Remarks by Alissandra Dramov
66 remarks on the record, newest first · Page 1 of 3
Thank you, Mayor. This is from the City of Carmel-by-the-Sea Council proclamation honoring Jacob's Heart Children's Cancer Support Services and declaring September 2026 as Childhood Cancer Awareness Month. Whereas the character of our community is revealed in how we treat our most vulnerable, and whereas each year 19.2 in every 100,000 children in our community will be diagnosed with cancer, Whereas cancer remains the leading cause of death by disease among children more than asthma, diabetes, cystic fibrosis, congenital anomalies, and AIDS combined, and whereas Jacob's Heart has been keeping…
Of course. Thank you, Brandon, first of all for the beach update and we certainly look forward to the more thorough expanded update next month. Shari, thank you for your work and service and congratulations to your promotion and Yanni, welcome aboard. We look forward to working with you. So just two quick announcements really quick. I wanted to thank our police chief, our officers, all of our public works crews for all the work that they did. During car week that was a tremendous effort and you all did a wonderful job so thank you for that and speaking of car week many of you know but just a…
I've heard that that's part of the procedure.
I haven't had a chance to weigh in. I'm waiting until Jeff's comments are finished.
I may be negative. I'm waiting for Jeff to finish.
I'm just going to begin with, we got a letter this afternoon from Carolyn Hardy, and she's not only a former city council member here in Carmel, but she had also been involved with a search for a city administrator. So she has experience and knowledge in what she's talking about, and I would just like to read part of her letter so it's entered into the record. So she begins, as you address the timeline and process of recruiting our next city administrator, I believe you are rushing the process too much. The push is being driven by two lame duck council members who want to say in the decision…
Yes, I support the idea of the ad hoc. I think that Bob and Hans did a great job when it came to Brandon's contract negotiation, and I trust them. They're the most experienced members of this council in that sort of thing. I trust giving them the ability to do that.
if that needs to be quote unquote sacrificed, yeah, I'd rather have those extra days with having the recruitment open and not feel.
All right. I agree with Bob. As far as we don't, I don't think we absolutely need the November 3rd meeting.
I've already stated that I support Bob and Hans.
So, Wendy, could you just walk us through a little bit what the advantages would be if we went with that higher salary range and the difference with like a different caliber of candidate we could find? Or just sort of walk us through the advantages and, of course, potential disadvantages of that salary range. Thanks.
Thanks, Mayor. I'm OK with the proposed salary range, just as we had discussed and Bob had said. It's nice to have that ability to go up to that level if there is somebody that is just spectacular, outstanding, with tons of experience. And it would make the difference in getting that person to come here. Certainly share the thoughts that Victoria and Carolyn brought up about housing and also incorporating that into some of the incentives of hiring the candidate. I'm certainly not saying we should go for that top salary, but I think at least let's have that range in while we're doing this…
The only thing I would add, Wendy, and thank you, that was a very comprehensive list, is sort of just a real understanding and appreciation of what a unique community we are, the one square mile, just the fact that we are hospitality-centered as far as what our revenues are to run the city, and just that kind of understanding with our historic background, artistic background, and that's the only thing I would add.
Thank you. Basically, Bob and Hans really stated it well, so I don't want to repeat everything they said. I think leadership and experience are key, proven leadership, successful. And we did get into a bit of discussion about education levels, whether masters should be required or optional or encouraged, and the back and forth with the different word choice to kind of pinpoint what we're looking for so that we can also cast as wide a net as possible in the candidate.
I won't be able to do the morning. I could basically do any time from noon to the rest of the afternoon until you've got your appointment at 3.30, I think you said.
So then everything, it just gets pushed over one day for when it goes live and gets sent out to everyone, right? So that would be on the 10th.
Thanks, Mayor. I'm just going to keep it really brief. So it may not be a perfect system, but the market median seems to be the best practical, realistic way of doing it. But I would support Hans's idea of eliminating the pay bands and untethering. So perhaps it's something that we could look into in the future.
Thank you, Mayor. Just a quick item about the Tor House. So this is quite a big deal. The National Trust for Historic Preservation has a quarterly magazine, and it's titled Preservation. And so the summer of 2026 issue has a profile of the Tor House, which is featured on the cover of the magazine. And there's also a photo essay and feature about poet Robinson Jeffers inside. So the magazine can be read online. You go to savingplaces.org. forward slash preservation magazine and then click latest issue and that'll give you a chance to see the beautiful photographs and read the profile.
Go ahead. Thank you, Jamie. The first one, I think I actually should probably ask Brandon regarding the city administrator fee waiver authority for exceptions. So I'm just wondering how easy or difficult will you make it for people to prove that they have a financial need for a waiver? For example, if somebody's on a fixed income or over age 62, like what do they need to do to prove it without making it too difficult for them?
Okay, perfect, thank you. And then actually I have two questions really quick about the parking citation. So I was wondering if I could ask the chief on those. So somebody asked me this question, and I thought it was a good one to ask you and have everyone hear the answer. So they brought up rental cars. For example, if we're now talking about a second hire for a second offense, but let's say it's a different driver and it's within the one-year period, is that person going to get the higher offense, even though this is their first time in Carmel, just based on the fact that it's a rental car?…
Okay, and then this is a little bit unrelated, but I was wondering, since we have that program, I think it's about like $30 where a resident gets the sticker for one year and they get the extra hour, for example, downtown parking. Does your automated license plate system know that that's one of those cars that gets the extra hour when you're giving tickets?
So their license plate is already in the system and it will know that?
Okay. Thank you, Mayor. I agree with Tamara's comments and I agree with Hans that there's definitely room to increase those fees. I started off low, but certainly I'm open to discussion. I was thinking something like $52.50 for the first one because that takes into account the $12.50 that the county takes automatically. You could do $67.50 for the socket. and 8250 or 85 for the third, but I'm certainly open to hearing the rest of the council if we want to negotiate on those.
I just wanted to mention, because I'd also looked up some other cities. Granted, these are not neighboring cities, but Laguna Beach has $70 to $90. Santa Monica is $65 to $90. Manhattan Beach, Hermosa Beach, and Del Mar are all in that same $60 to $90 range. So I think we can go up to, like I said, $52.50 if we wanted to. If not, I'm fine with the $48. I do like the idea of the second and third offense because I think it is about deterring behavior that we don't want.
Thank you, Mayor. I agree with my fellow council members and the reasoning on both of those. And also regarding the historic properties, what Shirley brought up and what I was sort of getting at also last night. It might need to be a future discussion, though. I don't think we have time tonight to do something like that. But I think especially if we're not going forward with Mills Act, we do need to find ways to create incentives and to ease some of the pressure and burdens and show some appreciation to folks who have historic homes and are putting in the time, effort, and money to be able to…