City Council - Regular Meeting

Good evening. We'd like to welcome everybody to our regular City Council meeting for July 15th at 6 o'clock. We are actually convening at 6.09. I DO HAVE JUST SIMPLY ONE REQUEST BEFORE I SPEAK ANYTHING ELSE. WE'VE BEEN STUCK IN CITY BUSINESS ALL AFTERNOON. PLEASE DO NOT TELL US HOW THE SOCCER GAME BETWEEN ENGLAND AND ARGENTINA TURNED OUT BECAUSE IT'S BEEN RECORDED. SO THANK YOU. AND NOW WITH THAT IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT, WE WILL GO. AND FOR THOSE THAT CAN, PLEASE JOIN US RISING TO SAY THE PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE. Thank you. And at this point, I'm going to ask the clerk to have roll call.

Council member Dean.

Present.

Mayor Lowe. Here. Mayor Wellender. Here. Thank you.

Very good. We did have a CLOSED SESSION BUT WE HAVE NOTHING TO REPORT. AND NOW I'M GOING TO BE TURNING TO MY COUNCIL MEMBERS FOR COMMENT ON THE AGENDA AND OR THE APPROVAL OF THE AGENDA.

I WOULD LIKE TO MOVE TO APPROVE TONIGHT'S AGENDA.

SECOND.

SECOND.

VERY GOOD. AT THIS POINT, ROLL CALL, PLEASE.

COUNCILMEMBER DEAN.

AYE.

COUNCILMEMBER FERRARA-RIVAS. AYE. COUNCILMEMBER GERNY.

YES.

VICE-FAYER LOWE. AYE. MAYOR WELLENDER. YES. THANK YOU. THE MOTION CARRIES INANIMOUSLY.

ALL RIGHT. THE QUESTION IS DO WE HAVE ANY MEETING DEDICATIONS THIS EVENING? SEEING NONE, WE'LL CONTINUE ON. Oh, I skipped ahead one, so that's on me. Now, it is regarding the comments from the public. At this time, members of the public may address the council on matters not listed on the agenda, but which are within the subject matter jurisdiction of the council. This public comment period will be limited to 10 speakers. Each speaker will be allowed up to two minutes. Speakers who do not have an opportunity to speak during the first public comment section will be allowed to make the comments during the latter public comment period. Agenda item number 10. For those items that are listed on the agenda but are not action items, speakers will also have an opportunity to speak during the latter public comment period, agenda item 10. When the mayor announces these agenda items, please form a line to speak. Under state law, unless otherwise permitted under the Ralph M. Brown Act, the merits of the matters presented under this item cannot be discussed or acted upon by the council AT THIS TIME. FOR ACTION ITEMS APPEARING ON THE AGENDA, THE PUBLIC WILL BE INVITED TO MAKE COMMENTS AT THE TIME THE ITEM COMES UP FOR COUNCIL CONSIDERATION. SO AT THIS TIME, I OPEN UP PUBLIC COMMENT AND PLEASE BEGIN COMING FORWARD AND STATE YOUR NAME AND I WELCOME YOU.

THANK YOU. GOOD EVENING, COUNCIL MEMBERS, STAFF, AND FELLOW SONOMANS. Bonnie Joy Coslon, Moon Valley Community, Tribe Park Committee representing Moon Valley, Pueblo Serena, and Sonoma Oaks. As we regroup, focus, and prepare for the upcoming study session, August 19th on updating the provisions and protections of the 2004 closure conversion ordinance. We who live in manufactured housing communities would like to share the following with you, but this means we have to mentally step outside the chambers. Imagine the exhilaration and anxiety of traveling to a country where you do not speak the language. Imagine amplifying these feelings upon relocating and moving to a country, not being fully, if at all, conversant in that language. These are some of the emotions experienced by our neighbors who have chosen to make Sonoma and our parks their home. The draft closure conversion ordinance that we have been and continue to work on is complex and challenging. our English as second language ESL speakers, our neighbors are often overwhelmed and sometimes do not feel included. So we thank the city council and the staff for onsite real-time translating as well as transmitted written documents and materials as we move forward with the ordinance updating project. Thank you for making it possible for all our park homeowners to be included and participate in this vital and impactful process. Thank you again. Thank you. Please.

Good evening, Mayor and Council. Mayor, you have a fantastic speaking voice, but I have a hearing disability, and I don't seem to think that your public address system is on right now. I just don't hear any speakers. I was in the back room having a hell of a time. I just want to bring that to your attention, sir. Thank you. All right. Thank you. I had to drive over here tonight from Katahdi. My name is George Barich. I'm a former city councilman in the Communist Republic of Katahdi. Okay, a little bit humorous, but true. And I came here tonight because I could not access this meeting and speak to you via Zoom. Very irregular since most cities allow citizens to comment from home and we have many shut-ins at home disabled Parents with kids at home that would want to access this meeting and speak to their government bring their redresses Grievances to their government and they can't I would like you to investigate this again I guess the excuse I've heard thus far is that the council is somehow worried about hate speech and Let's think about that for a second. That's exactly what you want to hear. You want to hear criticism, hate speech, good speech, all speech. And if you're not hearing from the public or you're cutting off the public from accessing these meetings from the outside, you need to look at this and investigate this further. Because it's not going to go well with the public or the First Amendment Coalition and so forth. I want to bring that to your attention. And I can help you with this. I'm in this business to do this. also the council should have the right if you don't already is to ask members of the public to come back to the podium or address your concerns is there something you don't understand and So, please keep keep that in mind. I don't see that a lot But if you have a question if we're not clear feel free to call us back up I also asked the city clerk for a couple extra minutes for my ad accommodation I On the advice of legal counsel, I wanted to come and speak to you about another matter. But on the advice of legal counsel, I'm not going to tonight. I hope to come back at a later time and educate you on to some facts about this town and so forth. But I won't do it tonight. I want to I want to be at your disposal to help you in a spirit of cooperation to bring facts to light. Thank you.

Thank you, George.

Good evening. Good evening. My name is Paul Brown. I live on West Main Street, and I'm here to bring your attention to Tidewater Capital's high density proposal for the General's daughter site. We need housing, but this is the wrong project in the wrong place by the wrong development. developer. First, Tidewater's community outreach is a sham. Most of us living right next to this project received absolutely no official notice. I only found out because a vigilant neighbor knocked on my door. This lack of transparency is a major red flag, but not surprising. Tidewater is an out-of-town firm that recently defaulted on a $35 million Oakland hotel loan and walked away from a $43 million office tower. We cannot trust a developer with a lack with a track record of financial defaults to steward our historic gateway. Furthermore, this proposal treats our history like an obstacle. Built in 1864 by General Vallejo for his daughter Natalia, the General's daughter is a registered historic landmark. Moving this 162-year-old Victorian to Crammond multi-story townhouses destroys its open garden context. Historic landmarks are not chess pieces to be shifted for corporate profit. Finally, the west side has already absorbed the brunt of Sonoma's development. Our bottleneck streets face constantly increasing traffic. Cramming high density housing at the foot of this fire-prone Montini Hills is a massive public safety hazard. During a wildfire, West Spain Street is a critical evacuation route. Adding hundreds of cars to this bottleneck is a disaster waiting to happen. We have far more appropriate underutilized commercial lots along Broadway and the highway 12 that do not require moving a 19th century landmark or endangering our neighborhood. Please protect our safety on our history and demand real transparency and reject any proposal they bring to you. Thank you.

Thank you, Paul.

Good evening, Mayor Wellender, Vice Mayor Lowe, and members of the council. My name is Sahej Dakar, and I'm a 14-year-old rising ninth grader living in Fairfield, Solano County. I'm a member of the Fairfield Youth Commission and the founder of the National Association of Youth Commissions. This nonprofit works to establish youth commissions in cities where they're not already present, push for legislation beneficial to youth, increase youth access to government, and provide a space for youth commissions around the nation to collaborate. I'm speaking to you this evening on a proposal that I've seen work firsthand and is one of the best things that a city could do for its young people. I'm asking you today to create a youth commission in Sonoma. For some context, a youth commission is a group of young people, typically aged 14 to 25, who work to advise the city council and mayor on topics relating to the youth. This can range from a small issue affecting a few young people to citywide youth issues. Youth commissions are created with the purpose of bridging the gap between a youth of the city and a city's government. Right now, Sonoma does allow for youth to have a seat on existing committees and commissions through the Youth Member Program, and has partnered with the Keystone Leadership Program to foster youth development. But what Sonoma needs is a standalone body that can tackle youth issues independently of other committees. A youth commission would be different from just any other program in that this isn't the city giving to the youth, it's also the youth giving to the city. The city just needs to give them the chance. This would not be difficult to implement, given that all that is needed is a resolution that would establish the commission. And there would be minimal cost to the city since there would be no need to hire new individuals and there would be very little administrative costs. The only real cost would be holding a monthly meeting. Furthermore, through the NAYC, I would be happy to offer the city free research on how things like exact costs, appointments, and scope of work would play out. I'm requesting the city council to direct staff to report back on potential routes the city could take in starting a commission. I would be happy to serve as a resource for the city during this time. I have here some QR codes that redirect to our National Association of Youth Commission contact page. And if any member of the council is interested, please contact me. I would be happy to help out in this process.

Thank you. Thank you.

Good evening, Mayor Wellender and Vice Mayor Lowe, council staff. My name's Mike Menefee, I live on Church Street. I've lived in Sonoma Valley since 1972, and over the past five decades, I've had the privilege of serving this community as a city parks worker, firefighter, paramedic, state parks employee, a historic preservation advocate, and a community volunteer on many levels. Those experiences have taught me that every proposal for development should be judged by one simple question. Will it make better Sonoma than how we found it? The property I'm about to reference is not simply another parcel. It's home to Willow's Wild, as General Vallejo named it in 1864, as he built this house as a wedding gift for his daughter, Natalia, and her husband, Attila Harris, the son of Augustone Harris, the founder of the Buena Vista Winery. We know it today as the General's daughter, for obvious reason. This home is more than historic architecture. It is part of the story of Sonoma itself. While buildings can sometimes be relocated, history cannot. This home was built for this place, and after more than 160 years, I believe that the Vallejo family legacy and Sonoma's own historical record deserve the respect of allowing it to remain where General Vallejo intended it to stand. Beyond its history, I hope the city looks carefully at the cumulative impacts of continued development. Our streets are increasingly congested. Residents have endured years of extraordinary water conservation during recent droughts. We continue to face questions about water supply, wastewater capacity, law enforcement staffing, the integrity of fire law and medical emergency response routes, as well as evacuation avenues when disasters strike. Before approving additional density, I believe those questions deserve clear answers. Sonoma doesn't need to become a city that simply accommodates more people. It should remain a city that future generations recognize and are proud to inherit. Growth may be inevitable. Overgrowth is a choice. Thank you for your consideration. Should this come before you in the next few months? Thank you. Thank you.

Good evening, I'm Armando Zimmerman and I live on Spain Street between 2nd and 3rd. I'm here tonight to talk about a couple of things. Mostly feedback. In May of 2022, our neighborhood filed a traffic hazard reporting form. And. In September of last year. This Council approved. roughly speaking, a $550,000 contract to complete the West Bain Street project, as it was termed. Now, today, Well, I feel and some of the neighbors feel that the project has not been completed. Obviously, there's been paving and striping and so forth and so on. Good improvements. On the other hand, we have one radar feedback sign for traffic traveling west on Spain Street. we had requested another one for traffic coming in because studies show that most of the people that come into town and use Main Street as an alternative to Highway 12 leave by the same route. So consequently, that's one of the things that we've looked at. We also asked, and the city engineer actually, I believe, recommended it, an update on the signage for commercial vehicles so that the signage would be much clearer for commercial vehicle drivers as to where they can go or not go and et cetera. Also, at Second Street West and Spain, It's a very narrow street and very, it's a bottleneck. But the city chose to preserve one parking space which makes, if the car's parked over here on 2nd and that space, it just narrows it down. It's dangerous. The lines of sight basically are not good trying to get from 2nd onto onto Spain, especially if you're making a left-hand turn. There were painted surface bulb-outs that are at this point starting to disappear. maybe weather and cars driving over them and so forth. We also had asked at least for the consideration of a small traffic circle and so now I see that there's a temporary small traffic circle on Third Street West south of NAFA STREET AND AT THE INTERSECTION OF PERKINS STREET. AND BASICALLY, I'M FLABBERGASTED BY THAT BECAUSE THAT traffic circle doesn't seem to meet the criteria that was used to deny us the opportunity to even have the city consider it. So I know I'm talking in general terms, but I can provide information to anybody that wants that. Also, the RRFBs at 3rd Street and Spain, Pedestrian operated. They are not scientific. My observation, they are largely not used by bicyclists. They're set off the corner, and most bicyclists do not use those. So consequently, I don't know what we can do about that.

So given the fact that I can't keep time well, but I see that, can you go ahead and wrap up with your most important point?

Well, sure. Maybe this doesn't work. Could be. I have two minutes left. Okay, never mind. Okay, also, so I've read some of the feedback. Let me go back to the bicycle boulevard, which I don't know where that came from, on 3rd Street at this point. And Perkins the feedback on next door is not very positive and it's not that I wrote at all or anything like that I didn't put it. I didn't I didn't get feedback, but I've been reading it. So I'm suggesting that maybe It might be good to check with the neighborhood.

Thank you. Very good. Thank you Armando. I

is I'm more or less an educator. I have a big problem with councils whose members don't understand the Brown Act. 54952.7 of the government code says a local agency shall provide a copy of this chapter to any person elected or appointed to serve as a member of a legislative body of the local agency. You're required to have training in the Brown Act as AB 1234 training. First thing I want to point out, you said you had a closed session. That was not listed on your agenda. You have to list it and you have to have a brief description of what you're talking about in there. Litigation, negotiation for real estate, whatever. You need to correct that. On your agenda, it states comments from the public. And at the end of it, it says, please begin by stating your name. You need to change your agenda to read, this is voluntary. 54953.3, a member of the public shall not be required as a condition to attendance at a meeting of a legislative body or local agency to register his or her name. And then it goes on and says, if an attendance list, register, questionnaire, or other similar document is posted at or near the entrance, it shall state clearly that the signing, registering, or completion document is voluntary. Before we get to presentations, I need you to know I will be speaking on this item. There is no such thing in the Brown Act as action and non-action items. I brought this to the attention of the Cotati City Council and they had to change their rules because 54.954.3 says every agenda for regular meetings shall provide an opportunity for members of the public to directly address the legislative body on any item of interest to the public before or during the legislative body's consideration of the item, not on item 10. As for your ridiculously minimal two-minute speaking time, and I will give you credit, Mayor, you've been more than generous with the speakers up here, not like the video that I saw where you had a mayor that was cutting everybody off exactly at two minutes. But most agencies have adopted a three-minute speaking time. As state AG opinion says, five minutes is reasonable. And my city attorney has advised me that two is not. 54954.3 , the legislative body of a local agency may adopt reasonable regulations to ensure the intent of subdivision is carried on. This is not a reasonable regulation. You all took an oath of office to defend the Constitution of the U.S. The First Amendment is part of this. Are you telling me your citizens aren't important enough to hear their grievances? And as I said, I'll give you credit for that, you have. 20 minutes is enough to hear from 10 people? You all need to be recalled if that is how you treat those who elected you. Notwithstanding paragraph one, when the legislative body of the local agency limits time for public comment, the legislative body of the local agency shall provide at least twice the allotted time to a member of the public who utilizes a translator. So you're telling me that a person here that may be illegal, may be undocumented, maybe just has moved here and become a citizen gets more than your average citizen in speaking time? I'd say that's a problem. And I had requested additional time to speak, and as of 2 o'clock today, nobody had gotten back to me. And I had sent it to both your city attorney and to your city clerk. Your city clerk has informed me that she sent me an email about 3 o'clock, and I didn't go back and check. I'd say that two days to acknowledge an email, I wasn't even acknowledged that the email received is not good on your staff's part to be doing that. Thank you. Thank you very much.

Carol Campbell, 307 West Spain Street for 48 years. So I've seen a lot of changes on that street. Today is the first time at noon I found this on my front porch telling us in the neighborhood that we were going to have a meeting here tonight. and in regards to the 52 homes that are suggested to be on that piece of property and I thought I better turn up because I thought you were going to be talking about it. Now it's not on the agenda so I hope that it will be maybe on the Planning Commission because supposedly it will be there tomorrow night. I'll be here. I know that when it comes up in front of you that you will be talking about water, which we are really short of many times. Traffic, parking, evacuation routes, I know that's something you all need to talk about. The two things that occurred to me when I read this today that popped into my head was, who's going to take care of West Bain Street pavement when all the contractors are running up and down? The street's bad enough now. We haven't really fixed it. That slurry stuff is not going to work. Just think about that, because it's gonna cost you. I don't think the developer pays for that. That was just something that popped into my head. The other thing was, if we have to have infill, stated by our state government, and we have to provide more housing, Can we consider, if we had to put in 52 houses there, that it all be affordable housing for teachers, police, firemen, nurses? We need that here. I've been in education for 46 years, and we have so many teachers that have to drive to and from. In the winter, it's awful. It's just terrible. You want to meet with a parent, you're here till 5 o'clock, now you've got traffic. We need to consider some of the support staff that we have that we need in our community and help them stay here. Students, I'm hearing from all the time now, they're grown up, they have kids, they don't live here. They've all gone out of state or they're at least somewhere else. Fantastic people we should have kept. So let's consider that when we're talking about planning and who's going in where. Thank you.

Thank you, Carol.

good evening mayor city council and they're all their support staff i am ray capra and i'm the one i'm guilty of writing that flyer that everybody's talking about um i'm from the willows wild homeowners association there's 15 homes there on fourth street bowden way and casa bone way And I've lived there for 16 years. I've been in town for 26 years. Not that that matters, but I still call it town. To me, it's not a big city, which is sort of what it's turning into. And it's not as affordable, and there's many things that are changing. And I know that as an older person, I have to go along with change, but I am concerned with of the developer tidewater capital who has purchased ramekins the general's daughter in the barn property to the year to the rear of that which was the canards barn property tidewater came to us with a plan for fifty two homes on three acres and that would mean that they wanted to move the general's daughter's house to the street which is a big beautiful home that we Yes, they use it for events, but on the outside, it's still the home that the general built. Traffic, water, parking, not to mention the movement of the home circa 1864 and many other issues would impede this development. I am concerned about the traffic. I am concerned about the water. because we all have to tighten our belts constantly with this water situation. And I just wanted to notify everyone of the meetings, and that's why I sent out the flyer. So I just... I think it's too many, it's too much, and I understand that these gentlemen are developers and they have a goal to build as many homes as they can. These homes are three stories, the ones they showed us, three story homes right there adjacent to the General's Ranch, and it just blocks everything. So I just want you to consider their proposal and what it would do to our retired neighborhood who, you know, we're right at the bike path. A lot of people use our parking as it is. We are on it. Fourth Street is a very skinny street, so there's only parking on one side, and you're talking about adding 100 cars at least. So that's all I wanted to say. Thank you.

Thank you. Number 10, step right up.

Good evening, mayor and council members. My name is Barbara Stouter. I don't have to rehash all of this because you've heard enough about the general daughter. But my biggest concern, because I live there too, is the fact that if they are allowed to move the home, it has to come up to earthquake standards and ada what has happened before in historical homes and you can look this up guess what they collapse because they can't get it right and then they get to put the whole home down and build more and it's a ploy and i hope to god that they don't think about something like that but it can happen And then it's useless. Once you start messing with it, if the foundation isn't right or the walls can't do it, are they planning to put that kind of money in? They don't tell us that. So they only gave us everything kind of superficial. And the other big thing was, of course, I don't understand how the home is a state park two blocks away. and there is and the general's daughter could be moved you can't move the house that's part of the state park how can you move the house i don't know i'm hoping when it comes before you you will support us because we really need it that thank you thank you barbara thank you so technically speaking we are at number 11 but you've been patient and waited so if you'll keep your comments within the respective two minutes you're more than welcome to be number 11.

I'M KNOWN TO BE VERY SHORT.

THEN YOU'RE WELCOMED AT THE PODIUM.

OKAY. I OFFICIALLY WILL BE REPRESENTING WILLOWS WILD ASSOCIATION, HOME ORDERS ASSOCIATION. SO YOU'LL PROBABLY BE SEEING AND HEARING MORE FROM ME. AS I GET INTO THIS, Well, first I'll back up. We had an opportunity to see the first draft of the intent of the developer, which was offered to our group as a compliment. I was astonished by what I saw, frightened, and as I got into this, When I started, I figured, well, this is going to be our HOA's problem, our little housing group there. But as I start to get into this and start to organize our thoughts and our reaction to what we've seen so far, I find that this is citywide. It's a lot bigger than I think any of you would imagine it will be. AS I MAKE CONTACT WITH OTHER ORGANIZATIONS, OTHER GROUPS THAT HAVE FOLLOWINGS, TALK TO INDIVIDUALS, AND I'VE JUST BEGUN. AND THIS IS A CITYWIDE CONCERN. AND I HOPE WHEN YOU GET INTO THE EVALUATION HERE THAT YOU WILL CONSIDER THE PEOPLE THAT LIVE HERE, AS I HAVE FOR 18 YEARS, the quality of the city that we all moved into and expected to live the rest of our life in. I hope you will not be influenced, overly influenced by the dollar as opposed to the welfare of the people that have invested in this town in the past. So I just say to you, I guess we'll be seeing each other for a while, so those are my short comments to make. I won't go through all those details. There are many, many details. I just want to say, I don't come as a citizen, my life has been working for developers. I had a large architectural and planning firm. I planned probably multi, multi, hundreds of facilities across the country in every state and in some countries. So I know a little bit what I'm talking about in terms of injecting complex issues into existing environments.

Well, we welcome you to come back, and we appreciate you sharing your thoughts at this point. Thank you. And with number 11, I'm going to close the public comment at this point, and I'm going to bring it back to the dais. I, OUT OF TURN, TALKED ABOUT MEETING DEDICATIONS. WE HAVE NONE THIS EVENING, SO WE'RE GOING TO SLIP RIGHT INTO COUNCIL MEMBERS' REPORTS AND COMMENTS. AND SO I'M GOING TO SLIP OVER TO MY LEFT AND START, IF I COULD, WITH.

YES, YOU MAY.

YOU.

HELLO. SO I ATTENDED THE SONOMA CLEAN POWER BOARD MEETING ON JULY 2ND, AND I AM GOING TO DO MY BEST TO GIVE YOU SOME Lots of good news, maybe remedy to that good news, and then some good news. How does that sound? We'll end with the good. So you should be receiving a, if you are a Sonoma Clean Power customer, oh, they should know that's not the way to, there we go. That's all right. So if you are a Sonoma Clean Power resident, you should be receiving a document in your mail that is going to talk to you about the current rates for getting your electricity from Sonoma Clean Power. And I always like to remind people Sonoma Clean Power is there to buy clean electricity, but that electricity is delivered to you through PG&E, so they distribute it. And then this is the complicated part. When you become a member of Sonoma Clean Power, the PG&E takes a look and calculates all of you know they keep track of everybody that's now buying electricity from Sonoma Clean Power versus them and then they they take that number and they they have to buy electricity for everybody just to make sure that it's covered and then if by some chance when they don't use that electricity because Sonoma Clean Power is customers are getting it from Sonoma Clean Power, they look at the cost they bought the electricity and how much they're getting when they sell it back. And if they lose money on that, they charge the Sonoma Clean Power residents for that differential. And so that can cause a differential, one of the differentials in pricing. So right now, if you are on PG&E, the cost of your per kilowatt is 40 cents. If you are on clean start with Sonoma Clean Power, which is the majority of that is clean power, your cost would be 41 cents per kilowatt. If you're on evergreen, which is 100% clean energy, your cost would be 43 cents per kilowatt hour. So now the somewhat good news is we will explore a potential rate cut for Sonoma Clean Power in our next meeting. And then the other aspect of it, the way we're able to do that is because We have some very smart people at Sonoma Clean Power, and we have established a rate stabilization fund. And the purpose of that fund is so that when there is this rate differential, which is going to cost the Sonoma Clean Power customers To pay more, we will reduce the rate, use the money in the rate stabilization fund to reduce as best as we can the costs they're paying. Because we want everybody to be using clean energy, but we also want to make sure that that clean energy remains affordable. And then last on good news, I've talked about this several times. One of the things that we're trying to do is to... be able to bring more electricity through Sonoma Clean Power that Sonoma Clean Power would own the generation of that electricity by being able to have geothermal electricity available. And geothermal is a way of getting electricity from like the geysers and a lot of, we have a lot of, In California, we have a lot of hot water under our ground, just so that you know that. So we're in good shape there. And so the idea is we're already moving ahead on this, but we're looking at the state to fund us with $40 million to be able to have a pilot project where we're actually doing the exploration. Then by us doing the exploration and showing that it can happen and happens well, then we can bring operators in, and then they can move forward getting geothermal electricity much faster at a cheaper pace. Other states are doing this. They're selling their electricity to us. They're employing people. And so what we want to do, there's no reason for us to be buying that electricity from other states when we should be generating here. So we didn't get 40, but in a very tight budget season, we did get 10. So I'll end on the good news. And then last but not least, I do want to say, and I'll do this quickly and people can talk with me afterwards, is just to announce that I will not be running again for City Council. And I wanted to make that announcement here. I will say being on City Council, that has made me love Sonoma even more than I loved Sonoma when I came here. It's been an absolutely fabulous decision. And just to be sure, we can just blame it all on my husband. But no, it's not totally him. But anyway, there's an aging aspect to it, too. But I just wanted to announce that here. And I've just loved being a part of this council, the council is amazing, we have a great council, we have great staff. It's been really fabulous to be part of this for the last four years. Thank you.

Thank you. Council Member Ding, please.

Thank you, Mayor. I was attending the three meetings since last city council meeting. First one, that is in June 18, That is a zero waste Sonoma on the meeting. And we passed the budget for the compost processing operation. That is in a break of the even. Also, we had a closed session that is an employee performance evaluation. That is an annual and the review season. And also, we got in a presentation from the service provider for CRV, that of California, and the adoption and the value. In Sonoma and here, we used to have the service and the provider next to Safeway, you know, Safeway in the yard, and Cola and can and water bottle, we can get a refund. And also, that is a big project sponsored by the state with the consideration with the environment and also their service for our local residents. And I asked service provider, I said, do you have any schedule to set up a service center in Sonoma? So far, they don't have this kind of plan. But for me, as the city representative, I want to follow up. I tried to ask them to set up this kind of service for all the local residents again. The second meeting I was attending, that is Sonoma Valley groundwater sustainability and agencies board meeting. Also, we approved 2026 and the 2027 and then the budget. And also, we approved the line of the credit for authorization because this coming year, our budget is kind of tight because of the lack of the funding from the California Department of Water Resources. A lot of the prevention and projects to preserve our groundwater aquifers has been stopped. So what I suggest, they should control their expenses tightly and also never overspend any of the money. Also, we approved a contract with Sonoma RCD. RCD stands for Resource and the control department, and the department. And also, we approved the contract with the Sonoma County Farm Bureau's contract because our agency share some of the data analysis information with the Farm Bureau. The third meeting I was attending, that is the last Saturday, that is July 11th, I was invited by El Pueblo Serena Homeowner Association. We just saw Bonnie was here for her public comments. Because they needed the support for the inputs and for our city, when approved, Mobile home and a closure and a conversion and Audience it away being a scheduled Next meeting a next month meeting that is in August and the 19th. So the basically that they are very passionate and Also, they are concerned and also they have the high and expectation on the city council. Also, I agree, I said, in this area, and your population is around 10% of our city's population, and also here, and represent our first goal, the city goal, that is affordable housing. We went to our best, and then protect them, and I told them, although we cannot provide financial aid and help you guys never to catch up they the social security income increased and very you know minimum and the pension and retirement so the also after the meeting or so they are nicely give me a tool you know visit and 150 units and also 50 50 the units So I really, really feel like they need support so that they appreciate the other staff, give them a lot of the support, and also they continue raising the money to find an expert how to understand those kind of complex laws. So I hope we still have the 30 days in the next year and the meeting, and I hope we can work closely with them. Definitely, we will offer them a good policy, protect them, protect our affordable housing resource in Sonoma. That is my report, thank you.

Thank you very much. Fellow Council Member Low. FELLOW COUNCILMEMBER GERNY.

YES, I DO. LAST WEEK ON THURSDAY THE 9TH OF JULY I ATTENDED THE SONOMA VALLEY LIBRARY ADVISORY BOARD MEETING. And just a couple of things to share with you about that is that the Friends of the Library is a organization within our chapter of the library system here. And they are changing their bylaws and they're changing to a fundraising organization. versus a membership organization. And ironically, they have a pretty good pot of money to deal with. And so the library's in pretty good shape in terms of possible funding for different things. If anybody is passionate about the library and knows anybody in Windsor and Healdsburg, the county is looking for library commissioners from both those communities. And let's see here. The branch manager, her name is Sabine. And for those of you who know her, she is retiring and her last day will be September the 4th. And they do have a opening for branch manager coming up and also a library specialist. But the library specialist position will be held open because they've apparently relocated staff from the Rohnert Park Library, which is under some construction. to sonoma to supplement the staffing there and but eventually probably next next year they will be looking for a library specialist so some career opportunities if anybody's interested thank you

Well, very good. Let me wrap this up with a few comments. I had the opportunity for a ribbon cutting at a new gym called MX3, which is at the old Sonoma Fit. I'm very happy to see that an empty space was now filled and that I wish them well. It's not working. I had the chance to attend a very small concert at the Sonoma Library. The San Rosa Symphony brought down four artists and a conductor that celebrated the works of American composers and it was absolutely delightful. It was a modest audience, but the skill that was expressed in music was phenomenal and I was very happy to be there. I also did attend the second Transcendence performance, which is our local music group that you can see right out the doors to your left. Again, feel very fortunate that we have them in our community. Also had a meeting with a kind of a... a group of both county and city people very concerned about our challenge with homelessness and I was encouraged that we are truly working together in a partnership recognizing that dealing with homelessness is not just one person's problem. I had a surprise email that said the U.S. Senator Padilla wanted to meet with me. And I didn't know if that was good or bad, and I was a little intimidated, but through a variety of emails, it turned out that it wasn't Senator Padilla, but his field rep, Robert, he was a very nice man, met with both myself and Sarah Tracy. The good news, we were educated on how we might be able to be more competitive in soliciting funding from the federal government. We left with a modest encouragement, knowing that there are a lot of hands out there. But nonetheless, it was appreciated that the senator for the entire state of California recognizes the little town of Sonoma. AND LASTLY, IT WAS NOT A CITY EVENT, BUT IT WAS A VERY SIGNIFICANT EVENT. I HAD THE CHANCE TO REPRESENT. I DIDN'T REPRESENT. I WENT TO NASCAR. IT WAS PHENOMENAL AGAIN. AND I REALLY ENJOYED IT. AND IT'S THE ONE THING THAT ALLOWS ME TO CONTINUE TO BE ON THE CITY COUNCIL. SO I WANTED TO EXPRESS THAT. SO THANK YOU. AND THAT ENDS THE COUNCIL MEMBER'S REPORTS AND COMMENTS. BUT NOW I'D LIKE TO TURN IT OVER TO OUR INTERIM CITY MANAGER, PLEASE.

Thank you, Mayor, Vice Mayor, and Council. I wanted to start off by recognizing and appreciating folks for our 4th of July incredible day and evening. So just to name a few, Sonoma Valley Volunteer Firefighters Association, Sonoma Valley Fire District, Police Department, Public Works, Parks and Recreation, special events staff, nonprofit organizations, sponsors, and community volunteers who made the parade and festivities such a fabulous event. The parade included approximately 60 entries, followed by the nonprofit festival and the epic fireworks. And I've heard many people say it was the most people they've ever seen at a Fourth of July. So it was incredible. I was glad to be there. I wanted to announce and remind everyone the City Council candidate nomination period is open. It began this Monday, July the 13th, and closes Friday, August the 7th at 5 p.m. The city holds its first district-based election Council election on November 3rd with seats in District 1, 3, and 5 on the ballot. Also, a district elections update on the city's public outreach campaign to help residents prepare for Sonoma's first district-based election. There are bilingual informational postcards, Exhibit A, have been mailed to all city residents, and a bilingual water bill insert will be included in the August utility bills. information is also being shared through the city's website e-newsletters and social media channels city clerk rebecca barr will staff an informational table at next week's tuesday night market to help residents identify their city council districts and answer questions printed district maps are also available and city staff of course can help assist anyone in determining their district an update on sonoma county transit we're very excited to announce that there's a new route 40x pilot beginning august 10th This redesigned weekday commuter service will provide six trips each day between Sonoma Plaza and the Petaluma Downtown Smart Station with scheduled times to connect with morning and evening Smart Trains. On Wednesday, July 22nd at the Loulouse Center, there will be a Sonoma Valley Community Workshop to gather feedback from the community as they develop their strategic transit plan. Community members are encouraged to attend to help shape the future of transit service throughout the county. I also wanted to share a lot of good news tonight. The Newcomb Street Rehabilitation and Bike Boulevard project has been selected for funding by the Sonoma County Transportation Authority. This is one of five projects the city submitted for consideration for the fourth cycle of the One Bay Area grant program, otherwise known as OBAC IV. The city will receive $1.7 million in local grant funding for the project. Preparing the application required a significant investment of staff time and effort. And I want to especially recognize Ashley Cotter from Public Works for the excellent job she did in preparing and developing a strong grant application. KTVU is in town. They were in town today, and they're going to be in town again on Friday. They are here today to feature the opening of the Dead Letter to the New Restaurant on the Square, which is officially opening this evening. KTVU will also be in town next Friday the 24th to film their Zip Trips live morning broadcast here. The Sonoma Valley Visitors Bureau is coordinating with them and many of our local businesses that will be featured on their program while city staff continue to help work with the production team on logistics. This is a great opportunity to showcase Sonoma to viewers throughout the Bay Area as we're looking for people to drive up here and enjoy the town and restaurants and hotels. Residents should be aware that the preparations for the Napa Sonoma Half Marathon will also be underway at the plaza on that same day, so it'll be especially busy. Another plaza update, we've got a new public art installation coming in. This coming Friday, there'll be a new interactive public piano. They're calling it Square Keys, and it'll be located near the Duck Pond on the plaza. The project was created through a partnership between the Sebastiani Theatre Foundation and the city. It's one of the first installations realized through the city's new public art program. The piano is free for anyone who wants to play and enjoy, and we're excited to see this creative new addition activate the plaza. Okay, so back to the half marathon. That will be on July 25th and 26th. And it's the annual Napa to Sonoma half marathon and Rose 5K. That sounds really fun. This event has become known as one of Sonoma's signature summer tradition, bringing thousands of runners and visitors to the community each year. While there'll be some temporary traffic impacts during the early morning hours, we look forward to welcoming participants and visitors to Sonoma and thank our residents for their patience as we host another successful race weekend. There's still time to sign up for summer sports camps. It's the National Academy of Athletics summer sports camps that's new this year at Hilda Dreams. The camps continue through July and early August for children ages 4 to 13 with programs including soccer, flag football, all sports camps, cheer and dance, t-ball, and more. Scholarships are also available for qualifying families. So more music this summer. The Saturday, July 18th, the Sonoma Hometown Band returns to the amphitheater from 1 to 2 p.m. And then the continuation of Sonoma Sundays on the Plaza concert series. This Sunday's performance will feature music and plays all stars from 2 to 5 p.m. Please note there will not be Sonoma Sundays concert on July 26th due to the half marathon. Lastly, but not least, the City Party is coming up, so I just wanted to announce that it's on the 29th annual on Thursday, August the 6th. One of the city's favorite summer traditions, the evening will feature live music, local food and beverages, family-friendly activities, a free bike valet service on the plaza, and food and beverage vendors open at 5 and live music beginning at 6 p.m. Thank you.

And now to our city attorney.

No report this evening. Thank you very much.

Well, thank you, I think. Well, at this point in time, it's my pleasure to be able to give a presentation. And this will be to a gentleman that has offered services to the City of Sonoma for more than my life. So, 40 years of service to the City of Sonoma. So with that said, I would like to begin reading this certificate of appreciation to Robert A. Smith. In grateful recognition of your 40 years of exceptional service, unwavering dedication, and steadfast commitment to the City of Sonoma, throughout four decades of distinguished public service, you have faithfully served in multiple capacities, including city prosecutor, code enforcement attorney, exemplifying integrity, professionalism, and a deep commitment to justice and public service. Your instrumental leadership and dedication in the development and success of the Youth and Family Services program created lasting opportunities, strengthened families, and positively impacted countless lives within our community. Your legacy of service, leadership, and compassion has helped shape a stronger, safer, and more connected community. Your contributions are honored with deep appreciation and lasting respect. At this point, I would like to, this being a rather formal expression, I would like to then open it up to the dais and ask if you would like to share any comments regarding the recipient of this certificate.

Well, I certainly will. I happened to, when I came to Sonoma in 1993, Bob Smith was one of the first people I met as city prosecutor. And coming from a larger city, I was intrigued by the concept. And after working with Bob for 17 years or so what I realized is that that role of city prosecutor was a true benefit to the city of Sonoma we were able to actually solve problems And some of the strengths that Bob had was mediating, whether it was code enforcement issues or neighbor issues, working with the youth. He was part of the anti-gang task force when we got here. He was a key player in building a skate park to give the kids something more positive to do out at Maxwell Park. And very few people know that there were actually two skate parks. And Bob's ability to work with that contractor allowed them to remove the first one and rebuild it due to some flaws. And I have to say that restorative justice was something that was talked about way back in my day. And Bob was kind of on the bleeding edge of that. When we had youth offenders, we would be able to work with them, and Bob would work with the parents and come up with plans to address whatever the offense was. And in fact, he's had such an impact that I know that he was a mentor for a number of the Mentoring Alliance kids. And I happened to run across one today. And clearly, Bob's mentoring and mediating other kids has made a difference in so many lives in this community. And I think we owe him a debt of gratitude. So thank you.

I mean 40 years is a long time and you've done many other things in this town that we've all enjoyed you know as being a real there's a lot of people who work here but there aren't always a part of the community in so many other ways and you know when you when you're doing the kind of things that John just described and then also you know acting in plays and doing all these other kinds of things I mean it really brings that little extra piece that makes Sonoma so great. And I just want to thank you for not just the service to us in the city, but also to the whole community. Thank you.

Thank you, Bob. I appreciate it. your support to the community. And you have many hats, but another thing I admire you because of your performing skills and your voices, because I was performing a role of the Duke, you know, in the comedy of the arrows. I'm just a junior, I'm a learner, but you are truly celebrity. Your skills and the passion is equally, and the mind and the passion is always more than my skills. Thank you.

So I was obligated to read that formal statement, but I do have a very short story that I do want to share. It's a little bit different than my colleagues have shared, and because what they have shared has been city contribution, but about 30, Five years ago, I moved into a new subdivision, and Bob Smith was my neighbor. And this was a new house with new landscapes or landscapes that were being developed. And I, as a landscape architect, believe that there's a certain process that one goes through when you develop a landscape, and that is you quite oftentimes draw plans. And from those plans, you execute the design. And I was very puzzled because quite often I would look out my door to the house to the right and I'd look and Bob would be busy digging and I'd say, Bob, Bob, where are the drawings? And he would look at me with that kind of cheapy smile and he'd say. So let's just say I did not share the same level of confidence on his landscaping skill set, but I have witnessed his significant contributions to the city of Sonoma for which we are very grateful. and with that uh i believe the next step would be if you'd like to share a comment at this podium and then i do want to gather and hand you this delightful uh plaque and an opportunity for you to be photographed with all five council members it doesn't get any better than that um you know i'm usually at a loss for words

But there's something about a microphone that just has an influence over me. So I prepared a brief statement on this thing. First of all, let me thank you for asking me here tonight and for the very, very nice things you've said about me. When I was a young lawyer in San Diego, my firm sent me up to Sonoma County to take some depositions. Well, I'd never been up here, but it was October and I was staying with the attorney who had referred the case to our firm who happened to live in Sonoma. And the first thing I noticed was the smell of fall in the air. Well, in San Diego, you didn't realize that months smell differently. The only seasonal change is the intensity of the smell of sunscreen. That's about it. So it was a crisp October. They had a small vineyard. We were drinking their wine. and having a barbecue and I looked up in the sky and there was a hot air balloon flying overhead. And at that moment, I fell in love with this place. And so I'm not afraid to wear it on my sleeve or my shirt. so I went back to San Diego I quit my job I collected my 18 month old daughter and moved up here without a job that was in 1979 and I've never once stopped loving this town The no job was not really thought out in great detail by me, but things worked out. The city in 1985, I believe, retained me to see if it would be possible for the city to prosecute its own misdemeanors. They were unsatisfied with the number of filings they were making to the DA, and I think out of 300 reports, they got 10 filed, and they had convictions in about a half of them. So they picked me for some unknown reason to go up there and see if we could do it and actually it was quite easy Gene Tunney was the DA at that time and he was glad to move 35 to 40 cases a month to the city's responsibility So I became the first city prosecutor and my law clerk and I hand typed 35 to 40 misdemeanor criminal complaints out every month well, eventually the clerk's office relented and took over but We finished As pointed out, first attempt as prosecutors try to resolve a problem, right? If we can get the problem resolved and things corrected, it's great. If we can't, then we're pretty relentless in prosecution. So we wound up with about 20-plus years with about a 96% conviction rate. This room you're in was our courtroom. Well, first it was the vets' building while they were working on this, and so there's nothing like justice with a jazzercise backbeat. But we came over here. We had a judge. We had a bailiff clerk. There was a jail cell. But eventually the court centralized in Santa Rosa. And before prosecution was returned to the DA, we must conservatively, I figured, handle over 10,000 cases for the city of Sonoma. uh highlights for me that i remember and i don't want to bore you because there were a lot of them but the merino plaza chicken trial was was really huge because there were populations of chickens in the plaza and at the car wash and nobody actually knew that before they made me city prosecutor my friend dave gardner and i had captured those chickens because they were destroying my garden and we released them in four locations two of which took. So there I was suddenly facing my own malfeasance. So I remember trying to get rid of those birds. I remember being up in a big tree at eight o'clock at night in the car wash, knocking down sleeping chickens. But if you take one of those you catch them things and pin their legs to the limb, you would not believe the noise a chicken can make. So I also remember looking down at our then police chief who might be sitting on the council right now, and the fire chief, each with giant landing nets. They were running around trying to corner these chickens in the car wash bays while my 12-year-old daughter was gathering eggs. I remembered in that event 25 seniors in a bus hired by the city, brought to war pitch by my law clerk pounding on his wooden drum set in the back of the bus to get them fired up when we went to court against Mr. Marino. And I definitely remember being quoted in the Wall Street Journal, above the fold, by the way, about chickens. Another highlight of the city prosecution was winning a Helen Putnam Award for Excellence in Government from the League of Cities for our, John and I put together a domestic violence intervention program. And we resulted in less than a 1% recidivism rate. We would talk to everybody who looked like they were gonna cause trouble. And we'd go in there and I'd try to scare them and tell them how many ghosts and goblins were out there in that dark backyard. AND IT WORKED. SO NO FELONY FILINGS. AND THIS WAS WELL BEFORE THE DOMESTIC VIOLENCE COURT. SO I WAS PRETTY PROUD OF THAT. I REMEMBER SITTING WITH, I'M JUST GOING TO SAY IT, COUNCILMAN GERNY AS A POLICE CHIEF AT THE LEAGUE CONVENTION IN LONG BEACH AND SEEING OUR FACES ON THE JUMBO TRON ABOUT THE BIG GOLD WARD AND EVERYTHING. THAT WAS PRETTY COOL. The next highlight, really the most rewarding for me, was overseeing Youth and Family Services, which we did for a decade or more. It was a pre-filing juvenile diversion program, which means that the juvenile was referred to our program and they completed it. They got their citation dismissed and they never wound up in the juvenile justice system. And that's important because 80% of the population of the adult justice system came from the youth or juvenile justice system. So you really, it was an opportunity for us to intervene. And it was originally, it was discipline-based, you know, go to a pet's lifeline, sweep some cat cages, push a broom, you earn your community service that way and your citation went away. And that was fine because the kids then were relatively well, not well to do, but they weren't experiencing some of the trauma that later kids did. And they were mostly afraid of losing their driver's license. So we were successful, but then as time went on, I started seeing a greater number of kids experiencing more obvious trauma. I mean, the fear of homelessness, food, the basics. So I started taking classes in childhood trauma and its effect on juvenile behavior. And based on that, we moved the program to a trauma-informed care base, not a discipline base. We moved it there to understand why they were doing what they were doing, not punishing them for what they had done. And, you know, in this, the city let us be creative. I mean, we sent a kid that was traumatized and angry by their father's abandonment to the ashram to learn how to meditate and how to control their anger. So the vision between her mother and her, who were both angry, she was going down in school and everything else. Six weeks, she served her community service. I went up. There was like a scene out of... Kung Fu or something, you know. She came out and she had learned how to control her anger. Her mother and her were back together. They were cooking breakfast for each other. She went on to graduate from Creekwood. I got invited to the Creekwood graduation. Her family came in and piled me with bottles of booze. I said, I can't take this. And then I thought, Well, sure I can. So that was nice. I liked that a lot. And then let's see, where was it? Oh, yeah. We required kids also to be facilitators up on the ropes course and to be leaders and to learn how to listen and how to collaboratively act. And that was very successful. AND WE PROVIDED A SAFE PLACE WITHOUT JUDGMENT FOR THESE KIDS. AND WE HAD, AGAIN, A RECIDIVISM RATE OF LESS THAN 2%. AND I'M VERY PROUD OF THAT. AND THE AMAZING THING WAS, THE CITY LET ME DO THIS. I MEAN, THEY NEVER SAID, NO, YOU CAN'T DO THAT OR YOU HAVE TO CHECK WITH US OR ANYTHING ELSE LIKE THAT. THEY JUST LET ME DO IT. So we realized that it wasn't always about the kid. So we got trained and certified and started teaching parenting courses for parents of obedient, defiant children and how to manage them. And the courses were free, and they were offered in Spanish and English. And they worked. One set of parents went through it three times. I thought, okay, fine. The city let us do this. And last week, as the end of my career with the city was reached, my wife Karen, who's here tonight, beautiful, understanding, and incredible, we ran into a woman who had told us that her son had been cuffed, arrested, and booked in county jail when he was in high school here. And she told me that the police told her he was heading to, it wasn't a local police, The police told her that he was heading to either prison or a grave, and because he was one month shy of 18, they referred him to us. So I worked with him, and he wanted to be a writer, and we used his love of writing as his community service time. So he would write something I would edit, he'd write, we'd go back and forth. We made it successfully through the program. He reconnected with school. He graduated, and eventually he became an award-winning war correspondent who currently works for the New Yorker magazine. So, yeah, I know him. Unbelievable. And she said that I was responsible. Well, that's very gratifying, but it wasn't me. It was our team. And Cynthia Ashmore, who helped out. Sylvia Soto-Cabral, who's here tonight. And Vanessa Roglin. They were unbelievable. And they really did most of this work. And I thank them as well from the bottom of my heart. So... The city let us do all this stuff. I keep coming back to that, but it was really amazing. And so finally, thank you again, City of Sonoma. I mean, Shakespeare said that all the world was a stage and all the men and women merely players. You gave me a stage for my life. And I'm sorry. You let me write my own play and pick my own actors. I have enjoyed it so much and will be forever indebted to you for everything. Maybe not code enforcement, but thank you. And please consider this my love letter to the city.

Thank you.

we very good now we are going to the consent calendar all items on the consent calendar are considered to be routine and will be acted upon in a single motion there will be no separate discussion of these items unless members of the council or staff request specific items to be removed for separate action so at this point I'd like to ask staff and council, is there any item currently listed under consent that you would like to pull?

Mr. Mayor?

Yes.

I just have a couple questions on 7.5, so it's probably easier. It won't take long, but just pull it if you don't mind.

That'll be fine. No problem.

Thank you.

Any other comments? OK. Then I believe if we're pulling just one, that means we're OK with the balance. Do I have a motion with the exception?

Public comment.

Oh, I'm so sorry. Public comment. Anyone that wishes to come forward? Please.

I have comment, but it was supposed to be for the presentation to Mr. Smith. And I don't know whether you want to allow that now because you should have called for public comment after the presentation or during the presentation. That's what it. Oops, sorry.

I did that.

That was not intentional.

Anyway, he should have called for that during the consideration of the item. I prefer that Mr. Smith is left now. It's not my intention to rain on the parade. It seems like Mr. Smith served the city in many capacities, and some of them were very, very worthwhile. But as he said, code enforcement was not a passion of his, evidently. And I said, perhaps a better subject would be to ask about the job he did in this capacity. Mr. Smith is done for city government, rather. Does your council condone a person who designed the code enforcement process as a citizen always loses process? That is Mr. Smith. I sat through two years of hearings on one code enforcement case, not in this city, but another city, where the citizen refused to bow down to Mr. Smith. A citizen shouldn't have to hire an attorney to defend himself against their own government. The lie that code enforcement isn't about punishment, it's about compliance, is just that. It's a lie. Number one, government is being used as lawfare, even in our smallest cities. Number two, how do you get a fine for $11,000 for a violation which has been proven to be false? An illegal sewer connection where none existed. Yet Mr. Smith continued to harass this person and claim that that was a violation. And that was only one of eight. And most of those were illegal. Undebatable. Number three, Mr. Smith handpicked a hearing officer and was paying him directly. A very big violation of the law. He also acted as a witness and a prosecuting attorney and then claimed he wasn't the attorney for the city that he was doing this for. Number four, working hand in hand with city officials attempting to deprive this person of his First Amendment rights because he was at council meetings protesting what the city was doing. I'm sorry, but Mr. Smith didn't deserve a reward for doing any of this. Yes, he deserves a reward for doing what he did with the youth of the city. I appreciate that. There is a reason that communities throughout this county, Windsor, Cloverdale, have severed ties with this person. At the very least, Mr. Smith should be disbarred for what he has done. The only reason any of this has come to light is I suffered the same law affair for speaking against my city council. This is called retaliation. You will ignore these comments, just as all councils do. Your job is to oversee the government, not be part of city staff elitism. How would I know? I was a councilman for four years, and I did that job. I criticized the staff when they were wrong, and they were doing things wrong. I tried to do things for the citizens, not for city staff. And what did I get out of it? Retaliation. Thank you very much for the time.

Sir, thank you for expressing it with civility. I appreciate that.

No, no problem.

Thank you. All right. I'll be closing in public comment regarding the consent. We've had a motion. Or am I still seeking a motion?

I move the consent calendar minus item 7.5.

Is there a second? I'll second that. Further discussion? I guess we're going to have a roll call on this one.

Councilmember Dean.

Aye.

Councilmember Farrar-Rivas. Aye. Councilmember Gurney. Yes. Vice Mayor Low. Aye. Mayor Willender. Yes. Thank you. The motion carries unanimously. All right.

Then with that, we will then slip down to consent item 7.5, which was pulled. And this is to adopt a resolution establishing an ad hoc advisory committee to support the development of a comprehensive parks and recreation plan effort. AND I DO BELIEVE OUR PARKS AND REC DIRECTOR IS ON VACATION, BUT I DO BELIEVE HE WILL HAVE SOMEONE FILLING IN FOR HIM. I'M SORRY.

I THINK THAT WAS JUST TO ANSWER QUESTIONS. OH, I'M SORRY.

YES, PLEASE.

YEAH, I DON'T REQUIRE A PRESENTATION. SO I'M JUST, AS EVERYBODY KNOWS, I'M kind of a squeaky wheel about the park apparent on the west side in my area on the corner of macarthur and fifth street west so um i just want to know how um as this as this develops how to get input into the ad hoc committee um you know, which would be with John and Ron as the two members, how, and because it's ad hoc, we can't have three members, but I just want to know how to get input into that because, you know, this has been kind of my baby for a while, and I'm not going to let loose at this point, so.

Yeah, I'm happy to answer that. Yes, thank you. A couple of different ways we'll keep the council updated one very obvious one is we meet weekly and I will have to the park and REC director you know join and make sure that the details and all the council members are briefed enough to speed I would also say that this is a large undertaking the end of the council allocated two hundred and fifty thousand dollars it's a it's quite a large project that's citywide so one of the things Dave and I have talked about is doing regular status updates to the full council so You know, because the scope is really big, and we're talking about a lot of things. So, for example, after the community engagement portion, well, there'd be a contract awarded, so everyone could weigh in at that point and give input and feedback, and then after community engagement workshops, we would come back and report that out. So I think there'll be multiple opportunities. The other thing that we can do is, because of the scope of the project, we'll have a project charter and a project plan And that's something I could go over with each of you individually so we could make sure that at specific milestones throughout the project there are opportunities for other council member feedback.

Thank you very much. And that will be helpful because in talking to people in my neighborhood, they'll want to know, like, well, how do we get information, or do we talk to you, and how come you're not on it, and blah, blah, blah. So I just want to be able to have some answers for them.

It gives me another idea just to throw out there. We could also, as we're developing the community engagement approach, we could have individual council members in your neighborhoods or your future districts come to that. COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT MEETING, BE THERE TO LISTEN AND, YOU KNOW, BE WITH THE BROWN ACT COMPLIANCE AS WELL, BUT I THINK THAT WOULD ALSO BE REALLY HELPFUL.

THAT WOULD BE GREAT. THANK YOU VERY MUCH. THANK YOU, MR. MAYOR, FOR INDULGING ME ON THIS ITEM. I DON'T HAVE ANY FURTHER QUESTIONS. I'M HAPPY TO MOVE THE ITEM.

VERY GOOD. THANK YOU.

I'LL SECOND IT.

OH, PUBLIC COMMENT. I'M SORRY. On 7.5, seeing none, bringing it back. So it just dies.

No, I moved it. And I seconded it.

It did not die.

It is alive. It's healthy. It's still very healthy.

So help this poor mayor and ask for a roll call, please.

Council Member Dean? Aye. Council Member Farrar-Rivas? Aye. Council Member Gurney? Yes. Vice Mayor Lowe? Aye. Council Member Wellender? Yes. Thank you. The motion carries unanimously.

All right. Now we're going to move into our regular calendar items with our city council. So it will be item 9.1, which is an ordinance amending section of the municipal code. And we will welcome our chief to the podium.

Good evening, Mayor Wellender, Vice Mayor Lowe, council members, city manager. I am bringing this forward to you not to create another law or ordinance, but actually to provide some clarity and correct an incorrect city ordinance to state law, California Vehicle Code. And in 2014, the law, which I'll read, or the ordinance I'll read to you in a moment, was created by the city in an ordinance. And in 2017, California Vehicle Code 312.5, Parent A, was created to define what an e-bike is, a legal e-bike. They defined it by creating three classes, Class 1, 2, and 3. And class 1 and 2, well, actually, all three classes have to be 750 watts or less of power. And class 1 and class 2, the only difference is they can't go over 20 miles an hour. One's a throttle accelerator, and the other is a pedal accelerator. And then a class 3 can go up to 28 miles an hour. This definition is important because anything that meets these three classes per vehicle code are considered bicycles, no different than any other bicycle, with the exception of a class three, and that's regulated on our trails and sidewalks. And that's why I need to clean up the community city, our Sonoma ordinance, 10.74.011. And this is as it reads today, and it's the exemption in the definition for a electric bicycle to be 1,000 watts or less, and that it can travel at no more than 20 miles an hour. So the 20 miles an hour is correct, but the 1,000 watts in 2014 may have been the appropriate number, but in 2017, vehicle code amended it to be 750 watts. And what I'm asking is that we amend that today. Also in Section B, our city ordinance also refers to a motorized scooter, and it has a wattage to a motorized scooter. There is no vehicle code wattage on a motorized scooter. They just can't travel more than 15 miles an hour. So I'm asking to remove that section. So this is the language that I'm recommending and asking you to review and approve today. And that is the same sections there, A and B. A, reducing the wattage from 1,000 watts to 750 watts and adding in at the very bottom, the motorized bicycles that comply with this chapter meet the California Vehicle Code definition for class one or class two electric bikes. That being that they are exempt on sidewalks and on bike trails per vehicle code. And then section B, just removing the wattage altogether because that is not a part of the vehicle code definition of a scooter. And that is the extent of this request and amendment.

Any questions for our police chief?

Yes. Chief, there was some proposed legislation about registering electric bicycles. What's the status of that or do you know?

Yeah, so that is in place. So if it's not, so a class one, a class two, and a class three does not require registration because they, a class one and two, any age can ride as long as they're wearing a helmet under the age of 18. Class three, anyone can ride that's 16 years of age or older without a driver's license. Anything else, So another caveat is if it has pegs and no crank or pedals, then it is not considered a Class 1, 2, or 3, and it becomes an e-motorcycle or a motorcycle or a moped. Those all require registration, insurance, and a valid driver's license to operate.

Anecdotally, what are you seeing out on the streets?

So over the last three weeks, Deputy Esponda, our community resource officer, you may have seen him in his shorts riding his bicycle around. He spent the last three weeks legitimately just trying to contact and enforce and educate all of the youth that we've been seeing on these bikes. quite honestly a majority vast majority of them are riding class 1 and class 2 we've had a few class 1 class 2 with pegs that we've corrected we've had parents and friends come pick up those bikes take them home and we've seen them since riding them with their pedals back installed bringing them back into class 1 class 2 legality we've had two under 16 kids on class three which is not lawful and so we can convey that to their families and they've corrected that action we believe there's also some that are violating the ordinance violating the law that we have we've been trying to catch up to but we're not going to cause a big commotion to do so we will we will have contact with them we're quite certain yeah great thank you yes anyone else

THE ONLY COMMENT OR QUESTION, I HAVE BEEN APPROACHED BY A NUMBER OF PEOPLE THROUGHOUT TOWN ABOUT WHAT I WOULD CALL VERY LIMITED DISGUST ABOUT SPEED AND SAFETY. AND I BELIEVE YOU HAVE EDUCATED ME AND SAID THE PRIMARY GOAL RIGHT NOW IS EDUCATION. AND IT SOUNDS LIKE WITH THIS NEW CLASSIFICATION AND and the fact that we have our resource officer in shorts on a bike, that that education should be reasonably effective?

Yes.

What do we need to be telling our constituents?

So I refer to education as we are doing enforcement. It is an enforceable action that we're taking, but rather than giving a citation, we're making sure that the youth walk away. We actually printed out some pages that show the legality, the law on these bikes, and we are making sure that the students, youth, and their families know if what they are riding is lawful the way they're riding it is a whole different issue those are vehicle code violations and every bicycle whether it's human powered or electric powered or even gas powered on a moped you have to follow all the vehicle code there are several CHP has a website that they created as a part of a State law, and that law directs that youth can take a certification class. And if, say, we pull a youth over, they're not wearing a helmet, we give them a citation. When they go to court, if they present the certificate from CHP's online course that they have completed, then they are exempt from the fee and the points towards their driving record. so we're trying to make sure that our education isn't and we're not just saying hey that's legal or not legal we're actually making sure that everybody leaves that stop with a little bit more knowledge and hopefully a little more safety in mind as opposed to just a ticket great thank you very much so if we have no more questions from the dice at this point i'd like to open it up to the public for a public comment on this item

Please come to the podium, please.

Armando Zimmerman. Chief, I wasn't quick enough to catch you.

Please speak this way, and he'll hear you.

Armando Zimmerman.

Yeah. Go ahead and raise your question.

I missed the part about sidewalks and whatever and what's exempted. I didn't get that.

I think it's fair enough if you could provide clarity again. Thank you.

So vehicle code allows Class 1 and Class 2 to be on sidewalks as long as they are safely riding and they yield to pedestrians. Class 3 is not lawful on the sidewalk.

Very good. Thank you. Anyone else? I'll close public comment, bring it back to the dais for possible further discussion or motion.

Thank you, Chief, for your great work. and the latter city always current and complies with the state law. I appreciate, I fully support.

Okay, we ask support, but we don't have a motion.

I move to accept the amendment to, oh, should I read, do I have to read it?

Introduction of the ordinance.

What?

Introduction of the ordinance, I believe.

I just, yeah, introduction of the ordinance, Chapter 10.74.011, motor-driven vehicles prohibited on bicycle paths. Thank you.

I second.

Further discussion? Roll call, please.

Council Member Dean. Aye. Council Member Pararivas? Aye. Council Member Gurney? Yes. Vice Mayor Low? Aye. Mayor Wellender? Yes. Thank you. The motion carries unanimously.

Very good. Thank you. And now we are moving on to 9.2. And this is a request for some information and feedback to staff regarding the consideration of the council's compensation. And it looks like we have multiple presenters. So please, I'll start with whoever wants to start.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I'm going to start by acknowledging and appreciating both City Attorney David Ruderman and City Clerk Rebecca Barr for their partnership in bringing this item before you. They've both done an incredible amount of work to bring this forward. So I want to start where we are today. The council's compensation is $300 a month. It has not changed since 2008. There was a method under previous state law. Under that method of 5% allowed, we could have gotten to $570. So just a little bit of context for what the number could have been under the law passed through the 18 years. This is just an informational item tonight to provide you with the background on the law and what your options are and a little benchmarking data and discuss whether or not the council wants staff to come back with a recommended ordinance for consideration. I also wanted to mention that there is some additional compensation that council members receive. There's a reimbursement policy on our books. It's quite old and looks like it probably needs to be revised and modernized, so we'll be looking at that as well. So the reimbursements are for things business-related, travel-related to your role as a council member, so travel, meals, lodging, conference-related costs, participation in regional, state, national organizations, seminars, city-sponsored events, childcare, if you need to attend a notice city council meeting, it's maxed out at $200 a month. are really specific guardrails on this to make sure that these expenses are reimbursed are ethical and the process is pretty straightforward so this new law that was passed in january of 2024 sb 329 it allows a city the size of sonoma a maximum monthly amount for cities of 35 000 or fewer at 950 a month and so um The law doesn't require the increase. The council can set it at any amount up to the statutory limit. Future adjustments must be separately authorized, so there can't be like an automatic, you know, COLA or increase in an ordinance. And the reasoning behind this new law is that the state legislature recognized that compensation for local elected officials had not kept pace with inflation. may affect who can afford to serve in this role. So in addition to that, the role has significantly increased in complexity and the time required to serve. So the council members put a lot of time and energy. The packets sometimes are 500 for these council meetings or 500 pages or more, and there's a lot of preparation and time and meetings every week that the council members put in. They serve on regional boards and often at community events on the weekends and the evenings. So the question to consider about this policy is whether the stipend should better reflect the time and preparation and the public service expectations that are associated with this position, in addition to recognizing the obvious cost of inflation. So again, the purpose behind the state law and the opportunity is that compensation may affect who can realistically serve in this role. There can be lost wages for hourly workers, for employees that need to take time off in order to serve as a council member. There may be costs of care for elder care, child care to serve in the role, and just in general flexibility, depending upon what people's job is and where they live. And it could serve as a barrier to some unintentionally narrowly candidate pool for people with less flexible work and have other obligations and limited financial capacity. So we wanted to give you a little context as it relates to what other cities and towns around us are doing. The majority of our peer cities, both in Sonoma and Marin, have moved to the $950 a month cap. A couple of them are on the way, and so this is generally the regional trend to move in this direction. Seven out of the ten jurisdictions have moved to the 950. I just wanted to also make a note and apologize. There was an error in your packet. There was a chart with the specific dollar amounts in the staff report, and inadvertently we had put the $950 in the Sonoma row. That was just a typo, accidental. It's been updated online and is now corrected. So there are three options for council consideration, and really there are more than that, but we're offering three for the purposes of discussion tonight. You can maintain the current stipend at $300 a month. Intermediate adjustment could be $625, and then obviously going to the cap of 950. So just a little bit of info on how an increase would be implemented. again we're looking for direction tonight from the council on what you'd like the next steps to be there would be first and a second reading of the ordinance and the effective date would only take into effect after at least one council member begins a new term so that would be January 1st of 2027 just a note that council members may waive or donate their compensation so that's always an option AND WE JUST LAID OUT SOME POLICY QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION. I'M NOT GOING TO READ THESE ALOUD TO YOU. YOU ALL CAN READ. BUT IF THERE ARE HELPFUL PROMPTS IN FACILITATING YOUR DISCUSSION THIS EVENING AND ANSWERING QUESTIONS, SO I'LL LEAVE THIS ON THE SCREEN. AND THAT'S ALL WE HAVE FOR THE PRESENTATION. WE'RE ALL HERE TO ANSWER QUESTIONS IF YOU HAVE THEM.

VERY GOOD. THANK YOU. SO WHO WOULD LIKE TO BREAK GROUND AND BEGIN SOME DISCUSSION?

Happy to start. So one of the reasons why I think this is important is, well, two. I'll mention two. But number one is really taking into consideration younger people, people with families, people that have lower income, people that have other financial issues. Just in regards to when you look at this compensation and also some of the benefits of the health care, it could be something that would help change the decision for someone that would like to run for council that wouldn't do it because it really doesn't. $300 a month really doesn't make a difference in any of those situations. So I think when you look at especially the 950 level and some of the health care benefits, then I think it opens up the population who can run for council. I think secondarily, and we don't know what the result of this is yet. But now that we're in districts and going to districts, are we going to be having more difficult time finding people to run for council? And you actually always want a good pool of people, because we currently have a very cooperative council that works well together. And ideally, you want our constituents to have a good choice of people so that you can continue to have a good, strong council that works well together. So those are the two main reasons why I think this is something that we need to direct staff to look at a potential ordinance and consider seriously. And speaking from someone that considered my earlier

earlier announcement this you know I'm really in favor of this and recommending this knowing that this is not something that's going to benefit me directly very good thank you next please yeah I'm in favor of this just to note many people know that for the first three years I sat on the council I donated back my my $300 a month to the affordable housing trust fund so that was close to ten thousand dollars that, you know, and it's not tax deductible or anything. And I was happy to do so. I mean, obviously, I'm grateful that, you know, I have other sources of income and I'm able to do this. But it really, over the last year, all of my extra meetings are in Santa Rosa. They're not here. You know, if I go up for the... And driving up there and then having sometimes it's a full day, I've got to stop for dinner, which usually is In-N-Out Burger. It's right next to the county office.

It's right there. I can't resist. I can't resist.

So I won't tell you secret menus. But it's not much, but it turns into kind of a long day. And people do contact me during the day. And a few of them will say, well, I'll meet you at your office. And I'm like, well, I don't have an office. That would be my house. So I meet for coffee. And you buy everybody a cup of coffee. And I now drink way too much coffee. you know, it is kind of what you do. So, but at my house, I have, you know, there are documents and things you have to have a space for it. So it is, you know, it has turned into, you know, quite a lot. And, and I'm, as I said, I'm more than happy to do it. I, you know, I gratefully do it. It's not, this is not for me. This is not for anything I need, but I'm just stating for the public, you know, what it, you know, amounts to. And everything is more expensive anymore. I mean, everyone knows that. I mean, the cost of fuel is more, the cost of In-N-Out burgers is more, the cost of everything is more. So it's asking people to to do a lot more with a lot less. And I think it is, you know, when you look through the county and our neighbors, they're all doing that as well. And I think the reasons that Councilmember Farrar-Rivas brought up are accurate. Most younger people, to encourage them to do something. I mean, I raised four kids. I mean, I had enough just doing my job teaching at Sonoma High School, coming home, and can you imagine just turning around and looking at Mrs. Campbell and then, doing this i'd be saying you come over and watch one of my kids while i go over to this this council meeting so um you know it's it's just a lot to ask and then we get invited to a lot of things which are usually a lot of fun but they're not free you know i got a beautiful invitation today to the plein air um gala i mean and that was hundreds of dollars to go to that And then sometimes people think, well, if you don't go, it's like, well, how come you didn't go there? I was like, $300, you know? It's asking, so perhaps people would go to that if they had a stipend of $950. They would do somewhat like what I did, but instead they would say, I'm going to use my money this month to go to the plein air gala, or I'm going to use... to go to the community center, MUSE thing. So the money will circulate through the town. It's not like it's going to be someone's nest egg, but it's going to be gas money. It's going to be an ability to have some organization at their house and so forth, and to do it in a professional way and be able to buy that constituent a cup of coffee while you listen to them about how badly their roads are and all of the other things that we like to hear. So I think it's fair. I think it's right. I think that the legislature, was onto something here, and we're not going to create the future by just completely finding people like me that are, you know, have the wherewithal to do this work. We have to find people who are going to push the envelope a little bit, and they're going to need some help. So let's give them the help that they need, and let's make this more professional and do the right thing. So thank you.

VERY GOOD. I'M GOING TO GO FROM LEFT TO RIGHT AND NOW BACK TO LEFT. MR. DING.

I AGREE BOTH PATRICIA AND SANDRA'S POINTS. WHAT IMPRESSED ME MORE IS IF WE INCREASE A LITTLE BIT TO THE, YOU KNOW, LITTLE BIT REASONABLE AMOUNT, WE CAN ATTRACT and the youth, young candidates to join this. I talked with a couple of the other local people, their concern is, I needed to work, I cannot afford to do this. I really enjoy this local government to work. So right now, if we can be compliant and also, almost, you know, the match on the neighboring cities. That is, and I think it makes sense. So I support it. Thank you.

Okay, if I get my directions correctly, I'm back to my right side.

Not sure why you make it so complicated. I like it that way. So, you know, this has always been something that's been on my mind since November of 2022 when I ran, and I like, councilmember Lowe the money doesn't really mean anything to me and I donate substantially back into the community above and beyond the stipend and I met with a number, and I'll just refer to them as 30-somethings. They were younger generation folks, and I was surprised at how many of those folks are in this town, but you don't hear from them. You don't see them getting involved. You don't see them coming to the council meetings. And I tried to think, would something like this make a difference? And while we don't have the answer to that, and I'm not sure there's been any data or research associated with that, I think this does have the potential of benefiting the community and and I kind of like the idea that councilmember Lowe said in terms of you know we're just recirculating the money into the community anyway someday they're gonna ask mayor Wellander to start paying rent at the porch and so I I support this. What's hard for me is that knowing our financial situation while we've got a balanced budget, and I use that term loosely, it just, the optics are not necessarily good. But in light of what I'm hearing at the dais, I would support this at the full amount.

Do you have more? Yeah, one more. Sure, go ahead. It reminds me, yes, you know, financially, we need the money to cover this. And also, I treat this kind of the increase for our expenses, also it's kind of investment, investment for the future. It will affect and return it back to the city overall in the governance in the long term.

that is my point thank you thank you so I guess I'm asked and I am not in favor of this in one sense or another and I'll explain why I hear that this is going to possibly incentivize younger people to run for City Council because it's a financial increase that makes it more sensible I struggle with trying to understand connecting those dots when you might be talking about a net $500 a month ad. And by the time you take out the taxes, by the time you withhold if you select to get medical insurance, but the fact that medical insurance is only covered up to a certain point for an employee, which council members are, you end up actually sometimes writing a check to the city of Sonoma to have health insurance coverage. So I'm sorry, but I don't see this as an incentive for youth to want to get involved. I too raised a family and raised a family here in Sonoma and had three kids. As much as I love my community, there's no way in God's green earth I would have applied for city council if I was getting paid $40,000 because I was too busy trying to stay up with school, sports activities, and whether it's church or music or the arts. The bottom line is that in today's world, you have so many distractions and parents have so many places to put their energy. As much as they would like, or some people would like to think that they would want to participate in something that is a tremendous time investment that I don't think they're going to do it. So if we're going to go down this direction, I would like to have some metrics that show that when a Council increases their compensation that the net result is in interest in a younger group of people applying and I understand that some of these increases are relatively new and that there may not be enough time to demonstrate that indeed this was a incentive for somebody who's in his 30s to want to go and or in their 40s and wanted to apply but i think if truly this is an incentive and right now it's it's a belief it's a speculative belief that this would be enough i want to see the metrics that show that and if we have to look at the entire state i want to look at the entire state i don't if sonoma county's done it and seven out of ten have done it and it's too early to tell um i'm unaware of any group in Sonoma, and I'm talking about the city of Sonoma, I'm not talking about the Springs that has been underrepresented or anybody that has said, I don't feel like I'm being heard, except for maybe an unintended pothole or a lack of understanding about a roundabout. I THINK THE BEST THING THAT WE'VE DONE IS THIS COUNCIL, TO ENCOURAGE PEOPLE TO RUN FOR CITY COUNCIL, IS WE HAVE DEMONSTRATED OVER THE COURSE OF THE LAST THREE AND A HALF YEARS THAT WE'RE A FUNCTIONING COUNCIL THAT DOESN'T ALL AGREE, BUT THAT WE DO MAINTAIN CIVILITY AND WE GET WORK DONE. TO ME, THAT IS A FAR MORE INCENTIVE TO ENCOURAGE A YOUNGER GENERATION TO WANT TO GET INVOLVED, WHETHER THEY'RE IN THEIR 50s OR 40s OR 30s. I'm also unaware of any decision that we have made in the last three and a half years that might discriminate against a community group or something that has not been represented on the council. Because what I'm hearing is that we're not representing our community. And I would argue saying, show me where we're not. We've been very attentive to the only community group that was identified when we brought in the consultant to decide how to establish districts, and that is those that live in the mobile home parks. And I think we've been very attentive and very open and very considerate of their concerns. And time will tell where that plays out. we have a budget deficit and we were able to solve it because we agreed that we had extra in our IN OUR RESERVES THAT EXCEEDED WHAT WE WERE REQUIRED TO HAVE BY LAW THAT ALLOWED US TO AT LEAST AT THIS POINT THINK THAT WE HAVE A PROJECTED BALANCED BUDGET. BUT THERE'S STILL A LOT OF UNKNOWNS. AND I JUST DON'T THINK AT THIS POINT IN TIME ADDING $39,000 TO A GENERAL FUND REQUIREMENT IS GOOD TIMING. I'm also amused by some of the restrictions that are imposed upon us on various projects by the state. We are imposed upon providing prevailing wage. Well, what is the prevailing wage of a city employee who happens to be a city council member? I don't know. We certainly aren't making a living wage, and we won't be a living wage even if we live it up to 950, let alone a minimum wage when we do consistently give a lot of time each and every week during our term. And my last point is that someone had said that it's important to try to figure out how to retain staff because we're small. I would much rather see us invest this $39,000 add to our general fund for staff training. so again just in summary show me the metrics that by adding a few hundred bucks to someone's compensation that spends tens of hours each and every week then i will reconsider and support the idea of at least drafting an ordinance but at this point in this point in time without the verification that this small increase is going to truly incentivize someone i don't support it so there are my two cents

May I suggest that we get some public input? And then we can come back and get the official direction. Please.

Again, it's late. Not enough, but it's late. I'd like to open it up for public comment.

Julian Mackey, Second Street East. Someone mentioned 30-something-year-olds, so I thought I might take an opportunity to represent that group. Thank you. I thought that the individuals here might think that I would side with everyone else. I agree with much of what Mayor Wellender said tonight. I do think that the barriers to running for office are extensive in terms of time commitment, in terms of finding childcare. But I think it's important. I think it's really important that there be representation of all sorts of groups within city council. I actually wanted to plant a seed that one avenue where many cities get young people involved, those who haven't been, you know, fully integrated into cities. city government is within commissions and many cities across California Pasadena Burbank and others will provide first not all of their commissions but some of their commissions a stipend to individuals per meeting so something along the lines of $40 per meeting as a way to compensate individuals who are joining those meetings I think our Commission's today are likely more representative of of the broader demographics of our community and I do think it would likely encourage in that case a broader demographic of individuals to get involved in those commissions. So although I'm not entirely sure how I feel about the specific proposal and how it will, I would also be curious to see the metrics and how it would impact people getting involved. I might plant the seed that you think broadly as Mayor Wellender said about

remove how we remove barriers to folks getting involved in City Council as well as commissions and that might mean something like a stipend for those Commission's thank you thank you anyone else please Carol we will allow you up again no you don't have to okay I'm closing public comment and bringing it back to the dais for further discussion sure so

So I'm reflecting on what you had to say, Mayor Wellender, and your focus, which I understand, is primarily on whether or not this encourages younger people. But that isn't the only reason. I mean, that's one reason, and potentially, and I don't have any problem with finding um data to support it i mean obviously i like data that's fine but it's it's you know there's other people are financially burdened by this they don't have to be you know people who are young with kids they could be they could be seniors uh on fixed incomes that that want to be involved um they they could be someone who has um an older parent that they have to, you know, find someone to come over and help with while they, I mean, there's a lot of other reasons. And also just the reason that it costs money to do this job. And, you know, for some of us, you know, it's just a labor of love and we give the money back one way or the other. But to a lot of other people, they've got to You know, they're making decisions at the kitchen table every day as to whether or not, you know, do we go on this trip or do we buy this new thing. And, you know, they may or may not have kids, they may or may not be young, but they have to make financial considerations about their life. you know, their voice needs to be heard on this dais if they're so inclined. So I don't want to limit it to that being the only metric that we look at. And for no other reason, it's professionalizing and upgrading something that hasn't been upgraded. I mean, everything else has increased in cost, and it just seems fair. Again, it won't matter to me. I give it back in one way or another. I want people to feel like they're not giving up something in their home to do this work. I think they should be made whole by it. Thank you.

Very good.

Yeah, and I guess for me, I just want to, because I was going to... make similar comments to what Councilwoman Lowe made, that it's not just about youth, but also it's just, and it's not in any way to say in any form that we haven't had good representation here. I believe everybody on council does meet with constituents and different constituencies, and we attend different events in the community so that we are, you know, in all of us embedded in the community. So it's not in any way to say we're not, you know, we're not diverse enough or we're, you know, we're not representing people. It's not about that. It's about when someone, and I have talked to someone where this would be a decision for them. You know, as to whether or not they would run. So they do exist. And I think one of the things it's for some people, just as a reminder, even if it is because I think if someone has a relatively low income, then they're going to reap a good amount of that $950. And it will be more than $500. It'll probably be more like $700, and we can talk to Jack about this, what that amount is. And with health care, yeah, they have to pay for health care, but they're paying for health care somewhere else, and this may help them. pay their health care bills better so it's you know and i want to get the i think it's good to see the data where whether it makes information and when i struggle with with the district part of it i realize we don't know yet we don't know yet we don't know with districts whether everything we're going to have i you know we could potentially have three people running in district one you know it's it's possible you know and but we don't know going forward if we're going to have that many people in district going forward so I just think there's there are people out there that this could make a difference and I do think I respect that it you know it's like I can afford to do this I can afford to do this and I can afford to do things you know go to Santa Rosa for meetings and pay for all of that but I know that there's other people that extra little amount would make a difference to them or their families to be able to make this decision. I've talked to a few people like that. And I did talk with a number of young people about trying to get young people on the commissions and run for city council, and this was a question that came up for me. So, you know, to speak directly to young people. Not every young person I spoke with, but, you know, some young people.

okay Joan question for City Attorney perhaps if we were to adopt such an ordinance and we had it goes into effect January 1st and we have mid-year budget review and we see that things are not looking particularly rosy can we make a budget cut suspending this ordinance I'm not the ordinance but the nine hundred fifty dollars

I think you would have to amend the ordinance in order to do that the other option would be for the council members to voluntarily refuse their their salaries all right thank you okay anyone else like to make comments my question is SB 329 what is the

detailed description for this kind of the increase, just only for inflation adjustment or?

I think all of the policy reasons that the interim city manager expressed were all things that were discussed by the legislature. They were all reasons for giving cities the ability to increase the compensation. It included the reasons that you have discussed regarding encouraging participation from underrepresented groups.

Thank you.

Council Member Ding, there's also some, I was doing some additional research in anticipation of this item, and there's also some research from educational institutions hypothesizing this as a problem, which is part of what's prompted the legislature to take it under consideration. I'm happy to share those articles.

Yes, please.

Just a question. This is only for general law cities? Cities, is that correct?

Yeah. I mean, charter cities as well.

Charter cities as well have the same?

Well, most charter cities, their charter says the council shall be compensated in accordance with the general law.

With the state, OK. they could write a charter that said something different.

Yes, there are additional restrictions since the Bell, City of Bell fiasco.

Oh, the City of Bell, yes. It brings a bell. It was also a charter.

Sorry. But, yeah, there is, and there's slightly different rules if there's a directly elected mayor, for example.

Right, right, okay.

The rules that we've laid out are the rules that would apply to the city.

Okay, thank you. Well, I appreciate the ongoing discussion. I just have not been moved to change my position because I just don't think that that amount of money is, A, going to make a significant difference. And so if we're going to do something, I would say we need to talk to our legislators and say, why are you restricting us? Let us establish our own amount that we want to compensate council and not be given these numbers and then the reason for giving these numbers, which I look at them, again, minimum wage, it's not living wage, it's not minimum wage, it certainly is not prevailing wage, and yet they love to throw that around. So I would prefer, particularly with our current budget unknown, the uncertainty of the impact of the slump in the wine industry, not knowing TLT. And yes, we can count on property tax, but I do not support straining our budget anymore at this point in time. I may be willing to revisit down the road, but these are not times to be increasing our budget, in my opinion.

Mayor, it would be helpful if, I mean, anyone can make a motion, but it would be helpful to staff if you could be specific and clear about your position on the dollar amount. And if there's a straw poll from the council on your interest in moving to the 950 or to some other alternative number, that would be helpful to staff.

So let us be responsive to the request from staff and go with either a defined number or strong pull or whatever, however you want to express it to staff, because this is discussion and direction, not an ordinance.

I think I would be happy with the consistent with the other cities around us who are increasing it to 950.

If there's straw, I will draw one.

Did you draw the same straw that Council Member Lowe had?

I will be happy with $300, as it is. I would be the same, $950.

Yeah, I would also be 950. But I do think it is good for us to get the data.

Yeah, you also have to remember that these can only go into effect after an election has taken place. So even if you waited and wanted to raise the compensation next year, it wouldn't go into effect until after the 2028 election.

SO I TAKE THAT LAST STATEMENT BACK.

WELL, YOU HAVE, THEN, THE DIRECTION. AND FOUR WILL BE LEAVING WITH A SMILE AND ONE WILL BE KIND OF GRUMPY. ANY OTHER COMMENTS BEFORE WE HAPPILY ADJOURN THIS GATHERING? OH, I'M SORRY. WE HAD 11. I WAS VERY GRACIOUS. I'M NOT SURE ANYBODY WANTS TO GET UP AND SPEAK AGAIN. HOPE NOT. SO THIS MEETING IS ADJOURNED AT 8, 22 AND A HALF. THANK YOU.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR HARD WORK.

Thank you.