Welcome to the regular meeting of the Half Moon Bay City Council for Tuesday, May fifth, twenty twenty sixth.

Council member Brownstone will attend this meeting remotely from via D Pancola One Sixteen Grev and Kianti Farenza, which is also Florence.

During any public comment portions, attendees may use the raise your hand feature and will be called upon and unmuted when it is their turn to speak.

Okay, please do accelerate the service of interpretation in vivo por Zoom, ya sea con una computadora or una portatile a click in el icono del globo terracio, es decir el mundo, in la barra inferior de su pantalla y selection el idioma spanyol.

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Thank you.

Gracias, Nicholas.

Could I have a roll call, please?

Councilmember Brownstone.

Here.

Councilmember Johnson.

Here.

Councilmember Nagengast?

Here.

Vice Mayor Penrose?

Here.

Mayor Ruddick.

Here.

We have a quorum.

Thank you.

All rise for Pledge of Allegiance.

Just a reminder that because we have one council member participating remotely, that uh Councilmember Brownstone will need to leave his video on, and um all votes will be by roll call.

Thank you.

So the next item is the approval of the agenda.

Do I have a motion to approve in a second?

So moved.

Second.

Roll call, please.

Councilmember Brownstone.

Yes.

Councilmember Johnson.

Yes.

Councilmember Nagengast.

Yes.

Vice Mayor Penrose.

Yes.

Mayor Ruddick.

Yes.

Motion carries.

Thank you.

So we're moving on to item three, which is proclamations and presentations.

And um we have one proclamation and one presentation this evening.

And the uh proclamation item three A is May Mental Health Awareness Month proclamation.

And um my understanding is that we have someone here this evening to accept that.

Who would that be?

Oh sorry.

Okay, I see.

Uh Emma Ta, a member of Alcove Youth Advisory Group.

Wonderful.

So I'm going to talk about this item.

So since 1949, May has traditionally been recognized across the United States as Mental Health Awareness Month.

For 2026, the theme is mental health is ours, emphasizing community collective action and holistic support.

While mental health affects people of all ages and demographics, it is notable that most mental health challenges begin before the age of 25.

With more than a quarter of San Mateo County residents being under that age, mental health is not only a present day concern, but a responsibility for future generations.

So it is our pleasure to present this proclamation to Hefman Bay Alcove, an under development youth-friendly integrated mental health drop-in center, which will be housed at 255 Main Street.

The center will include free or low-cost mental health, physical health, substance abuse, supported education and employment, peer support, and family support services, as well as linkage to other services.

The project is youth-led, supported by Coast Pride, and funded through a grant from California's Mental Health Services Oversight and Accountability Commission.

The hope is for the center to open this summer.

Whereas the Half Moon Bay City Council wishes to increase the public's knowledge of signs and symptoms of mental health and substance abuse conditions, professional and self-help resources, and self-care practices.

Now therefore be it known that I, Mayor Debbie Ruddock, along with my fellow council members, recognize the month of May 2026 as mental health awareness month to expand awareness of youth mental health issues.

It is my pleasure to welcome Emma Ta, a member of the El COVID Youth Advisory Group to come to the podium to share a few words and accept this proclamation.

Would you like to speak first, Emma, and then I'll come over and present you with this proclamation?

Oh, okay.

Good evening, Honorable Mayor, Councilmembers, City Managers, staff and residents of Half Moon Bay.

I am Emma Gwinyata, and I use pronounshi her.

I'm here representing Alc of Half Moon Bay.

The San Mateo County Behavioral Health Commission is committed to the goals of promoting wellness recovery, enhancing public awareness and knowledge of mental health and substance use condition, eliminating stigma.

Thank you, City of Half Moon Bay for proclaiming May 2026's Mental Health Awareness Month.

Mental Health Awareness Month is observed across San Mateo County, California, and United States.

Lime Green is the National Color for Mental Health Awareness Month, and represents how we want to bring a bright light to important issues that may have been hidden or seen negatively.

As someone who has struggled with mental health a majority of my life may have an especially important time for us as awareness is necessary to bring change.

That's all.

Thank you.

Yes.

You can join our newsletter.

Oh, do I open this?

Okay.

Sorry, I'm really nervous.

Thank you.

Would any of the council members like to comment on that recent item?

Yeah, I think it's a wonderful thing, and I'm really looking forward to having the center open.

As I think a lot of people are.

So congratulations.

A great addition to our service community.

Yeah.

And I I concur with what uh Vice Mayor Penrose said.

I think it's a great to have the center open and it'd be wonderful for the residents.

Is there anyone in the audience who would like to comment on that item?

If so, you can come to the podium.

If not, we will move on to the next um actually a presentation, item 3b from Peninsula Clean Energy.

Also known going forward is Westlight Energy.

And we have Mark here tonight to make the presentation.

Thank you, Madam Mayor and Council members.

Uh delighted to be here this evening uh in Half Moon Bay to present to you and to the community some uh exciting information about Peninsula Clean Energy, what we're doing in Half Moon Bay, uh throughout the peninsula, and uh some changes that are about to happen.

If uh and I'm in charge of the slides, huh?

There we go.

So just uh level set a little.

I know the council members are familiar with what we do, but uh there may be some who are watching for the first time.

We are procured the energy for about 97% of the uh accounts in the peninsula, uh meaning San Mateo County.

We also uh expanded our territory to the city of Los Banos in Merced County about five years ago, and uh so they all receive the the same energy.

Um, but it continues to be delivered to your home on poles and wires uh supported by Pacific Gas and Electric.

Am I not being heard?

All right.

How's that?

Is that better?

Um so uh we we procure the energy, but it continues to arrive in your business in your home on poles and wires supported by Pacific Gas and Electric.

And then you get a bill from uh Pacific Gas and Electric, but we have a line item on that bill.

You'll note uh if you're a pen uh Peninsula Clean Energy uh uh ratepayer that uh uh you pay your generation charge to Peninsula Clean Energy.

Well, that won't be the case um beginning in about uh two, three months.

Uh and that's the news I'm here to share.

If we could go to the next slide.

Uh so generation to delivery to savings.

I'll talk about the savings in just a moment here.

There have been savings in the 10 years now that Peninsula Clean Energy has provided service to Half Moon Bay.

Uh Half Moon Bay residents have saved a lot of money.

I'll get to that in the next slide.

But the entirety of Peninsula Clean Energy service territory has seen over 230 million dollars in bill savings as compared to Pacific Gas and Electric over those 10 years.

Um currently we're at about a 10% discount from PGE.

But that fluctuates depending upon the market, and our rates will again be adjusted on July 1.

Uh and uh want to recognize uh Councilmember Johnson uh who's our board member and has a say in that.

Uh it's uh we are a locally based organization made up of all 20 cities in San Mateo County plus Los Banos and the county of uh San Mateo and uh Councilmember Nogangast is uh the alternate on the board, but uh Councilmember Johnson never misses a meeting, so uh he's he's not had too many opportunities to uh to participate.

But uh appreciate this the service and support, and I note uh Harvey Rarback is a former board member uh and uh while I'm at it, uh Rick Bonilla from San Mateo was a founding board member uh from San Mateo, and uh and Naomi Patridge was on the city council when this we came to the council for a vote ten years ago and unanimously uh supported by Hapmoon Bay and San Mateo County for the founding of the organization.

Um so not in addition to uh lower uh uh cost um we have provided clean energy.

Most of the energy we provide currently is solar and wind.

Uh we have a significant amount of large hydro uh electric uh generation.

Um we have a little bit of geothermal, provides some baseline support um, but uh but we're striving to become 100 percent renewable.

Uh California doesn't consider large hydro to be renewable.

So uh we're we're working on that, and we have a goal of 2030 to uh uh that we're striving towards.

Um and we also provide uh support for our our constituent uh uh organizations and communities.

And so uh we through our programs department, we have helped with solar at City Hall and the Sheriff Substation in uh in Hap Moon Bay.

Uh and that was an investment of about $660,000.

But over the course of the 20 years of the uh solar um you will see savings, significant savings, uh more than six figures, and we will recoup the cost uh because you'll be paying us for the energy instead of uh paying for it off the grid.

Um we've also helped with the placement of 15 EV chargers uh throughout the city.

So accustomed to saying next slide.

So uh I teased it a little bit, but uh over the 10 years in Hap Moon Bay uh rate pairs have realized 2.7 million dollars in savings, and that equates to roughly seven free days of electricity every year that we've been in in service uh for the generation costs.

Um we've also uh invested $936,000 in Hap Moon Bay, and that's through many of our different programs.

We provide uh help with people who wish to purchase um electric appliances, so a heat pump water heater, uh heat pump uh HVAC unit, um, an electric vehicle, and we also have a program by which you can get a ten thousand dollar interest-free loan payable over five years.

Uh the payments show up on your bill, and that's how you pay us back.

But you uh can invest that in uh support for your your home electrification.

Um so next slide.

Um but things have changed in the 10 years since we were first formed.

Um we were uh retained, we were uh created to be the electricity provider and to provide cleaner energy, but um we've been responsive to the requests and the needs of the community, and uh so while affordability is still first and foremost.

There's also an interest on the parts of the cities for climate action plans.

We provide support for that.

Um some cities uh look at other uh aspects of the the code.

Uh we provide technical assistance for that or for electrification projects if you want to uh install something in your home.

We have a phone number uh and I encourage residents to uh to give us a call and we can help uh and we have sort of a soup to nuts.

If you're um a do-it-yourselfer, great.

We'll help direct you towards certain contractors or others uh products that uh you might want.

But if you want more assistance than that, we're we're there to help you with that too.

Uh so appreciate people calling.

Um and then what's ahead?

The the next uh year or so is gonna be fun for us in that uh and fund for Hap Moon Bay.

We have 155,000 in a member agency grant that the city has received, and I understand that's being used for different uh municipal electrification projects.

Um Hap Moon Bay also applied for and received a grant of 41,000 for building electrification uh of municipal facilities, and uh we are supporting uh some EV fleet charging with the city and uh appreciate that.

Um also we're in development with the city on a uh potential battery backup of the system at City Hall, uh knowing that resiliency on the coast side is a particular issue.

Um to look forward to the year ahead.

Um we are planning to roll out a battery and storage uh program for income qualified individuals, and uh we held a our very first community feedback forum uh here in Hap Moon Bay about two months ago.

Uh very well attended and uh and appreciate the mayor and council members being there and uh a good uh attendance by all and resilience uh and and uh responding to disaster was uh I know top of mind and and so uh this program is uh one of the uh outcomes of of those discussions we're moving forward with uh the solar and storage program.

Um we've also partnered with a number of uh coastside organizations to help get the word out on the services we provide and uh to answer questions, and that includes the uh being available at the coastside farmers market and working with them, uh senior coastsiders and uh El Concilio, and that's a picture from the first feedback forum uh.

But the news is that uh in uh just a couple of months, the name of Peninsula Clean Energy is going to be changed uh to Westlight Energy.

Um and the reason for that is many, one of which uh you may have run across, and that is that PCE, Peninsula Clean Energy, the acronym is very similar to PG and NE, and a lot of confusion is created.

We have people calling us up and calling us Pacific uh Clean Energy or uh PC and E.

Um, in addition to which uh as I mentioned our services expanded to Los Banos, so we're no longer just on the peninsula.

Uh we have uh ratepayers uh in the Central Valley, and uh we're excited to include them.

And uh and Peninsula Clean Energy is a little bit clunky.

Um and for instance, uh not too many people I think refer to it as the San Mateo County Transit District.

They say I'm getting on a SAM trans bus.

Um that's that's how it works.

So uh to be uh appropriate and uh easier to remember and to uh uh create some excitement, uh we're going to be Westlight Energy, but that is on your agenda this evening because uh all of our jurisdictions need to ratify the um decision made by the board of directors uh at our October board meeting uh to accept the amendment to the JPA so that all the uh um contracts align.

Uh and so that's on your consent calendar.

And then uh uh hopefully after you've taken that action, uh, we look forward to working with the city and your terrific staff to uh get the message out because people will see the name on their bill and maybe not have heard what's happening and say I didn't pay for this West Light and call City Hall or want some information.

And so uh we would appreciate working with you to get the word out to uh to your constituents and to the community that this change is taking place.

Same great service, same employees, everything else is the same, except we are moving our office uh to San Mateo from Redwood City.

Um, but otherwise everything's the same, just the name is changed.

And uh and we have adopted a new slogan uh at our most recent board meeting, uh power with purpose is uh how we we're going to uh um be known.

And uh couple a few other exciting events.

Uh we're gonna have a policy forum uh September 30th uh and uh invitations forthcoming uh once the details are nailed down, uh and there will be other activities to celebrate the new name and our tenth anniversary and uh including uh housewarming, and so we hope you can join us uh when we move into our new quarters.

And with that, uh I'm happy to take any questions you may have.

Thank you for the presentation.

Any comments or questions from council members?

I just want to say thanks because the the every time I go to that meeting, it's you learn a lot and about solar and the batteries, and and you guys are just on top of it.

And I've learned a lot, and I've switched to my solar and my PG ⁇ E bill now is like six to eight dollars right now, and then I have I guess I pay it up in October.

And even though you guys aren't really truly involved with it, I can ask your staff and very knowledgeable people.

And then don't forget about the e-bikes, the e-bikes that are available.

Uh then the latest thing with uh how many apartments you guys got.

You got E-charging, I think.

How many total was that?

Uh I don't want to give you the wrong number, but it's thousands.

It was adding them all the time.

We're we cut the ribbon on a uh thank you for raising that.

If you don't mind, I'm I'm gonna interject.

We we are focused on multi-unit developments.

So if there's an apartment owner or somebody who wants to electrify, we look to put a charger at every space in the apartment complex um at level one uh uh generation.

Um it is less expensive, it's less taxing on the grid, and we can do them a whole lot cheaper than the level two and level three chargers that you see in a commercial lot.

And so thank you so much for bringing that up.

Um it's um been incredibly successful and really uh working with closely with the realtors, San Mateo County Association of Realtors and others to get these involved uh installed.

And in uh July, and I don't know the date exactly yet.

We're gonna cut the ribbon on the biggest uh uh ribbon uh for two over 200 um chargers will be installed in a a uh acquirement complex uh in South City.

So uh uh love to do the same here.

So please, if there's somebody who would like to uh see that in their facility, please reach out to us.

One last thing, Mark.

There was one thing that I thought was pretty interesting at the lab last meeting.

I think Tiger brought it up who was the uh mayor for um Pacifica.

He's a renter and he wanted to utilize some of the features that you guys offer.

So if you're even though you're renting a house, you guys will back up and talk to the tenants and actually support so that the renter can take advantage of some of the products.

I thought that was a cool, you know, thing that you were involving that.

Yeah, and if um thank you, thank you for that too.

Um, if if you have ideas, the community feedback form was one time where we were here to ask questions, but um would love to hear from you because that's how our programs get get started.

That's really the evolution that that I was mentioning is uh people come to us with ideas, thoughts, this this works, uh, or we need this help, and uh and we put our our uh elbows to the grindstone and see what we can come up with.

And so uh so appreciate it and and so appreciate uh Director Johnson's support of uh of what we're doing.

Vice Mayor.

Yeah, do you have brochures that could be handed out to residents?

Um for the new Westlight.

So well, for the the fact that renters can do EV charging.

I mean, I I like that idea a lot.

Oh, okay.

Um so let me go back a couple of slides here.

And typically what we do is we work through um our partners in the community.

So here, senior co-siders, uh, El Concilio and Coastside Farmers Markets are the places where we would have that.

Um if uh so I'm happy to talk to our uh community relations department and see what we can do to get some brochures at uh certainly at the coastside market.

Yeah, I think that would be great.

Yeah.

Thanks.

Terrific, thank you.

Thanks again.

Uh is there any uh if there's anybody who would like to uh comment on this item, please come to the podium.

Looks like uh Harvey Barbach would like to comment.

I I put in a slip on the consent item uh, but instead I would just love to second and third, what Patrick said about the PCE board or the West Light Board.

Of all the uh boards and commissions that I went to when I was on the council, by far the most engaging, smartest uh environmentally concerned people were the board of directors of PCE.

Uh I learned so much.

I was impressed.

You just heard all the things they do.

Not only do they uh uh charge less than PGE for uh electrical generation, but they have all these wonderful community programs that uh a lot of people don't know about.

As a matter of fact, I'm constantly amazed by how few people know that they get their power from PCE, soon to be Westlight.

Uh they think that PGE is the provider of that power, and it's just a shame that we don't get the word out better because it's a wonderful organization, and I heartily recommend that we do everything we can to support them.

They're really good.

Thank you.

Thank you, Harvey.

Anyone else in the room?

Anybody online?

You can raise your hand.

Uh seeing none, we will move on to the next item.

Um mayor's announcements of community activities and community service.

Just a reminder that Saturday, May 9th, is the Half Moon Bay Line and Jazz Festival, which will take place uh on Main Street and also portions of of Kelly Avenue.

It'll run from 12 to 5.

There's a lot of great um musicians playing.

So come on down.

You can still buy tickets online.

Um that's all I have this evening.

Um item five, do we have any report outs from recent closed session meetings?

Thank you, Madam Mayor.

This evening, the councilman closed session on two items.

There's no reportable action from those items.

Thank you.

Um the next item, item six is commission and committee updates.

The city manager will update us on the recent parks and recreation commission meeting.

Thank you, Madam Mayor.

I attended the Recreation Commission meeting last Wednesday.

And um it was a great meeting.

And uh just a couple of items of note.

Uh they talked about our beach volleyball courts, which will be going up at Poplar Beach very soon.

Uh notable is for the last several years since we launched this program.

They've been installed at the very north end of Poplar Beach closer to Kelly State Beach.

And the feedback has been that it's been a little hard to access.

And so for the first time, we're going to be opening them closer to the vertical access at the end of Poplar Street, so it'll be a little bit easier for people to access.

There'll be four rentable courts that will also be used for tournaments and clubs and those types of things.

And two additional courts that are just first come, first serve drop-ins.

So six courts available all summer long for people to come and enjoy beach volleyball at Poplar Beach.

So want to make sure people know about that.

We talked about Carter Park and the feast schedule, which is on the agenda later tonight.

Uh it will allow us to set fair rates for the use of Carter Park going forward.

And uh an update on the Summer's End Music Festival, which will be hosted at Carter Park this September.

And uh the count the commission also talked about their priorities.

So it's a good meeting, uh covered a lot of ground.

The next meeting is Wednesday, May 27th at 6 p.m.

at the library, and you can also join via Zoom.

So hopefully people are aware and want to join.

So thank you.

Good news about volleyball.

Yes, yes, we're very excited to have that coming up.

Uh anybody uh here would like to comment on that item.

Either here or online.

Um seeing none, we'll move to item seven, which is city manager updates to council.

And we have two, one on Main Street Bridge Update and the South Corridor study update.

Uh good evening, honorable mayor, honorable council members.

My name is Todd Seely.

I am the interim public works director, and I have a couple updates for you guys this evening.

The first update is about the main street bridge.

Obviously, we have all seen the condition of the stucco work on the main street bridge, and uh, we're gonna be starting on that soon due to the historic nature of the bridge.

Um, we've been planning this project for some time.

The historic nature of the bridge kind of made us pause and take a step back and re-evaluate what we're doing.

So it did take us a little longer to develop and get something going than we expected.

Uh we landed with ARG conservation services to kind of help do some consulting work on it, and they ended up um getting awarded the contract due to their expertise.

Um they've done all kinds of historical renovations, a bunch of missions in California.

They've done some renovation work at Stanford and just a bunch of sites through uh buildings in San Francisco, just to name a few of the some of the historical buildings that they've worked on.

So we're excited to have them on board.

Um they did come out and take some materials, material samples about a week ago.

They're kind of formulating the exact mix that they're gonna be using to redo the stucco work.

So uh that's going on currently while we're speaking, and then phase one, which is the masonry uh restoration and repairs, is going to begin on Monday, May 18th.

Um the project is scheduled for four weeks.

Uh the reason that we're coming to you now is to kind of let you guys know and also the community know that there are going to be some pretty significant traffic impacts as a result of this project.

Uh single lane closure traffic control will be in place for the first two weeks of the project.

So the week of May 18th and the week of May 25th, which is Memorial Day, so a short week that week, but those two weeks there will be some pretty significant uh traffic impacts uh along the the main street corridor in that area.

Our reasoning for starting earlier rather than later was we wanted to get ahead of the last week of school.

Uh we figure we can get the crews out of the roadway for the last week, so we expect that to be busy.

Graduations and the whole nine yards going on, so we wanted to get out of the roadway.

And if we pushed it any later, we may not have been able to finish by 4th of July, which brings a huge influx of visitors into town.

So we feel that uh starting on the the 18th is is in everyone's best interest.

Uh roads will be restricted for the first two weeks of the project, roughly from 8 30 a.m.

to 5 p.m.

Um we want to allow folks as much time to get their children to and from school and uh you know not disrupt traffic in that morning commute as much as possible.

Uh the next week of the project, uh the next two weeks of the project, uh pedestrian traffic will be restricted just on the walkway side.

There will have detours in place for stuff like that.

Um we are noticing the community through e-news.

Uh we've let the chamber of commerce know as well so they can get that information out to the businesses.

And um we are very excited to get this project started.

Before we get to the next update, are there any questions about this from council?

Councilmember Naking Guest.

Yeah, well, it's great to see something proceeding, and I can appreciate the historical nature of the bridge, right?

This is the first reinforced concrete bridge in San Mateo County.

In San Mateo County, it's actually one of the first steel reinforced concrete bridges in the country.

So we'll go with that.

I'm just going by the plaque that go out there, but it's not the first in the country, it's one of the first in the country.

It's one of the first in the country.

Records are probably weren't as great as they were back in 1900 when they built it, but yes, it's definitely one of the first in the country.

In case the community is wearing the historical significance, and that's why the bridge is still standing and not knocked down to something uh more modern.

Yeah, you know, that was uh period, I know this town had a lot of discussion about that, whether that bridge should stay and and we uh repair it or a new one.

Also, if we're um the idea is to have this ready as much as we can post memorial memorial day, kind of a kickoff of summer.

Is that what we're trying to do?

Uh the stucco part, yes, absolutely.

Um we'll be bringing an item to the council later, and we'll discuss it later this evening as part of the CIP discussion is how we address the the woodwork portion of the bridge.

That's been identified as phase two of the project.

We're looking to figure out a way to get some funding.

We're we're a little short, and we'd like to get that done as soon as possible as well, too.

When you say the deck portion, that's the where the pedestrian pedestrians, yes, sir.

Um so phase two would address that.

So the decking and also the railing, most of the railing doesn't meet ADA requirements, so we need to bring that up to modern specifications as well.

So that would be phase two of the project.

We're hopeful that we do actually own a majority of the wood needed to do this work.

It's been stockpiled at the courtyard for for a few months now.

Um we don't expect a lot of material costs associated with the project for phase two, but we do expect some labor costs associated with phase two of the project.

Well will a detour be set up.

So will people know not to make a if they choose not to make a left on Main Street coming uh westbound on 92 or the way that we're envisioning it is that it's we're gonna have flaggers on either side of the bridge, and that's how we're gonna do it.

It's it's not the ideal setup, but we could look at possibly noticing people coming off of 92.

May maybe just monitor and then if some if you need to maybe implement something if if necessary.

But maybe we could bring in a changeable message sign, especially after the last two days.

I mean, we're all aware of there's been some work on 92 that's kind of impacted traffic for the last couple days, and they had the same essentially traffic control in place that we're proposing for this project.

So we definitely will be monitoring, and we do have a couple of changeable message signs at our disposal.

Suggest maybe make sure you monitor and then implement something if necessary.

Absolutely.

Any other questions?

Has the uh downtown merchants been everybody been known about this and and told about it, or is this just they're gonna go off of Instagram and the e-news and all this stuff?

Um I spoke with Abby this morning.

Crystal and wasn't in the office at the chamber, but I did let the chamber know, and they said that they would pass the information along to the business owners.

So that's kind of the outreach that we've done on the public work side to get a hold of the business community.

I think if we can we'd use that message sign that we have that's done on 92 on that during that time basically and make sure that it we're directing traffic to how to get to Main Street alternative routes, because I think that's I don't we we don't want to lose people coming to downtown and spending money.

And we don't want them to get frustrated, so it has to be very clear on how to get to our downtown.

That's my main the main concern.

And then on the railings, um, are you talking about the railings as you're grabbing on the left side as you're walking those those four by four press retreated posts?

Yes, okay.

All right.

Sounds good.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Anyone else on the council?

I'm going to move on to the um the second item and then we'll ask for public comment for on both afterwards.

So second item is me, so here I am back again.

Um the second item is the Highway One Access and Mobility Study.

Uh the Highway One Mobility and Access Study is currently underway.

Uh staff has been working with some consultants to kind of do the the initial push on this project.

Um we are going to be moving forward and having a bunch of community and stakeholder events over the next couple days.

So community put community participation and input is pretty vital uh to ensure future projects are developed with the input from these local stakeholders.

Uh wine it's a wide-ranging study that seeks to develop improvements for all types of transportation along the South Corridor.

Basically, the scope of what we're looking at is from uh 92 down to Miramani's Point Road along the Highway 1 corridor for all types of transportation, walking, biking, driving, and and as well as public transportation.

Uh staff wants to encourage the community to attend an in-person engagement event if at all possible.

Uh they are spread out over the next three days, like I mentioned, May 6, 7th, and 8th.

And also the bike and ped advisory committee will be holding a joint meeting with the consultant on Wednesday, May 7th at 6 p.m.

located at the EOC, which is for those of you that don't know, it's right next door uh to this building that we're in right now.

Um here are some dates and times for the meeting.

The the main meeting that's open to the public is going to be a public meeting that's going to be held tomorrow from 5 p.m.

to 7 p.m.

at the library.

Uh there's a couple of studio sessions that are going to be open to everyone tomorrow from 3 to 7.

There will be some studio sessions available, and a couple on May 7th and May 8th, and those will both be located at the EOC, uh, both from 1 p.m.

to 5 p.m.

And before do you is there any questions about the I'll just add Todd if I might if you go to our website, Halfmoombay.gov.

There's a rotating banner.

The very when you go there, the first thing you're gonna see is this.

If you want to click on it, all the details are there for those that didn't catch it tonight.

Any questions from council members?

Comments.

Um any comments on either the Main Street Bridge update or the South Corridor Um workshops item.

You can come to the podium now or raise your hand online to comment or ask questions.

Uh seeing none, I I think that item is Vice Mayor has a question.

Yeah, when do you expect phase two to start?

Of the Main Street Bridge?

Yes.

Oh, that is a funding dependent question.

So if if we're provided funding, there's no reason that we couldn't be done by Pumpkinfest.

That's uh it's really just a funding issue at that point.

We just don't have the money to do it right now.

Um we do have a majority of the wood, like I mentioned, so I mean I think there's almost 40,000 worth of lumber for the project sitting at our corporation yard being stockpiled right now.

We probably have another, I forget the exact number, but we do need to buy a little more lumber to address the railing issues.

But realistically, there's no reason that we couldn't be done by Pumpkin Fest with all of that.

Thank you, Todd.

Thank you so much.

All right.

So the next item, item eight is public forum.

Uh anyone present at the meeting, either in person or online.

Um, you can uh speak on a non-agendized item.

So you want to talk about things that are not on the subsequent agenda.

And um speakers at public forum will get three minutes to make their comment.

And I need to see how many speakers we have.

Okay.

So we will begin.

That's three minutes.

Uh raise your hand uh online if you would like to comment as well.

Uh the first speaker is um Stacey McCarthy.

Yep.

Terrible with microphones.

Let's see.

Does that work?

Okay.

Yes, good.

Good evening.

Good evening, City Council, good evening, city management, good evening, neighbors and our community.

Um, good evening, Mayor.

My name is Stacy McCarthy.

I live here in Half Moon Bay.

I'm here tonight to ask one question.

Do you remember the travesty that occurred in our community over three years ago?

Let me help.

It was January 23rd, 2023.

My son was in preschool, a quarter mile away from one of the farms where the shootings occurred.

My husband was stationed in the driveway, unarmed, in the hopes of protecting all the kids in the school.

I could have lost them both.

I remember.

The shooter tried to turn himself in at my office building.

I was there.

I can't forget.

But far, far worse than my personal experience was the loss of life and what we learned of the deplorable conditions that our farm workers were living in.

No walls, tin roofs, no plumbing, sleeping on the ground.

It's something that once I see, I I cannot forget.

I wonder if you did.

I I wonder.

And and how, if that's possible.

Please, please let me know.

There are things I'd like to forget, and too many things I do forget.

Why is another question?

I guess I'm asking more than one.

Is it because it's okay to turn our backs on our neighbors?

Or is it at the behest of property owners in our fair city?

Or is it because you can wield your will or power over our disenfranchised neighbors?

I don't know if we'll ever know the answers to these questions.

But I am here tonight to remember to remind you that I am not alone.

There are many, many neighbors here who stand with me tonight to implore you to move forward.

I don't want to raise our son in a community that turns its back on our neighbors.

I want us to remember our history.

And I was a student who didn't like history.

I didn't want to study history.

But I am imploring you to move forward with the occupancy of the homes and stone pine that have been built.

And 555 Kelly.

Thank you.

Thank you.

The next speaker is Joaquin Jimenez, followed by Naomi Pantridge.

My name is Saf Joaquin Jimenez, uh resident of Halfum Bay for almost 40 years.

Thank you, Stacey.

Um, I don't know if you had the opportunity to have any conversations with our farm workers or the day of the shooting.

I did.

They shared with me what they saw.

They shared with me what they did.

They saw the first person getting shot on the chest.

Close range.

Twice.

One was the person was standing, the second time when it was on the ground.

Walked to the next person and shot him again.

Some of the survivors, when they saw the shooting happening.

Some of them actually were inside the portal parties.

That reminds you of anything.

Or the ones that doors didn't unlock.

They had to tie a rope to the door to keep the shooter from coming inside their house.

How about have you had a conversation with a person that was standing right next to the other one to the other person that was shot?

Farm workers.

The ones that have given the life for this community.

The ones we appreciated, we love during the pandemic.

We call them essential workers.

They were not farm workers anymore, they were essential workers.

You forgot about them.

They're the ones that created the economy here on the coast.

We are farmers.

How many farmers do actually work?

The farm workers are the ones that live in their lives on the on the fields.

I got one of the first calls.

I called the first number, the nines, nobody answered.

Second number, somebody answering, and say, Yes, he happened here.

Three people three people have been shot.

Happened in Halfum Bay.

It happened to farm workers.

Please don't forget that, because I don't.

We won.

And this in this one around the world.

How the farm workers were in the living conditions.

It's been going on for decades.

Have a video.

A video of how they were living down south in Samateo County.

Wars and a toolshed.

Thank you.

Thank you.

The next speaker is Naomi Patridge, followed by Emma Tom.

Good evening, Madam Mayor, Councilmembers, City staff, and members of the public.

My name is Naomi Patridge.

I've lived here for 86 years, and I reside at 487 Laurel Avenue Halfman Bay.

I'm here tonight to thank the City Council, but especially Councilmember Nagangas and Mayor Ruddick for making sure that the city is protected financially and legally with the agreement with Mercy Housing.

Their questions and concerns were spot on.

I observed the meeting on online last Tuesday night.

I was shocked at the questions and things that were being asked, but I thought the council did a great job in protecting the city.

So personally I want to thank you.

I know how much time it takes to be reviewing all those documents.

Thank you, Naomi.

The next speaker is Emma Tom.

And Madam Mayor, if I might remind the public that this is the time for general public comment for items that are not on the agenda.

Yes.

The 555 Kelly item is on the agenda and will be discussed later.

Thank you for that.

Good evening, honorable mayor, council members.

And City Manager staff and residents of Halfman Bay.

Excuse me, Emma.

Could you get closer to the mic?

Hello, my name is Emma Gwinyata, and I'm an 18-year-old at Hafen Bay High School.

In the last year, I've attempted suicide three times.

Junior year, I was diagnosed with bipolar disorder.

It's been a heavy toll on both myself and my family.

20% of high school students seriously consider attempting suicide, and 9% attempt suicide according to the centers of for disease control and prevention.

To myself, this phone number is far too high.

To do something about the statistic, I have decided to join Alcove.

Alcove or what Alcov will become is a mental health third place, which will become a safe space in Hafen Bay for youth to receive support.

Due to Hafen Bay's location, a lot of mental health resources resources are limited.

This means the mental health of youth goes unchecked.

This leads to feelings of isolation and increases the loneliness epidemic.

Alcov will be here to change that by creating a place for the youth of Hafen B to be able to find resources they need.

Alcove is a warm meant meant to be a warm de-escalation center.

No white walls, no fluorescent lights like acute facilities.

The youth of the coast side are also welcome to just come out and hang out.

We have many fun activities planned.

Thank you, Emma.

Is there anyone online who would like to a comment during public forum?

You can raise your hand now.

I don't see anyone.

Okay, we're going to close public forum and we're going to move to the uh consent calendar.

Uh are there any items that council members wish to pull?

Yes, I'd like to pull 9E.

9E.

Okay.

Um I would like to pull item 9H, which is the agreement with May's associates.

Anyone else?

Okay.

Could somebody uh make a motion on the remaining items of the consent calendar?

Before we vote on the remaining items.

I'm sorry.

Um I will read what those items are too.

So the items on consent minus the items that have been pulled are items 9A, the waive reading of ordinances and resolutions.

Item 9b, approve the minutes of April 21st, 2026 special meeting.

Item 9C, approve the minutes of the April 21st, 2026 regular meeting.

Item 9D, approve minutes of the April 28th, 2026 special meeting.

Item 9F, approval of a memorandum of agreement for the San Mateo County Regional EV charging project.

Item 9G, uh 2026 Half Moon-based Sanitary Sewer Management Plan update.

And item 9J, approve the updated mayor's list of updated city council representatives and designated assignments for 2026.

So the motion to approve would be for items 9A, 9B, 9C, 9D, 9F, 9G.

And see, 9J, no, excuse me, 9I and 9J.

So moved.

Second.

Okay.

Is there anyone in the room or online that would like to comment on the consent items just identified?

You can come to the podium now or raise your hand online.

Seeing none in the room, I don't see any online either.

Okay.

Could I have a roll call vote on those items?

Councilmember Brownstone.

Yes.

Councilmember Johnson.

Yes.

Councilmember Nagengast.

Yes.

Vice Mayor Penrose.

Yes.

Mayor Reddick.

Yes.

Motion carries.

Thank you.

So we will take item.

Excuse me.

9E.

Um for discussion, adoption of an ordinance repealing municipal code, Chapter 6.04, residential rental registration, and chapter 6.06, residential rent stabilization, and amending section 6.02.020.

For discussion, adoption of an ordinance repealing municipal code, Chapter 6.04, residential rental registration, and Chapter 6.06, residential rent stabilization, and amending Section 6.02.020 definitions to remove terms relating to residential rental registration and stabilization programs.

And this is the second reading of that ordinance.

Vice Mayor?

Yes, this is a very sad day for me and for many people in our community.

But even more shocking was the fact that I was unaware of it, that I knew nothing about a huge segment of our population who goes out and works every day and who lives in such horrendous conditions.

It also reminded me that as a council, we were very responsive, as we had been to those who are poorer in our community and less advantaged.

And we had a history in our council of trying to be progressive and trying to help, not to remedy everything, but to do as much as we could to represent those who are less fortunate than we are.

So with the repealing of some of those measures which were so forward-looking and which cost the city nothing and did no harm.

But were looked on as social work that some on our council didn't approve of.

I'm saddened.

I'd also like a roll call vote on this measure.

Well, since we've um opened up the item, I'll take any public comment from the room or online.

So come to the podium if you want to speak and you're here on this particular item.

It looks like we have a couple of people, so you'll have to get in line.

And then we'll take any raised hands from the audience.

And I would be very happy to participate in uh workshops or discussions directly to identify some of the things I can imagine would be helpful.

I appreciate that the housing uh rules are such that uh nobody was inspecting the county properties on which the abhorrent conditions led to the shooting.

They're horrible.

The county health needs to be involved.

I believe that uh helping renters to deal with evictions at the county courthouse is a place where people can be assisted.

It may well be that subsidies and work with the local nonprofits to be able to administer assisting people in need uh are all possibilities that the city can help to encourage and support.

So I do believe that there are things to be done as a lifelong renter.

I was opposed to rent control because I've seen the negative effects that rent control has uh not just on landlords but on tenants, because a number of landlords in the city in the face of the rent control rules and in the face already of the fact that there are state laws and there is county enforcement at the courts, um, sold their homes to people uh because they didn't want to conform, and those homes now either went off the rental market or were repriced at higher rentals.

Um, you know, it's it's not an easy thing.

Rent control itself directly doesn't work, but there are things that the city can and should be doing, and I would support figuring out those things and doing them.

And thank you, those who tried to solve it this way.

I know that your hearts are in the right place.

Thank you.

Respond to that, um we're gonna take public comment first.

We're going to take public comment first.

Joaquin Jimenez Thank you.

When we uh approve uh rent control uh in the rent uh the protection plan the rental registration we approved it with a condition that it was going to be temporary we talked about that with a condition that we're gonna provide housing affordable housing for the community was the City Alphay have provided affordable housing low income housing for community we will reconsider to terminate rent control that was a whole idea and we failed we failed that's a city we were very progressive thinking about the people that were struggling that are still struggling right now not serving no special interests life changes we do with changes every day but we forgive about the ones that struggle you are forgetting about the people that struggle it's gonna continue because I'm gonna tell you something I don't think Hafoom Bay is going to be able to build the 480 units that is required by the state I don't think we're gonna do it and we're gonna get a fine the state is going to come in just like I told you eminent domain properties in Hafon Bay to build and when that happens some of us are going to be very happy because we failed we failed to do housing we failed to protect the people that need us we failed to protect the vulnerable people we're in control you had a sunset to revisit once we offer housing real simple because you don't care because you have uh a place to go to comfortable you don't care about the people that struggle and you know they're struggling because they tell you you see them all the time for its progress think about it because you could be next you could be next I don't see any anybody else in the room oh maybe one more okay hi I'm Joanne Rokoski I really wasn't prepared to speak to this but because it's been opened up I'll make just a brief comment I was one of those who stood before you begging you to continue the rent stabilization and registration programs.

Nothing in my own belief system about that has changed I would just like to emphasize a couple of things first of all people really are struggling I have heard the stories of people who one family lives maybe with five people in one room because they have to cobble together three families to pay the three thousand dollar plus rent for a one bedroom apartment where nobody was asking for the moon they were asking for a limit and there were recommendations to change the limit it to align with the state law which would have increased the limit I understand that so now we're in a situation in Halhoon Bay in which the recourse is not nearly as described if somebody needs to get to court to try to protest an unfair rent increase they have to be able to get to court to hire the help of an attorney or other legal advocate and they have to actually have the time to get there on top of what may be a many hour long work and for some of them they may not speak the language for others many others what has happened is that people who have been priced out of homes and apartments have ended up in RVs and now that's another problem considered by the city to be discussed at another time but why are they there?

But why are they there?

For some of them it's because they can't afford the rent.

I want to reiterate what Joaquin said about I remember from the outset when Mayor Raddock, mayor at the time, I believe maybe Councilmember, I don't know.

And excuse me, I was Penrose.

I'm sorry.

When when Deborah Penrose said this does not have to be permanent, this is a so this is a solution until there is adequate housing.

There is not yet adequate housing.

Therefore, I come to the conclusion that it was needed, and I'm really, really saddened that it has been removed.

Thank you.

Speak right into it.

So Carolina Carvajal.

So you're not personal Latina.

I am a Latino person.

And I just want to tell you that as Latinos are never gonna go seek for justice before a judge.

Making that clear, I think it is so sad that pasado tanto tempo y todavía no hay vivienda accesible.

That so much time has gone by and there is no accessible housing yet.

And for the way things are looking, we think it's gonna take a long time.

So clarifying.

Thank you.

Thank you.

And I just want to talk to you guys and the people who are here and the ones who are listening.

Because there is a lot of need and a lot of things that we cannot do, but you guys are the ones who can help us, so we're gonna continue fighting for the rent control.

I am an award-winning documentarian.

My team and I uh produced a documentary called Campesinos America's Un Heroes, Campesinos is the word for a farm worker.

We had the pleasure of filming a lot of that here in Hapun Bay, the farm workers here in Hapoom Bay.

That uh documentary won many awards.

We did not produce that film or that documentary to win awards.

We just wanted to tell the story of our farm workers.

We wanted to pay tribute to their contributions based on the awards and the attention that it got.

We also were invited to present it at different places, tech companies like Nvidia, Adobe, LinkedIn, and others.

We were also invited to present it to legislators by legislators at the state capitol, and then we were also invited by congressional members to present it at the nation's capital to other congressional members.

That's probably the proudest work that I've ever done in my career, because we were there representing the stories of these hardworking individuals.

And I feel that we live in one of the wealthiest parts in the world, not only just in this country, but in the nation and beyond.

And I'm optimistic that this community of Half Moon Bay doesn't just see those as sound bites or marketing and branding.

Thank you for your time.

Thank you.

Hi, Belinda.

Just a reminder that this is a rent control item.

All right.

Okay.

I was here the night that you voted to end rent control, and it's been a really sad uh time for the community when they really understood what was happening.

And I guess my question that I have as a social worker and has worked for years in the community is why are we going backwards?

Like we're in 2026, and we were going forward with so much momentum.

I remember when I first started working with city manager Matthew Chittester, one of the things that he emphasized so much years ago is how do we become one community?

One community.

That was the mission, and I think many of you had that at the time.

But it feels like this is punishment for a hard working community that gives back every day in the way that they, you know, their work, their pillars of this community.

Children, just like yours and mine that deserve a home.

It's having mental health effects, it's having physical effects, the stress and anxiety that we're seeing.

And and my question is are we trying to drive out our workers here?

Are we trying to drive out a segment of our community because we're not giving other options either?

What are the options here?

We're ending rent control.

We haven't met our affordable standard housing quota.

We don't have other options.

The only thing I can conclude is it's becoming a divided community.

It's becoming a community that's getting pushed out, and it's a community in pain right now.

I get to see as a social worker the homes, we have children that are not able to crawl, physically developed, physically delayed development because they're forced to live in one room where there's a bed, a dresser, a chair, and no space to crawl.

They're having to come to ALAS to crawl in our spaces, literally to crawl.

That's the real story of what's happening in our community when we don't create thriving housing opportunities, and when we don't care to protect the rental, you know, economic situation of those, and like Garolina said, they're not gonna go to court.

I've seen so many injustices, and guess what?

They're never gonna win these cases.

They're never gonna win.

The system is stacked up against them, and that is what we're counting on you all to do the right thing.

And restoring rent control is something we need to do, or at least finding alternatives to say we're gonna make a better life for the community that serves everybody here, and the children that they have.

It's the right thing to do.

As Matthew said, we were one community.

I hope we can get back to that again.

Good evening, Council Jordan Grimes.

Uh I'm a member of Peninsula for Everyone.

We're a regional housing advocacy organization.

Um I think you're making a tremendous mistake.

Um this is an area where I think in a few years you're really going to see the impact, um, probably sooner than that, actually, on the most vulnerable members of this community.

Um, I know that this is an incredibly divisive issue, um, but you have to think about Half Moon Bay's housing market as it currently stands.

You have had on the books for uh several decades now an anti-growth measure that has essentially meant that the city has built very little new housing um since the late 1990s um and what that means for renters uh in the market in Half Moon Bay is that landlords basically have unfettered control over what they can charge because you can't just go to another property, you can't just find another unit because there aren't.

If you look at the vacancy rate in the city right now, it is astronomically low.

Um and you need to do something about that, frankly, and obviously there's another item on the agenda tonight where where you have the opportunity to do that.

Um but in the meantime, you have people who are really, really suffering.

Um rent control and rent stabilization are and should be seen as consumer protections.

Um, you have many consumers in the audience tonight who are affected by these things very personally.

Um, and it is, I think, just a shame that the council is uh backtracking on this so quickly.

Um I would also say, in terms of the rental registry, I I think regardless of your feelings on rent control, um, reneging on the rental registry itself is a is an even bigger mistake.

Good data is the cornerstone of good policy.

Um, and without knowing exactly what's happening in the rental market in terms of rent increases, evictions, vacancies, et cetera, um, you are flying blind.

And so I think regardless of everything else, um, that is something that should be reconsidered uh in in the nearer term rather than longer term.

Um I hope you know these predictions don't come true.

Um I I hope that things are are uh easier for the renters of Half Moon Bay in the future, but I don't see that happening without some major policy changes.

Good evening.

Uh my name is Lauriana Sajadiaz, and with all due respect, uh council members, um, I first want to congratulate your staff.

I think you've got a wonderful staff sitting at City Hall.

Um I wonder how there's this huge disparity between the staff that represents you nine to five and then everyone else behind the computers that I'm looking at.

When I look at your indifference at every meeting, um, the lack of connection you want to make with your constituents is disappointing.

Um I wonder, you know, when you sit through these long, you know, you can't like it because I know no one else on this side likes it either.

When you're here for hours on end listening to people, do you think about that at night?

I don't think so.

And I think that when you're an elected official, you owe yourself to everyone who's sitting here.

Look at everyone.

Take time from scribbling on a paper that you're doing, stop that.

And look at this room.

Look at the people that you pay Monday to Monday through Friday to give their face for what this city is about.

I think that there's a bigger problem with a lot of our elected officials, not just you all here who are sitting here.

Um after 20 years in the banking industry, I decided I needed to give back and to find a real calling.

And when I look at you without saying that you guys are old, without discriminating, I have to assume that you two are sitting there because you want to do something more.

So last year, myself, as a part of a group visited the Vatican, and I had the opportunity to meet his holiness, Pope Leo.

And I'm sure that everyone here in front of me and behind me has a faith, whether that's my God, a different God.

We all have some faith that we that we look to every night.

So I implore you to ask yourself do you have an indifference?

I'm gonna read to you a part of what the Pope read to me.

And to, you know, a hundred and plus other selected people.

And I want you to really take this away.

This isn't me.

This is coming from the Pope, and I'm sure you might have heard it before.

One of the obstacles that often arises when dealing with difficulties, rent control, affordable housing.

He didn't say that.

I'm adding that.

Such great magnitude is an attitude of indifference on the part of both institutions and individuals.

The previous Pope, Pope Francis called it globalization of indifference, where we become used to the sufferings of others without trying to alleviate them.

This can lead to what Pope has previously referred to as a globalization of powerlessness, in which we risk becoming immobile, silent, and sad, thinking that nothing can be done when we are faced with innocent suffering.

You have the power.

Excuse me, but your time is up.

Okay, can I finish?

It's really quick.

Really quick.

Okay, thank you.

Just as Pope Francis spoke of the culture of encounter as the antidote for globalization of indifference, we must work to confront the globalization of powerlessness by fostering a culture of reconciliation.

In this particular way of encountering others, we meet one another for healing our wounds, forgiving each other for the evil we have done, and also what we have not done, but whose effects we bear.

Thank you.

It requires patience, a willingness to listen, the ability to identify with pain of others, and the recognition that we have the same dreams and the same hopes.

Thank you.

Good evening.

I wasn't planning on talking about this.

Um I'm a mother of three.

One of them is graduating this year in computer science, and he would love to live in Half Moon Bay.

I looked at apartments.com.

Two bedroom apartment, 300 and 3,835 a month.

One bedroom, 3,000 a month.

Studio, 4,469.

Two bedrooms, 3,350.

One bedroom, 3,200.

3,200, if we're using the be responsible with your finances and your housing should be a third of your income means, you need to be making a minimum of $15,000, $115,000 a year.

That's out of the range for most people coming out of college and most and a lot of the hardworking people in our community.

That's all.

Hello, my name is Italy Huerta, and I've been a member of this community my whole life, so 30 years.

Then do that.

And I may I remind you that the city is us.

We are the people.

All this is intertwined, has to do with mental health.

It is heartbreaking to be speaking to my students with housing insecurity.

How can we expect them to fully commit to their academic journey and be productive members of our society when they don't know where they're gonna sleep?

How can I do my job as a youth mentor where I myself am experiencing housing insecurity by living paycheck to paycheck?

My job is rewarding, and I love it, but I do not want to be pushed out of the community that built me.

Graduated from Hatch, graduated from Cunha and Halfham Bay High School, proudly.

Right, leave this small place behind.

But the community is what brought me back.

That is why I'm here.

And I was not planning to speak.

I have so much things going on, right?

Politics, limited up here.

There's a lot going on in our country right now.

But at least I can help my community.

And again, I'm here to remind you, we are the city.

So just like you have stated multiple times, and I agree with you, protect the city.

Protect us, and please do not drive us out.

Thank you.

I wasn't planning to speak either, and you'll all know what my feelings have been about this.

The real tragedy here, beyond the impact on renters, is that you had a choice.

The staff did a fabulous job of identifying choices.

It was a faulty ordinance that could have been repaired.

And instead of repairing it, you eliminated it.

It's a travesty.

And you chose instead to be owned by the real estate industry.

And that's reality.

I see one hand online raised.

Aisha Barrel.

Hello, everybody.

My name is Aish.

Is there an echo?

Okay, great.

My name is Aisha Barrel.

I'm a resident of Haflin Bay.

I moved here in 2009, 17 years ago.

And in that time, I've seen this community change.

A lot of my own neighbors have been priced out and moved to other areas.

And one steady presence that I've seen over the years has been the farm workers' community.

And as far as I'm concerned, they are an essential non-negotiable part of the character of this town.

The objections stem from a similar sentiment that everyone should fund for themselves and that we don't have to take care of the most vulnerable.

And over the years, since I've been listening to city council meetings, 555 Kelly started being discussed.

And the concerns have been raised around traffic, neighborhood, character, infrastructure, environmental impacts, flooding, parking, all of it.

And I don't want to minimize any of these concerns.

I'm a resident of Halfland Bay.

I'm a property owner.

I live a couple blocks from here.

I'm a mom to a child who will go to Cunha in two years, and I care deeply about these concerns.

But at the end of the day, I am much more concerned about us losing our humanity and a vital component of the character of Halfun Bay.

I know the city council does too, and that's why you have gotten this far on the ordinance, and I commend you for introducing it.

And now is the time to come to approve it as it is today.

Recently, I had the opportunity to go down to the mushroom farms along with Alias.

I invited Sheridan Ken Binder and the coastide captain Alan Amen.

They came.

It was an amazing experience to have them all break bread together, Mr.

Farm Workers.

All of us are in this together.

So today I urge you to do the right thing.

The entire nation is watching Halfun Bay.

And I want the end of the story to be that at the end of the day, on this day on the Cinquel of Mayo, we came together to honor the rich history of our town, which is made of farm workers too.

And to declare that we won't bend here as part of our community.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Is there anyone else online who would like to comment on this item?

I don't see anybody, Robert.

Oh, Robert, sorry.

Thank you.

Um I just wanted to first of all thank all the folks who came here and weren't planning on speaking on this issue and have come forth and eloquently made the case for um continuing our rent control program.

Um I really appreciated hearing some you know voices that we may not have heard before.

And how many um younger folks who work here face um face the challenges of paying high rents.

And we actually have also a significant uh growing population of seniors who rent.

They're on fixed income.

Uh social security may be their only source of income.

And in order for them to continue paying their rent and make ends meet.

Many of them are regular customers at Coastide Hopes.

And I've spoken to people at Coastide Hope, and that's a growing number of individuals who are seniors.

So yeah, I think we had a great ordinance in place.

It was meant to be temporary.

Most of the opposition I heard to that ordinance was from members of SAMCAR and landlords saying, hey, you know, you've got a great state option to present your case if you feel you want to object to a reasonable rent control increases.

But we also had here for all of you to hear on city council, legal experts from uh legal services saying that is an unenforceable statute as it stands.

And um for me personally, I personally can't sit here and feel that I am fulfilling my duty to protect the health and safety of all members of this community and not support this rent control ordinance.

And I'd be embarrassed if I didn't support it.

And that's my from you know that's me personally.

And I'm sorry that this is happening.

And um, yeah, I think it does feel like a victory of special interests versus protecting the health and safety of everyone in our community.

Thanks.

Thank you, Robert.

Um yes, have bringing it back to the council for any further comment.

Vice Mayor, I think you wanted to comment.

Yes, I don't have the figures in front of me, but Matthew may remember.

The cost of the program was uh 200,000, something like that, and was projected to be zero for the ongoing future.

So the the first year of the program, which was you know, launching the program, ramping up and and educating the community and all of that, there was a cost to the city.

Um, and Irma Costa or analysts that's been working on this, may have better recollection of those numbers.

In the second year, it it as far as we can tell it's cost neutral, um, that the fees collected cover the costs of administering the program.

Yes.

And we also had um information in in your staff report about um how few landlords left.

You're referring to exits from the rent stabilization and rent registry programs.

Exodus from the city is landlords.

Correct.

Irma, do you recall that number?

Um, I think it was about six units that were removed from the rental market.

I'm sorry, say it again.

Um, I think it was about six or nine units that were removed from the rental market.

Nine, yeah, rental units that were thank you.

And how many units altogether?

Uh it was around 1,500.

1,500.

So six or seven of them landlords decided that it was in their best interest to stop being landlords, or they left the area for whatever other reason.

Yeah, the reasons varied whether it was owner move in or the properties were sold.

Um, so it was a kind of a mixed batch.

Thank you.

Anyone else?

I'll entertain a motion on the item.

Uh adoption of an ordinance repealing municipal code chapter 6.04, residential rental registration and chapter 6.06, residential rent stabilization and amending section 6.02.020.

Definitions to remove terms relating to residential rental registration and stabilization programs.

Sir, a second.

I will second.

Second roll call, please.

Councilmember Brownstone.

No.

Councilmember Johnson.

Yes.

Councilmember Nagengast.

Yes.

Vice Mayor Penrose.

No.

Mayor Radick.

Yes.

Motion carries.

Okay, we're moving on to item nine H, which is the amendment to the agreement with Mason Associates for Independent Auditing Services.

And I asked for this to be pulled.

We had originally talked last year about putting out an RFP for a new auditor, best management practices every five years.

So I just want a little information on that because I'm not prepared to amend the agreement until I see the audit that we're due from the recent year.

So our finance directors here to report.

Yes, and I'll and I'll start.

Um you are correct.

The plan all along had been to do an RFP this fall to be prepared to enter into uh a new agreement, whether it was with May's or another firm.

Um as you know, our admin services director left um last fall.

We also had other turnover in that department, and um the the workload was was such that um this was one that we couldn't keep up with, and that's why we're requesting this extension is to just give us another year to prepare that RFP into it before the next year's contract year.

Um let Ken speak to the status of both the regular audit that we get annually as well as a single audit, which is related to uh federal funding.

Okay.

All right, thank you.

This is uh Ken Interim Administrative Services Director.

Um so yes, uh, thank you for giving me the opportunity to speak to this.

Um so council knows this, but the city is required to do an audit every year that we do.

On addition to that, um, there's a special requirement that we don't meet very often, and that's called a single audit.

That's what that's what occurs when um we spend an X amount of dollars uh of federal funds.

So the single audit is uh it was triggered this year, um, first time in the past seven years for uh the OCC grant or the opportunity closed site center.

Um it has uh been delayed, it's been it's uh a little bit behind schedule.

Um the chief reasons is that it's fairly new to us.

Um so there were some process gaps there, but the bigger reason is that um the county is also doing their own audit of those funds.

So they added a layer of complexity.

Um but um we received drafts from the county and from our auditors, and um we're reviewing it and hopefully um we'll be bringing that to uh council.

Um we're shooting for June.

Um so the base audit, um, the thing that we do every year, that's done, those reports are done, those are finalized.

Um can bring those to council next meeting if council wishes.

It's just that the single audit um is is has been held up.

So I can take any additional questions, so hopefully that addresses um the immediate concerns.

It does, but I still want to see the base audit.

If it's done, I want to see it.

I'm not gonna approve an extension until I see the audit.

So fair enough.

Uh any questions from council members on this item?

Is there anyone in the audience that wants to address this item?

Either in the room or online.

Don't see anybody.

Um I would move that we continue this item until we have a general or baseline audit to look at.

I I would agree with that.

Second.

Okay.

Um, could I have a roll call, please?

Councilmember Brownstone?

Yes.

Councilmember Johnson?

Yes.

Councilmember Nagengast?

Yes.

Vice Mayor Penrose?

Yes.

Mayor Radick.

Yes.

Motion carries.

Thank you.

I think those were the only two items that were pulled.

Yep.

So the next item would be ordinances and public hearings, which is item 11A relating to 555 Kelly.

But I think we'll, since it's quarter of nine, we'll take a 10 minute break and come back.

Housing project, approving the affordable housing and property disposition agreement, and ground lease and other agreements, and adopting a resolution approving a grant agreement.

These are two separate items: the grant agreement and the ordinance.

Staff will make a brief presentation first, then we will take public comment.

We'll move back and forth between those in the room and those online.

We have approximately the same number of speakers as last week, which means we're probably going to be here for a couple of hours taking comment.

Then we're going to take another break, and then we will resume the meeting for council deliberation.

So expect to be here till 11:30 tonight.

So staff.

Thank you, Madam Mayor.

We will make this a very brief presentation.

The purpose of tonight is really to just remind council and the community of the changes that were approved last week during the first reading in the introduction of the ordinance, and then allow for deliberation and a decision on the second reading and approval of the ordinance.

And then we can talk more about the grant agreement when we reach that point.

So I am not going to go over the project.

And then we'll be ready to take any questions you have.

Thank you, Madam Mayor, Vice Mayor, members of the council, Denise Bazano, and I'm city attorney.

And so just uh touching on the four different types of agreements very quickly.

So first is the affordable housing and property disposition agreement, or the AHPDA, as will commonly be referred to.

It's the contract uh between city and mercy housing as the developer, which governs the relationship during the pre-development project period.

Um the pro proposed age PDA and the ground lease are drafted to run sequentially.

So first the HPDA will be in effect, and then it will terminate once the memorandum of ground lease is recorded.

Um there are many terms in the age PDA that include uh obligations that Mercy has to fulfill related to the financing for the project.

It also establishes certain conditions that need to be met before the memorandum of ground lease can be recorded.

Some of those conditions are submer submission of organizational documents, evidence of project financing, uh final construction documents, building permit, etc.

There are also affordability requirements required as part of the age PDA.

Um it requires a covenant to ensure the project provides 100% affordable housing for senior current or retired agricultural workers with a mix of uh affordable units, including 10% due to be rented to households whose income do not exceed 30% of the adjusted uh AMI, and then 29 dwelling units that are to be rented to uh households whose incomes do not exceed 50 percent of the adjusted AMI.

There are um income targeting, like I mentioned, and long-term affordability requirements.

The age PDA also includes tenant preferences.

Um those tenant preferences are first half moon based senior current or retired agricultural workers, coast side seniors, and current or retired agricultural workers in the coast side of San Mateo, and then the third uh preference is the broader San Mateo County area, senior or retired agricultural workers.

Um these tenant preferences are subject to applicable federal or state law or any project funding sources, and the city will need to establish an ordinance to um create these preferences.

The ground lease.

The proposed ground lease is the document that establishes the contractual obligations imposed on Mercy Housing as the tenant by the city who will be the landlord leasing its property to Mercy Housing.

The key terms are it's for a period of 99 years.

The rent is $1 per year for the duration of the ground lease as consideration of lease of the real property.

There are insurance requirements.

There are also covenants of affordability that are included in the ground lease as well.

There are maintenance and repair requirements in the ground lease.

So Mercy is obligated to keep the property free of waste and in good condition.

There are it identifies requirements relating to the subleases.

So there will be two subleases: a resident sublease and the resource center sublease.

And those subleases have to include a provision that says that the tenant subtenants will not sublease the units to anyone, and the form of the subleases need to be approved by the council prior to implementation.

The ground lease also specifies terms and conditions for use of the community serving space on the property.

The third agreement is called a memorandum of ground lease, and it's recorded against the property.

It basically tells everyone that there is a ground lease recorded against the property.

And the fourth agreement is the regulatory agreement.

It's also recorded against the property and contains the covenants of affordability and provides notice to all interested parties of those covenants.

So at the meeting on April 28, 2026, the council had a discussion about the terms and made certain specified amendments prior to introduction of the ordinance.

So just touching on these amendments.

They're described more thoroughly in the staff report, but very briefly.

There were revisions to the SQL language to just clarify some of the language itself.

And we also staff also recommended amendment to section 3.4 of the regulatory agreement to remove references to three bedroom units.

Those are not part of the project, but they were included in a definition in the regulatory agreement, and so staff recommended they would be removed, the references to the three bedroom units be removed.

There was an amendment to the AHPDA to add a specific termination date of December 31st, 2028.

There was also an amendment to the ordinance and the ground lease to provide a specific provision that the ground lease would be reviewed every seven years rather than ten years.

And there was language that was revised to clarify that prevailing wages would be shall be paid.

So just making that more clear.

And there were revisions to define disability more consistently with the government code provisions that define disability.

So in summary, there's a draft ordinance that's being presented to the council tonight for second reading and adoption.

And that draft ordinance contains the CEQA exemption language, makes specific determinations consistent with government code section 37364 relating to affordable housing projects.

The ordinance would also authorize the city manager to execute the documents and any affiliated documents that are referenced in the agreements.

It requires periodic review of the lease, as I mentioned earlier.

It specifies recording requirements for the memorandum of ground lease and the regulatory agreement.

And it includes standard provisions like severability, publication, effective date, etc.

And so now we're gonna I'm gonna turn it back to the city manager to talk about the grant agreement.

Thank you, Denise.

Um we shared this last time, so I'll be brief, but um, as you know, uh as part of the funding, um, we received a state budget earmark through uh State Senator Becker's office to be used for this project and uh previously it had not been needed because there was other funding for the pre-development work that was provided by the county.

Um that agreement has ended and that funding is ended, and so Mercy has requested that we go ahead and enter into a grant agreement for the state funding.

It would be on a reimbursement basis, meaning um there are authorized activities that they can use as funding for, and they would do those activities and then they would request payment from the city, and um that way the city would continue to hold this in our affordable housing fund and any unused funds would remain with the city and could be allocated towards something else.

So the form of the agreement is very similar to the previous grant agreement for the county funds, and um happy to talk more about this um later on tonight.

Thank you.

Any clarifying questions from council members?

Okay, so we're going to take a public comment, and uh each person will have two minutes.

I'll call the person and uh the next person so I get the next person get ready to to speak.

And I'll probably go back and forth between people in the room and people on Zoom.

So my first speaker is uh Joan Dentler, representing Senator Josh Becker.

Followed by Nancy Fontana.

Thank you, Mayor Rudddock, and good evening, members of the council.

Thank you for allowing me to speak this evening on behalf of State Senator Josh Becker, who is in Sacramento and could not be here this evening, but he did ask me to come out and speak.

Of course, on behalf of the in the support of the project of 555 Kelly, as was just mentioned in the city manager's report in 2023-24 budget.

Senator Becker was able to have two million dollars from the state budget earmarked specifically for this project at 555 Kelly.

And this was done, of course, in the advent of of the tragic shooting of January of 2023 and the need for this housing for senior farm workers.

I everything has already been discussed, so I will make my comment very brief from this from the Senator just by saying that the state of California has demonstrated its deep commitment to this development through multiple significant housing awards, in addition to the $2 million that Senator Becker secured for this, as you know, there have been uh infill infrastructure grant funding, the Joe Cerna Junior Farm Worker Housing Grant, and others to make this project a reality.

He commends the city council for your leadership to affordable housing, and he strongly encourages you to advance this by five five Kelly project and adopt the ordinance this evening for the project, approving the affordable housing and property disposition agreement, the ground lease and other agreements, and adopting a resolution approving a grant agreement.

Thank you for the opportunity to speak to you this evening.

Thank you.

Oh, I'd hope for more time and I prepared for it, but oh well.

Um Council and members of the public.

I'm not here speaking about what uh approving or disapproving or the merits of the need for housing.

Um I'm more speaking to the process I've observed, and I have some concerns.

First is the lack of information and vaguely vagueness with regard to the applicants' intended use for the community areas of the building that are not essential to its residents, especially on weekends, which could have a negative impact on the downtown district, which, though tourist oriented, contributes a great deal to the city's economic base, thereby relieving strain on local local citizens.

The city, I'm sure will take action but should reserve the right to quickly address any problems related to that use.

Then I would like to address the questionable document language that was prepared by the applicant and the timing of the submittals.

I imagine the council is a radar station hovering over piles and piles of pages full of complicated, important text, and scanning everything to try to be sure everything is or is in order.

It really gave me pause that some of the terms that were found to be in these documents.

The one you mentioned, the disability, that was the potential to be dis disabled or something like that.

So vague, very subjective.

This type of subject subjective language has no place in any legal legally binding document.

The use of the term agriculture, agricultural worker instead of farm worker.

They have different meanings, which are very important.

I don't believe the creators of these documents are incompetent, naive, or simply careless.

This does not feel like a mistake.

I think it was calculated to widen and broaden the potential for citizens for people to apply.

So my trust is gone.

Now I'm worried, and then your time is up.

They stated something about the referendum not being applicable.

It's a right the people have.

Thank you.

The next speaker is Hale Bogner.

Then I'm going to go online for Camille.

Good evening, Council members, members of the public.

I uh appreciate very much uh the tremendous turnouts of the community uh in this meeting and previous meetings.

And um I speak on behalf of our committee, which was formed to enable the voters of Half Moon Bay to address the matter uh in the November election.

Um two years ago I addressed the city council priority setting meeting and said the first five-story building in town will not be the last if it is approved, and therefore it's a major decision.

The coast side has a long history of major decisions such as preserving the main street bridge, keeping cow fire, moving elections back to when more people could participate in even numbered years, the tunnel, uh growth control limits measures A and D, the 75% yes vote to give the school district 30 million dollars in construction money to build a middle school and so on.

And two years ago, we collected signatures when a previous question came up here when that happened.

Uh the city advised that they did not need to process the thousand plus signatures by voters and hold a referendum at the general election in November 2024.

I because it was administrative.

This is the ground lease and such, this is an ordinance, it is referendable.

Um I believe that had it gone to the ballot in November 2024, you may have broken ground because if the community believes this is the right project, that it should be done in this place or accedes to doing it, regardless of any reservations, that it would be in progress right now.

I believe that in November of 2026, if voters support the petition that the let Half Moon Bay Voters decide committee will circulate in the coming month or so, that it will go to the November ballot.

The community will be heard as people here have been heard, and we will get a final decision.

Thank you very much.

Thank you.

Your time is up.

The next speaker is um Camille, followed by Dorse.

Hi, my name is Camille Yanis Juantania, and I am a resident, um, not of Half Moon Bay, but of the Broader Bay Area, and I have worked on issues at the intersection of housing, education, and economic development for over two decades.

And I'm currently actively personally and professionally active in your city as a volunteer and donor.

Prior to the tragic shootings, Half Moon Bay was a place my family and I came to once in a while for pumpkins and seafood.

But following the storms and floods that were also affecting your community, and then the tragic shootings, me and people like me from across the Bay Area region and state, and also nation became aware of the deplorable conditions farm workers, many of whom are seniors face and wanted to do something about it.

We have been part of farm worker caravan drives, donor briefings, and more.

And in getting closer to your community, the asks that have come to many of us have been to show up, to donate, to prioritize Half Moon Bay in making our conference and tourism choices, and it has compelled us as everyday people to show up to your students, your community, um, to stand with your community, to draw in development partners like Mercy Housing and to walk with you locally with your partners like ALES and Coast Side Hope.

It has drawn in private philanthropy and broader government actors to get engaged.

And truthfully, it has been the spirit of Half Moon Bay that was contagious, that you were all moving as one community.

However, the narrative over the last couple of months has demonstrated that many of the decisions might be moving against the health and safety of the needs of your community that are most vulnerable.

It is sounding like there are more politically expedient choices that are being made, which I want to demonstrate, which I want to say is short-sighted, because learnings across the region will show that if you do not provide adequate housing, rent stabilization, and economic pathways, you will see increases in homelessness, mental health challenges, and limited educational and economic mobility.

We are seeing this across the Bay Area, and your community could be next.

So tonight I ask that you make the decisions that increase affordable housing to demonstrate to the broader region and the state that you are a kind and caring community that supports the people who have worked in your key industries.

Your time is up.

Thank you.

The next speaker is Doray.

Followed by Raimi Dare.

Doray, did you wish to speak on this item?

I see your hand raised.

Hello, this is Frank with Dorian's email.

And Doreen is here too.

Are you saying this is Doreen and Frank Garretti?

Yes, it is.

You may speak.

Thanks.

Good evening, Council members.

Thanks for having us tonight.

Uh, there's been time and effort put into this project, but that time and effort is a sunk cost.

You cannot look at it.

You must only look at the cost of moving forward, cost including money, traffic, safety, congestion, loss of business, parking, et cetera.

This building will be too tall.

It is supposedly for housing.

If so, then why are we supporting 2400 feet of common space plus another 2700 foot community center when the building will be only 100 feet from an existing community center?

Get rid of those two non-housing elements, and you could reduce the building by a full story.

Another question is will the off-site parking place spaces be dedicated only to the building, therefore reducing visitor, shopper, and business parking.

That would not be good for the city.

And we didn't hear formally of what happened to the request last week about earthquake insurance, and we really need to ensure that there is if this project is not approved or there's a referendum that we are indemnified from uh litigation or from being sued on it, as was brought up at last meeting.

So we need to make sure that that's in there no matter what happens here.

Anyway, again, this project is cost too much money.

We need to sell it for cash or at least it at full market value rate to benefit our city budget for generations to come.

This is a business decision, not an emotional one.

The future residents benefiting from our huge investment are not even required to be from Half Moon Bay or even San Mateo County.

You represent every resident and business of Half Moon Bay, not just special interest groups and people, some of which are not in Half Moon Bay.

The people in the businesses of Half Moon Bay must get the biggest say in this.

So please retain our unique small town feel and character that we enjoy and that our tourism businesses rely upon.

Thank you, Frank.

No, on the current thank you very much.

The next speaker is Raimi Dare, followed by Aisha Barrow.

In 2022, when the city selected Mercy Housing and ALUS to develop affordable housing for senior farm workers at the 555 Kelly site, our team was incredibly honored.

Mercy Housing's only other housing community in Half Moon Bay is at Coast Senior Housing on Main Street, where there are 40 affordable apartments and supportive services for very low-income seniors.

At 555 Kelly, the vision is to provide senior farm workers who have worked for decades in local farms with affordable housing in a supportive environment where they can age with dignity.

There are some key ways in which the city has shaped 555 Kelly that I want to highlight.

The city's architectural advisory committee reviewed the 555 Kelly design twice, helping us to incorporate architectural features to reflect Half Moon Bay's special character.

And in a genuine effort to respond to community concern concerns, we worked with the planning commission to reduce the building height so that at its tallest point it is only five feet above what the city would normally allow.

This is written into the city's conditions of approval.

Last year, Councilmember Penrose and Mayor Brownstone worked with us for several months to further shape the 555 Kelly development to better meet the needs of Half Moon Bay.

There are two key outcomes of that process.

First, we created a clear preference for local senior farm workers, with the first preference to senior farm workers living and work living or working in Half Moon Bay, the second preference for senior farm workers living or working in the coast side, and the third preference for senior farm workers living or working in San Mateo County.

These preferences are written into the city's regulatory agreement and the long-term ground lease.

Next, the ground floor resource center was modified to provide a multi-purpose space that will be available for the wider Half Moon Bay community to use for 16 hours per week.

We look forward to seeing this resource center become an affordable community space enjoyed by all Half Moon Bay residents.

We appreciate all of the care and expertise that the city family has dedicated to the 555 Kelly development.

Together, we are uplifting senior farm workers in this community through beautifully designed affordable and dignified housing that the half-made community half big half-made moon half moon bay community can be proud of.

Thank you, Rami.

The next speaker is Ayesha Barrow, followed by Mike Ferrara.

Okay, thank you so much.

I already spoke earlier on rent control, and uh um I also wanted to just iterate again my support for this farm worker housing for five uh five five Kelly.

Um, the first speaker who spoke talked about the character of Half Moon Bay, and as I've mentioned, it baffles me any time that people do not take farm workers as part of the character of Half Moon Bay.

As I'd mentioned before, and I think I saw him in the back of the room here via Zoom, Captain Alan Eyman, I believe that's him, and uh Sheriff Bender came to the Mushroom Farm for the shooting took place with us, and just seeing you know, like you know, uh everybody in community was such a moving part of that day, and we need to stick to each other and make sure that we stick with our farm workers, support them, and as the previous speaker mentioned, you know, like if we don't do that, there could be some further mental health impact, bigger crime, homelessness, and you know, we just need to support our senior farm workers.

Thank you.

Thank you.

The next speaker is Mike Ferreira, followed by Lenny Mondonsa.

Good evening, Mayor Rudding, Council members.

Uh to reiterate somewhat what I said at the last meeting.

A compliant project is 40 units at four stories.

That's what went out in the RFQ.

That's where we started this process.

It was a tight fit.

It barely squeezed into the city's ordinances plus whatever special considerations were available from state law.

And then somewhere in the process came this major transit stop.

For the benefit of the audience, major transit stop is something that was invented in the legislature, and it requires that your transit be on 15-minute headways in both directions.

And if you are within half a mile of such a place, then you get lots of exceptions as to heights and parking, etc.

It was disgraceful to watch the former city attorney at the planning commission not allow the planning commissioners to try to make sense of that.

That there is no major transit stop in this city.

But somehow the planning commissioners felt pressured and they moved forward with it.

There has been talk of referendum.

If the people have to straighten that out, if the people have to decide whether there's a major transit stop in this town, I guess they're going to have to.

Thank you.

Thank you.

The next speaker is Lenny Mendonza, followed by Leslie Robertson.

Hi, my name is Lenny Mendonza.

I have lived on the coast since 1989, along with my two daughters and now four grandchildren.

One of those daughters and her two grandchildren live in the city of Hapmoon Bay and our voters here.

I'm not speaking on her behalf.

I'm also the owner of the Hapmoon Bay Brewing Company, which now will be paying taxes in the city of Hapmoon Bay when we open a location this month.

I do not have a vote in Half Moon Bay.

I was also the former chief economic and business advisor to Governor Gavin Newsom.

I'm not speaking on his behalf.

I am speaking on my behalf and my wife's behalf and the Happen Bay Brewing Company's behalf to say that I really want to compliment the city staff and city attorney for their hard work on this project and the work leading up to it.

I read this in great detail.

It's fantastic work.

This is hard work and I commend your effort to ensure that you follow that work and approve this tonight.

So thank you.

Leslie Robertson, followed by April Vargas.

Hi, I'm Leslie Robertson.

I've lived in Hack Moon Bay more than 30 years.

I deeply love this town.

You've heard me stand up and talk about that before.

I want to talk tonight about things I do for Alice.

And people from all over the world send donations to make this gesture to this hardworking community who feeds us all.

I also am part of the farm worker accordion program, which was formed after the shooting as a as a therapy.

Again, I fundraise for field trips and so forth that we take and again people from all over the world mail money to Alas because they care about this community.

I'm asking City Council to demonstrate that they care as much about this community as these people from all over the world do.

This has taken far too long.

I I commend your diligence, but it has gone it has gone into crazy town now.

We need to approve this.

We're putting our city at legal risk if we don't approve it, and it is just simply the right thing to do.

Thank you.

Thank you.

April Vargas, followed by Ramon Senekui.

And the fact that the city does have the ability to inspect the property at any time to make sure that things are being handled in the way that they should be and can take action if anything is amiss is really important in this agreement because you all acting on behalf of all the residents of the city have to make sure that whatever agreement you enter into is responsible and basically accountable, which I believe this is.

Tonight is a momentous occasion because you can finally approve this, and I urge you please to approve it.

Thank you.

Thank you, April.

The next speaker is Ramon Senequi, followed by Joanne Rokowski.

You're Ramon Sonocchi.

So I travel del campo de hace muchos años in the area de la costa.

Vengo a pedir justicia.

Muchas ofignu.

Perdon, muchas ofers después de todo una vida.

Este project is solo una construction.

It's dignity.

Gracias.

Good evening, Madam Mayor and City Council from Hadmon Bay.

My name is Ramon Sonoki.

I am a worker, a field worker since for many years in the area the coastal area.

I have been working under the sun, rain, and cold to bring food to your tables.

Today I'm not coming to ask you for a favor.

I'm here to ask for justice.

Many of us after a lot after a whole life working, we don't have a real place where we can rest.

Today you have the opportunity to mark the difference.

Without the field workers, there is no food.

And without your support, there is no rest for us.

We ask that you approve this project for so we can live a quiet life, the last years of our life with dignity.

Thank you.

Thank you.

The next speaker is Joanne Markowski, followed by Rita Mansera, who's online.

Good evening, Council members.

I come to you tonight representing the many co-side Faith in Action members and wider Faith in Action Bay Area members who've attended meeting after meeting, all in support for the senior farm worker housing at 555 Kelly.

And now with the plea to prove the required ordinances for the project to move forward.

Some of us are present tonight.

Please stand.

Thank you.

There are many others who are here in spirit, but could not be here in person tonight.

Please move forward now so that the senior farm workers can get the housing they need and want.

Thank you.

Thank you.

The next speaker is Rita Mancera, followed by Joaquin Jimenez.

Hi everybody.

I am the executive director of Puente de la Costa Sur in Pescadero.

Providing quality housing for farm workers is not only the right thing to do, it really stressens our entire coastal community, and we do feel part of your community too.

For some of you, you first hear heard about the housing conditions after the shooting.

But these conditions have been prevalent in our communities, the entire coast side for many years, four decades.

It was the same thing.

Many people came speaking against the shelter.

Then when we talked about uh stone pine, many residents came forward to speak against Stone Pine.

Now that we are addressing uh 555 Kelly, there are some residents that are speaking against it.

Uh, the last meeting I mentioned uh this smells like racism, classism, maybe even corruption.

But what are you the examples that I gave you, the smell is getting stronger?

It seems like racism and classism play a big factor on how you make your decision that you're serving a special interest, and that is not the interest of the community that needs you.

You have a larger community to uh to serve, correct.

But the community we address in today, they have left their blood, their sweat and their tears in the fields.

They have been the base of the economy, not only of this county, but also of this country.

You have the opportunity to make history to actually create something for farm workers that are retired, like you saw Compadre Sonoki on a wheelchair.

Thank you.

Your time is up.

Thank you.

The next speaker is Rick Bunia.

Uh I don't see anybody with raised hand online.

Rick Benia, followed uh by Christy Samuels.

Good evening, Council members, and thank you to everybody for being here tonight.

Rick Bonia, former mayor of the city of San Mateo.

I'm also a member of the board of directors of the Housing Action Coalition of California.

I am the chair of the board of directors at the Housing Leadership Council of San Mateo.

Mr.

Chan will speak on behalf of the Housing Leadership Coalition tonight.

I'm here to say that as a chair, I definitely support this project.

And I believe the time has come.

This appears to be eminently approvable.

I'm looking at all the work that's been done.

I have to say every question I think that can possibly be asked and answered has been asked and answered.

Um also I have to say my position as the Housing Action Coalition, member of the board there for the last three years, a member of the project review committee.

We did never have a chance to review this project, but I have to tell you, in my experience, having reviewed many projects, this is one we definitely would have approved.

Just didn't come to us for approval.

As a representative of the Carpenter's Union, I have to say that we support projects like this, which pay the prevailing wage when they have good, honest, outstanding contractors who actually pay the prevailing wage every day.

The prevailing wage allows for wages, benefits, and apprenticeship use.

This creates a longevity in the construction building industry.

I know that Mercy Housing has not decided yet who they're gonna use for contractor, but I understand they intend to use the contractor who is honest and pays the real wage and provides for the needs for the construction workers every day, and that's good enough for me.

I support this project.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Christy Samuels, followed by Ken Chan.

Good evening.

I it's late.

I just want to say I hope that you'll go ahead and pass this project and go ahead and vote yes for 555 Kelly.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Ken Chan, followed by Orocio Avala Garcia.

Uh good evening, members of the Happen Bay City Council.

My name is Ken Chan, and I'm the organizing manager with the Housing League Council, Samateo County.

We work with committees and their leaders to produce and preserve quality affordable homes.

I first like to uh thank staff for all their hard work in tonight's presentation and report.

Uh on behalf of HLC, I'd like to express our support for the 555 Kelly Avenue proposal, I see housing.

I'd like to also emphasize that when leaders like you make good housing policies and decisions, the housing system operates better, and we don't lead the survival of so many people to the chance or luck.

Our system should help us plan for and provide for the critical things that our community members actually need to live, work, and thrive here in Half Moon Bay.

The 555 Kelly proposal belongs in those plans.

Bringing 40 new affordable homes near downtown to some of your city's most vulnerable senior retired farm worker community members.

These homes will allow your residents to continue supporting the local community by spending their hard-earned dollars in neighborhood shops, restaurants, and other small businesses.

They'll also be able, you'll also be giving the very people who make your city such an attractive place to live, access to dignified housing, allowing them to Asian place gracefully, close to family, friends, and community.

But this can only happen if you choose to invest in your people to help and help move it across the finish line.

How you choose in this how you choose a respond matters tonight is your opportunity to help make Hackman Bay an even more livable and welcoming place.

This is your chance to make a positive and historic impact on your community.

We encourage you to seize it by approving the two million dollar grant that Grammy sent other related development agreements.

Please don't let this moment pass you by thank you.

The next speaker is Rosio Avalagarcia followed by Jordan Grimes.

And I am a member of the Affordable Housing Committee and I am part of this community.

I came here to represent the ones who are present the ones who are watching us through Zoom and the ones who could not make it today.

And I want to tell you and try to make you understand that if you make this a ballot only the people who can vote would have a voice and they are not in need of an affordable housing.

This would not be fair for all of the people who are in need of a house and lastly I want to say I personally there are people who have left this meeting already but I want to ask the people who are present or seeing trah in the camp the ones who have worked or are working on the fields to raise their hands a laspoyan la vivienda sus manos now I want to ask that the people who support this project for the affordable housing to raise their hands señors conceal council members decided the Circia 5 Cinco Kelly 5 Cinco Kelly if you decide to say yes today to 555 Kelly beneficiarna sequible you will benefit the field workers who wish to have an affordable housing thank you thank you.

The next speaker is Jordan Grimes followed by Carolina Carmahaling Council Honorable Mayor I'm hoping that this is the last time I will get to address this council at least on this issue.

I've been coming here for the last two years occasionally on Tuesday and Wednesday nights spending my evenings with you and not that you're not all wonderful people but I am looking forward to having some of those evenings back.

My family has been coming to Hack Moon Bay for quite a long time my grandfather's ashes were scattered over the ocean years ago and as a small child I would come with my family with my mother and my grandmother and we would get sandwiches downtown at the Delhi and we would go to the beach and we would see him and after my grandmother passed we would do the same thing with her and that has always been my memory and and my feeling of this town it's just this deep love for this wonderful place and this wonderful community and that has been somewhat tarnished over the last couple of years seeing how people have reacted to this project that would do so much for people who have so little and who have given so much to this community who truly make up this community you have the opportunity tonight to advance a project that would do an incredible amount for their lives and I just urge you to restore in the eyes in in my eyes and in the eyes of of everyone here the reputation of this town as a wonderful compassionate caring place.

Thank you.

But sadly we're also slaves of this society.

And just like in prior times, the slaves also cannot decide.

All of us immigrants pay taxes.

And if we're gonna buy a soda, we pay taxes for that.

And you guys have never said no, I don't want it, right?

We all work and then we also pay for taxes from that.

And everybody takes their money.

Thank you for your attention.

Thank you.

Antonio Lopez followed by Felix Torres.

Mayor, members of the council, Antonio Lopez, former mayor for the city of Ispalo Alto, but I'm not speaking to you as a mayor, I'm not speaking as a former elected official.

I'm speaking to as someone who is the son of immigrants.

I'm speaking to as someone who deeply cares about this community, whose grandfather is buried at Skylon, who has deep roots here, who loves this community.

And I want to implore you and I want you to remind each other that I think the most beautiful part about Half Moon Bay, it's not the beaches, it's not the Ritz Carlton, it's not the down, it's not the main bridge, it's the people.

It's the folks who make up this beautiful cloth, this beautiful gorgeous community.

But the reality is not everybody has a seat at the table.

And I'm struck a little bit by some of the comments earlier said when folks say the people have the right.

But who are the people in that sentence?

Who's not being a part of this conversation?

Who feels scared to show up in this era in this climate to even go out to church for food?

And so this project, this 40-minute project, it's a symbol of what our values are as a community.

Where are we gonna stand when you all finish with this all said and done when you finish your time on council?

What will be your legacy?

What will you tell your grandchildren?

What did I get done?

What are the things that I feel proud of?

How many roofs that I put over your head, how many people did I feed?

How was I able to move the needle in what is one of the most expensive places in the world?

I understand the idyllic beautiful pastor that is Half Fumbay.

And also we live in one of the most demanding, expensive places in the world.

And one of the things that cities have to do is grow and adapt and evolve.

That's just biology.

And we have an opportunity to say tonight we have something in our hands that says thank you for your labor for your sweat for your sacrifice for the children who want to live here.

And so tonight I don't want you to say yes because you have for Governor Newsom or for mayor or for uh Rob Banta.

I don't want you to say yes for the lawsuit.

I want you to say yes for folks like in this picture, people that are toiling every single day, for the folks who are the farm workers, for the people who put food on our table, say yes that you matter just as much as someone who has the right to referendum.

Thank you.

Un lugar seguro donde I am Felix Torres.

I am a farm worker who has dedicated a big part of my life to growing vegetables in the Bay Area.

For many years I have worked in the agriculture business building with a lot of force to the building of this community.

Today, as a person who is getting older, I wish to express my support to this housing project of 555 Kelly.

This housing project is fundamental for many of the farm workers who have worked for decades and today they are facing really difficult times to find an accessible and affordable place to live.

I say these because personally I have seen several of my co-workers who are not here today for different medical situations, but they have the hope that today you guys will change the history for a lot of them by approving this project.

I firmly believe that this project would help alleviate the housing crisis that is affecting so many families, and it will open the doors for all of those farm workers so they can finally have a safe place where they can rest.

Hi, this is Lily Ray, and I want to say thank you to all of you for being there.

I want to say thank you to the enormous amount of people over what feels like a decade that we've been working on 555 Kelly.

It's an amazing visionary opportunity for half moon bay to do the right thing for people in this community, and even the word community in Half Moon Bay has for all community and urging all of you to look at doing what the right thing to do is for the people who have been in Half Moon Bay for longer than many of you sitting in that room today.

So thank you for your time on this.

I have to say I've been involved with 555 Kelly almost from the beginning with the RFQ, and it's like the longest movie of the Wizard of Oz that I have ever experienced.

There has been so much compromise, so much effort, so many local county and state officials getting involved.

But in spite of all of that, at the heart of this reality, it is absolutely the right thing to do.

So I urge you to make that a reality tonight.

Thank you very much.

Thank you.

The next speaker is Porfirio Vallasconcelos, followed by RJ Jennings.

RJ, would you like to come to the podium?

here this evening I'm going to ask RJ Jennings to come up and then we'll bring up Porfirio if he's still here J Jennings here okay RJ would you like to come to the podium thank you Vice Mayor Penrose our council members and city staff thank you all for uh for the work that you do we the people we the people it has a beautiful ring to it but if we look at our declaration our constitution it doesn't include women as people it is not include people of color in that description that's designed for white male property owners that if we're not willing to begin to change the path of that declaration of that intention we continue to live in it and this is a chance to make the change as I look at all of you I know that we all have our own challenges and traumas that we come from that we all have our struggles whether it's family members and children that maybe someday has to face discrimination and issues because of the color of their skin it's about our family members that we have to fight for because our community and our our country doesn't always see them and the needs that they that they have so this isn't foreign to you so I have a dream I have a dream that you will do the right thing that you will look inside and make this change that you won't use something like earthquake insurance as a shield to shift this around because if that's the case then we shouldn't be in any of these buildings so I'm asking you let's put this to bed let's put it to rest you know the right thing to do so I appreciate the time and all of your effort thank you thank you checking back to see if Porfirio is here or no I'm guessing not okay so the next speaker the last speaker is Maria Lourdes Duranas good evening my name is Maria Lourdes Ran pero no sé que me puso in my cabesa que tenia que venir a decir unas thres palabras and I was not planning to speak but I don't know what went into my head that I have to say uh a word or two ya must 50 años aquí viviennant since nineteen seventy five and I've always been living in half Monday five Kelly Avenue ya me swen you in una casita bien relajada porque ya trabajé muchos años my dream is for you guys to approve this project of five five five Kelly I can already dream and picture myself resting in one of those beds just comfortable because that worked so much already much ya me siento ya canzada and I wouldn't have to worry so much to pay the rent that you have to pay and save so much money for that because I'm already tired.

And if I don't get to enjoy this project at least I know that other people after me will be able to enjoy it.

Muchas gracias muchas gracias muchas gracias Lores I don't know if you guys know my face already but I've been here in all of these meetings in support of this project and may God make your heart soft so you guys can approve this project thank you so much we're gonna take a a break for a few minutes if everybody could come back here by say little after 10 15 okay thanks

Um everybody could come back here by say a little after ten fifteen.

I'll ask him.

Robert, uh has anybody shown up at your location in Florence?

Uh to address this item.

Too early in the morning.

Not yet.

Okay.

That's good.

No.

All right.

We can start by just hearing from each of the council members.

Where you're at.

At this moment.

Who would like to go first?

Okay.

And Councilmember.

I can guess for the thorough review of the documents.

I think get was essential that it got done.

I am sorry, I wasn't able to contribute more, but I'm not sure.

At any rate, I really appreciate what you've done.

Um I am ready to go ahead and approve this resolution tonight, and I'm hoping that uh we can get through this in a timely manner, get it approved, and get home and go to bed.

Okay, who would like to go next?

Patrick, would you like to go?

Um yeah, I would like to thank Paul and um uh Mayor Ruddick for doing uh very well fine-tuned detailed on that lease agreement and things that I didn't even I mean I made underlinings and I I I thought about the fire, and then I thought about the you know the beach house and and you know what happens when the building is completely burned down and who pays for that and what do we do with something now that's burning, you know, all these scenarios.

I'm not saying that's what's gonna happen, but has happened, and that makes your mind wander.

So you guys really went deep, and I thought it was great.

I want to say thank you, and I think I've thanked Paul personally.

I said you did a great job.

Uh Mayor, I didn't say anything to you, but I'm saying it now.

Uh I would not be able to go that deep because that's language that half of that stuff I don't understand, so I wouldn't, but I get the grasp of it.

Um this project uh as a resident, I'm a supporter uh uh for of um of permanent affordable housing for the senior and retired and farm workers, people who have long contributed to our community and now face growing housing and security.

I appreciate the 555 Kelly um project and how the people engaged with this and how the community came in to change it numerous times.

Chad Hooker was a big uh driving force on this, and uh so was the ARC and all the committees that were part of that.

All the improvements that you saw on the building were done through the community in numerous workshops.

A lot of details, otherwise, you would have just gotten big boxes and big windows.

Not to say anything's wrong, Mercy.

I don't mean this as a personal attack to Mercy whatsoever.

Uh, but I do see the senior housing, that was one of the projects I was on planning commission, and that was pretty much flat wall facade straight up.

And that's not my favorite building.

So if you look at this building, I think it looks really nice.

Uh the backside of the senior center looks really good.

The front side is not that appealing.

If you drive by it, you'll see it.

Um most importantly, the residents uh preference the framework that gives the first priority to qualified retired firmwork farm workers in Half Moon Bay, nearby coastal count uh communities.

That was brought forward in a numerous meetings, and I remember who brought it forward, and you and Mercy came back and made it very clear that Half Home Bay would be number one, coastsiders would be number two, and then San Mateo County would be number three.

So every time there's been an issue brought forward, there's been something that has changed.

The other one that I remember was the community room.

That was a big kind of like we need we would like to see that for our community in Half Hoom Bay and be together as we're talking about being together.

And a loss in Mercy has made that was 16 hours a week.

So every little thing that we brought forward, not me, not personally, but just as the group has brought things forward, there has been changes.

Uh with that said, I offer uh my support because of several, but there are several unresolved issues the city should address.

Um, but I'm worried is the height and precedence proposal calls for five-story building in a town where the ordinance has historically four, allowing these exceptions, risks setting a precedent that could change the scale and character of the downtown.

Any heightened density exceptions should be narrowly justified and should not become a de facto template to future projects without formal zoning changes and public review.

Transit proxy proximity and density bonus eligibility.

One of the bases for the density waiving exemptions of proximity to a major transit stop, which we don't have.

Uh half Moon Bay does not have a major transit stop and complicated state guidance.

No, there again, we didn't really get a true grasp of what a major transit stop was at that time, and I was part of that.

I listened to it, and then later on we got a clear definition.

So the planning commission at that time made a decision based on definition that they were given, and then later on that definition wasn't really true.

And then you had the state of Newson at that time coming down and saying we're gonna sue Half Hoom Bay if you guys won't approve this project.

So the whole time we've been getting this political pretty much strong arming on this project the whole way through.

Um what else?

Parking and mobility.

Parking requirements were reduced on the project approvals, reduced parking can promote affordability and transit use, but must reflect realistic residents and visitors' needs in our small coastal town.

Uh I I would request or we should a parking and transportation, so a TDM plan with enforceable metrics so we can actually, we've done that, and we've got 18 units inside here at this parking lot, and we've also reconfigured the new parking lot.

But I worry about when we have farmers market and the load on this little area that we have for our community members.

So we've made adjustments with that also, and that had to deal with uh K was there, and we he said that they've talked to each other, and we had meetings.

And the old post office, you said that you could use some of the parking stalls there for some of the workers that work there.

So every time there's been something brought forward, there has been a tweak.

So I appreciate that because I hope I hope that stays true, even though that was just a handshake, it was a gesture.

Um CEQ exemptions, traffic impacts pedestrian safety.

We don't know how safe it's going to be.

We do we have a problem down the street, and we know this is a very uh fast moving street.

So we would have I would like if this project goes through that we actually address these issues at some point.

Um being uh downtown halfway bay and routes to services schools experiencing heavy pedestrian activity, regardless of exemption status, the city should require traffic and pedestrian safety assessments and commit to a specific mitigation improvements, crosswalk sidewalks, lighting, curb extensions, signage, and traffic calming.

With that said, that's exactly why when you leave this outside when you pull out of here when we did the Boys and Girls Club, and that was brought forward the Boys and Girls Club, Abundance Grace, all these things that came down in this town was a no, we can't have it, and I get that, and that's how this town operates.

It's always been that way.

But with that said, I remember Chad Hooker and I was sitting in this room, and I wasn't on planning commission at the time, but I think I was dealing with my growth and my expanding of my house.

I all I wanted was 10 feet for a newborn baby that I have now, and thank God I do, because she's disabled now, and I need every square inch that I have for her, all her things that she has.

But Chad Hooker brought forward the crosswalk that you see that you push the button and it blinks for that safety on that street.

So with all the inputs that happen in this room, you get outputs, you get things done.

So Alas and Mercy and the people in this town have brought many things to change this building, the structure where it's at, even though it's awfully tall, and people that's one of the things people are bringing up.

I'm in favor of it getting moving forward based on the fact that everything we've done, we've gone through all the sequences.

Now it was tough, it was not well defined, but we're at that end of the line of assembly line, and it's gone through the planning commission, it's gone through an appeal, it's gone through everything everything that can be done.

But if we could have a way that we could not set a precedence, make sure it's safe, deal with parking as needed as best we can.

That's where I'm at right now on this project.

It's been a long road.

I got pulled into this.

I got asked to, I mean, literally, I think asked to be part of this because of this project because I I was on planning commission, doesn't mean I was the expert.

It wasn't mean I was the best.

It was just somebody asked me, and people asked me to be support.

There's other reasons, you know, to I was asked to be on city council even before this project was put on.

This was when Naomi was uh mayor.

So a lot of times you get asked to do stuff, and you do it for the love of this this city.

And I'm doing this right now for the love of my city, but I don't want to hurt my city at the same time.

I want to make it safe, I want it to be for everybody, and that's where I'm at.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Um Paul.

Okay.

Thank you.

Um Mayor Rodick.

I just I want to start by saying that I've read each letter and email anyone that has sent to me or to the town or the city.

And I want to thank everyone for submitting those letters and emails that attend the meetings that still sit through these uh like you all here now that speak at the meetings.

Not everybody will speak at the meetings, or just catch me on the streets to talk about 555 Kelly.

No matter if you're young or seasoned, it was clear it was a topic of interest to talk about 555 Kelly, and it's great to see the community talk about it and participate.

I've heard that word communities said here a lot this evening, and that's important.

Last week I stated respect and integrity is powerful words to describe an equally powerful word dignity.

It is hope we can learn to practice what we preach.

And I just want to remind everyone that city staff forward information for Mercy Housing to the City Council and to the community at 6.14 p.m.

for the meeting that started at 6 p.m.

last Tuesday.

And this a lot of this information had been requested by City Council for weeks.

I thought council did an amazing job, and thank you, Vice Mayor Penrose and Councilmember Johnson for recognizing literally just strolling through a phone trying to go through it last week, but thank you.

And uh it was a lot of work to try and make I felt these agreements to protect the city as best as we could.

Again, I thought we did an amazing job to review the information during during the meeting live to break provide direction to the city attorney.

And again, it was just to strengthen these agreements.

You know, here we are trying to decide on a 99-year life that let alone we don't even know five years from now what may or may not happen.

But I have a couple of follow-up observations to make that I've been a part of in this uh 555 Kelly process.

Last week and uh just received uh yesterday, Mercy Housing explained one of the line items on the 15-year performer budget is a mandatory debt service payment to HCD, and that's the uh state of California housing and community development, and the amount of 61,000 for and it's regarding the 3.4 million California Serena Farm Worker Housing Program, and that is one of the it's uh one of the funding sources uh to Mercy Housing for 555 Kelly.

And I have tried and I continue to try to understand how this mandatory payment to HCD can be made with other grant or other monies provided by state, federal, and local sources.

So it's grant money is paying off a debt.

So I was trying to understand all that and I'll lead in why that's important.

And then also, and if uh I'm trying to also understand if HCD has an interest in ensuring these payments are made to themselves.

How did HCD decide to send a strong letter of support and technical assistance to the city?

And how do they have with a clear conscience to do that and moving forward with this 555 Kelly?

And it's after Mercy Housing I sent emails to HCD prior to our meeting on March 18th study session about these agreements.

So I'm just trying to understand these relationships in the very misunderstood and confusing world of financing of affordable housing developments.

I know others in the community have brought up, whether it's a dollar per year or other the types of financing for this uh affordable housing project, how confusing it is, and as taxpayers, you know, to try and understand that.

And it's an opportunity because it's city land that we're talking about.

Typically, if it's private land that the developer has either purchased or works with somebody else, we don't see a lot of these agreements or understand all this financing.

So uh it was an opportunity for me to try and understand uh this process.

And there's been a lot of talk recently about whether Half Moon Bay has a major transit stop or not.

And similarly, I did see emails in 2024 with between Mercy Housing and HCD again discussing creative interpretations to have a major transit stop for this project.

And the major transit stop was important to receive the bonus density credits for height density and no parking.

When city staff presented the planning commission for the CDT approval and later for the denial of appeals by the city council, use of on-demand transit and unit uh was utilized along with unidirectional bus stops for a major transit stop.

So as I did last week, and I would ask again, would Mercy Housing provide directly towards the project all the credits that were given to the project for a major transit stop.

So it's clear Half Moon Bay does not have a major transit stop.

For example, would Mercy Housing directly provide additional parking, remove a single floor, or provide shuttle service to residents to their residents for timely service to various destinations.

Again, this is only a request, and it's only by me.

And finally, I've been accused of delaying this project, even though I have approved two amendments to an EA agreement so Mercy Housing can continue to secure funding, and also due to my due diligence to best protect the city by reviewing these agreements and making sure comments have been in and asking all these difficult questions.

And also due to my due diligence to best protect the city by reviewing these agreements and making sure comments have been in and asking all these difficult questions.

On my own, I've checked the use of this land at this location with the current city zoning, and we had no bonus density credits, but we would have a city zone workforce housing overlay.

That possible housing would be 10 units, and I would even give two cars per unit, and that'd be a total of 20 cars, and you could keep it three stories height, and you would probably have a doable project.

And half moon bay is 10 units here, 15 units there, and they're integrated into our neighborhoods, is what our what I believe our land use general plan intended, and not try and segregate one demographic into one or none location.

And yet here I am having to consider a possible no vote for these uh the AHV affordable housing property dish disposition agreement and the general lease and the other agreements this evening for a housing project because of the lack of respect and integrity to provide truly dignified housing at 555 Kelly.

Thank you.

Robert, are you ready to go?

You're muted, I think, Robert.

Oops.

Yeah, you're you're muted.

I don't know if Maggie could unmute you.

Still muted.

There you go.

How's that?

Good.

Sorry, I don't know why.

Kept hitting that button.

Anyway, uh thank you.

Well, thanks for everyone hanging in here for another long evening.

Um appreciate all the work of council, appreciate all the long work of staff over these years.

Um ask a lot of them to provide a lot of information to provide over the last few years.

Um council member Johnson, I really appreciate the depth you took in explaining all the all the pieces that have gone into this and weighing all the factors.

Um I especially like the point you made that you know, in terms of how Half Moon Bay community works.

It's sometimes um it's interesting.

We always talk about how as a community we're here to have each other's backs, and we had that saying, you know, for a long time, um, show up and be kind here in Half Moon Bay.

And you also pointed out that we're very often against projects before or four of them.

And you mentioned some great examples.

The library.

Remember the library, and I said, Oh, it's too big, it's we don't need such a big building, and you know, there's people even sitting on this council or against the library initially.

Then the library was built, and within months of the library being built, folks were saying, God, you know, we couldn't use actually some extra space.

You know, it's so great to have meetings there, public meetings, and for kids to be able to go there after school.

So it's kind of the nature of a community sometimes around change and being anxious about change.

And the other projects you mentioned, um council member Johnson were um Stone Pine Cove, uh the Coast Coast House Homeless Transition Shelter, even abundant grace.

People are very concerned.

Oh, you know, about safety, safety, safety was always coming up, and we even had oversight committees for um coast house and stone pine, and then once they were established, and people realized wow, these were really valuable services.

And I also was um thought a lot about what you said, uh, Councilmember Johnson about setting having a project like this set precedents around a fight.

And you know, the way I see it, and that's come up a lot on mixed door, for example.

Wow, all these tall buildings are gonna start springing up like crazy.

I think that's misinformation.

That's not true.

These you don't get these, you don't get nonprofit, affordable housing, um as Mercy, Midpen.

You don't see those folks flowing in all of a sudden building these skyscrapers often.

It's a long process, and they get their money from foundations, from grants, from loans, and they put together very creative packages.

But you know, after folks see what it takes to like here, create a project like this.

It's not like you're gonna have all these builders running in here to try and build these tall projects.

And um, you know, this project especially had value because most of the tenants there, you know, Mercy has a whole study of uh over 3,000 units of um affordable senior housing, and per unit, the average cars per unit, or I think somewhere between you know 0.4 or 0.6 cars per unit.

So most people here actually won't have cars.

Why not?

Because they can walk to the destinations that they need most.

That's why it's located downtown.

They can get medical services, they can work, they can walk to the grocery stores that they prefer.

Um so it's a very unique project in that sense, and I understand those concerns.

They always come up around affordable housing, you know, traffic, parking, but one of the real attractions of this particular location is a lot of the folks um won't need a lot of public transportation, and we'll work out those issues, I think, for folks who do.

Um I think having at the end of the day, it is a strength of a community to take care of folks, and this is a beautifully designed and dignified community for seniors who in this case happen to be farm workers, and you know what?

I think that's really good for business.

Someone earlier said, hey, is this good?

You know, this is just business.

Yeah, this is good for business.

People are attracted to living and coming to visit a community that has dignity affordable housing for its members.

So I have always been from the very beginning and in support of the I concept of this project, and I've really enjoyed what council member Johnson has said.

All the folks who showed up, the people on council here who have spent long hours going through these lease agreements.

Um I appreciate Mercy and staff patiently getting answers to the concerns raised, and um I will be voting in favor of these LISA agreements tonight.

Thank you.

Thank you, Robert.

I I too am very grateful for all the turnout that we've had at all these meetings.

You know, it is community, and it's it's a lot of time for us, but it's a lot of time for you, and you've stayed through very long meetings.

Um, I hear you, and and I see you.

Um I'm gonna have some remarks here, and I want you to bear with me because they're long remarks.

So um the community of potential beneficiaries that supports this project, including farm workers and Alice and its staff, along with spokespersons from regional housing advocates and faith-based groups, have overwhelmingly made themselves heard at numerous planning commission and city council meetings.

The question before us is not should we build affordable housing, including housing for farm workers.

The city has already made that commitment to build affordable housing, and I would draw your attention to the most recent completed project in Half Moon Bay, the 47 unit Stone Pine Cove development of manufactured homes for farm workers.

This project had unanimous support from the city council.

To me, the question is, as posed at our last city council meeting by resident Rick Hernandez is should our small town of 11,000 plus residents with limited financial capacity carry the risk of the complex affordable housing development that is 555 Kelly.

I've spent many hours reviewing the documents before us tonight and asking numerous questions, trying to ascertain one, whether the language is sufficiently clear and enforceable to protect the city's interests, and two, whether the financial data as presented is credible and sufficient to sustain operations for 100 years.

I did not have all the documents that might have been helpful, as Mercy and city staff did not provide them until after last Tuesday's public hearing was in process.

I have used some of this week to study these, but you know, my understanding is no changes could be made in any case at this meeting.

So my answers to my questions are no and no.

Now, there have been improvements to the documents since we met, you know, last Tuesday.

Uh I want to acknowledge that.

But there's still a lot of vague language in these agreements, notably the definitions of agricultural worker, substantial income derived from the agricultural industry, senior disabled or potentially disabled, retired.

They are vague and open to multiple interpretations, and the finances are in a word outrageous.

Take agricultural worker.

Expectations have been set at this for this project that it is for farm workers.

Read closely, though, and you could be almost anyone who has derived substantial income from work associated with agriculture.

Bookkeepers, truckers, substantial itself isn't defined.

What about retired?

There's no definition except 55 years or older unless amended in the future.

Vague language is a feature of these kinds of agreements.

It's to allow investors and future mortgage holders freedom to maintain return on investment over the life of the project, in this case, 99 years.

To understand this, you need some knowledge of low-income tax credits.

Most of the funding for this project is expected to be in the form of these tax credits issued by the federal government to the states, which in turn award these on a competitive basis for affordable housing construction and rehabilitation projects.

Once the tax credits are awarded, developers usually sell them to private investors and use the proceeds for most projects, excluding land acquisition.

The price investors pay is less than the value of the tax credits, yielding a financial benefit for investors.

Mercy is the corporate developer in the case of 555 Kelly, and they will also derive profit from the development of this project.

But low-income housing tax credits, while the most significant funding source is not the only one.

There are multiple grants and loans identified as committed sources, as well as county funding, each source having its own requirements.

Language in the documents also allows for future participation of mortgage lenders of various kinds and multiple mortgage lenders.

This setup is needed for a reason.

The project is intended for extremely low and very low renters, and Mercy or subsequent assignees as tenants of the property will need to guarantee the affordable affordability levels for a minimum of 55 years.

Unless they are able to get a waiver after 15 years.

While the state of California makes it difficult to qualify for these waivers, it is not impossible.

And looking at the affordability levels and finances, it seems to me that if any project is a candidate for a waiver, 555 Kelly might fit the bill based on the size of the rent subsidies alone that are required to make it work.

Take the project cost plus the 12,539,8815-year rent operations subsidy, totaling $56,339,811, divided by 15 years, you get $3,755,993 per year.

Divide that by 12 months, you get 312,909 per month.

Divide by 39 units, excluding the manager's unit, and you get $8,026 per month per unit subsidy.

That's a lot to pay for a small studio apartment.

That is outrageous.

Who will pay the subsidy after 15 years?

Mercy has stated they will not seek federal subsidies.

Note the estimated construction cost of 43 million pluses old, not reflective of rising costs due to the Iran war and rising inflation.

The question remains is this the right model for our publicly owned land in our small city with limited financial capacity?

Maybe on land Mercy owns, maybe in the larger cities on the peninsula, say Redwood City.

But for Halfman Bay, which will bear the brunt of unmitigated impacts, I say no.

Now let's talk about how we got here, about the process that brought us to this point from a four-story, 40 studio project to a five-story project with some studios, one and two bedroom units.

Note that the draft ordinance mentions a three-bedroom unit.

Fortunately, we struck that language.

From a project to retired farm workers, then retired and senior farm workers, and now in these documents, retired and senior persons with substantial experience in the agricultural industry, from on-site resident services to a potential regional farm worker resource center, which I understand now might not be in the menu.

But from beginning to end, most of the conversations and decisions shaping this project happens outside of happened outside of the view of the public, and in several instances without the formal authorization of the city council.

Notably the decision to qualify on-demand transportation services as a major transit stop, allowing the project to receive a superdensity bonus and other waivers.

Without the superdensity bonus, the allowable project under our local coastal program would be 10 units and three stories, a scale appropriate to this site, I would say.

The California legislature rejected adding on-demand services to existing legal definitions of a major transit stop in 2024.

Yet prior legal counsel pressured our unsuspecting planning commission to allow it.

After the commission rendered their approval of the project with a superdensity bonus, emails now in our possession reveal Mercy understood the problem posed by the use of the on-demand services and worked sub Rosa with the Housing and Community Development Agency to craft another defense of the superdensity bonus.

These emails also show Mercy concerned about the city council putting the project on the ballot.

As you know, the city council, lacking full knowledge of state law and the background dealings just described, was subject to the same council direction and pressures to approve as the planning commission, voting 5.0 to approve the project, a project out of scale for our downtown and our small community, a project whose impacts have never been fully vetted because of state restrictions on processing super density bonus projects.

To the city councils and planning commission's credit, a policy has subsequently been adopted prohibiting the use of on-demand services as a major transit stop.

We are all well aware of the bullying by state officials and the media blitz shaming the city and falsely blaming the city for project delays.

And speaking of delays, much of the important information needed by the council to deliberate and render an informed decision was sent by email to council members after last Tuesday's public hearing was already in process.

Let me sum up.

Are we looking at three years, five years for until project completion?

More that's a long way for a retired or senior farm worker.

In the meantime, they remain in a state of precarity.

I have heard from farm owners personally and at meetings of the County Ag Committee that they would like financial assistance to put farm worker housing on their properties.

Recent events have revealed through shocking circumstances like the mass shooting that this can be problematic to say the least.

Habitability needs to be enforced.

Nevertheless, I don't think we should wait.

The project could take a few years.

Now senior agricultural workers who are not retired will still need to drive or share rides to the farms, most of which are in the county.

Perhaps the county could provide an amount equal to the first five years of the rent subsidies for 555 Kelly for immediate use on the farms.

That would be $3,507,165, or including the two million would be $5,507,165.

This would be helpful to farmers and farm workers in the near term while the project develops.

Maybe the city would want to lend a hand.

So is somebody ready to make a motion here?

We need to put the motion up.

That would be good.

I'll make the motion.

I move that we waive second reading and adopt an ordinance of the city of Half Home Bay approving the affordable housing and properties disposition agreement, ground lease of real property for a term of 99 years, memorandum of ground lease, affordable housing regulatory agreement and declaration of restrictive covenants and other ancillary agreements between the city of Half Moon Bay and Mercy Housing for the senior affordable 40-unit residential project for agricultural workers located at 535 and 555 Kelly Avenue.

Um65 square feet of community serving space, authorizing the city manager to execute the agreements and take other actions necessary to implement the foregoing agreements and finding the approval of the agreements and related actions exempt from review under the California Environmental Quality Act pursuant to SQL Guidelines Section 153.

And are we doing also now the second resolution?

Do you recommend uh council that we take one of these at a time?

One at a time.

Let's do one.

One at a time.

That's what I thought.

Okay, just want to check that.

So I'll second the motion.

Okay.

Uh could we have a roll call, please?

Councilmember Brownstone.

Yes.

Councilmember Johnson.

Yes.

Yes.

Councilmember Nagengast.

No.

Vice Mayor Penrose.

Yes.

Mayor Reddick.

No.

Motion carries.

Would you like me to make a motion for the second item?

Bring it up again.

I move that we adopt a resolution approving a grant agreement between the City of Hatham Bay and Mercy Housing California for two million dollars in funding procured in fiscal year 2023 by Senator Josh Becker, authorizing the city manager to execute the agreement and finding approval of the grant agreement.

Exempt from review under the California Environmental Quality Act pursuance of SQL Guidelines, Section 15332.

I'll second the motion.

Roll call, please.

Councilmember Brownstone.

Yes.

Councilmember Johnson.

Yes.

Yes.

Councilmember Nagengast.

No.

Vice Mayor Penrose?

Yes.

Mayor Reddick.

No.

Motion carries.

Motion carries three to two.

What's the disposition of the rest of the agenda?

It's eleven o'clock.

Yeah.

The items that remain on the agenda could be carried forward to another meeting.

Um the urgency isn't there.

The CIP, we had hoped to get done tonight.

But the process still allows us to continue to move it forward and bring it back as part of the budget.

Yeah.

Uh the council, do we need to take any specific motion to continue these items or yes?

So um you can take um you can make a motion to continue all the items in one motion.

I would suggest we take public comment before though just on the issue to continue, and then we can proceed with that motion.

Should we make the motion first?

I'll take public comment.

Is there anyone who would like to comment on the continuation of the remaining items on tonight's agenda?

Seeing nobody in the room, is there anybody online?

Seeing none, uh, we can entertain a motion to continue.

And it's item eleven B C eleven C, eleven D, and eleven E.

That would be eleven through eleven E, yes.

So move.

So move.

Second.

Councilmember Brownstone.

Yes.

Councilmember Johnson.

Yes.

Councilmember Nagengast?

Yes.

Council Vice Mayor Penrose?

Yes.

Mayor Redick.

Yes.

Motion carries.

Um I'd like to, if we could just continue the item of future agenda items.

So I'd like us to bring back a policy that says that no documents for a city council meeting may be distributed any later than 3 p.m.

on the afternoon of the meeting.

To avoid the situation that we had last week.

If there if documents are complete and distributed to the council for consideration by 3 p.m.

the day of the meeting, that item that agenda item will not occur.

Madam Mayor, can I make a comment?

I'd like to add in that uh council members are texted prior to that you've been dumped on.

And so that because I'm working during the day and I'm on go on all day long.

That way, that way I would know to go to the laptop and take a look.

Lead two.

Yeah.

Okay.

Thank you, Robert.