City Council - Regular Meeting

All right. Good evening ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, fans of all ages. I'd like to welcome you all to tonight's regular session of the Saratoga City Council. It's 05/06/2026. And I want to call the meeting to order and advise everyone that this meeting is being recorded. The recording will be made available on the city website. First of all, I'd like to ask everybody to please join me, stand up, and let's do the Pledge of Allegiance. If we don't knock the place over. 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.

Thank you. Britt, can you please proceed with the roll call and the other legally required stuff?

Members of the public may participate in this meeting in person at the location listed on the agenda or via remote attendance using the information listed on the agenda. Public attendees participating remotely are automatically muted and are not viewable on camera. I will now call the roll. Council Member Aftab?

Present.

Fitzsimmons? Present. Zhao?

Present.

Vice Mayor Wallia? Present. Mayor Page?

Present.

We have a quorum and the agenda was posted on 05/01/2026.

Thank you. Earlier this evening we had a joint session with our West Valley Solid Waste Management Authority. That consists of our collection company, which is West Valley Recycling, and our executive director. So I think that they're still here. And they're going to come down and give us a brief update on what we discussed and what we learned.

Good evening, mayor, members of council. It was good meeting with you earlier to talk about the programs and services that are offered in your solid waste and recycling program. During the discussion, we talked about the range of services that are available to each of the sectors and really highlighted some of the extraordinary services and unusual services that we have available to people, particularly things like the bulk item collection that allows for up to three times a year single family residents can request large item collection, extra trash to be collected, saving hundreds of dollars compared to calling a junk hauler or something like that, and make sure that those materials get recycled appropriately. We also talked about our battery program and the new format of that program with the new fluorescent bags for folks, and the used cooking oil program, as well as our standard recycling and organics programs to meet state requirements. We also started talking a bit about the funding structure of that and how rate adjustments work.

It's important for the public to know that the contract that governs this includes a rate formula, and the rates get adjusted every year by that formula. So coming up this year, we're looking at about a 2% increase for residential rates, and those notices have gone out to folks. So great working with you, and here for any questions you may have.

Thank you, Rob. And counsel, I'd like you to know that Rob has actually been in our council chambers before. In fact, this was the first city council meeting that he ever attended when he was six years old. His dad was appointed to our finance commission, which we had at the time. And he dragged him along to say, this is what you're going be doing someday.

Glad to be back with you.

Thanks a lot, Ron. All right. Now it's time for oral communications on non agendized items. This is the opportunity for members of our community that are in person here in hall together to speak on any item that is not on tonight's agenda. So Britt, if you would please explain the public comment process and announce the speaker if we have one.

City Council will receive oral communications on non agendized matters from those individuals attending in person at this time. Oral communications on non agendized matters from those individuals attending remotely will take place at the end of the meeting. If you would like to address the city council on an item not on the agenda, please submit a speaker slip or approach the podium at this time. Mayor? I see no speakers.

Okay. Thank you. Seeing no speakers we'll close that part of the meeting and move on. So I've got some announcements to make. Saratoga Knights is back.

Please join the Chamber of Commerce and all of our wonderful citizens on Thursday, May 7. Saratoga Knights is the first Thursday of each month through the month of October from 5PM to 8PM in the heart of the historic Saratoga Village. Enjoying an evening filled with live music, wine and beer tents, and a lively venue that showcases the charm of our town. Whether you're unwinding with friends or enjoying an evening stroll, or just want to support local businesses, this is the time to come out and enjoy Saratoga Nights. So mark your calendar. It's tomorrow night. We'll be there. Thank you. Next up, farmers market. Saratoga has a farmers market.

Have several actually, but we have one at West Valley College. And every month, the mayor has some time there. This month, we are doing it this coming week. So it's actually the second Saturday instead of the first. And so from ten till noon, the mayor will be there. Please come to share your thoughts, ask questions, discuss ideas, complain, whatever you need. I'm there and I want to hear from you. So, please stop by. The Farmer's Market is open from 9AM to 1PM. So, after you're done chewing my ear off, you can actually do some shopping too. We appreciate that. So, it's at West Valley College, Parking Lot 3. Love to see you out there. Memorial Day is coming up. And we will have another meeting before then.

But I want to make sure that everyone is aware that Saratoga's Memorial Day's observance will be Monday, May 25. And the event is organized by the Saratoga Foothill Club and sponsored by the city. The event begins at 09:30 a m at the Memorial Arch in Blaney Plaza. We have a flag ceremony and then a procession walking up Oak Street to Madronia Cemetery. At 10AM, we'll honor our veterans and active service members. All ages and community groups are welcome to attend this very, very special tradition. It's it's definitely one of the the top two events that our city has. So please plan on attending Monday, May 25. Are there any council members who'd like to share any items? Okay.

Seeing none. We have a couple of ceremonial items. So this week, this meeting I'm proud to recognize National Small Business Week. And I was wondering if president of the board of the Chamber of Commerce, Jim Cargill, and any of their chamber representatives will join me. And if there's any small business people here, come on up too.

Join me at the stage, and if the council will join me, I'd appreciate it. Thank you for being here. As mayor of Saratoga, I am proud to proclaim May 2026 as National Small Business Week here in the city of Saratoga. National Small Business Week is a time to recognize the hard work, innovation and dedication of small business owners and entrepreneurs and to celebrate the important role that they play in strengthening our local economy and our community. Small businesses help define the character of Saratoga.

They create jobs, provide personalized services and contribute to the unique charm and vitality of our city. The city is grateful for the many small businesses that serve our community. We also want to recognize the Saratoga Chamber of Commerce for its long standing commitment to supporting local businesses and fostering community connections. In addition to its business advocacy, the chamber brings residents and visitors together through beloved community events such as the Saratoga classic car show, the wine strolls, Saratoga nights and candy cane lane after our tree lighting. All of which help strengthen community spirit and support local businesses particularly in the Saratoga village.

On behalf of the entire city council, I'd like to present this proclamation to you Jim. And I suspect you might wanna say a few words.

Just a couple. Thank you very much, Mayor Page. It's an honor to receive this and to be recognized members of the community as a chamber. We certainly recognize the struggles that small businesses have and large businesses, and we're really the lifeblood of the community. And it's our mission to give back to the community and really bring these businesses together to just for the benefit of the community and vitality of the community.

So it's great to be recognized this week, but I just want everybody to remember there's 51 other weeks that we need support. So thank you very much. And I'm here with Mark Chapman, who is the Vice President of the chamber as well celebrating this proclamation. So thank you very much.

Alright. Thank you. So I'll remind everybody, the chamber is the first event of our year is gonna be this, it's tomorrow. And then the next event will be the wine stroll, the pre mother's day wine stroll. So bring your moms out, get them tanked. I mean, have a great time with your mom. That'll be that'll be Sunday, Saturday the ninth. So time for some pictures. Alright. Thank you very much.

Alright. Now I'd like to invite father Basil of Saint Nicholas Orthodox Church to come on up. And take your time father. Father Basil, thank you for joining us. I've been a fan of this church for a very long time.

I got to meet father Basil and and some of the congregation when we had an event in Saratoga called Building Bridges many many years ago. And it was an opportunity where churches opened their doors to anybody of any faith, share a little light, shed a little love. It was it was awesome. But as mayor of Saratoga, I am proud today to recognize the seventy fifth anniversary of Saint Nicholas Orthodox Church right here in good old Saratoga. It was founded in 1951 by Eastern Orthodox Christian families who immigrated to The United States after fleeing war and political prosecution or persecution, sorry, in Eastern Europe.

Saint Nicholas has faithfully served the Saratoga community for seventy five years. Beginning with worship services held in a small room behind a Saratoga real estate office, the parish grew into a lasting spiritual and cultural institution in our community. Over the decades, the church has preserved and shared traditions, music and cultural heritage while welcoming generations of families and parishioners. The church has also contributed to the cultural life of Saratoga through festivals, bazaars, charitable efforts and community gatherings including early events held at Villa Montalvo. We also want to recognize Father Basil Rhodes, who has faithfully served the parish since 1983 and has provided decades of spiritual leadership, compassion and guidance to the congregation and our broader community.

On behalf of the entire city council, I'd like to present this proclamation to you. Thank you. And father, you may wanna say a couple words and I can hold that for you if you would like.

Mister mayor, thank you. City council members, fellow Saratogaans. It's my real honor and pleasure to be receiving this award on behalf of the parish. It's remarkable that we've been kind of a little hidden gem back in a neighborhood, right? Where people don't even know that we're even there. But we to feel ourselves as really a part of this community. We love being in Saratoga. We love this the town of Saratoga and we hope to be here forever and ever. Thank you.

Excellent, thank you. I'd like to, I don't know if tickets are still available, but their seventy fifth anniversary party is this weekend. Saturday? Saturday, I believe?

Yeah. The bishop is coming. We'll have the services at 09:30 at the church, and then after that, we have the banquet that's happening at the Saint Archangel Michael Serbian Church Hall there, their church hall there. But I think the tickets are all sold.

Okay. Well, I got mine. Good. So thank you so much. Thank

you so much.

How about a picture? I do want to give any members of the public an opportunity to speak on either of those two commendations or those proclamations if they'd like to. So I'll open the public comment period. Britt if you might want to.

If you would like to address the City Council on either of those items, now is the time to approach the podium or raise your hand. Mayor, I see no speakers.

Okay. Then we will close the public comment period and we'll move to our next item. Which is our consent calendar. So the consent calendar consists of items that are typically noncontroversial. However, items in the section are usually acted on in one motion unless removed by the mayor or a council member. Any member of the public may speak on an item on the consent calendar at this time. Or request that the mayor remove an item from the consent calendar for discussion. If you'd like to do so, now would be the time. Britt? Oh, guess I can just ask if they If anybody wants to come down and pull an item, please do it.

Or if you're online, raise your virtual hand. Seeing no one racing to the stage.

I see, and I see no hands raised.

Nobody's online. Okay. Nobody's online wanting to talk on this item. All right. Do we have any motions or anybody want to pull an item?

Yan.

Okay. I'm ready to make a motion if no one's pulling any items. Okay. I move to approve consent calendar item 1.1 through 1.7.

Alright. Have a motion. Is there a second?

Second.

Seconded by Vice Mayor. All in favor please say aye. Aye. Any opposed? None. The motion carries five, o. All right. Next up is our first public hearing. This is item number 2.1, a public hearing on an ordinance implementing the 2025 speed survey update speed limit changes. May we have a staff report please, Emma.

Absolutely. Good evening mayor and city council. At its meeting on 03/04/2026, the city council approved a resolution directing that speed limit be lowered on 13 of the 27 roadway segments included in the 2025 speed survey update. This ordinance would amend the city code to implement that direction. If introduced tonight, then adopted on 05/20/2026, the staff will begin replacing and installing speed limit signs thirty days after final adoption. It is therefore recommended that counsel conduct a public hearing, introduce and waive the first reading of the ordinance, and direct staff to place the ordinance for adoption at the next regular meeting on 05/20/2026. This concludes my presentation. And I'm happy to answer any questions.

Do we have any questions? Either we're going too fast or too slow, one or the other. Right. Good thing nobody's here clocking us. Okay. Well, we'll open the public comment period and give the folks a chance to weigh in.

If you would like to address the City Council on this item, you're attending the meeting in person, now is the time to approach the podium. If you're attending the meeting via Zoom, now is the time to raise your hand. Mayor, I see no speakers.

Okay. Just want to advise everybody, this is your last chance to go fast on those roads. They're going to be slower. And they will be policed. So do we have a motion? Falal.

So I'll move to, I move the staff recommendation to conduct this public hearing that we've just done, introduce and waive the first reading of the ordinance, and to direct staff to place the ordinance for adoption at the 05/20/2026 meeting.

Second.

We have a motion and a second. Any discussion? All in favor please say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Any abstentions? Motion carries. Five, zero, zero. Thank you. All righty then. We'll move on to our next item. This is general business item number 3.1, the final map approval for 52 lots located at Chester Avenue and Allendale Avenue. And the final Williamson Act cancellation. Hi, Brian, and we'd love to hear your report.

Good evening, Mayor Page, Vice Mayor Wallia, members of the city council, and residents of the city of Saratoga. My name is Brian Swanson. I serve as the community development director for the beautiful city of Saratoga. Tonight is a big night for the community. Before the city council's request to approve a 52 lot final map in the final Williamson act cancellation for the Chester Avenue and Allendale Avenue property.

As a reminder, according to the subdivision map act, once the final map has been filed with the city clerk, the city council must approve a final map. For a brief background, the applicant submitted a builder's remedy application consisting of two thirty one dwelling units on the subject property. On 09/10/2025, the same applicant submitted a 52 lot application. The applicant in the city then entered into a memorandum of understanding, an MOU, which was later amended, under which, in processing the builder's remedy application, the applicant will withdraw the builder's remedy application if the city council approves the final map by 05/06/2026. Per the conditions of approval of the tentative subdivision map, the Williamson Act contract on the property must be canceled prior to recording the final map.

So we have one action tonight to cancel the Williamson Act and to approve the final map. The property owners entered into a Williamson Act contract with the city in 1972. On 03/18/2026, the council granted tentative cancellation of the contract subject to conditions required by statute. The payment of a cancellation fee was equal to 12% of the property's appraised value, which is $3,828,125 With the approval of the final map, these conditions will be met, and the final cancellation must be granted. And finally, an introduction to some of the newest street names to Saratoga within this development.

Bella City Way, Isabella Court, and Angelo Court. And finally, I'd like to thank, it's been a big lift from staff from time, in addition to working with the city attorney's office. And I'd like to commend their efforts for helping us and guiding us, in addition to all the staff work that's gone into this. That concludes my presentation.

Thank you, Brian. I'd like to open it up for any questions of staff. I have one. I just want to make clear we've received some questions. Gotten them at the farmers market in the past. And it has to do with the timing and the sequence and the process that we're following. The cancellation of the Williamson Act, some people are a little anxious about that. I know you said it in your presentation. I just wanted to make you step that part out and highlight it. And if the city attorney wants to weigh in, we'd welcome that too.

Definitely. So the Williamson Act, according to the conditions of the project, the Williamson Act must be canceled for the final map to meet the tentative conditions to be final. If that happens this evening, which it should, ninety days after the approval, the builder's remedy application will be withdrawn.

So in other words, if we don't do this tonight, before, because I guess it has to go back before May 20, whatever.

So if we don't, so we have an MOU, which requires us to take action. And so if that does not happen, it would be in violation of the MOU.

And then we go back to the two forty Something homes.

That's correct.

Gotcha. Any questions? Okay. And then I'd like to open it up to public comment. Is there anyone here that would like to ask a question or make some comments, please come forward. If you could fill out a slip so that we could follow-up with you, we'd appreciate it. And if you're online, now would be the time to raise your virtual hand.

Sorry. Good evening, Council Mayor Page, Vice Mayor Wallia, the rest of the council. My name is Thomas Wilson on behalf of the project. And what a moment that it is that we've gotten to tonight. If you go back three years ago, I don't think anyone would have thought this would have been possible for us to be on the final night ready to approve a map for 52 single family homes on this property.

We are very excited to be moving forward. We are heads down with dialing out the homes on the site. We are detailing the plans, making sure window placement is correct, doors are correct, colors are correct, siding, stucco, plants. We are so involved in this project right now. We fully intend to put a shovel in the ground in June, and we will carry that up with pulling building permits in July.

When we pull building permits, there will be a large check written to the city for impact fees and permit fees upwards of $5,000,000 It is my ask tonight that council approve this plan so we can fulfill our obligation to MOU, and we can get this project off and running. Thank you.

Thank you, Tom. Is there anyone else? Britt, maybe you want to take from If

you would like to address the city council on this item and you're attending via Zoom, now is the time to raise your hand. Mayor, I see no hands raised.

Okay. So we'll close the public comment period and bring it back to counsel. For any discussion or motion, I'll just give out clues here.

I'm happy to make a motion that we adopt the resolution granting final map approval of the tentative map application number SUB 20 five-two for lots located at Chester Avenue and Allendale Avenue and final cancellation of a Williamson Act contract for the same property. The recommended action is as listed in the staff report.

Okay. And do we have a second?

I'll second.

Second by Bilal. Thank you so much. All in favor please say aye. Oh, any discussion? Sorry. I'm sorry.

Go ahead. Jump in. Yeah. I just want to say a couple of quick thank yous. A big thank you to our staff for working so diligently over the last couple of years. Specifically, the last year, though, has been a real sprint and probably the last, like, seven or eight months to get this to where it is. I think this is a great outcome for our community in general. I also want to thank the developers for all of those that have put the time in here. Like you mentioned, three years ago, it did not look like this was going in a positive direction. And there were also some things which, in my view, crossed the line back then.

And so I appreciate you sticking with us and deciding to, you know, to work with the community and to work with us to make this a, you know, something that I think the residents now have come to love. And and also thank you to the residents as well for working with the developers and with the city so we can all put together something that we all feel a lot better about. So thank you very much.

Okay. Anybody else? I'd just like to also thank everybody involved. Staff, the community, certainly the builder and the project people. When people work with people, good things happen. And when we don't communicate, not so good things happen. So I'm really glad that we all got together, that the communications happened effectively. And a solution that, you know, change is tough. It's really tough. And especially in certain parts of the country and in certain people, you get used to something.

Change is unfortunately inevitable in most cases, though. So we have to do that, too. But I think the fact that we worked together and came up with a solution that is much more palatable, I think, is a wonderful thing. And I look forward to seeing shovel in the ground. So, Tina.

Tina I'll keep it short. Thank you to the neighborhood for working with the developers. Thank you, the developers, for working with the neighbors. And of course, thank you to staff for working with all parties. And this is a solution that works for all. We have heard a lot from the residents along the way. And they have supported this in the last few months. And I just wanted to point that out. So thank you, everyone.

Okay. Anybody else? Yan?

Well, again, thanks everyone for working together. But I think most importantly, I want to congratulate all parties for, you know, getting where we are today. So, great job for working together and can't wait to see the project break ground. So thank you.

All right. All those in favor, please say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Any abstentions? With that the motion carries, five-zero. Congratulations. We'll see you in the summertime.

Thank you City Council.

Thanks a lot. All right. Our next item is item 3.2, a summary of city arborist functions and responsibilities. And could we have a staff report please?

Good evening, Mayor Page and council members. Tonight I'll be providing a summary of the city arborist functions and responsibilities broken out into priorities. The first priority would be emergency response and development review. I'll be reviewing my availability to the community, permit processing and code enforcement, and lastly, program development, including ordinance updates. Priority one is emergency response.

Reviewing and issuing tree permits for trees in active failure, posing an imminent threat to persons and property requires my immediate attention. However, this task does not take up a substantial amount of my time unless there is a severe storm event. Plan review associated with development permit have state mandated deadlines stemming from the 1977 California Permit Streamlining Act. Approximately a 100 projects a year are reviewed by the arborist for impacts on protected trees. At any given time, there are about 400 projects that require oversight.

In addition to the initial planning review of projects, projects are required to have monitoring during construction and a final inspection to assure that the tree protection plan was followed. My second priority is to deliver responsive, accessible customer service to residents, contractors, and applicants. I respond to inquiries via email and phone, including guidance on tree health, best management practices, tree regulations, permit requirements, and code compliance. I provide in person assistance Monday through Thursdays from one to three p. M, ensuring our residents have direct access to arborist expertise.

I conduct site inspections at residents' homes relating to their tree permits or development projects, and I respond to residents with reporting concerns such as hazardous or illegally removed and pruned trees. I'm going to give you a brief summary of what a tree permit application is when you apply for one. The City has thirty days to review a tree permit application. In 2025, tree permits were issued on average about seventeen and a half days after they were applied for. Once the tree permit application has been submitted, the site visit generally takes place within one week.

If the city intends to approve the tree removal and notification is required, there's a fifteen day mandatory waiting period after the notices are mailed and before the permit can be issued. If it's not apparent that the tree meets any of the criteria for it to be removed, the applicant will receive an email and have a few weeks to respond with additional information, after which the permit is denied and the applicant has the right to appeal. Tree appeals can be filed to stop a permit from being issued, or can be filed after denial is issued. The tree permit would be reviewed at a public hearing by the Planning Commission, and the appellant would also have the right to appeal the Planning Commission decision to the City Council, which would be the final determination from the city. In addition to our regular tree permitting process, we have what we call the after the fact tree permit, which is a permit for work that has already taken place.

The code enforcement applied to trees is complaint driven. Once the city receives a complaint, a site visit typically takes place within one business day. If a violation is found, a letter is sent to the homeowner. They have thirty days to submit their after the fact tree permit application. If the homeowner is non responsive, the violation is routed to code enforcement for further action.

After the fact permits can either be for tree removal, improper or excessive pruning, or encroachment into the tree root zone. Trees that are removed without a permit must be replaced with trees equal to the assessed value of the trees that were removed. Trees that have been damaged by excessive pruning or encroachment have a mitigation plan drafted, and the homeowner is required to follow these steps. Some examples of mitigation are restoration pruning, compaction mitigation, and supplemental irrigation. On average mitigation plans span about two years.

The fourth priority consists of long range and policy oriented work, including updates to the tree regulations, wildfire resiliency initiatives, and process improvements. Every year, the city has an annual code cleanup that can remove typos or clarify sections. In addition, larger ordinance changes such as the one that took effect on March 6 to improve safety and hardening for wildfires are made to address new community needs and public concerns. The implementation of internal process changes happens frequently within the City Of Saratoga. These include updates to the City website, creation of handouts and forms such as the new EMBER Resistant Maintenance Agreement, and larger process changes such as our recent change to take in building permits online, which required significant effort from the entire staff.

The City Arborist serves as both technical expert and public facing resource implementing Saratoga Tree Preservation Ordinance. These functions collectively support the city's policy objectives of preserving Saratoga's urban forest and enhancing community safety while facilitating responsible development and responsive municipal services. This concludes my presentation, and I'm happy to take any questions.

Thank you, Christina. I was wondering if you might just take a moment, take a deep breath, and just tell us about you and your experience. And I know you've been here for a while. Tell people about you so that people can feel comfortable.

I love working for the city of Saratoga. I love the environment of Saratoga, and I love the way that residents are so protective of their trees here. You know, always balance our residents' rights to develop and really treat their property the way they want with our community needs for this sense of place. And it's, you know, on our city seal, we have a giant oak tree and two redwoods. Rural community is so important to us.

You know, with all of our events that we have, we had our Arbor Day celebration recently. And so Saratoga just has a beautiful community, and I think trees are an integral part of that, and I'm proud to be here representing the community and protecting these assets that we cherish.

Excellent. Thank you. Any questions? Nobody's got questions? Malol?

I had a question. The tree permit, in terms of filling out the permit online, it's one of those where you can only print out and bring in. Is that correct?

Currently, that is the situation. I don't know if you recall a few years ago, had an online tree permit application.

Yeah.

And we had a few difficulties with it and ended up pulling it down. Okay. The city really is moving toward online submittal. We're starting with building permits, we're hoping to expand that. So I agree with you that that is an excellent idea to have that tree permit online accessible to applicants, and I'm looking forward to that getting implemented in the future years.

Thanks. And if you have any suggestions for us as a council, I know in terms of thinking about, hey, our city is a Tree City USA. There's actually a lot of rules and regulations that residents oftentimes don't actually know about, even those who have been here a long time. Can we be doing more to educate them? What are some ideas you might have on that?

That's a great idea. I feel like the majority of our code violation cases are actually new residents, And that could be a focus for us if we could have some ideas to reach out to our new residents. It's not a very welcoming way to enter the city with code violation letters.

Yeah, thank you.

So that would be an area of focus that I would think could use some

help. That was an awesome comment. The code enforcement officer knocking on your door is not the greatest way to get introduced to our city.

It's right. Yeah, welcome a lot of people to Saratoga in a less than ideal situation.

You're so right. And we are, you know, we don't have, we don't staff code enforcement to a great extent. We're not driving around looking for stuff. But, you know, I think one of the things is that people, we do love our trees. We do love the way that our city looks.

And we know that if a tree comes down and a new one's not planted, we'll lose our canopy after some number of years. Either through natural selection or through people doing stuff illegally. So if you see somebody cutting down a tree or somebody has somebody over their yard and they've got a, you know, a U Haul box truck that they're throwing the trunks into, they're probably not legit. But is there a way, I know that at one point we had on our website, we may still, but I don't know how updated it is, a list of tree removal permits. Is there anything that could be done to get that more real time so people, you know, if I get a call on a Saturday, and I'm certainly not going to call you, I'm going to go and want to look at the web or look at something. And, you know, I try to look for it. But is there something that people could do?

That's a great question. We actually have in the work, right now we have a planning development map that you can look at. And we're going be introducing one for tree permits in the near future.

Oh, excellent. So,

yes. The answer to your question is yes. We will be doing that soon.

Beautiful. That's great. Tina.

I'm glad you brought that up. A lot of new residents, a few. I shouldn't say a lot, a lot is a lot number, large number. A few residents have been surprised moving from one of the other Bay Area cities coming to Saratoga. They were they came here.

They loved Saratoga because of the trees, or that was one of the reasons. And then unwittingly, some of them were caught in this awkward situation where they were pruning it, not realizing the regulations. One of the suggestions I've had in the past is if we inform, educate our realtors to share that information as a regular guideline, just reminding them if they can share with people who are buying homes, because that's one place the new resident is getting information. They are not necessarily coming to City Hall right away. That may work. A thought.

That's correct, yes. That's a good point that you make and I will look into that. Thank you.

Thanks.

Any other questions? Okay. Thank you. We'll open up the, did I do the public eye? I didn't do that yet, did I? I don't even know where I am. Another question, Tina? Oh, can go ask a question. Okay. Then I'd like to open the public comment period and let anyone who'd like to speak on this item come forward or raise your virtual hand.

If you would like to address the City Council on this item, you're attending the meeting in person, now is the time to approach the podium. If you're attending via Zoom, now is the time to raise your hand. Mayor, I see no speakers.

Neither do I. There is no action on this item. So thank you, Christina. Thanks so much for sharing. And keep your cards and letters coming. Oh, Belong. I have one more question actually.

Yeah, On the website it talks about tree companies that need to have a Saratoga business license and an ISA certified arborist on staff. Do we have a list that provide residents of those companies that could do the removal?

We don't have a list of companies that

are

approved. I would like to have something like that, but that is one more thing I would need to manage.

Of course, yeah.

The list of things I just said, I mean, that's

a lot.

Yeah, yeah.

I'm the only arborist in the plane department. I do all of the things that I just listed. So I have a little wish list in my mind, and that's one of those things. But like I said, that's one more thing I would have to manage and keep current, and I just haven't found the time to do that. It is a service I would love to provide.

Yeah. I was also just curious. So a resident would then call the removal company, ask if they have a business license in Saratoga, and ask if they're ISA certified. So that's the process that they would follow.

Yeah. Well, can call the city and ask and verify Saratoga Business License.

Okay.

They can also call the city and verify their ISA certification. The ISA certification is for an individual, not a company. So they need to have someone on their staff. And that brings one of the issues with keeping that current list is if they're turning over their staff, they may or may not still be in compliance. So that's something that I would need to manage and really wrap my head around that process and how that would work.

Okay. Thank you.

But I'm happy to verify any certified RRORs for any resident who wants to call in.

Okay. Thanks. Leanne?

Just a quick comment. Excuse me. Thank you so much for the great presentation. I really appreciate the great work you do. I heard a lot of compliments, so I do want to pass that to you. So, thank you for sharing, you know, the, the permit process and timeline, especially talk about the workload that you have been working and your responsibilities. So this is a really good report, kind of gave us a good transparency into how resources are allocated. So I just want to say thank you for the great work you have been doing. And I heard all the great compliments for you. So thank you.

Thank you, Yan.

All right. Thank you very much, Christina. All right. Our next item is general business item 3.3 regarding public safety revenue enhancements. What an interesting phrase.

I think that one's you, right Leslie?

That is. So good evening, Mayor, Vice Mayor, and Council Members. Tonight I'll provide a brief overview of the city's fiscal outlook, the concept of looking into possibly what it would take to become a charter city and potential revenue options. As you know, the city is facing a structural deficit, and where ongoing expenditures are projected to outpace revenues over the next five years. A key driver is the proposed $2,600,000 increase in the sheriff's contract.

While we can balance the fiscal year 'twenty six-'twenty seven budget in the short term, it relies on temporary measures, reducing operations, deferring capital and pension contributions and using reserves. And this is just simply not sustainable. At the current pace, general fund reserves could be depleted within three to four years. As a result, the city is exploring additional revenue options, including the implications of possibly what it would entail to become a charter city. Saratoga is currently a general law city, meaning we follow state law.

A charter city, by contrast, operates under a voter approved charter and has greater control over municipal affairs, such as local governance, contracting, and administrative procedures. Importantly, charter cities may adopt a real property transfer tax with voter approval, which is an option that's not available to general law cities. State law would still apply in areas of statewide concern, including housing and environmental regulations. There's some pros and cons for consideration. Becoming a charter city could provide greater local control, flexibility in contracting, and opportunities to streamline operations.

However, there are also important considerations, such as legal complexity in defining local authority. There's no guaranteed cost savings. There are upfront costs for legal services outreach and elections and the need for strong community engagement and voter approval. The process of this would include drafting a charter, conducting public outreach, council review, and ultimately voter approval at a statewide election. In terms of revenue options, more broadly, addressing the deficit will likely require new revenue, which would also require voter approval potentially in November 2028.

Options include a parcel tax, utility users tax, sales tax add on, or transit occupancy tax, though these generate varying levels of revenue. A real property transfer tax could generate approximately $3,000,000 annually and is one of the few options at the scale needed to address the sheriff contract increase. However, it is cyclical and dependent on the housing market. There's also a potential statewide measure in 2026 that could limit this option. This concludes my staff report. I, along with the Administrative Services Director, Ryan Hinchman, are here to answer any questions. Thank you.

Do we have any questions? Yes, Ann.

Leslie, thank you so much for the presentation. Just a quick question. You mentioned that there's a valid measure in November this year. So, in case a measure pass passes and the charter city will lose the ability to increase the, I guess, the document transfer fees as well as other utility fees, user tax fees. Is that correct? Is my understanding correct?

Well, I will let Richard talk about that, the Jarvis one.

So the measure would invalidate and prohibit future real estate transfer taxes in excess of that, which general law cities can collect today. And it would do a number of other things, which I have not reviewed in connection with tonight's matter. But the main effect of the measure relevant to what counsel is considering is And it's not that it would impose a two thirds requirement. It would say no. Even if two thirds of the voters want this tax, they may not have it.

Can you repeat the last sentence? You said it's two third of city or two third of

No, I'm sorry. So typically, way the law has worked in California is that taxes require a two thirds voter approval. And if Saratoga were to become a charter city and were to propose a tax and dedicate it to public safety, it would require two thirds voter approval. What this initiative would mean is that the voters of California would be voters of Saratoga would be prohibited from adopting a tax like that, even if two thirds of them support it. So it's not a tool that we could use.

Got it. Thank you.

Any other questions? Richard, would that mean that if a law had been if some city had that in place, would it be clawed back?

That's what the initiative says.

That's what I thought.

I expect there will be litigation about that. But

Thank you. Any other questions? This is the time for questions. Yes. So

the topic tonight is potential revenue enhancements. Just to be clear, any revenue enhancement, meaning any potential change to who we are as a city of becoming a charter city or deciding to implement something like a parcel tax, that would have to go to our residents for approval. Is that correct? Correct. Thank you.

And nobody else got any questions. I'll throw a few out What kind of timeframe would we be talking about to put together regardless

of what

it was to become a charter city? Like, I mean, obviously there's a bunch of legal mumbo stuff that needs to be done first. And then after that, there would be an election. And then the city would choose. The voters would choose. How about on the parcel tax? Is that something that could be done in a shorter period of time, longer period of time? What does take?

Well, for the charter city and then I'll go to the personal tax. But for the charter city, you're generally looking at anywhere from twelve to twenty four months. And that's really from kickoff to voter approval. And along those same lines, you're looking at a range of around $100,000 to $300,000 to do this. And so it just depends on how the process is structured. But as you mentioned, there's a bunch of things that need to happen. You need to do a legal analysis, a financial analysis. You need to kick it off with the community and do outreach. Then you need to do drafting the charter. You need to have public workshops with the community, council action, voter approval.

So again, the fast track is twelve months. And in fact, Atherton right now is looking into this. And they are actually on the fast track. And they're putting it on the ballot in November. And they are doing this in about eleven months. So again, that's the fast track of about a year, but it could take up to two years. With regards to the parcel tax, that is a little bit quicker. You'd want to do feasibility. You'd want do polling. That could take a couple of months. Then you want to drafting and do outreach. So you want to do the ordinance language. You want to do community engagement, council actions. So you're looking anywhere from that could be up to a year or so. The fast track would be around six to nine months for a parcel tax.

For the parcel tax?

Yeah. For the parcel tax.

Yeah. And I just want to for the Charter City, that has to be adopted at a statewide general election. So November 2028 would be the soonest. And the parcel tax could be done at a special election, which of course would have its own cost, but you've got there's more flexibility.

Okay. Thank you. Any other questions? Tina?

So Leslie, this is what we were talking of a couple of days ago when I met you, and I was asking you what's the process for each of these, the timeline and the cost. So thank you for the responses you have given. And so the parcel tax, what is the cost there? And to Richard's point, if it's a statewide general election, is there a special or not special cost just to put it on the election as well, on the ballot? And if there's a special election, not the statewide, which is for the parcel tax, what kind of costs are we talking for that?

Well, don't know exactly like the cost for special election, but just the costs in general for a parcel tax could be anywhere from $125,000 to $300,000 And what does that include? That includes the legal drafting. It includes financial analysis and polling. It includes community outreach and election costs. And those election costs could be anywhere from 50,000 to $150,000

For a special election or general?

The more expensive, yeah. The special election probably closer to $150,000 Okay.

Because I'm trying to figure out what is the delta, but that's fine. We get a range of

The delta for the probably around

one Special election. Okay. Election could be adding on or the Thank 100 you. And for the so that was the charter?

That was the parcel.

That was the parcel as well. Okay. Because similar numbers.

Charter, yeah, again, charter could be yeah, anywhere from 100,000 to $300,000 as well. So similar numbers.

CHARGE: Yeah. Okay. And a long process. Thank you. Anybody

else? Okay. We'd like to open the public comment period.

Britt?

If you would like to address the city council on this item and you have not submitted a speaker slip, now is the time to do so. If you're attending the meeting via Zoom, now is the time to raise your hand. I have one speaker slip. Stan Bagojian.

Hold on, Stan.

Good evening. I sense that this is a big struggle for the council. Perhaps in all the years I've been involved in watching politics and participating in it, this is comparable to the housing element in terms of importance for the city. I think we need to take a step back before we talk about revenue enhancements and look at the process going forward. I'd like to suggest maybe we look at a, first, to make a tax acceptable to the electorate, you're going to have to show that you've done the due diligence in making sure that the city is running as efficiently as it possibly can be.

This would be an efficiency audit. I heard figures just a couple of moments ago of a couple 100,000, $300,000. I would think you could get an outside auditor to come in and look at job descriptions, metrics, so on, to see if there are any ways of tightening up and making more efficient. Before we talk about reducing our road maintenance and various other things, we need to do an audit of the city operations. This isn't rocket science, this is due diligence here to do this.

And I think if you could do that, and did it in a way that was methodical, and so on, you make the case. I would be the first person to come up here and support attacks for law enforcement. Absolutely. And I say this straight away. But I don't think we're anywhere near that.

This has to be a public process going forward, and you have to convince the public that this is, that we've done our due diligence. Very important, there are three seats up, there may be three candidates on this dais that may be running again. And, if you're running forward with a tax, given my experience in the years and decades in the city here in Saratoga, that's going to be a tough sell for your candidacy, as well as the tax itself. So, you know, take your time, have it a public process, and let's see if we can make sure that things are done efficiently in our town, and then if we have to, move forward with the tax. Thank you.

Thanks, Stan.

Mayor, there are no other speakers.

Nobody that's online wants to raise their virtual hand? I haven't seen a yellow hand all night, or any other color for that matter. Okay. We'll close the public comment and bring it back to counsel for any direction. Or a couple more questions, because there usually seem to be.

Cookie.

So thank you, Stan, for your comments. There is an election coming up. And there could be three new council members here. So I don't agree that we don't proceed because it could be, make someone's election difficult. Rather, we may have three new council members in December.

And to move this forward over the next twelve to twenty four months we need a council that is on board with what the plan is going to be. So I just want to put that out there. I think Stan's making a really good point that we do need to, ever since I've been on the council we've been, it's been hanging over our heads that we have a structural deficit coming. So that's five years of this discussion. And to me I can see where we've been cutting back.

But I wouldn't mind an analysis of something we could show the public where we can come in strong and say, just lay out all the cards and say this is the reality of it. We've been cutting for at least five years. This is where we are. So in terms of timing, don't know. The election is a consideration. But not because of what Stan said. More of because of who will be on the council in six, seven months. And how to move the conversation forward with what that counsel wants to move forward.

Okay. Thank you Cookie. Anybody else? Ian?

I agree with what Cookie just said. I think we should do the due diligence. I think public outreach, it's very important. I think right now, it's premature to move forward one way or another. And I think we still need to do see where else we can do to I know this has been discussion for quite some time.

I see the operation team has done some cutting about 700,000 and we probably want to look at even further where the efficiencies especially right now we're talking about the sheriff contract and where we can save over there so I think right now I you know I think it's premature to to move talk about either Charter City or, you know, raise parcel tax.

Okay. Tina? Oh, Tina wants Bilal to go first.

No, he raised his hand. Bilal had raised his hand. So go ahead.

I didn't see that either.

I'm happy to go. Largely agree with what my fellow council members have said. I do think our staff and the leadership team have done a fantastic job of making recommendations operationally of where we can find savings. At the same time, I don't feel like we as a council have given very clear guidance to say, hey, here's where we actually could pursue service level cuts. And so that's where I think we still have more work to do to figure out where are their potential savings to be found before we pursue something as these are pretty significant changes, right?

Either choosing to become a charter city or pursuing a tax of some other kind, whether it's a parcel tax or utility tax or whatever it might be. I feel like there's also, you know, we're in the midst of this trickle down effect where federal government cuts have percolated through to the state and to the county level And we're seeing the county, for example, increase their cost of the sheriff's contract, partially because they themselves are on a gigantic And so I think there's a lot to consider there. They also just passed the measure last year, so I thought there was also a bit of tax fatigue. If we're going to go and ask our residents to pay more, think we need to be really clear about what that is. That being said, I think public safety is a really important one to get right, and making sure we have the right budget for that is going to be important.

I think we also have to think about tradeoffs over the next year. Does that mean staying with the sheriff's contract? Pretty much are going to stick with the sheriff's contract. But I think one thing we'll need to consider is service level reductions there, too, right, if we're going to try and think about balancing the budget as we think about other alternatives in the long run. So I don't feel like we've pursued all the options yet.

I also think on the charter city front, it's I don't think we should do it for any of the other reasons that were stated in there around things like getting around housing laws or whatever it is because every charter city that pursues that, the state sort of closes those loopholes pretty quickly thereafter. And so I'd like for us to pursue a bit more options. I also agree with what Councilmember Fitzsimons said about not doing this with the candidacy of an election of a candidacy in mind, but, you know, having a set of folks that are elected for four years and in seat to see something through. Because we have been talking about this for a couple of years. Right?

Since I came on the council December '2, I remember our first retreat, we talked about potential charter city conversions or other potential revenue options because we've had this structural deficit for so long. So I also don't think that we've this isn't like a new concept. We've been talking about this for a while. And it's clear to me we haven't come to the conclusion that we really should go pursue this. And maybe the council that's in seat in December chooses to do that, but it doesn't feel like that's the decision that we've made at least over the last three to four years.

Thank you. Tina?

Thank you. So I think that for us to even have this conversation the timing is very important. There are a lot of things that are going to be decided, most importantly, public safety, the contract with the sheriff, or as we have talked about, Lascada's police. We had a meeting just a week ago, nine days ago, Monday. We had three residents who came up for that.

It was on a Monday evening. We are going to have that conversation with the residents. As I said that day, I believe in the public process, transparency, reaching out to the people to discuss the big decisions with good outreach ahead of time. Once that has been once that reaches a point where we have a clear picture of what kind of contract dollar amount we are talking of, what exactly it is. Numbers have been changing recently.

So essentially once that decision is made, we'll have a better idea. Then we can move forward in a process that takes its time where we can focus on it. Right now, one of the other challenges I feel is in terms of timing, besides what has been said, and I agree with largely what has been said by my colleagues. We also can't have staff working on five big things at the same time and be able to focus. How do we even convey that to the public?

It's a lot. We certainly do need to look more closely within us if there are other opportunities to make our operations more efficient, whatever that may be. Essentially, I agree with the word that has been used earlier. It is premature. We need public outreach. This is not the time. And tax fatigue, let's not forget that. If we have to go to the public, we have to make a very clear case. And for that we need to do more homework. This is certainly not the time. Thank you.

Thank you. I thank staff for bringing this, putting together what they did. It's, you know, we didn't get our numbers from the county as to what our new sheriff's contract would cost until December 31. Doesn't give you a whole heck of a lot of time to move forward on anything. We know now, a little bit clearer, that it would take probably at least a year for a parcel tax measure to go on a ballot.

And probably more like two to do at Charter City. I have been in communications with the realtor groups, Sylvar and Santa Clara County AOR. Our realtors are part of Sylvar. As expected, they are absolutely against any kind of a transfer tax that the city might implode. They also would be against I know that it was mentioned in the last item that maybe we could get the realtors to do more during a sale.

That's absolutely not the right way to do it. Every realtor that sells a property in Saratoga is not from Saratoga. It's kind of like the sign ordinance that we went through, and we can't have A frames out there advertising for sale or open houses. Yet every weekend, you've people doing it. Why? Because they're coming from, they're a realtor from Menlo Park. They don't know Jack about our rules, And so they don't follow them. And it takes code enforcement time and consternation on the part of a lot of people who don't like seeing them. So I think that it's very important that we have heard this. We absolutely have to make a decision in the short term, not in the long term, about where we're going with public safety.

And that is because it's going to take at least a year, if not more, to change if we were going to do that. So that time is coming up pretty soon. We do have an agenda item coming up June 3. And I've worked with staff and I've asked staff to try to get more information out quicker. Probably available on the website.

So it won't be the Friday before that we have that staff report that has all the numbers and everything. And everybody tries to digest it in two days. And then after you're done going to the bathroom on it, willing to come back and try to figure it out again. So hopefully we get that sooner than later. The revenue piece is important. There are many cities in our state, and several in our county, and the peninsula for that matter, that are looking at these measures this year. And they started a while ago. Montecerrino's one. Los Gatos has talked about it. Mountain View's doing it.

We know that Portola Valley and Atherton are looking at the charter city thing. This is an issue. And the sooner we give direction, the better off we are. And that could be one or another. I also don't know what the right answer is.

I think that the charter city thing would be, it wouldn't give us enough benefit in the short term. So I don't think that it's conceivable that that happened. Especially because I know there is a lot of interest in the ballot measure that's out there today that's going to be on the ballot. And if that just rescinds everything, we'll, you know, it wouldn't be that much time that we spent pushing through towards that. But it is time that I'd much rather have staff looking within and saying, how can we do things more efficiently?

What is it that we need to do? I know as a director level at IBM and at Microsoft, my job consisted a lot of, you know, take a look at our headcount, take a look at what we need, what are we generating, what kind of revenue, in that sense. In here, it's what kind of production are we getting. What can we do better? What can we do faster? What can we implement AI for? What can we use some tools for? Not that we want anybody to not be here. That's not the goal. But how can we make our jobs more efficient so we can get more done in a shorter period of time?

And I encourage our directors to take that to heart and really look at what it is we need. You know, I was forced as manager at IBM at all different levels that I was to take a look at my organization. And I had to create the chart that showed me the bell curve of performance. And it stunk to do that. But boy, everybody's got to do it. And if you're not doing it, you're not a leader. So I think that this is something that's going to come to a head, probably on June 3, one way or the other. And I thank the staff again for the reports. I think that we need to dig into them. Like I said, I think that the charter city is probably too long a process to actually be effective.

Although it would give us that nut that we need. In the short, I mean, that's the number we're looking at. A little bit more than that, in all probability. But, and we know it's Saratoga's history. Mean, actually Stan was on the council when they tried to go back with that 2004, get back the utility tax. And the voters, they didn't just say no. There a couple of expletives in front of that no. So that's been the history of Saratoga. But I know that public safety is our number one concern. It always has been the city council's number one concern is public safety.

And we're hit with a crisis this year that even goes beyond the structural deficit that we've been talking about for the last four or five years. So I think that we need to continue to pursue this. And I look forward to the information that we get out to the people for our June 3 meeting. Get that out sooner than later. We've talked about postcards. We've talked about different ways of communicating that. This is one that everybody needs to recognize. It's now. It's not like the housing element where you see the things and it's three years you're going to get a housing element. This is a today thing. So please pay attention to that folks. I encourage you to please pay attention. Read the material. Help us out. We want to know your thoughts.

And as the numbers come out and as the information comes out about the type of policing we have, it's very important to us all to hear that. So with that, think I have a lot.

Just one thing I wanted add, Mayor Page, you mentioned organizations taking a look at overall team performance and potential augmentation or reduction here and there. Every organization around the world is doing that right now, especially in light of rising costs, the number of layoffs that we're seeing across the valley, especially in tech, especially as folks are thinking about what tools and how AI is or isn't improving efficiency in the workforce. I know something I'm being asked to do at work every single day is we're sort of on watch of, hey, are you more productive? Are you using the tools, utilizing them? Because it's sort of on you now.

So I also think the reason I share that is our residents will expect us to have done that before giving us any more dollars. And so I think it's really important and incumbent upon us to make sure we hold ourselves accountable as leaders of the city to do the same thing here.

Thank you. Alright. Any other comments? I know you don't have a whole lot of direction, but you know where we're going for June 3. Alright. Thank you very much. Okay, next up is our counsel assignments. So we'll start with, we always start at one end. Balal, you okay starting again? Yeah. Take your time.

Nothing to report.

Thank you.

Yeah? Nothing to report tonight.

Wow, cookie. I do. All

right. So I have a Haconi update. So the theme of my comments is higher. Everything's higher. So the revenue was higher than last year, mainly due to entrance fees and membership and donations. Operating expenses are higher by 8% than last year, to higher salaries, special product liability insurance. Capital expenditures are higher than last year, mainly due to ponder innovation costs. And event bookings are higher than last year. I have a Coney Finance Committee meeting later this month. And we'll report back to city council by our first meeting in July. That's it. Thanks.

All right. Tina?

I attended two meetings. The Santa Clara County Library Board of Directors meeting. And I have nothing to report. The second meeting I attended is Cities Association of Santa Clara County. The Executive Committee meeting. Nothing to report.

Okay. And I have nothing to report and a whole lot of meetings during the latter part of this week. So we'll have more for next time. All right. Are there any city council items?

Seeing no one chomping at the bit. Are there any council communications? Bilal.

Hey everyone, Before we adjourn for tonight, I know we still have a couple more items. Just a moment for something personal. I actually am going be missing our next council meeting. And the reason why is I practice Islam and Muslims if if they they are are able to physically and financially, once in their life, on a pilgrimage called Hajj. So I'll be doing that.

I'll be going to The Middle East, to Saudi Arabia for about two weeks. But part of the intent is to seek forgiveness. And so with that in mind, I want to extend some of that same humility here, both on the council, to our staff, to our residents. I know there are many times where I've gotten things wrong or may have offended you, and so I sincerely ask for forgiveness and hope I come back a better person having done all this. But really just wanted to say, you know, I really appreciate the opportunity I have to be here in this role.

And I know sometimes, you know, in the heat of the moment, will say something I regret or vote a certain way or, you know, just wish in certain moments I could have been kinder. And so with that, I do sincerely ask all of your forgiveness. I know I should probably go knock on a lot of doors for that. But I do take this really seriously and appreciate you all. Thank you.

Thanks, Bilal. And it's, what an honor and a privilege it is for you to be able to do this. And I wish you safe and pray for your health and happiness. And certainly that you get everything out of it you're entitled to. You are. You're doing the right things and you're going prayerfully and I know that it's going to work out.

Thank you. I'll be praying for all of us in I Saradoga and our

know you will. Thank you. Anybody else? Okay. At this time I'd like to ask if the city manager has a report.

Nothing to report.

Really? No. How about our city attorney?

I'll just report not for reasons as august as council member of AFTAPS, but I will not be at the council meeting on the twentieth. My colleague Heather Minner, who was the city attorney for Cupertino several years ago, will be covering for me.

All right. Thank you. And now I'd like to open up time for oral communications on non agendized items for our folks that are remote. Britt, would you please explain the process and call our first speaker.

If you would like to address the City Council on item not on the agenda and you're attending the meeting via zoom, now is the time to raise your hand. Mayor, I see no hands raised.

With that I'll close the oral communications on non agendized items for remote visitors. I'll close that part of the meeting. And in honor of tonight being only 08:25 or twenty twenty five I guess, twenty two it looks like, I'm going to adjourn this meeting early. Thank you.