City Council - Regular Meeting

Hello, ladies and gentlemen. Let's get started. We have a few minutes behind, but I appreciate your patience. We just had a mountain of recognitions that we're going to do tonight. So it is Tuesday, August 25th, and let's go ahead and call roll.

Council Member Adams. Here. Council Member Giudice.

Present.

Council Member Rodriguez. Here. Vice Mayor Elward.

Here.

Mayor Sanborn. Here. All present. Thank you.

All right, and then we will move on to the reading of the land acknowledgement. If you would please rise.

Thank you.

The City of Roanoke Park acknowledges indigenous people as the traditional stewards of the land. Let it be acknowledged that the City of Roanoke Park is located within the traditional homelands of the Federated Indians of Great and Rancheria comprised of Coast Miwok and Southern Pomo peoples. And then we have our Pledge of Allegiance. If Gerard Giudice, would you do the honors? Yes, ma'am. Thank you. All right, so like I mentioned, we have a few presentations to get ourselves started this evening. The first is going to be for our amazing front row here, our Public Works Department. So I think we have here with us Joe Hanson, Nelson, John Reisvick, Brendan, maybe not, Charles, Bobby, Patrick, and Nicholas, all of our Parks Public Works staff. And I will go ahead and read this proclamation. And then if you're up for it, you're welcome to speak or not. And we'd love to get a quick photo if that's okay. All right. The City of Rohnert Park proudly recognizes the Public Works Parks Maintenance staff for their outstanding teamwork, dedication, and commitment to improving the Magnolia Park tennis courts and surrounding area. As a dedicated and collaborative parks team, these employees work together to get the job done and to take pride in maintaining and improving the spaces our community enjoys. Their teamwork and willingness to contribute in different ways were evident throughout this project. Staff contributed their time, their skills, and teamwork by building and installing benches, trimming trees, overhanging the tennis courts, spreading wood chips, beautifying the surrounding areas, and installing a new trash receptacle. Each member of the team played an important role in creating a cleaner, safer, and more welcoming space for tennis players and the entire community. The city extends its sincere appreciation to the parks maintenance team for the pride they take in their work, their dedication to the parks, and their commitment to working together in service to our community. I just want to thank you personally for your hard work. and teamwork in your commitment to making Roanoke Park a great place to live, work, and play. Presented this day, August 25th, 2026. knowing that you are a behind the scenes team. I'm gonna guess you don't have a lot of words that you'd like to share with this crowd. Okay, I'll just go with that vibe and say, it was just really important to me in watching the progression of this beautiful project. And we'll share a little more about the tennis clubs part in this too. You didn't just make something, you know, good enough. It really is beautiful. I mean, you can see down the road those gorgeous benches that you handcrafted from trees that were from our town. And it's just exceptional. And I really appreciate the work that you do. And I just I know the council does as well. So we wanted to make sure we called that out widely, broadly.

So thank you.

We will have you do a quick family photo, though. Okay, and staying on the theme of our beautiful Magnolia tennis courts, I have a second recognition I'd like to do this evening. This is for the Rohnert Park Tennis Club for their generous investment toward the renovation of Magnolia Park's tennis courts. We should have, do we have Rich, Barbara, and Kim and Anthony here this evening? Marvelous. Okay. The City of Rohnert Park proudly recognizes the Rohnert Park Tennis Club for more than 50 years of service to our community for its extraordinary commitment to improving the tennis courts at Magnolia Park. Established in 1975, the Rohnert Park Tennis Club has played an important role in making tennis accessible and enjoyable for residents of all ages. Through the lessons, programs, and opportunities to learn and play, the club promotes recreation, connection, and a love of tennis. The club has demonstrated exceptional dedication to the Magnolia Park courts by securing grant funding, leading fundraising efforts, and investing club funds to support improvements to these valued public facilities. Their generosity, hard work, and civic spirit have helped preserve and enhance an important recreational resource for Roanoke Park residents. The city extends its sincere appreciation of the Roanoke Park Tennis Club for their longstanding service, generous investment, and strong partnership in helping make Roanoke Park a better place to live, play, and connect. Presented this day, August 25th, 2026. All right, folks, I'll meet you on the court for a group photo. If you would like to speak, maybe you're more inclined to speak, would you like to share any words about all of the effort you went through? Do you like how he did that? So he stood up and you guys sit down. That's perfect. Wonderful. Okay, the early bird gets the worm. We would love to hear from you about this amazing effort.

Red light, mic is on. Okay, my name is Rich Hutchison. I'm the president of the Roanoke Park Tennis Club, and I would like to thank my board who pushed me, pulled me in, and helped me. get through and get this project forward. I'd like to acknowledge Amanda, who was our right-hand person through this project. And I'd like to thank the city of Rohnert Park for having trust in four individuals to bring a $140,000 project to the city. And those courts are outstanding. They're being well received by the tennis community, and we look to do it again sometime.

Well, you're in luck. We've got lots of courts. Did you have something you'd like to add, Council Member Giudice? Sure.

Thank you, Mayor. So these are the kind of partnerships that we so desperately need now, right, in these challenging economic times. It's really important that individual organizations and groups step up, and I am truly grateful and appreciative. Roanoke Park has a lot of parks. It has a lot of public amenities, and it can be challenging at times to maintain all of those facilities in tournament-ready, you know, Condition and we went through this with pickleball a little while ago and now with tennis so to those pickleball folks out there We appreciate you and now to the tennis folks. We really appreciate you and we thank you for stepping up and Just being model citizens and helping the city maintain all of his assets assets.

So, thank you All right coach will you join us now on the court I And then we have a third proclamation, and I do believe that there is not someone here to receive it. Is Jenny here this evening?

Okay.

She's here in spirit, but I appreciate her requesting this because this is important. Jenny Bellway is a representative for the Commission on the Status of Women, and she represents for the county board. So she sent this information over, and I have used it to write a proclamation. The City Council, the City of Roanoke Park proclaims August 26, 2026 as Women's Equality Day in the City of Roanoke Park. It's tomorrow, folks. Whereas August 26, 2026 marks the 106th anniversary of the ratification of the 19th Amendment to the United States Constitution, recognizing and protecting women's constitutional right to vote. And whereas achieving this milestone required generations of women to organize, advocate, and persevere through hundreds of campaigns at the local, state, and national levels, ultimately securing the support of 36 states. And whereas women today are nearly half of the nation's workforce, comprise the majority of students in colleges and graduate schools, and are increasingly primary or co-breadwinners for their families. And whereas despite significant progress, women still continue to face barriers to full equality, including disparities in pay and access to affordable childcare, housing, healthcare, and mental health care. And whereas women's fundamental right Rights continue to be challenged, underscoring the importance of protecting the right to vote, access to health care, freedom from violence, and equal opportunity. And whereas Women's Equality Day honors the courage and perseverance of generations of women, celebrates the contributions of women today, and calls us to continue advancing equality for women and girls. Now, therefore, be it proclaimed that I, Emily Sanborn, as Mayor, on behalf of the City Council, do hereby proclaim August 20 and 26, 2026, as Women's Equality Day in the City of Rohnert Park, honoring the 106th anniversary of the 19th Amendment and reaffirming our commitment to equality and the fundamental rights of all women. Thank you. We will make sure that that gets to the status on the Commission of Women. Okay, there you go. All right, without further ado, we shall move to item five, department head briefings. There are none, so we will continue to item six, which is public comment. Oh, yes, and this is where I give the disclaimer. I always feel a little silly doing that, but I will stick to the strip so I don't miss anything here. Okay, so We before we start are just going to recap the rules because we've changed a little bit in the last couple months for some of you who haven't been here before. So it's public meetings like this are a limited public forum meaning that the rules that apply for commenting at these meetings are that comments on the non-agendized items can occur only during those designated public comment periods which we're about to have and they have to stay within the subject matter of jurisdiction of the city. So comments on the agendized items have to stick with the script. And then all of the comments that are non-agendized have to occur during that designated comment period. Sorry if I'm repeating myself. If they don't fall into that subject matter, I'll remind you. And then my city attorney, yes, can also. If they don't follow in city, we'll provide you with an initial warning to stay within the subject matter jurisdiction. And if it's not followed, then the chair, myself, will direct the city clerk to cut the microphone. And throughout this warning system, I will just look to the city attorney to help identify whether or not comments are within the subject matter jurisdiction of the city or not. So anyone who's attending in person, you are welcome to fill out one of these beautiful pink comment cards. They're back at the table. Helps us stay organized. And then if you are participating virtually on Zoom, just remember that you need to use the raised hand feature so that we know that you would like to speak. And then if you change your mind, same thing, you can lower it. And then if you are on phone, you need to do star nine. to raise your hand and then same to lower your hand and star six to mute or unmute yourself so the clerk is looking through zoom for anybody who has their hand raised and they just need to raise their hand when the public comment period opens within a minute of an opening otherwise we will have no ability to call on you so did I miss anything there everybody gets three minutes and you are welcome to use that whole time if you'd like but I will cut you off if three minutes is up. Okay, so without further ado, I know, so formal. We have our first comment for public comment period is from Mr. John Ordway, and then Mr. Steve Keith, and then Kevin Arnold. So you know what border you're in. Not all at once. John. John is here. John is not here. Hmm.

Okay.

Well, we'll skip him for now. Mr. Keith, you're up next.

Good afternoon, Madam Mayor, Madam Vice Mayor, and staff. I appreciate that I'm actually right after that disclaimer because I think WE DO AS AT LEAST CERTAINLY FOR PUBLIC MORE RECENTLY BECOMING ACQUAINTED WITH THESE PROCEEDINGS AND WITH THE EVENTS OF LAST MEETING WHICH I'LL TOUCH ON HERE BRIEFLY. OBVIOUSLY SB 707 MADE SOME CHANGES TOWARDS HOW THE PUBLIC CAN ENGAGE WITH THESE PROCEEDINGS. HOWEVER, IT WOULD APPEAR IN MY OBSERVATION THAT THE OPPORTUNITY FOR PUBLIC TO GIVE A COMMENT HAS BEEN REDUCED. NOTABLY, THE OPPORTUNITY TO SPEAK AT THE END OF THE MEETING IS NOW VANISHED. AND BASED ON THE DISCLAIMER YOU JUST GAVE, THE AGENDIZED ITEMS HAVE AN OPPORTUNITY FOR PUBLIC COMMENT. AND I INTERPRET THAT AS EVERY ITEM THAT'S ON THE AGENDA, NOT JUST REGULAR ITEMS, BUT EVERY ITEM. WHICH WOULD INCLUDE ALL THE WAY TO THE VERY END, COMMUNITY LAYS ON OTHER REPORTS, COMMUNICATIONS, ADDING AGENDA ITEMS TO FUTURE CITY COUNCIL MEETING AGENDA. All of those items would require an opportunity for public to speak. However, last meeting, a gentleman came in and attempted to offer public comments. We had not been given the opportunity to learn whether or not, despite historical evidence, that it would have nothing to do with that item or anything that the council has under their control. Should have had the opportunity. It's important that the oath that we've all given to protect the Constitution, the First Amendment, super important. And that protects uncomfortable speech. It protects speech that some people may not want to hear. But it's important that everybody have that opportunity to speak. Thank you.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR PUBLIC COMMENT, MR. KEITH. AND THEN MR. ARNOLD.

GOOD EVENING, ESTEEMED COUNCIL. MY NAME IS KEVIN ARNOLD. I'M A FIELD REP FOR SEIU 1021. A FEW DIFFERENT THINGS TO ADDRESS THIS EVENING. FIRST IS WELCOMING OUR NEW CHIEF. WE REALLY LOOK FORWARD TO WORKING WITH YOU. WELCOME HOME. I KNOW ON BEHALF OF SDI TO WELCOME YOU TO THE CITY OF RONER PARK, WE HAVE LOTS OF THINGS TO PARTNER WITH, THINGS TO ACCOMPLISH, AND SO LIKE I SAID, WELCOME. WE DID ALSO JUST RECEIVE OUR FIRST LETTER FOR A PRELIMINARY BARGAINING MEETING, WHICH WE'RE VERY MUCH LOOKING FORWARD TO. WE WILL BE SCHEDULING OUT EXACTLY WHEN TO MEET WITH THE FULL STAFF, AND I HOPE WE CAN CONTINUE TO HAVE A GOOD BACK AND FORTH ON THAT. uh the last thing i wanted to mention was just that this was a really great opportunity today to recognize the incredibly hard work that that these folks do in public works but in the entire seiu bargaining unit every single day and we are about a week from a year since the gallagher report was published correct so here we are It's a way to recognize the hard work that these folks do. There are other more substantive ways to recognize the incredibly hard work they do. And we need to be able to solve this issue as far as competitive wages, compensation, retention as we move forward into this next era, hopefully with having some more revenue to be able to generate as well. So thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Arnold. And Ms. Carol Sherman, you are next. Yes, come on down. You're the next contestant on public comment. CAROL SHERMAN.

Well, it's good to see you all. You're the most wonderful people, and I'm very appreciative that I can come up here. I don't normally speak, but I'm very thrilled to say I just finished my six-month commitment to the Rohnert Park Animal Shelter. And I was thrilled to fall in love with so many animals. But more importantly, the people who work there. What a great group of folks. The people on staff. But that place honestly runs by volunteers. And I'm continuing on in a different capacity there. But I adopted a cat. Yes, it happens. Everybody that works there goes home with a few animals. And we're kind of towards the end of kitty world. We had so many kitties. But I would encourage anybody who's looking for a way to build community for themselves and make a big difference, please come and join us. and volunteer, anything you like to do, whatever your specialty is, and there's a lot of cool things to do. Please, don't be timid. Jump right in. And we're going to have public works right next door, so that's a plus. And I just want to thank you all for your encouragement, your willingness to let me serve. in this community. I have done so many different service-driven things for the last 15 years. And I'm going to continue. And I feel very blessed, especially when you get a little older. Don't sit home and watch TV all day, OK? Get out there and help your community. And I hope more people here and people at home DO THAT AND WE'LL WELCOME YOU. I PROMISE YOU, YOU WILL BE WELCOME. OKAY? ESPECIALLY IF YOU LOVE ANIMALS AND PEOPLE. IT'S A GOOD PLACE. THANK YOU.

THANK YOU, MS. SHERMAN. AND THEN WE HAVE LISA ORLA. SORRY, ACTUALLY, LET'S GO LUCY DEAN AND THEN LISA ORLA.

WELCOME, LUCY.

Hi, everybody. Thanks for having me. My name is Lucy Dean. I'm the representative from Sonoma State University. I'm our new vice president of external affairs. I met a couple of you briefly at our president's community welcome. It's lovely to see you again. I just came to give you all a brief report on Sonoma State. We are back in session as of yesterday. We had our first day of class yesterday. And the Associated Students are back in session making sure that everybody is well fed. We've got our basic needs program back up and running. We've got our Associated Students events planning program. We just had big night the other night. So we're just making sure our students are taken care of. We're planning to have a couple hygiene drives throughout the semester. If anyone in the community wants to help invest in that, we always love your support. Any information about that will be on our website and on our social media, as well as our Lobos Pantry is open for four days a week. Information about that is also on our website. Yeah, but we're just back in session. We love having our community involved, and we're happy to have you all here. Thank you. Thank you very much.

Lisa Orloff, yes.

Thank you. Lisa Orloff, Roanoke Park Chamber of Commerce. I just want to invite everyone in the audience and everyone listening that we're doing a ribbon cutting to celebrate Hot Works, a new fitness center here in Roanoke Park. Their big grand opening tomorrow from 5.30 to 7. I'm sure Samantha's probably going to share this again in her liaison report since she's the liaison to our chamber. But I just wanted to let you know it's always super excited to get a new business into Roanoke Park. And I want to congratulate the staff. I shared this with Marcella already. Dustin Schaefer is the owner. And he was speaking at an event a couple weeks ago and talking about opening this site in Roanoke Park was so easy. The staff, it's the best. He's opened different businesses in different towns across California, maybe the United States. And he just was so excited to share how great it was to work with Rona Park and how easy they made it. And so I just want to invite everybody tomorrow at Hot Works from 537, free to attend, open to everyone. So hope to see you there.

Thank you. And then if we don't have any other public speaker cards, we have Ms. Barbara McKenzie, and then we'll go to Zoom.

Good evening, everyone. Just wanted to come down and remind everyone that our library will be closed starting September the 1st for four months plus. It's going to be beautiful when it's finished, and we realize that it's an inconvenience to a lot of people, and we will have some services available at the headquarters building. I also wanted to thank our city manager for her call earlier today inquiring as to whether I would be interested in Continuing to serve as a library commissioner and appreciate that call and yes, I am. Thanks very much Thank You miss McKenzie.

Okay, then we are going to go to zoom Do we have any participants on zoom with their hands raised?

No mayor. We do not.

Okay. Well Then that's it for public comment. Okay, I'm closing it up We are going to move on to item 7 which is the consent calendar and So I would be looking for a motion to approve the consent calendar as is. Yeah, I see that. Approve the calendar as is, but I actually need to pull one item. So I'll make that motion. So on Friday, I learned that my- Which item are you pulling? Oh, 7C. Did I say that out loud in my head? 7C on the consent calendar because on Friday I learned that the nominee that I had put out for the Library Commission role has withdrawn his application which is what Ms. McKenzie was referring to in her public comment and so I believe per protocol I could appoint somebody without moving it to a future agenda but I I actually would like to request that we do still move it to a future agenda, and that is because I need more time. I actually want to—oh, go ahead.

I was going to say, if it's possible to make comment on that item, I'm amenable to having it open for further review. Okay.

Yeah. I'd like to make a motion—

Is this a moment where we can comment on the item that's pulled before we move forward?

Can I continue to speak on it or no?

Use your mic. We should remove it from consent. Finish what we started. Finish the consent calendar and then come back and discuss this item separately. Beautiful.

Thank you for clarifying that. I'll motion to pull item 7C, I believe it was, correct? Okay. Hold on. Let me make sure I'm pulling the right item.

Yeah.

Yeah. C as in cat. Motion to approve.

approve the consent calendar pulling 7c second okay so clerk the following vote is for the adoption the consent calendar with exception on item 7c all those in favor aye anyone opposed motion passes by five zero marvelous okay

So going back to that, I realized this is my first time getting to appoint someone to an at-large position that this is kind of a big deal. And it's kind of a hard decision to, or a challenging thing to vet all of these people. I mean, I know at the end you see them on Thursday when the agenda packet comes out, but it is not an easy thing. So what I actually would like to do is also look at the possibility of making this like some of our other committee appointments where we... go through those applications together and I guess we don't go through them together, but make it something where it's more of a council decision versus a mayor chooses someone seconds.

I would support that.

And then I guess my only other question would be, if we were to do that, what other committee rules would it apply to? Because we would want it to be standard across all.

Thank you, Mayor, for the question. So we would have to bring that back to council so that we can indicate to you which other appointments would be revisited if we want to change the selection process for these at-large appointments. So we can work with our city clerk to bring that back to you.

Okay, fantastic. And so would that come as a regular item on a future agenda?

Yes, we would bring back the item for discussion, and if necessary, then at that point we would get direction from we would have to also change the city council protocols to reflect whatever new process the council would like to follow. We can do that.

Okay. Perfect. I appreciate that. And thanks for humoring me on the suggestion. It's appreciated.

We're going to need a comment as well. Okay.

Any other questions? We could go to public comment. I was going to say, do we want to do public comment first and then council discussion? I think that's easier. Okay. Would anybody from the public in the room or on Zoom like to speak on this item specifically, 7C? Seeing and hearing that no one is interested, clerks, anyone on Zoom?

We had to wait a full minute. Oh, I see, because they need to raise their hands. But there isn't anyone so far with the raised hand. Okay.

So if there's nobody on the raised hand, we don't have to wait. I mean, if there's nobody on Zoom.

There is a person on Zoom. Oh, there is. Okay. We have about 30 seconds remaining in the clock.

Just stare at each other and appreciate the new process. Public comment no one in the room has a burning desire to speak on this item Either one minute has passed ah great Okay, if no one else would like to speak on this item. I will go ahead and Close the public comment period and come back to our council for any remaining thoughts questions I

I wanted to pull this, to be honest, just because I'm really feel a bit uneasy of the timeline of events of emails that I received and then hearing that somebody rescinded their application. And so I have asked our city manager, and I'm going to ask here, that we also look at a code of conduct of folks that we appoint to committees and commissions. I don't want to assume things, but I also feel like when folks are interested, and it's not an easy process, right? Folks are pouring in and taking time to put in an application and wanting to participate in their city. I just I just have some doubts and concerns as to why somebody would rescind so suddenly just given the timeline of what I've experienced of communications received and so I would like to either extend or have the opportunity a bit more time to be able to ask the applicants those questions if possible and also figure out when whether it's us or who we appoint what is our code of conduct and on those seats and then within community as well. Because sometimes we also get feedback in different ways. And I just want to make sure that if we're going to be updating things, we just update fully across the board for equitability and fairness. I know. And so that's my hesitancy. It's not necessarily the candidates or past, present, future, it's more of the timeline of events has caused me a lot of pause to be able to confidently move forward with the item.

I was going to suggest if we can ask the city manager that possibility to reopen the process so that other people can have the opportunity to apply. And that will be based on us five here and to give the guidance to Madam City Manager.

And I would assume that that has to happen if we're going to change the process or propose changing the process.

I think all of these questions will be deliberated and answered when we bring back the item. We're jumping ahead.

Okay. Perfect. Well, thank you then. And that leaves the current person in that seat until then, correct? Correct.

Yes, and I'm sorry, I didn't want to give the impression that there's been a decision made. There hasn't been, so we need a motion.

Okay, so I'd be looking for a motion to...

I'd like to have an opportunity to make a comment.

Yes, go for it.

Mayor, you received a call from the gentleman on Friday? I did. Did he give you some reasons why he withdrew his...

He said he felt like... Can I ask a question?

Isn't it like a private matter?

Well, she's asked a question. I think it's on the table.

But you're asking your question. Right now it's your question, correct?

I'm asking the question of the mayor.

It's my turn to talk right now. I was just wondering, were we about the privacy of the...

I will stay high level and say that... The privacy of the candidate. This person was interested in serving our community in... really any capacity. This was one area where he applied, and I really appreciated him stepping up and considering doing it, and his decision was to not do it after all, and I mean, I'm sure he will serve in some other way somewhere. Very helpful, as is true for the other candidates. There were several.

I guess my concern here is we have someone who's served well and faithfully for 12 years in the The communication that was sent to her last week, the city talked about her dedicated service, her contributions to help strengthen library services, her representation of the community with integrity and care, outstanding service of dedication, generous volunteering of her time, her passion for preserving and sharing history, her unwavering commitment to public service, her countless hours of dedicated time making Warner Park a better community, contributions to make meaningful, lasting impact, appreciation for her support in her many capacities and her tremendous service. And I just feel like we're not affording Barbara McKenzie the dignity here through this process that she has earned and that she is entitled to. I have absolutely no problem re-looking at this process. You made a comment when you were speaking about the mayor appoints. In my understanding is the mayor nominates and then brings it to the council. But I fully support your desire to say, let's take a look at this, bring the names forward, maybe have the mayor narrow it down to two or three, and then have the council decide. But I see no reason to leave Mrs. McKenzie on tenterhooks for another two weeks to a month I may be out of town the second meeting in September. I'd like to be here if that happens. I don't see any reason why we need to prolong the agony for Mrs. McKenzie. If we're going to have her, then let's have her. If we're not, then let's not. But this is enough. Thank you.

Madam Mayor, can I make a comment? Yes. So, to be honest, I got concerned when I just got today saying that the nominee pulled out I do respect our current representative, so it has nothing to do with her personality, and I do not want people to start judging people for their personality or what is happening. There is a situation that happened that we need to address. and that has nothing to do with her or any other candidate. The last thing that we wanted to do is to scare off people to apply to any of our committees because that is going to become a pattern when someone wanted to come and apply to serve, then they got scared off and then leave. It's not going to be a pretty image of Ronald Park. We talk about fairness, we talk about opening up to the public and I think it is fair to say that since that process didn't go through, it's fair to say to open and I will be cautioning us to I mean, we know personally, I do respect the work that Mrs. McKenzie has done, and I do not want to put it on the line because of the situation happened. It's unfortunate, I didn't know, I just found out today. And I was a little bit on ease to talk about a private conversation that the mayor had with someone that applied on a public setting. I found it very inappropriate because it's gonna scare off future candidate for any other committee that we're gonna Open in a future and out of respect always mrs. McKenzie I don't think it's fair for her to to be put in that position. We should have just you know Made it clear and simple. It didn't work out. We have someone here. How about we continue the process? I think that will also show that we do respect the work that she has done.

I think one of the ways to show the respect for the work she has done is is to appoint her to continue to serve and I'd like to make a motion to do that at this time and ask for a second.

Could we unfortunately right now that that process isn't allowed under our protocols right now because the mayor has to nominate first and the mayor has not nominated anybody.

The mayor nominated someone he withdrew and so now I don't understand why the next person.

There's another person that applied so If the mayor would, in theory, if the mayor wanted to appoint someone other out of that group.

Yeah, three people. What I was going to ask is can the commissioner continue to serve?

If I extend this out. As a matter of law, the commissioner will serve until a replacement is selected.

Okay. Mayor, may I? Yes. I support reinitiating the process, and I'd like to call for the question. In that case, I will revisit this. I would like to make a motion that we continue the process for the Library Commissioner selection, and of course, Ms. McKenzie will be included in that process if she so chooses.

I'll second.

Just to clarify that you want staff to bring back an agenda item at a future agenda to discuss this process.

Keeping in mind that Council Member Adams would like to definitely be here, so we can schedule around that. Okay. Did we do everything we needed to do there? I got a...

There was a motion, so there's no...

I got a motion. I got a second. All those in favor? Aye. All those opposed? Thank you.

So the motion to bring back a discussion regarding city council protocols surrounding mayor nominations for outside agency appointments and code of conduct for all appointees is passed by a 4-1-0 with council member Adams dissenting. Thank you.

Thank you. Okay. Next, we will move to our regular items, starting with 8A. And our presenter is, I believe, going to be Ms. Rankin. Or would that be you for 8A?

Yes. Thank you, Mayor. Good afternoon. And it's going to be a joint presentation here with our Director of Human Resources, Tracy Rankin, and, of course, me. And so it As you know, in December, Chief Mattos indicated that he was retiring, even though he's still with us. He's serving in an interim capacity. And so we started a recruitment process in February, and it's been six months that we've gone through this process, which is very common and typical for a law enforcement professional. And it gives me great joy to be able to present the item before you today, which is the resolution to consider the employment contract for Ignacio Richard Navarro, better known as Rick Navarro, in the community, law enforcement community. And we're extremely pleased after a nationwide recruitment and a strong candidate pool to bring forward Mr. Rick Navarro to the position of the Director of Public Safety. We're extremely fortunate that he has decided to join our city and join our Public Safety Department. He actually is a resident of Rohnert Park and has lived here for many years and for him to be able to serve His community and the capacity of Director of Public Safety is extremely important for us and valuable. And so I'm very excited that he's joining the team. He has more than 35 years of law enforcement experience, 30 years with the Marin County Sheriff's Office, and he's currently serving as the Chief of Police in the city of Mill Valley. And so we're, again, very pleased that he has decided to join the team. As you know, for us as a community, we value community, we value accountability, and also value the relationship that our public safety department has with members of our community. And so he brings that and he will continue with that. And he knows the importance of those values for us and just really making sure that we have the public safety relationship with our community. And so I'm very, very pleased that he's joining. He's here with us today, and he'll be hopefully addressing you with a couple of comments. But again, just having an individual with his distinguished and extensive career in law enforcement join the City of Rohnert Park, is important for us, and so I'm glad, again, that he's here. Now I will turn it over to our Director of Human Resources, Tracy Rankin. We have to, whenever we are bringing forward an employment contract for a department head director, we do have, we're required by law to read a statement that satisfy the requirements of a government code, and so now I will give the opportunity for Ms. Rankin to be able to state that. Thank you.

Thank you, Madam City Manager. Good evening, Council. In accordance with Government Code Section 54953 , the City Council is to receive an oral summary report of the salary and compensation, including fringe benefits, paid to any local agency executive prior to taking final action. Under the terms of this agreement, the Director of Public Safety is entitled to receive the following compensation and benefits. an annual base salary of $255,661.05 per year, which is step five of salary range 78M, a peace officer's standards and training post-executive certificate stipend in the amount of 9% of base salary, a uniform allowance of $1,080 per calendar year to be paid monthly, a city cell phone, city vehicle for his use at city expense, and other equipment deemed appropriate by the city manager, a credit of 80 hours of annual leave on date of hire, and accrual of annual leave at a rate of 240 hours per year, 100 hours of administrative leave per fiscal year, participation in CalPERS in the 3% at 55 program, and fringe benefits, including health insurance, disability benefits, retiree health savings contributions, and employer retirement contribution, in accordance with the council's adopted outline of certain conditions of employment, fringe benefits, and salary for the management unit.

I just forgot to mention that the employment agreement is before you this evening. However, Chief Navarro will be starting on September the 22nd, and we will be working with the department to do a welcome ceremony for him, gives him an opportunity to interact with members of the public. So I just wanted to make sure I clarified that. Thank you.

GOOD EVENING, MAYOR, VICE MAYOR, CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS, CITY MANAGER PIERDRA. THANK YOU FOR THOSE KIND WORDS. MUCH APPRECIATED. I HAVE PREPARED A STATEMENT AND I PROMISE YOU THAT CITY MANAGER PIERDRA AND I DID NOT DISCUSS MY COMMENTS PRIOR TO THIS EVENING, BUT THEY'RE GOING TO BE VERY SIMILAR. I AM DEEPLY HONORED AND HUMBLED TO BE HERE WITH YOU TONIGHT. I COME BEFORE YOU AS A PROUD 34 RESIDENT OF RONA PARK WITH DEEP ROOTS IN THIS COMMUNITY. I WAS NOT SEEKING ANOTHER CAREER OPPORTUNITY WHEN I SAW THE RECRUITMENT FOR RONER PARKS DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC SAFETY. HOWEVER, THIS POSITION IMMEDIATELY SPOKE TO ME. I'VE ALWAYS HELD OUR PUBLIC SAFETY DEPARTMENT IN THE HIGHEST REGARDS AND ITS MEMBERS ARE TRUE HEROES IN OUR COMMUNITY. AS A RESIDENT, I PERSONALLY CALLED UPON THEM FOR ASSISTANCE AND I HAVE CONSISTENTLY BEEN IMPRESSED BY THEIR KNOWLEDGE, THEIR COMPASSION AND THEIR PROFESSIONALISM. THROUGHOUT THE RECRUITMENT PROCESS, I WAS EQUALLY IMPRESSED BY THE CITY'S COMMITMENT TO INCLUDING REGIONAL PARTNERS, COMMUNITY MEMBERS, DEPARTMENT HEADS, AND MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC SAFETY DEPARTMENT. THAT APPROACH RESONATES DEEPLY WITH ME BECAUSE I BELIEVE COLLABORATION AND INCLUSION ARE ESSENTIAL TO BUILDING TRUST AND ACHIEVING LONG-TERM SUCCESS. THE WARMTH AND SUPPORT I'VE RECEIVED FROM THE ENTIRE CITY TEAM HAS BEEN INCREDIBLE, AND I AM TRULY GRATEFUL FOR THE WELCOME. I know there's a great deal of work ahead of us, but with this outstanding team, I am confident that we are ready for the challenges and opportunities before us. I value partnership, collaboration, accountability, and hard work. What you can expect from me is authentic, transparent, and engaged leadership from someone who cares deeply about this city, our employees, and the essential public safety services our community deserves. Thank you for the trust you have placed in me and for the opportunity to lead this outstanding organization. It is an incredible honor to serve the community that my family and I have proudly called home for 34 years. Thank you.

Yeah, where do we begin? This is a really big deal. Well, you need to take...

Well, the item is before you, so you need to make sure you... I'd like to make a motion. Thank you.

I will second. No, let's do public comment. Let's do public comment. Okay. I'm sure somebody in this room has something they would like to say on this item, although I do not have any cards in front of me. I'll put you all on the spot.

We do not have any speaker cards, and the clock is currently running for some speaker. Oh, okay.

So I can work on the timing on that.

Okay.

Yeah, we could do council questions.

Should we adopt the resolution first?

Well, I'm waiting for public comment.

Oh, we have to wait.

Okay.

Thanks, Steve. Mr. Keith, taking one for the team. What are your thoughts?

Whatever time is needed to... Hey, I just met this guy and he seems really good. Seems like a really nice guy. He introduced himself to me. I mean, look at me. And he still said, shook my hand and everything. So great job. I think he found a good person. How are we doing? All good?

Thanks. Thank you. As you know, counsel is not allowed to comment on public comments. So we'll just say that was a good one. OK.

Do we have a motion? Yeah. Let's get a motion on this.

Yeah, I'd like to make a motion to adopt a resolution authorizing and approving the Director of Public Safety Employment Agreement between the City of Roanoke Park and Ignacio Richard Navarro.

And I'll happily second that one.

All those in favor? Aye.

Anyone opposed? There are people that would like to make comments. Can we go backward and hold that? Rewind.

We can still do it. We can still make comments.

Okay. Let's pass it and then comment. We're going to get all out of order. All those in favor?

Aye. Anyone opposed? Motion passes 5-5-0. Cool. Let's talk more about this.

Sure. And I said this before, so welcome. Very excited. not only from the things that I've been told by either present law enforcement here in Roanoke Park, but people down in Mill Valley, people in the County of Marin, and then your neighbors and residents here in Roanoke Park as well. I think it is so important that you have been deeply embedded in this community for many years, decades. And I'm very excited to, you know, to welcome you and build on the great foundation that Tim has created here and move forward. So welcome, neighbor, and welcome back home. Thank you.

I'm so excited to have you on board, Chief. I know Chief Matos, because he's still our chief right now, has some big shoes to fill. He undertook quite a bit of the department in these last five years and has really been if anything, answered all my many, many questions. So you will now be the new chief I'll be calling with my many, many questions. And this community, you know it, I know it. I think people will be hard pressed to not know Chief Navarro or his family. But I'd really like to thank Mrs. Navarro because I don't think law enforcement can happen without their steadfast family and support and the worry. and your involvement in community as well. So I'm going to save the tears for later in September, but I'm so, so excited to have you on board and echo Councilmember Giudice, even myself working in probation, Marin, Without people knowing, right, how highly they spoke of you, friends of my own who have been taught by you and mentored by you, the impact is quite literally throughout the whole North Bay and possibly the state. And so what an incredible way to now represent the friendly city in an official way. So welcome.

Thank you, Council Member, and thank you for recognizing my true foundation, my bride, Jennifer.

Well, welcome, Rohnert Park Chief-in-Waiting. We're excited to have you. This has been just the lead-up time. I was talking to your wife a few minutes ago about the anticipation period of, since you knew that this was going to be your responsibility going through all the process, that tests a person sometimes, just the waiting. I met Tim Mattos for the first time right after I was elected in 2018. You have big shoes to fill here in Runner Park. I think you also have a little bit of a leg up on most other candidates, since you know the community so well. I'm very excited for the women and the men who serve in the Department of Public Safety in Runner Park, from the dispatcher to the everybody who works in that building, the sergeants, the lieutenants, the line folks, they're excited to have your leadership to build on what's been done by Chief Matos, and I look forward to many years of working with you. Thank you. Thank you, Councilmember.

All right. Well, your true foundation is our true foundation. You got to share.

Sorry.

Well, Park is really excited, and thank you, Mrs. Navarro. I am incredibly excited. Leadership is very important. And leadership can either break or elevate the community. And having the right person into leadership is really important, especially now with everything that, you know, every community is going through. However, the mayor of Mill Valley is not too thrilled. He grilled me. He said, we stole him. We stole you from him. But I say, no, we took back our own person. So he's coming home. Sorry, Max. But it shows how, you know, effective your work have been in Marin and Mill Valley and how you have transformed that city. Chief Matos has been a pillar here for the many years that he has served, and it aches to see him going. But at the same time, you know, you guys have made sure, along with all the public safety leaders, to bring you on board. And it's very exciting to see that your leadership will be now here at home representing the the values and the people that, you know, you live and create memories every single day. And I am so excited because I know that what you have done in Mill Valley as an employee and an outsider, you know, you would take that baton, you know, in a different level now that you are here at home and I'm so excited and welcome home.

Thank you so very much. It's great to be home.

And all of the things that my colleagues have said and more, I am very grateful that you were interested in the position. And to all of our staff, it was a very collaborative hiring process. I think everyone got to give their two cents on what they were looking for. I think we've got it, and I really look forward to the good work you're going to continue here in our city. Our city. Our city.

Great. Thank you so much, Mayor.

Since you're here and you look so lovely, we're going to do a family photo together. This will be the before photo. Okay, we're going to go on to the next item, which is 8B. Welcome, gentlemen.

Good evening, mayor and city council members. I'm Mark Henderson, public works director. I'm here with Scott Sanders. He's our sustainability manager. We're here to discuss the reentry into the Russian River Watershed Association. This is a local entity that focuses on stormwater compliance and outreach. So I will turn it over to Scott. Scott oversees our stormwater compliance and outreach program. Thank you.

All right. Hello. Great to be here. So let's just dig right in. So I'm going to present on the Russian River Watershed Association. Hard to say. But tonight I'm going to walk you through kind of what it is, our steps. I'm going to call it the RRWA because it is hard to keep saying over and over again. So we are going to go through what is the RRWA, our history with the RRWA, how it operates day-to-day, the membership costs and programs, and then what we're here for, selecting a city representative. So what is the RRWA? It's a coalition of 11 public agencies and all coordinating stormwater compliance, outreach, grant funding across the Russian River watershed. So our member agencies are a mix of cities. We have the Sonoma Water, two counties, Mendocino and Sonoma. The city of Ukiah serves as the administrative agency and fiscal agent. They handle organizations, contracting, financial administration on behalf of all the members. The core RRWA operating budget does come entirely from member agencies, so our dues cover the cost of running the organization itself. Individual programs sometimes bring grant money into the program as well. It was formed in 2003 to facilitate this partnership across political boundaries so that member agencies could work cooperatively to protect this watershed and efforts that no single agency could take on effectively alone. So what is the watershed? It consists of 1,484 square miles across Mendocino and Sonoma counties. One of the main stems goes 110 miles from Potter Valley to the Pacific Ocean at Jenner. Within that watershed, there are 238 streams and creeks, two major reservoirs, 10 tribal land organizations. It's home to 63 different fish species, as well as 360,000 people. And how are we connected to it? I'll add a little extra here. Everything that goes in our storm drains heads to a creek. From that creek, our creeks will enter the Laguna de Santa Rosa, which then goes to Mark West Creek, which then drops right into the Russian River. Also, we get water directly from the Russian River. Sonoma Water pulls it right from the Russian River, filters it, and then brings it to Rohnert Park residents. Our history with the RRWA is not new. We were one of its founding members in 2004. We stepped away in 2020 by council vote, the reason being cost effectiveness and as well as we had internal capacity to handle these items on our own. But then this year we have now rejoined. And we signed the Amendment 1. It's the same MOU that's been running since 2004. So, all member agencies are signing the same MOU. So, next we're going to go with how it operates, its day-to-day governance, each member.

Let's see.

It's governed by a board of directors made up of elected officials. Each member agency, every member agency appoints one representative, one alternate to sit on that board. Below the board, there's an executive program, initiatives committee, a technical working group, and those bodies support the board with staff-level expertise on the technical and programmatic side of things. Altogether, the RRWA facilitates more than 24 regional meetings a year between the boards, its committees, and advocacy meetings. During the September and February time, the board adopts a work plan and budget that was created throughout the year. And then now we're going to move over to our cost... There we go. Membership costs and what it provides. So there we go. Year one, it's a little modest. We're going to start out with only a $5,000 flat rate in our costs. So the first year is kind of getting used to it. But then over time, it's going to start going to a formula where half the cost is split among the member agencies and then the other half is is weighted based on each agency's operational budget. Last time Roanoke Park was in it, it was about 5% to 7% of that total budget. Recently, the budget is now $719,000, so roughly Roanoke Park would be on $36,000 to $50,000 a year. Of course, today's item is not a fiscal impact. We're just bringing a representative to the board. So, what do these costs do for us? Well, first, regional collaboration. RRWA facilitates board meetings, committee meetings, operators, forms, and maintains a shared website for all member agencies. Second, they do regulatory advocacy. They attend water board hearings. They prepare comment letters, represent local interests at Sacramento. And third or fourth, they do grant support as well. Oh, I skipped third. Third is regulatory compliance. They help us with our municipal stormwater permit. They help us with LID trainings. The Russian River Regional Monitoring Program is also under this. And then they also help with grant support. And what we're here today is to pick a member for the board of directors. Let's see what we got here.

So we're required to have an appointed representative, which is a city council member, to this organization. And then we'll have an alternate, just like Zero Waste.

So you're saying you would have picked one of us anyway, but because we have to have one, we're here to nominate somebody today.

And yeah, that's what we're going to do. We're just going to need to complete those two items tonight. Yeah, that's kind of my whole presentation right there.

Beautiful. Okay. Well, what we'll do is we can take questions from our council, and then I want to go to public comment and then back to our comments. So I'm bored. I have no question. Council comments. Any questions on that item itself?

I do. Thank you very much. Can you go back to the slide that tells how much money this is going to cost? Because it starts out at $5,000 entryway in the door, right? Then we're going to get up to somewhere between $35,000 and $50,000. But my understanding from reading the report and especially listening to you talk, it's actually going to be a net savings for us for the services they're going to provide. And I think to maybe explain it to Mr. and Mrs. Rohnert Park, maybe when, you know, we can explain that this is, we're spending so much more doing some of these things that they're now gonna help us do, including the legislative interaction and all those sorts of things, right? So can you kind of speak to that a little bit?

Yeah, so we decided to bring back RRWA because we do not have the internal capacity to do everything that we need to do to fulfill our permit compliance with the water board and all those other items. So spending the $36,000 to $50,000 a year actually does save us money without having to hire extra people to perform this compliance work. And not only that, they're doing grant support. They're in Sacramento lobbying for us and multiple other items like that that do save us money.

And that's definitely the advantage of having that unified front for grant support, submitting as an organization rather than us doing it individually. And also, we're currently using consultants to help us manage our stormwater compliance. So this will lessen that burden.

Can you give us a ballpark?

I mean, probably saving over $25,000 a year in consultant costs. I mean, if I had to throw a number off.

Thank you very much. I really appreciate the way you presented it here because it does show the net benefit to the citizens of Rohnert Park to get back and join this organization.

And the outreach that they do now, they'll do locally. A lot of these pilot programs that they were doing in other jurisdictions, we weren't part of it. So now they're going to be bringing these programs to Rohnert Park.

Other council questions? I'm going to open it up for public comment. Ladies and gentlemen, it's public comment item 8B. If anybody would like to speak on this item, now is your chance. I have no cards. Steve's not getting up. Is there anyone on Zoom?

There's one person present, but the person hasn't raised their hand. Okay.

It's been more than a minute, true. So we're good to proceed? We don't need to wait a full minute for this person? We do?

Okay.

I know. Let's see here. What other questions do I have? Ask questions. I think my question, since I can ask questions while we wait, would be about what do you think the best benefit is going to be for us? What's your favorite thing of the RRWA offerings?

Well, currently, they are bridging this gap between SSU. So right now, SSU, us, and RRWA are getting together and trying to work on Copeland Creek. So it's just another added benefit, another seat at the table of bringing resources to places in our community is my biggest excitement.

Yeah, we just learned about this, so that's kind of exciting. You know, they're looking at enhancing Copeland Creek. I think, you know, it's the regulatory compliance. You know, we have some really tall hills to climb, and one is, you know, trash capture and things that they assist with. So I think it's better to be, you know, regionally on a unified front than stand alone. So that's just one of them off the, you know, that is, we're going to have to comply with. What I'm referring to is trash entering the creeks that we have to.

I figured.

Yeah, yeah, sorry. And we know we have to stop basically all trash from entering the creeks.

All right. Now we may proceed. Wonderful. Okay, back to the comments from the council.

Thank you. So first of all, thanks for the report. And kudos to the council for rejoining the agency. Certainly the benefits greatly outweigh the cost. And as we move forward with our hydrology study, as we move forward with modeling as to how we would relocate that retention basin over in K section, and taking a look at what that modeling looks like, the Russian River Watershed Association will be indispensable resource for us and our city helping not only Department of Development Services but Department of Public Works moving forward. So I'm very excited that we are rejoining and also the collaboration with Sonoma State, we're already working together with them, with Mr. Rogers, and the Center for Environmental Inquiry with regards to the Copeland Creeks in Common and some of the other initiatives that we have. So this is a great fit, and if I am nominated, I would be more than happy to serve and make sure that Rona Park gets its pound of flesh out of joining this organization.

Other comments?

I have no comments, but I'll second Councilmember Giudice's nomination. Happy to support.

I think it would be great if Gerard wants to do this. Wonderful. What a wonderful idea.

I'm feeling this sigh of relief coming from everyone else on the dais. Okay. If no other board comments, then let's proceed with this wonderful nomination and second.

Do we need to have a nomination to rejoin the Russian River Watershed Association? It's a done deal.

It's in the budget.

So my question will be like what do you guys have like meetings when the meetings will be or because so that people can know and see in those schedules since life is not that busy for all of us.

I will share that I went to the meeting two months ago. They were very excited to see us. I feel like, I guess, the gang's getting the band back together because we didn't know we were the missing piece. It was a really big deal for them to have us rejoin, and so everybody at that meeting was very enthusiastic about the rejoining. I do believe they meet at least once monthly. There's committees and advisory committees, so if he wanted to go above and beyond and work on other things, he could, in addition to the board member.

Yeah, but it will be great to know what we're going to get ourselves into before even accepting. Oh, I see.

If you were interested in serving, you mean? No. Oh, okay. I have the calendar invites. I can share with you when I look that up. But yeah, it's pretty much at least once a month and then... Are you asking...

Sorry. Are you asking about the alternate representative?

Oh.

Do we have...

I'm kind of lost, so we already have a representative there.

We do not yet. I went just to say hello and remember us, and now that we are officially back in, we are needing to nominate someone to serve, and actually that brings up a good point. Does the alternate have to be on the council, or could it be like with Zero Waste where I think you're my alternate if I can't attend?

There's a council member that is nominated and then a staff member would act as an alternate. And there's 24 scheduled meetings throughout the year.

And how long is their term?

Until someone else would be nominated. There's not a defined term to this.

So Madam City Attorney, does that mean if for some reason I get really, really mad at Council Member Trudeau or I say I want to do it, would it be similar to something else we'd bring back to the agenda to discuss a new appointment?

Since there is no term, the appointment is totally within the discretion of the council. So the council can remove, appoint whenever they want.

Okay. I think we got all our questions answered. We got a motion. We got a second. All those in favor?

Aye.

Aye.

Aye.

Any opposed? Okay.

Thank you.

Thank you for the presentation. Thank you. Okay, next we are moving on to item nine, which is committee liaison and other reports. Council, who would like to share what they've been doing this month?

I was able to give them a bit of an update on what we've got going on in the city. Tomorrow, as we heard earlier, there is a ribbon cutting for Hot Works. It's no cost. You can find more information of all these things on the Chamber's website. And on September 2nd, it is the Noontime Luncheon, and the speaker will be Senator Cabaldon. Please register by August 28th. That's to make sure that there's enough food for everybody. And then the next day, September 3rd, is the Grind and Grow Collective for Young Professionals. So it's focused for 45 and younger entrepreneurs, but it is open. And the speaker will be our very own Kevin King to talk about how to support businesses and updates on the downtown. So hopefully we can get local businesses into our downtown. We've got two more weeks of the farmer's market, if I can count correctly. It's been great. And we also have the African Soul Festival. I believe it's the third annual this year happening on Saturday. And... In honor of Ms. Dolly Parton, who passed today, there are still tickets available through the Community Foundation to support her Imagination Library, and their gala will be on Saturday, August 29th. I want to congratulate Old Kaz for seven years, our very own home brewed. They had a great weekend-long event this past weekend. And then we have our third annual car show happening next Sunday, September 6, at the site of the downtown. I believe you can still register your car, take a look for it if you have a classic that you'd like to showcase. But it's just a great community event put on by our very own Frankie Lemus. So lots going on in the friendly city.

I had a library advisory board meeting last week, and I just want to confirm what was said earlier. The library is about to be closed, and there's going to be some sort of mini libraries. There'll be some activities over at the Burton Avenue Rec Center. Thank you for the city for working that out. And then the Sonoma County Library offices are on State Farm Drive, about a third of a mile down the street from the library. So there'll be some places where you can go there. There will be no services at the current library location. So that box where people can go pick up books, closed. But it'll be down the street at the main library place. You can go pick up books. If you have any questions, you can go there. You can also go to Petaluma Library. They were with us when their library was being remodeled. I know it seems like a long time, four months, but it's going to go by like that. I promise.

And Ms. Vice Mayor? Well, we had Sonoma Clean Power. It was really a short one. For the most part, Sonoma Clean Power is doing really great. We renewed our engagement with the CEO. That's going to be there for another three years and counting. And so, yeah. And the next month, we will have a recess for a month, and we will resume in October.

More or less. I'll give an update on Zero Waste Sonoma. The board met on the 20th. We went over the routine items, including the 24-25 audit, which showed a strong financial position and some continued investment that's happening, obviously, in our local waste reduction programs. Consultant Cascadia Consulting delivered their final report on a countywide food service compliance outreach program. that supported 122 different food businesses, including a few here in Bernard Park, where most facilities are now compliant or near compliant. So they're helping business owners address the things that need to be not styrofoam. You know, when you go and you get takeout, that's not a thing anymore. People can't have styrofoam. And there's other things that they've just been advising and really consulting on, like straws, utensils, finding the best suppliers for these different things that meet all of the requirements. And the program is going to continue for six more months, but it's already exceeded its goals around education and outreach. The board received a final update on USDA's compost and food waste reduction grant program, highlighting major wins in compost education, food recovery, network expansion, and some climate-smart farming practices that have resulted in over 550,000 pounds of local food rescued and thousands of residents that have been reached through the compost education efforts. And compost has been delivered to over 3,600 acres of local farmland. The SB 54 implementation is coming right along. Producers are going to have to start funding statewide recycling improvements in 2027. So Zero Waste is helping with each jurisdiction and also with the county, including Roanoke Park, and making sure we understand what materials are covered, any possible exemptions, infrastructure needed in the way of recycling, and any potential reimbursements that might be out there because some of those reimbursements will be retroactive. So that is a really big deal. Then the last thing would be that the board voted to move all of our future meetings for Zero Waste Sonoma to their new facility. The headquarters is at 195 Concourse Drive in Santa Rosa, and that is instead of the City Hall building in Santa Rosa. So this is going to improve public access. If any of you have been there, you have to go upstairs to go downstairs. It's not great. And it'll help facilitate better collaboration, too. So on the 17th of September, that's when we're going to start meeting at the new spot. That's my update for Zero Waste.

I just wanted to take also a moment to thank and acknowledge our incredible city manager, and congratulate you on a full permanent leadership team again. I know it's been a rocky time, and we are so lucky to have your leadership. And then for the folks who have stepped up and who have joined the city, again, I always say you guys are the experts. I did not go to school for each of your departments, but I just really wanted to appreciate that and appreciate everyone's undertaking of their departments as well. So congrats.

And on a nerdy moment, I'd like to also thank the city manager and the staff for the upgrade on our sewer bond rating, and perhaps just a quick explanation of what that means. I know we went from AA minus to AA, and exactly, if you could kind of... provide a little narrative on that, that would be great.

Yes, thank you. And perhaps what I'm going to have is maybe bring up, you know, our director of finance and our public works director, because really the celebration is for them. They have been doing a tremendous job in planning really our sewer improvements. As you know, we have over 200 million in deferred maintenance. And what a credit rating increase does for us is not that we are pursuing this, but if we were to be pursuing external financing, it would give us a better credit rating. And that is huge. Not only is it really a reflection of really the management of the sewer funds that we have, but also it is showing the community and really us that we are planning for the future. And I know that's been one of our major goals and and really just desires is to be able to address the needs of this community. So I'm very, very happy. And I just want to thank really our director of finance and her team and our public works team for the great work that they're doing and just making sure that we are addressing the needs of this community. So thank you. Thank you to the team for doing that well-deserved recognition in terms of that upgrade. So thank you, Council Member Judice for pointing that out. Appreciate it.

told councilmember Adams I thought I felt different it was our rating it's very encouraging hmm okay well then if we have no other updates on that we will move on to did anybody have a public comment on the liaison reports anything we say spark inspiration for you double-checking then on to communications item 10 anything that the council would like to share there Council Member Adams.

Thank you. Two things. I've received multiple communications from multiple members of the community, city managers on the end of receipt, asking if we can leave the farmers market out at the community center. And I don't know what the process is for saying to people, we're going to look at that and give it serious consideration because it's obviously so much more well received. I've had a friend of mine out there doing drone footage with infrared to see the number of people there. It's incredible the number of people that are there. So I just want to, you know, report that people are really anxious to have us talk about that. And then the second thing is, Councilwoman or Vice Mayor Elward and I have been receiving a lot of communication from lap swimmers in town. And we've been working with the Director of Community Services about finding other places where they can swim for November, December, and January. And we'll be turning that research over to Director Bagley for her to share that with the swim community. It will cost about the same as the cost for them to swim right now, either going out to the university or going to one of the health clubs in Cotati, as actually have some other benefits I think that will be helpful to them as well. So I just wanted everyone to know we're looking at that and we're working together and we'll give all that information to Cindy and then she'll send it out to all the lab swimmers. So thank you.

May I add, I want also the constituent to know that, If they want to connect with us, we have a room here where we can meet in person. So come, we are open. We want to meet with you and the door is open at the city hall.

Marvellous. Anything else for communications before we move on to item 11? Okay. Then that would be adding agenda items to a future city council meeting. No? Okay. Any public comment on that one?

I don't know that it would be considered an agenda item or not, but I was hoping we could recognize the NorCal Cal Ripken 12U team. They came in second in their World Series and really gave everyone a run for their money out there. And so they were only one of two teams from NorCal Cal Ripken representing. And so I was hoping we could give them a Little recognition. Absolutely. I agree to that.

We will find a fun place to do that. Okay. Then we have adjournment. It's official. Yes. And we need to go to the foundation. Don't go far because there is a foundation meeting. You guys are welcome to leave if you want.