Berkeley City Council Special Meeting Confirms November 5, 2024 Election Results on December 10, 2024
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Berkeley City Council Special Meeting – December 10, 2024
The Berkeley City Council held a special meeting on Tuesday, December 10, 2024, at 5:30 PM in the School District Board Room (1231 Addison Street) in a hybrid format. All nine councilmembers were present, and the sole agenda item was the confirmation of the November 5, 2024, General Municipal Election results and related ballot measure certifications. The council heard public comment, voted unanimously to approve the consent item, and adjourned in time for the 6:00 PM regular meeting and ceremonial swearing-in of new members.
Consent Calendar
- The council considered Item 1, “Confirming the Results of the November 5, 2024, General Municipal Election,” on the consent calendar. No items were pulled for separate discussion. After public comment, the council voted on the item as part of the consent calendar.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Blair Beekman, speaking remotely from Vietnam, congratulated the new mayor and expressed hope for the incoming administration. He emphasized that technology accountability should be a community-wide participatory process rather than the work of specialized groups only.
Discussion Items
- City Manager’s recommendation (presented by the City Clerk’s office): Adopt a resolution confirming the November 5, 2024 election results and declaring the passage of Measures W, X, Y, Z, AA, BB, DD, and FF; adopt seven ordinances amending the Berkeley Municipal Code to incorporate the passed measures; and adopt a resolution codifying the text of Measure AA (GANN Appropriations Limit Authority).
Key Outcomes
- The council voted unanimously (9-0) to approve the consent item as written.
- Declared passage of: Measure W (Real Property Transfer Tax Amendments), Measure X (Library Relief Act of 2024), Measure Y (Parks, Trees, and Landscaping Maintenance Tax Amendments), Measure Z (Sugar Sweetened Beverage Tax Amendments), Measure AA (Article XIIIB GANN Appropriations Limit Authority), Measure BB (Rent Stabilization Ordinance Amendments and Housing Retention), Measure DD (Prohibition on Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations), and Measure FF (Parcel Tax for Street, Sidewalk, and Pedestrian Path Repairs).
- Declared failure of: Measure CC (Direct Rental Payments and Rent Stabilization Ordinance Amendments), Measure EE (Parcel Tax for Street, Sidewalk, and Pedestrian Path Repairs), Measure GG (Special Tax on Natural Gas Consumption in Large Buildings), and Measure HH (Minimum Indoor Air Quality Standards in City-Owned and City-Leased Buildings).
- The council adopted the related implementing ordinances and the Measure AA codification resolution.
- The special meeting was adjourned; the regular meeting and ceremonial swearing-in of new members began at 6:00 PM.
Meeting Transcript
All right. Um I don't have the agenda in front of me actually, but I'd like to call the special meeting to order. Okay. Um take the role, please. Yes, I will take the roll. Thank you, Mayor. Councilmember Kessarwani. Here. Kaplan. Present. Bartlett. Here. Tregub. O'Keefe. Here. Glackaby. Here. Una para? Here. Humbert. Present. And Mayor Ishi. Here. Okay. Ms. Quorum is present. Okay. Um, well, welcome everyone. I'd like to welcome you to the December 10th special meeting of the Berkeley City Council and call this meeting to order. Um, I did that. So I believe we just have one item on our agenda. So would someone like to move no item number one as written? So I said move. Second. Quirk, would you like to call the roll? We could uh take public comment on the Kent Senter at this time. Oh, I don't have this. Here it is. Yes, I'd like to take public comment, please. Is there any public comment from attendees in the room for the 5 30 p.m. special meeting? Does it have to be on topic or yes? Yes. Uh no speakers in the room. Okay, uh, we'll turn to the remote attendees. Uh we have one uh speaker who's raised his hand. Um uh Blair Beekman, you can now unmute and provide comment. Hi, uh Blair Beachman. Uh I'm a person who uh works on the issues of tech accountability, the future of uh open public policies and best practices with the future of our uh technology surveillance and data collection. Uh boy, uh congratulations to the new mayor.
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