City Council - Regular Meeting

All right, good evening, everyone. If everyone can take their seats, we're gonna go ahead and get started. Thank you for joining us for our regular city council meeting of August 14th, 2026. After a short break, we're back and happy to be back in action. We hold meetings in a hybrid format with both in-person and virtual participation available. The city welcomes public comment on topics within the city's subject matter jurisdiction and members of the public may provide comments as follows. In-person speakers will be called first. Speaker cards are located at the back table in council chambers

Thank you, everyone. And with that, we'll move into the Pledge of Allegiance. Council Member Sterkin, could you lead us?

Please rise if you'd like for the Pledge of Allegiance.

Thank you, Council Member Strachan. And we have all members of the council participating in person today, so we will move through item four. and go into item five. For our first recognition item this evening, we have the pleasure of swearing in newly appointed members of our city board's commissions and committees, or BCCs. On the screen, you'll see all of the names of our newly appointed or reappointed members of the Arts Commission, the Board of Building Review, excuse me, Board of Port Commissioners, Housing and Human Concerns Committee, our Library Board, the Parks, Recreation, and Communi

Thank you to our city clerk. And again, thank you to all of our new and re-sworn commissioners who have joined us this evening. We really appreciate your time, your passion, and the energy you're giving in service to your community. So thank you again, everyone, for being here. And with that, we will now move to item 5B. Our next recognition item this evening is rooted in the City Council's top priorities of children and youth. International Youth Day is recognized annually on August 12th and serves as a global platform for awareness, dialogue, and youth-led action. On behalf of the City Counc

Thank you, Rafael. And thank you to the whole team. I think we just found the new way to end our city council meetings. But we've got a city proclamation. We'd love to take a photo with the whole team. Thank you. Thank you again to the Redwood City Together team. I know you all are heading out the door. Just wanted to remind you, we do have youth and children as a study topic later today, so feel free to tune back in. And we will keep moving on to item six, our public comments. So turning on to the public comments section of the agenda, we'll now take public comment on the consent calendar, ma

Thank you to our city clerk and everybody who made public comment this evening. We will keep the show going to item seven. Our items on the consent calendar are routine in nature and are approved by one motion. Are there any items on consent from which council members are recused? Council Member Chu.

I will be recusing myself from item 7B as I live one block from the bathroom in question.

Thank you. And Council Member Ruggie. Thank you, Mayor. I will be recusing myself from item 7E. One of the consultants on the item, CTS, is a sub-consultant to me. My business on one of my state agency contracts.

Okay. Thank you both. And do we have a motion for all items on consent aside from items 7B and 7E?

Mr. Mayor, before we go there, I'd like to pull item 7A to add a friendly amendment.

And Council Member Serkan? I wanted to just pull 7i as an igloo for just a quick question. And then, I'm sorry, did you already say 7j is being pulled, or is being voted on separately?

No, that was 7a, 7b, and 7e. OK, I'm missing track here.

May I also just pull for a comment? 7j, as in Jake, please. Thank you.

Perfect, so for those keeping track at home, we have Council Member Chiu recused from item 7B, Council Member Gee recused from item 7E, and we have Council Members who have pulled item 7A, 7I, and 7J. So let's start with City Attorney just making sure we're gonna start with our pulled items before we do any voting.

OK sounds good is their motion for all the items on consent aside from items 7, 8, the E I and J so moved. Thank you, Council Member Howard. And is there a second? Second. Perfect. That was a second from Council Member Chu. And could we get an electronic vote, please?

Thank you all. And so with that, we'll begin with our pulled items, beginning with item 7A. And so we'll go to Council Member Gee.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. My proposed addition to the motion, given that the bill has not been fully printed yet and that amendments could still happen, is that the motion be amended to also delegate to the Governance Committee any changes pending final printing of the bill. And the reason for that is time is of the essence. This is going to be approved hopefully or possibly August 31st. The bill will go to the governor and the governor then has 30 days to sign and we will not have time to come back to council for any changed position if the final amendment says we've been shared don't materialize

Mayor, I think that's a wonderful idea because I do realize the urgency. I was hoping that we could just, whether Council Member Gee or a staff member, just very briefly tell the audience what this bill is about.

Thank you, Council Member Howard. I see Michelle going up to the mic.

Thank you very, very much. I appreciate that. It is very complex, but I was very pleased to see that all of the suggestions that you made were accepted. Whoever that author is maybe should be more involved in writing more legislation because he listens. We were very grateful. Thank you. And I'll second the motion of Council Member Gee if you're looking for a second. Sure.

I'll make the motion as amended. Thank you, Council Member Howard.

Thank you both. We appreciate that and getting some more information out to our community. With that, let's get a vote on, that was item 7A.

Wonderful. Thank you, everyone. And we'll go to Council Member Stricken for item 7i. Thank you, Mayor.

Different. Jay is a different topic. It's the courtyard.

Real quick question for staff, I'm not sure if Tanisha's here, but about the stop signs and the selection of the stop signs. One was, I got a question from a constituent about the intersection of Argoio and B Street that isn't slotted for a stop sign, but I'm sure there's a reasonable reason why in that neighborhood, since almost every other intersection is slotted for a new stop sign.

Thank you very much. And if I can just say one last thing, I just want to share appreciation. I know a lot of my constituents and my neighbors appreciate a stop sign being installed at Standish and Warren where there's been several accidents over the past few years. And that was something I heard four years ago when I ran that people wanted. And I just want to thank you and your team for making Centennial safer for everyone. So thank you.

Thank you Councilmember Serkin. That was item 7i. Do we have a motion?

Great. That was a motion from Councilmember Serkin, a second from Councilmember Howard. Could we get an electronic vote please?

We'll start with Council Member Howard. Yes.

Wonderful. Thank you, everyone. And we'll go back to Council Member Stricken for Item 7J.

Sorry to take up more time. So with this item, I just wanted to firstly just thank staff for listening to council's interest in a billboard at the courtyard. That was something I know I raised under our previous city manager, and the concept of us being able to, in another way, as we've discussed it this day, is recoup our costs. How do we put it? Our goal is to... How do we put it? It's a couple of cost of services. Somebody help me here. Yes, cost recovery. Thank you so much. Okay. Mayor's on it. So this is just another way that we could possibly do that. So I appreciate staff for looking in

Thank you, Council Member Strachan. And that was item 7J.

I just want to make clear that that's not all that's in item number 7J. It has many other aspects, and I guess I'll just say I'm not particularly interested in studying billboards, but that's for another day. This would just be, among many other things, to study the possibility of a billboard on the corporation yard land. I second the motion to approve 7J.

Great, so that was a... I'm sorry. That was a motion from Council Member Serkin, a second from Vice Mayor Aiken, and could we get an electronic vote, please?

Great. Thank you. And before I move on from consent, we do have the recusal items to vote on. So we'll first take up 7B, which I believe Council Member Chu was recused from. Is there a motion? Motion to approve item 7B, as in Bob. Great. Thank you. Council Member, is there a second? Perfect. Thank you, Council Member. That was a motion from Council Member Gee and a second from Council Member Howard for Item 7B. Could we get an electronic vote, please?

I'm sorry? Council Member Gee. Yes. Thank you.

Wonderful. Thank you, everybody. And we have up next Item 7E, which Council Member G is recused from. Is there a motion?

Council Member Howard and seconded by Council Member Sterkin. Could we get an electronic vote, please?

Amazing. Thank you, everybody. That was our consent calendar for the evening. So we will move on to item eight, our staff reports. And our city manager, Patrick Heisinger, will provide a brief introduction before turning the presentation over to engineering and transportation director, Tanisha Worden.

Tanisha, thank you for the great presentation. We appreciate all the background and work to get us to this point. And with that, before we get into council discussion, I think we need some public comment.

Thank you, city clerk. And as a reminder, public comment is only for those making comment on subjects within the subject matter jurisdiction of the city. So with that, we will move this to the city council for discussion. Who has, oh, we'll start off with the vice mayor.

I just have some clarifying questions. So Tanisha, thank you so much for such a thorough presentation. So in 2010, we built a levee that was permitted by all the agencies as protecting from sea level rise. Is that right?

And then in 2020, FEMA de-accredited the levy. Is that right?

Now this option two that we have now, it was presented to us in February and at that time it was 30% designed, is that right?

So what concerns me about option two, and several of the public commenters have mentioned it as well, it seems to... In contrast to what we were presented in February, there seemed to be fewer options to expand it later. It looks like we are foregoing some of the ground improvements that would allow this adaptation to changed conditions. there are fewer options tonight to expand it later than there were in February. Is that right?

IN FEBRUARY WE WERE TOLD THAT ground improvements could be allowed if we build higher, but now those grand improvements can't be allowed. Is that right? That's the difference between February and now?

The reason that I'm concerned is because sea level rise is going to come whether we want it to or not. And what concerns me is, you know, in hindsight, to have built a levee in 2010 and then to discover 10 years later that it wasn't good enough, it was more expensive than if we had engineered, built something stronger and more robust, even if it had been more expensive. back in 2010 what looked inexpensive in 2010 what wasn't really so and I just don't want us to have regrets that we did that a second time in this very same place so I want us to be really really aware of how we got to where we

IF WE CHOOSE ALTERNATIVE ONE TONIGHT, DO WE STILL SECURE THAT $2 MILLION FUNDING? We secure it regardless of which alternative we choose. Is that right?

So, I'm really, I'm just concerned that we don't have the permits yet. We're at the very beginning of talking with these permitting agencies. And we know one of your slides talk about acting regionally and that the water doesn't stop in Redwood City and that even though it's in one part of Redwood City that we're doing this levy, it's going to affect all of Redwood City and then all the jurisdictions around it. And so looking at that regional viewpoint, it concerns me that... other jurisdictions are building to a higher standard or planning, that their plans, their aspirations are to build at

No, thank you. And you're absolutely right. And thank you, Tanisha. I was a little cavalier with my words. So thank you. You're right. It was done. You know, sea level rose nine inches in the last 50 years. And it's going to start rising faster, plus ground level rise. I'll leave it there.

Thank you, Vice Mayor, for getting us started. We'll go to Council Member Chu next.

I just had some clarifying questions. So this is a new area to me, so forgive me if these are sort of ignorant. So with taking the premise that the goal of the wall is to avoid flooding, what are FEMA's assumptions with respect to events? Are the standards for every 1,000 year, every 500? You know what I'm saying? What are their assumptions when setting the standard? I'm not, it wasn't meant to be a gotcha. It was more like trying, so I think where I'm going with that, so if it's anticipated that these standards are going to change fairly consistently because climate change is accelerating and

Sure. And then just from my own understanding, what is the height difference between the previous FEMA standard and this standard? Would that buy us 10 years, do you think? I mean, what is the plug, you know?

So if we hadn't have settled, would it still be compliant?

Okay. Thank you. That's very helpful. Okay. And then if you had to, and I'm not going to hold you to this because you can't tell the future, but if you had to ballpark it, a FEMA plus one, about how long do you think that's going to be good for?

Thank you, Council Member Chu. Who else has any questions or comments for staff?

Thank you, Mayor. Tanisha, thank you and the team for all the great work. I have a little different history than some of my colleagues here, and it wasn't 10 years after we completed the levy project. It was a matter of a couple years. But when we did raise the levy, it was to comply with FEMA requirements at that time. period, it was not that we didn't do a good job. We complied with FEMA requirements at the time of construction. And within a couple years after, FEMA changed its requirements. And that's why they recognized that. They admitted they changed the requirements. And that's why we a

And the other part is this is just not a Redwood Shores project, and I agree with our city manager. I mean, I think it's lost when you say there's 30-something pump stations, but we collectively, San Carlos, Belmont, Redwood City, West Bay Sanitation, have made a multi-hundred-million-dollar investment to pump sewage all the way to the end of Redwood Shores. And so if we don't maintain and protect that infrastructure, I challenge the other cities and the other five districts, take care of your own sewage. And it's probably not a pragmatic solution because it's now a force main versus a gravity

Thank you, Council Member Gee. And we'll go to Vice Mayor Aiken.

Just really quickly, one comment I want to make. Thank you, Mr. Gee. There's just one comment I want to make on the financing and the funding. And everyone's point is right. Money doesn't grow on trees. I just, you know, Redwood City has 20 miles of bay shoreline. It's the most of any city in the county. And a new... type of funding that's very, very new, but it's going to be ever present, it's going to be ubiquitous in five years, four years, two years, is going to extremely benefit Redwood City because of the 20 miles of shoreline that we have. And that's mitigation banks. Because in a place

Thank you, Vice Mayor. Council Member Howard.

Thank you. Thank you for the excellent report. It really was very good. And I appreciate the detail that you have put into it. I did want to say, first of all, I really appreciate the history that was brought up by Councilmember Gee regarding Redwood Shores. And I didn't want to miss this moment to say we've got to capture this history. We can't afford to go down a road where we forget what we did before, whether it be 10 years or several years, but it's important, important information. So I'm wondering how possibly your department or wherever it would be appropriate, we can capture what was

Well, that's very optimistic, and I'm really happy to hear you say that, and I hope that they're listening. But I understand our finance and audit committee will be working with you on this and bringing the stakeholders together, and if there's more we can do, you please let us know, because it's going to be important that everybody has some skin in the game to make this work. And boy, when I saw the list, I'm glad for the list, but I'm also worried about the list because that's a lot more people we have to convince this is the right thing to do. I did want to ask a question about option one,

I really appreciate you adding that on because that could be a significant cost. It's also a very emotional thing for people to deal with that. And so I'm leaning towards alternative too because if we wanted to widen in some areas, hybrid was suggested, that would be far easier if you can pick and choose where you would do the widening rather than having a forced 20 foot and then you have to make allowances and possibly get into an extremely higher cost to accomplish what we want to accomplish. If we really want to do this right, we can make changes, but tonight I know you've got a deadline. W

Thank you, Council Member Howard. Do we have any other questions or comments? Council Member Strickland.

Thank you, Mayor. Thank you so much, Danisha. I really appreciate all your hard work on this. I do have a couple of questions and comments as well. So I'll just begin with, let's see. Based on the conversation I've heard here tonight, I just want to clarify. Does that 40% remaining design accommodate for what Council Member Howard just suggested? changing the width maybe in some places where appropriate, but not to change the type, the fundamental type of the levee, right? The deep soil mixing versus the sheet metal.

Thank you so much. I appreciate that flexibility of alternative two. This is what I would actually call a Redwood City levy, not just the Redwood Shores levy, right, to the city manager's points, Council Member Gee's points, and those amenities that we currently have there and that we could add to are for everyone, regardless of where you live in Redwood City or neighboring jurisdictions. So I very much appreciate the intention behind that.

And I know it's been mentioned a couple times that we have a deadline, but as is in the staff report, just for clarity, our deadline is literally this Friday to submit this, right? Okay, so that definitely creates a sense of urgency for me. Okay. But I appreciate that alternative to is, you know, slightly quicker to build, like you mentioned, and would require less fill, less, you know, equipment, less impact on residents for a shorter amount of time. That's another thing we haven't really discussed is all the construction noise and the vibrations and and disruption to wildlife and all that th

Thank you so much for summarizing that for my colleagues and I. Thank you. I'll just pause there. I mean, I'm leaning towards alternative two as well, but I'll pause there. Thank you.

Thank you, Council Member Sorkin. We'll go to Council Member Padilla.

Perfect. I'll pick up on the community outreach. I do have a printout, so I'm going to reference it in case. So I think this is important. I appreciate all of our discussion about... Is this a Redwood Shores issue? Is it a city issue? So then something that I'm fond of no matter where it's happening in our city is community outreach. So first thing I say, okay, I want to look. I heard people telling me, oh, there was only one presentation. So I look and I want to see the meeting. So I look and I see that we've had hybrid community meetings. We've had in-person. I appreciate the office hours. B

Fantastic. So as well as just all Redwood City residents, to Council Member Howard's point, it's a big thing, and we all have to be involved in it. When I was looking at the different alternatives, I know that everyone's saying we do have the option to build on both of them. But just if you look at surface area, you're starting with more surface area. And I think to your point earlier, it would make it easier when we know that FEMA regulations are constantly changing. it's not only about the investments we make now, but how long will those, how much will those updates cost? The adding of the p

I just have another clarifying question. And thank you for all my colleagues. But I'm trying to get back to this one thing that I'm just trying to understand. you know, alternative one, alternative two. Alternative one is more nature-based. Alternative two is more engineered, more, you know, steel-based. But it's the ground improvements. So if we have four feet of subsidence as we did with the levee in 2010, Can we have, so can we use the ground improvements after that? Like the soil, the improvements described in alternative one, which are kind of nature-based and trying to do nature-y things

Well, that's a real concern of mine because I want as much Okay, let me, I'm glad to hear that, thank you. Let me ask the question another way. Can you assure us that we would be able, that if we build, I'm not gonna ask you that, if we build alternatives to we would be able to come back and build more of what looks like Alternative 1 later if Alternative 2, which is much more engineered, We have the subsidence. We have the sinking. But again, I'm answering my own question by saying if we need to save that alternative because the engineering doesn't work and we have to use nature-based, isn't

I know that in Marin and San Rafael, which has half the number of residents that we do and twice the budget, they have a $400 million a year budget and 40,000 people. But anyway, back to my point, they're... Their planning for sea level rise incorporates a lot of nature-based solutions and a lot of horizontal levees, and I would ask you to look. I think they've already done their BCDC plan, and it incorporates a lot of nature-based solutions, I'm told. And so I would ask you to check in with them and look at the design team that they use. I think it's out of New York. And very nature-based. An

Thank you, Vice Mayor. We'll go to Council Member Chu.

So thank you so much for answering a lot of questions and for a terrific presentation. So as I understand it, this wall has three purposes, to prevent our homes from flooding and our businesses from flooding, to bring us into compliance with FEMA regulations, and then will that impact the ability of individuals to obtain insurance? WILL BUILDING THIS WALL NOT JUST PREVENT THE HOMES FROM FLOODING IN REAL LIFE BUT ALSO ENABLE PEOPLE TO OBTAIN MORE FAVORABLE RATES ON THEIR HOME OWNER'S INSURANCE?

SO IT WILL PREVENT THE NECESSITY OF A COSTLY INSURANCE PURCHASE.

From a practical perspective, I would absolutely prioritize just keeping the water out of districts one, two, and three, and above all, protecting our sewage and sanitation. I think that's just the really practical thing we're trying to accomplish here. At the same time, I acknowledge several things. Number one, this is effectively a linear park. I lived on such a parka. When I lived in Japan, I lived on this canal And it went on for miles and it was it was about 10 feet wide and it was lined with cherry trees and had little benches and things like that. But a really good linear park can be an

Thank you, Council Member Chu. Not seeing anyone else's mics on, I will add my thanks to Nisha, and a couple of quick questions to hopefully clarify. I know folks have brought up FEMA's height requirements kind of changing over time. And I'm sorry if I missed this in one of your earlier responses, but do we have a sense of when FEMA might be coming back to us with an update on their height requirement?

Yeah, of course. That's how it goes. Thanks, Tanisha. Aside from that, you had also mentioned that both of these options give us the ability to add height to it in the future, right? So if we did hear from other neighboring jurisdictions that they're going above and beyond FEMA plus one, we would still have that ability and capacity to make change. I was just kind of curious, what would be the, the cost and time sort of savings of going with like an option two over an option one if we did have to build an extra height to it. Is there any sort of cost benefits to that too?

Definitely, thank you. And I heard a couple of my colleagues mention just what if there are other jurisdictions who are coming up with different standards than what we have in mind. So I was just curious. I know we... were intentional about FEMA plus one, because we saw our friends in Foster City and I think that was sort of matching the height that they had too. But how do we compare to other cities who are, or other jurisdictions who are still moving in the process and kind of playing catch up to? Where are they in the process and just how do we compare to them?

Yeah, thank you, Tanisha. And that all helps. And it was a really great presentation. And I know there's been so much community outreach. I had a chance to go to the February... February meeting you'll organize. I know there are a few more recently leading up to this. And I think, you know, It's been mentioned that we had focused so much of our outreach on the immediate River Shores area, and I do think we're getting to the point where it's time to start thinking about reaching out to other folks. So definitely have some appetite to have outreach to our other neighbors, especially as we're sta

We'll go to Council Member Sturgeon and then Council Member G. Thank you. Sorry, just a couple rapid-fire questions based on the discussion. So, okay, so looking at an alternative, there's the very short wall up to 3.5 feet, right, you were saying, Tanisha, but it's covered in concrete. It's enclosed. You don't see the sheet metal. And that was a concern that we heard from some residents, namely about the Foster City levy. So just kind of debunking that you cannot see the sheet metal. Okay, great. Golden. And then groundwater. So both of these versions, alternatives, prevent groundwater seepag

And does one do it better than the other, or are they just comparable? Yeah. Okay. Okay. And then Council Member Chiu suggested an asphalt-free cap, and for a variety of reasons, right? But I wanted to check, that doesn't have any ADA implications, does it?

Recognizing there's maintenance impacts very supportive of the idea of a more natural cap based on the community feedback we received that you mentioned from the memo as well as the Councilmember G said about giving us that flexibility to continue building it higher if we need to at a lesser cost because we want to remove asphalt And then I just want to clarify a question that the mayor asked so So I know we can't know for sure, but the cost of increasing the height of alternative one type levy or alternative two type levy, I mean, can you estimate which one costs more to increase? I mean, we'

And that's what I thought. But we also have to take into consideration, as was mentioned, possible and necessary taking, which is costly. So I wish we had like a... a net cost comparison for these two based on future height increases. But I think we can figure that out as we move forward a little more. I just wish I had that information in front of me, as well as the input from residents outside of Redwood Shores. Well, 20% was from outside Redwood Shores from that, but more than just 20%, right? Thank you.

I am so sorry, and I'm not going to belabor this, or I'm not going to prolong this, but what you said, Mr. Serkin, just gave me a question, and my colleagues as well. Is it possible at some places to have the 20 feet and at some places to have the 10 feet wide? Is it possible? Can the hybrid be... You know, like that?

Yeah, that's my point, where there's no taking of property.

Okay, so I'm very supportive of that in concept because it might be cheaper later.

We'll go to Council Member G. Thank you before I lean in with a motion if no one else makes it. I want to thank Council Member Howard and Council Member Sterk. I didn't really want to go there knowing the levy system. I didn't want to use the eminent domain word and taking word. particularly along the side of Redwood Shores that faces the port. It is narrower, and I'm adamantly opposed, particularly to the residential properties, of any taking to get that 20 feet. I just want to make sure I said that on the record. I didn't want to take any commercial properties. There's not a lot of space bet

So that was a motion and a second for alternative two with hybrid opportunities there. Not seeing anyone else's lights on. Could we get an electronic vote, please?

We'll thank everybody for the discussion on item 8A. We'll now move on to item 9, our study sessions, beginning with 9A, study session on activities to advance the City Council's strategic priority of children and youth. And we have our Assistant City Manager, Derek Wolfgram, who will introduce the item prior to turning it over to our Interim Library Director, Sarah LaTora, and Parks, Recreation, and Community Services Director, Tara Warner, for the presentation. Welcome, everyone.

Thank you both for that great presentation, and we'll take public comment before bringing it back to the City Council.

Thank you, City Clerk. And again, thank you to our wonderful presenters this evening. I think, Tara, what you mentioned, just serving the youth of today's generation with the experience of the inner kid is just exactly what I think we want to be hearing from the people leading our parks and libraries. So it was amazing to hear. But I'll bring it back to our council colleagues here for any questions or comments. Who would like to get us started?

Council Member Gee. Thank you, Mayor. Thank you. This is great. And I think part of the secret sauce goes to all the councils who have been very clear with our strategic priorities. That clarity, I think, helps over the many years of what you need to do as department leads, as well as our donors and everyone. That clarity just helps everyone. amplify what you do and hopefully attracts new donations, funders, grantors, and things like that. So thank you for the great work. I was curious, you know, we do a lot with our city budget, but as I think I mentioned in the previous comment, it's going t

It'd be great to be able to kind of see the trend lines over years, to see what's stable, what's increasing, what's decreasing, just so that as council members we know where to, to the extent we can apply any pressure or help or be supportive or buy more tickets or whatever. And to disaggregate the top one about city general fund versus PRCS ticket sales. I think splitting that out might be also another dimension of helpfulness.

So that 66.9% can go to 80% if we go to Oktoberfest? Yes.

But again, I think we can control general fund more directly and then we can celebrate and advertise ticket sales. So I think having those taken apart a little bit is helpful. The other comment I'd like to make, I want to thank Tara, you and Derek for recognizing our commitment to infrastructure too. And when you add that into the numbers, I think it probably will double it. you know, with safe pathways and safe routes to schools, the 15 mile per hour zone, all the different things we have done and continue to do, crossing guards, you add all that in here, We're not doing it just to do it. We'

Thank you for getting us started, Councilmember. Who would like to go next? Council Member Howard.

Thank you. Great report. And your enthusiasm always gets me always feeling good. I really appreciate it. And I'll try to get to both of those activities because they are a lot of fun. They really are. Put it out that you need volunteers, too. Make a plug for it.

Okay, great. I do have, I wanted to, I feel right now one of the biggest problems that we have, I know e-bikes are a problem, we've got a lot of problems, but the one I'm most concerned about right now is young people and the mental health issues that don't sometimes get expressed or talked about. Loneliness, you're talking about, I mean, with COVID, what happened with the isolation, people in their homes, and I think it left scars that are going to take years to unravel. We don't even know probably the extent of how this is going to shape the young people who live through that. But I bet they

No, I appreciate that. But I know you mentioned that you'll bring it to the attention of the schools sometimes when you're aware of a problem. I did volunteer at Sequoia as a mentor for some high-risk students and the teachers said we're just overwhelmed so if we give that information to them I'm worried what do they do with it because I think everyone's a little overwhelmed and not sure how to deal with some of these problems so I was wondering do we have connection or plan to maybe collaborate more closely with the county because I feel there they may have the resources that can address some

I know the county offered the council a to go on tours of their resources and where they're located, and they're going to have a North County tour and a South County tour. I already signed up for the South County. I encourage my colleagues to please sign up because I want to find out. I don't know much about the locations or the type of services other than what I read, but to see it firsthand, I'm wondering if maybe it'll spring some ideas on how we could work together because just taking a problem to the school I feel like we're overwhelming an already overwhelmed teacher population. And ther

That's great. That's very helpful. And the other thing is I wanted to just lastly say we have two plus two plus two, well, we have relationships with the schools and we meet or are supposed to meet frequently enough that we can discuss each other's issues and how we can work better together. And the one I find that's just not very successful is the one with the Redwood City Elementary School District and the Sequoia High School District. We haven't met, I don't think, once this year. Maybe we met in January.

WE KNOW IT. EVERYONE IS BUSY. I WAS GOING TO SUGGEST MAYBE WE THINK ABOUT DIVIDING IT UP AND SAYING LET'S MEET WITH THE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL DISTRICT BECAUSE THEY MIGHT HAVE UNIQUE PROBLEMS AND THEN I think we have to kind of take control of the situation, because if we just let it go on the way it is, it'll be another year before we ever meet with these groups. That's an opportunity to really share resources and problems and solutions. We can't do it alone. They can't do it alone. So that's my suggestion for the council is maybe we stop trying to get everyone into the room and maybe we'll have t

That's wonderful to hear. Thank you very much. I appreciate it.

Thank you, Council Member Howard. We'll go to Council Member Strickland.

Thank you, Mayor. Thank you so much, both of you, for your hard work. This is, I know, just like a taste of all the work that goes into our programs. And I really do applaud you for everything that you have shown us here. I know I can't begin to thank you enough for how much work you do. I did want to spend some time just focusing, zeroing in on a couple key issues, areas of improvement that aren't unique to us, of course, but that we do have a part in. One of the areas that struck me the most was youth homelessness and the 507 students experiencing homelessness in RCSD. i read in a council co

Thank you so much. I didn't mean to put you on the spot, but I do appreciate you sharing a little bit about how we are supporting queer and trans youth in Redwood City. What you said about uh having a collection in our libraries that is reflective of the community like that was very um impactful in my childhood you know being able to pick up books that where i saw myself in that book and and felt validated as you said so thank you um all right and then uh i uh to the point about collaborating more with the school district i mean I got Trustee Cecilia Marquez and Trustee Mike Wells on speed dia

Yes. So, you know, as an example, the parkade. It's under that big, giant tent at Courthouse Square. Gotcha.

VERY INNOVATIVE. FULLY SUPPORT LOOKING INTO THAT FURTHER IF THERE'S MAJORITY SUPPORT FOR THAT. THANK YOU. AND I'LL WRAP UP IN... I'LL JUST PAUSE HERE. I HAVE MORE.

I'LL JUMP IN. THANK YOU. CAN WE GO TO FIGURE ONE, THE MAP OF FACILITIES, PLEASE? CAN WE START THERE? I WANT TO LEAVE THIS OUT BECAUSE I THINK THIS IS A GOOD VISUAL FOR US TO HAVE UP WHILE I MAKE MY COMMENTS. And I make these comments as I am a newer council member, but I was a longstanding commissioner on the parks and recs commission. So I'm going to ask questions. Some, I may already know the answers to, but I'm going to ask them anyways for everyone else's benefit. We know where we see these green spots. We can see where they're concentrated and where they aren't. So I just want everyone to

So I want us to stare at that. And what I'm thinking is, well, what I know is that not only are we park deficient, I want to know who's taking our programs. Where are our programs and who's in them? And something that I was so excited about you know, is when we've developed this technology and Parks and Rec and everyone was getting all this mapping and we're getting closest, how can we really see who we're serving? Because when we see who we're serving, you know what it also tells us? Who we're not serving. And while I appreciate table five in the chart where it shows us, you know, total numbe

Thank you. And it would be also helpful if we could see the breakdown for... Parks and Arts Foundation, if what their scholarships that they divvy out, because it said scholarships versus equipment. So I would like to see how much money is scholarships versus equipment. Sure.

So thank you so much, both for the presentation and for all the work you do. You know, something, you know, I always brag about our parks and our libraries, but I feel like every single staff person really cares, and it shows in everything you do. And it's so appreciated. And I think it's every single person on this dais's job. It is the school district's job, and it's all of our jobs. to ensure that our kids have their best shot at a healthy, happy, productive life. And so I understand that there are things outside of your purview that really affect kids. Um, and so I think that this conversa

I DON'T KNOW IF THAT WAS INTENTIONAL. THAT'S WHAT I WAS THINKING. THAT LOOKS LIKE HETCH HETCHY TO ME. I'VE BEEN LOOKING THROUGH CHAIN LINK TRENTS THINKING THAT SHOULD BE A PARK. IF THAT'S HETCH HETCHY, I THINK WE SHOULD TURN HETCH HETCHY EMPTY LOTS INTO PARKLETS. So that's the first thing. Write that down. Because that's a cheap, easy. She's writing that down. Okay. Yeah, I think that's Hachechi. I think that's what that is. Okay, great. So I was really thinking about, you know, I think about the kids in my community a lot and kind of, you know, Maslow's hierarchy of needs. And I go back to ou

One thought I had, I know that it's hard to build like a new library but I remember one of the biggest most important and I think historic houses in our neighborhood went on sale and I think it might be haunted because it does go on sale like every two years or so. So our chance will come again. But I just remember thinking, you know, this house is incredible and it would make an amazing library and community center. And so, you know, even as we think about ways, like I think we have to start getting creative about things like parks and libraries. You know, a really perfect street is like a li

Thank you, council member. Go to the vice mayor.

I'll be extremely brief because I took a lot of time on the last item. So just the slide about the grants or the, just want to go there again real quick. My question is just simply how, how many, how much money, and it's okay if you don't know, you can email me later, but how much money does project read get with grants? They get the federal grants, state grants, County grants. What, tell me about project reads grants.

Yeah, I would just, any information about the funding for Project Read, I would love. And then I'm done, the only other question I have is, could you, you have some wonderful people here who are helping with our youth, could they introduce themselves? Absolutely. Come on up. Thank you for staying so late, and if you could just tell us your name and what you do, that would be fun.

I'm Talisha Brent, Interim Recreation Manager for the Youth and Teen Services. Thanks for having us.

Fantastic. Well, thank you all for staying up late with us, and those are my questions.

now speaking of bike gangs in the summer you can catch eric uh... leading about twenty kids on their bikes throughout the city getting to defend that trips but uh... okay i have a few more questions and this actually given that you brought spokes at this i saw spokes i think it's great but i thought are really high absentee rates in schools and i thought here's maybe an opportunity i thought Everything here, I think we need more outreach. I asked several parents if they had heard of these financial literacy programs. No one I had asked had even heard of them. They actually told me they had pai

Maybe we need some interns for city council. I mean, I think I'm all for internships and getting people engaged civically. So thank you.

Thank you, Council Member Padilla. We'll go to Council Member G next. Just to wrap up, you know, what I've heard, well, let me back up. Tonight's presentation is focused on what we do as a city, but we can't lift up all youth by ourselves. It's a partnership with the school district, the high school district, community at all, college district, and from what I know, a lot of nonprofit organizations out there. So maybe to our city manager, is there a way to do a memo to us that lists all the different partners out there and what they focus on so that we can help distribute and let people know w

Thank you, Council Member Gee. I'm not seeing anyone else's lights on. Thank you for the great presentation and everybody who stayed with us. It's great to see everybody here. I am just so impressed by the incredible work that you all are doing. And it's so comprehensive and it's so holistic. It's not just providing a basketball league and calling that wraps, right? It is just you all are really thinking about new and creative ways to support the generation of today, which is amazing. But I also just have so much appreciation for what so many of my colleagues have mentioned around powering our

Thank you very much. I just had some more comments. So, you know, Councillor Rapida mentioned barriers for kids, right? And so I combed through some of the BCC applications last night from specifically youth, some of whom we appointed, some we didn't, and I hope they apply again. But one that came up for me was Zane Rezac, who we did appoint. He had said, youth access to parks emits unequal access to facilities and gaps is important. So in talking about our fields, we're making lots of headway there, right? With improvements to Hoover Field, for example, changing to artificial turf. But that's

Any other thoughts, comments, colleagues? Not seeing any. Council Member Chu, I saw you reaching.

I agree. Where we spend our money reflects what we really prioritize.

Great. Thank you all. And with that, that was our study session. So we will keep it going. We do not take a formal action on this evening, but the work will continue. Thank you again to all of our representatives from parks and libraries. Thank you all for being here again. And we will move into item 10, matters of council interest, beginning with 10A, city council member report of meetings and conferences attended. and we'll go with Vice Mayor and then we'll go to Council Member Howard.

Okay, thank you. This past weekend, I went to the Redwood Shores Levee Cleanup, and they've been doing this, gosh, over 20 years now. It started with Pete and Ginny Hughes back in the day, and it was really nice to be with them. They counted 76 people who signed up to do it, and everyone was having a wonderful time, and the important thing was is that They went and walked around what we talked about today, the levees, and they cleaned up a whole bunch of stuff, and they had a wonderful time, and it was a great community event. So I want to thank Nina and others, Nina Bore and others who put th

Thank you. Thank you, Council Member Howard.

And let's go to Council Member Sorkin. Three quick things. So like I mentioned earlier, I did go to Rebel City Together's summer showcase, summer intern showcase. 36 interns graduated from a variety of appointments at different non-profits, partners that we work with. It was just really amazing to see those kids and learn about what they did and accomplished and and hand them certificates alongside Supervisor Gaucher and State Senator Josh Becker, who drove in from Sacramento for the event, which was pretty impressive. Secondly, oh gosh, I already forgot what I was going to say, but I will lea

Thank you, Councilmember. Not seeing anyone else, we will move into item 10B and start with governance, and I'll send things over to the Vice Mayor.

The governance subcommittee comprised of Mayor Martina Ceballos, Councilmember Gee, and myself met on August 18th. The city's legislative consultants from California Public Policy Group, CPPG, provided a legislative overview which included updates on legislative timing, the vehicle license fee shortfall, tort reform, wildfire liability, data centers, budget trailer bills, and information on additional legislation affecting Redwood City. In accordance with the 2026 legislative platform, The committee discussed and confirmed the city's position on key bills, which included a position change to n

Thank you, Vice Mayor. And I'll give a quick update on the Intergovernmental Relations Ad Hoc. The Ad Hoc, comprised of Vice Mayor Akin, Council Member Gee, and myself, held its first meeting on July 28th. The committee reviewed the purpose of this committee, which is to collaborate with city staff on intergovernmental relations matters, including engagement with regional, county, state, federal, and affiliated agencies and organizations, identify opportunities to advance city priorities through partnerships and advocacy, and provide input on the strategic initiatives involving external govern

And before our last item, we'll go to Council Member Strickland. Sorry, Mayor and Council. I just have two other report outs that I remember now. So I did attend the Police Advisory Committee meeting, a town hall that they had over the last week or the week before. And I just wanted to highlight a couple... things I learned from the member, or heard from the member. So John McMullen, one of the members, he supported adding damages to our contract with whichever vendor we choose to go with, if we do, in the event that they breach the contract. That was an interesting thought. And then Don, Dani

Thank you for those updates, Council Member. Our last update is just we are moving into returning to closed session to discuss anticipated litigation and real property negotiations as identified on the agenda. Before we move to closed session, I'll ask the City Clerk if there's any public comment on the closed session item.

Thank you. In the event that there is reportable action following the closed session, we will be returning to the dais to report the action. If no reportable action is taken, we will adjourn the meeting immediately following closed session and not return back to the dais. With that, I thank you all for joining tonight's City Council meeting. We're next scheduled to meet on Monday, September 14th. I wish you all a great evening and a week ahead. Thank you, everyone. All right, City Council's back, reconvening after closed session, and we took some action items, so I'll pass things over to our C

Thank you, everyone, and we will adjourn. Our next meeting is September 14th. We will see you then. Thank you.