City Council - Regular Meeting

All right, I'm going to go ahead and call this meeting to order and ask for a roll call.

Council Member Little is absent at this time, but we do expect him shortly. Council Member Sander?

Here.

Council Member Pulipati is absent this evening. Vice Mayor Budge? Here. Mayor Gatewood?

Here. Can you go ahead and read the television announcement?

Yes. The meeting of the Rancho Cordova City Council is recorded with closed captioning. The recording will be cablecast on Metro Cable Channel 14, the local government affairs channel on the Comcast and direct TV U-verse cable systems. The recording will also be video streamed at metro14live.saccounty.gov. Today's meeting will replay on Thursday, June 18th at 9 a.m. and Monday, June 22nd at 9 a.m. on Metro Cable Channel 14. Once posted, the recording of this meeting can also be viewed on demand at youtube.com forward slash MetroCable14 and on the city's website at www.cityofRanchoCordova.org.

All right, I'm going to go ahead and have Russ come up and do the Pledge of Allegiance. And then I ask everyone to stay, invite you to stay, stand for the invocation.

Good evening, everyone. Let's salute. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

Joined now by Chaplain Sylvia Esponda Poole.

Thank you. Dear God, bless us as we gather today for this meeting. Guide our minds and hearts so that we will work for the good of our community and help all your people. Teach us to be generous in our outlook, courageous in the face of difficulty, and wise on our decisions. We pray this in the name of Jesus, amen.

All right. Well, the next one was birthdays, but none of the two people are here yet. So I'm going to hold on that and we'll sing it. There he is. Bam. Walked in the room. All right. That's all right. But that's, you know, it's his birthday, too. All right. Here we go. We're going to sing happy birthday to Joe and Siri.

We can skip it.

Nope. No, we can't. That's forever. One, two, three. Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday, dear Joe Little and Cerebral Body. Happy birthday to you. So we got Joe is still the youngest council member that's ever been on council at a whopping 36? 34. 34. Oh, yeah. And Siri, wherever you are, happy birthday. All right. Public comment. Members of the public wishing to address the council for any matter not on the agenda may do so at the time by completing and submitting a speaker card to city clerk. For items on the agenda, speakers will be called by the mayor at that point on the agenda when the item has been heard. Speakers are encouraged to keep their comments to three minutes or less and state the name and community of the residents. Under the provision of California Government Code, City Council is prohibited from discussing or taking immediate action on any item not on the agenda unless the item is demonstrated to be of emergency nature or the need to take immediate action was after the post agenda. Stacy, do we have any public comment?

We do not.

Excellent. We're going to move on to council reports. First, we're going to start off with birthday boy.

uh yeah no um been a lot of small stuff had fun uh downtown zach this weekend for pride um few other events a constituent invited me four times to their birthday and uh hard to say no after the fourth one so went to that um a bunch of other stuff but yeah i'll keep it short all right david

I'll just have a couple highlights. I was a speaker at the BIA's BUILD program last week, which is kind of like a leadership development program within the building industry. They actually hold that class, and they train carpenters just off Mahey Road. which I would say is in Rancho Cordova, except legally it's not within our boundaries. It would probably be called Rosemont. But it's a nice facility, great training program there, and they just happened to do the leadership program there as well. So that was a very fun discussion. The topic they wanted me to address was volunteerism and civic engagement. So that was fun. On Friday, I attended the League of California Cities Sacramento Valley Division meeting. And we did a tour of Sunrise Mall, such as it is now.

Oh, my.

Not yet closed. Like JCPenney's is still open. A couple of other stores are still open. A theater group has taken over one of the suites there and is operating a theater. But they've got big plans for what's coming, including a couple of ice rinks. I don't know if you've read about this in the media. Some outdoor covered artificial turf play space that soccer teams or other other sports that could use that facility could take advantage of. And, Linda, you'll enjoy this one. On Saturday, I went and rode the El Dorado Western Railway so that I could finally understand what was happening at that end of our rail corridor that we talk about all the time, but I don't know if you've ever done that.

Where did you start and where did you end?

It's El Dorado to El Dorado, so you just go out a few miles and come back from El Dorado, the little village of El Dorado.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

So that was interesting. We've had a couple of big track meets here that have gone very well. And let's see, anything else I want to mention? SACOG meeting last week in transportation, nothing remarkable there. All right, thank you very much. That's my report. Linda.

Lucky me. Actually, David didn't say we had a really great Growing Stronger Neighborhoods meeting, which continues to be a very strong partnership and recognize that we need to continue to raise expectations. I actually, I went to the BAPS fundraiser. It was actually a run and a walk, although I never saw anybody run. It was only a walk, but the funny thing was We all got to do yoga beforehand. And so this lady was up there leading us all in yoga, which was very interesting. That afternoon, there was a wonderful concert here at City Hall. And everybody who missed it really missed out on something perfectly lovely. Regional Transit met. And their new exciting news is that they are about to open the new station at Dos Rios. And kids are going to continue to ride free, although according to the V today, that may be in jeopardy. That wasn't exactly how it was presented to us at the board. And they have been incredibly successful at getting money from infrastructure from our congressional delegation, both the Congress and the Senators. And I think we probably want to... help them pursue some of that, especially because it would mean construction on our Routier Station. The BIA had a very nice event and leadership graduated their 19th class. of leadership this year. So this is the point in time when anybody who thinks they would like to be a part of leadership, Rancho Cordova, really needs to go out and look at it and get signed up. There was an event on Friday night that ultimately, as Garrett will tell you, watched the USA team beat the Paraguay team.

USA, USA.

And today, the HCP met. Today was a day for lots of annual reports and annual fee raising and those kinds of things that people really need to pay attention to if they own property here in Rancho Cordova and think they might like to build anything on it.

That ended up being four to one, right? Pardon me? The USA versus Paraguay. I was at the event briefly.

Yeah, we let them score just to not make them feel bad. Yeah. It's kind of like what we're going to do to Australia.

I still don't understand the scoring system. I have some homework to do.

Oh, yeah.

Like for the tournament part.

Remember, it's one point. It's two points for the win and one point over the win that goes against the numbers, and that's how they decide whether you're going to move on. So if you both won your games, is it three points for the win? They got six points.

I think Micah needs to give us a lesson in what are strikers and what are this and that and so on.

Maybe we'll call a special meeting to go through a soccer 101.

When my kids were in soccer, they didn't have all those terms. I mean, they may have had them in Europe or other places, but we certainly didn't call our little kids by the kinds of names that are calling their positions today.

I was just surprised because it's a 90-minute match. It's a match. Is that the appropriate term? Game. 90-minute game. There were five scores. I was expecting, like, maybe one or two.

Most ever.

Shocked when we scored at all. Thank you, Linda. All right, I'm not going to repeat the stuff Linda did. I went to a mayor's conference in Long Beach. It was fascinating. I spent some time with the West Sacramento ex-mayor, Chris Cabaldon, who's now... at the Senate, and he is working on the most interesting bills for AI and technology. And then one, Ranch Grove is on the great path of using technology and creating jobs, and everybody wants to figure out how we got here, which was a lot of work, but the great part is we are here. Second part is they're tackling stuff like They passed laws that stopped people from being able to, AI to be able to look through the data. But now they need AI's help to help get benefits and stuff out to people. So right now, there is such a long wait for veterans. And with AI, AI could technically do it Itself just off what comes in and figure out the same with like people that need benefits for like food benefits or stipends over that you could have that all auto generate and the things that that people could go after are the issues and it would spit that out and they said they could take it. right now you're looking at six to eight months and they could take it down to days of being able to have it properly calculate everything because in the end the government already has the information we're just not allowed to tap into it because they're scared of the ai model so chris is opening it up and saying this was meant so that like um Elon Musk company couldn't go in and grab the data, but it's not meant for the government's good that needs to be able to take this data to be able to chop it up and be like, hey, you're a veteran. You should be on benefits. We can already figure that out. Here's what you should, and it should always automatically happen. People shouldn't have to chase that down. So fascinating discussions about technology while I was there. A lot of the mayors are quite interested to get where we are, and they're trying to figure out what the right path is. I met with GSAC. I heard about the cool stuff that's going on in the city. Went to Good Neighbor Day in Dave Roberts. Thank you for San Juan Club. Thank you for my staff for showing up there. And the community really enjoys having those types of chances to come out and talk to council. I got to be on KFBK today and talk to Kitty, which is always cool because Kitty's just cool. And she was like, oh, you know, I talked to Sacramento, but I really felt like I should... tap on the other cities, and you've been talking about Rancho. Tell me what's going on. And then I told her, she's like, you have way too much energy. And I'm like, that might be true, Kitty, but that's because I love Rancho. And she's like, I love Rancho too. So this is great.

She grew up here.

Did she? Is she from Rancho?

Her dad was base commander at Mather.

Okay, you know what?

But she's one of the people who went to Folsom High because they didn't have Cordova yet. but yeah, she grew up here in our old neighborhood.

Well, she was all fired up, and she loves Rancho and loves to see what you guys have done. As mayor of Safetyville, I went to another event there. That is a great spot. More people are buying out the buildings in the area, and I bought cool stuff, met a... an author, an artist, and they had kind of this giveaway that was fun. Thank you for that. The second annual Father's Day Child Action event, where they invite all, they get about 1,000 plus people to show up. And I don't think they had quite as many, because it was 1,000 degrees out. But the dads got to show up. They had services there. They gave out food from the food hub. And they walked the kids around, and they got everything from books and everything through. So thank you to just a great nonprofit, really, Child Action, helping out the community. C-Chat, which is, if you didn't know this, they're a group that takes deaf children and gives them cochlear implants, allows them to be able to hear again. Amazing group. They had their playground, their new playground finally got put into place. That's awesome. And that's it for me. Micah.

Thank you, Mayor. Just a few updates. One, I did attend the GSEC board retreat in the place of the board member, Mayor Gatewood. Topics included Major League Baseball, which is obviously a big effort from the region, semiconductor and injury and life science strategies that they're working on. And I think one of the highlights is they kind of highlighted a couple of those different strategies. The two companies that they picked to present and talk were Cora and SK Farmteca, which are both either Rancho Cordova companies or just adjacent to Rancho Cordova. So that was good to hear. I want to highlight and thank just the city team for Good Neighbor Day and the work and bringing all those things and people to the neighborhood. And those are really great days to celebrate. all the good things that are happening in Rancho Cordova. And then this is the last meeting before the 4th of July. So I think I want to just make sure we announce and talk about the great celebrations we're going to have on the 3rd and 4th here in Rancho Cordova. With that, I'm done. Thank you. Thank you. All right.

Consent. We're going to move on to consent calendar items.

Consent calendar items consist of matters deemed routine and not controversial by staff unless a member of the council wishes to pull an item for individual consideration. All items be approved in one motion. Are there any items that the council on consent calendar wishes to pull? Seeing none, Stacy, is there any public comment?

There is no public comment for items on the consent calendar.

May I ask for?

Okay, then I will move approval of items 9.1 through 9.14.

Do I have a second?

Second.

Can I get a roll call, please?

Council Member Sander? Aye. Council Member Little?

Yes.

Council Member Polipotti is absent. Vice Mayor Budge? Yes. Mayor Gatewood?

Yes.

Motion passes.

Excellent. There's no consent public hearing items. We're going to move on to public hearing items. Stacey, you want to read number 11, please? Subject?

City of Rancho Cordova's 2025 vacancies recruitment and retention efforts compliance with Assembly Bill 2561 Government Code Section 3502.3. Brenda Roach?

We have our staff report, please.

All right.

Good evening, Mayor Gatewood and members of the City Council. Brenda Roach, Assistant Administrative Services Director of Human Resources. Tonight, I will present the city's annual Workforce Vacancy Retention and Recruitment Report required with Assembly Bill 2561. AB 2561 requires local agencies to conduct an annual public hearing before budget adoption to review workforce vacancies and hiring efforts. Tonight's presentation provides an overview of our 2025 staffing levels, recruitment activity, retention trends, and any workforce challenges that could impact service delivery. During 2025, the city maintained between 126 and 130 budgeted full-time positions. Four new positions were added with the fiscal year 25-26 budget to support community development, human resources, and public works functions. These positions support a broad range of city services, as shown on the slide, to help meet the growing needs of the Ranch Cordova community. In 2025 the city experienced normal workforce activity, including separations new hires promotions throughout the year. As shown on the slide the human resources department continued recruitment efforts to fill vacancies and support operational needs across the organization. The chart illustrates the city's monthly vacancy rate, which averaged approximately 5% during 2025, and generally trended downward as positions were filled throughout the year. For perspective, Rancho Cordova's vacancy rate compares favorably with other local agencies. In 2024, reported vacancy rates averaged approximately 6% for Elk Grove, 7% in Folsom and Roseville, and 18% for the city of Sacramento. Overall, these figures reflect continued progress towards workforce stability and maintaining service levels for the city. This slide highlights the city's retention and workforce trends for 2025. Based on an average workforce of 128 budgeted full-time positions, the city experienced six employee separations including five voluntary separations and one retirement. As a result, the city's annual turnover rate was approximately 5% and the employee retention rate was approximately 95%. The city also supported employee development through internal promotional opportunities, reflecting continued investment in career growth and succession planning. Overall, these figures reflect a stable workforce and strong employee retention throughout 2025. When vacancies do occur, the city follows a structured recruitment process to attract and hire qualified candidates. As illustrated here, the process includes recruitment outreach, candidate screenings, interviews, pre-employment requirements, which may include fingerprinting, drug testing and physicals, and onboarding. Whenever possible, we begin recruitments before position becomes vacant to help maintain service levels and minimize disruptions to city operations. During 2025, the city filled 13 vacant positions through 17 external recruitments and two internal-only recruitments. The average time to fill vacancy was 94 calendar days. This timeframe encompasses recruitment advertising, candidate screening, interviews, background checks, candidate notice periods, and onboarding activities. Through these efforts, the city successfully filled positions as staffing needs arose, while maintaining relatively low vacancy levels throughout the year. Although staffing levels remain stable, the city continues to face workplace challenges common to local government agencies. These include a limited pool of qualified candidates for specialized positions such as transportation planning, increased competition from neighboring agencies, and the need to backfill positions created through internal promotions. To address these challenges, the city continues to evaluate our recruiting practices, monitors workforce trends, and maintains competitive salaries and benefits to support attraction and retention of qualified employees. In summary, the city's workforce remained stable throughout 2025 with low vacancy and turnover rates and continued success in filling positions as vacancies occurred. Thank you for your time. And with that, I'll answer any questions you may have. I don't have a question, but I have a comment.

Go ahead.

The problem with my- Oh, wait, hold on a second.

Hold on. I'm going to go ahead and open the public hearing. Is there any public comment?

There is no public comment on this item.

Excellent. I'm going to go ahead and close public hearing now. Thank you.

The problem with finding qualified applicants is a perennial one, and it doesn't just affect government agencies. It also affects the private sector. My husband was part of an engineering firm for decades, and they were always looking for qualified engineers. It's just a very difficult thing to do. And, of course, he was always trying to hire anybody from Sacramento County who wanted to jump ship and come and join the private sector. But, yeah, in specialized positions, it can be very difficult, and it affects all employment sectors.

All right. Do I have a – is this information, or just do you want a motion?

It's information only.

All right. Well, thank you for your time. Appreciate it. Excellent, moving on, next calendar item. Regular calendar hearing items. State, can you go ahead and read 12.1 please? Oh, I'm sorry, that was this one. Moving on, and so whoosh.

12.1, it's a different item.

Is 12.1 a different item than the 11? Yes. Excellent, let's go ahead and go to 12.1.

So 12.1 is a resolution approving the fiscal year 2026 through 2027 salary schedule and identifying exceptional performance bonus program eligibility.

So we're going to give people bonuses when they stay because they're that desperate? Got it. Go ahead.

Good evening, Council. Brenda Roach again with the Human Resources Department. Tonight's item requests adoption of the fiscal year 2026-27 salary schedule and identification of classifications eligible for the city's exceptional performance bonus program. First, the salary schedule. CalPERS regulations require agencies to maintain and publicly adopt a salary schedule that authorizes Salary ranges for all classifications. This annual action ensures the city's compensation structure remains current and compliant with CalPERS requirements. It is important to note that the approval of the salary schedule establishes authorized salary ranges only. It does not establish or modify the salary of any individual employee. The second component of this item relates to the exceptional performance bonus program. This program has existed since 2003 and was originally established through the city's first city manager employment agreement. The program provides a framework for recognizing exceptional performance and contributions that support the city's priorities and strategic objectives. Additionally, Senate Bill 707, which became effective January 1st, 2025, enhanced Brown Act transparency requirements related to executive compensation. Consistent with those requirements, this action publicly identifies the classifications that are eligible to participate in the program. Eligible classifications may receive a performance bonus of up to 5% annual base pay. Eligibility does not guarantee an award. Any award is discretionary, subject to city manager's approval, individual performance, available funding, and applicable CalPERS requirements. A complete list of eligible classifications is included in the staff report and resolution before you this evening. Staff recommends adoption of the resolution approving the fiscal year 2026-27 salary schedule and identifying classifications eligible for the exceptional performance bonus program. Thank you.

Thank you. This one I do. Open it up. Nope. Stacy, is there any public comment?

There is no public comment.

As there would be. Council, any questions?

I'll move we adopt the resolution. Oops, sorry.

I'll move we adopt the resolution.

Do I have a second?

Second.

Can we get a roll call, please?

Vice Mayor Budge? Yes. Council Member Sander? Aye. Council Member Little? Yes. Council Member Polipotti is absent. Mayor Gatewood? Yes. The motion passes 4-0.

Just want to make sure that we put IT in there as the most important role. I know you guys are watching. All the nerds. All right. Candidate subject 12.2.

A resolution authorizing the city manager to execute contract number 2026-83 for law enforcement services between the county of Sacramento and the city of Rancho Cordova for a term starting July 1, 2026 and ending July 30, 2031.

Micah, can you go ahead and do your staff report? Sure.

Thank you, Mayor. I will acknowledge, before getting started, we have Salvador Robles in the back, Assistant Sheriff, along with our Chief, Sean Hampton, as well. So just getting started today. Originally, this original contract was done in 2010. We have continued to amend and the contract every three years until this point where we've decided it was time to do a new contract and add a few different terms that we felt appropriate and needed instead of just continuing to amend and extend the current contract from 2010. So this is a little bit of a refresher for this contract, and not a whole lot has changed, but I'll go through a little bit what's changed in the contract. Just as a reminder what this kind of service contract model is, this really isn't a cost for service. So you won't see a budget aligned with this dollar amount today. You'll see basically it's a contract to provide services. This contract outlines the delivery, the operational responsibility, communication protocols, the accountability measures, all the things associated with moving the contract forward and delivering the service. The specific costs, however, are done through our budget process, and it's really a cost-for-service model. This is not a proposal in that way. It's basically we contract with the sheriff to provide the services at the cost that it is to provide the service itself.

Next slide.

So the service model overview, basically what is in the county sheriff, what he provides or what they provide is patrol, emergency response, investigations, traffic enforcement, specialty services, admin, operate as an independent contractor, and then personnel remain county employees under the sheriff's office through this model. The City of Rancho Cordova receives, and we'll go through this a little bit more detail, flexibility to scale services, access to specialized units from the broader Sheriff's Department, reduce administrative costs and related human resources from a broader perspective, and personnel turnovers are filled quicker, and we'll go through that a little bit. Just a little bit of the updated terms. One of the things that we thought would be helpful was actually the length of the contract. This was a three-year term previously. It's now being contracted for a five-year term. A couple of things that this is, I think, a benefit. When it's every three years, we're constantly in this conversation about an extension. If you ever want to have a good conversation about the contract model itself and individual policing, municipal policing versus the contract out for the service for the sheriff, this would give us adequate time to do that. And so given how we've extended a contract every few years for the last 15, 20 years, we thought a longer contract to give us that time to do any analysis if necessary was appropriate. We actually asked for incorporating data sharing to support Growing Strong Neighborhood's efforts, so a little bit more streamlined access to data and information from the Sheriff's Department. Formalized the collaboration with the media strategy, so we are very much still in control of the media strategy for the department, but there are some things that need immediate public safety concerns, and those things still are important for the Sheriff to maintain some control of, which we understand. This formalizes the department as a part of the leadership team and requires the police chief to come to council every once in a while or in a time so described to talk about what they're doing. So make sure that that's in the contract itself. We did get a request and we will ask the sheriff to come and do a presentation on an annual basis as well as about what they're doing as a department. And so that's not in the contract, but we did received that request previously. And then incorporating the ability to pay differential for additional positions. So the contract does provide us the ability to add, we added additional positions that we could pay some differential to keep consistency and continuity of the team if so desired. We could pay a differential for certain positions within the department in order to keep them in place. And we maintain our minimum assignment period for personnel in select positions. This is really more of an operational execution, as we have to be careful with how much we require folks to be in position and not let them grow in different places in the department. But these are really the main bulk of the updated terms that we have provided. I'll just run through quickly the benefits of the current service model. One of the things that we have the opportunity of, as we see here, is the process for hiring that the sheriff has to go through through hiring personnel. I'll give an example of something that we did a couple years ago when we approved the budget. We added a couple of hot team officers to the sheriff's department contract. It took us two and a half, three months to those officers to be in the community doing the work. If we were our own police department, that would take nine to 12 months before you'd have a police officer in the field. And so just some of that flexibility around the execution of staffing model and how quickly we can add folks to the team. We also, as part of this benefits of the service model, we became a kind of operation of choice. So as the chief will tell you, when positions open up, we have a pretty competitive group of people who apply for positions and really want to be here in Rancho Cordova as part of the Rancho Cordova team. And so that provides kind of a department of choice or an operation or assignment of choice that gives us the best picks of who's available. Since we had a good staffing conversation earlier, vacancies, we thought we'd share a little bit about just kind of the vacancies of our team and what happens. And ultimately, because of those conversations we just had, we basically have a functioning zero from a vacancy standpoint as folks do come and go, but we pretty quickly fill those seats as needed, and have a pretty competitive process to get there. And you'll see here vacancy rates for kind of some of our competitors are anywhere from 7% to 17% vacancy for their departments. That basically adds to overtime costs, other different costs that come in play that we don't struggle as much with because we can hold a pretty low vacancy. As far as a cost standpoint, the contract allows some continuity, a consistency of services. As the city pays the actual cost of the service, it allows some predictability in what that service contract will be. As you see here, the last five years, the actual costs have been pretty flat from the contract itself. The only time you'll see increases is when we've actually added positions to the overall package for officers. And actually, you'll see something unique that you may or may not ever see again. Who knows? But actually, from this past year to this fiscal year is actually a decrease in costs for the service to be provided based on the costs. So that's been pretty flat over the last five years. And I think from an annual cost, a deputy sheriff you see is about $250,000 is about in line with what it would normally cost for a patrol deputy. So part of the also benefits is the ability to access resources. And so when you have a broader, larger department like the sheriff, they have lots of specialized equipment, investigation teams, fleet management ability and technology that we have direct access to. These are all things we could potentially get as far as through mutual aid and other things with the sheriff. But because of the direct access, we have a little bit more immediate operational control and access to these different tools. So beyond the kind of enforcement, the Registrar Cordova's expectations of the police department, I think it was important to just kind of highlight some of the things that, as a department overall, we are the ones that are operating the contract. So from an operational standpoint, the city is a contract maintenance provider, but we are the ones providing direction and expectations to the sheriff's office for delivering those services. And so I want to highlight just a few of the things that we think about and talk about from managing expectations of the department itself. And so overall high performance. I think this is just a baseline expectation that we require as we work with the department and work with the police department on their everyday operation. Proactive public safety. Safety, so when you are out on patrol, when our team is out on patrol and there's no calls to be made, there's proactive efforts taking place in the field that they can look to solve problems first rather than let them come to them. Continuity consistency of service delivery through personnel changes. So this is a little bit on us and a little bit on them, making sure when we do have personnel changes that we're consistent in the expectations. So doing things like this, talking about the kind of overall expectations is helpful for continuity of service and expectations when we have team members that change. Innovation and pilot program leadership. So I think as we tell the Sheriff Department all the time, if you want to try something new, if you want to see a new tool, come do it in Rancho Cordova because we want to see how some of these, whether it's technology, whether it's program choices, we want to be that place that you could test some of the different things that are out there in the public safety realm. And so that's an expectation that we have of our police department and the sheriffs. And we communicate that to them. Data-driven performance management. So we want to make sure that we're continuing to test and watch the performance metrics as they come in. And we've had multiple presentations of the council around our current metrics and are looking to bring that in from a larger sense, the larger cities performance metric process that we're going through and talking about. And then strong community engagement and visibility, making sure, and you've seen this, I think, in play. You'll see our team members in the field at different community events pretty routinely, and we're excited that they're excited to participate in the community engagement and visibility throughout the city, and I think the community shows their appreciation through their positive encouragement of them. And then responsive communication, follow through with the community. I think one of the things from an expectation, and we've talked about this I think individually, is when there are calls, when there are things that happen in the field, is trying to make sure that they get callbacks and report backs when our team has visited calls for service. And so that's something we continue to work through. The city is responsible for establishing and monitoring and enforcing service expectations under the contract. So it's our job to make sure that they're doing their job. And so effective contract management ensures that Rancho Cordova's priorities and community expectations are met. And with that, we're asked for approval of the contract. Thank you.

Stacey, is there any public comment?

There is no public comment for this item.

Excellent. Council, any comment or questions?

i've got some comments and questions uh no i don't think i have too many questions um so i reviewed the contract and you know we had our one-on-ones and i appreciate uh the presentation the amount of work going in to show how we benefit from it um just some thoughts um i saw there's a clause in there that the sheriff's department is encouraged to seek grants highly encouraged You know, we're so successful in all other ways in obtaining grants, and I know that the grant marketplace, if you could call it that, is always changing when it comes to public safety. That tends to change federal administration to administration. But if we've been successful with it for public works, I'd like to maybe, if they're not willing to do it for us, maybe we can, as staff, continue to explore ways to get grants. free money from richer governments than we are. Um, five years is long. Um, I mean, I know the trash service contracts like a decade, got another eight years left, I think. Um, and I can get on board with that for the reasons provided. It does give us a chance to not only pull together funds to really pay a neutral third party to say, um, estimate you know what would it cost to make the switch what would we lose real real detailed specifics because this is the most expensive thing we do um you know coming out of our general fund and so i think we really should it's probably about time to make sure we're spending our money the best way we can if there's ways to leave the contract in place and improvement um i think it's the time extension gives us a chance to do that I get the minimum placement clause, although I do kind of wonder if that's a policy tweak that maybe backfires more than not, because that's a common complaint I get is people feel like they don't know their officers long enough, whether or not that's true or just anecdotes, another conversation. But I do kind of wonder if maybe we're keeping people who don't want to work here, they're stuck kind of placed here, that might make them dissatisfied. Something to think about. Fine with 18 months notice to cancel. I do note, and this is a relic from the original contract, but there's, in my mind, what kind of seems to be a poison pill where if we ever were to split, they get to pay us for all the equipment. They get to keep all the equipment we've bought except the stuff they don't want. which is going to make it so hard to ever actually truly start our own department because we're going to have to basically buy everything brand new from scratch. So I was concerned about that clause in the original one. I like that we are a policy ground for, you know, a laboratory for policing. I like to BS rather than just the subject. Maybe we can be the scientist subject. You know, we can recommend, hey, you're not recommending this innovative policy, but we're interested and we'll pay for it. So that could be interesting. and then I also know you know they're the bigger the bigger fish and they're more experienced than this but we do have a lot of leverage in this conversation because our CPDs our district splits the sheriff's eastern district in half and so you know both sides there's a lot of mutual interest to keep this agreement in place so I would always just remind us that we do have a we do have leverage too that's all I had today And so I would ask that you guys, you know, give direction that given we've got time, let's, you know, nothing binding. I don't even think we can take action. But that I do think, you know, even if you love the level of services, we owe it to our citizens to make sure that this is what's best for us. And we've got time to look at it and we've got time to save money for it. That's it.

All right. Thank you councilmember little I think a couple things just to address and the council can address the last comment, but I think a few things one grant management and place I totally agree that we also Work or can think about kind of our own access and using our own advocacy teams for that and so very much we do get kind of those notices from our federal and state partners and very much forward those on to the team and talk about those different opportunities. And so as far as the equipment piece, I actually don't think we actually own a lot of equipment. I think most of it is their equipment. So there might be a few things here and there, but I don't think that's a big risk. And I do believe, I do agree with you, recommendations do go both ways. And so as our team members are out at different Conferences or you know public safety types events or different things we definitely do make recommendations both ways on things that They're thinking about things that we're thinking about things that I see when I'm at various places as well So that's very much an expectation.

So thank you for those comments Are there actually grants out there other than like the cops grants for DUI stings

I think there's a variety of different public safety grants out there, and I'm sure that kind of the chief and others can list them. There's quite a plethora of different types of grant opportunities for public safety.

Mostly immigration-related, I think, right now. Oh. So nothing we. A lot of them, like I said, administration, administration, what they're selling, or what they're, Selling out, we're not buying.

There's technology grants. There's other things, too, for different public safety. And even the community funding grants that we go after with our congressional districts as well.

I mean, bigger drones. That's more up my alley.

All right.

Okay. So if there's nothing else, then I'll move approval of Resolution 2026-83. Second. And roll call, please.

That was contract number 2026-83. I think I just said 2026.

You're making us look bad right now.

Thank you very much. We're splitting hairs here.

So we have your motion. And was there a second?

Yeah, that was me.

Okay, thank you.

Roll call.

And again, there was no public comment for this item.

Thank you.

Council Member Little?

Yes to renewal, but no to the motion as worded without a commitment to analyze the ongoing service relationship.

Adam. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I was looking at the contract. Could you restate the question?

He said yes to the thing, but no to not worded. No, it's worded without the audit.

He wants to add a commitment that we look at the long-term nature of the relationship.

That would be a no. That would be a no or it would be a request to amend the motion. Right. But you have a motion and a second that's on the floor. Right. And that's a request to amend the motion, if I hear correctly. So then that request to amend the motion would be open for a second by a council member. And then if it's seconded by a council member, the motion on the floor would be amended.

I like that stuff.

Is that a request to amend? Okay, I'll second it. For no reason other than the fact that it always helps to ensure that we have what we want and think we will need for the future.

So can I provide a recommendation that when If this were to pass, that would be as part of our next budget cycle and part of the next review and funding discussions at that point to pursue those funding different options. Yeah. So you'd like to amend the amendment?

No.

Just from a timing standpoint, we could do it. I just was setting up expectations that we would talk about it as part of the budget process if the direction. Got it.

So the motion on the floor now is as amended by Mr. Little.

Mr. Little, can you repeat it again because your microphone was off?

Okay, it was motion to amend it where we're still going to agree to the exact contract as presented with sort of non-binding council direction that in the next budget cycle this will be something we consider and can vote again just like the dot thing we did last time.

Vice Mayor Budge, you were second? Yeah, I'm okay with it. I don't like the $500,000 price tag.

30 million contract, so I don't know.

Okay. Roll call, Council Member Little. Yes. Council Member Sander.

I heard the word non-binding, so I will say aye.

Aye, okay. Council Member Polipotti is absent. Vice Mayor Budge. Yes. Mayor Gatewood.

Yep. The motion passes with a 4-0 vote. All right, moving on. Number three, 12.3.

Rancho Cordova Tourism Business Improvement District Management District Plan.

Excuse me. Good evening, Mr. Mayor, members of the council. I'm Amanda Norton with the Economic Development Department. Tonight's item is going to be for public meeting and non, that is not clear. It's a public meeting tonight, in which case we will take public testimony. However, there will be no action required from the council this evening. As a little history, this item came up just last month, in which case we discussed the TBID, the Rancho Cordova Business Improvement District. It was originally established in 2010, and then the management plan was renewed in 2021. Before you tonight is the proposed amendments to that plan, in which case there are two. One in which case it will split the district into two zones the regular zone and then the Dover zone and with that There'll be a change in the assessment rate zone one will remain at four point five which it currently is and Zone two will be increased to six percent just for the hotels that are located within that zone This process is very clear in the government and the Heights streets and highways code of the process you have to due to be able to do any amendments to this. We are currently on the third line, which is the public meeting. And this will allow all public testimony on the modifications proposed this evening. There is no council action required. And then the final step will, of course, be a public hearing. So again, we will receive public testimony this evening. No council item is requested. And on the screen, you will see the two, again, proposed modifications to the management plan. And then after this meeting, all of the public testimony will be consolidated, and then a public hearing will occur on July the 6th. And then I am here to answer any questions beyond that for this evening.

Casey, can we go ahead and get that public comment?

Yes, we do have one public comment, Howard Herships. Howard, you'll have up to three minutes to speak.

I have a couple questions regarding this TBID tax. Currently, the TBID tax is taxed after the 30th day, which is totally contrary to California law. There's 110 TBID districts in the state of California between counties and various cities. Every single one of them cuts it at the 30th day. They do not tax after the 30th day, and that's because California Revenue and Tax Code 7280 prohibits imposing a tax on a hotel room after the occupancy of the 30th day. And that was basically because there was a decision from the Court of Appeal in Brit versus the City of Pomona which held that you cannot tax somebody that has residency status A transient is only up to the 30th day. They continue to tax all these hotel rooms throughout this Rancho Cordova, which can't even be taxed. And that actually violates the tenant who's trying to keep a roof over their head. who has residency status violates their 5th and 14th amendments because you can't tax them. And it just goes on. And the real core problem is the Ranchos Cordova Travel and Tourist Board, which is a 501 , if you read the publications that I attached, shows that they're collecting, they pay out $1 million a year in salaries to their five employees, which violates federal law and also state law because you can't take public benefits and pay excessive salaries. The IRS and the state have procedures in place that prohibits these salaries. According to the CEO, he's collecting $320,000 a year in salary and taking public benefits. He collects $2.4 million a year on average from this 4.5% tax. I also filed a complaint with the IRS, which is currently investigating the violation because it's Title 26 USC, Section 4958, excessive salaries. In relationship, the President of the United States gets a $400,000 a year salary. He's right up there.

Got it. So Mark should make less money, and we can't charge after 30 days.

In fact, I included the SB 346 analysis by the California Senate Judiciary, and they state existing law prohibits a TBID tax after the 30th day. All right. Cool. Thank you for your time.

Interesting.

That's all the public comment that we have for this item.

All right. Mr. Mayor, just in looking at the issue the gentleman raised, I think it makes sense that Adam probably takes a look at that for us and briefs us before we do the final vote here.

Sure, I'd be happy to.

All right, and that's not till next time, right?

I'd be happy to do it right now, if you'd like.

Okay, and the other comment I just want to make is on that salary provision. If these numbers are accurate as presented, it is somewhat shocking.

Is that how it works, though, for, like, all of our entities? Ones that control, like, parks and stuff that you have to keep the salaries at that level?

I mean, just looking at the salary inflation of that position in 2021, it was $113,000. 2024, it's $313,000. That's crazy.

Micah. There's actually an independent review that's supposed to be set to salary because it's not their money. It's taxpayers' money.

Totally get it. Thank you, sir. Adam, let's go ahead and address these, if you have a couple of these.

Thank you, Mayor. Is the public comment closed?

The public comment is closed at this time. Thank you, Mayor.

All right, go ahead. So Mr. Herships has filed litigation on this matter against the city, so I appreciate... Mr. Sanders, your comment about hearing from us offline, we don't ever want to talk about existing claims and that might interfere with the litigation. I would say very simply that you heard Mr. Hershop's, and Mr. Hershop's public comment is closed, so you can step down. You did hear him talk at length about taxes. and what's in front of you as an assessment. So there are at least a number of important distinctions that you can be aware of, and those are quite structurally different under California law. So with that, I would ask to defer any further comments on this subject at this time. You're not being asked to take final action on this matter tonight.

All right. And since we have no other public counsel in here? Okay. All right. Moving on. Thank you. Moving on to 12.4.

Recording in progress. Item 12.4 is an appointment of real property negotiators. Micah Runner, city manager in Adam U. Lindgren, city attorney, property address 3188 Zinfandel Drive, assessor's parcel number 0720690091000. Property owner, VSP Holdings Company, Inc.

Move approval with the appointment.

Second.

Coming back.

Do public comment? Is there any public comment, Stacey?

There is no public comment for this item.

Okay.

Thank you for catching that.

All right. So we go ahead and have, you got your first and your second?

I do.

Can I get a roll call, please?

Yes. Council Member Little. Yes. Council Member Sander.

Aye.

Council Member Polipotti is absent. Vice Mayor Budge. Yes. Mayor Gatewood. Yes.

All right. Motion passes, thank you. Yes, and next one, 12.5.

Appointment of real property negotiators, Micah Renner, city manager and Adam Ulingren, city attorney, property address 3200 Kilgore Road, assessor's parcel number APN 072-0690-043-0000, property owner, Carlin Cap Center, LLC.

Move approval.

Second.

Pending, no public comment. Wait, wait, any public comment?

There is no public comment for this item.

All right, you heard the first and the second. Do we have a roll call, please?

Council Member Sander. All right. Council Member Little. Yes. Council Member Polipotti is absent. Vice Mayor Budge. Yes. Mayor Gatewood. Yes. Motion passes.

All right, any future agenda items? Guys, I have one. I'd like the staff to start looking at, and I don't know if this needs to be a council item, a relationship with Sac State. and what's going to go into that and putting some relationship towards them and what that's going to look like in our AI ecosphere.

I would say I probably don't need council direction for that. I think we're pursuing those opportunities.

All right. And that's all I got. I'm going to go ahead and adjourn this meeting. But before we adjourn into closed session, are there any public comments related to 16.1 through 16.6?

There is no public comment for items for closed session.

All right. I'm going to go ahead and adjourn into closed session. And not scared.

Recording stopped.

Recording in progress.

I'm going to go ahead and call this meeting back to order and ask, what's his name? City Attorney. City Attorney for a report out. Adam, there it is. Got it.

Thank you very much, Mayor, Council, and community. The City Council met in closed session this evening and took up one item of anticipated litigation and a number of items of real property negotiations. and received updates from and provided direction to its litigation counsel and real estate negotiators.

Let's go ahead and adjourn this meeting and the fact that America won its first World Cup game 4-1.

Recording stopped.