The Auburn City Council met on January 12, 2026, to approve a consent calendar, an emergency contract for police department siding repair, and receive reports from the city manager and committees. The council also emerged from closed session with a unanimous vote to initiate litigation. Councilmember Holmes dedicated the meeting to the late Congressman Doug Lamalfa.
The council approved the consent calendar unanimously (4-0) with Councilmember Dowden Calvio absent. Items included:
No members of the public spoke during the public comment period for items not on the agenda.
Public Works Director Mentr Lee presented the item, explaining that dry rot and falling boards at the Auburn Police Department required immediate action. The original bid package was approximately $120,000 but was updated to $182,686.22 due to additional necessary work. Staff recommended proceeding to avoid higher remobilization costs. Banner Construction (Banner LLC) a local firm in the Greater Auburn area, was selected after a quick bid process as the most responsive and lowest bidder. The council was informed that the damage was caused by a damaged tie and termites, and corrective measures have been taken to ensure longevity. No public comment was made on this item. The council approved the emergency contract with a 4-0 vote (four-fifths vote required).
The City Manager reported:
Councilmember Holmes revisited the topic of becoming a Certified Local Government (CLG), which was previously rejected 4-1. He suggested reviewing it again, citing potential grants and community benefits. Mayor Davis noted staff had recommended against it last time and suggested staff work with Holmes to see if circumstances have changed. Other council members deferred to staff's recommendation, declining to place it on a future agenda at this time.
Councilmember Amara reported that the Youth Commission met and brainstormed a project to host a concert with local bands to raise money for the Humane Society. Councilmember Holmes had no committee updates. A meeting with the Downtown Auburn Business Association was scheduled for the following day.
All right, we'll call this uh meeting to order for January 12th, 2026. And returning from closed session, we'll have our attorney report out. Yeah, thank you, Mayor, and council members. Um the council voted unanimously to initiate litigation, and once commenced, the details will be disclosed to any person upon request. Thank you so much. And calling our regular session to order. Mr. Holmes, will you lead us in pledge of allegiance? Yes. And to the republic. Thank you very much. Moving on to adoption of the agenda. This is the time set aside for council members and or the public to ask for removal, postponement, or a change to the listed sequence of an agenda item. The agenda will be approved by consensus of the council. I move we approve the agenda. Second. Okay. All in favor of all of those in favor. Aye. Aye. And council member homes, go ahead. Yes, I'd like to suggest that we dedicate this uh meeting to uh the late council member uh congressman uh Doug Lamalfa, who had uh during his term of office had done a number of things to uh assist the city of Auburn and uh people in this area, even though it he didn't recogni represent us directly, but uh I think he deserves that recognition. Absolutely. Thank you. And um moving on to consent agenda. All matters listed under the consent agenda are considered to be routine in nature and will be approved by one blanket motion with a roll call vote. There will be no separate discussion of these items unless persons request to specific items to be removed from the consent calendar for discussion and separate action. Any items removed will be considered after the motion to approve the consent calendar. Any requests for removal. No, I move approval of the consent agenda. I'll second council member. Yes. Oops. Sorry, I'm gonna do that again. Council member Amara. Yes. Uh for the record, Councilmember Dowden Calvio is absent. Council member Holmes. Aye. Ridell Harris. Aye. Mayor Davis. Yes. All right, moving on to public comment. This is the time provided so that the public may speak to the council on any item not on this agenda. Please make your comments as brief as possible, not to exceed three minutes. The council cannot act on items not included on this agenda items. Items may be referred to staff or placed on a future agenda. Do we have any public comment? Seeing none, moving on.