Thanks to everybody for being here tonight.

And I will turn it over to Robbie to get us started.

Thank you, Mayor Pace.

Good evening, everyone.

This meeting is being recorded.

Tonight is a uh kind of a continuation of uh a previous work session we had a couple of months ago around our VEI V efforts.

Um you've all met Yunus before, but tonight we're gonna talk a lot more about uh you'll notice in our staff reports over the past year that we've made some changes to the staff report specifically in regards to community engagement and our equity lens.

So Yunus is going to take you all through that.

So I'll turn it over to her.

All right, good evening, everyone.

Good to see you all again.

I have a hello, hello.

I have a PowerPoint presentation.

Um, and once we get that going, I'll begin presenting.

Awesome.

So, as Robbie said, um, last time I was with you all, we did um an overview of the training that we typically do for all new staff members here at the city.

And one of the things that we talked a lot about and focused on was just a very general understanding of kind of the city's approach and beliefs as it pertains to DEIB work.

Um, as Robbie said, this is really focusing now on the how we do it.

That first presentation was really focused on like the what kind of our philosophy and things behind DEIB work.

And so the question is more so like now that we put all that stuff out here, what does it look like to actually make that happen?

And so that's where the staff report and those two questions we put in there are really important.

So a quote that my colleague and I always start every one of our sessions when we're talking about these two tools is with a quote.

Um, it's by Marshall McCluin, a Canadian media theorist, and it says, we shape our tools and thereafter our our tools shape us.

And so we just felt that's really fitting given um the nature of these tools and what we hope that it does for us as a city.

So today's purpose of the session is just to clarify the role of the equity toolkit usage and community engagement questions that are on the staff report.

Um, identify what counsel you all can take away from them, um, and then show all these question support transparency and staff recommendations.

Um, and so my hope is just generally speaking that you all would walk away kind of knowing what the expectation is for you all with those, um just even knowing there's been a lot of questions regarding like what is expected when folks present and present those questions to you all.

To kind of ground us, what I want to start with is you all have seen this before.

I'm sure you've become very familiar with it.

It's our the city's equity statement.

Um, here you'll see a couple things underlined.

Um, one of them is that equity is a pursuit of equal outcomes.

And then the last sentence to realize our mission and core values, the city of Hillsborough commits to integrating equity into the fabric of our organization and the delivery of public services in pursuit of equal, fair, and just outcomes for all.

Um, this was adopted in 2019 by our equity team that was around during that time.

And when we talk about this idea, and I said this to you all the last time we met, um, that sentence that equity is the pursuit.

Um, we emphasize that because we acknowledge um that these tools are a means of helping us pursue equity and equal outcomes for everyone in our community.

Um, but however, it doesn't guarantee fair outcomes for everyone.

Um, and I unpacked that a little bit more at our last session, but I'm not gonna do that here.

Um, hopefully you all remember what I said in regards to that.

Um, and this is our mission, vision, and values.

Um, over the last uh year or two, we've added, we developed these new mission, vision, and values.

Um, of course, worth pointing out is that equity is now one of our goal focused areas, and then one of our values is diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging.

And so, again, when we talk about these things, um, a lot of what happens and what I would say dating all the way back to 2020, we a lot of institutions and places really focused on like what's going wrong, um, the areas in which we need to grow and develop and what we need to learn and know about our community and what really raised the question in that learning for us is in, you know, it's a city was really like how do we now do this work more than the what's wrong, what needs to be better, how do we actually move towards making those things better?

And so this is where these tools come in.

Um, and this is kind of one aspect of the how of how we do it.

Um, and so we talked about this again last time.

The top left is a shorter version of the equity toolkit, which is the six-step process that's on the right.

And then we have our community engagement framework, which is a seven-step process that we utilize when we are going out to engage with our community.

Um, at the center and core of community engagement is relationship building.

And so we believe that this process is um the utmost way to best engage our community and make sure that we're not doing harm.

And then the equity lens and the aid tool are both utilized for anything that's not really involving community or needing their input.

And then trying to move towards again, trying to move our staff towards utilizing these tools as we are thinking about how do we do equity work, how do we engage with that line that talks about you know equity being the pursuit of equal outcomes.

So let's dive in.

Let's talk about the equity and community engagement tools usage.

So things to keep in mind.

As you know, there's two questions.

I probably should have put the picture of those two questions, but hopefully you know what they look like.

I'm sure you've looked at some that you'll be looking at today.

Um, but things to keep in mind that when it comes to these questions, uh, response, responses from our staff members will definitely differ depending on the work in which they're doing.

Um, and we recognize these two questions are really new.

We added them earlier this year.

And so we our expectation and we believe that staff's responses to these questions will evolve over time.

Um it's new, it's something they're not necessarily accustomed to.

Um, so as we train, educate each of our departments, um, you'll start be you'll start seeing deeper answers to those questions of the hope.

And really, what your role is as councils to use these sections to make informed decisions.

But even more than that, I wouldn't even say all that.

I would say it's really to just ask meaningful questions when necessary when you're reading through those questions.

Um, in terms of staff, the purpose of this and why we put these questions here, um, it wasn't only just for accountability, but we really wanted to prompt reflection on equity relevance in the work that we're doing.

Again, going back to this idea of not what we do, but how do we make sure that we're accomplishing and moving towards equity?

Um, and also it documents how equity influence the approach.

I think there's something powerful when you think about just longevity and you know, creating change that's long term.

Um, you want people to be able to look back and see what has been done and evolve it as necessary as our community changes.

And so asking questions like that really enables that accountability and just that growth and development as our community continues to change and then ensures transparency and accountability.

Um, this one really is more so when we talk about the community engagement framework.

Um, within that, which at some point I'm sure myself and my colleague will come into a training to y'all about the specifics of that.

But within that, there's a process of different ways in which when you're doing a project, informing the community of what their influence is going to be on that, whether it's just to inform, whether it's to collaborate.

Um, so really pushing people to answer those questions really gets us to think of like how are we as staff really engaging with our community and how do we communicate back what is expected of them as well too?

So, again, these questions are really for reflective purposes to help us just think at a deeper level than maybe sometimes we um do in our planning process.

So that's really for community engagement specifically, that tool um this helps encourage intentional outreach to our community.

Um it's asking questions to our staff about who the key stakeholders are and who they should be connecting with.

Um, it helps align engagement level with the city's mission, vision, and values.

Like I talked earlier, obviously, again, I'm gonna keep saying this over and over.

Um, we have equity, we have DEIB in our you know, mission, vision, and values, as well as our goal focus areas.

So again, it's helping us as employees know like how do we do equity work?

What does that look like?

Um, it supports evolving practices across projects, which I talked about a little bit ago.

And again, that centerpiece of relationship building, the goal is really to help build trust with our community as well as invoke transparency in a way that helps us just develop a relationship with our community more.

So we have several guidelines we've created for our staff.

Um again, knowing that it's a change to what the staff report has looked like for many, many years.

We wanted to make sure that we were providing guidelines to staff to help them know what to expect or what is the expectation is when answering these questions.

And so with the equity toolkit and community engagement, um, what we've asked them to do when they're answering these questions, describe how they use the tools in their project planning or implementation and how that influenced their process methods or outcome.

Um, within these questions, we're asking them to cite any applicable policies, regulation, or street strategic plan initiatives in their answers.

So these are some of the things that we're wanting folks to kind of highlight when they're answering those two questions in the staff report.

Um, if they're not using any tools for the project or um what they'll be presenting, um we and but they did consider equity um or did do community engagement, but maybe they didn't use those two tools, equity toolkit or community engagement framework or aid.

Um, we still inform them that you all are probably interested in how they incorporated DEIB into their work.

And so they should still share that, even if they didn't use those tools.

We recognize that in many cases, like people are thinking about equity, but maybe didn't use our specific tools for that as well, too.

Or maybe there's a policy that they're using that is you know focusing on equity and they just decide to list that, but they didn't use the tool.

And then also we recognize too that because this is a newer these are newer questions in the last year.

Um there might be some folks that had started working on projects long before those questions were added.

And so um we want to recognize that some of these tools, uh these tools are rolled were rolled out afterwards, and we don't want to penalize people for things of that nature.

That's just part of the work that we do.

Um, and then just because you didn't use the tools, we want to make sure that nobody feels stressed out or embarrassed by that factor.

Um, we recognize that we still believe people are doing good and meaningful work, and um that should be acknowledged still, regardless of whether those tools were used or not.

Um, and so what if the tools were not used and equity wasn't considered?

Um, we're trying to move our staff away from just the response of no.

Um, because again, as much as it is the how we're doing it, we want to continue to learn and grow.

And so we really are asking folks to put in some time and effort to provide context as to why, like, what is a thought process as to why you felt like equity was not necessary for whatever project you were working on, and then really thinking through the question as they're answering that.

Um, are there future um iterations of this work where it can be used?

And then consider referencing how it might be used in the future uh as well, too.

And again, this is just more for the purpose of our work continuing long after we're doing the work, um, as well as just wanting to get people to get in the habit of really thinking and asking these questions when we're talking about our community as well.

So, guidelines for you all when it comes to these tools, um, things to think about.

Um we are not, this is not like a checkbox type of thing.

Um, we're hoping that you're seeing people providing responses that give great context.

Um, we want you to recognize too that with these questions, there's just going to be variance in responses depending on the project scale, um, urgency and history.

And so it's really important.

Um, and we ask you all as counsel that um you lean in with just curiosity and questions, um, recognizing there might be context that isn't able to be put on a single page or paper without you know, maybe having 20 pages that you may not want to have to read all the way through.

Um, but the intent of these tools are not to be kind of a gotcha, you know, it's not meant to make our staff feel any sense of like, oh, if we say the wrong thing or we write the wrong thing, we're gonna like you know, receive some intense questioning when we come to present.

Um, we really just want to be a collaborative in the way in which, and just I guess curious in the way in which we're asking questions when we're reading on the staff report, um, staff's responses to those two questions on there when they're presenting to you all.

And then how will that helps help staff?

Um, we really believe it will help me move us beyond technical details to really focus on the impact of the work.

Um, that's what we're really hoping to promote.

Um, we're hoping to promote consistency across departments.

So our hope would be to get to a place where um there's consistency in how the expectation and how these are being answered, and also consistency and knowing like when they come to present what kind of things to expect, what kind of questions they might get or feedback.

Um we feel that it will strengthen the rationale for recommendations and how we are asking folks to go back out and do the work or to think through other things in terms of the work they're doing.

And we're hoping that it would encourage continuous improvement over time and how we're you know supporting and engaging and doing equity work within our community.

And this is a really short training today.

So, my last question for y'all what would make these sections most useful to you all as council members?

Any questions for Eunice?

Counselor Sinclair.

Thank you.

Um, Eunice, thank you for the presentation tonight.

Uh it resonated with me when it said what phases of the project uh are we working on?

Because we may not know the history of a project or an amendment that's in place.

So explaining that and guiding that uh helps a lot with having a greater understanding.

Um, this whole presentation completely explains what the equity toolkit toolkit is now.

Yeah.

So I appreciate the presentation tonight.

But it is important to have context to know where are we coming from and where are we going and making our decision making specifically plan use?

It's very challenging to understand the overall picture sometimes.

And so that would be very helpful in building trust.

Awesome.

Counselor Andre.

Thanks.

So just wanting to understand the process.

So with these two questions.

So I understand what you're requesting.

So are you are you looking at what are you looking at the discussion that happens?

Like, how does that go back to you for you to like if you go to the previous page?

I think it's uh talk to our recommendations.

So yeah, so I think it's reinforcing the recommendations.

Uh rational recommendations.

So how how how do you how are you closing that loop in terms of them presenting to you?

So they would present.

We we we will we you know, we will ask the questions and with with this in mind that is going to promote uh you know continuous improvement, uh growth, but but how is that closed?

Does it go back to you as well?

Well, oftentimes our and Robbie, you can chime in.

Um oftentimes they're presenting to our executive team anything that council gives them or recommendations, they're actually going back and presenting to Robbie, Simone Rahin, and that executive team, and that's kind of where they're getting feedback or taking the feedback that was given and then representing it again before it goes in front of you all for final decisions to be made.

So that's usually how the loop goes.

And I sit in on those meetings as well, too.

So typically that's kind of the process.

Thanks.

I was I don't really have much to add.

Uh so by the time it gets to you all, you're really the the final point in this process, right?

But there is a long process that all these items that are you see on the council that didn't go through first, but sometimes they go to different boards and commissions or the transportation committee or financing, maybe your parks and recreation commission.

Um, and so we as staff, we have multiple meetings, we see all of these in advance, and so we can ask those questions as well.

So by the time it gets to you, it's it's a it's a baked product that you can approve.

Now, I I think one thing to add is if we're starting to notice certain questions coming up from the council that we're not doing a very good job addressing, then part of that feedback loop is okay.

This next time, don't let's not forget that last time we did this, you know, counselor Andre had this question.

So let's maybe tweak it a little bit this next time.

If we wouldn't go back and fix that specific agenda item because it's already approved, hopefully, um, but we can learn you know a good lesson for the next time we go through that process.

Uh counselor Sergato online.

Uh yeah, uh thanks for the presentation, Yunus.

Could you have like a summary page of the sections of I was having audio issues at the beginning and I missed a couple of do you because you're asking us a specific question, and I'd like to know what the question is in reference to.

Do you have a summary of those sections that you're asking about?

Yeah, so on the I don't have a picture on it on here, unfortunately, which is my bad.

Um, but essentially it's asking was the community engagement framework you utilize, was the equity toolkit utilized on the staff report.

That's essentially the two questions that have been added.

Yeah, um, yeah, okay.

So hopefully my feedback gives is clear uh given what I think you're asking.

Uh so one of the things that's interesting that's of interest to me is uh the impact of our policies on our low-income communities.

Uh, I think the last data I read was around 60 to 65% of the people are living paycheck to paycheck.

And so I'm wondering if you know if data how data is considered in in the equity toolkit and how that's utilized when decisions are made to increase costs for our residents.

So you know, that would be something that would be helpful for me, especially on those specific items that we vote on.

Um, and so yeah, I guess you know, having more data utilized in there and being more intentional about seeing what the actual impact of some of these policies are in our low-income communities, I think would be very useful for me in making those decisions.

Um, you know, we've had a few votes uh already on increasing fees and costs, and then you know, we have some other things coming up, so that would be really helpful, I think for me personally.

Awesome, thank you.

Any other questions?

Counselor Case.

Yeah, thanks, Eunice.

This is really helpful.

Um, and it and it has been really helpful to see that these questions, and I and I notice there's sometimes where it's kind of like, no.

Um but I'm wondering, are there um kind are there are you seeing a trend in where it's a bigger challenge is the wrong word to use, but where it's maybe that's maybe that is the right way to say it is where they're you know, people are having a harder time doing kinds of things that they're policies, or is it just people getting used to the process?

I think it's really people just getting used to the process.

I I think most people that maybe have had challenges in the past, once they've received clarification on the expectations, are fine with it.

Um, and obviously every different project will have its own nuances as well, too.

So I think it's just gonna want to be one of those things over time, like you've done it quite a few times.

You kind of know the reiteration of it.

So I think it just depends with every different project.

There's a different sometimes there's different questions about like how do we articulate this?

I think this is we utilized it here.

So some of it does fall on like my role and you know, my responsibility to just make sure that we are educating and supporting staff and understanding what the expectations are and making sure we're asking those questions before they get in front of you all.

Um so I think it's just more of one of those things that it's a bit of growing pains right now, and in time folks will feel a lot more comfortable.

Yeah.

I would have to um I think, and Yunus did a good job covering this earlier, but there are some things that we send to council that are just purely transactional, right?

There's something that we just have to do.

There's no um, there's no really wiggle room.

And so sometimes we'll be looking at these and we're like, how are we gonna say we use the equity lens?

And we didn't, you know, and so and that's okay, right?

That's what we're also trying to make sure staff knows that there are things we just do as a city, and the council just approves because you just have to do that stuff, like you have to order a thousand new modems for highlight.

It's really hard to figure out, you know, it's not impossible, but so part of this you know, discussion as well is just making sure that you all know that sometimes there will be things that there's not going to be these big robust answers in those sections, and that's okay.

Um, we are having those discussions with staff.

We're making sure that if it is possible in any way to use the equity lens that we would, and there's gonna be times where it doesn't.

Same thing with community engagement.

You know, she talked about how on that community engagement kind of spectrum, a lot of what we do as a local government is at the informed level.

And that's important to remember because what we don't want to do is is pretend like we're gonna do this community engagement if there's nothing we can actually do about it, because then people just get frustrated, right?

If we ask their opinion, they tell us their opinion, then we do the other thing anyway because we're legally required to.

So that's the uh that's another kind of analysis that we need to do is does it make sense to do community engagement on this specific item?

If it doesn't, that's okay sometimes.

We just need to notify your, you know, notify you all and explain our rationale for that.

Counselor Embry.

Oh, sorry, Counselor Sinclair, I thought you there you go.

All right.

So just out of curiosity, do you do you have like a six like what what does success look like?

And I know this started recently, so how are you looking for that?

That's a great question.

Um, I would say that's not a question I've really, to be honest, have thought a tremendous amount about.

I think for me, it's more of success looks like just even what we're saying, no is not really an answer.

So even seeing people go beyond the no and even just trying to articulate some sort of response in that regard.

So sorry.

So what I meant was uh the pro the the I the work that we're doing, yeah, that becoming more equitable, that guess.

So how how how you might you be looking at that to gauge if this this tool is working to get to that goal?

Yeah, I think part of that is the community engagement framework is really about that, and so is step six.

I can go back to I'll go back to the tool in a second.

It's a little bit of a pause.

So it's it's not you like work.

It's not working.

No, it's not thank you.

Keep going, keep going.

Keep going, keep going.

Keep going.

Keep going.

Here we go.

Yeah, so that's kind of what the last two steps in both of these are really about.

Um, the report back and reflect and then the develop accountability in step six.

Really, when folks are working on those aspects of both of those, those tools, really what that's doing is creating what is gonna be our loop around.

Are we gonna look at this project in another five years?

Are we going to re-evaluate it in this amount of time?

So, what we're hoping is it is people are planning these things, they're also creating action plans of how they are gonna assess the success of it, um, or redo the process again in the in the long run.

So, step six and then step seven is really about developing that level of circling back around, when are we gonna do it?

How are we gonna develop accountability in those ways?

And the questions which you cannot see because it's so small, are asking a lot of those questions as well, too.

Thank you.

Yeah.

Oh I'm sorry I didn't see it.

Counselor I'll care.

Thanks, Eunice, for the presentation to have a comment and a question.

So my comment is um even if DEI isn't specifically specifically featured.

As part of a project there are parts of the project that can be applied for DEI can be applied to ensure that equity is considered as projects again to inform the process.

And I appreciate that staff are well intentioned in their work and that they do good work.

I appreciate that they'll have an opportunity to explain why DEI was or was not applied to a project.

So I think that'll be important to hear.

And then as a counselor um I think there have been times when staff have presented information and we as a council have a conversation at equity um that is equity based informed.

There have been a few times when staff have returned to present more informed and based on the feedback that council provides I'm just curious what can council do to better inform staff or Robbie or management in advance of a council presentation.

And I'm just thinking of one example of the name of a street that we had to change and that staff was unaware that that name was offensive.

So I'm just curious if there's anything that council can do to intervene in that process or help with that process.

Thanks.

You just want to go ahead and I'll follow up what staff can so if I'm hearing you correctly you're asking what staff if there's any way that beforehand you are able to notify staff before it comes and gets presented to council.

I will put it very basic I am from the Bay Area.

I grew up in San Francisco.

I am aware that the name that was given to a string was offensive to Chinese community.

Growing up I understood that I'm just curious if there are learned experience or shared experiences that council has that can inform staff so that we don't get to that step.

I'm just curious.

Yeah as of right now I am and Robbie you can chime in but for my knowledge there isn't any sort of the reality is mistakes are going to be made I want to start by saying that I think the beauty of it is we recognize that we are probably going to come in front of you all sometimes and you're going to give us information in context that we maybe didn't have or didn't catch.

And I think that is what we also are hoping would happen as well too.

And I think our staff does recognize that in some capacity there the stakes of that could be very high when coming in here to present to you all that there may be situations where we are learning and catching something for the first time and that's just the nature of being in the space and maybe not everybody has the same experience or experience is just not present as something is being developed and created.

So I say that to say that we I don't see any space ahead of time where you all would be able to speak into something before it's presented to you all.

However we come into this knowing that there will be situations where things like that can happen and will happen and really what we see our job or I feel my job is is really coaching our staff when those situations do happen how do we best support them to just learn from it and and do better next time.

So yeah thanks Eunice I know that I think um you know as staff we we are taking the same journey with the council right so we have similar trainings and we have similar we have a lot of staff that have um variety of diverse backgrounds as well and so as we as we try to grow as an organization with these things like Eunice said we'll make mistakes but the hope is is um those mistakes become less and less we'll learn from our mistakes and grow and you know counselor I I remember the instance you're talking about and that's a good example you know of one where there was for those that weren't here at the time it was a few years ago and there was a new street name in South Hillsboro that the way that it was um there were a couple of different spellings and um it was a type of a tree and then the way that um was selected um some people thought well that sounds too much like a like a slur potentially so we changed it to this other one.

That we we we try to go through now and have uh um have a lot of people look at these names and so we don't make those mistakes.

They will happen, but um that's a good example of uh of learning and growing as an organization.

And I think that's why we emphasize these tools so much as well, too, and asking people to really utilize them, um, especially with the community engagement framework, like making sure that when we are engaging community, we have community voice sitting at the table as opposed to making some of these decisions in silos.

Um, so again, I think that example is just a greater emphasis on why um we feel these tools are so important for staff to be utilizing as well, too.

Counselor Sinclair and then Counselor Salgado.

I know I I just this is Councillor McCara just wanna finish one comment, if that's okay.

Yep.

Um I I appreciate that people have to learn in this process and learn as we go.

I'm not a perfect human being, and I will make mistakes in my lifetime, and I have and I have also learned from them.

But I think to establish trust with uh diversity of our total population of 107,000 something people and 50% are POC and beyond.

I think that when folks have questions about our processes, it's gonna be really helpful to explain and be transparent about how we arrived at some things.

And I think to also listen to community and not just people on council, but listen to community if changes should be made and amended, that is um in consideration of the concerns that community members may have.

That's just my recommendation.

Thank you, Counselor Alkier.

Uh Counselor Sinclair.

Thank you, Mary.

Um, and you know, in piggybacking up on what counselor um Alcair was just conveying, um in educating and communicating with ourselves and the public.

Um is it I'd be great if there's something that identifies our zone types and that small definition of what that is, so people feel empowered because to understand where we've came from and where we're going, that helps to create a bigger picture.

And then to also understand what's the criteria of the outreach met that's required in that aspect would really help a lot and make people feel that that is like a bullet point there.

It's easy, digestible, and it educates us.

Yeah, absolutely.

So just to clarify, uh, Counselor Sinclair, um, you're talking more about like land use uh instances.

So that's one thing that's another good example of one that we've we've talked about is you know, I'll go back to what I mentioned about the informed level of community engagement.

There are times where um we don't really have a choice, but the community doesn't always know that, right?

So figuring out how we can help them understand that, and it doesn't mean they're gonna suddenly be happy with our decision, but at least they'll understand where we're coming from.

And then yeah, trying to simplify things because it is really complicated stuff sometimes, trying to simplify things the way we uh communicate with our with our community when those complicated land use things come up is something we've talked about internally and we're trying to improve on as well.

Yeah.

And once we understand what that quantifying is, what that expectation line is of what's considered using the toolkit, this is how we quantify it.

Once that expectation is made, that'll make it easier for us to understand that I want that information because this does qualify under the toolkit.

And I think again, that's kind of the thing where I think at some point it'll be good for us to come in and kind of do a breakdown of these because a lot of these questions you are asking do end up in the process.

Um, step two of the community engagement framework, that's where we're determining how the community's voice is going to be utilized.

Are they just informing be informing?

Are we collaborating?

Are they consulting?

Um, we're determining that pretty early on in that process.

And then once we get to step number three of identifying stakeholders and planning the roadmap, when we're coming together with those stakeholders, we are communicating to them.

This is what works, what we're coming into wanting from you all.

So folks that are aware.

And then we're reporting step step seven is the most important of that specifically is just making sure that we're reporting back what has been done with that information.

And to Robbie's point, there have been projects sometimes where we've taken community's input um and they've had an idea or solution that they've wanted, and then we realize there's a policy in place that actually prevents us from doing what they were wanting us to do.

And so that's where it's our responsibility to come back to community and say, hey, we took that information, but we're not able to do it because of this.

And so a lot of the stuff that you all have mentioned are incorporated in the community engagement framework.

And it's really again about us making sure that we're doing a due diligence process.

And again, to your point, making sure you all understand um what is the nuts and bolts of each one of these steps, so that when staff is coming and presenting, you know exactly what they've done to arrive at where they're at.

And my last is just more comment.

Um, because I think that would clear up a lot of the confusion if we all learn that once we quantify this is where this qualifies underflow toolkit and understanding how outreach was made, what were the requirements?

Because then that takes away the frustration of understanding this is where I can find the information, this is what the expectation was in public outreach.

I think it just too often people are um for instance, we're for land use specifically, like if there's a 500 foot, they're like, this is rule, 500 feet, what?

Nope, you know, you know what I'm saying?

So it just is what's making it clear what the expectation is.

Great.

Thank you.

Uh Counselor Sogato.

All right, great, great conversation, everyone.

I have a few things, uh, but I first want to before I get to my question.

I want to just comment on what's being, you know, talked about around community engagement and informing.

So community engagement is a broad term that account encapsulates a number of activities to include the community in the decision making.

And one of those is informing.

So I would just want to point that out.

Informing the community, educating them on why one thing has to be done instead of what they would like is part of community engagement.

So I hope that we can keep talking about that as it's part of community engagement, not separate from community engagement.

Um, I want to follow up on counselor Andre's question around accountability.

And so there's going to be a multifaceted um and so correct me, correct me if I'm wrong, but the way that I'm understanding your position and the way that you're describing these steps, is more of like a DEI navigator for the rest of the stuff at Hillsboro.

And you know, I really like the question about what is success look like because one of the council priorities, I mean, there's several of them around DEI, right?

And one of the big ones is building inclusive systems.

It's like so this question's for both you and Robbie, right?

Um wouldn't that be part of the success that you're looking for in this process?

And then that ties into my second question around accountability and you know, in step six.

So, you know, when stuff doesn't get done, but we're not kind of reaching these um council priorities, right?

Where does that fall on or who does it fall on?

Is it the individual managing the project or the program, or is it the executive stuff?

I'm trying to understand really the whole picture behind this, right?

So, you know, feel free to ask follow-ups if if that wasn't a clear question, because I know that was kind of multifaceted.

I I'll give it a shot.

I think you're right, there's a lot of uh council priorities around this.

So that is one of our measures of success.

I think where it gets challenging is there's so many different ways, like just look at tonight's you know agenda, the staff reports that are on there.

There's just such a wide variety of that we're always going to be bringing to council.

Some of them are pretty clear-cut about ways we can use the you know, equity toolkit and our um kind of community engagement uh toolkit, um, and others aren't.

So it's hard to, I guess, answer the first part of that, other than to say um, I think it's obvious in some cases and not obvious in others how to use it.

And that that's not a very good answer, but it's just a broad area that sometimes can be a challenge.

And I think the second question is that's ultimately my responsibility as a city manager, right?

Um, and it's uh if if we are not living up to what the council wants us to do in certain areas, then we grow as an organization and learn from it.

And and that's um, I'm accountable to that.

Yeah, thanks, Robbie.

How long has this DEI program been in place at the city?

Uh that's a good question.

So we've had um Simone's coming up to talk about this.

So we've this has been a council priority for I want to say around six years.

Um it's it took a couple of years to get things up and running.

Um, our equity statement was was created maybe five, four years ago.

I'll turn it over to Simon because she can do better.

Yeah, so the equity statement was established in 2019.

So city council received their first DEI training um in 2018 and um created that as a priority.

So the equity statement was adopted in November of 2019.

After that, the equity lens was developed by our first equity team.

Um, but we didn't start rolling it out until much later as we were trying to better understand the organization and where it might fit.

And we also didn't have a DEI manager at that time.

Um, and so then we hired our first DEI manager, I think in 2021, um, and we rolled out the race and equity survey to understand what our staff knew, even about our equity toolkit, what who who knew we had it, who thought we had it, but we didn't have it.

Um so there's uh a lot of information there.

And then our community engagement framework was also established in 2020.

And UNICE has done an amazing job.

And Marcus Ford and prior to them, Ronia, you Ben Steve Lee have done a lot of work.

Just think when you think about rolling this out to an organization of 1300 people with a variety of work that we do and trying to understand how these tools are utilized.

So for example, in our strategic plan, as we went through that effort and we took on all of these that took all of the initiatives initiatives and did the current state analysis.

Yunus, along with Raheem and that various team from SSW and others went through the all of the initiatives to identify when the equity toolkit would be used when it was appropriate, because some things again are regulatory.

And I want Councilor Solgato, thank you for bringing up the inform piece regarding community engagement.

So when we reference community engagement as separate from inform, it's only because on the I it's the IAP2 spectrum, which is international association of public participation.

They have it as a continuum.

So technically it is part of community engagement, but the difference is that the way we use it in the city is that inform is one way communication.

So you we're spot on in terms of it being education and providing communication.

And then the other um four um sections are uh two-way communication with various levels of empowerment that go on with each of those.

So I think I answered all the questions, but please let me know if there's anything I can clarify.

Any other questions?

Uh no, no other questions for now.

Thanks okay.

And then any other question from Counselor Alcair, only because I can't see your hand if you raise it.

No, I don't have any other questions.

Okay, thanks.

All right.

I'll say one more thing too.

I think it's important to note.

We are in the process of training staff on how to utilize these right now.

Um, we finished a teach the trainer program where folks from different departments for a year learned about the ins and outs of these tools.

So we're really in the beginning stages as well, too, of making sure that we're disseminating the usage of this and how to use them across the city.

And so I think all that to say too is that this is going to be kind of like something that evolves over time.

Folks are just learning now in each department how to really dive into each one of these sections.

So even to that question about accountability, um, and then how do we make sure that we have goals and folks are knowing how we've reached those things?

That's all being developed as we speak.

Um, and we're learning as we're going as well, too.

So I appreciate the questions as well as it's helpful as we continue to forge our path forward with this.

Thank you for that, Eunice.

What would you consider the top three barriers to this work?

You're gonna have to give me an opportunity to think about that one before I answer that question.

Um I mean, I don't you can follow up in an email, you don't have to answer right now.

Yeah, I I mean I would think that right off the bat, everything is just time.

It's it's a marathon, we've all heard it, it's not a sprint.

Um, society's changing, culture's changing, communities change over time.

And so when you think you have mastered something, something changes again.

So I think it's just the adaptability and being able to adapt with the times is always the hardest part of this work.

That's what I would say it is.

Any other questions?

Awesome, Simon, thanks for jumping up.

Drop of a hat.

Yunis, thanks for the briefing and continuing the training.

Thank you, Robbie.

Anything else?

Okay.

Work session is adjourned, and we will start the meeting, the regular council meeting at seven.

See you there.

Thank you.

May we have a roll call.

Mayor Pace.

Here, Councillor Alcair.

Councillor Amberry.

Here counselor case here.

Councilor Harris.

Here.

Counselor Sinclair here.

Counselor Salgado.

And I'll ask for Councillor Alcare again, as she was just promoted, or she was just on here.

She might be coming back in.

You can move forward, Mayor Pace.

Okay, and just so everybody knows Counselor Solgado and Counselor Alcair are calling in.

That's why we're waiting for them to respond.

Um moving to item two presentations and appointments.

We'll start this meeting in a very fun way with a dance performance celebrating Latino Heritage, excuse me, Latino and Hispanic Heritage Month.

I'd like to invite our performers to come forward.

Thank you so much to the performers.

Can we give them another round of applause?

So we'll now read a proclamation for the Latino and Hispanic Heritage Month.

And we're going to read it twice, once in Spanish and once in English.

Christian, take it away.

Now people do have the right for free speech in our country, even if what they say is mean.

September is a anniversario de la independencia de muchos países Latino Americanos, including Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Mexico, and Chile.

Forquanto reconocer y comprender las experiencias vividas foros membros Latinos y Hispanos de la Communidad de Hillsborough is essential para guarante que los services, el desarrollo, la infrastructura, andas inversiones in programmes de la ciudad crean beneficios mutuos para todos.

In Hillsborough, insisto at all the members of the community observar esta fecha transcendental y a participare in eventual and esta ricas traditions culturales Hispanic Latinos.

Thank you, Councillor Sargado.

Councillor O'Cier.

Good evening, I'll read the English version to you.

Hang on just a second.

Whereas each year Americans come together to honor the rich and verse contributions of Latinos during National Hispanic Heritage Month, which extends from September 15 to October 15, and whereas September is the anniversary of independence for many Latin American countries, including Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Mexico, Chile, and Ecuador.

Whereas the country's culture has been enriched by the rhythms, art, literature, food, and creativity of Latino and Hispanic peoples, which reaffirms that diversity is one of our country's greatest strengths, and whereas our nation was founded on the principle of equal rights for all, yet many Latinos appointed too on his promise reminding us during Latino and Hispanic Heritage Month of the Urgent to challenge prejudice and racism in all forms, and whereas many Latino leaders have contributed to advocate for equity to ensure that everyone in this nation can contribute to their talents and have the opportunity to thrive.

And whereas as we look at we all we will continue to build and cultivate strong relationships within the Latino community and Latino leaders.

Now therefore we resolved that I councillor Alpha speaking now we have the BHP's mayor in the city of Hillsborough.

Do you hear by proclaim September 15th to October 15, 2025 as Latino and Hispanic Heritage Month in Hillsborough and encourage all community members to observe this momentous date and participating events that celebrate these rich Latino and Hispanics cultural traditions?

I'd now like to call up Lorena Ortiz and Rocillo Hakobo, uh excuse me, Jacobo, to come up and I will present the proclamations to them.

Moving to item two point three, we will now hear from members of our library board for our annual update on the library.

Yes.

So for those of you at the podium, you have a little black box.

This is what it looks like.

And you have a little button in the middle, and you press that button when it turns green, you are on.

You are on a live mic.

So just a heads up.

And feel free to take it away.

Good evening, Mayor Pace, Council, and guest.

I'm Debbie Deb Duffy, Chair of the Hillsborough Public Library Board.

It is my honor to be here this evening and bring to you our 2025 library update.

Joining me at the table are board members Stephanie Hernandez and Chris Armstrong.

In the audience tonight, our Vice Chair Katie Ryan and member Dorian Russell.

You heard the library one 101 presentation made in July by Library Tammy Wallen.

So you already know about the library services staffing model and funding.

We won't cover that information tonight.

Instead, we'd like to share some examples that highlight more of our story, how the library and its staff impact our community each and every day.

For the record, my name is Chris Armstrong.

If you haven't been to Shoot Park or Brookwood Library recently, we invite you for a visit.

These buildings are more than a warehouse for books.

They are community centers, gathering spaces for all community members.

The libraries also serve as satellite office space, study rooms, and more.

Let's dig into some of the numbers that tell the story about how patrons use our libraries.

In fiscal year, 2024-25, 661,669 patrons visited one of the Hillsborough Public Libraries.

Meeting and study rooms were used for more than 27,000 hours.

The new study pod at Chute Park already has over 800 hours of use, and more than 12,000 devices logged into our public Wi-Fi, taking advantage of more than 165,000 hours of free internet connection.

This is the highest public Wi-Fi use in the WCCLS system.

Regarding meeting rooms, last fall, the council approved a change to our meeting room policy that eliminated fees for resuming more most library rooms with a goal of making access to those spaces more equitable.

Since then, meeting room usage has skyrocketed.

Since the change went into effect in October, meeting room reservations have increased an average of 163% over the previous seven months.

Nancy Yalmus joined the library 18 years ago as a page and now works as a library support specialist or LSS.

We're spotlighting Nancy here because she represents a group of over 20 dedicated LSS's who provide direct service to our patrons every day.

On any given day, Nancy may help a patron get a new library card, reserve a meeting room, use library computer, or find and check out library materials.

Like our other LSSs, Nancy is a trained notary public.

She and other library staff provided 633 notary services last year.

She is also one of a handful of employees who provides online cooperative patron support across the county.

This is an important role that helps our patrons wherever they are located.

The LSS position requires a deep knowledge of all the materials, services, and resources the library offers.

Nancy shared that she does a lot of problem solving and it's important to listen to the patron more than talk.

Nancy once assisted an older Chinese couple who handed her a tissue with a note on it written on it that said, Please connect my parents to Wi-Fi.

After a few moments of trying to figure out what language they spoke, she used Google Translate to talk to them.

When she was successful in getting these patrons connected, they stood and bowed to her in thanks.

I'd like to share a few fiscal year 24-25 programming and outreach numbers with you.

Nearly 30,000 people attended the more than 1,000 programs and events offered at the library.

The library also held 134 outreach events in the Hillsborough area, serving 10,528 people.

Engagement and outreach is at the core of how we do our work.

Whether it's in one of the library buildings or outside in the community, we meet people where they are and provide them service.

I'd like to share two programming examples that support city priorities: digital literacy and inclusive bilingual story time.

Hillsborough Public Library was one of only two libraries in Oregon selected by the Public Library Association in partnership with ATT to host digital learning workshops.

With a $10,000 grant, we offered 18 workshops, 10 in English at the Senior Center, and 8 in Spanish at Shoot Park, helping 172 participants build critical technology skills.

In a survey after the workshops, one attendee said the information in Spanish was very clear and something I can use at home.

Beyond workshops, we provide ongoing support through Tech Tuesdays, our weekly drop-in help sessions.

And in 2024, we hired our first digital navigator to offer even more one-on-one support at the Shoot Park Library.

Digital navigators can extend library staff's capacity to support patrons who need extra help with technology use.

Our first navigator provided uh proof so valuable that thanks to one last scrap of ARPA funding, we are expanding this resource and hiring two navigators for the 2025-26 funding uh season.

Later this month, we will welcome a new navigator at each of our libraries.

Our hope is to secure permanent funding for this in the future so this critical digital literacy support continues for years to come.

Good evening, Council.

For the record, my name is Stephanie Hernandez.

Because people are the heart of the library, I'd like to share another staff spotlight with you about a very special type of library programming.

Giovanna, a bilingual youth librarian at Shoot Park Library, began her career with the city 17 years ago.

After attending an inclusive storytime presentation by Portland State University's Department of Special Education, Giovanna was inspired to bring the program to Hillsborough.

This program adapts the traditional storytime format using accessibility tools and supportive devices to make it more accessible to children with additional learning needs.

After extensive training from PSU, Giovanna launched Inclusive Bilingual Storytime at Shoot Park Library, which now has a dedicated patron following.

She has also shared her expertise with other libraries through a presentation at the Seguimos Creando Enlaces Binational Library Conference in San Diego, California, and Tijuana, Mexico last March.

Here is a story about one of her regular attendees.

This is Clara.

She first came to our inclusive storytime with very limited mobility and as a non-speaking participant.

Her father never missed a session interpreting everything into American Sign Language while Clara joined in using a communication button.

When we expanded into bilingual inclusive storytime, Clara continued with enthusiasm.

Masters students from Portland State special education program began supporting the program, and Clara's family connected with a student who even provided therapy at home.

After taking a break to focus on therapy, Clara returned this April transformed.

She now confidently pushes her own wheelchair and beams with joy at story time.

Her father has even picked up some Spanish and proudly shares how the program helped Clara grow.

This fall, Clara will start kindergarten, motivated, excited, and more independent than ever.

We've told you so far about our programming and our in-person library services, but even more than our spaces or our programs, patrons tell us what they love about the library is our collection of materials, the stories and information they take home with them every day.

Our community loves our library collections.

There are nearly 290,000 printed materials and other physical items in our collection.

In fiscal year 24-25, we circulated over 2.6 million items to the community.

Brookwood Library has the highest branch circulation of any library in WCCLS.

Staff have been curating the world languages collection to ensure that the languages used most by people in our community are represented.

This includes Spanish as well as Hindi, Vietnamese, Chinese, Ukrainian, and many others.

In April, the Mexican consulate offered a unique gift for our collection.

They donated a hundred books published in Mexico and written in Spanish in honor of Mayor Callaway's service to the community.

To highlight one of the fastest growing parts of our collection, I want to introduce you to Brendan Lax, our collection development librarian who has been with the library for 17 years.

Part of Brendan's work is in building our manga collection.

These are Japanese comics and graphic novels known for their wide range of stories and art styles.

They've become hugely popular with themes like friendship, perseverance, and identity that resonate with readers of all ages.

At Hillsboro Public Library, we now have more than 8,500 manga titles, making it one of our highest circulating collections.

Library staff recognized early on how much our community loves manga and how quickly readers move through each volume.

So we introduced manga book sets curated by Brendan so patrons could enjoy an entire series without waiting for the next title in the series to be available.

We're the only library in the county offering these sets, and the response has been overwhelming.

Patrons tell us they come from all over Washington County to check them out, and they're almost always on loan.

This is an example of how thoughtful collection development and an innovative idea can directly meet community demand.

Before we're done tonight, we'd like to highlight some upcoming work happening in the library.

This month, the children's collection at Brookwood Library is temporarily in the community room, while the main 4400 square foot children's area gets a refresh.

When the refresh space to open reopens in late September, you'll notice a big change.

Front facing shelving.

Front-facing shelving in a children's library is highly valuable for encouraging browsing, independent decision making, and a love of reading.

By showcasing book covers, children can more easily choose books, discover new titles, and feel more engaged with the library.

A special thank you to the Friends of Hillsboro Public Library and the Library Foundation of Hillsboro Hillsboro for helping to fund the new shelving.

Their support makes a lasting difference for our youngest patrons.

For much of 2025, the library has been working on a new department new department strategic plan.

With a consultant guiding the process, a steering committee was formed.

Library and community data was reviewed, benchmarking against other libraries was done, and staff and community surveys were conducted.

In addition, meetings were held with key stakeholders and focus groups.

The plan is now in development, and the first draft is expected in the coming weeks.

We look forward to sharing the final plan with you by the end of this year.

We are also beyond excited to share with you some new renderings of a space we hope to implement sometime in the 2027-29 biennium in South Hillsboro.

A self-service holds pickup location on the Fire Station 9 site.

You can see in these renderings that we're planning a small space here, just large enough for patron holds and a small browsing collection.

As an autonomous branch, this location will not provide full library services.

Patrons will access the building by scanning a library card and will use the self-checkout machine to complete their visit independently.

As a self-service space, ours for this location could be extended beyond our normal operating hours, adding convenience for our patrons.

The space may also be used for pop-up programming, visits from the library on the loose, or collaborations with our fire department colleagues.

I'd like to close with a photo of the amazing staff of Hillsborough Public Library who work every day to make our community community a better place.

Since we couldn't possibly share all of our story tonight, we have an information sheet for you.

And if you'd like any more information, please consider us for a future work session.

September is library card sign-up month, and we invite you to join us in encouraging our community to discover all the opportunities their library card provides.

In addition to the two people sitting next to me, I'd like to thank the following people for their help in making this presentation possible.

Tammy Wallen, Giovanna Sardineda Kotera, Nancy Yamas, and Brendan Lax.

Rachel Lanier and Mary Lofton.

We're happy at this time to answer any questions you might have.

Any questions, Counsel?

Counselor Case.

Hi everyone.

I'm so happy you guys are here tonight.

Thank you so much for the presentation.

Um Deb, it's wonderful to see you in person.

Uh when I served on the library board, we were still remote.

And so you and I have only been in person in the same room a couple of times together.

So I love when I get to see you.

Uh and so thank you guys for being here tonight.

I just wanted to say thank you for this.

Um I'm really excited.

Like I said, when we were when we were uh closed during the pandemic, there are a lot of services we didn't get to offer, and so seeing the return and the expansion of these programs uh and the addition of the Ukrainian program this last couple of years uh and what's to come is really wonderful.

So thank you so much for the update.

Thank you, Counselor Casey.

Any other questions?

Counselor Sinclair.

Yeah, good evening.

Mine's more of a comment.

Thank you so much for the presentation tonight.

You truly are offering an empowering third space uh for all of our community, and I just want to thank you for that.

It goes whether our seasons change for a cooling uh heating stations, uh, for the digital books throughout our county.

Thank you so much for everything that your commitment does.

Thank you, Councillor Sinclair.

Online, we have Councilor Solgato.

Yes, thank you for all your work and ditto to uh Counselor Case and Council said I was just curious of the numbers that you posted on there for the um the visitors.

Is that for this last fiscal year?

And second part of the question how do you track the visitors?

I think the question line is uh for this last fiscal be sure to use your microphone, please, Deb.

Thanks.

I'm checking before I do the checking with my people.

Um so yes, that's for the last fiscal year.

And the way that that that is collected is by um door counting software counting software door counting software.

I thought I I knew that it was what they what they were using was electronic, but yeah, door counting software.

That is awesome.

So it's not individual, it's how much so an individual can come less or twice, but still that's impressive.

I mean, that's like nine hundred uh a day for both for each library.

That's really impressive, and I think that proves the need for libraries right in our community.

So thanks again for the We can thank uh Rachel Lanier for all the that data that she so very much pulled together for us.

Um and um put it in in a format that we could present it here tonight.

Any other questions?

Uh Councillor Harris.

Uh thank you for being here.

I think the city is really invested in its libraries, and I think it attracts really talented people, uh, both as volunteers and as workers, and I want to thank you for continuing that tradition and a fun fact.

Um LightRail station on Third Avenue, right there where the brick kiosk.

That was, I think, the first remote library station.

Yeah.

If you didn't know that.

So it reminds me when I saw the South Hills Rail kiosk.

I had flashbacks to that little area being a library kiosk as well.

Any other questions?

Um I just want to take a moment to say thank you to you to the library board and to all the library staff.

When I was in elementary school, I was in my library, not in Hillsborough in another town.

And frankly, I was running around.

I should not have been running around.

But it was made very clear to me to go and to never come back.

And so I never did until I had to in high school when I went to my high school library.

And I never ever felt comfortable in libraries again until I moved to Hillsboro.

I want to thank all of you for the work you do and the staff.

Thank you, Tammy.

And I'm getting all overclumped.

So you made me cry.

So thanks so much for the briefing and have a great evening.

So thank you.

Moving to item 2.4 about the Washington County Library Levy.

So our last presentation will be from Lisa Tattersall regarding the Washington County Library Levy.

And so in front of you, you have a little black box, and then there's going to be a little button in the middle.

When you press that button, the light will turn green and your mic is live, and everybody in the world can hear you.

So just wanted to let you know that.

Welcome.

Great, thank you.

Pace and uh counselors.

Um we're delighted to be here tonight.

My name's Marnie Kyle.

I'm one of the assistant county administrators, and I'm fortunate to have WCCLS library services within my portfolio.

And so we're here tonight to talk about the levy, um, and then I'll also be available to answer any questions.

Um, want to point out and thank Commissioner Willie.

Is in the is in the audience and also available for questions or comments.

And to thank Tammy and all of the wonderful library board for being here with us tonight.

What a hard act to follow.

And uh Mayor Pace, thank you so much for your personal story.

I think that just really helps all of us to feel the importance of public libraries and the wonderful partnership that we have here with Hillsboro.

It really is a wonderful system and a wonderful Hillsborough partnership.

With that, I'm gonna turn it over to Lisa for the majority of the presentation.

Well, welcome to both of you.

Thank you.

I'm glad to be here.

Good evening.

So I'm Lisa Tattersall with Washington County Cooperative Library Services.

I'm here today to share educational information about a proposed local option levy for libraries, measure 34345.

Um, I am a public employee, and so that means I'm subject to political restrictions under Oregon Law, and so I'll be sharing neutral and non-advocacy information only.

I did want to mention at this point I did receive a few questions ahead of time from the city recorder.

Thank you.

And I'll be trying to work those into the presentation as I go.

So in this and I'm gonna click.

No one else said.

Oh, thank you.

There we go.

Thank you.

So in this presentation, I'll be talking about how public library service is delivered in the county and the current funding.

I'll also talk about what that proposed levy would fund, how much it would cost, and what would happen if the levy did not pass.

Here in Washington County, library services provided through a partnership between WCCLS, nine cities, and three nonprofit associations that all operate local libraries.

WCCLS is the primary source of funding for local libraries, and also provides central support services that efficiently link these independently operated libraries together, creating a countywide system that is available to over 600,000 residents.

There are 16 full service library locations across the county from banks in the northwest corner all the way to Sherwood in the south.

In addition, our digital library is available 24-7 at WCCLS.org.

Um, one of the questions I got was what is a full service library?

And I was pleased that this question was asked in Hillsborough because I believe you all are the only partner that operates autonomous library locations, and so we wanted to call out that those are not included in this in this uh listing here.

And so we would really just consider a full service library, one that is staffed and where folks can expect to receive programs, collections, assistance, um, computers, Wi-Fi, the sort of gamut.

In fiscal year 24-25, the local option levy represents 45% of WCCLS revenue, and the remaining 55% is a transfer from the county's general fund.

The majority of WCCLS total funding is directed towards library funding allocations at 67%.

The remaining 33% of WCCLS expenses is for the central services that link libraries together.

Um I was asked about how the 28.35 million is allocated between um uh cities and nonprofits.

I don't have that off the top of my head, but that's something we can follow up with after.

The levy would fund programs, resources, and materials that are designed to support student success with reading and learning.

Some of the events and resources available to kids and teens include book clubs, Oregon Battle of the Books events, makerspaces, and STEAM programs.

Libraries offer resources for parents and caregivers, kindergarten readiness, test prep tools, and free access to fast and reliable internet.

Over 10,000 students participated in library programs designed to support reading, learning, and student success last year.

Since 2019, WCCLS has issued over 83,000 library cards to public school students in partnership with our local libraries.

The levy would also fund the central services that efficiently link libraries together.

Library users can use any of the uh use the shared online catalog to access over 1.5 million library items, reserving them for pickup at any of the 16 locations across the county.

WCCLS courier trucks deliver 2.5 million books and other items to libraries in fiscal year 2324.

In addition, WCCLS provides online learning tools such as job hunting resources, downloadable ebooks and audiobooks, digital newspapers and magazines in many languages, as well as streaming video, all available 24-7 to library users.

The levy would fund open hours at 16 full service public library locations across the county.

Most libraries in the system are open at least six days a week and provide access to 1.5 million items in the shared collection.

Last year there were 2.4 over 2.4 million visits to WCCLS libraries, and total checkouts exceeded 7.2 million.

By borrowing items rather than purchasing them, library users saved 140 million dollars last year across the county.

In addition to providing books and other materials, library buildings serve as cooling spaces for the community.

Public computers, Wi-Fi, study rooms, and meeting rooms are all provided at many of our libraries.

The levy would also fund children's reading events, including story times for babies, toddlers, and preschoolers.

Some are offered in multiple languages, including Spanish and Chinese.

All WCCLS libraries offer regular events and programs for children, and as well as an annual summer reading program.

Libraries also often offer interactive play areas that promote learning and social interaction.

In fiscal year 2324, WCCLS libraries hosted over 200,000 participants at 6,000 in-person events for kids and teens.

If passed, measure 34345 would replace a 22 cent levy that is expiring in June 2026.

The proposed replacement levy would be a rate of 37 cents per thousand dollars of assessed value, and that would run from July 2026 through June 2031.

In 2026, typical homeowners with an assessed value of 348,600 would pay an estimated total of 129 annually or $10.75 per month.

An assessed value is the value of your home on your tax bill.

That's different than the real like the real market value, which would be you know what you'd see on Zillow or something like that.

The annual increase in cost for the typical homeowner over the current levy would be just over $54 per year or $4.55 per month more than the current levy.

I don't have that available, but that's something we can follow up with after the meeting.

Some examples of the services that would be reduced include fewer e-books purchased, a less robust online catalog, less frequent deliveries between libraries, and disrupted access to technology.

Thank you for your engagement with this presentation.

We have more information on our website at WCCLS.org/slash levy, and we're happy to answer questions.

Are there any questions for Lisa or Marty?

Councilor Ambry.

Hi.

Thank you.

So if the levy passes, are the services remaining the same, or is there an increase in the service levels?

That's a really good question.

So the voters last approved an increase to our levy rate in 2015.

And so we haven't seen an increase for 10 years.

Um and as we all know, costs continue to rise and the cost to provide service, as well as the the growth of um the size of our communities and also the complexities of the needs that our communities support have all increased as well.

And so I think um we're talking about really looking at being able to maintain and provide uh provide and maintain the current service levels.

Um I think at each individual library location and each partner, that's an interesting thing about our system is that WCCLS funding is not the only source of funding, and so there's also local contributions, and so uh each of our partners uh may be in a different place in that regard, so we could see different uh levels of implementation in terms of service levels across the system um depending on the local conditions.

Counselor Harris.

Thank you.

I thank you for the presentation and the information.

I appreciate that.

I have two questions.

What is the current tax base?

What is the current?

It was 37 cents, but what is it now?

22 cents.

22?

Okay.

So that would be an increase of about 40 percent.

60 something.

Yeah, okay.

And second question is maybe this is actually more for Commissioner Willie, I'm not sure.

But um if the levy were to pass, um, would the county still be contributing the same amount in general funds.

So thank you, um, counselor for that question.

And Commissioner, if you want to jump up, feel free.

But um the the modeling um and the goal would be that we would be able to escalate and continue to provide um a four uh roughly a four percent increase, but it really depends on um the funding that the county receives and the general fund needs across the organization.

So we are not able to guarantee a specific amount um of increase year after year, um, but I also can um provide history um that the board has always value WCCLS and we have been able to give a small increase to libraries over the last five years, even though um we are taking reductions across the general fund.

Okay, so I understand you can't make any promises, obviously, nor can Commissioner Willie.

Um but what you're saying is from your understanding the plan is to continue to try and do a four percent annual increase.

That's that's what our our modeling is based on, and um that and we we definitely are committed to assuring that there's some general county general fund that's contributed for WCCLS and partner libraries.

Okay, thank you.

Counselor Sinclair.

Thank you for tonight's presentation.

Um the question I have is what is the surrounding unincorporated cities are included as part of Hillsborough's um service area.

That is a good question, and we can follow up and provide you with a map of what um the process is looking at right now that hasn't been finalized by the partners.

We're still in those conversations, but we can provide you with what that would look like.

Okay.

And my my last question, um I I saw here based on service levels, Hillsborough meets um meets and exceeds 40 up to 45 open hours per week and exceeds up to 64 hours per week per library.

How are you guys doing that?

Managing that many that much time.

Sorry, I'm not sure.

That's a compliment.

Oh, thank you.

Because I was trying to do math and I was like, I don't think I'm doing and I I mean I think a lot of that credit goes to Tammy and the local Hillsborough Library staff.

As well as your city contributions, so thank you.

Absolutely.

Yes.

Yes, I I saw that in that experience.

Thank you.

Counselor Seclair, if I could also add, I'm glad you all put it out at Tammy and her staff because they do amazing work.

And I just also want to give credit to current and past city councils because if if it wasn't for the level of funding that that our city provides as well to the libraries, then we wouldn't be able to do that.

So it's been a priority of city councils now and in the past, and and as a result of that, uh we were able to fund our libraries to a greater degree and and keep more open hours and uh great programming like they do.

Great.

Any other questions?

Okay.

Thank you so much for the presentation.

We really appreciate it.

I I'm looking forward to voting yes on this.

I can say this because I want to continue uh the support for all of our libraries in the whole county.

So thank you so much for the presentation.

I appreciate it.

Thank you for your time.

Thank you for your time.

We appreciate you all.

Moving to item three, public comment.

P persons wishing to speak will be recognized at this time.

If you are here in person and wish to speak, thank you.

Please fill out a yellow card and hand it to the city recorder when I call on you.

Please join us here at the table as you've seen already and speak into the microphone so those on Zoom can also hear your comments.

Because of the translation tool, community members who testify during public comment can speak in their language of choice, and the city recorder can display the translation on screen.

We have zero people registered to speak virtually, and the deadline to register is now passed.

So we have no yellow cards.

Okay.

I'm gonna just in case somebody wants to comment, I'll keep reading.

So the yellow cards are to my right, your left on the table that has a blue tablecloth on it.

Comments are limited to three minutes.

This is an opportunity for members of the public to inform the council about their views.

Note the council will not be entering the dialogue at this time.

Anybody?

Okay.

Wonderful.

Moving to the consent agenda.

The items on the consent agenda are normally considered in a single motion.

Any item may be removed for separate consideration upon request by any member of the council.

Is there a request to remove any items for separate consideration?

Similarly, do any members of council have any lingering questions for staff on any of these items?

Okay.

Do I have a motion to approve the consent agenda?

So moved case.

Thank you.

Do I have a second?

Second Anbury.

Is there any discussion?

Okay, may I please have a roll call?

Councilor Salgato.

Aye.

Councillor Harris?

Aye.

Counselor Case.

Aye.

Counselor Anbury.

Aye.

Counselor Sinclair?

Aye.

Councillor Alcair.

Aye.

Thank you very much.

Moving to item 7.

Item 7.1, first reading.

Community development code amendment 004-25 limited uses.

Consider the recommendation from Planning Commission to approve a community development code amendment to clarify that industrial services are not permitted in the UC-MU Urban Center Mixed Use Urban Density Zone and declare an emergency.

Ordinance number 6506 is available.

The ordinance was posted one week prior to the meeting according to charter requirements and will be considered in one reading.

As a reminder, ordinance is not considered over two meetings and taking less effect letters and taking effect less than 30 days following the second reading are referred to as an emergency ordinance.

So I said just as a side note that there this I'm declaring an emergency, it's okay.

Effective immediately.

Staff note that the community development code currently contains an error in the use table in that UC-MU zone, leaving an opportunity for development of properties within the zone for industrial uses, which was not the intent of that zone.

Staff are seeking to correct this error as soon as possible, hence the emergency ordinance.

Do I have a motion to adopt ordinance number 6506?

I have a second.

Second case.

Is there any discussion?

So Mayor Pace, just to clarify, this is a simple housekeeping process that we're doing.

That is correct.

Thank you very much.

Thanks for the clarification.

May I please have a roll call.

Councillor Alcair.

Aye.

Councillor Case?

Aye.

Counselor Ambery?

Aye.

Counselor Sinclair.

Aye.

Councillor Harris.

Aye.

Counselor Salgato.

Ordinance number 6506 is adopted and the motion passes.

Moving to item 8, New Business 8.1.

Consider Transportation Committee's recommendation to adopt a resolution to adopt the City of Hillsborough Public Works Department and Water Department 2's 2025 design and construction standards.

Resolution number 2897 is available.

Do I have a motion to adopt resolution number 2897?

So moved case.

Thank you.

Do I have a second?

Second, Harris.

Is there any discussion?

Um please have a roll call.

I I I do.

I'm sorry, Mayor.

Okay.

Um discussion.

Moving back to discussion.

Thank you.

Um I'm just wondering if we can have staff to go through this process again.

It was a little confusing understanding the city's role.

And I just wanted to make sure if there's any community members who are confused by it that we get a outline.

Sure, I'll I'll give a uh quick update.

So uh really all we're doing is um we're taking the code that was or the standards that were adopted, I believe it was about a year ago.

And whenever we adopt these kind of changes, inevit inevitably we'll find small tweaks that we need to make that were not that were not correct or or that we need to update.

So that's really all this process is is updating those those minor changes that we need to make.

Um I believe if I remember the staff report, there was a 30-day process where we invited public comment.

I don't know that we had any public comment.

I don't think there's anything controversial uh in in this.

It's really again more housekeeping, just trying to keep these updated when we find out there's any kind of mistake or or better clarifications that need to be made.

Any other discussion?

Are you you good?

I'm good.

All right, may I please have a roll call?

Councillor Sinclair.

Aye.

Councilor Harris.

Aye.

Councillor Salgato.

Aye.

Councillor Amvery.

Hi.

Counselor Case?

Aye.

Councillor Alcair.

Resolution number two eight nine seven is adopted.

Moving to item 8.2, consider the recommendation by the hospital facility authority of Hillsborough to adopt a resolution appointing the directors of the hospital facility authority of Hillsborough, Oregon.

Resolution number two eight nine eight is available.

Before I ask for a motion on this item, I'd like to invite Lori James Nielsen from the Hillsborough Medical Center to highlight the item and to talk a little bit about it.

And Lori is joining us virtually, is that correct?

Yes, she is.

I'm trying to promote her right now.

Wonderful.

Hi, Council.

Thank you so much for this time this evening.

So this uh before you is merely to confirm that the uh board members for the hospital facility authority are documented and uh part of the record as we move forward with the refinancing option for our hospital bond.

So we anticipate many steps before coming back to the city with the final resolution, but this action is merely to be sure that we have clear documentation of the board members so that we can move forward with the next step in refinancing our bond.

Happy to take any questions.

So any questions okay.

Uh yes, yes.

Oh, go ahead.

Um hi Laurie.

Thanks.

So um I I understand uh the the motion that that is present today, but uh so the uh I I so I understand that the bond is not administered by the city and we're not liable for this.

Correct.

Okay.

And Lori, could you answer verbally and not just with a nod?

Oh, yeah, thank you.

Yeah, there is indemnity.

We have an indemnity clause that has been signed in 2015 that will re-execute with the refinancing of this bond.

Okay.

And the and the and the fact that the the tuality and oh and it's now OHSU.

That doesn't make any difference.

That's my understanding.

Just want to confirm.

Correct.

So OHSU is a managing partner of Tuality, but we are still an independent 501c3 organization operating in Washington County.

Okay, all right.

And um at some point it will be very good to understand why we have this.

I know this was done in 1977.

Uh so uh I don't think we'll find anyone who remembers.

But uh I think we do I would like to understand.

I I don't know what an authority is, and um it would be good to kind of bring it um and understand and maybe see if we need if the city needs to do this.

Yeah, it'd be to come and do a further presentation.

Yeah, thank you, Lori.

Yes.

Any other questions for Lori?

I'm gonna pay you back on uh Council Ambry's uh questions.

Uh she asked why is it the counties and not the cities?

Is that what I'm hearing?

Is that what you had asked in previous yeah?

Um why is it the cities and not the counties?

I apologize, yes.

Uh why is that you know I don't know that I have a solid answer for that.

I'm looking for others that might know the history here.

Uh but the city of Hillsboro was um through the ORS regulations who was assigned to be part of the hospital facility authority.

But I don't know, Chad, if you have further explanation that may be helpful here.

Sure.

Good evening, Council and Mayor Chad Jacobs from the City Attorney's Office.

Uh, just real briefly.

So under state law, there's a process wherein municipalities being cities can create these authorities to provide a funding mechanism to help bring hospital services to their area.

And it's just a way for local governments to support providing that sort of health care services where there may not have been those health care services previously, or where there may be potential you know health care services that are failing.

And so you see these across the state in various jurisdictions.

And obviously, you know, I was actually alive in 1977, but I was only five, and I was in Ohio, so I don't have any firsthand knowledge of what the city was thinking at that point in time.

But throughout the years, as recently as 2015, the city did and has worked with the authority to refinance their bonds to make sure that they are in a fiscally responsible situation.

T BL will continue to provide healthcare services to the Hillsboro community.

And so that's basically the the process and why it exists.

And why it's the city and not the county is merely because that's the way state law was set up.

If you look at the state statutes, it provides municipalities with this authority, which would be the city as opposed to the county law.

Okay.

Um Mayor, I've got one more.

Um so uh Chad went I think when it would be good to look at this again.

And then what one of the things that was uh kind of worrisome, it just says to provide services to Washington County, uh, which I don't think is the intent of this.

Uh it's should be Hillsborough.

I think it's always been Hillsboro, uh, but the but the write-up does say Washington.

Um so that's kind of interesting.

Yeah, we can certainly take a closer look at this as we move forward to the extent that you know the council needs to come back as we have in the past, and we're not sure that we need to do that now, but to the extent the authority needs to come back and get further approvals from the council for issuing these bonds.

Um, we can certainly make sure that the language in the resolution is more precise.

Again, this resolution tonight is really you know to stick with the theme of the night a housekeeping kind of resolution.

The the members of the authority board have been appointed by the city council.

That's state law provides the council with the authority to actually appoint the members of the board since we created the authority.

Um and you know, the the record keeping has not been great, and rather than trying to go back and really confirm when exactly each member of the authority was appointed, board member of the authority was appointed.

The authority requested that we just passed this resolution just reaffirming that all these members are properly appointed, which then allows them to move forward with the bond process.

So again, this resolution tonight really doesn't have any impact on that.

And if it does start to come back to us for the hash control issues of the bonds, we'll make sure that that language is really clean for you all.

Thank you.

And we have to do this annually, is that correct?

No.

No.

So we so there's two different things that are going on.

One is the actual uh refinancing of the bonds, and that's done based on the authorities' timeline and when they want to issue bonds and what they sort of feel that they need to do financially.

Um the appointment process of the city council appointing members of the board of directors for the authority, that comes up as their terms expire.

And you'll see in the resolution that has their actual terms, and they serve six-year terms.

So when those terms expire, we'll come back to the council for either reappointment or new appointments to the board.

Thank you.

Okay, um, any other questions for Lori or Chad?

Going once, going twice.

Okay.

Do I have a motion to adopt resolution number two eight nine eight?

So moved, Anvary.

Do I have a second?

Second case.

Is there any further discussion?

May we have a roll call.

Councilor Anverry.

Hi.

Councilor Case.

Hi.

Councillor Alcair.

Hi.

Councillor Salgado.

Hi.

Councilor Harris.

Hi.

Councillor Sinclair.

Aye.

Thank you.

Resolution number 2898 is adopted.

Moving to item nine, I'll turn the time over to Robbie Hammond for the city manager report.

Thank you, Mayor.

Uh good evening, everyone.

I just have one item that I wanted to share tonight.

As students across the Hillsborough School District returned to the classroom this week, we are grateful for our partnership with HSD leadership and educators to serve our families.

One of the many ways we partner with HSD is in keeping students and educators safe.

Our police department school resource officers provide much more than security.

They build relationships with students and staff and they find ways to show that they care.

This week we're featuring two of our SROs on the city website, actually, all of our SROs, uh, and in our communication channels, and I wanted to highlight two of them.

We have uh Detective Edgar Garcia Garfield, who serves South Meadows, uh, middle school, Brookwood Elementary, W.

L.

Henry Elementary, and which Hazel Elementary.

And he works to build connections early on with students because then he's not a stranger to them if uh they're in a crisis or dealing with a difficult issue.

Uh Detective Tracy Hinkleman serves Glencoe High, Hillsborough Online Academy's Oak Street Campus, and McKinney Elementary.

She lets parents know the number one job of a school resource officer is keeping students safe so they can spend time in the classroom and get the education that they need.

Our entire team of school resource officers are ready for the new year.

The entire team includes also detective uh all of these are detectives, Dylan Hetrich, Robbie Kerrigan, Megan Lynn, uh Dow Tobin, Chris Taka, and their unit supervisor, Sergeant Jody Sackville.

Thank you all for your service to our community and thank you to our friends at the Hillsborough School District.

Let's hope everyone in Hillsborough has an outstanding school year.

Thank you.

Thank you, Robbie.

Thank you, Robbie.

Moving to item 10 advice and information.

Community members who want to be informed and engaged on City Council matters can sign up to receive the happening in Hillsborough email newsletter.

Spanish language updates are also available through our Cresciando Juntos email newsletter.

The Hillsborough Economic Development Council will be meeting in executive session under ORS 192.6602E as an echo to conduct deliberations with persons designated by the governing body to negotiate real property negotiations.

No action may be taken in executive session.

If action needs to be taken, the council will do so in regular session.

Only news media representatives and staff designated by the city council are permitted to attend the executive session.

If you are a news media representative and would like to attend the Zoom teleconference executive session, email Council at Hillsborough-Oregon.gov for the Zoom details or meet us in the conference room 113 BNC.

The Hillsborough Economic Development Council do plan to hold an HEDC regular session following the executive session to approve a set of minutes and possibly one additional item.

The HEDC regular session will follow just after the executive session.

So if you wish to be notified when the HEDC begins the regular session, please let the Deputy City Recorder know or email you guessed it, Council at Hillsborough-Oregon.gov.

Following the HEDC executive session and the HEDC regular session, the city will then the City Council, not the whole city, just the Council, will meet in executive session under ORS 192.6602.

I as in India to review and evaluate the employment related performance of the Chief Executive Officer who does not request an open hearing.

If you are a news media representative and would like to attend the Zoom Teleconference Executive Session, email you guessed it.

Council at Hillsborough-Oregon.gov for the Zoom details or meet us in conference room 113 B and C.

And with that, the City Council meeting is adjourned to the H E D C Executive Session.

We will begin at 820.