short 80, 90, 100 million, you know, um, everybody's in that similar boat. So, so we have our challenges, other communities have their challenges also. Um, and so, uh, part of what we talked about at the the military communities and and I know the city manager went to the university one, uh, but we talked about, uh, everybody came out the same thing. It's really struggling about housing. They really were talking about how, you know, in their communities, people are very tight for housing. Housing is very tight. Uh, surrounding these military communities. Seesaw has a sometimes we forget because the fence is down, but we have a significant military community that we're responsible for their housing, their way of life, and and sometimes definitely mutual aid uh both for fire and and police. uh when it comes to that

and we need to do a little bit more to um make sure we account about what benefits that we get from uh having these wonderful uh military entities, facilities and of course their active duty and their families that live in the boundaries of Seaside. had a had also we had a meeting uh we did some work with meetings with Senator Padilla and Chef a a quick uh Q&A. I think they gave us a good about 45 minutes before they had to go and take some votes but uh we were right in the thick of things. Um and then we also met with our wonderful congressman uh Jimmy Panetta. Uh we put all our ask on the table. I want to appreciate the uh city attorney, city manager and his team and especially city clerk for putting our packets together to make sure when we sat down uh we was very focused and um and concise, right? Focuses covers all because what I want to get to is we we said all what we wanted to say and then he was like, "Was that it? You you I got two more minutes I can give you." Right? you know, and so I really appreciate our ability to get in there and advocate for the citizen seaside. And I think he heard us loud and clear. Uh we're not sure, you know, money's tight. We're not sure what what we can do, but uh it's it's a saying that all you guys have heard before is if you're not at the table, right? If you're not at the table, more than likely you may be on the menu. And sometimes people forget what that really means. What that means is you're not at the table advocating for yourself. You may not get fed, right? You know, a closed mouth means, hey, you don't get fed, but you could be talking a lot, but if you ain't in the right spots, you don't get fed. Sometimes that right spot

just happen to be in DC. And so, we may have to to go there a couple more times to get what we need. Uh, it is some promising things that are coming down the road here. With that, I would um close and I will say that um we couldn't ask the city attorney to read us in close session.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor, members of the council, members of the public. The council will meet in close session to discuss public employee performance evaluation pursuant to government code section 54957. The title of the position is the city manager. Um they will have a conference with legal counsel pursuant to government code section 54956.9 D2 on two matters of potential litigation. For the benefit of the public, I do not believe there will be any reportable action uh to report on after close session. That concludes my reading.

Thank you so much. We will take public comment on our close session items. Members of the public in the chamber, please approach the podium. Members of the public on Zoom, please use the raise your hand feature or dial star9 if you're calling from the phone.

Mayor, no members of the public have come forward to make public comment. Thank you so much. Uh we will hear no one else public comments close. Uh we will move into close session.