City Council - Regular Meeting

We'll see. We'll see you. Okay, welcome everyone. I'd like to call the meeting to order, please, uh, for January 13th, the first meeting of the year. If you could please rise for the pledge of allegiance. 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. Okay, I have an invocation. [clears throat] God, we ask your blessings on those who have been called to lead this community in which we live, work, and play. Guide us peacefully through any debate. Remind us that we are not only leaders but also servants and servants above all else. Grant us the wisdom and courage to know what is good and do what is right. May we speak out when it is time to speak out, listen patiently and receptively when it is time to listen. May we always be guided by the spirit of community, by the spirit of justice, and by the spirit of love in our beloved San Marcos. Amen. Okay. Uh could we please have the roll call? Yep.

Uh well the minutes will reflect that council member Leblang is not with us this evening and we wish her a speedy recovery. Uh council member Muskrove here. Council member Nunes present. Deputy Mayor Sella here and Mayor Jones

here. And I did want to make a comment actually about Council Member Leblang. Unfortunately, she just had a second uh surgery. Uh she's going to be good. uh we just uh we want her to stay home and spend a little time recuperating so that when she comes back she will be ready and raring to go. We have a lot going on this year. So anyway, we wish her the best and um speaking to her on a pretty regular basis. So uh we do wish her uh the best in recovery and the quick recovery as well. Um and then moving on to our consent calendar. Uh are there any items that any council members wish to pull? Hearing none. Uh, do I have a motion to approve them?

Move to approve tonight's consent calendar. Okay. And we have a motion and a second. All in favor? I I Any hearing none? Okay. Uh, moving on to oral communications and we have a couple of speakers. We have Liz Santos and then that will be followed by John Moer. Liz, come on down. Welcome.

[snorts]

Good evening, Mayor Jones and council members. My name is Liz Santos, owner of properties 134 and 140 East Barham Drive in the heart of the city. I support revitalization and responsible growth, but I cannot support a process that has been repeatedly overlooked on property rights and allowed unsafe behavior to continue without accountability. There was a city error in GP20007 that directly affected my parcels has thrown the administrative due process out of balance in favor of Gary Levit. I have learned the city has expanded TPM190000001 based on this oversight and allowed and encouraged a lawsuit against my 82year-old mother causing significant harm to my family.

And despite having no written permission or providing no development plans, the developer has continued attempting to perform work that impact my property. there. These are not minor administrative errors. They have have real consequences. We had experienced multiple safety incidents. My car was damaged during the activities. My brother was confronted face to face in an aggressive manner by a member of the developer team. And before I was intentionally hit by a tractor, the police had already been called to the site. off. Officers responded, documented the situation, and warned that if they had to return, someone would be arrested. Even after the warning, the developers team continued operating equipment dangerously close to my property and I was later hit by the tractor and I had to go to the hospital for knee and leg pain. No property owner should ever have to experience this. We understand the need for revitalization, but not at the extent of trying to take property rights through aggressive unsafe behavior. The city has already approved plans without our consent and has now chosen not to intervene. Even though these issues stem from city errors, my family is committed to redeveloping our properties. We want to contribute to the future of San Marcos. So I'm asking why is the city not helping us? Which city council member is here willing to stand up for a property owner who has followed every rule? And mayor, respectively, your leadership matters. You have not reached out or acknowledged the harm that has occurred. Why not? I believe in this community. I

believe in fairness and I believe in growth should never become at the cost of safety, transparency or property rights. I'm at Thank you. Thank you, Mrs. Santos. Um Helen, can we uh make sure we keep a pulse on exactly what's going on in this situation? The city will continue to follow up and will continue to correspond and will continue to respond to Mrs. Santos. Great. Thank you so much. Okay. And next up is John Moer and then we do have two other speakers after Mr. Moer and that will be Natalie Aguilar followed by Marlene Walder.

Good evening Mayor, city council Michelle Helen, Bill. Uh happy new year. Uh unfortunately I missed you guys in November when I wanted to be here. I wanted to personally thank you guys for going ahead and extending the moratorum uh to protect the senior mobile home parks and see if we can make our way through that. Um I was going to say Rebecca and Ed, as you guys continue to grow, this will be an issue that you'll keep hearing. Um it will be coming up at the county. I've got the paperwork there. I sent it there last year. We'll start pushing it this year and we're doing it around the state. Um, at the same time, last year SB79 passed and created problems for a lot of cities. Uh, right now they're actively putting bills through to to make adjustments and changes to it. SB722 was just in a hearing last Tuesday and in it we have a section in there that goes back in and takes mobile home parks out of the equation. So, it protects mobile home parks from being developed or or being developed underneath SB79. Um, I know Michael mentioned you guys are at the point now to where you're you're considering your support for different bills and the legislative session that we're into now. So, I'd like to ask you for your support of 7:22. Um, I'm in contact with other people that I'm looking for a letter that's going to be given to different mayors of cities directly impacted. I think Vista is one in our county. and I'm waiting to get that in my hands that I can go ahead and share with everybody um as to get the mayors of different cities to send letters and the support to protect our mobile home parks. Thank you all.

Thank you, John. Uh next up is Natalie Aular, followed by Marlene Walder. Hello. Good evening, mayor and city council members. I'm Natalia Gillard. I'm a community educator with Universal Popular and I'm here to provide our on the record updates. Happy new year. Um first is our update on the community pantry. In this year, we continue to serve community members in our area. We continue to see an increased need and demand for food, housing, transportation, and other critical needs, especially among community members, elders, agricultural workers, and neighbors. Donations are always welcome at our pantry. Food items of special need include dry beans, rice, salt, oil, flour, and maseca. Second is my regular update on the civics program. Today, January 13th, we start another year of our civics initiatives, which includes our comprehensive citizenship classes. They are currently held Tuesdays from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. at San Marcos Elementary on One Tiger Way. Um, and save our save the date, our graduation will be held on Friday, November 13, 2026 this year. And then third is the Cesar Chavez Day of Service. Um, that'll be coming up Friday, March 27, 2026. Um, and that'll be our fourth time hosting the Cesar Chavis Day of Service in collaboration with the sister colleges CSUSM, Palomar College, and Mira Costa College, as well as our um partners at Restoration Abbey, the Community Action Group, and the local community. Thank you, and I hope you have a good evening.

Thank you, Natalie. Um, next up is Maren Marlene Walder. the paper. I had a paper to go with it. Oh, if you could just We've got it. Yep. Thank you. Uh start with October uh 2014 and then on the other side it's more.

Okay. Thank you uh mayor and all council members. Um, I would like to bring up a bill and it's just in general. Mine is the lowest bill probably in our park because I'm very conservative in what I use. So, it's not really showing you what other people use, but I have my bills back 40 years when I started out at paying $265 a month uh for rent, including utility. No, utilities were separate. I'm showing the utility bill because if you go to the very first column on all of these, it's our electric bill. We went to um the council's meeting or San Marcus uh action meeting that they had about the new electric being um where you're going to do the electric and San Diego Gas and Electric will do the billing. It was told to us that the average person would pay $19 a month towards San Diego Gas and Electric. And it's confusing here maybe, but the electric um I could do this. Well, back baseline was $242 a minus. I don't quite understand the one in 214. Um there were other things there, but some months they bill me different than other months and I haven't figured out why. But then it jumps to $29, $38, um, $50, 32, 24.

And I'm not sure if the baseline is the number or if it is um the other baseline. One's a distribution charge and one is um uh the charge to San Diego Gas and Electric. And I thought it was the second charge, the general, which I could be wrong, but even so, none of them are $19. And these are all bills since the electric has started with the new uh city paying them. And the problem is that the bills for most people, they're in the $400 range for electric and I'm low. And if I'm paying even uh one says $87, if I'm paying $87, what are they paying? So, um, it's not specifically the city and, uh, Council Member Nunees is actually our representative on that. So, uh, maybe she could help you get to some of the, um, have someone from the, um, consumer well, CCE um, reach out to you. So, maybe

Harleen, we'll talk we'll schedule a meeting to talk to go over this. Thank you for bringing this to our attention. Thank you. Is is this is this your bill or your ind happens to be my particular bill? Okay. But it it's not showing what the average person in our park pays. Is this is this monthly? Huh? Is it monthly? It's monthly. Yeah. Okay. And I've just picked I put dates down. I'm missing dates. I was going to try to take all of November, but I couldn't find all my November bills. I'm not very good with housekeeping. It I'm I'm not familiar with what you operate in your house, but this seems very high to me. Yeah. And so I'm I'm kind of curious to

I Well, there's there's also a baseline, which it says it's 130% over the baseline. So, I don't know what the baseline actually and mine's low because I have the medical baseline because I have a lot of medical equipment that I use and I'm still lower than most people who have a CPAP and other breathing machines um also. And so I'm low. I don't have Project Care, Mhm.

but I do have the medical. And so when I say people have $400 and $700 electric bills, they're in older mobile homes where the insulation is not as good. Okay. So since this isn't agendaized, we just need to be careful. Um so we will I'm looking down. I can't see Mrs. Peak luckily. Okay. [laughter] So anyway, so council member Nunes Marlene, I'll coordinate a meeting with you. I have your contact information.

Okay. Uh moving on to new business. We have uh some vacancies on our commissions. So, we're going to start with the climate action plan working group. Uh we have two uh uh one regular position that's open. Uh that is uh Rebecca Rosler, but she is um reapplying. Is is Rebecca here this evening? Hi. Oh, there you are. um if you don't mind coming up and just telling us what you what you like about it and if and since you want to stay on there. Thank you for coming this evening by the way.

Absolutely. All right. Good evening, Mayor Jones, city council staff and community members. Um I am honored to seek reappointment to the climate action plan working group. I have served on this body since July 2022 after completing a master's in resilient and sustainable communities. This past session, I have served as the chair. Professionally, my career has been rooted in international development, which has only deepened my commitment to climate action at the local level. Climate change is global, but I believe SU solutions are built community by community. Serving on this working group has allowed me to put this perspective into action while representing my neighbors. Through my work, I've seen firsthand how climate impacts fall hardest on those who have contributed least to the problems. I have shared stories of farmers in Turkana, Kenya, learning climate smart agriculture as prolonged drought reshapes their livelihoods. I have witnessed team members step in to provide humanitarian aid to families displaced by catastrophic flooding in Malawi. Our country in Haiti recently lost his home during Hurricane Melissa. These individuals and communities have incredibly small carbon footprints, yet they are hit with the consequences of our daily decisions and collective global greenhouse emissions. As climate driven disasters get closer to homes such as the fires in LA and flooding in San Diego, local engagement is not just important but urgent. I am grateful to live in California where climate leadership is shaped at the state level and implemented locally. Over the past several years, I've been deeply encouraged by San Marcos's efforts such as reworking building codes, sourcing renewable energy through CA, and diverting greenhouse or green waste from the landfills. It has been an honor to contribute to these conversations and to ensure community

voices remain part of the process. As the city moves forward with revising the current climate action plan, one theme has consistently emerged in our working group uh discussions and that is the need for stronger community engagement and education. If we are to make meaningful progress, climate action must extend beyond policy and into everyday decisions made by residents, businesses, and institutions. Further leveraging the CAP working group as a bridge between the city and the community is a clear opportunity for growth and impact. So I continue to stay engaged and informed through local learning opportunities such as participating in the San Diego climate week and the water authority citizen climate or citizens water academy. Um I also coordinate volunteer days with the agrarian institute where we imple we where were implementing regenerative agricultural methods while donating food to our neighbors in needs. So, thank you for your consideration and for the opportunity to cons to continue serving San Marcos.

Thank you, Rebecca. I had one quick question for you. Uh, do people actually show up to the meetings or how's that sort of engagement? Because you were talking a little bit about um the community being more um uh included. Are they showing up to the meetings or No, they are not. And I do

you know why? Do we have any thoughts on that? I have a feeling that it is a little known group that is not very well known and I think if we had more of a presence at community events or activities um that we could further engage the community or even in um introduce uh initiatives such as like tree planting or or outreach events like that that have that environmental impact that can further engage people into the city's work within the climate action plan. Well, I would love to hear some of your thoughts. So, if you don't mind shooting me an email, I would I would love to hear back about what you think could happen because we do have opportunities. I mean, we have um every year at the street fairs at uh the chamber uh puts on at North City, which by the way, North City is very interested in um you know, being sustainable and all of that.

So, that might be an opportunity for to have a presence at something like that. So, let's let's uh talk about that. Yes. um if you're reappointed this evening. [laughter] Sorry, guess as well. Um Okay. All right. Thank you so much. Appreciate it. Uh next up is Arturo Rico.

Welcome, Arturo. Hi. Good evening, mayor and council members. Thank you for the opportunity to introduce myself and considerate my considering my application to the San Marcos Planning Commission. My name is Arturo Rico and San Marcos is a city I deeply care about. I've lived and actively been involved in this community for many years and I genuinely want to see it continue to grow in a thoughtful, responsive, and inclusive way. Over the past 12 years, I have been involved with city commissions in various capacities. The first 10 being in uh traffic commission and the last two being in the planning commission as an alternate. Um this has given me a strong understanding of how local government works and important collaboration and public input and seeing how those are important for both the public and traffic commission. Uh this experience has allowed me to observe firsthand the complexities of like land use decisions and balance between growth and preservation um preservation of uh resources. From an education standpoint, I have a strong analytical and people focused background. I hold two bachelor's degree, one in finance and one in psychology as well as an MBA. This combination has helped me uh to understand both numbers behind the development decisions and the human impact those decisions have on the on our neighborhoods and businesses and families. Professionally, I've spent the over 20 years in finance related roles. My career has trained me to evaluate data and assess risk and think long-term and look for opportunities to improve systems and processes. I believe these skills translate directly to the work of the planning commission or any commission that I should be considered for. Uh planning is not just about zoning and policies. It's

about shaping in the future of our city. So ultimately my motivation for serving is quite simple. I deeply care about San Marcos, always have and want to see our city succeed economically while maintaining character and quality of life. I'm committed to serving with integrity and preparation and with the respect and respect for the residents and stakeholders that we represent. Thank you for your consideration. Thank you, Arturo. I have mad if I may. Yes, go ahead. I have a question.

I do know that in your service we have that you had zero out of eight briefings. Is that correct? So before for the uh like going I see for the planning commission. Yeah. Yeah. Is that something that you find that it's not necessary for you or that is it a time conraint or most of it most of it it's been a like with time constraints like just time um

if I can make it before the the actual meeting but usually I've been serving in a in an alternative capacity. So, as I go through this, if I'm serving an alterate one, I'd like to participate in those in those briefings. But, um, as I as I usually when those happen, it was it felt like it was like I was going in just as an alternate and just listening in on those conversations. Thank you for that clarification. I I actually want to follow up on that, too, but go ahead. Uh, council member

Arur and I served together on the traffic commission, it seemed like many, many years ago. Thank you again for your continued service. So that is a kind of a continuation of council member Nunes. Are we um maybe for the city manager? Are we being very specific on the alternates attendings, the briefings as well as the meetings? I know for a while we were not tracking their attendance at the meetings. Um I believe that we're tracking both the briefing and the attendance and um our planning director is offering the opportunity to everybody. Okay. Thank you. So, so, oh yeah, sorry. Please go ahead.

Yeah, in my situation, um, as long as the meeting because I work full-time, so as long as the meeting is before, uh, or in the evenings, but usually if there's some sort of meeting that happens like midday, that's usually harder for me to to go to.

So, I do have a clarification. So, are these are these briefings happening one for all the commissioners or is there flexibility in that? Um, yes, there is flexibility. Um, our planning director, I believe, reaches out to the, um, commissioners to get their availability to see when they're available to brief. Um, obviously, it sounds like there there are some time constraints here, but the the offer is being made.

Thank you for that. And [clears throat] and just to you know follow up on that too because I I had actually asked staff specifically um because we were having this issue a while back and where people walked into a meeting as an alternate not prepared to actually vote and you know I don't I serve on SANDAG I serve on uh SANDAG uh regional planning SANDAG board of directors and then also SANDAG executive meeting. I probably have to read more than anyone else here. Um, and and you know, that's not to disparrage anyone, but I I I always make sure that I'm prepared for every meeting because I think, you know, when I have to make a decision, I want to make sure I'm fully prepared. I you know I'm glad you brought it up but to be honest I know that um staff is very flexible in when you would be able to have your briefing that it would be tailored around your schedule and the fact that you have not attended any meeting actually gives me a grave concern because if you have to jump in as an alternate and I look at you know the attendance for all of the meetings of all of the members not there have only been two members that have shown up to every single meeting. I'm sorry, three. Three members that have shown up to every meeting. So that means that there are um eight meetings. So that means five meetings needed an alternate to actually pop in and be prepared and be ready to um um to do that. The other thing is when I um and when we you know when we're interviewing candidates, I always bring up the fact that as an alternate, you need to make sure that you show up and you're prepared to vote because again, we already know five out of eight meetings someone needed to jump in. And you know, there were a couple of meetings. I don't I don't know exactly, but at least probably there were two people missing. Mhm.

Um where there needed to be um you know or could be I guess doesn't specifically mean that but in my opinion I just really think it's important for planning commission especially because we have so much interest in that. It's a very highly soughtafter commission to not show up to the briefings uh really concerns me. Just I just need you to know that. So um you know I um can I jump in for one second mayor? Yeah, please do.

Just to clarify, I think the mayor and I were talking about this earlier, as you come up to speak, it will be giving a presentation on any of the commissions or committees that you've applied for. So, Mr. Rico was talking about planning, but it goes across the spectrum. Although, at the moment, we're looking at climate action. Is that correct? Yes. Correct. Yes. But but he was he's been on planning and hasn't come to the briefing or scheduled a briefing. And I think they could do that via telephone or in person or Zoom or Teams or um Yes. I've confirmed with Joe Farace that it's available virtual in person anytime. Okay. Okay. All right. Okay. I'm letting you know I'm concerned about it. So Okay.

Okay. All right. Um thank you for your for your service. Okay. So All right. So on our climate action plan working group, uh I would propose that we appoint Rebecca Rossler to um uh remain on that uh as a regular position and thank you for your service and you seem very wellversed. I appreciate that and be sure to follow up with me if you don't mind. I I appreciate that. That's my motion. So we have a second. All in favor?

I I Any seeing none, uh motion passes. Congratulations and definitely reach back out to me. Um, okay, parks and wreck. We have a one regular position and one alternate position and we have several applicants. Um, we have Angelica Garcia who's reapplying. If you are here today, Angelica, welcome. Tell us what you like about the commission and thank you also for your service. Are we on? Yes. Hello. Um, thank you council and mayor for um, allowing me to speak today. Um, I have served as an alternate on the San Marcos Parks and Rex um, commission for a year. Um, a lot of exciting meetings. Um, a lot of understanding or better understanding of the inner workings of the partnerships with Parks and Rex. It's an octopus, right? It it's a hub, but it touches on so many components of the community. Um, what I like the most is my ability to really listen, but also provide feedback as a community member, a parent, um, someone who's benefited from the programming, from enrichment, and just from living here. Um, and also being a voice or an advocate for the community that doesn't necessarily maybe show up for the meetings, but they're out there. We know they're out there. And you really kind of just focusing on the multil- language uh, community um, at large. Okay. All right. Thank you so much, uh, Angelica. Uh, next up, uh, we already heard from Arturo, uh, Jay Franklin.

Did I see There you are. Hello. Welcome.

Hello. Um, good evening, Mayor Jones, members of the city council and city staff. Thank you for your time and your continued service to our community. As they say, time flies when you're having fun. And let me tell you, I have had the great honor of serving as commissioner and chairperson for parks and wreck for these last four years. My favorite thing uh with the commission is we get to analyze and ask questions about participation and trends in classes like enrichment, fitness, sports classes, aquatics camps, senior activity activities uh like [snorts] lunches and assistance with transportation and field reservations. While not a comprehensive list of those we hear from on the regular and field questions on a monthly basis, pun intended, uh the commission regularly hears from San Marcos youth baseball, San Marcos girls softball, San Marcos lacrosse, Santao, uh AYSO, American youth sports organization 1505, San Marcos AYSO 127, San Marcos Pop Warner Legends FC uh soccer club a football club aka soccer, uh, SD North, FC Soul, San Marcos Youth Basketball, City SC Soccer Club, San Marcos, and NFL uh, football. Always the educator. I have emphasized the importance of proactive and transparent communication with the community. I often we often suggest using social media and other forms of communication to educate our residents about parks and field field closures. Not just announcing them, but explaining the why behind those closures. even happen so that the community can understand the long-term benefits to field quality. For example, preventing overuse and allowing the new turf the adequate time to grow so that the fields can get ready to take a beating from our youth sports participation for parks and facility naming. We have assisted in formalizing the recommendation to city council to

refresh the outdated facility naming policy, highlighting the need to stay true to the policy's purpose, ensuring transparency, and reinforce that the process is for the people. What I especially enjoy is marrying what I do for the city with what I do for CalState San Marcos. As the MC for families for all incoming first year and transfer students, I not only welcome them to the campus, I get to share my excitement about San Park to thousands of families and support systems at orientation, highlighting a few of my personal favorites like Double Peak Park and getting and reminding uh families that they can get community service hours and internships with parks and recreation facilities. I'm here to answer uh any questions that you might have about my reapplication and if I don't have that answer, I know that parks and recck staff are behind me to assist in finding that answer for you.

Well, I just thank you for your excitement about our city and the parks. Um you know, we're I know all of us are passionate about it, too, and we we really appreciate your service. Um any questions for Jay today? I I just have a comment. It's great to see you, Commissioner and Scott, out in the trail. So hopefully you'll be back to joining us soon. We will. We will. Okay. All right. Thank you. Um, next up is uh let's see, Lindsay Smith, welcome.

That is going to be a tough act to follow. [laughter] Well, happy new year, Mayor Jones, Deputy Mayor Sella, council members, and city staff. Thank you for the opportunity to be considered for appointment to a city commission. My name is Lindseay Smith and I'm applying because I care deeply about San Marcos. Not just as a resident, but as a parent and a volunteer and someone who has spent many years working in our community to support connection, safety, and community spaces. For more than a decade, I worked as a regional facility manager responsible for long-term planning, capital improvement projects, maintenance strategies, and operational oversight across multiple facilities. That role required thinking ahead and planning and understanding how decisions made early affect safety, functionality, and cost over time, balancing growth with existing infrastructure, and coordinating across departments, contractors, and stakeholders to ensure projects were implemented thoughtfully and responsibly. In my community leadership roles as a local HOA president and a fire safe council president, I've continued to work at the intersection of planning, policy, and community needs. That includes reviewing design standards, navigating land use considerations, planning infrastructure improvements, and working collaboratively with city staff, departments, and first responders. These roles have taught me the importance of listening first, balancing different perspectives, and follow through, especially when decisions affect families, infrastructure, and our public spaces. I am a mom raising three children here. I see how thoughtful planning, maintenance, and programming de directly affect uh families, infrastructure, and our public spaces um and the quality of life across our city. While parks and recreation is my preferred commission, I'm very open to serving wherever I can be most helpful. Planning and the community foundation both play important roles in supporting a well-run forward-looking city. And my

background in facilities management, community engagement, nonprofit leadership, fundraising, grant writing, and long-term planning would translate well to either. Above all, my approach is ground grounded in maintaining safe and well-managed neighborhoods, making thoughtful and responsible decisions, and strengthening the connections that bring our community together. If appointed, I will listen carefully. I will prepare thoroughly, and I will work collaboratively and with the goal of supporting the strong foundation that San Marcos already has. I would be honored to serve in any capacity and to contribute wherever my skills are most useful. Thank you for your time and consideration. Thank you, Lindsay. I do I do have a question. Yes.

Yeah. Go ahead. Um Lindsay, you're a candidate for City of San Marco City Council for District 2. Does your application to today does that present a conflict? I don't believe so. I think if anything it helps prepare me um for the role of city council because it will give me um some more uh understanding of the inner workings of the city and processes, procedures, departments. Okay, thank you for that. Um are you endorsed by Mayor Rebecca Jones for your candidacy for District 2 city council? I am.

Okay. And you're endorsed by Deputy Mayor Sella? I am and council member Ed Musgrove and council member Danielle Leblang have all endorsed me. Okay. Thank you for that. Sure. Thank you for asking. Thank you. Okay. Um next up, Marie Marino.

Welcome. Okay. Good evening, Mayor Jones and council members and happy new year. Um thank you for the opportunity to speak with you tonight. saying it seems really loud. I'm seeking reappoint as an alternate member to the San Marcos Planning Commission. My way of background, I've lived in San Marcos for eight years and previously served on the business review committee for three years, including two years as committee chair. Um, that experience provided me with valuable insight into the city's operation operations and a strong appreciation for the many departments and roles involved in the city's day-to-day functions. Professionally, I work in sales. Not exciting, I know. Uh managing multiple biotech accounts, which has strengthened my ability to analyze information and communicate effectively with different types of personalities and skill sets. Um serving as an alternate on the planning commission this past year has been incredibly rewarding. I've learned a tremendous amount. It gave me meaningful insight into the city's planning process and the importance of community focused decision making um decision-making as our city continues to grow. I valued the opportunity to observe and participate in the discussions and grasp a better understanding of how the city's planning and process works, the level of collaboration and the consideration required to balance growth. I would be grateful for the opportunity to continue serving as an alternate for another year, building on the experience I've gained um and contributing to the commission's work. I appreciate the trust you have placed in me and respectfully ask the council for your consideration for reappoint and thank you for your time and consideration. Okay. Wait, one quick question. So, we're on parks and wreck. That is your second choice, correct?

Second choice. Yes. Yes. Okay. Perfect. All right. I just was double checking on that. Thank you. Thank you, Marie. Uh okay. Uh so, I would propose on parks and rec one regular, one alternate. Um my um my choice would be to keep Jay Franklin as a regular and then Angelica Garcia as an alternate. Do I have a second? Second. All right. Motion and a second. All in favor?

I I Any? Uh seeing none. Okay. Uh moving on to planning commission and we have four regular positions and two alternate positions and we have several applicants. Uh we will start out with Allison Stanton. Welcome Allison. the lucky starting with a I always get to go first. My name is Allison Stanton. I've called San Marcos home for the last seven years. I live in a community that was built just about eight years ago, so I understand and have personal personally benefited from new development. That perspective allows me to approach planning conversations with honesty, balance, and an appreciation for both opportunity and impact. I'm here tonight because I believe planning is where the future the future of this city is quietly decided, not in the headlines, but in details. Traffic studies that reflect reality. Developments that reflect and respect neighborhoods. and policies that balance housing needs with environmental responsibility. I currently serve as president of my HOA board and I previously served as treasurer. In those roles, I manage bud budgets, oversee contracts, enforce statemanded regulations, and most importantly listen to residents who want to be heard and understood. I've learned quickly that good governance isn't about being loud. It's about being prepared, asking the right questions, and making decisions that hold up six months later. Professionally, I work as a principal consultant leading complex payroll and compliance systems for large organizations. That means I spend my

days translating requirements and policy into systems that actually work. Spotting risks, managing stakeholders, and making sure processes don't fall quietly fail fail quietly behind the scenes. That same discipline is exactly what I would bring to the planning commission. If appointed, I would focus on three priorities. First, purposeful growth. that we must meet our housing obligations but not at the expense of safety, infrastructure or quality of life. Development must integrate wildfire resilience, water-wise design and preservation of open space. Secondly, mobility of neighborhood safety. Ebikes, pedestrian access, school zones, congestion, and cut through traffic are real issues in our neighborhoods. I will push for planning decisions that acknowledge how people actually move throughout the city every day. Third, transparency. Residents deserve to understand what's being proposed and why it matters. Clear communication builds trust and trust is the foundation of an effective government that is supported by the community. I'm not seeking this appointment as a resume builder. I'm seeking it because I love this city and I understand the weight of these decisions and I'm ready to do do the work between meetings. Thank you for your time.

Thank you, Allison. Uh, next up, oh, um, Artura already spoke. Uh, Fatima Guerrero.

Fatima, I have a weird question. Yes. Is your last name different? Yes, it is. You got married. I thought so. Okay, congratulations. I was like, I didn't remember that being your last name. That was in my speech and I could have to clarify that. Sorry to blow it for [laughter] you. Congratulations though. Thank you, mayor. I have the same question. So, thank you for asking it. [laughter] Well, congratulations. See, inquiring minds want to know. [laughter]

So, good evening, mayor and city council. My name is Fatima Guerrero, previously Rios. Um, I got married this last summer and um, I'm a resident of district 1 and I've been the planning commission chairperson for the last two years. Um, I come to you seeking reappointment to the planning commission. For the last 5 years, I've learned intensively from fellow commissioners and our devoted planning staff. It's amazing to be able to drive down the street and see a project that was once on paper. Um, in my profession, I'm a risk and safety analyst for the city of Ensenas, and I always bring the risk mitigating skills from my profession to the planning projects here with St. Marcos. If reappointed, I would like to focus on improving economic growth for small and large businesses through our land use and development while also seeking to meet our housing needs. Over the last few years, I've learned so much that I think now after a few years, and I'm sure you guys experienced this too, you start learning the language, you start understanding all the acronyms. So, I feel confident going forward if I continue in this commission. So, I value my time with the commission and I hope to be able to continue supporting my fellow commissioners along with our community. Thank you.

Thank you. Any questions? We already got the answer. [laughter] Okay. Uh, next up is uh let's see here. John Whitider. Welcome. Thank you. Good evening, Mayor Jones, Deputy Mayor Sella, city council, and city staff. My name is John Whitider. I want to thank you for the opportunity to present my background, qualifications, and reason to serve on the San Marcos Planning Commission. I'd like to start my background with family. I've been married to an incredibly beautiful and loving woman for 38 years.

She's blushing, just [snorts] so you know. [laughter]

I'm a father of three adult children, grandfather of four with one expected in March. Luckily for me, all my immediate family is here in Northern San Diego area. I be I began my career in construction and later owned a small self-employed business. Construction has been my backbone a backbone of my career my entire career. In 1986, I earned my California state licensing board licens as painting contractor and worked with my father and brother building speck homes. This gave me insight on community planning and development, incorporating smaller communities within cities and counties to the schools, parks, and open spaces. As a young boy's boy, I dreamt of being a firefighter. So, with my wife's consent, I continued my business, went to school to become a paramedic, and volunteered as a reserve firefighter. I was then hired by the city of Selenus as a firefighter paramedic and recently has have retired as a captain paramedic with 28 years of fire service. During that time I instructed firefighters in building construction at junior college and localmies. As a firefighter I was continuously reminded of the importance of constructing residential and commercial buildings to the highest firerevention building codes. Much of San Marcos resides on wildland urban interface. I find the implementation of fire mitigation plans and fire modification zones during the planning stage are an integral step in helping to reduce fire confrontation probabilities. I've had the and I have had, excuse me, as the vice president of the Skylark community, I have had and continue to have opportunity to work with multiple agencies, reinforcing the importance of collective cooper cooperation in building a thriving community. In

conclusion, my wife and I, [clears throat] excuse me, relocated to San Marcos for its small town yet modern feel and unique culture. I believe it is important important to maintain sustainable development balancing the benefits of growth, residential, commercial, our public resources while maintaining a high quality of life, our parks, trails, ridge line, and natural resources. The city council's mission states, "Our vision is to continue building the finest city in the region." I envision this also. Thank you. Thank you. And next up, Kevin Norris.

Welcome.

Good evening, uh, Madame Mayor, council members, city staff. Happy new year to all. Um, I've been a San Marcos resident n since 1999. Um I'm recently retired associate engineer at UCSD uh where I was a project manager on capital improvement projects. Um I'm applying for another term probably my last term. Uh my previous experience on the peace on the planet commission is I have been chair and vice chair. I've served with um number of great people. Um uh also I have experience with um general plan update. I'm waiting for the second one to come in. Not sure when that's going to happen. Um the climate action plan um the creek district u current and past developments. I also serve on the climate action plan working group and um there was some good discussion earlier and I look forward to that this coming year. the Clean Energy Alliance as a community advisory committee. So, it'd be nice to chat with um the person that was having problems with their bill. I can like that to help her with that if I can. Um I'd like to continue to work on the creek plan um on the planning commission subcommittee. There's a lot going on there, some good review, and so it's just planning the future of the city. It's really um really fortunate to have that u opportunity to do that. Um I have experience and insight with developers and city planning. Um and it's been an honor serving on a planning commission having an input on the future of San Marcos kind of behind the scene resident overseeing the growth of San Marcos, how we grow. I understand um

um our arena and and um our numbers that we have to do and I'm really um hands off to our planning department on what we've been doing a lot especially with low and low low income u meeting all those um I've had the I've also had the pleasure of working with great commissioners both past and current also city managers planning directors and mayors quite a few um so I'd like to continue to pass on my experience to the new commissioners. Um I'd really um appreciate um serving another term. All right. Uh thank you, Kevin. I do have one question for you. Sure.

Um you missed a few meetings um and we talked about it a little bit earlier because I called you into the principal's office. No, I'm kidding. You did? Yeah. [laughter] No, it's not the first time because because you know you know and we talked about it how important um so if you could tell the rest of the council just what you told me about um retiring and how that um you know you were you had he was so lucky he got to get some vacation time.

I had to take the vacation time and use it up. So uh and um I was told by my boss that we were going to go take take it and use it. So I had to so but but me just go back to the meeting with with the the director before that was one thing I really you know helped I think start years ago just going in and talking to the planning director ahead of time and get it's great it's I I and I'm glad that you're standing up for that because it really gives people a lot of insight. You can read, you can kind of go over everything, but when you meet with the director, there's just so much you can learn and there's always there are different means and and methods, technology, you can meet with them before the meeting and they're very accommodating. And Gina puts out she puts out the, you know, every every month. She's really great um putting everything out and then uh Joe will come back and ask to meet. So it it's it's organized. It's it's a it's a good it's a good system. We have a good planning department.

Yeah. Thank you. And and thank you for bringing up your comments about Reena, too. Yes. As I always say, no one loves a a mandate, a state mandate, and neither do we, but we do want to provide housing for people. I just don't like um the state telling us exactly what that's going to look like, and it has to be in this com category. We don't actually build the housing. So, um it's very complex. So, I really do appreciate um all the work that you put in. Um the the accessible dwelling units though, that's the problem. Yeah, that's where we're getting the mandates from the state and the city, the planning department, you know, they're getting blamed and it's it's not them. It's the state. We have to go there and and argue against that, not not the city.

Yeah. By right. We don't like that. Okay. Um uh next up is we already heard from Lindsay Smith, so Lionel Salisbury, welcome. Good evening, mayor, council members, staff, community. Uh, my name is Lionel Salsbury. It has gone by really fast. I can't believe it's been a few years already. Um, I've had the pleasure of serving on the planning commission for uh, two years. I am now the uh, vice chair in the planning commission, which has been great. It has been fantastic learning from the individuals that I got to sit next to. Um, my background is service. I served in the Marine Corps for 22 years. Uh, when I retired, I went into education at the Army Navy Academy in Carlsbad as the assistant come of cadet life. And then I moved here to San Marcos as far as work goes with a nonprofit, Project Next, which is amazing nonprofit, pleasure of serving with helping our young people figure out what's next for them. And now I am a licensed insurance agent uh and podcaster and I guess event planner trying to do things for the city. Um I serve as a chair of a nonprofit. I am also on the HOA planning or the HOA uh in my community. One of the reasons why I'm so passionate about the planning commission is because I get to serve. I get to see the change and I get to be a part of that change. I get to learn about the inner workings of our city and how housing is impacting what's going on on our city.

It's been a pleasure and I would love to be able to continue to serve. Um, I moved here in San Marcos in 2019 with my family. I am a father of six and my hope is that when my last one all done graduates college, he can stay here and become an active member of our community and our growing community. Thank you for the consideration and thank you for your time. Thank you, Lionel. Uh, any questions? Okay. Uh, next up is Oh, we already heard from Marlene uh Mareno. Uh, Mike Barnett. So, I'm back there.

Welcome. Thank you.

Good evening, Mayor Jones and members of the city council, distinguished staff. Thank you for the opportunity to request reappointment to the planning commission. Serving on the commission has been both a privilege and a responsibility I take seriously. Planning at its best is not simply about approving buildings or meeting technical standards. It's about stewarding the long-term character of San Marcos so that it remains a premier city in which to live, work, learn, and play both today and for generations to come. I am appreciative of the professionalism and leadership of our planning director, Joseph Farachi, and his very capable staff whose steady guidance and commitment to excellence set a high bar for thoughtful, lawful, and community centered planning. I am equally grateful for my fellow commissioners who bring diverse perspectives, diligence, and respect to every decision we make. If reappointed, I will strive to maintain my perfect attendance record at both the meetings and preparation briefings and continue to approach this role with independence, care, and a strong commitment to balanced growth, public safety, housing opportunity, and quality of life for our residents. Thank you for your consideration and for your service to our city. I'm happy to answer any questions you may have.

Thank you so much. Uh does anyone have any questions for Mr. Barnett? Seeing none, thank you. Thank you for your service, too.

Okay. Uh so we have on this uh four uh regular positions and two alternate positions. Uh so I would like to nominate um Kevin Norris to return. Fatima, uh Lionel, and Mike Barnett. Do you need me to say their last names? I Okay. Um, as regular members and then, uh, reappoint Marlene, I'm sorry, Marie Mareno as an alternate and then Lindsay Smith as an alternate. Do I have a second?

I'll second that. But I also want to say to Fatima, I sent Amy, my my wife a text message letting her know they got married. She said, "Congratulations." My wife was one of uh, Fatima's educators. I was just I was just going to ask was she one of her teachers that principal or assistant principal? Something. Yeah. All right. So, we have a motion in a second. All in favor? I I

Any knows? Uh seeing none. Now, I do want to I do want to say one thing. Everyone that has applied this evening, if you weren't selected, please don't let that deter you. And please, please show up to the meeting so you can familiarize yourself. And everyone that is that has been um appointed this evening. I'm not going to be here next year, but uh Deputy Mayor uh Sella may be in this seat, but I know for sure um uh well, I guess I don't know for sure anyone else is going to be here except for Council Member Leblang, which uh she's not here this evening, but she is watching uh via Zoom uh this evening. But it's really important for you to show up and get ready and prepared for those meetings. There's a lot of information, oftentimes thousands of pages. You need to be prepared and you need to be able to as an alternate be able to jump into that seat. It's really important. I mean, I I would never ask someone to do something that I don't do myself. When I show up to Sande, I'm prepared because I want to vote properly for you with all of the information, and I can't do that if I'm not actually doing the prep work. So, anyway, um I just want to make sure that everyone knows, please do your briefings with staff. It's so important. um if you are not uh prepared, it's very tough to try to figure out without a staff's perspective because there's so many laws that are out there that affect each and every decision that we have to make um uh via especially on land use. So anyway, I want to make sure everyone understands that um uh so much um deeply. And then um moving on to community foundation. Uh we have a two regular positions that are open. Uh so we need to hear from our applicants this evening. That would be uh Carol Gandelle is uh reapplying. So Carol, come on down. There you are.

Good evening, mayor and city council and everybody who's watching from home. I want to take one quick second to confirm what the mayor said about alternates. Last year we added an alternate to the community foundation and the day after she appi she was confirmed um she she came to the meeting just because she wanted to see what was going on and we were short a member. So she jumped on immediately and has been a valuable member. So, it's no joke. Alternates really matter and when they show up, it can really make the difference between holding a meeting and not holding a meeting.

And you know, one thing, if we could just uh restart the clock. Thanks. Um, one thing that also is very important to know is sometimes staff thinks that everyone's showing up. Emergencies happen and that's why it's so important to be able to jump into that seat fully prepared to make those decisions. So, anyway, thank you very much for that uh comment, Carol. glad to do it. So, I'm here tonight to ask for one more opportunity to serve our city as a member of the San Marcus Community Foundation board. When I first applied for this board, I thought I understood what it did and how it impacts our community. But only after serving for the last six plus years have I truly come to understand what a profound impact for good, relatively small grants can have. As you know from our last annual report, we've worked with Cal State San Marcos Business School to develop strategic and marketing plans and we're now beginning to implement the recommendations. I'd like to take these next two years along with the amazing board you have helped us to assemble to launch and build on those efforts to put in place a long-term growth plan creating a donor pool of both individuals and city businesses. Just this last month at the end of the year, we received two significant donations from community members. And I hope those are only the beginning. But as I also mentioned, this will be my last term as I believe it's time to start mentoring a new group of board leaders and volunteers. And I am the first to admit that nobody is indispensable, including myself. So, I will be working with our city staff and current board to help identify community members who might want to step up along with building a robust advisory council that taps content experts all around our city and county who can help us grow and fulfill the hopes of the city founders

who created the foundation 38 years ago. I would be happy to answer answer any questions and I thank you. Thank you. I I actually have a very off-topic question for you. So, um Stephanie Busen, you mentioned that she jumped in on the first meeting. She had to right after she was appointed. Okay. She's been great and Okay. So, she's fully engaged in the Okay. All right. I just She's fully engaged as an as an alternate, but she is fully engaged in doing great work. She has has visited um many of the applicants and we've got some great pictures of her doing check presentations. So I have to say she's been a fabulous uh addition to the team.

Wonderful. Thank you so much for that. I appreciate it, Carol. Any questions? Nope. Okay, seeing none, thank you so much. Thank you.

Yes. Um Eliza King, welcome. feel so short. Okay. Good evening. Um, good evening and thank you for the opportunity to speak with you. My name is Eliza, but those around me call me Z. I'm a San Marcos resident. I've been here for 4 years as a parent and as a professional who works closely with individuals and families navigating housing stability and access to supportive services. Through my work, I regularly see how nonprofit organizations and targeted funding can directly improve quality of life for community members across all ages and needs. Professionally, I bring experience in case management, housing coordination, and collaboration with nonprofit nonprofit and public sector partners. This work has required me to review documentation, assess needs, and understand how funding decisions translate into measurable outcomes. It also gives me a strong appreciation for responsible grant management and the importance of supporting organizations that are effective, equitable, and deeply connected to the communities they serve. On a personal level, my interest in serving on the San Marcos Community Foundation board comes from my lived experience. When I first came to San Marcos, I was homeless with my two children. Um, I am also a former foster youth of San Diego County. So, a lot of the programs that I participated in um I had now understand have been given grants through foundations like these. Um, so over the past four years, as my family has settled and I've become more engaged in the community, I've seen firsthand how important nonprofit support, outreach, and accessibility are. That experience is what motivates me to

serve. I want to ensure that families, especially those new to San Marcos, know that support is available and feel welcomed and connected to their community. Having benefited from community- based support earlier in my life, giving back to where I come from is very important to me. Serving on this board allows me to contribute with intention, appreciation, and a strong sense of responsibility. And I would see this as my role, as my way of giving back to families and the community, even though I wouldn't have some direct contact with them. I understand that the board's role is to the community. Through this process, I can help ensure that the foundation resources continue to strengthen organizations that make a real difference in residents lives. It would be an honor to contribute my professional experience, community perspective, and commitment to this work. Thank you for your time and consideration.

Thank you, Eliza. Uh, any questions for Eliza? All right. Thank you. Thank you. Okay. Uh, next up is Katie Kroski. I'm sorry, Kroskree. That's it. Okay. Sorry, I I didn't have my glasses on when I first was saying.

It's a tongue twister. No problem. Good evening, mayor and council members and city staff. I'm Katie Crossgrey and I'm here to apply for an appointment to the San Marcos Community Foundation. I've lived in San Marcos for the past 20 years and it is uh a remarkable place to live. I'm familiar with the foundation uh both as a resident. I've seen and heard of the great work that the foundation has done with our our local nonprofit organizations and then I also know of the foundation's work through my career. I am a semi-retired nonprofit executive and I'm wrapping up just about a 30-year career in nonprofit leadership and organizations and I believe my skills can be of value. I'd like to help spread the word about the good work of the foundation and make sure that the people in our city of San Marcos know of of the work. And as Carol mentioned, even small uh donations and grants can make a difference for for these organizations. I believe I can help spread the word and help raise additional funds for support of our hardworking nonprofit organizations. I want to thank you for your consideration and I hope I can be of help.

Thank you so much. Uh any questions of Carol? Sorry. Um, Katie, my apologies. Okay. Sorry, I'm looking at my notes and I can't be Carol. I know, Carol, you've got me all fuddled up here. Darn it.

Um, okay. Well, I had asked Carol that question because I have a thought in my mind. Uh, we do have an alternate which is Stephanie Busen. So Steph, just to keep me on my toe or to keep you on your toes, my question is if I were to um propose that we move up our alternate who is currently Stavey uh Stephanie Busen, then we would have two regular uh term members and then one alternate. I'm sorry. So we could I can move up the alternate to the to the regular and then I would have one more regular and one alternate. Okay. All right. So, my proposal, if you all caught that, uh would be that we move Stephanie up to a regular member from an alternate and then that would leave one regular, one alternate and then uh to reappoint Carol as her There you are. I was like, I don't know why I keep looking over there. I think normally you sit over there. Um uh to uh move up Carol as a regular member and then I would like the alternate to be Eliza King. So that would be my my uh proposal. Stephanie, oh sorry that is that a second

that gymnastic move. So just to go through it one more time for staff. Stephanie Bustin as a regular. So there that opens up an alternate. Um Carol Gandelle as a regular and then Eliza King as an alternate. Second. Okay. And we have a motion and a second. All in favor? I I I.

And seeing no vote no no votes. Um, if you were not selected this evening, I just want to reiterate, please make sure you apply. Um, we continue to to we really need lots of help and show up to the meetings, find out something, you know, find if there's something else because we actually have budget review coming in June. Uh, we will have um some openings on that uh coming up in June. And then, you know, sometimes people leave. So, then we need to fill the positions because we definitely want to have alternates as well. So anyway, thank you for coming and appreciate your spirit of wanting to serve in our community and uh we look forward to having you all uh serve in our community. Thank you.

Okay. Uh any other discussion? You looked like you wanted to say something.

I was going to say almost exactly the same thing. So just wanted um to thank everyone who came out and applied for the different commissions. That's how I first got started 20 plus years ago on the planning commission. And it's a great way to give back to the community and it takes all of us um up here and out there uh to make San Marcos great and uh just so impressed with the uh the resumes and the presentations and everybody did a great job. So if you didn't get it this time, just want to encourage everyone uh try again next year. There's I know just on the last one that we did at the community foundation there looks like there's going to be my eyes are not working too good about five openings next year at the end of 2026. So lots of opportunities. So don't don't give up. Uh, come on back. A quick comment about the alternates. The importance of attending all the meetings.

Yep. I spent five years as a traffic commissioner. All five years as an alternate and I sat up here last time I checked about 75% of the time and it was almost always sitting in the audience and then somebody couldn't make it at the last minute. But having read the briefings able to jump in. So it is important to go to all the briefings. I did it as a planning commissioner for three years. You have to be aware what's going on. and you can't jump in in the timeline cold. So, it's extremely important for all the alternates to go to the briefings as well as the primary.

Okay. All right. Any Just making sure. Sorry, I have my head this way. I [laughter] feel like feel like it's so quiet down there. Um Okay. Uh moving on to reports. Uh at Sandag, we had a few things uh that happened. Um, so while we changed our meetings and we are now having um Mr. Alternate Deputy Mayor, we're having um a um a retreat coming up. So, make sure you get that in your calendar. If you can make one day or two days, part of a day, uh make sure you uh put that in there. Just send me the dates.

Sounds good. Um then we had a um a budget amendment. So, we moved some money around uh for some tribal projects. It wasn't defunding anything. It was just moving it around uh so that we could get the um earliest um project done in a quicker manner. And then we had um an overview of all of our accomplishments for the year, which there was actually quite a bit of it. And I don't know if I if I said this in the last meeting, but we approved our regional plan um our new regional plan in December. Uh really important element of that is that there's no road user ch tax charge. And then also there is no conversion of any lanes on the 78 that are currently there um to a toll road um which was something that was in the original plan in 22. And uh so that's really important to us in North County because we always um well if we're not paying attention it's hard to see that that those things are happening. Um and then also we had uh let's see oh uh we talked about the disadvantaged business enterprise. That was an update uh just information and FYI because now with the changes in the federal law we are going to have to comply with that. We're um kind of in a watch and wait uh sort of situation on that because we're not really sure um how that's going to translate into um everything that we have in place right now. Um there's just too many changes that haven't been finalized. And then also um there was a close session which I can't talk about that. Um not terrible news but uh anyway just some things happening uh behind the scenes. And with that, uh, next up is League of California Cities, Council

Member Musgrove. And can I please, please have you discuss SB, is it 677? I can only report back on the meeting. Mayor, I'm sorry. I can report back on the meeting. What? What do you mean? The meeting we had. Okay. Go ahead. Okay. So this was our first meeting of the year and so it was a reintroduction of division officers and our current president council member Nunees. Congratulations.

Followed by introductions of member representatives from the 18 cities in the county. So that's the electeds that are represented and also staff. An introduction of league partners who are also affiliate members and they represent primarily our business and education community. We had an update on calendar for events in 2026, specifically the lead conference which will be in September in Anaheim. San Diego Community Power and Clean Energy Alliance provided an update. They talked about three particular areas and that has to do with the differentiation between origination and transmission. So origination is the CCAs and for us it's clean energy. Transmission is still SDG&. Um, that may not help Marleene much when she looks at her bill, but that's the breakdown and sometimes we are subject to what SDG& says, including the uh fee we pay for separating out. Um Cal City's lobbyists gave us an update primarily on local control on energy policy and these are issues of procurement rates efficiency programs. The state generated consumer rebates which are twice yearly cap and trade which is now cap and invest to make it sound nicer and that's extended by the governor which was due to sunset in 2030. date is now 2045 and the mayors and council members retreat is in January 21 through 23 in Sacramento. So that is coming up real quickly. Our next meeting is February 9th. Excuse me. [clears throat] And that will be in person. Madame President, did I forget anything?

No. No. I think you did a great job summarizing. And I think one of the issues that we are seeing are issues of affordability with respect to our electricity rates. And so we want to make sure that we all have information. And um we do expect to have our um our CA and San Diego Community Power come back and present actually to the league. Um both entities are going to be voting on rates this month. And um so I'll just I'll just share now that we did confirm that our clean energy alliance representatives will be here to present to us and that's going to be at our February 24th meeting. Um so Marlene, we expect to see you here on that date

with every one of those bills going back 20 plus years. You said I thought she said longer than that. 40 [laughter] 40 I'm just I'm just try I'm just wondering [clears throat] why you don't have the most recent one when you have 40 years worth. It's there somewhere. It's connected to another one probably stuck to it. Well, in all seriousness, you have time, Marlene, to put those together and locate the most current ones for our February 24th meeting. And you I'm sorry, mayor. You mentioned AB677.

Is it AB? I don't know. 677. the one that takes SB79 and puts it on steroids. So SB79 is seven stories by right, isn't that right? Seven stories by right if it's uh within a certain distance of transit. So that wasn't enough. So now is it SB677 or AB677? Well, that would I don't know if it's an assembly, Senator Weiner. So, it's probably

Oh, SB 677, which takes seven and makes it 12. So, we're watching that very closely. Um, I know Michael, our um legislative analyst, is uh watching it very closely. I am actually beside myself over this one. It just, you know, I I said, well, it used to be SB, I think it was 50 back in the day. That was going to be five stories by right.

Then it went to SB79, which is seven stories by right. Now SB677 is 12 stories by right. I don't know when they're going to stop, but this is why it's so important at the state level to vote for local control and to stop the legislature from these crazy ideas that take away our land use authority um and make things by right. I just absolutely I don't think anyone up here um ever, you know, I don't think any of us agree with this philosophy of just high density. And the problem is, you know, we have a we have a situation right now with a project that hasn't happened yet. Um, they have not submitted, but it is literally six stories tall next to single family singlestory residential homes and uh no parking pretty much. I meanund I think it's down to 116 116 units and they want to put in 40 parking or 45 parking spaces. You can do the math on that. Not even close to enough. Uh most car most folks have two cars. Um so even even if you were to have two cars, I mean think about that. 116 not even close uh to having the right amount of uh of actual space for cars. So where are they going to park? On the adjacent neighborhood on the street as far as you can see because that's how many cars we're talking about. So deteriorating the quality of life for everyone. So this upsets me. So, I hope you guys are watching this closely. We don't want it, but um and I know our analyst Michael's really watching it, but this is not okay. So, really important for you at home if you're or if you're here today, state senate, state assembly, and governor because the governor has the right to veto it. But these two uh legislative houses are really uh eroding our quality of life with the mandated housing.

Did I say enough? You No, you got it right. And that may be Michael, I'm not sure. That might be a two-year bill. So, it's could be a carryover, which Yeah, it is. Thank you. That's why it kind of died a little. If I may add, uh, the league is having um its committee meetings next week in Sacramento. So, I'll make sure that this is part of the discussion. I'm sure it it will be we will definitely have a letter in opposition. Um, if it hasn't already been crafted, don't worry. It'll be crafted. It will be signed. It is um it it's just ridiculous what they're doing. I mean, seriously, it's it's just over the top.

So, anyway, I'm sorry I say this every single meeting, but it's very frustrating to us. Um and yeah, anyway, uh North County Transit District Deputy Mayor.

Yeah, we um we meet on Thursday, but we actually didn't meet in December. I think most of the um we were off for the the second meeting, but um we covered quite a few things. The three probably most uh relevant things for to share out is that we approved our labor agreement with um our maintenance employees and teamsters u union and I think that came out as well as it could and everybody was happy and we also approved our labor agreement with our transit union for our supervisors and dispatchers and operation control supervisor and and u maintenance clerks and so that was very positive. And then we kind of along the same lines of what we were just talking about, we received an update on the um NCTD redevelopment projects and that's right handinhand with some of the SB79 stuff that we were just discussing. Um the the main project that were that we talked about at this meeting though was the Oceanside Transit Center. And that's actually one particular area where I think um a mixeduse project along with the transit will actually be really nice. Um the drawings look really nice. I think it's going to be a huge upgrade from the current Oceanside Transit District or transit station if you've if you've uh if you've ridden the train or been there recently. It's it's kind of run down and needs some um some upkeep and uh redevelopment there and this is this is going to be part of that. And the Oceanside City Council um recently approved the plan. So that's looks like it's going to go forward. So, it's going to be a a mixeduse project with some residential obviously um the you know the coaster train and and the buses as well as some commercial with restaurants and shops and nicer bathrooms because last time I rode the coaster the bathroom was uh quite a mess down there. So, um I'm glad that they're they're going to work on that. And then the last thing the fun part of the meeting is we were able to recognize um our tenure employees for, you know, 5 10 15 20 plus years. And in fact, we had a couple that were even at 30 years. So,

wow. Super fun. Yeah. Um and you know that's the that's a very good location for transit oriented development. It makes sense. It's not in the middle of a residential neighborhood with single family um homes. So that's good. Um I'm glad to see that they're actually moving forward it forward on it. And that actually they're going to be who is isn't isn't Seabbze building that? I don't know why I think this in my head. Seabbze is looking at maybe doing something at the Carl'sbad station. Okay. I had that I had that messed up. Do we know who the developer is on that? Not that it matters, but it's a I've spoken I've spoken to them, but I I don't recall off the top.

And that's going to be a revenue generator for NCTD, which means they will have supplemental income coming in to help fund the operations. So, we like that. Um that's being very entrepreneurial and more like a business. And again, our next meeting is um in Oceanside at the district offices uh on Thursday at 2 p.m. Okay. Thank you very much. And we do not have a North County dispatch. I don't think uh council member I checked with her today, mayor. Okay. The next meeting is not till February. I was going to say I didn't think she's fairly confident she'll be able to make that meeting. Perfect. Okay. Uh clean energy alliance council member. And you already have a to-do list walking in uh to the next meeting. Yes. Okay.

Yes. And our next meeting is January 29th at 2 PM at the Lucadia Water uh district. And so we will be uh voting on on new rates. Okay. All right. Uh thank you very much for that. And moving on to council business visits, which did we have a business visit? Yesterday. Okay. Yesterday. That's right. I couldn't attend because I forget I had something else. I had to I had, you know, five things at one time. [laughter] It's always fun. So, there it is. Council member and deputy mayor.

Yes. So, we uh the deputy mayor and I went out to GL Pools, which is in the 3000 block of South Santa Fe. So, just as you're starting to head out of town, and GL stands for the last names of Kyle Gardner and Austin Loi,

childhood friends who have uh ventured into businesses over the years and finally settled on the pool service industry. Their long-standing friendship translated into a strong business partnership, collaborative values driven driving their company culture. About four years ago, they expanded from the original Kernney Mesa location to San Marcos, and they are seeing extremely strong presence in North County. Company's grown steadily and now employs over 65 full-time employees with more than 20 based in the San Marcus location, demonstrating a meaningful investment in the local workforce. Deputy Mayor.

Yeah, this was sorry, this was a fun one for me. I met Austin at a Chamber of Commerce event that they had at uh Terry recently and struck up a conversation and then um found Tess and connected them and and and they ultimately ended up setting up this this business visit which was a lot of fun. Um you know they as u council member Muskov mentioned they've been childhood friends. They they really are all about um you know setting up a culture of kind of a family run business although they're quite they're getting quite sizable. Um we we got a chance to walk through their facility. They had a a ping pong tables and um you know poker table and just a bunch of little activities where they bring the whole team together um almost every single day just to have some team building and some other activities um to bring everybody and talk about um you know how they can you know operate the business better and serve their customers better. So, it was it was really a great experience and I'm glad that um it it also it shows how being part of the um our local chamber of commerce pays off because I probably would not have met Austin otherwise and wouldn't have had this meeting. And um the like I said, they pri prioritize people, the service, quality. The other thing they talked about too, and when I think about pool service, I'm thinking more traditional pools that we might have in our backyard or maybe at an HOA or something like that. But they also do um uh like jacuzzi or spa service as well, both for in ground and above above ground, which I hadn't heard that that was a service. And so that's something if anybody out there that's watching uh either live or on TV is interested in that might be something you might want to reach out to them about. And uh they're looking to uh to continue to grow and be successful. They're um they're already starting to think they're they're probably going to outgrow their current space where they're at off of uh South Santa Fe. And um and of course um I had to ask the question that if they when that time comes and they need to relocate to a

larger space, would they stay in San Marcos? And they said absolutely 100% they're going to. So that's great news. And then of course uh Sarah and Tess from our economic development team um were quick to jump in and and offer to help them um you know relocate when that time comes. So that was quite that was great. And um yeah, they're going to they're going to keep uh expanding. They want to um you know reach out to um kind of the more commercial side of the business. They have most of their business right now is on the residential side, but they're looking at um maybe forming some relationships with city pools or some of the pools maybe at Palomar College or or um you know some of the uh swim schools that we have in the community as well. So, they're looking at that commercial side of it and government side of it as well. It was exciting as well.

It was an interesting fact that they offered up. We were talking about expansion and hiring processes. They're they're just about at capacity for what they can support. with the employees in the current SAM architecture, which is why they would need to move out. They have a lot of work that comes in, but they have a professional service that does their HR hiring for them. They for they said for every position they have, they receive about 1,000 applications. Wow.

So, they screen them out for fly by night people that just want to come in for a summer job. They're looking for people that are in the industry or have a commitment to doing this work because they want to build those relationships with their customers so that uh they can provide that high quality of service which is pretty impressive. I would never have imagined that many people. Well, I was actually looking at that picture and I was thinking, wow, that's a pretty big team. Yeah, they have 65 I think is right about the number of total employees and they they use I guess Ted Williams I think is what they said is the cut off. So, anything south of there, it'll come from the Kernney Mace office. They'll go to Rancho Bernardo Pyoskitos, but not much further south from the San Marcos area.

So, how many people are working at the San Marcos? Is that the 65 or is it comp? That's a compilation. It's about 20 in San Marcos. We went around the back area. Uh, quick count. I think I saw 15 maybe beautiful service trucks. Some of the slides depicted those. And the guys were just coming in by the end of their shifts. They start early and finish early afternoon. Yeah. Just a fantastic. We were right there at the end of the shift and we got to meet, I don't know, four or five of the employees and um shake their hand and um just, you know, talk to them a little bit about what they do and they take a lot of pride in what they're doing and um yeah, just a great company. Just another one of those exciting, fun San Marcos businesses. Nice. And and the ping pong table. Yeah, competitiveness,

dart board. Their business is actually was three separate businesses. they they're renting the entire structure. So in one space where there was he said it was a bike shop I think bicycle they used they use that for one aspect and they have a warehouse and then some business offices. So they're using every bit of space they have. Okay. Um council commentary I have something. Does anyone else have anything? Just happy new year San Marcos.

Happy new year. Uh blue zones. Don't know if you all saw but San Marcos is launching a blue zone. uh study that is going to take roughly six months. It's all about and make sure you uh watch the documentary on Netflix if you haven't seen it. Uh but it's about health, wellness, um quality of life, longevity, um but really focusing on also adding in that uh community support, the social interactions for the total well-being of uh our community. We're uh planning on yeah like I said about six months from now um we'll have I guess it will be kind of a to-do list of what we can do to improve our quality of life in San Marcus for our residents and then uh we start the implementation phase and that will be um a lot of investment from health care um insurance health insurance companies that sort of thing who really believe in uh figuring out and by the way just to give you a little sneak preview of what a blue zone um if you haven't seen the Netflix series, it's um it's five naturally occurring blue zones in the world. And the uh the author or the study person that studied the blue zones, uh Dan Butner went and figured out what can cities do that are currently already a city. And by the way, one of the naturally occurring uh blue zones is actually in Linda, California. uh believe it or not, right here locally. Um but what can we do as a city to improve on what we're doing now today? A lot of it, you know, has to do with exercise, uh food initiatives. Food is medicine for our bodies. So, it's really exciting that we're doing this. It really kind of lends to everything that we've already been doing in San Marcos, but taking everything to the next level to figure out how we can u make our community healthier, happier,

and um not only just live longer, but live a better quality of life. So excited to have that happen. I won't be here when we get into the full implementation. It will take a few years. Um but anyway, excited to uh bring this forward for our community and uh watch what will happen in San Marcos transforming the quality of life with our residents. Does anyone else have anything else? With that um happy new year and uh thank you for coming to our first meeting and this meeting's adjourned.