So with that, we will adjourn the special meeting at 6.04 p.m.

And at this time, I would like to call to order the Elkgrove City Council regular meeting.

Today is Wednesday, August the 13th, 2025.

The time is 6.04 p.m.

Clerk.

Thank you, Mayor.

This meeting of the Elkrove City Council is recorded with closed captioning.

The recording will be cable cast on Metro Cable Channel 14, the local government affairs channel on the Comcast and Direct TV Uverse Cable Systems.

The recording will also be video streamed at Metro14Live.gov.

Tonight's meeting replays will be on Friday, August 15th at 1 p.m.

And Monday, August 18th, also at 1 p.m.

on Metro Channel 14.

Once posted, the recordings of this and previous meetings can be viewed on demand at the 3Ws.gov or YouTube.com slash Metro Cable 14.

For members of the participating audience who may have personal electronic devices, please place them on silent mode during the meeting or on mute when you are not speaking.

City Council reserves the right to reasonably limit the total time for public comment on any particular notice agenda item as it may deem necessary.

Presented to resolution number 21-24.

No individual speaker concerning public comment may address the city council for more than three minutes.

If you wish to address the council during the meeting, please complete one of the blue speaker cards, which can be found at the back of the chamber, and provide it to assistant city clerk Brenda Haggard prior to consideration of the agenda item.

With that, Mayor, I will be moving on to the roll call.

And starting for the roll call, I will start with Councilmember Spees.

Present Councilmember Brewer.

Present.

Councilmember Sewin.

Here.

Vice Mayor Robles.

Present.

And Mayor Singh Allen.

Here.

Everyone's here.

All right.

Thank you.

Next up is our land acknowledgement.

Would our vice mayor please assist?

Thank you, Madam Mayor.

We honor, respect, and acknowledge Elk Grove's first inhabitants, the Plain Miwoks, who live as sovereign caretakers of this land in these waterways since time memorial.

We commemorate and advocate for their descendants, the Wilton Rancheria tribe, the only federalized recognized tribe in Sacramento County, who endured because of the bravery, resiliency, determination of their ancestors, tribal members, and leaders.

All right.

Next up is our Pledge of Allegiance.

I'd like to invite uh Chief Davis to lead us this evening.

That's all.

Hand over heart.

What?

I'll allegiance through the flag of the United States of America.

And to the Republic for which it stands.

One nation under God.

At this time, please join us for a brief moment of silence.

Thank you.

Next item may I get the approval of the agenda.

So moved.

Second.

All those in favor, please say aye.

Aye.

Thank you.

Next item.

Under section three, there are no closed session items on the regular agenda, which will advance us to section four, our presentation, which is item 4.1, a annual update from our disability advisory committee.

Wonderful.

Let's welcome them to the podium.

Oh, yes, of course.

Please.

Sorry, I didn't see you behind the screen here.

Yeah, I know it's right now.

Madam Mayor, members of the council, thank you for having me here tonight for update from the disability advisory committee.

Let me start by thanking giving our sincere thanks to the committee members to Ted Clark, who recently stepped down as chairman of the committee to devote more time to his well-deserved retirement from the state of California.

He served as chairman for many years, at least 10 years that I'm aware of.

And always provided thoughtful insight no matter what the issue.

Fortunately, he will continue benefit.

We will continue to benefit from his wealth of knowledge and experiences as he agreed to stay on as a member of the committee.

With Ted stepping down, the committee saw fit to elect me as the new chairman and Anne Hennessy as a vice chairman.

She's a retired in intervention and special ed teacher from Elk Grove Unified School District.

A few weeks ago, Val Shotra submitted a resignation and due to a pending move out of Elk Grove.

She was a member of the committee for two and a half years, and we and we're always was always ready to provide input.

I'd also like to recognize our newest member Daise Hughes, an attorney.

Her expertise in the field of disability law and her passion for the subject are invaluable to this committee.

She's been with the committee for a year now and already has led many good discussions at our meetings.

I have been privileged to serve on the committee for 10 years now and tried to represent our entire disability disabled community.

I did not become disabled until later in life, suffering a stroke 16 years ago.

Unfortunately, my experience is not particularly unique among seniors.

And I hope my own experience is discovering new obstacles as well as well-planned accessibility improvements, helps me as the committee addresses these issues brought before it.

I would like to thank the council for its ongoing support of us as well as Jim Ramsey for his work as our committee liaison.

As a city council created the disability advisory committee in 2001.

The council determined that three committee members would must themselves have a disability with the other two members identifying closely with those with disabilities.

The committee has only had 20 members in 24 years.

This past year, the committee provided feedback to the city staff on a variety of programs and projects.

An Elk Grove nonprofit that offers therapeutic recreational horseback riding instruction to over 600 writers with disabilities and special needs.

We supported the city's social media campaign of every October 15th, 2024 is White Cane Safety Day and the Council's proclamation of October 2024 as Disability Awareness Month.

This committee will continue to focus on a review of and support of accessibility improvements for city projects, city policies, programs and services, and we'll continue to be a resource for the Elk Grove Police Department regarding questions about interacting with those with special needs.

That concludes my brief remarks.

Any questions, I'm here.

Thank you.

Thank you so much for giving us that update.

And I know I speak on behalf of my colleagues here.

We sincerely thank you and the entire um committee on your hard work.

Accessibility issues are very important to us and the city of Elk Grove and lifting our residents here who need to ensure that accessibility remains a top priority.

So thank you for all of the diligence and the work that you all do.

My privilege, thank you.

Any questions or comments from colleagues looking to the left?

Just to echo your sentiments, Mayor, uh thank you for giving those uh who need a voice, that voice appreciate your service.

Thanks.

Looking to the right, we good.

Oh, I'm sorry.

Did you have a comment?

Go ahead.

Vice Mayor.

Thank you.

I just want to say thank you for your years of service.

And I think you said 24 out of 20 years, correct?

People?

20.

Let's see.

I gotta go back now.

Um, 20 members in 24 years.

That's quite remarkable.

So we stay around if we can.

Well, thank you.

Thank you for your service.

All right.

Um, Councilmember Brewer.

No, I definitely appreciate the the presentation tonight.

Because one of the things that I recall this very committee doing um several years ago, uh identifying places throughout town that need ADA accessibility.

And it was alarming to see a lot of sites, both city and consumers, community services district, and school district that were surprisingly without ADA compliance for facilities.

And that was a that was very helpful because we started seeing the city as a whole and all in all rings of government take to that call and starting to make new facilities and current facilities, retrofitting them to be ADA compliant.

And I want to thank you and your leadership for and in the committee, because when you have that sort of staying power and you're being a partner to the city, that makes that makes the real difference right there.

Um, and I know, like yesterday, I did a couple of events.

We see how District 56, how that facility is very ADA friendly for for the public.

And then going to the new Elk Grove High School as they did their remote completed their remodel and seeing how they have spaces, and just the general campus now is ADA compliant across the board as they modernize the campus.

And that was that was really good because seeing it through the eyes of of those who do need these spaces and myself, I'm diabetic.

And there's times where my equilibrium is off and I get a little wobbly, and so there's days where I'm not walking with a complete strong gate.

And those and having that accessibility is really helpful and very mindful.

So thank you for your leadership on this, and thank you for being a partner to the city and and and to all of our other agencies in helping narrow that bridge.

Thank you.

I'm ready for another 10 years.

Um to some degree, we would all come into having some sort of disability.

Maybe perhaps it's mild at some point in time, but you know, a walker or a wheelchair or a cane needing assistance to walk.

And I think I really appreciate the committee to taking a look at things um through a disability lens because you know you may not realize that that gap in the sidewalk might be much bigger than you think it is if you don't have the ability to lift your foot, right?

Um so you know it's uh like I said, hopefully we'll all be lucky to live long enough, right?

To have to um to have that, but um, I want to thank you again for uh for your work, and I appreciate it very much.

Thank you.

Thank you, sir.

Thanks.

All right.

We will move on to our next item, which is public comment.

Oh, we have several people signed up to speak.

We will start off with Bonnie Stensler, followed by Jacqueline Canoose.

Good evening, Mayor, Council members.

Uh, this will be short but sweet.

I was here a couple weeks ago to invite you all to National Night Out.

I'm here tonight to thank you for coming to our national night out.

Uh we had a great turnout.

We appreciate these at the city staff, the police chief, um, our residents.

We had several new residents there who are very impressed by the relationship we share, and we want to keep that alive and growing.

So that is mainly what I'm here to say that you impress them, and we're impressed, you know, goes both ways.

So thank you again for being there.

It was our pleasure.

Thank you.

Next up is Jacqueline Canuose, followed by Carlos uh Zamparipa.

Zamaripa.

I'm I'm happy to know that I'm carrying on that.

Thank you, happy.

Um good evening, everyone.

The City of Elk Grove presented the spring of 2025 Elk Grove 101 cohort.

And I did it.

I was lucky to have been able to attend the eight-week program.

I am here tonight to number one praise Crystal Lord, love Lazard, and Shandon Hoffmeyer and staff for the amazing job that they did.

Having to schedule and school the many city staff, police department, consumeness, and district 56 must have been like herding cats, and along with us participants.

Crystal and Shandon meshed well together.

They kept the sessions and speakers flowing smoothly.

They used humor and opportunity for people to meet each other.

They gave us time, they gave us um games to play, and and we got to meet some new friends.

We could have listened to them and Jason, explain the various departments, having the actual point, people meet with the group and took our questions.

They are knowledgeable and professional.

If they didn't know the answer to maybe one or two questions, that's about, I think that was probably maybe three times at the most, but they found out and then got back to us with the answer.

Taking a bus tour was educational.

Nice fancy bus.

Included were games, interactive projects, and splendid food.

The prizes were fun.

Jeff knows that the prizes were fun.

Number two is to thank the city for this opportunity to learn what all the departments accomplish, and it is overwhelming.

The job that all of you do.

I thought I pretty much knew the city of El Grove and what goes on.

Shoo!

I mean, it's just unless you go to this course, you just don't know.

And hearing directly from those people is really amazing because they can give you their experience.

You get to know the personalities, you get to get a crush on people that are coming in with the nice uniforms.

And we got to go on a tour to the to the uh recycling place.

That was amazing.

I didn't know you could go there and get stuff.

Number two is to thank the city for this opportunity to learn what all the departments accomplish, and it it um, repeat, repeat.

I recommend the council attend this course.

I have bragged about it to many El Grovians.

Again, thank you.

Thank you, ma'am.

And the food was outstanding.

Thank you.

All right.

I know.

Carlos Zamaripa, then Caroline Torres.

Good evening, Mayor Singh Allen and Council members.

My name is Carlos Zamaripa.

I live on Sheldon Road between Waterman and uh Bradshaw.

The following words appear on the Elkrove City website under about Elk Grove.

Quote: Take a drive around Eastern Elk Grove, the triangle between El Grove Florin, Sheldon Road, and Grant Lane Road, and you're sure to see a contrast to the western parts.

This is the area that once typified the entire community.

This is rural El Grove.

Cattle and horses roam the open space, strawberries and other fruits and vegetables ripen to perfection.

Leaves from the Great Oaks and Eucalyptus rustle in the breeze.

Wildlife find refuge and the pace of life simply slows down.

This is a place that represents Elkrove's proud heritage and agricultural roots.

The rural Elk Grove community is a valuable asset to be preserved and appreciated, and city policies ensure this.

Just minutes from the hustle and bustle, rural Elk Grove is a place that gives us a genuine taste of rural lifestyle, providing a scenic backdrop of country living and reminding us that El Gross Pass is still a big part of our present day city.

These words proclaim rural Elk Grove as a city's proud heritage and valuable asset to be preserved, appreciated, and supported with city policies.

And this is what attracts people to El Grove.

Unfortunately, our proud heritage is being threatened by a land development called Summer Villas.

Plan for the Southeast Corner of Waterman and Sheldon Roads.

The developer wants to revise the general plan, remove 116-acre parcel from the rural area, rezone it from Agra's one home per two acres to high density and create an adult residential community with up to 499 homes on 70 of those acres.

The proposed increase of 464 units, 35 presently to 499, represents a 1,325% increase.

This change is unreasonable, irresponsible, and reckless, and inconsistent with city policies intended to preserve rural El Grove.

My opposition to the proposal is not just about increased traffic, though there will be plenty of that.

The proposal will undercut our rural way of living.

The proposal is simply too big to be implemented without substantial changes to the environment, including infrastructure, social, natural, recreational, and economic, as well as flood control, water quality, fire safety, and other city services, to make it work.

And with those changes, so goes the rural nature of Eastern El Grove, including our iconic Sheldon Road with its canopy of oak trees.

Don't get me wrong, I'm just I'm not just another old man who fears change.

I actually like change when it's reasonable and manageable.

Don't let Summer Villas trigger the beginning of the end of rural El Grove.

Thank you for your attention.

Thank you.

Next up, next.

Next up is Carolyn Soares, followed by Kathleen Collins.

Hi there, everyone.

Nice to see you all.

And I didn't realize I'm kind of what um gentleman was just talking about at Thanksgiving dinner years ago when Rick was on council.

Um we had an immediate family member.

I mean, at the at the Thanksgiving table family member that close wanted to develop high density developer parcel right at Sheldon Corner, Sheldon and Waterman, and he's like, no, that's role.

People of Elk Grove want rule.

But anyway, my imagin that just brought that up.

I sent you all um some pictures from the Sacramento.

That's why I'm talking, I sent you all some pictures from the Sacramento County Fair, and it was all of the FFA and 4 H members that were um competing there, and you couldn't believe the excitement of these kids, the youth of Elk Grove.

They were so I mean it was contagious.

They were so professional and so excited, and the just the camaraderie and friendships that they have were just really fun.

Um the pictures I thought they were going to be showing, so I didn't really do faces.

So you don't see the smiling faces, um, it's more the backs with the um, you know, that shows their jackets with Bradshaw Christian, Sheldon, Pleasant Grove, Elk Grove High School on there.

Um, it was just really fun.

Um, and they made it look so easy.

You see, somebody's like, yay big, you know, um, leaving leading their log livestock around.

We could have used them when we had um what we have prime rib and sirloin, but anyway.

Um but what I wanted to say too is Elk Grove residents, the high schools here were well represented at the Sacramento County Fair.

There wasn't anyone from Sacramento that I saw, the city of Sacramento, they don't have a rural area.

Um I did see Galt and some neighboring towns well represented too, but um, no one from the city, and that's because Elk Grove has a rural area, like he was saying, um, and I often hear questions like the development next to us.

Um, you know, what do you know, as the city council and that, what do we want to do with the Elk Grove with the rural area?

It's kind of like a something to play with or something.

They, you know, developers are wanting to develop it, you know, they want to like my family member, you know, they want to make a quick buck and or slow buck or whatever.

Um, or they want to keep you know big lots for big houses to bring more business owners in and that type of thing.

Um, but it occurred to me at the fair.

Has anyone asked the youth of Elk Grove?

You know, what does the future?

I mean, I'm old.

Um, what is the future?

What do our high school and elementary and junior high students?

What do they want?

Has anyone asked them?

I mean, you could have asked hundreds of our youth at the fair, and I know their answer would have been the same.

So thank you.

Thank you.

Next up is Kathleen Collins, followed by Ed Gard, no last name.

Good evening.

How's everyone this evening?

As you know, I'm a longtime property owner here in town.

In Old Town.

How do you do, Mr.

Space?

Um, with a list.

One, thank you very much for whomever decided to contact Smud, as we already had, for taking and removing the tree at Eva Engage.

That was going to be a fire hazard or an electrical problem.

Next, we're very concerned that there is a national search for the new librarian at the old town branch.

Mr.

Brewer, I don't know what progress you're making.

We need someone that's highly intelligent, sophisticated, knows how best to utilize personnel, not having master's degrees, downstairs, mopping floors, and that's excuse for why they're not helping patrons.

Someone who actually knows what the PDR is, where you can find basic business information, and that the average education since the last census has gone up per household here, I understand.

It's at least one university degree, often two, and even more increasingly so, one master's degree.

It's not research to come in and say, I would like the list of the best sellers, or I will need information from a prescription.

Whomever it is that we have at this new library can really improve the graduation levels of the high schoolers, and hopefully we'll have a library that's like Burlingame, San Mateo, Pataluma, with that kind of internal intelligence, capability, and commitment to positive lifetime learning.

Next, I would agree.

No Arn Sheldon and Waterman, keep our oak trees, please, and low on housing.

And I also wanted to speak with you this evening.

It disturbs us when we see the city sponsored, funded, participated low-income housing, that these are being built without covered parking.

Often these are those persons' only assets are their automobiles.

And in this heat and the weather, there must be some way.

I if otherwise they wouldn't have 11 companies apply to build one apartment complex.

So somewhere in there, it needs to have the protective walls, which are chemicals and temperature, and the covering park.

It will reduce the overall temperature, reduce the energy usage and costs.

And I just think that that's something that when standards of Elk Grove they want to build here, we need to set our standards high.

All right.

One, two, three, four, five.

Thank you very much.

Have a most pleasant day.

Thank you.

Next up is Edgar, followed by Gernie Melton.

Good evening, Madam Mayor, fellow board members.

Thank you for your time.

Thank you for the community.

My name is Edgar.

I am a proud uh steward of A2 ATU Local 256, as well as a bus driver for El Grove Unified School District.

I'm here alongside my fellow peers, anywhere from attendants, dispatchers, drivers, mechanics, schedulers, and trainers.

Our goal tonight is simple.

It's to inform and unite our community.

Leaders and the public in support in our fight to a fair contract that we've been battling for 14 months and going.

Our members are asking for what is reasonable, doable, and already happening at different districts or in current contracts within the district.

Wages, benefits, and contractual language.

The public, as well as yourself, know prices have gone up.

Rent, groceries, bills, child care, elderly care, costs all up, all time high.

Yet our paychecks don't reflect that.

Neighbor districts have recognized these struggles and stepped it up.

ATU continues to fight also contractual language that protects our members, the rights, guarantee of a due process.

These safeguards are standards in other districts.

LCAP and the district budget report, it's clear that El Grove Unified School District has the resources.

The real question is not whether the district can afford to do better, it's whether the district chooses to.

So alongside my peer today, I'm asking the city community leaders to stand with us as we approach our next meeting with the district.

We seek for fair pay, benefits, and honest protection in our contract.

Too often we hear this is all we can offer.

But the reality is our neighboring districts prove otherwise.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Order, please.

Order.

Let's limit the cheers, please.

We've got, thank you.

Next up, um, Journey Journey Melton.

Yes.

Yes, you're up.

And then oh, Crystal McKee Lee.

Yeah.

Okay.

I've been a bus driver for 30.

So I've been driving kids that long.

I'm here with my work family.

All right.

Thank you.

We're here to be seen and to be heard, because we're not really being seen or heard with our school district.

Um, if we could all just live on our hearts that are in our job, we'd be rich.

But can't do that.

Um I myself am in escrow.

I'm gonna be signing away my life on a house on Monday on a wing and a prayer, hoping I can afford it.

Um I started 30 years ago, I was making $9.13.

30 years later, what are we at?

32?

I think just under 32.

In this economy, we can't do it.

We just can't.

So I'm here with my people.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Next up.

Next up, next up is Crystal McGee Lee, followed by Sylvia Lopez Garcia.

Good afternoon, madam mayor, counselor.

You were in my whole whole town, yes, for Great Britain.

My name is Crystal McGee Lee.

I'm the president business agent of ATU Local 256, and we're here to introduce ourselves, as you see, and also we're I'm here to so you can see us.

As you can see here, we have some issues going on, and this is not um in full transparency.

I want you to know that the El Grove School District Board knows that I'm coming before you because I came before them too.

I believe in transparency, and so with that being said, we are having difficulties, and you're wondering why am I here talking to you when you're this you're like you're supposed to go in front of the school district, but I take we these drivers and schedules, they take your kids to school.

So I'm here before you for support, and they're asking for support.

And I know when you say we're in, you know, different times in regards to negotiations that you usually don't put it out in forefront.

But if you can see behind me, these drivers have to get up at four o'clock in the morning tomorrow.

You don't hear ATU 256 coming before you.

The reason why is because they put their heads down and they go to work.

They service the kids.

I know that a lot of times we hear in the public, you hear about the teachers.

We understand that the teachers are the heartbeat, but you got to remember the bus drivers, the schedulers, the maintenance, the attendance, those are the veins, those are the arteries.

If you the heart doesn't function without them, and I think that for too long, El Grove School District has the mindset of follow the teachers.

Well, the teachers make more money in us, so how can I follow them?

So I would love to follow them, and they will love to follow them, but at the same time, we also know that we all work and we all try to do the best that we can do, but we aren't getting paid or our our health insurance.

We're not asking for anything outrageous, and that's the problem.

If I you do better when you know better, and if I show you something better, then why can't you do it?

Well, that lets me know that you don't want to do it, and as my illustrious steward says, you choose not to.

So we chose to come and say, hey, see us, hear us, and maybe you can't do anything, but maybe you can, and whatever you can do, we would appreciate if you do.

And with that, I told Elk Grove School District before I came here.

These people are people of service.

They are not servants.

Thank you for your time.

Thank you.

Order, please.

Next up is Sylvia Lopez Garcia, followed by Gerald Austin.

Okay.

My name is Sylvia Lopez Garcia.

I've been driving school bus for eight years.

Um, I was raised out here, went to Markoffer, Jackman, Valley High.

Long as my other coworkers, my family here.

We're from this community.

We're here.

We love our students, we love our schools.

We wake up at four or three o'clock in the morning.

We don't go home until six o'clock.

Okay, and we do it with a smile.

We treat all these kids as our own when we pick them up.

Okay, and all we want is fair pay.

We are the largest school district, the largest in Northern California, the fifth in California.

Why can't we get what they get?

We got school districts that are not even close to us.

SAC, Twins River.

They get paid more than us.

They get health care coverage for free.

We're not even asking for that.

We're just asking, give us a decent price.

Because you guys gave, they gave us a pay raise, and then they bumped up our medical.

I have two kids.

I have to choose between what bills I'm gonna pay, and sell my own plasma.

I mean, come on now, we're struggling, and they're not even coming to us.

I understand if we are coming, something crazy, but they're not even meeting us at the table.

And we're asking for help.

You know, you guys represent outgrowth.

We represent outgrowth transportation.

Our mechanics are not even making close to what they should be making.

Nowhere close, same as in our tendons.

Our tenants care for them so we can drive our bus and actually focus on the road.

We got attendants running around on the bus, taking care of kids, making sure they're not getting out of their seats, making sure we can get to one place to another safely so there's not an accident.

So a child does not get hurt.

We got precious cargo, and we're doing it with all our heart.

But we're losing people.

People are coming in, they're going, oh, I could get offered over here something more.

Bye.

And then people are calling, going, hey, where's the bus?

Where's this?

Where's that?

Why do you have a shortage?

Because outgrowth school district is choosing not to come to the table.

They're walking away from the table.

They're walking in there going, hey, okay, no, okay, bye.

And that's not okay.

We just want to be heard.

Please help us out.

Thank you.

Next up.

Next up is Gerald Austin's.

Gerald, followed by Gerald will be Janda Kulvinder.

Good evening to the board and uh everyone here, my fellow employees.

As you can see, we are standing strong.

Um, my name is Gerald Austin Sr.

I am a bus attendant.

I have been one for about 10 years now.

And I just want to know, let you know that I value, value my job.

And I want parents to know when your child is on my watch, he or she is getting the best possible care.

Okay, I I review the route pages for special notes in determining who he or she is and how I can best assist them, placing safety at the front of my care, which is uh vitally important when we are working together as a team with the driver.

It takes a special person to do this job, so I feel special.

They are special.

We all are special, special because disabilities don't discriminate.

It affects all court cultures.

I come to work every day because the importance of stability is vital for our students.

It is my way of giving back to the parents, to the students, to my fellow employees, my community and fellow employees.

We live in a time where many folks can't afford to live in the same community they work in, which in turn employees stand a chance of losing quality.

Employers stand a chance of losing quality employees.

Can you imagine no one wanting to do this job?

Quality people, quality people at that, with the current growth going on in Elk Grove, more houses means more children, more schools, quality people who care.

So I want you to consider, consider not being uh being a parent and you're ready for your child to go to school, and there's no one that cares to pick them up.

We as work as a team and we care about our jobs and what we do.

So we we feel that we should be confensated the way we care.

I have children, you have children, you want them treated in the in uh fairly and treated like you would want them to be treated.

That's what we do.

That's the special, the specialness of our employees.

We work, we care about our children.

When they are in our hands, we treat them as if they were our children.

So consider it, just consider it because it's very important and vital at this time.

We are all around the neighborhoods driving in and out of communities.

We see the potential growth.

We see the growth that is going on right now.

So that means later on, you're gonna need people in quality.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Next up is John Dr.

Bender.

Followed by Sukhvinder Singh.

Hi, good evening.

My name is Quintacy, and I work for the transportation for five years.

And uh what I see in easy here is I've been left behind because of the pay I am making is it not enough?

The inflation is coming up, right now, I am a single mother for three kids, and uh I can survive, you know, because of I'm stuck, the 12 hours contract, but I'm only getting for P7.

I cannot work any second jobs because I don't left any times.

We wake up at 3 45, go to work on time to make sure that we are taking the school students on time.

So parents are not upset, and so that just dispatches not upset too easy to not take the student on time easy.

We are left behind with all the board members because we never I never met anybody from the district coming to the transportation so we can be seen.

So we are here for helpful to help, you know.

We need your help.

So I know that you have your power, and you can help us.

So please help us.

Thank you.

Um, I'm sorry, was your name Sukhvinder or were you.

You gotta call me Sukhisi.

Okay.

Thank you, Sukheed.

Um, I actually had called Janda Kilvinder.

He's standing by me, but he can only stay.

So you're not speaking.

All right, so we will move on to our next speaker, which is John Montello.

Good evening, mayor, counsel.

I'm here, my brothers and sisters, because we are fighting for uh what it can do to get us to survive.

I know as a single father of two kids and paying medical insurance and all the other fees that we have to pay, I'm barely surviving.

Uh it's a struggle every day.

I'm up at four o'clock every morning to make sure that these kids are at school for these kids to learn.

That's my job.

That's what I take responsibility for.

I I don't know, I'm pretty sure the number is pretty up there, but uh a lot of these kids rely on the bus to get to school.

A lot of these parents rely on the bus to get to school.

Without us, healthy kids probably wouldn't even be at school.

So it's on us every day to make sure that we're there to make sure that they're getting the proper education.

At the same time, we need what's fair for us as well to get this done.

We need a raise, or we need lower medical.

I'm barely surviving, barely.

I do everything I can for my kids.

I make sure that they go to school when they need to.

I make sure that they get the education that they need in outgrove.

And I think for as big as this community is, rich as this community is, and us by bus drivers, what we get is not fair at all.

So we need to get whatever we need to get rolling to make it right for us.

We have training that trainers that are getting trained and leaving the district to go to Sacramento Unified to go to Twin Rivers to get that free medical to get that pay that we're getting.

I love my job.

I love these kids.

I've been here five years and I have an attachment with these kids.

So I I want my brothers and my sisters to get what's done and what's right for us.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Next up is Juanita Moreno, followed by Martha Perez.

Juanita.

I'll take that.

Hello, council and council members.

Um I've been a driver for 24 years, been at the district, going on 18.

I think that our neighboring um our neighboring school bus drivers are making more than us.

Um I think it's unfair for us.

We don't get no retro for our medical.

We have to go to um Kaiser or whatever medical we have to go and fill out a 5% or 10% discount so we can get through and get our kids in there or us.

Me, I'm on, I hurt myself.

I'm on um IA.

It's hard for me to get around without paying those fees.

But because of SIA, I'm covered until my sick leave is runned out.

Um I don't know exactly how to speak to you guys.

I'm a little nervous.

It's okay, but you are right.

I'm I'm just tired of hearing neighboring districts getting paid more than us, getting free medical, and our like he said, our brothers and sisters.

We're up at three o'clock in the morning.

I'm an extra board.

So we go from sun up to sundown.

We're there all day putting in 10 12 hour days.

That's right, and only getting paid and only getting paid.

And only getting paid, uh, what $30, $32.

I think we deserve more than that.

And with your guys' help, I think you guys can make it possible.

You know, you guys make fake decisions, and you guys can persuade the district to let up on us, give us that free medical, or at least 10, what, 1090?

That's all we're asking for, and a little bit more ways to survive, especially with the economy going up every year.

It's hard to survive.

It's hard to pay your rent.

I'm a single woman.

I pay my rent, my bills.

I can't even make it by myself.

So thank you for hearing me.

Have a good evening.

Thank you.

Next up is Martha Perez, followed by Hamlata.

No last name.

Unless that's a last name.

Hello.

Um, a little nervous too.

Um, good evening, everybody.

Uh, my name is Martha Perez, and this is my son Kane.

Um, we're asking for your help.

So you guys can all help persuade um our district.

I should be at home right now.

Tomorrow's the first day of school.

I should be at home with him, getting ready for school, but I'm not instead.

I'm sorry, instead, I'm over here hiding for fairness, because it's not fair.

It's not fair that we're not getting what we deserve.

Um, we're not asking for much.

So please, please, please help us.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Next, our final speaker is Hamblaka.

Good evening, board member and everybody and my co-workers.

I have been driving for 19 years.

Okay.

Got it.

Well, I mean, got it.

I love what I do.

I drive special needs kids.

Most of my driving years.

And they need consensus for us to be there every day for them.

And um, we just want to be seen and heard.

But it's hard to stay where we love it because we can't afford the medical.

So, that's all I have to say.

Thank you.

Thank you.

I'm gonna go ahead and close the public comment opportunity.

And I will say this.

I don't typically make a comment after public comments because it's a three-minute sort of a free-for-all.

But I feel like in this instance it's important given the number of speakers on the same subject matter.

Um, I see you.

I see you.

I've heard compelling stories, but the city of Elk Grove and us have zero authority in your negotiations with Elkgrove Unified School District.

Just as we don't want them interfering with the business that we conduct in our city, we have mutual respect to sort of stay in our lanes.

So I encourage you to continue.

I is frustrating as it may be.

I speak as a former school board member, I understand.

Um please show up at their school board meetings, call the board and stay engaged, as I'm sure you already have.

But please be reminded, um, we cannot assist in your negotiations, but I wish you all the best of luck.

Thank you.

Okay.

So I'll give maybe a couple of minutes unless you all want to indulge and stay for the rest of the meeting.

You're more than welcome.

But we're gonna go ahead and move on to the rest of the business for this evening, which is our next item, which is our city manager's report.

But let's just give one minute um so that we're not overpowered by any noise.

I got to hear from her always.

All right, thank you.

We will go ahead and move on to our city manager's report.

All right, Mr.

Berman.

Good evening, Madam Mayor, Vice Mayor, members of the city council, Jason Verman, your city manager, several items report on this evening.

First of all, from a highly competitive review process, the economic development department has announced that nine startups advancing to the finals of the 2025 pitch elk grove competition.

Companies represented some of the most promising early stage uh ventures in the Sacramento region, will vie for a share of $20,000 in prize money during the live pitch event, which is Thursday, September 4th at District 56.

Um, free event, can be registered at Elkgrove.gov slash pitch elk grove.

Uh the city is taking the next step in addressing homelessness by planning for a permanent year-round shelter.

Staff is working with our consultant to host a three-part community meeting series to help shape the vision for the future homeless shelter.

These meetings are a chance for residents to share feedback, ask questions, and help guide the shelter's design and services.

To be clear, these meetings are not to determine the site's location.

We'll ask for important input on potential shelter sites later this fall in the next year.

These meetings instead will focus on different parts of the process from big picture ideas to early design concepts.

The first meeting will be held on Wednesday, August 20th from 5 30 to 7 at Elkgrove Library.

Additional meetings are scheduled on September 6th and September 7th.

More information is available on the city's website.

Encourage residents to come out to our Elk Grove Aquatic Center this Friday, August 15th for the next Fridays in the Grove, which is a dive-in movie.

Disney's Moana will be shown on the big screen under the stars, doors open at four o'clock.

Rec swim rates apply, ages five and up, eight dollars to four, five dollars and under two is free.

The city is seeking input on two important documents.

The first, the comment period for the draft climate compass, an update to the 2019 Climate Action Plan closes on August 15th.

Members can review and submit feedback on our website.

Also available for public comment through August 31st as the inclusive community participation framework aimed at improving how the city engages with its residents.

Again, more information about both of these opportunities is available on our website.

SACRT will be hosting the fifth in a series of transit idea exchange workshops on Tuesday, August 19th from 6 to 7:30 p.m.

at District 56.

This meeting will focus on how transit shapes our daily lives and will help to design future of mobility in our region.

RSUPs are requested by emailing marketing at SACRT.com.

And finally, the regular city council meeting scheduled on August 27th will be canceled due to the anticipated lack of quorum.

A majority of the council members will be out of town.

The next regularly scheduled city council meeting is planned for Wednesday, September 10th.

And that concludes my report.

I'm happy to answer any questions that the council might have.

Thank you for that report.

Any questions or comments?

Seeing none, we will move on to our next item.

Is our consent calendar at this time?

I will go ahead and open up the public comment opportunity.

I have one person signed up for item 7.12.

Trolls, how are you?

Good evening, mayor.

Members of the council.

I will make it very brief.

Trolls Adrian, the Executive Vice President for the Greater Sacramento Economic Council.

We are part of this evening's consent calendar, and I'm just here to share our appreciation for the partnership and for the City of Elk Grove being not just a participant, really a leader in the regional coalition that we have around economic development at GSEC.

Just heard about Pitch Elk Grove.

We look forward to the event very soon and look forward to another fantastic year working with City Manager Berman and Daryl Doan and his excellent, excellent economic development team.

So thank you again and really really appreciate everything you do for the region and leadership that Elk Grove is presenting to us.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thanks for being here, Trolls.

There is no other speaker for consent, so I'll go ahead and close the public comment opportunity and look for a motion to approve.

So moved.

Second.

All those in favor, please say aye.

Aye.

All righty.

And we are on to our next item.

Which is to receive an update on city council priority projects, item 9.1.

Awesome.

Good evening, Mayor and Council members.

I am Aishware Kumar.

I am a senior management analyst in the city manager's office.

Very pleased to be here to share some amazing updates about the priority projects.

Some background to start us off.

The city council conducted its biennial retreat in February 2025, where it reviewed and updated its goals for the following two years and identified strategic initiatives to address them.

The city council adopted its mission, vision, goals, and priority projects at its April 2025 meeting to implement the mission, vision, goals that council identified projects that have been deemed as high priority.

So we'll jump into the next slide.

The city mission and vision statements have been included here.

The mission is to provide exceptional services that enhance the quality of life for our residents and promote a thriving economy in an efficient and cost-effective manner.

The vision is that it'll grow prioritize a superior quality of life for all that builds upon the community's diversity and heritage through safe, welcoming, and connected neighborhoods with a variety of residential, educational, and employment choices and amenities that create a sense of place.

These are aligned with the city council goals.

The mission and vision again are supported by these four goals.

Each goal is reinforced by four to six supporting statements and details can be found on the city website.

We then implement the mission, vision, and goals through our priority projects.

We have 25 projects that have been deemed as high priority.

Sorry, we still have asked.

Pardon me.

We still have, yeah, sorry for the intrusion.

You're out of here now.

So staff reports on the progress of implementing these projects twice a year, and the update today covers the period through July 2025.

These projects are organized into four areas civic amenities, transportation, community development, city operations, and public safety.

So we'd like to highlight some of the major accomplishments this evening.

Jumping on to the first one is our Elkrope library.

The project is under construction.

Interior underground utilities have been completed.

Our contractor is currently working on erecting walls, installing steel as part of the ceiling or roof, and installing mechanical duct work.

The project is anticipated to be completed by the summer of 2026.

The next one is our traffic signal communication network.

There's field work at 103 intersections that has been going on since January of this year, and the project is anticipated to be completed in October.

The light rail extension to El Crove, the alignment visions for the station areas, ridership projections, and traffic analysis are almost complete.

Public outreach is anticipated in the next few weeks with plan adoption in spring 2026.

Of course, the project Elevate, a super exciting project in June 2025, the council approved purchase and sale agreement with Center Cal properties.

Over the next several months, the site design and architecture will be defined, and Center Cal will submit a formal application for project approval.

Our permanent homeless shelter, and you'll hear more details from Miss Vontrager soon.

In June 2025, the City Council approved a contract with NJA architecture for conceptual planning and site selection for the new shelter.

Phase one of the public outreach is planned for next week.

The next item is our school resource officer partnership.

This item is being marked as complete as a new three-year agreement with EGUSD was executed beginning the 25-26 school year through 20 2027-2028 school year for three full-time school resource officers.

Another project that is being marked as complete is our police department campus renovation and expansion project.

Um, some updates about this.

This was the tenant improvements at 8380 and 8400 Laguna Palmsway.

Uh, the improvements were necessary to reconfigure workspaces following the move of the EGPD's forensics and property and evidence divisions to the new studio court building.

Uh, this work also accommodates the growth in the police department with new measure e positions.

Those were all of the highlighted projects.

The team, the staff team is available to answer any questions you may have.

Thank you.

All right, thank you for that outstanding update.

The public comment has not been refreshed on my end.

So I don't know if there is one or not, but I'm going to go and open up public comment opportunity.

Do you not have any speakers on public comments?

Okay, it's still so okay.

Great, it's been cleared.

Thank you.

All right.

Then I will go ahead and close the public comment opportunity and um look to the left.

Any questions, comments?

I'm excited to see all those move forward.

I have a quick question because I'm I'm not involved with the RT work, but are we?

Is the plan uh going to bring a light rail station into the city or and then bus rapid transit, or is it bus wrapper transit throughout?

Everything's on the table.

Okay, okay.

Yeah, just real quick.

We have a couple of options or scenarios that are being looked at.

One is light rail all the way down to camera, one is light rail to district 56, transitioning to a BRT system down to Camera and then BRT for the full extent.

There's also a couple of different versions of that alignment in terms of is it in road running, is it on side of the road?

Is it in the median of the road?

So we're looking at it a couple different ways to identify what the right combination is.

It'll include ridership forecast and some financial considerations.

And I understand it correctly, the U.

Light rail going at least to District 56.

Is that what I heard?

There are two options that have light rail going to D56.

There is one option that looks at BRT for the totality of the system.

Oh, okay.

Okay, but nothing with a light rail at Sheldon and Bruce or um Big Horn and Bruceville.

Either well, so we haven't gotten to a phasing analysis yet, and so either option that includes light rail to either D56 or to camera would allow for potential phasing to at least the Sheldon Bruceville uh station.

Okay.

Okay.

Thank you.

And SACR2 is having you know they're doing similar studies, and then there's also even you know from SACOG as well, providing input to both on these kinds of things.

Yeah, we just haven't heard about those scenarios.

Uh and for I'm just concerned that it's it's very difficult to change modes.

And so when you're in the city, um, I think it's important to have the light rail extension in just because it's very difficult to get to CRC station or Meadowview station, even with BRT, because the traffic is always bad on those roads.

So yeah, I look forward to those studies as well.

Yeah.

Particularly capacity.

Yeah, yeah.

Thank you.

Yep.

Um, looking to the right, any questions, comments?

All right, thank you.

We will move on to our next item.

And that is 9.2.

All right, good evening, mayor and council members.

I'm Sarah Bontrager, your housing and public services manager.

I am here tonight to give you and any members of the public that might be watching a preview of some of our permanent shelter outreach efforts.

So we recently adopted the contract for NJAA architecture, our architect partner on the shelter effort, um, in recognition of the fact that uh while our lease expires in September 2028, and that seems like a long time away, it really is not.

And so we have to get planning on our new shelter.

Um, so NJA is currently contracted to help us with the first two phases of this.

The conceptual plan development, that's figuring out what we need in the shelter, what kind of services we want to offer there, what kind of space we need to offer those services, how big of a site we need to do that.

Um, and then for phase two, which is our site selection process, um, likely the more controversial of the two phases.

So our phase one um takes place over the next couple of months, and phase two, we're hoping to wrap up um in December or January.

So NJA um has been great at working with us so far.

They have a lot of community engagement experience.

They've worked on the city of Lodi's shelter, um, and we're really excited to have them help us out with our uh first community workshop series.

So, um this we wanted to provide, we heard the council feedback when we brought forth the contract to you, a lot of public engagement through this process and a lot of formats, recognizing that not everyone has the capacity to come out to an in-person meeting.

Um, and uh so we've we've planned three um community workshops.

There is some overlap between them, so if someone can't attend one, they'll be able to catch up for the others.

So uh as Jason mentioned in his comments, August 20th is our first one.

Um, and we're holding that one in person at the Elk Grove Library, and then we have a community conversation that's a virtual meeting on September 6th, which is a Saturday.

So hopefully people can join us for that.

And then the third one, kind of getting some more specific feedback, imagining the space on September 17th at District 56.

So we intend to try and move the locations around so that we can give the most folks an opportunity to participate.

The first meeting, the one that's at Outgrove Library next week is an open house format with theme stations, sort of like what we did for our workshops around the shelter, the year-round shelter that's open now, giving folks the opportunity to weigh in on different topics, safety and security, what kind of services they want to see, what they want to see in terms of like population served, and get some feedback from them on the overarching design aesthetic.

We are looking at something that will be welcoming and calming, but there are many ways to get there, both from the exterior perspective and an interior perspective.

So we want to get some community feedback on what folks like and don't like.

And then we'll move into our second meeting, the community conversation, which will build off that first meeting, but also provide an opportunity for folks to continue to weigh in on some of the aesthetics and the look and feel of the shelter.

For that in our online format, we're hoping to have a really engaging meeting with some live polling, some breakout sessions, and interactive comment options.

So a diagram of how the building might be laid out, what spaces will be included there, and what we call mood boards, some examples of ways that the design aesthetic could look to kind of do that final check.

Are we headed in the right direction there?

You can see on the slides here, there are some examples that we'll be using at this first meeting of things that we're hoping to get people to put green and red dots on to indicate what they like or don't like about various photos so that we can use that to guide the design.

So we know that not everyone will be able to join us for those meetings, and so we wanted to provide some opportunity for folks who can't to still provide their feedback.

So we have a community survey that's open through September 20th.

And then we also know that you know our community is one aspect of collecting feedback on the shelter, but we also have stakeholders.

And so NJA has been working with some of our shelter providers in the region, both the one that we currently use the gathering in nine others that run shelters in our area to get their feedback on what makes a good shelter, what do they like about the shelters they have, what do they not like about the shelters that they have that we could address in an effective way in ours.

So they've completed nine, they have one scheduled for next week.

And then we want to get meaningful experience from the people who will actually use the shelter.

So uh NJA will be doing some interviews with folks who are currently in our shelter or folks who have moved out of our shelter into housing to find out kind of what went well with their experience, what do they wish had been different, maybe what would have made them feel more comfortable staying if they didn't stay in the shelter very long, and and give us that kind of firsthand experience of what it's like to be in the shelter.

So we have tried to really get the word out on these community meetings, and we'll continue to do so for our next phase community meetings as well.

We have a website across the street.

If you took a look at the sign, the meetings are there.

We've done a lot of social media stuff, the usual Facebook, Instagram, next door.

This time we actually did a post on Reddit too, so trying a few new methods.

Um we will have an article in the city's September-October newsletter as well.

So we know folks are going to be interested in the sites.

In fact, some of the comments on the social media that we have posted are along the lines of where's the shelter gonna go.

The phase one meetings are not for discussing the site selection.

What we are planning for phase two, using the conceptual design information that we have from the first phase, is to look at what sites could be feasible for it and narrow it down to about 10 sites that we can do some further evaluation on.

We would like the community to have an opportunity to weigh in in the second phase on what they feel is important and how we might score the sites when we're comparing them against one another.

So we want to know, you know, is it important to the community that it's close to transit?

They rather it be further away from schools or parks, and be able to try and balance that in an objective scoring methodology, which we'll then use to test the sites and score the sites.

So we anticipate doing kind of a general meeting about the scoring, and then we'll have a number of site specific meetings where we look at you know, where we have a meeting for a cluster of sites, and residents can come out and give their feedback, as well as through other channels, online surveys, virtual meetings.

Um, but we we really heard the council when you all said we want to have a lot of engagement in this process, and so we are planning for quite a bit of engagement.

More to come on phase two.

We don't have the meeting date set for that yet, um, but I'll be back before you uh when we're ready for that.

Happy to answer any questions that you all have.

All right, excellent presentation.

At this time, I'll go ahead and open up the public comment opportunity.

I do not have anyone signed up to speak.

I'll go ahead and close public comment opportunity, and I will look to the right for any questions or comments.

Nothing for any looking to the left.

Just Sarah, thank you uh for putting this together.

It's a very robust outreach plan.

I think you you really hit the mark in terms of the phasing.

I'm glad that we're not getting to site selection until phase two, more of a visioning first.

I think that's really appropriate.

Thank you.

Great, thank you.

Thank you.

I am really appreciative of all the work that's gone in, particularly as it relates to the public engagement component.

So thank you.

Great work.

And with that, we will move on to our next item 9.3.

Consider resolutions declaring intention to add territory to future annexation areas, community facilities district, number 2003-2, police services and add territory to future annexation area, community facilities district number 2006-1 maintenance services.

Welcome.

Good evening, Madam Mayor, Vice Chair, and Council members.

I'm Cindy Tiffany, and I'm the finance and budget analyst, and I'm here to present on modernization of future annexation areas specific to CFD 2003-2 for police services and CFD 2006-1 for maintenance services.

Also here tonight with us is our consultant, Dave Falma from James, sorry, from Jones Hall, who helped us with this process.

A little bit of background, you've seen me here before for annexations, but I'm here specific to talk about the uh two facility community facilities districts.

Um, the first was the police services district, which was established in November of 2003 after a fiscal study.

This covers additional costs of police services due to new residential development for CFD 2006-1.

This was established in March of 2006 after a fiscal study, and was is done for offset of uh shortfall of revenue for landscape maintenance and services citywide due to new development.

The current annexation process, as some of you may know, is lengthy.

It's originally a requirement of annexations by the city for into these CFDs as a condition of project approval, and these must be completed prior to building permits or maps issued.

Um this process begins with a resolution of intent that is adopted by US City Council members.

Um, then maps are recorded with the county and ballots are sent to the landowners.

Um, at a the following that, the public hearing is held within 30 to 60 days following the ROI.

After the public hearing, the ballot is read.

Um, and then city council adopts a series of resolution and ordinances to annex the these parcels into the CFDs.

And then notices are filed with the county of Sacramento.

With this modernization of the CFD process, what we're recommending is that we set um uh additional territory for future annexation, and this what this is doing is defining a future annexation area which allows the parcels to be annexed in through what is called unanimous approval.

Unanimous approval constitutes a ballot and waives a public hearing for the landowner.

This streamlining and annexation process avoids additional steps of bringing items to council twice, avoids the mailing of the ballot and reduces the timeline for annexation process for these CFDs.

This defining of these annexation areas is not creating a new annexation area, it is only modernizing the process um we're currently following.

Currently, when we come to our view for an ROI, that is our map, and so those are our annexation areas.

This is reducing that by setting a boundary.

So for the first one, CFD 2003-2.

The proposed future annexation area will include the current city's boundaries.

Excluding if on the map it's a little harder to see, but the original formation parcels from 2003.

So that is all that's on this map.

Um the hashed area would be the future annexation areas.

Um we also are in this police services, would not be including the Poppy Ridge service area because that has its own police service CFD.

Um, this future annexation area does not change any of the previous 77 annexations that have been completed into this district.

Similar with 2000 CFD 2006-1.

Um this annexation aerial proposal is hashed.

The original um parcels from the original formation from 2006 are excluded, and then the other excluded area is um CFD 2005-1 maintenance service district, which is Laguna Ridge, which already has its own service district.

This again, this future annexation area does not change the previous 103 annexations of parcels that have been um completed already.

If the RO's are adopted this evening, the public hearing would be scheduled for September 24th, 2005.

Um, I will say the cities, other cities that have recently done this are Rockland, Patterson, and City of Stockton.

Um here with our consultant.

If you guys have any questions, that concludes.

Alright, thank you for your presentation.

At this time, I will go ahead and open up public comment.

Uh no one is signed up to speak.

I'll go ahead and close the public comment opportunity.

Open up to any questions or comments.

This time I'll start to the left.

Any questions, comments?

To the right, seeing none on the left.

Any questions or comments on the right?

All right.

Well, um, I have no questions, so I look for motions one through two.

So those in favor, please say aye.

Aye.

Thank you.

Uh let's see.

Uh next item 10.

Comments, future agenda items and reports.

Mr.

Councilmember Spees, anything to report?

With my report.

Councilmember Brewer.

Nothing to report.

Councilmember Suean.

We just had our SACSUR meeting today.

Nothing to Vice Mayor and I, nothing to report.

Council or Vice Mayor Robles.

Nothing to report.

We had SACRT STA tomorrow.

And with that, we will go ahead and adjourn at 7 20 p.m.

Thank you, everyone.

Have a good evening.