Good evening.

This is the City of Belmont City Council regular meeting agenda.

It is March tenth, twenty twenty six.

We are currently in City Council chambers, and our published agenda has the various ways that the public can join, either in person, via Zoom, or um via streaming.

And today we will begin our agenda with agenda items starting at seven pm, item four, which is uh the Pledge of Allegiance.

But before we do that, actually, let's go ahead and have roll call, please.

Councilmember McHume.

Present.

Councilmember Pang Maganaris.

Present, Councilmember Lod Merlow.

Here.

For present, Jordan absent.

Great, thank you.

Please rise if you're able for the Pledge of Allegiance.

I pledge allegiance to the United States in America.

And to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God with liberty and justice for all.

And whereas as Belmont approaches its centennial celebration this year, the city recognizes and honors the generations of women whose leadership, service, and vision have shaped Belmont's history and continue to guide its future.

And whereas the City of Belmont values diversity, equity, inclusion, and civic engagement, and recognizes that women's leadership strengthens our community and advances a more sustainable and just future for all.

Now, therefore, be it resolved that I, Julia Mates, mayor, and on behalf of the City Council of the City of Belmont, do hereby proclaim March 2026 as Women's History Month in the City of Belmont and encourage all residents to recognize, celebrate, and support the leadership of women who are shaping a sustainable future for our community.

So I hope everyone will enjoy Women's History Month.

As the proclamation indicates, it's a chance to honor the women who came before us and also recognize the women shaping our community community today.

And I'm proud to serve in a city where women are leading across our city organization as well, and as well as on this dais, where we actually have a majority of people who identify as women, and across our city organization where women help guide the future of our city every day.

So happy uh women's history month, everyone.

All right, moving on to our next presentation.

We just had our fourth annual Dr.

Martin Luther King Jr.

Poetry and Essay Contest.

And I think we have our poet laureate, our city poet laureate here with us for the next item.

Good evening.

Um Madam Mayor, um, esteemed city council members and members of the public.

Uh I'm Gregory McCullough, your current Belmont Poet Laureate, and I am here on behalf of the Belmont Parks and Rec Department as well as the city generally to present the winners of our 2026 Martin Luther King Junior Poetry and Essay Contest.

So each year, students uh across the Belmont Redwood Schools uh Redwood Schools, uh Redwood Shores School District are asked to uh write a poem or essay that um uh responds to a chosen theme taken from the words of Dr.

King.

Um this year, um, as indicated by our mayor was the fourth uh iteration of the contest.

Um this contest was begun under my predecessors, and it will hopefully continue long after I've left the position.

Um the purpose of this contest is not only to honor the legacy of Dr.

Martin Luther King, but also to uh encourage student engagement and excellence in poetry and rhetoric.

I would like to thank the City of Belmont and the City Council in particular for its support of the contest in years past and its continued support for the contest now.

Um I would also like to thank our sponsors who made the contest and our awards night possible.

Um that was the San Mateo County Office of Arts and Culture, the Belmont Redwood Shores School District, uh the Chamber of San Mateo County, and our Belmont Park boosters.

I'd also like to personally thank my fellow judges and um my uh everyone at the Parks and Rec department who made the contest possible, um, particularly Karina Cortez and Bridget Shear over there.

Um then I would also like to say that by supporting our students, um, you support our future.

And what better way could there be to honor an American hero who fought for a better future for us all?

So um without further ado, the theme for this contest in 2026 were these words from Dr.

King, uh for taken from the I Have a Dream speech.

Even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream.

Um, if it pleases the members of the council, I would like to invite our winners to come read their work for us.

Wonderful, thank you.

Um, please come on, step up.

Dreams, dreams flow through my head, what a wonderful world we have ahead.

Until these people come, all our work has been done.

For what we've worked for today and tomorrow, what we have done becomes sorrow.

Coming to us, we won't have a fuss.

Instead, we plan ahead.

What does the world have ahead?

Complete mess or neatness.

Can we have our great world back?

It's up to us, we won't fuss.

But deep down inside, there's one thing set aside collaboration, kindness, and patience.

Where is it?