City Council - Regular Meeting

Call to order the regular meeting of the San Ramon City Council for September 8th, 2026. Please call the roll.

Council Member Adler. Here. Council Member Joynette.

Present.

Council Member Feroz.

Here.

Vice Mayor Rubio. Here. And Mayor Armstrong.

Here. All right. Please join me in the Pledge of Allegiance.

I pledge allegiance to the...

All right, thank you. Please be seated. All right, item three, announcements. Do we have any announcements?

Item 3.1, changes and additions to the agenda. There are none. If you are attending in person and wish to speak during public comment or on an agenda item, please complete a speaker card located in the back of the room and submit it to the city clerk. If you are attending remotely via Zoom and wish to speak during public comment or on an agenda item, please use the raise hand feature on your computer or dial star nine on your telephone to request to speak when public comment is open for that agenda item. When it is your turn, you will be unmuted and may provide comments for up to three minutes. After your allotted time expired, you will be muted again. Written public comment was not received this evening on any item.

Okay, thank you. I'm going to now open up public comment. So at this time, the public is permitted to address the City Council on any non-agenda item related to the business of the City Council. Items that are on the consent calendar, including a request to pull an item from the consent calendar and the reason why you wish to pull the item or items, please note that the decision to remove the item from the consent calendar is strictly at the discretion of the City Council. You may speak on requests for future agenda items or on special presentation items under six of tonight's agenda, and we have two items under section six. You may also speak on items that are not on the agenda and are within the City Council's jurisdiction. Please be reminded that while the City ensures the First Amendment rights of its citizens, we do not accept nor endorse any offensive or hateful comments made during our meetings. The City celebrates the diversity of our community, and we strive to be a welcoming and open community for all. While we encourage your comments, unfortunately state law prevents the City Council from discussing items that are not on the meeting agenda. The City Council does take them very seriously, however, And if appropriate, staff will follow up. I ask you to please limit your comments to three minutes. So public comment is open. Do we have any speaker cards?

We do. We did receive three speaker cards from one speaker. They're requesting to speak not only under public comment, but on item 5.3 and 6.1, which on the consent calendar or on public comment does state they must speak under item number four. So I will call the one speaker for item number four only. We the people.

Mayor and council members, I wish to address you an incorrect agendized item which is 5.3 by the city manager and the city attorney and the city clerk. The Brown Act which governs the procedures and the nature of public meetings clearly states that consent agenda is only feasible for anything that are accounting in nature, that are repeating in nature. However, or for the items that have been previously approved by committee members who are appointed by this council who are people. However, 5.3 is none of those. 5.3 seeks to change the classification of a job position that previously was awarded to a structural engineer who probably was bullied to leave our city to work elsewhere and now By pattern, I've been observing city manager always pull weird but loopholes in our city codes to get people of his wish to work for him so that it's easier to get consensus. Therefore, this job is now trying to go from a structural engineer who is hired to read building plans to now a civil engineer who is trained to build roads and not for lesser money but for more. The taxpayers will be paying somebody who is not properly trained to read building plans at $10,000 more. Do you dare to live in that building which plan is read by a civil engineer when it is supposed to be read by a structural engineer. This item should have been agendized as open session discussion item only, not consent agenda. These people outrageously violate the Brown Act rules repeatedly, thinking you guys are dumb and you won't be able to catch it. In addition, I have asked the city to please spell out what is SEIU and POA in your labor negotiation because POA concerns police officers. SEIU concerns foreign employees. They should not be lumped together. So then, therefore, when you vote, you can vote as separate items. Now, our police officers' dignity is reduced to... as foreign employees. Shame on you guys for not correcting these people. That's why we hire you, to not echo their faults, but to correct their faults. And with eight seconds, I wish to give thanks to 6.1, whose families are true Americans. And without them, I will not, my family and I will not be able to live in this wonderful country who holds government transparent. But unfortunately, we have so many foreign employees. Our city is now... So close to communist. It's not even funny. So thank you. God bless America. Thank you to the daughters and families of the... of the week that we're trying to proclaim under the Daughters of the American Revolution. I thank you guys, and please, I would like to hold you guys accountable. When you celebrate our Constitution, what kind of activities are you actually going to do to honor our American Constitution? You have no actual activities planned out.

All right, do we have any other speaker cards?

We do. Our next speaker is David Coleman.

All right, David.

Good evening.

My name is David Coleman and I'm speaking on behalf of the Navid family.

They're longtime residents of San Ramon in the Cedar Bridge community whose home suffered a fire in November of 2024. They are both 80 years old and Mr. Navid is disabled. I'm here this evening to discuss what I believe is an important public safety gap involving modern day residential fires, particularly those involving electric vehicles and batteries. After the fire, the fire district investigated and documented a Toyota Prius fully involved in the garage fire with the fire spreading into their home. The concern, which is becoming apparent even to me, is that an EV fire and structural fire can create extremely toxic hazardous smoke, particulates and corrosive products. Those contaminates penetrate building materials that remain, including framing windows and concealed surfaces. Essentially, in that particular case, it renders the building almost useless because of the degree of penetration into the wood fibers. Just recently, the Navits have come to find that the HOA contractor did not disclose on the demo permit or building permit that this was a hazardous materials fire. The concerns were presented to the chief building official, who I believe abdicated those concerns in oversight as a civil matter. between the Navides and Cedar Bridge and requested that the Navides present independent testing and forensic evidence estimated to cost them $5,000. The concern is the city of San Ramon's apparent absence of a residential fire disaster rebuild recovery plan and protocol for residents. They'll have this available in other parts of the country, and in particular, Southern California. That doesn't seem to be happening here, and I'm mentioning it because there's an important consideration that happened four years ago in this city. As it stands, state, county, and city do have jurisdictional framework to address this matter through the health and safety code, municipal code, and adopted building code and fire codes, all of which are sufficient to adopt a building and safety fire disaster rebuilding framework, ideally within the municipal code. My concern is that meanwhile, the Navid's reconstruction is on hold and they are at risk of foreclosure. From a local perspective, as I mentioned a moment ago, I would also like to highlight that this issue is actually a known story for the city of San Ramon. That in 2020, there was a nationally recognized residential fire in Vista San Ramon involving two Teslas in a garage and a house fire. I spoke to that elderly homeowner, and he is disturbed to now learn that his house was exposed to hazardous materials and concerned there was no building and safety oversight and awareness of the situation. Instead, the home was allowed to immediately commence with reconstruction, and he is worried about the family's exposure. I'm asking for the city of San Ramon to develop a fire, a residential post-fire disaster framework for rebuilding so that families needlessly don't have to suffer what happens during a hazardous materials fire. Thank you.

Okay. All right. Thank you. Next speaker, please. All right. Gary.

Well, good evening, Mayor, Vice Mayor. City Council and the public staff. My name is Gary Oppert and tonight I am the board president of the San Ramon Valley Education Foundation. I'm here to invite the council and especially the community to the 43rd annual Run for Education on Sunday, October 11th from 8 a.m. to noon. We moved to a new location this year, so don't go to the wrong place. We're back to our old location, Iron Horse Middle School. We did this in respect to the new residents now living in our core of the city. You can walk or run at your own pace. We have a 5K, a 10K, a one and a half mile, a mini run for two to six year olds, and a friendship run for participants with special needs. There'll be entertainment by school bands, mascots, games, food, and plenty of fun and excitement. Also new this year is a school and group contest contest, a costume contest awards will be given to the best school spirit and best community group. The Run for Education is hosted by the San Ramon Valley Education, a nonprofit organization that supports and promotes education in our community in partnership with San Ramon Valley Unified School District. Being one of the largest runs in Northern California, it's a celebration of schools, students, and the incredible community that supports them. And I know we don't like to compare ourselves against one another, but let me just tell you, as a few hours ago, two of you registered, three have not. So if you can't remember if you registered or not, let me know, and I'll get back to you. And do it before the 14th, because our prices do go up. Lastly, I just want to thank city staff for all their help in this event. It's a big deal to close down the core of our city, parts of Central Park, and do it safely. From parks to public works, and especially our police officers, San Ramon has always been a pleasure to work with. For more information, to sign up or volunteer, please visit our website, www.srvef.org, and I'll see you on October 11th. Thank you so much.

Thank you.

Next speaker, please.

Darren Wong.

Good evening, mayor, vice mayor, council members, and city manager, and city attorney. My name is Darren Wong, and I am a freshman at California High School. And I am here to talk about an issue pretty personal to me and specific, but pretty widespread. The Iron Horse Trail used to be a peaceful community path. Now it feels like the Wild West, overrun with unregulated e-bikes, no rules being enforced, and no one keeping order. While it is true that the East Bay Regional Park District manages the trail, the city still has a responsibility to keep intersections and areas around the school safe. For context, I ride my bike on that trail to get to school every day, taking all the safety precautions possible, and I still feel like I have a chance of getting seriously injured. Fear isn't a good feeling to start and end a day. The reason is simple. E-bikes that move as fast as motorcycles, dangerously weaving through paths that were not built for that speed. When one comes up behind me going twice my speed or more, they don't give me time to react. I just have to hope they won't hit me. My dad and I recently wrote to the regional park district about this problem, and the danger isn't limited to students. Everyone on the trail is at risk, little kids walking with their parents, elderly residents out on a stroll, even my dad who jogs there regularly. These laws already exist. But from what I've seen personally riding this trail every day, enforcement for e-bikes has been completely absent. And even if resources have been put into stopping e-bikes, it is not noticeable with current efforts. It is clear that this issue needs attention and resources. So I'm asking you to use your power to ensure law enforcement is visible where it matters most. Trail crossings on our city streets and near our schools. Specifically, I'm asking for three things. Police checkpoints at major trail crossings during peak hours. Secondly, officers coordinating with school resource officers during morning drop-off and afternoon pickup. And lastly, I also want these enforcements to be a regular ongoing practice. not a one-off event. Lastly, I'm asking for a real timeline, a commitment to targeted enforcement within the next 30 days and to share an update at a future council meeting on what has been done. Please, please, I beg of you, this trail should be safe for everyone who uses it. Please make this happen. Thank you.

All right, thank you. All right, next speaker, please.

Swayam Kinkar.

Good evening, mayor and council members. My name is Swayam Kanhekar, and I'm a sophomore at Cal High. I am pleased to share a community service initiative undertaken by volunteers of Hindu Swayam Sevak Sangh, or HSS. As part of the Backpack Seva, also known as the Vidya Dawn Campaign, HSS volunteers came together to support SRFUSD and surrounding schools and students in Contra Costa District by providing backpacks, 115 backpacks filled with essential school supplies. Each backpack included composition notebooks, pencils, pens, erasers, sharpies, pencil cases, geometry boxes, post-it notes, and other educational supplies essential to have a productive learning. The Backpack SEVA is a national community service initiative of HSS USA through which volunteers across the country collect and donate school supplies to help students begin the academic year prepared and confident. This effort reflects the values of seva, or selfless service, and . The world is one family. It is a wonderful example of community members coming together to support local students and invest in their education in the future. We're grateful to all the HSS volunteers and donors who generously contributed their time and resources to make this initiative possible. Thank you for the opportunity to recognize this meaningful act of community service.

Thank you. All right. Thank you. Next speaker, please. I'm sorry.

Mandy Walia.

Good evening, mayor, council members, and vice mayor. My name is Mandy, and I'm with Tri-Valley Weekly. It's a local newspaper. It's a non-profit organization, and we are focused on informing, connecting, and engaging residents across Tri-Valley. We are organizing a candidate forum on September 30th in Dublin. And we would like to invite the candidates who are running in the upcoming elections. And we would also be honored to invite Mayor, Vice Mayor, and council members. Our goal is to provide neutral platform where residents can hear directly from the candidates, learn about the local issues, and become more engaged in their community. Thank you.

Thank you. Next speaker, please.

There are no other speaker cards. For those who are participating via Zoom and would like to speak under this item, please use the raise your hand feature on your computer or dial star nine on your telephone to speak.

Okay, all right, thank you.

Looks like we have none.

Okay, then I'm going to close public comment. Do we have all the contact information for all the speakers?

Mayor, just as a quick note, we are in contact with some of the speakers about the issues that we heard this evening. And also just a very quick update. San Ramon recently participated in an enforcement action on the Iron Horse Trail for e-bikes this was 45 different law enforcement Officers along the Iron Horse Trail I believe it was coordinated from Concord all the way to Dublin and it resulted in 194 total contacts 56 citations 137 warnings one arrest and also one vehicle towed so we also do coordinate with the school district on e-bikes but we can we can get you that information if you just email us at the city city manager at san ramon.ca.gov all right thank you for that update that was on august 18th there's another one coming up on september 17th so be forewarned and there will be others okay um

With that, then we will move on to item five, the consent calendar. Does anyone wish to get clarification on any of the items on the consent calendar, or wish to pull any of the consent calendar items? I move the motion for consent calendar.

I'll second that.

Okay, we have a motion by Councilmember Verros, a second by Vice Mayor Rubio. Okay, motion passes unanimously, so we will then move on to item six, special presentations. Item 6.1 is a proclamation declaring September 17th through the 23rd, 2026, as Constitution Week, and I have a proclamation that I'll be presenting to Heather Bilhart, Regent, and Sue de Luau, Chair at the National Society of Daughters of the American Revolution, or any other representatives that you have, but let me bring the proclamation down. Proclamation of the City Council of the city of San Ramon designated September 17th through the 23rd 2026 as Constitution Week Whereas the Constitution of the United States of America, the guardian of our liberties, embodies the principles of limited government in a republic dedicated to rule of law. And whereas September 17th, 2026 marks the 239th anniversary of the drafting of the Constitution of the United States of America by the Constitutional Convention, and whereas it is fitting and proper to officially recognize the magnificent document and the anniversary of its creation and the patriotic celebrations which will commemorate the occasion, and whereas Public Law 915 guarantees the issuing of a proclamation each year by the President of the United States of America designating September 17th through September 23rd as Constitution Week, And whereas the California State Society, Daughters of the American Revolution, enriches communities by protecting and preserving historic locations, fostering patriotism and love of country, supporting education, sustaining charitable endeavors, meaningful community service, and assisting veterans and the infirm, and encouraging all to do historical research, And whereas the National Society of Daughters of the American Revolution is a non-political organization that supports Zanderman libraries, schools, and civic organizations in teaching all citizens, especially youth and newly naturalized citizens, about our founding documents, the National Society of Daughters of the American Revolution sets up library displays, provides copies of the Constitution to high school civics classes, and runs an annual Constitution Week poster contest to raise awareness and inspire our citizens. Now therefore, be it resolved that the City Council of the City of San Ramon does hereby proclaim the week of September 17th through September 23rd, 2026 in the City of San Ramon as Constitution Week. We urge all citizens to study the Constitution and reflect on the privilege of being an American with all the rights and responsibilities that that privilege involves. And so I thank you for that, and I will present this to you. Thank you very much.

All right. And I think we've got a picture.

You want to come on over for a picture, and then I'll give you the opportunity to say a few comments.

Oh, great. Thank you.

All right.

Okay.

All right. Thank you very much.

Mayor Armstrong, and members of the San Ramon City Council and staff. My name is Heather Brillhart, and I'm the regent of Jose Maria Amador Chapter, National Society Daughters of the American Revolution. The National Society of Daughters of the American Revolution is a 130 years old, nonpartisan, women's organization that is dedicated to historic preservation, education, and patriotism. Each year we urge all Americans to reflect on the U.S. Constitution, this year especially, as we celebrate the 250th anniversary of our great nation. There are two documents of paramount importance to American history, the Declaration of Independence, which forged our nation's identity, and the United States Constitution, which set forth the framework for the federal government that functions to this day. That said, many people do not know about Constitution Week, an annual commemoration to the living document that upholds and protects the freedoms central to our American way of life. That is why the DAR is committed to spreading the word in San Ramon and other communities across America. We erect hundreds of community displays, including the one in the San Ramon Library. and provide copies of the Constitution to high school civics classes and run a poster contest to raise awareness of the Constitution's tenets and importance. We invite everyone to join in celebrating Constitution Week. With the city of San Ramon's proclamation, we hope that all Americans will learn more about the Constitution and its immense impact on our nation. Many thanks to you all.

All right, thank you. All right, Sue, did you want to add anything? Okay. All right, she did a great job. Any council members wish to say anything? Okay, we have a council member for us.

Thank you Heather and Sue. Congratulations on proclamation. Thanks for bringing the awareness of the Constitution. So it is not just a historical document, but it is a document that provides us a guidance on our freedom and rights. Especially San Ramon is a very diverse community. It is very important for us to share that within the community so that community understand the importance of Constitution and how it helps them to bring together and keep them together. So thanks for all your services. I appreciate it. Once again, congratulations on Constitution Week.

Well, thank you for joining us, and I know you do so many wonderful events throughout the year, and especially for our young people as well. I know you've been there, and so we just really appreciate the work that you do in making sure that we don't forget our history. It's extremely important in making sure that as we move forward, we don't repeat some of those mistakes, good and bad, right? So the work you do is truly important, invaluable to this community and beyond and i just want to say thank you personally for all the work that you do throughout the year all right thank you anyone else all right richard

Yeah, I'm glad we have a chance to reflect on the Constitution because it's such an essential document and, you know, it didn't happen overnight. There was a lot of struggle and we tried other documents. I think the states had a problem wanting to have that federal government step in, but it was so essential. articles of Confederation didn't work and so fortunately we had some great early American leaders like James Madison and we're able to you know crap that document we were able to have the Bill of Rights so everything that we have now is thanks to those people at that time to had the foresight to change it, to bring the Constitution, which is something that we as Americans value and will always value as long as we are going to be free and do the things that we want to do. So thanks for being here and pointing those things out to us, and really appreciate you being here today.

All right. And I'll just close things out. Thank you, Heather. Thank you, Sue. I was stationed in the nation's capital while I was still in the Army back in 1987. It was the 200th anniversary of the signing of the Constitution, and it was a pretty big deal back then. And it's a big deal again this year. This is 250 years since the founding of our nation, and I just want to thank the DAR for all that you do in terms of – educating our residents and promoting our nation's history, promoting patriotism and all the work that the DAR does. So thank you and we'll see you again next year, I hope. All right. Thank you. All right. Okay, we're gonna move on to item 6.2. I see them out in the hallway, so I know they're ready. This is the Discover San Ramon Event Innovator Competition Award Presentation. And we will kind of get on with this item. They're coming in the room now. All right. So we're going to get an introduction by Scott Cole. And I think we've got Sean Milburn coming in the room here. Okay, and Sean Milburn's here as well. He's a general manager at the Marriott, San Ramon Marriott. So I'll turn it over to Scott Cole as everyone comes in.

Good evening, Mayor, Council. Thank you very much. We're back again to introduce a program, or to rather update you on a program that we first introduced you to last year as part of economic development and specifically Discover San Ramon. This is the second annual update of their event innovator competition, and as the Mayor introduced, We have the privilege tonight to hear from General Manager of the San Ramon Marriott, Sean Milburn, my apologies. And so I will turn it over to Sean to present the evening. All right. Thank you, Scott.

Thank you. Sean? It's my honor to be here. Thank you very much. Good evening, Mayor, members of the City Council, City Manager Spadowski, and Assistant Manager Cole, thank you, and members of our community. My name is Sean Milburn and I am the GM at the San Ramon Marriott right down the street. Pleased to be here tonight on behalf of Discover San Ramon, our city's official destination marketing organization. We're especially excited I'm sorry, I'm still learning the clicker. We're especially excited to be back for the second year of Discover San Ramon's Event Innovator Competition, an initiative created to give our local high school students a voice in imagining the future of events here in our beautiful city. Events are an important part of what makes San Ramon such a vibrant destination. They bring our community together, attract visitors, which I love, support our hotels, restaurants, and local businesses, and help showcase why our message at Discover San Ramon is so fitting. Everyone loves it here. Through the event innovator competition, we challenge San Ramon high school students to develop creative, tourism-friendly event concepts that could add something new and exciting to our city's event calendar. We were incredibly impressed by the creativity and thoughts that went into this year's submissions. And tonight we have the pleasure of recognizing three outstanding students, each of whom will receive a $5,000 award from Discover San Ramon for their winning concept. Our first winner is Neil Karambath, a ninth grade student, or was a ninth grade student at California High School, for his concept, the San Ramon Sky Track Grand Prix, which we're very excited about launching. Congratulations, Neil, come on up. And I also want to acknowledge. The principal of California High School, Demetrius Ball, is also here. I just wanted to say thank you. You're an amazing principal, sir. Thank you. Are we taking a picture? Is that okay? Can we do it real quick, or do you want us to...

Let's get pictures at the end after you introduce all of the award winners and what they did and things. And then we'll do individual pictures and then maybe a group picture at the end, too.

Sounds good.

Thank you. All right.

Congratulations, Neil. All right. Our second winner is Aditi Ranjan, an 11th grade now senior at, 11th grade when she submitted, now a senior at Doherty Valley High School for her concept, San Ramon Robofest, which we're also excited about working on with her. Congratulations, Aditi. All right.

All right.

Thank you very much. We'll take pictures at the end.

Thank you.

And we'll get a picture in a moment. Our third winner is Chloe Fisher, a ninth grade, now 10th grade student at Doherty for her concept, the San Ramon Cherry Blossom Festival, which was one of my favorites. We're definitely gonna make that happen. Congratulations, Chloe.

And if you wanna come up and just receive your big set.

More pictures. On behalf of Discover San Ramon, I wanted to congratulate all three of you. Your ideas demonstrate tremendous creativity, innovation, and community spirit, and we hope this experience encourages you to continue thinking about how you can make an impact on San Ramon, in San Ramon, and beyond. We also want to thank the mayor, city council, city manager, and city staff for giving us the opportunity to recognize these talented students, and for your continued support of our organization, Discover San Ramon. Congratulations again to Chloe, Aditi, and Neil. We'd now like to bring all three for a photo with you, sir, if that's all right.

That's all right. All right. Thank you very much. All right. Well, let's get the city council. Let's get city council. Let's all go down, and we'll take a picture with all the winners.

Over here. And if you guys want to flank the end. All right. I'm going to make this happen. Yes, we can get wide enough. You just come forward just a little bit. Beth, you too. All right. Yeah, there we go. All right. Get right there. I'll make sure it's perfect. Thanks. It's a wide shot. You want to step up? Okay. All right. One more. You guys are the ones that were making it just a little bit too wide. No, I'm just kidding. All right. There. Good. Perfect. Right there. And. All right.

Can we just just one at a time also? Okay. Sure. Are you okay? Yeah.

Everyone come over this way just a little bit.

Do your left. All right. Kind of line up and then continue to come forward.

Okay. Yes.

Come on in there. Perfect. Excellent. Good right there. And one. Okay, so we can swap out. All right. Come on in.

Come on in. Neil, what up?

All right. Good, good, good. Two and, nice. Last one. Excellent. There, two and one more. Got it.

All right, thank you.

Okay, everyone back. Everyone back in. Bring the checks back in.

Good. Got everybody. Perfect. Nice. Excellent.

Good.

Before everybody leaves, let me see if any council members have any comments here. Anyone from council want to make a comment? Sure. Okay.

Council Member Burroughs?

Thank you. Don't go too far for our award winners. Hold on. We're speaking to you.

Congratulations Neil, Aditi and Chloe for winning the championship of Discover San Ramon and all participants congratulations for participating. Thanks to Discover San Ramon for organizing this event so that we can showcase our city San Ramon local businesses and supporting our local businesses so that we can bring them and bring not only the youth, but the community together to tell the story of San Ramon. So thanks for all your great work and services. Appreciate it. And see you next year again. Thank you. All right. Thank you. Anyone else?

Vice Mayor Rubio?

So I just want to say congratulations as well to all the three winners, Aditi, Neil, and Chloe. That is a huge accomplishment. And honestly, I was just thinking to myself, $5,000 is a nice savings to start before you go to college. or whatever your next endeavors are. It's a great savings right there. But you earned it and your creativity and ingenuity is really what, and perseverance is what got you there. And that is a huge testament to your character and honestly the support and leadership that you're also hopefully feeling you're receiving from Discover San Ramon in your leadership. So just want to extend a huge congratulations, keep up the great work, and can't wait to see what you'll do in the coming years.

All right, anyone else?

Okay.

All right, well then, I'll just chime in also. My congratulations to Aditi, Neil, and Chloe. This is fantastic. Our young people in our community have such great ideas, and that's captured here this evening. Thank you to Discover San Ramon, for sponsoring this. Thank you, Sean. Thank you, Beth. Thank you, Raghu, all those members of the Discover San Ramon board. Just wonderful creativity, wonderful imagination, and quite an incredible recognition, $5,000. I think that's wonderful. Hopefully that'll motivate next year's crew to come up with some great ideas also. So again, congratulations, and thanks for all that you do for For our award winners, thank you, and to Discover San Ramon. Thank you. All right. With that, our next item on the agenda is we're going to move on to a new business. This is item 9.1. This is a resolution number 2026-117 authorizing the adoption of a resolution delegating planned administration of fiduciary responsibles for the City of San Ramon's 457B deferred compensation and retirement health savings programs, and approving the charter of the City of San Ramon Defined Contribution and Retirement Health Savings Committee. And we will tee this up with Scott Cole with the introduction.

Thank you, Mayor and Council. That was quite a mouthful. We're here tonight to address two items as part of a benefits package that the city offers, both our 457B and our retirement health savings account and the oversight of both. We are joined tonight by Dylan Rudolph as Arisa counsel for Morgan Lewis and for those following along at home. Arisa is what governs these two plans. It stands for Employee Retirement Income Securities Act and it was passed in 1974. WHY THIS ITEM IS IN FRONT OF COUNCIL TONIGHT. FOLLOWING THE 2024 REORGANIZATION OF THE CITY SPECIFICALLY ADMIN SERVICES, WE SPLIT APART FINANCE AND HR. AND IN THAT SPLIT, THE OVERSIGHT OF THESE TWO PLANS REQUIRED US TO CLARIFY THE ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF DAILY ADMINISTRATION. As we assess these roles, we conducted research into how peer agencies govern their defined contribution and RHS plans, and found that many agencies are moving toward this structured benefits committee. This is an opportunity for the city, as you've heard multiple times throughout the last year from finance and HR. This represents an opportunity for us to modernize our internal processes and ensure that this oversight aligns with state law, fiduciary standards, and industry best practice. The purpose of the action before you tonight is that we appreciate that council has empowered our team in HR and finance to offer competitive benefits that help us attract and retain talented employees. This action clearly defines oversight and oversight structure, which is necessary to maintain the integrity and performance of our two defined contribution plans. Specifically the 457B plan, which is a voluntary plan that individual staff can contribute. And then also our retirement health savings plan, which the city generously funds for future medical expenses. Defined contribution plans are governed by a RESA, which is based in fiduciary principles emphasizing prudence and fee reasonableness. Why establish this committee now? The industry best practice calls for a dedicated benefits committee with clearly defined responsibilities and transparent oversight, which is reflected in the charter that you had as an attachment to the item tonight. A committee provides consistent accountable oversight of the plan, investments, fees, and oversight of service providers. A structured forum for evaluating the plan performance and participant experience. And lastly, what this action will achieve. And this is where the details of the presentation come in. It establishes a benefits committee to oversee both plans with modernized governance and fee transparency. It clarifies our administrative roles following this departmental reorganization from 2024. It also helps support a competitive benefits package that strengthens our recruitment and retention efforts. And with that, I'd like to hand it over to Dylan, who will go through the details of what the committee would do and the structure. Thank you.

All right, thank you.

Good evening, Dylan. Good evening, Mr. Mayor, Ms. Vice Mayor, and City Council, and thank you, Scott. Hard to follow Discover San Ramon with an employee benefits presentation, but I'll try not to put you to sleep. So as Scott teed up, my background is in benefits. I've practiced in benefits law my entire career. I do mainly litigation, but that lends itself to certain fiduciary risk counseling, and that's kind of the genesis of where this came in. We represent employers around the world, and particularly I'm based in our Northern California offices. that are right here in Northern California on this type of thing, whether it's city governments, single employer, health plans, multi-employer, Taft-Hartley plans, you name it. And so as Scott teed up again in the beginning, this is really coming from what our best practice is, what is the industry standard at this point? So just to tee it up, the agenda item, I'll just do a little brief background, I don't know that people are studying benefit plans like I do every day, but we'll just do a quick rundown of the 457 plan, the retirement health savings plan, fiduciary responsibilities generally, and delegation to the committee and kind of what we're seeing as next steps here with the proposal. So very quickly, the 457 plan, think 401 plan, but for government employees. It has the same tax benefits that you would get in a 401 plan. Really not getting into the weeds on how that all works from a regulatory standpoint, but the high-level things that should be at the top of mind for our conversation tonight are, as you would see in a traditional 401k plan, investment options that are offered to participants. And there's a fiduciary obligation, although participants take on certain risk in deciding how they invest that money, There is an obligation, a fiduciary obligation, to make sure that menu of investment options are prudent choices. The other big thing, and where I live a lot in the litigation and things that I see in that area, are fees. What are the fees that are being charged by service providers? What are the fees being charged by investment managers? And whether those fees are reasonable. And we do all this through comparison in the market. What is standard? And like I said, we do this every day. The retirement health savings plan, a bit different. The same idea, this is tax deferred, a tax deferred benefit where people get to put money and money is contributed into the plan for the benefit of the participants. The money grows. Tax-free, this is the IRS coming up with ways to incentivize employee benefits. Here, a bit different. You don't have investment options you're choosing from, but someone still needs to have their eyes on all of this, right? Are the fees that are being charged correct? How is participant data being transferred, whether that's being done securely? The structure of the fees and making sure everything from a regulatory standpoint is all buttoned up. And so the point with all of this, stepping back again, this all comes from these fiduciary obligations. For these types of plans, really what we see is, as Scott mentioned, there's a federal counterpart, but the California Constitution, Article 16, Section 17, lays out the fiduciary obligations for overseeing these plans. I have the high, these are the top line obligations here, but you'll see here, defray reasonable expenses. Are the plans being charged reasonable fees for what they're doing? All the service providers that you hire to help administer these plans charge a fee. Investment managers charge a fee. How are those fees looking in terms of the current market and industry standards? The duty of loyalty. So the duty of loyalty, the law is very clear. It is an eye single toward participants. So in terms of operating these plans, the participants are the entire ballgame here, right? It's not what's best for sponsor or service providers making sure that every decision is made with the participants in mind and prudence that's the big one right and we spend a lot of time in the lawsuits dealing with you know like what does prudence mean and expert witnesses and all these things but the benefit of that is on the backside we can come in and help advise on the day-to-day process features of this oversight to help make sure that the plans are being operated in a prudent manner What does that mean? What would a reasonable fiduciary do under similar circumstances, right? And then there's a duty to diversify investments. That's really the 457 side, not something you'd see on the health side. What does all this mean for why I'm here tonight? So this resolution, 2026117, would delegate fiduciary responsibilities formally, and again, this is best practice, to a body, a committee who is charged with overseeing these two plans based on the fiduciary duties I just outlined. reporting to counsel periodically, but having the day-to-day management of not only the administration, but then meeting periodically to do things like review the investment options with an investment consultant. And again, I should step back, and I always get this question asked, No one is meant to be an employee benefits expert, so the committee members can and should hire experts to counsel them. That includes investment managers, consultants, record keepers to help the data outside ERISA Council and others, right? So the proposal here would form a committee of seven members. The city manager would be chair of the committee, director of finance, director of human resources, city clerk, A representative from the police officers association, a representative from the service employees international, um, and executive assistant city council. Uh, there's no right or wrong way to form a committee. Um, it's good to get voices from different areas of, of, um, of the, the, the city staff, um, just because it brings. You know good insights from people that have different day jobs and then once formed that committee would meet regularly they would receive information and Based on that would oversee planned governance for both of these employee benefit plans so If approved, the charter takes immediate effect. That charter is the document that outlines the governance structure of this newly formed committee. At that point, meetings would be scheduled, including an initial meeting where members would be advised on where things stand. I, someone in my position, will regularly advise on fiduciary responsibilities, what we're seeing in the industry, all of that. And then, as I said, there are other consultants that would be hired to help advise on other issues and then again finally here the City Council would maintain the the duty to monitor that committee and that would be done through periodic reporting to council and the mayor's office about what is what is going on at the committee level so with that I know that was a mouthful but I want to answer any questions any of you may have and thank you for your time

All right, thank you, Dylan. Let's go to questions, and we'll start down here with House Members Wainwright.

Hi, Dylan. Thank you so much for the presentation, and thanks for coming out here to the presentation. I'm just curious, what prompted the request to form the committee?

Well, it's one of our continuing efforts to polish up our policies, our practices. As Dylan said, it's becoming more and more common for cities to form these groups. And it was just basically something on our list that we're knocking off to make sure that we're adhering to best practices. Okay, great. Thank you.

Thank you. Council Member Varoj. Thanks for the presentation. It's more than a question, I just want to make sure the confirmation so public can understand. So the committee members who are going to be part of, the members who are going to be part of this committee, in the charter it is mentioned that they will be submitting FPPC form 700 disclosing if they own any stocks or any of those equity funds. So could you please clarify that?

Correct. You mean the committee members disclosing any potential conflicts? Yes, basically. Yes. Yeah. So any potential conflicts would need to be disclosed and weighed by the committee. If there's a need to recuse from committee votes, that can be handled that way. But all of those things would be disclosed. And the committee members would not receive any compensation for their work on the committee. It's strictly a fiduciary role.

Sounds good. My second point is, or question point is, how we measure to make sure that whatever, after we switch to the committee, things are working as expected. Is there a way we want to monitor or measure? Is there anything like that in place?

Yeah, so there's currently, right now currently, there is an investment manager that is, and I promise not to get too far into the weeds with this. Under a typical situation, you can have an investment advisor, for example, that would advise the committee and they would make decisions. You can also hire what's called a discretionary fiduciary consultant. where they would manage the investments, for example. The committee then monitors that entity to make sure they're doing their job appropriately, and that is done through, again, counsel with someone like me who's in the industry and others. You can even engage in formal reviews, and there are entities that do this. In terms of the fees, that investment consultant is gonna benchmark investment performance and fees against the market, so you will know how your options are stacking up. That is prudent. This is all process-based. There's no right, and again, I do these all the time. No one can predict the stock market. There's no right or wrong answer. So it's about having process and governance in place, and that's what this does. So it makes it so that you will have a periodic, regular meeting of a committee that will then review things like how investments are performing, are there any others that would be better options, how do the fees stack up. And then you can also do regular reviews of the service provider fees in the same way, benchmarking them against other fees being charged for similarly sized plans based on assets and participants.

if that makes sense.

So there's ways to do all of those things, and the formation of a formal committee like this is the best practice to ensure that you are doing that, because they'll have a meeting where that is what the agenda is, is to benchmark all of those things and make informed decisions based on that information.

Sounds good. And just to make sure, is there any impact, financial impact on the contributors when we are moving from current to the committee?

No. No. So again, this is, the committee does not, they do not receive any compensation. Committee members will not receive any compensation for their service on the committee. This is done as a part of their role within the city and as representatives. So there's no financial impact. Good. Thank you. Yeah.

Okay. Any other questions? Council Member Adler.

Yeah. The way this committee is going to be laid out, is it similar to what other cities do as far as the people who are in this committee? Is that kind of a standard practice of these departments, this personnel is similar to what other cities are doing?

Yes, 100%. As I said a moment ago, there's no right or wrong answer there. But what we've done here is structured it based on what we're seeing industry-wide in terms of city government plans and also similarly sized plans.

And just one question about the ability of the employees to, I mean, I know the state has guidelines, which they should have, and so this is laid out similar to a 401K, right?

The 457B, yes, that's correct.

Yeah, and so is there a little bit of ability of the employees to get into a little more I don't know, not as conservative investments. Do they have that option somewhat so they could, you know, make some small changes where it might be a little bit more less conservative, especially maybe a newer employee who's starting out as opposed to a person who's about ready to retire, probably doesn't want to do a lot of more risky things. But is that something that employees have the ability to do?

Yes, absolutely. And so the terminology that comes up in my area is in a rave in options along the risk-reward spectrum, which I think is exactly what you're getting at. Younger employees can take on more risk, more reward. Employees closer to retirement may want to take on less risk. And so one of the obligations that I mentioned, the diversification obligation, part of that, and you would You would accomplish that through both the committee reviewing an investment consultant, but part of the investment consultant's job is to make sure you have all of those options in your plan so that you cover all of the employee, you know, their desires in terms of what their risk assessment would be.

Sounds good. Thank you.

Yep.

Okay. Thank you.

Vice Mayor Rubio.

Thank you. So I guess I just wanted a little more clarification in terms of what authority does, other than approving whatever the committee proposes and brings before us and presents to us, what authority does the council still retain in having input on those investments and how we manage those financial decisions?

So the council as, and again, pardon the, uh, the legalese, but as the delegate tour of the fiduciary responsibilities always remains, uh, always has a duty to monitor the committee. So as that you never can get rid of your fiduciary obligations completely. So as you're delegating to the committee and the committee may then be delegating to others. All the way back up that ladder, there's an obligation to monitor. And so what would happen is through regular reporting to council by the committee would accomplish that role. Then you could provide feedback and you would then have, they would be reporting to you on, these are the things that we are doing, these are the decisions that we've made, and then that allows that process.

Okay, and then so as mentioned, so how often will you be reporting back to the council?

That is entirely up to the committee. I don't know. I mean, once the committee is formed and they make that decision, I'm sure they would make that in connection with Council too. What we typically see in a governance structure like this is one to two times annually. Again, there's no right or wrong answer there. Once a year would be sufficient under the rules, but if you...

Someone or if the the council wanted something more frequent than that's within your purview It's it's it's entirely a matter of how you'd like to design the structure and how often the reporting would take place And also we can add reports out to the Finance Committee So I mean you could have a structure where it's quarterly to the Finance Committee and then annually to the council any combination depending on on what's needed and

I almost would feel better if those reports, regular reports were made available to the entire council because at the end of the day, we're all responsible. So I would prefer that that be expanded to the entire council so that we are aware of what's transpiring on a regular, more than once and twice a year. I don't think that's sufficient for us to give you feedback if there's anything we'd like to suggest and for you to be able to respond and do something with that. You know what I mean?

It's entirely in your discretion too.

Yeah. I just, yeah. Cause I'm thinking like when, I don't know if that's going to be frequent enough once or twice a year to do that. Um, so, and, and my question is in terms of, is it an indefinite position in terms of for the members they're, they're selected, they're there in perpetuity unless they're no longer working for the city?

The way that the charter is currently set up, yes, the successor for that position would then take on that role. But to be clear, these charters can be amended at your discretion as well. You have the authority. So, for example, if council decided they wanted some other governance structure in terms of timing, in terms of who's taking on these various roles, you can always amend your charter to do that. Um, this, what we have here and presented is what's typical. Um, typically the, the way that that is done is intentional so that you're not then having the discretionary obligation to oversee membership on the committee. The committee is basically self perpetuating in that way, but you can always change that if you'd like.

Right, because it's defined by the job title of the person. The other thing is, I know later on you mentioned something about should they need, say, the primary person, appointed person, not be able to attend, they can ask anyone. And that's the kind of language that I'm like, well, who's anyone to be able to fill in for them? Would it be their natural successor? And if their successor can't be there, who would fill in then under those circumstances? Right.

Yeah, it's pursuant to the charter that we have now. I believe that if the city, you're saying if the chair is not able to attend?

Not just the chair. I mean, there was language in there that said on page, on page 43, should any individual in these roles cease to hold their position, that individual's successor will automatically assume membership on the committee in their place. And then... There was on page 46, the committee may be written by written rule or by its minutes, allocate responsibilities among committee members and may delegate to persons other than committee members the authority to carry out any of the responsibilities under the plans noted herein. So I'm asking for clarification of who those individuals would be.

Correct. So the individuals in the latter scenario that you referenced would be the service providers that I mentioned. So, for example, an investment, discretionary investment consultant, record keepers, outside counsel, that's what that language is getting at, is the ability to then delegate to those individuals. So not necessarily other committee members or other people to serve in that role as a fiduciary, but to delegate certain functioning required to administer the plans to third parties.

Got it. Okay. As needed, basically. Correct. Is what you're saying. Yeah. And so let me go back a little bit because I kind of flipped over here. So I'm assuming this is a committee that we want to keep as long, in a permanent basis, correct?

Correct.

Okay.

As long as you're offering these benefits, yeah.

Yes, makes sense. The other thing is, it says all reasonable out-of-pocket expenses of the committee will be paid by the city in accordance with standard reimbursement policies unless paid for from assets from the plans. What expenses are they referring to specifically there?

So there are expenses for meetings and attending meetings and things like that and so that would be pursuant to whatever reimbursement policies the city would have. Assets payable by plan or expenses payable by plan assets are strictly defined. So certain service provider fees for example can be paid through plan assets but out-of-pocket expenses what that is getting at are the ORDINARY EXPENSES OF THE COMMITTEE MEMBERS TO ATTEND. AGAIN, THERE'S NO COMPENSATION. THEY'RE NOT BEING PAID FOR THE TIME ON THE COMMITTEE. BUT IF THEY INCUR SOME FORM OF OUT-OF-POCKET EXPENSE, THEY WOULD BE REIMBURSED PURSUANT TO CITY POLICY.

OKAY. AND THEN, OF COURSE, THERE'S ALSO STAFF TIME BECAUSE IT WOULD BE A WHOLE NEW COMMITTEE. SO THERE WOULD BE ALSO STAFF TIME. SO DO WE HAVE AN ESTIMATED COST OF WHAT THIS TOTAL COMMITTEE, WHETHER IT'S STAFF TIME OR THOSE ADDITIONAL ESTIMATED OUT-OF-POCKET EXPENSES WOULD BE?

I do not. I don't have that information, no.

Scott, do you want to fill in?

So obviously we're still in the idea creation phase of this, but assuming council approves tonight, our intention would be that the work done by the committee would be done on work hours so as to not incur any additional costs. So staff time would be paid as they are in their classification pursuant to their labor agreement or their resolution as the council has approved. So we are intentionally structuring this that the meetings happen during normal work hours. So there wouldn't be any additional costs.

Right, right. Sort of like what we do with the other committee, sort of, right?

Yes, and also infrequent. We're not intending this to be a committee that meets every month because that would be onerous for this process, but wherever it's needed, we would call the meeting during normal business hours.

Okay, okay, thank you.

One more point. Oh, I'm sorry.

Go ahead.

One more point of clarification. Without the committee in place, these fiduciary obligations rest with the council. So what we're talking and discussing are the best practices to reduce your fiduciary risk. And so the committee then is a way to do that. But without that functioning, council is responsible individually for oversight.

Yes, I understand that. And I think, I mean, anybody who has investments understands that when they relegate their investments to somebody, it's because they obviously have more experience and insight into these types of things and where it would be more, how shall I say, prudent to invest your funds. So that... It makes sense from a practical standpoint thinking about that but for the sake of having complete information I want to make sure to ask those questions just to clarify. So the last thing I would like to suggest in addition to just making sure that we also, we as a council are kept abreast to the ongoings of what the committee is doing so that we also are able to give you input if we for whatever reason see something that's of concern to us, we can provide that feedback to the city manager and get that back to the committee. But in addition to that, I'm kind of curious to ask why the finance committee chair or vice chair was not included as one of the members.

I don't have that information yet.

Well, the initial membership of the committee is including primarily employees who are contributing to the program. So this is... primarily employee driven with the oversight at this level, but still reporting out to the council. So having, I don't know if Scott has any input on it, but having finance committee members rotating through with the council, the council is the ultimate body for any kind of APPEAL TO ANY DECISION FOR THIS COMMITTEE, SO KEEPING THAT BODY OFF THE COMMITTEE WOULD MAKE SENSE FORMALLY, ANY MEMBERS WHO MIGHT BE APPEALED LATER, IF THAT MAKES SENSE. SO IF YOU DO HAVE COUNCIL MEMBERS ON THE COMMITTEE AND SOMEBODY IS UNHAPPY WITH THE DECISION OF THIS BODY, YOU ALREADY HAVE COUNCIL MEMBERS SERVING ON THE BODY AND THE APPEAL AUTHORITY, THAT MIGHT MAKE IT A LITTLE COMPLICATED.

Well, in all the other committees that we have, we have council liaisons to those committees.

Those are advisory committees to the city council. This is not an advisory committee. This is an employee committee for the employee fund. So regular updates to the finance committee, regular updates to council, that would all be prudent. I don't know how often we would have substantial items, but I think my initial take is with the council being the ultimate appeal body, we would wanna keep this at the employee level and then preserve that appeal. I don't know if the city attorney has any opinions on that, but that I believe was the initial thought.

Okay, so did you want to add something, Martin?

No, he pretty much covered it unless you have a specific question.

No, I mean, so what it sounds like to me is that this is going to be operating somewhat independently, almost like a commission, but not fully like a commission because the council still has sort of the final purview to review things and approve it. So in some capacities, it is acting more independent than an advisory committee, but not as fully independent as, say, our commissions.

Exactly. This is... YOU CAN'T REALLY COMPARE IT TO AN ADVISORY BODY. THOSE ARE VOLUNTEER COMMUNITY MEMBERS FOR ADVISORY ITEMS. YOU CAN'T REALLY COMPARE IT TO A COMMISSION. THOSE ARE RESIDENT-DRIVEN APPOINTEES TO COMMISSIONS. THIS IS EMPLOYEES. AND IT'S DEALING WITH THE 60 MILLION OR SO THAT WE HAVE IN THIS ACCOUNT, WHICH IS ALL CONTRIBUTED BY THE EMPLOYEES.

And I like the idea that you are including our police and CIU as well in that process, the workers in that process. It's important. Okay, so do you need three nodding heads to request to make sure that we sort of just get those regular reports when you do meet? Yes.

Yeah, this is, you know, Scott kind of alluded to we're forming this. We'll see how it goes. We will provide as many updates that the council would like. They may not necessarily need to be frequent. If the committee is only meeting once, twice, three times a year, it would be hard to do quarterly updates, but we'll make sure to keep the council updated on everything. And part of the annual report, to the councils to show the work of the committee. Hey, these were the rates that we were charged before, we went out with an RFP, we found somebody who has lower rates. So it'll be measurable progress of the committee.

Sure. And I guess my question is, if you're only meeting one to two, maybe three times a year, I mean, I think it's feasible to give us an update when you have those meetings, if that would be helping. Because it gives us an opportunity to provide some feedback if we want to before you finalize anything for the year. That's why I'm saying that.

Gotcha.

Do you need three nodding heads for that?

No, I mean, as this progresses, we'll keep the council updated. I don't know how many meetings will be required to issue an RFP for, you know, anything at this point because we might be issuing one or two different RFPs. I don't know if, you know, I will definitely keep the council updated. Whether or not we need to do a formal public item about that is remaining to be seen, but you will be updated one way or the other. There's many ways to update a council.

Okay, I just wanted to make sure.

And if I can add to that just a bit, the charter does say that the committee will meet at least twice per year and at least once per calendar year, the committee would present a written report to the city council summarizing the committee's activities. So presumably that would be part of a consent item or something along those lines that the council could review and pull up for it as a hearing item if they so chose.

Right. But what I'm specifically asking for is just if you're only meeting two to three times a year at most, right? I'm asking personally, and I want to make sure that it does happen so that we can stay abreast to everything that's happening. that we're getting some kind of report back on what transpired, where we're at, and not just the once a year presentation in that sense. You don't have to do a presentation, but if we get, say, the minutes and what was discussed and we have a sense of what's going on, that's very helpful to us as well.

We will keep the council informed. Okay. Just to finish that thought, the numbers that appear in the charter, the at least framing it, that's best practice. If you would like more periodic reporting, you can. If the committee wants to meet more than twice a year, they can. Typically, what we see is between two to four times per year. Some committees meet more frequently, some meet less. But it's meant to be more of a floor rather than a ceiling.

Correct, correct. And I know the market can also change that.

Exactly. Special meetings get called, all that kind of thing. Absolutely.

Okay. Okay. Well, thank you for answering my questions to all. Thank you.

Okay. And Mike, I just had one simple question. It's in the report, but I'm going to ask it anyway. I just want to confirm that these meetings are going to be agendized. They will be open to the public and announced meetings, correct?

Yes.

Okay. All right. Any other final questions from the Council?

How is the decision made, just on a general point of information, when we retained Morgan Lewis? Did we have other companies that were interested in doing this job? How did that work, Scott?

Great question. As I mentioned at the beginning, but it's important to sort of punctuate the point, as we started to evaluate roles and daily administrative responsibility, what we ultimately looked for was someone with expertise under ERISA, under state law, because it was so highly technical, because it was all... And what we learned, and it was just by extension of other work that we had been doing behind the scenes with retirement related work through finance and HR, it became clear that we needed some expertise and we had already had a working relationship with Morgan Lewis. And so that just helped us get where we needed to go today, otherwise we'd be a lot further out before we could bring this forward. The short answer is we had been doing work elsewhere that linked up with Morgan Lewis, the group, the law firm, and so we used them here because they helped us get quickly to the outcome that we needed. They had the expertise.

Had we used any other company that had the same kind of expertise? You know, they have the same expertise? No. No.

No. This is a very highly technical, highly specialized, and it's also, frankly, a confidence level, right? When you get into these things, they're highly technical. There's a lot of trust that goes into the – in a world that's highly regulated. You want to know that you can trust going – having some – UNCOMFORTABLE CONVERSATIONS ABOUT STUFF THAT YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND. I CAN SPEAK FROM EXPERIENCE. ARISA IS COMPLICATED. STATE LAW IS COMPLICATED. BUT I'M THANKFUL THAT WE HAD THAT CONNECTION ELSEWHERE FOR OTHER ISSUES WE'RE RESOLVING SPECIFICALLY AROUND BENEFITS THAT WE OFFER OUR EMPLOYEES.

THEY HAD THE DUAL ABILITY OF BOTH LEGAL AND FINANCE IN ONE PACKAGE. ALL RIGHT. THANK YOU VERY MUCH.

Last call for questions from council. Okay. Thank you, Dylan. I'm going to open up public comment on this item 9.1. And who's our first speaker?

We received one speaker card from We the People. Okay.

First of all, there was no staff report that the people could find in the digital agenda packet. Fiduciary duty belongs to the council by law, not workers who can act on fraud, but the council will go to jail for it. Who is Morgan Lewis? How are they identified to present to the council instead of competition with other law firms? No law firm is a monopoly in their expertise, but corruption is. They are chosen by city manager Spadowski as the chosen one, just like a lot of the other positions I've been seeing over and over passed by consent agenda, changing classification without transparency. No confidence in this manager. Conflict of interest between council member Ginette? I believe you are a lawyer, although I was misled to believe that you are a small business owner. I heard once in a committee meeting, are you a lawyer or are you a small business manager? Do you know this firm? How much does this council going to cost us coming from the retirement fund and the taxpayers? They should go out, we should have a bid, go out and invite other law firms to come to act on this topic. How does the police feel about this? Were the police invited to vet on this item or you're just gonna vote without asking the police officers association what they want? This may possibly render all police retirement fund into zero. If investment is done poorly or if the investment of their fund is invested in a foreign country, should we get into a war? Why should city manager be on the committee with voting power? You are someone to be oversighted and now you're gonna have voting power? Talk about stealing power and money to create your own kingdom. Shame on you, Mr. Spadowski. conflict of interest for sure. This open up holes of an outside council to take control of police retirement fund which is the jurisdiction of the city council by law. You are not authorized to then delegate your fiduciary duty to workers? This is a joke. This is definitely not American. NO CONFLICT OF NO CONFIDENCE IN THIS CITY MANAGER WHO HAS MANAGED OUR FINANCES INTO DIRT AND JUST KEEP CHARGING TAXPAYERS WITH MORE AND MORE AND SECRETLY CHANGE POSITION CLASSIFICATION VIA CONSENT AGENDA. IF YOU ALLOW THIS COMMITTEE TO HAPPEN, I CAN EVEN ASK QUESTIONS AS YOU ALL THANKS TO A MOTION, CITY COUNCIL MEMBER. THAT'S ALL YOU DO THE BEST. YOU MOTION WITHOUT ASKING. DEFINITELY NO.

ALL RIGHT. THANK YOU. THE NEXT SPEAKER? ANY OTHER SPEAKER?

THERE ARE NO MORE SPEAKER CARDS, BUT WE DO HAVE SOME REMOTE PARTICIPANTS. FOR REMOTE PARTICIPANTS ATTENDING VIA ZOOM, IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO SPEAK ON THIS ITEM, PLEASE USE THE RAISE YOUR HAND FEATURE OR DIAL STAR 9 ON YOUR TELEPHONE. And it looks like we have no speakers.

Okay. Then with that, I'm going to close. Public comment. Bring it back over to the City Council for determining what we want to do. We have a resolution. We have a draft charter for the committee. We have a proposal. And any final comments from... Council members, before we entertain a motion.

I just forgot to ask one question. All right, go ahead. If that's okay, I'm sorry. Go ahead. I just wanted to ask if anybody could give information about what other cities have a similar committee?

Yes.

Yeah, this is, like I said, this is industry standard for planned governance, and we work with, like right now, working with other city councils that have this similar structure.

Could you provide some examples of similar cities?

Right now, I know that we're doing, well, I don't know that I can. I want to respect confidentiality. I don't, I'm not positive about my ethical obligations about what other city councils are working with right now as a law firm.

Okay, so maybe people who you're not working with.

I can tell you from our research, not a ton, but we do have, for instance, the city of Livermore, Lafayette, which is also where we got some helpful insight into the sort of buildup to it. As you know, our finance director came from the city of Lafayette, so they've established a committee as well. And I'm sure others, but those are the two that we're aware of. And also talking to, this is what helps with the network, you start talking to other cities who are also exploring it. Those people I can't talk about, but we know that others are sort of lining up as well. But those are the two cities that we know have established committees.

Okay, thank you. Okay, other comments? Yeah, just comments for now.

So, well, you know, ERISA law as well as state laws, they are pretty complicated, right? And as we counsel our fiduciary responsible to make sure whatever the money that is coming for these two funds, like 457B as well as for retirement health savings programs, right? So it is very important that the money is responsibly held accountable throughout the process, whether it is an investment or post-disbursement or any place or any phase. So for me, it is important that someone who understands this should be looking at it. It sounds like even though as a council we are delegating this to the committee, but this is a committee who understands better about the finance elements because these are complex finance, right? But then it's not like we are just giving away the whole oversighting. So still council got oversighting. So we still have ability to review, but then I think this is a good idea that we delegate this important critical task to someone who understands the importance of financial accounting and importance of fiduciary responsibility. And so for me, it makes sense that having a committee who can understand, who understand and make sure that they are financially savvy and make sure this is taken care throughout the process. So for me, that's the reason. Also, sorry, one more thing. Initially, I asked the question about FPPC Form 700. All the members, they are going to share their FPPC, so it is pretty clear. It is open to the public. If any of those committee members are purchasing or doing any stock trading on those Investments is clearly visible and they understand the consequences also right so that there is a safeguard guardrails for Things that can go in wrong direction so that is also there so also one more thing is at one point of council thing that hey, this is not right for our City then we can always We can resign this committee. We can remove this committee eventually. So with that, I would support for forming this committee. All right. You have another comment?

Well, I had a question last night.

Oh, you have another question.

No, no, I have a comment. I just wanted to also add that there are some complexities that were discussed that, you know, they're not sure. That may impact also bring some more complexity to the situation. I believe the AB 1383 by McKenna, the bill that has to do with public employees, retirement benefits, safety. I remember, I don't know if that will impact us here, but that those are things that we definitely, um, is that something we need to be looking out for?

I'm not aware of that bill affecting 457B plans. I have to look it up, but I believe that bill is more PERS related, which is a completely separate issue.

It's for PEPRA.

Right. So for PEPRA retirement, again, I don't have the bill in front of me, but that sounds more like a PERS PEPRA retirement than a 457 bill, which is completely voluntary, this 457.

Got it. Oh, that's okay. Yeah, that's right. Okay. Good.

Okay. I agree with Council Member Ross. I mean, we have a very important role as fiduciaries, but I do think it's wise to delegate the fine details of managing these plans to a qualified committee. And I think the membership of the committee looks right. I think the actions as far as the oversight for the day-to-day administration and the different fiduciary functions, I think that looks right. Council's still going to maintain authority for the higher level policy decisions. And I intend to support the committee formation and approval of the resolution. So unless there's any other comments, I'll call for a motion.

I move the motion. Second.

Okay, we have a motion by Council Member Frost, a second by Council Member Adler. Any final discussion? Okay, motion passes unanimously. So we're going to move on to item 10, city manager and city council member comments and matters initiated. We'll start with the city manager.

All right. Thank you, Mayor and members of the council. Three items to highlight this evening. One, there's apple pressing at Crow Canyon Gardens coming up. This is the annual apple tasting event at Crow Canyon Gardens this Saturday, September 12th from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. You can learn about apples, press apples into juice and taste several varieties. that are there at the farm from 11 to noon. There's also free talk on growing better fruit trees from a UC Master Gardener. The pressing begins at noon and this event is free and open to all ages. And you can also go and see the progress on the MUDS building because a portion of the MUDS building finally came down and we are moving towards finishing that whole area. The Live Well Senior Resource Fair is also coming up on Thursday, September 17th from 1 to 4 p.m. at the El Costa Senior and Community Center. Connect with health and wellness professionals along with San Ramon Senior Care and Housing Services. THERE WILL BE HEALTH SCREENINGS AVAILABLE FOR ADULTS 55 PLUS, CAREGIVERS AND THEIR FAMILIES. THIS IS ALSO ANOTHER FREE EVENT AND FOR MORE INFORMATION YOU CAN CALL 925-973-3250. AND FINALLY ANNOUNCING THE ANNUAL FALL MEGA BOOK SALE BY THE LIBRARY FOUNDATION. That'll be at the San Ramon Library on Friday, September 18th and Saturday, September 19th from 10 to 4. You can stack your shelves with gently used books in every genre. And on Saturday, September 19th from 2 to 4, you can fill a bag for just $10. Proceeds will benefit the San Ramon Libraries. And with that, that concludes my update for this evening.

Okay. All right. Thank you. Let me go down to council members right now. Thank you, Mayor.

Just September 11th is upon us. Never forget our first responders and our firefighters and our heroes before us and always remember. So that's it, Mayor. Thank you.

All right. Thank you. Council Member Varos. Not much except attended teen council vice chair selection or appointment. Thanks to once again to all applicants. Amazing teens. All the best to the appointed member, Boynini, Ananya Boynini. So that's pretty much for my side. Thank you. Okay. Thank you, Council Member Adler.

Yeah, I will echo Council Member Verosa's comment about these kids are just so smart and they are so articulate. And I'm very impressed by the high school students in San Ramon and also Danville. They're just... They always impress us when they get up and interview for these slots. I attended on August 28th, Friday, the San Ramon Historic Foundation. They had their final speaker series. at the Walnut Barn at Forest Home Farms. And it was very interesting to hear from Michael Ross Smith, who concluded the series, and his talk was called Coming Home. And he shared stories about renting a small cottage at Forest Home Farms in the, I think it was about 1970, 71, from Ruth Boone. and just stories about talking with her over the years. I mean, it was a pretty good deal. It was $100 a month for rent, and he got to know Mr. and Mrs. Boone, and just very interesting what it was like and how Mrs. Boone came from Beverly Hills when she was one young and then came up to San Ramon to take care of the the farm So that was great, and I know the historic foundation is going to interview. Mr. Smith for posterity you know what he some of the conversations he had with the you know the boons who were instrumental in You know founding San Ramon the second Event I was on August 29th Saturday. I went to the School of Rock and Ribbon cutting ceremony and as you may know they moved to a larger upgraded location at the marketplace very impressive facility The mayor and I both went in there and they have a lot of training rooms there. They even have a stage They were they were playing Steely Dan, which is one of my favorite groups and and it was just great to see You know a center of learning for music in San Ramon. Lots of guitars on the wall, some of the old posters from some of the old music events. So really glad that they just moved just close by to their other location, but this is a better place, and I think it's going to be good for music development in our city. So that's all I did.

All right. Thank you. Vice Mayor Rubio.

So as was mentioned with everyone else, I was in attendance on August 31st for the teen council interview. We did have some very competitive applications for the teen vice chair position. They were all fabulous and I'd encourage them all to come back. um for um and for our county we were fortunate people did step forward to apply uh we were also very fortunate to have uh ed caranza who has 37 years of living here in san ramon and serving in the transportation advisory committee to also sign up to serve as our liaison to to cta um And then, on September 3rd, I attended the Marketing, Planning, and Legislative Committee for County Connection. Of relevance to us here in San Ramon was a Paralympic Parent Transit Rider Satisfaction Survey results, which thankfully came out very good. Most of the scores were well above between four and five out of five max in terms of satisfaction. And they did, of course, provide accommodations to make sure that there was no language barriers or other barriers that could prevent riders from responding. For those who may not know, Paratransit provides ridership for people with disabilities. So it's really important to make sure that we are getting their feedback on these issues. And so far, so good. That's a positive sign. And also, just in case you may not know, September is transit month. So we do have a couple of community events here in San Ramon. On September 15th, we have the Fall Fest Resource Fair at DVC San Ramon from 12 to 3 p.m. And then on September 17th, the Live Well Resource Fair here in San Ramon from 1 to 4 p.m. And then the last thing I just wanted to also mention is to wish everyone a happy National Hispanic Heritage Month, which starts September 15th until October 15th. Thank you.

Okay. And then a few things for me. On the 2nd of September, this was all part of National Preparedness Month for the month of September. I attended a mass care and sheltering exercise. It was done in part by City of Danville, City of San Ramon. It was down at the Danville Community Center, the Fire District, our County and State Office of Emergency Services, various role players, the County Medical Reserve Corps, team and some of their social service departments. Prior to the actual sheltering exercise, they did have some position training, but I thought it was a very successful event and it was great to see we really needed to do this. It's been a while since we've done it and hopefully we'll have more of those in the future. The same day on the 2nd of September, I attended the senior barbecue. This was down at our Alcasa Senior Community Center. It was a great turnout. We had some good socializing some music some barbecues and burgers and nicely attended event and then also on the 2nd of September was the police oath of office swearing in our very own city clerk here Jones Nash all did the Oath of Office for Captain Tammy Williams, Corporal J. Lynn Klauber, and the professional staff was recognized Valerie Powell, Brianna Griffin, Lisa Davey, Sophia Navarro, Duncan Nalosko, and Shanna Kowicki. So that was a nice event as well. And then lastly, I'll just mention that on the 3rd of September, I attended the Leadership San Juan Valley alumni welcome for all the new class of 2027. And I only bring that up because we have three of our own staff members in that class. We've got Debbie Hintz, John Bell, and Steve Cox. So it's a great course, but it's nice to see that Some of our own city staff is getting some of that good education as well. And with that, do we have any, I see a motion over there. We have.

We did receive a speaker card. However, under this item, it's important that they keep comments to only those items that were mentioned just now under city managers and city council member comments.

Okay, then I'll open public comment on this item. Yes, please.

That would be we the people.

Please keep it restricted to just the comments that were made.

Understood. Thank you for the reminder. First of all, I want to thank you all for allowing the public to participate in the teen council interview, which was also an interview for the library and the transportation committee. I want to point out an observation because I was in attendance. I want to compliment Mayor Armstrong. You did a really good job in asking for questions from the council members to make sure nobody has conflicting questions and then everyone agreed on what kind of questions you're going to ask. I thought it was great teamwork under your leadership and I really appreciated Vice Mayor as well as Council Member Adler. You guys have consistently offered COMMENTS AFTER EACH INTERVIEW, AS AN ATTENDEE AND A TAXPAYER, I REALLY APPRECIATE THAT. SO YOU ARE EXHIBITING WHAT IS TRANSPARENT GOVERNMENT. SO WE KNOW WHAT YOU THINK. BECAUSE IN AMERICA, GOVERNMENTS ARE SUPPOSED TO BE TRANSPARENT. WITH THAT SAID, I AM A LITTLE BIT, I WANT TO SHARE AN OBSERVATION THAT SORT OF SENT ME A LITTLE BIT PUZZLED. COUNCILMEMBER DRINETTE SORT OF AT THE END BACKSTABBED YOU GUYS IN MY OPINION BECAUSE HE BLAMED YOU GUYS, EVERYONE, FOR ASKING BAD QUESTIONS. I DIDN'T UNDERSTAND THAT. WHEN THE QUESTIONS WERE ALREADY PRESENTED PRIOR TO ASKING, IF HE THOUGHT THE QUESTIONS WERE BAD, WHY DIDN'T HE RAISE QUESTIONS ON YOUR QUESTIONS TO BEGIN WITH? WHY DID HE THEN BACKSTAB THE COUNCIL? After all interviews were done and said, and perhaps the comments were made not to his preference or liking of a particular candidate, and then he backstabbed everyone by saying those were bad questions anyways. If it's possible, I would like Council Member Ginette to explain himself. Furthermore, I would like to compliment Council Member Ginette for pointing out September 11th is a very important time day that we should really thank our first responders, our police, our firefighters, our ambulance workers. They're the ones that make our government, our society, our community, our quality of life top-notch. Therefore, it is very important to remember that. With that said, I looked up Council Member Ginette's lawyer license information on the government webpage. I don't know if they made a mistake. You were admitted in 2020, but in your bio, you have said that you have worked in California prior to this position in LA and that you speak Arabic. Perhaps the California government website is wrong about you. It is important to stay transparent. So if it's possible, I'd like to know more about you. Thank you.

All right, thank you. Any other public comments? Okay, seeing none, then in recognition of 25 years since 9-11, I'm going to adjourn tonight's council meeting in honor of Thomas E. Burnett, Jr. Tom and his wife, Dina, and their three children lived in San Ramon. And on September 11, 2001, Tom called his wife, Dina, from on board United Flight 93 to tell her that the plane he was on en route back from Newark to San Francisco had been hijacked. Over about a 30-minute period, he made several phone calls to Dina. And on the final call, he told her, don't worry, we're going to do something. His last known words heard on the cockpit voice recorder were, we're going in. Flight 93 tragically crashed in a Pennsylvania field, killing all 44 on board. But the actions of Tom and the other passengers likely prevented a crash of that plane into the White House or Capitol building. Tom Burnett, one of our San Ramon residents, was one of the heroes of 9-11. His name is on the monument at San Ramon Memorial Park. and the overcrossing of Interstate 680 on Fostoria Way is named in honor of him. In honor of Thomas E. Burnett, Jr., this meeting is adjourned.