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OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD

Record of Proceedings

Belmont City Council Meeting Summary: October 13, 2026

City Council — Tuesday, October 13, 2026

BodyBelmont, California

SessionCity Council

DateTuesday, October 13, 2026

StatusFILED

Video Record

0:00 / 1:01:17

Transcript — VerbatimClick a timed line to jump · ⧉ to share it

Speaker numbers apply only to this recording.

Speaker 1

4:44

You can also watch the meeting on Comcast Cable Channel 27, and we are also streamed live via the city's website at triple W dot Belmont.gov.

Unassigned speaker

4:53

And there's uh publish agenda with all of the directions of how to make a public comment and join our meeting.

Speaker 1

5:02

We have done the call to order.

5:04

The next item on the agenda is our roll call, please, Madam Clerk.

Unassigned speaker

5:08

Good

Speaker 2

5:08

evening.

5:09

Councilmember McCune.

5:10

Present.

5:11

Vladimir Lowe?

5:12

Here.

5:12

Bang Meganarus.

5:13

President.

5:14

Vice Mayor Jordan.

5:15

Here.

5:15

Mayor Mates.

5:16

Here.

5:16

We have a quorum.

5:17

All present.

Speaker 1

5:18

Thank you.

5:19

Item three, items before 7 p.m.

5:21

We did not have any this evening, including uh no study session or closed session.

5:27

Um item that brings us to item four, which is Pledge of Allegiance, please rise.

Speaker 3

5:34

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands.

5:42

One nation under

Speaker 1

5:44

God.

5:44

Indivisible with liberty and justice.

5:51

All right.

5:52

Uh report from closed session.

5:54

Mr.

5:54

City Attorney.

Speaker 4

5:55

Good evening, Madam Mayor.

5:57

As you noted, we did not have a closed session tonight, so therefore we have nothing to report.

Speaker 1

6:01

All right, thank you.

6:02

Uh item six, special presentations.

6:05

We have two proclamations this evening.

6:08

The first one is a proclamation designating October 2026 as domestic violence awareness month.

6:14

And I'll go ahead and read portions of the proclamation.

Unassigned speaker

6:18

Uh,

Speaker 1

6:18

whereas more than one in three women, one in four men and one in two transgender individuals experience physical or sexual violence and or stalking by an intimate partner during their lifetime.

6:29

And whereas Cora provided 18,380 services to survivors and their families, including 5,193 nights of emergency shelter for 103 adults and children, more than 1.34 million dollars in rental assistance and security deposits for 174 adults and children, and mental health services to 624 adults and children.

6:54

And whereas CORA provided legal assistance to 925 survivors, including support with restraining orders and family law matters, and responded to 1,928 requests for legal services.

7:06

And whereas Cora educated 6,000 middle and high school students about healthy relationships and reached 3,000 adults through community education, training, and outreach.

7:16

And whereas intimate partner violence remains among the most underreported crimes in San Mateo County is committed to preventing and eliminating all forms of intimate partner abuse.

7:26

And whereas the City of Belmont recognizes that addressing domestic violence requires a comprehensive continuum of prevention, crisis intervention, shelter, housing, legal advocacy, and mental health services.

7:39

Now, therefore, be it proclaimed that I, Julia Mates, Mayor of Belmont, on behalf of the Belmont City Council, hereby designate October 2026 as domestic violence awareness month, encouraging all residents to raise awareness and take action to help prevent and eliminate intimate partner violence in our community.

7:58

So again, it is domestic violence awareness month this October, and I believe we have a representative uh from CORA with us this evening to perhaps make a few remarks.

Speaker 5

8:14

Thank you.

8:15

Um good evening, Council members and members of the public.

8:19

My name is Liz Lang, and I'm a board member with Cora, which stands for Community Overcoming Relationship Abuse.

8:28

CORA was founded in 1977, almost 50 years ago.

8:34

50 years ago, domestic violence was still seen as a private family matter.

8:40

Something that happened behind closed doors.

8:43

Domestic violence was understood to be physical abuse, but abuse goes beyond physical.

8:49

It can be verbal, emotional, financial, stalking.

8:54

It often starts out subtle, which is why knowing the warning signs and red flags is so important.

8:59

Um I recently reached out and submitted a public records request um to um Belmont.

9:06

And I did want to share one data point just to help,

Unassigned speaker

9:10

you

Speaker 5

9:10

know, shine a light on this issue in Belmont, but also share that there's people who are contacting law enforcement.

9:16

Um since 2022, the Belmont Police Department has responded to 609 calls for service related to domestic violence of the days of the week that get the most calls Saturdays and Sundays top the list.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting

Procedural████████████████████████24%

Technology and Innovation█████████████████████21%

Public Engagement███████████11%

Emergency Management██████████10%

Domestic Violence█████████9%

Public Safety███████7%

Arts And Culture██████6%

Parking█████5%

Traffic Safety███3%

Summary of Proceedings

Belmont City Council Meeting Summary: October 13, 2026

The Belmont City Council met on Tuesday, October 13, 2026, at 7:00 p.m. in the City Council Chambers at City Hall, One Twin Pines Lane, Belmont, California. All five councilmembers were present: Mayor Julia Mates, Vice Mayor Cathy Jordan, and Councilmembers Robin Pang-Maganaris, Gina Latimerlo, and Tom McCune. The council approved the consent calendar, received an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) needs assessment presentation, and adopted a local emergency resolution ahead of the 2026–2027 El Niño winter storm season.

Special Presentations & Proclamations

Mayor Mates read a proclamation designating October 2026 as Domestic Violence Awareness Month. The proclamation cited statistics including that more than one in three women, one in four men, and one in two transgender individuals experience intimate partner physical or sexual violence or stalking in their lifetimes. It also highlighted CORA's services: 18,380 services provided to survivors and families, 5,193 nights of emergency shelter for 103 adults and children, more than $1.34 million in rental assistance and security deposits for 174 adults and children, mental health services for 624 adults and children, legal assistance to 925 survivors, and 1,928 requests for legal services.
Liz Lang, CORA board member, accepted the proclamation and reported that the Belmont Police Department has responded to 609 domestic violence-related calls for service since 2022, with Saturdays and Sundays receiving the most calls. She encouraged residents to share about Domestic Violence Awareness Month using #DVAM, take an online pledge, and wear purple.
Mayor Mates read a proclamation observing Indigenous Peoples' Day on October 12, 2026, acknowledging the city's location on the ancestral homeland of the Ramaytush Ohlone and urging recognition of Indigenous peoples' resilience and contributions.

Consent Calendar

Monthly Financial Report – August 2026: received and filed.
Parking and Traffic Safety Committee Short-Term Parking Zones: resolution approved to install one 20-foot, 30-minute parking space at 880 Old County Road and two 20-foot, 30-minute parking spaces at 580 Masonic Way, with the City Manager authorized to adjust time restrictions. A staff correction was noted that the report inadvertently referenced two ground floor commercial units when there is only one, but the two parking spaces remained the subject of the vote.
2025–2026 San Mateo County Civil Grand Jury Response – ALPR Usage: City of Belmont response letter regarding Automated License Plate Reader usage by the Belmont Police Department approved.
Twin Pines Senior Community Center Reconstruction: resolution authorized a contract of $176,230 plus 10% contingency, for a total not to exceed $193,853, and a budget appropriation funded by the Facility Management Fund creating Capital Improvement Program Project #8136.
The consent calendar was approved by a single 5–0 motion.

Public Comments & Testimony

Bunny Soper, a longtime resident and Ralston/Carlmont alumna, urged the city to improve pedestrian safety for students walking from Ralston School to the Carlmont shopping center. She cited three accidents in the past month in that corridor, including a car jumping the curb about two hours before roughly 100 students would walk by, and asked for police car presence and an eastbound speed feedback sign.
Chris Slew, Belmont Community Library manager, announced upcoming library events, including Belmont Centennial Trivia Night on October 22, a centennial scrapbooking session on October 20, a Twin Pines Book Club discussion of Jack London on November 5, after-school homework help, and Diwali and Día de los Muertos programs.
Karen Shane, a volunteer at the Homeless Cat Network at 856 Old County Road, expressed concerns about the 9B parking zone item. She worried about precedence, noted an existing green zone near 840 Old County Road, and asked whether the existing zone would be removed before adding a new one.

Discussion Items

Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) Replacement Project: City staff introduced consultants Matt Coates and Brian Petis of Plante Moran. The city's Microsoft Dynamics GP system will reach end of support in 2029, so the needs assessment will evaluate financials, HR/payroll/time, land management, and maintenance/asset management systems. The assessment will produce a roadmap, cost estimates, market analysis, implementation considerations, governance, procurement, change management, and timeline recommendations. Councilmembers discussed the need to minimize customization, consider off-the-shelf integrated systems, and account for future technology such as AI. Councilmember McCune suggested considering Deltek as a possible vendor. No formal action was taken; the item was informational.
Local Emergency Proclamation for 2026–2027 El Niño Winter Storm Season: City Manager Afshin Oskoui recommended adopting a resolution proclaiming a local emergency due to the imminent threat of severe winter weather. He noted NOAA forecasts a greater than 90% probability of a very strong El Niño and a 75% probability that October–December could reach historically exceptional strength. The city has already conducted creek maintenance and dredging, inspected and cleared storm drain inlets, established on-call consultant and contractor agreements, and launched public preparedness messaging, including sandbag stations and the Adopt-a-Drain program. The resolution formalizes enhanced readiness and response coordination.

Councilmember Announcements & Verbal Reports

Nominations for the 20th Annual Beautiful Belmont Award and Community Service Award are due October 26 at 5:00 p.m., with awards presented at the December 8 council meeting.
Vice Mayor Jordan announced HEART's Housing on Tap event on October 15 and a Cafecito with Supervisor Corzo on October 18. Councilmember Pang-Maganaris reminded residents about breast cancer awareness and screening.
Mayor Mates highlighted the Belmont Centennial Festival on October 24, the Belmont Boo Bash on October 28, and new wayfinding signs.
Councilmembers reported on intergovernmental meetings, Fire 101 training, and other subcommittee activities. Councilmember Latimerlo also noted a West Bay discussion about a possible Air Board prohibition on new gas appliances, with no decision reached.
City Manager Oskoui congratulated Karen Clark on a regional professional award and reminded residents of the Great California ShakeOut on October 15 at 10:15 a.m., plus emergency preparedness tools including SMC Alert, Genasys Protect, and MyShake.
Mayor Mates announced that the October 27 council meeting is canceled and the next regular meeting will be November 10, 2026. She reminded residents to check their mail-in ballots, as Election Day is November 3.

Key Outcomes

Consent calendar approved 5–0.
Resolution proclaiming a local emergency for the 2026–2027 El Niño winter storm season adopted 5–0.
ERP replacement project received as informational; no vote was taken. Staff and consultants will continue the needs assessment and report back with a roadmap before proceeding to RFP.
Next regular City Council meeting scheduled for November 10, 2026.

Meeting Transcript

You can also watch the meeting on Comcast Cable Channel 27, and we are also streamed live via the city's website at triple W dot Belmont.gov. And there's uh publish agenda with all of the directions of how to make a public comment and join our meeting. We have done the call to order. The next item on the agenda is our roll call, please, Madam Clerk. Good evening. Councilmember McCune. Present. Vladimir Lowe? Here. Bang Meganarus. President. Vice Mayor Jordan. Here. Mayor Mates. Here. We have a quorum. All present. Thank you. Item three, items before 7 p.m. We did not have any this evening, including uh no study session or closed session. Um item that brings us to item four, which is Pledge of Allegiance, please rise. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands. One nation under God. Indivisible with liberty and justice. All right. Uh report from closed session. Mr. City Attorney. Good evening, Madam Mayor. As you noted, we did not have a closed session tonight, so therefore we have nothing to report. All right, thank you. Uh item six, special presentations. We have two proclamations this evening. The first one is a proclamation designating October 2026 as domestic violence awareness month. And I'll go ahead and read portions of the proclamation. Uh, whereas more than one in three women, one in four men and one in two transgender individuals experience physical or sexual violence and or stalking by an intimate partner during their lifetime. And whereas Cora provided 18,380 services to survivors and their families, including 5,193 nights of emergency shelter for 103 adults and children, more than 1.34 million dollars in rental assistance and security deposits for 174 adults and children, and mental health services to 624 adults and children. And whereas CORA provided legal assistance to 925 survivors, including support with restraining orders and family law matters, and responded to 1,928 requests for legal services. And whereas Cora educated 6,000 middle and high school students about healthy relationships and reached 3,000 adults through community education, training, and outreach. And whereas intimate partner violence remains among the most underreported crimes in San Mateo County is committed to preventing and eliminating all forms of intimate partner abuse. And whereas the City of Belmont recognizes that addressing domestic violence requires a comprehensive continuum of prevention, crisis intervention, shelter, housing, legal advocacy, and mental health services. Now, therefore, be it proclaimed that I, Julia Mates, Mayor of Belmont, on behalf of the Belmont City Council, hereby designate October 2026 as domestic violence awareness month, encouraging all residents to raise awareness and take action to help prevent and eliminate intimate partner violence in our community. So again, it is domestic violence awareness month this October, and I believe we have a representative uh from CORA with us this evening to perhaps make a few remarks. Thank you. Um good evening, Council members and members of the public. My name is Liz Lang, and I'm a board member with Cora, which stands for Community Overcoming Relationship Abuse. CORA was founded in 1977, almost 50 years ago.

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