City Council - Regular Meeting

Thank you. Do we have any public comment?

I'm sorry. Wow. we are not taking the right to vote away from anyone. Everyone, 85,000 people had the opportunity to file, some of them maybe not legally, but no one's taking away anyone's right to vote. The fact that this saves, we are all stewards of the public's money, and people would have a chance to see my name on the ballot, which really would be an exercise in egotism, just to require people to see my name. That's not a good use of funds. I'm running unopposed because people apparently think I'm doing a good job. And part of that good job is saving and being wise about the use of publi

I have a question potentially for our city attorney or city clerk. In an election where there's only one candidate, is there a way for that candidate to lose? Is there a minimum number of votes they need? No. No, but if they get zero or one, and presumably the candidate himself will vote for himself, so they would get at least the one vote, and that's enough to win. So there's no way for the outcome to be any different than us appointing them today, in which case I think we should save the $250,000.

And, you know, these were not people who've already been elected by the people? Correct. I might think differently, but they've already been elected by the people, and they've served. People have watched them serve, and no one has challenged them.

Okay. Thank you. Council Member Dundar. I would maybe say it this way. I think that trying to break out the percentages of how many people vote for Council Member Branning or Mayor Marchand without an opponent relative to other races would be splitting hairs relative to the American Community Survey that we do every year to see how people feel about City of Livermore governance, which includes all of us up here as an indicator. So relative to that thing that we normally do, and as you know, add our own questions to sometimes to get more specific info. I don't think that this is worth that cost

Well, and in the most recent poll, 92% of the people agreed that Livermore is a great place to live and raise a family. That's 92%. So I have never missed an election since I was 18. And the reason being is because I turned 18 during the Vietnam War. And we did not have the right to vote for our federal representatives who had the ability to send us off to war and to die. And we could not vote for our representatives. And it was the Vietnam War that gave 18-year-olds the right to vote. And that's why I've never missed an election since then. I have to say that I am... shocked at the cynicism h

So if there's – are there any other comments? I would move approval of the staff recommendation.

Motion by Council Member Dunbar. I'll have a second. Seconded by Vice Mayor Wong. Is there any discussion on the motion? All in favor? I'm sorry. We're not online, right? So we can just do this by voice vote? Okay. Question for the city attorney. With this appointment, I will be personally benefiting financially. Is there a conflict of interest here? Should I have accused myself?

Okay. Very good. Thank you. So with that, I will call the question. All in favor signify by saying aye. Aye. Any opposed? Any abstentions? It passed unanimously. Thank you very much. Okay, moving on to 3.2. This is a resolution authorizing a supplemental appropriation of low-income housing funds. And this is regarding the contract with Bay Cities Paving and Grading. Item 3.2.

And I loved the citation of Sam Irvin. I'm just a poor country lawyer from the Watergate, which shows how far back we go.

Thank you. Do you have any public comment?

Thank you. Do we have any other speakers?

Okay. Is there anyone else in the audience that wishes to comment on this item? While we're waiting, I would ask the city attorney, do you have any comments in response to the comments from Mr. Swanson?

It's funny. I actually recall Judge Markman making the comment that, you know, since 2007, nothing has changed on this site. So the original EIR was still valid because nothing had changed since 2007 when the site was acquired. So it's funny. When you mentioned that about just sort of flashed in my mind, oh, I remember that.

Okay. Seeing no additional comments, I'm going to close the public comment period and bring it back to the council. Questions or comments from the council? Council Member Dunbar.

I'll comment and then throw a question at a certain point. Has any performance occurred on the contract or was all work stopped since?

Thank you. What I heard was a claim that significant new information has occurred. I read all those claims in the email packet. I was on the Planning Commission through this project multiple times and have seen this project multiple times. I have read the SMP. I have read the EIR documentation, both the supplemental and addendums that have occurred over the various years. I do not find that there is any new information that would constitute such a determination to change that. So I can make the findings that staff is recommending. I hope, Mr. Swanson, that your accommodation requests have been

I've also read the emails and appreciate that and agree that there have been no changes to this project. So I'm comfortable with staff recommendation. Okay. Do I have a motion? I'll move approval of staff recommendation.

Okay. It's been moved. And I will second. Seconded by Council Member Dunbar. Any discussion on the motion? All in favor signify by saying aye. Aye. Any opposition? Abstentions? It passes unanimously. Thank you very much. We can bring Council Member Berrientos back in. All right. You're back just in time for the adjournment. We're going to adjourn to a regular hybrid city council meeting Monday, September 14th at 7 p.m. We'll see you here. Thank you very much.