Unincorporated Services Committee Meeting on Budget Input Process Pilot - December 10, 2025

The Unincorporated Services Committee (Supervisors Miley and Tam) convened a special meeting on December 10, 2025, with all Municipal Advisory Councils (Castro Valley, Fairview, Eden Area) and the Sunol Citizens Advisory Council to receive the findings and recommendations from the Budget Justice Coalition's pilot budget input process. The meeting included a detailed presentation, extensive deliberation by MAC members, and public testimony. No formal votes were taken, but Supervisors Miley and Tam outlined several next steps.

Presentation by Budget Justice Coalition

• Claudia Albano (Deputy Chief of Staff for Supervisor Miley), Alina Farouk, Dave Thompson, Sandra Archuletta, and Natalie Kim presented the report.
• Process: Six community meetings (September–October 2025) and a survey yielded input from 106 meeting participants and 142 survey respondents. Three key questions guided discussions: major issues, desired changes to county services, and messages for the Board of Supervisors.
• Top concerns from survey: 50% cited enforcing local codes (dumping, habitability, zoning); 46% safer roadways for pedestrians/bicyclists; two-thirds prioritized public works (road maintenance, infrastructure); concerns about emergency preparedness; 44% wanted clearer ownership/coordination of responsibilities.
• 12 recommendations were grouped into short-, medium-, and long-term categories, including codifying a community budget input process, creating an office of unincorporated communities (already under consultant study), a public service culture shift, a communication hub, and improvements to physical infrastructure and local governance.

Public Comments & Testimony

• Over 30 public speakers addressed the committee. Many expressed support for the recommendations, especially the formal budget input process and the office of unincorporated communities. Several speakers from the Eden area and Ashland/Cherryland emphasized the need for equitable services, better code enforcement, traffic safety, and a centralized communication hub.
• Some speakers (e.g., Bruce King) stressed transparency; others (e.g., Peter Rosen) had questions about the office's authority and relationship with MACs.
• A few speakers (e.g., Bobby from Fairview) criticized the MAC process for not taking public comment before forming opinions. Multiple young community members spoke passionately in support of the budget input process.

Discussion Items

• MAC Member Deliberations: Members from Castro Valley, Fairview, Eden, and Sunol raised various points:
  • Chuck (Castro Valley) emphasized that Castro Valley has strong relationships with county departments but expressed frustration that supervisors from non-unincorporated areas vote on unincorporated issues.
  • Sally (Fairview) noted the long history of community engagement in Fairview and urged that MAC recommendations be taken more seriously.
  • Dan (Castro Valley) cautioned that many budget funds are already designated and that community organizations need accurate data; he also questioned the low survey response rate (0.02% of unincorporated population).
  • Taylor (Eden MAC) highlighted the need for equal treatment and criticized short notice for budget workshop meetings.
  • Chris (Fairview) shared a multi-year saga on D Street sidewalks to illustrate the difficulty of getting projects completed.
  • Vanessa (Fairview) suggested leveraging existing MAC infrastructure rather than creating new bureaucracy.
  • Tojo (Castro Valley) called for streamlined business permits and more power for MACs.
• County Staff Responses: Melanie Atendito (Deputy County Administrator) explained the county's maintenance of effort policy, limited discretionary funds, and the challenges of a structural funding gap. Hank Levy (Treasurer-Tax Collector) offered to be a personal contact for business license issues.

Key Outcomes

• Supervisor Miley's Proposed Next Steps (endorsed by Supervisor Tam):
  1. Budget Input Process: Refer to the Budget Committee (Supervisors Tam and Halbert) to work with the County Administrator's Office to improve the annual unincorporated budget input process, incorporate MACs, and report back to the Unincorporated Services Committee in 2026.
  2. Office of Unincorporated Communities: Continue the already-approved consultant study (6-month scope); no decisions have been made on whether to create the office.
  3. Recommendations 3–12: Refer these to relevant county departments (Public Works, Community Development Agency, Fire, Sheriff, Library) for review and to report back at a future Unincorporated Services Committee meeting.
  4. MAC Decision-Making Authority: Explore giving MACs additional powers, such as area planning commission or BZA authority, while considering staff capacity implications.
• Supervisor Miley also noted that the county's budget constraints (e.g., Prop 1, federal cuts, health system deficits) will influence all future decisions. The meeting adjourned at approximately 9:30 PM.