Remarks by Kate Colin
212 remarks on the record, newest first · Page 5 of 9
Okay, thank you. I will close the public comment and bring it back to council members for additional comments and then accept a motion. There's several motions on this one. Vice Mayor, any additional comments on this item?
Thank you, council member. Yeah, you're in school.
Yes, and I'll just add my gratitude as we continue to have these granular updates, which are really important. I think back to where we were five or ten years ago, and this is important to keep us informed, to keep the community informed. Finance terms notwithstanding, but the underlying approaches and policies that ultimately get tied to it, and we appreciate especially the conversation around recreation fund and how that sound the general fund and if there were to be any additional conversations that counts would have it at the policy level and we would figure it out from the budget level…
Second. Moved and seconded. Roll call, please.
Aye. That motion carries 4-0. Thank you all for an excellent meeting. It is adjourned.
Ready? All right. Welcome everyone to the regular meeting of the San Rafael City Council. Today is Monday, August 17th, 2026. The city clerk, if you could call the roll. Council Member Bushey.
Vice Mayor Kurtz. Present. Council Member Irenz-Gulati. Present. Mayor Kate. Present. We met in closed session prior to this meeting and I'll ask the city attorney to report out.
Thank you. Good evening, everyone, and welcome. Thank you for joining us, whether you're here in person or online. We appreciate your participation and engagement. We apologize that we're running a few minutes late. We did have a ribbon cutting out in front of City Hall. There is a new incredible sculpture there. So next time you're in the city, do check it out. It is one of several art pieces throughout the city. So if you've attended a previous city council meeting, you know that we like to start by appreciating our staff as they work so diligently on behalf of our residents every day. So…
Thank you. We have open time for public expression at both the beginning and end of the meeting. At the beginning, we'll just do it for about 10 minutes for folks both in the room and online. We'll have more time at the end of the meeting. You are welcome but not required, as you just heard, to state your name and what part of San Rafael you're in. And as I've already mentioned, we do welcome a diversity of viewpoints and respectful disagreement and help us maintain a... Welcoming environment for all so I already have received two cards of folks in the room. So now would be your opportunity…
Thank you both for your comments, and because it's during public open time, we can't respond formally, but I will say we're starting an East San Rafael planning effort, which we would absolutely welcome youth participation, so we have your contact information. We'll ensure that you know when that engagement is happening, because it will include Pickleweed, and it will also include other parts of East San Rafael. Thank you, thank you both. Is there anyone else in the chambers that would like to comment during public open time? I don't see anyone in the chambers. Is there anyone online?
Thank you. We will close the open time for public expression. Again, there will be additional time at the end of the meeting. We'll turn to the city manager and council member reports. Interim City Manager Navazio.
Okay, thank you. I'll turn to my colleagues to report out what they've been up to. Vice Mayor Kurtz, go ahead.
So that's it. Thank you. Council Member Yaran-Skaladi.
I'll just add a few things. I also participated in National Night Out. And again, thank you to our first responders who also participated and the community leaders that brought their neighborhood together so we could all connect. So that was a really, really well attended event. As you know, I'm your representative on TAM, the Transportation Authority of Marin. TAM staff met with city staff and with DPW and Director Miller to discuss about the One Bay Area Grant Program that is through MTC, the Metropolitan Transportation Commission, This is funding opportunities for us to do projects…
And just as a reminder, we are taking phone comments and we want to maintain a welcoming environment by refraining from hateful or discriminatory remarks.
If you could mute, I'd just like to. So we are taking public comment, and it's a new world. So I'm going to turn to the city attorney to find out what speech is acceptable and which is not.
Thank you, City Attorney. We appreciate that, and we appreciate that we are balancing public participation, which we welcome, and hopefully it's done in a respectful and non-discriminatory manner. So I know we did mute the speaker. If the speaker has anything that they would like to share, hopefully with that additional guidance, and this is on the council member reports only, we would be welcome to hear your viewpoints as long as... I'll leave it there. So if you could just have your concluding statement, that would be fine. Give me one moment.
As we said, protected speech. Thank you for your comments. You may close the public comment at this point. Please mute. Thank you.
I think we've had enough moments. Thank you. Okay. With that, we will move on to the consent calendar. We have items 2A through 2L. I would like to discuss consent item I, but we will accept public comment on all items. But I did want to pull consent item I, which is a fleet replacement item. and specifically about a letter we received from Sustainable San Rafael. So we will have staff respond to that. Are there any other items that the council would like to hold? Not seeing any, I will open public comment on the entire consent agenda. So that's items 2A all the way through, including I,…
Thank you, Jose. And that was in reference to the proclamation that's part of our consent agenda. Thank you. Anyone else like to comment on the consent calendar? not seen any public in the room. Is there any public comment online?
We will close the public comment online. And I would accept a motion on all the items except for aye, and then we'll have staff speak to aye.
Second. Moved and seconded. Roll call, please.
Aye. That motion carries 5-0. So the item that was pulled was a fleet replacement. We received an excellent letter from Sam Raffel, Sustainable Sam Raffel, and they had a straightforward question about why not all of the vehicles, specifically the motorcycles, The police administrative vehicles were not within the electric vehicle pool. So I was hoping that she could Clarify that for us and respond to their concerns happily.
Thank you, Chief. That very well explained and understanding the operational constraints. Any questions by the council on this item? Other than just gratitude that you have been thoughtful about it and that the transition does continue, but in a way that enables our officers to do their work, because that is the highest priority. Thank you. So with that, I'd entertain a motion on this specific item, please.
Moved and seconded on two, aye. Roll call, please.