City Council - meeting_joint_regular

Good afternoon. It is 2 o'clock, and this is the joint meeting of the Rules and Open Government Committee. Roll call, please.

Candelas? Here. Duan? Here.

Foley?

Here. Comey?

Here.

Cohen absent. We have a quorum.

Thank you so much. Item A1, we don't have a meeting on September 8th, which has been canceled due to the holidays. So we'll move on to item number two, review draft agenda for September 15th. And we have the 9.30 closed session, I believe.

Let's see here.

I can't see it. And then 1.30 regular session. We have consent starting on page five, six, seven, eight, ending on page nine. We have strategic support starting on nine. We have temporary moratorium detention of custodial facility and private property, page 11. WE HAVE COUNCIL FOCUS AREAS REPORT ON PAGE 12, UPDATING FUNCTIONAL ZERO MODEL. WE HAVE ITEM 5, TRANSPORTATION, STILL PAGE 12. MOVING ON TO PAGE 13, WE HAVE COMMUNITY ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AND LAND USE TO BE HEARD IMMEDIATELY AFTER CONSENT ON TITLE 20 ZONING AND PLAN DEVELOPMENT PERMIT FOR PROPERTY 5651 CODDLE ROAD. AND WE HAVE LAND USE ON PAGE 15. AND THAT'S IT. IS THERE ANY PUBLIC COMMENT?

NO PUBLIC COMMENT AT THIS TIME.

GREAT. THERE'S A MOTION AND A SECOND. LET'S VOTE. That passes unanimously. Thank you very much. And going on to our consent item, we have two items. We have our public records, and we have infrastructure financing tools for economic development. I don't see any questions. Is there any public comment?

Yes.

Akos, please go ahead and make your way to the podium.

My last letter, my letter... Last on the list has a mislabeled topic open forum. The actual topic is request repeal of the blanket prohibition of pedestrians from expressways. In 1989, the city council, at my request, voted 11 to zero to repeal the prohibition of bicyclists from expressways despite huge opposition from SJDOT. The same ordinance is now a blanket prohibition of pedestrians. There is no exception for sidewalks, paths, bike lanes, or bus stops. Highway staff from the county, use your ordinance as authority to destroy sidewalks, which kills people, to obtain more car lanes. This is proven in my slideshow. In 1991, the BOS, at my request, required paths or sidewalks along the, quote, entire expressway system, unquote. Highway staff cites your ordinance to refuse to comply.

Thank you, Akos. That's your time. Thank you. Moving on to virtual speakers. Blair. Hi. Ben Beekman.

I wish we could have more time to hear the words of the previous speaker.

A long tradition here in San Jose. Thank you. I WANTED TO COMMENT ON TWO PUBLIC RECORD ITEMS THAT WERE OF INTEREST TO MYSELF. ONE IS THE MISSING MIDDLE HOUSING ISSUES. I WAS KIND OF IMPRESSED IN A WAY IN YOUR COUNCIL MEETING A COUPLE WEEKS AGO. TO ME IT SOUNDS LIKE SOME WITHIN CITY GOVERNMENT AT LEAST WANT TO TAKE KIND OF A HUMBLE APPROACH WITH THE FUTURE OF MISSING MIDDLE HOUSING AND IF WE WORK THAT IN SPECIFIC NEIGHBORHOODS, I THINK People are wanting that, and you're trying to find the groups that are interested in that. Good luck in those efforts, how the missing middle actually can humbly function in the future and working together with everyone, how we build our future of housing in San Jose. And of course, with surveillance tech issues, you guys have a long way to go in how to be more open and accountable and really working with the public with tech. I hope you realize that and are taking the steps to do that.

Thank you, back to the council, to committee.

Thank you very much.

Move approval. Second.

There's a motion and a second, let's vote. Thank you very much. That motion passes. Item number C, there's nothing there, so we will go to open forum. Is there any public comment? Yes, Akos.

Highway staff cites your ordinance to refuse to comply because, quote, that would encourage pedestrians to violate the city ordinance, unquote. However, I and others forced removal of pedestrian's prohibited signs using state law on the three most used expressways. This forced some sidewalks to be built. But these are now at risk of destruction with the recent goal of highway staff to destroy bike lanes and sidewalks along expressways, repeal to stop them. When I ask a council member to repeal on the agenda, to put repeal on the agenda, I'm told, go to the county. County Council's legal opinion states that the city has jurisdiction over prohibiting. You prohibit pedestrians in code 1130 to 70 with tragic consequences. Thank you. Thank you.

Moving on to virtual, Blair.

Hi. Thank you. Blair Beekman. Yeah. Good luck how we have an open public process. The public meeting process here has been really limited in how you're able to offer public comment time. I think that has to be questioned for our future. You're not inviting the public to the process anymore. You're efficiently doing it for yourselves. The data center issue is really made clear that we have to be more working at a community process. Good luck how the data centers at Harry Lane, how we're addressing that for the future. Simply by creating, allowing the permit process to go on with that is no indication that that's the official real way to do it. We can take our time with it and offer accountability for ourselves. I think that's the best ways to be working and moving forward. We don't have to permit ourselves to say we're doing it for real. We can be asking ourselves questions and making a full public process that the Harry Lane area, is that area poisoned by the way?

Jermia followed by call in user one. Jermia? Okay, moving on to caller user one.

Hey, everybody. try to listen to the parking management meeting today parking commission was a complete disaster i could not believe they only let you do it on zoom talk about being limited you can't call in the zoom doesn't work very well the sound didn't work the whole meeting was really an embarrassment like a lot of the meetings that you guys have it's embarrassing and uh I hope to God that you guys figure out not to charge for parking or do what they want to do, because you're just going to wreck the downtown even more than you already have. You know, you're putting your tentacles into the suburbs with parking compliance everywhere. It's unbelievable. You're obsessed with people's cars instead of doing things good for the public. By the way, pile leaves still at speak. It never gets moved. It just keeps growing. Why is it not being removed?

Back to the committee. Thank you so much. Thank you to all the speakers. And we are adjourned at 2.08.