Everybody, welcome to our February 3rd, 2026 council meeting.

It's our afternoon session.

I'll go ahead and call the meeting to order and we'll pass it to Clementine to do roll call and just share announcements with the public.

Council Member Barber.

Present.

Councilmember Garcia.

Here.

Councilmember Rash here.

Councilmember Smith.

And Mayor Williamson.

Here.

And public comment and participation information is provided on this meeting's agenda, which is online at Monterey.gov slash agendas.

In person attendees, please keep your electronic devices muted to prevent audio interference.

Consistent with the First Amendment and the Brown Act, individuals have the right to speak at public meetings, which includes the right to criticize or support city policies or actions.

The city encourages your uninhibited and robust feedback on public issues affecting the city.

Thank you for participating.

Thank you, Clementine.

With that, we'll jump in.

There is no evening session today, so we're gonna go ahead and do the pledge.

And I'm gonna ask Councilmember Smith to kick us off here.

You bet.

Please join me.

I fled the allegiance to the black, the United States America to the Republic for which it stands for one nation under God, indivisible with liberty and justice for all.

Thank you, Ed.

And with that, we'll roll into presentations.

The first item on our agenda is to recognize February 2026 as Black History Month.

And I'm gonna go ahead and pass it to Dr.

Barber to read us the proclamation today.

All right, thank you, Mayor.

The proclamation reads as follows.

Um, whereas in 1926, Harvard scholar Carter G.

Woodson founded the first of African American History Week and the Association for the Study of African American Life and History to bring attention to the need of acknowledging black history and representing those voices lost to time, and whereas the week long event as the ASALH were first founded in recognition of the lack of black history in the nation's educational curriculum and to promote the scientific study of black life and history.

The event inspired community celebrations nationwide.

And whereas the month of February was chosen by Carter Woodson as a month of tradition and reform, the month of February encompasses the birthdays of President Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass, two Americans who had prominent roles in shaping Black history.

While recognizing traditional celebrations of the birthdays of the two men, Woodson hoped to inspire reform and refocusing on the contributions of the countless black men and women throughout history who have and continue to advance our nation.

And whereas Black History Month was officially recognized by President Gerald Ford in 1976, calling upon the American people to seize the opportunity to honor the too often neglected accomplishments of black Americans in every area of endeavor throughout history.

And since every US president has designated February as Black History Month, and whereas the ASALH announced that the 2026 Black History theme is a century of Black history commemorations.

The 100th anniversary theme urged us to explore the impact and meaning of Black history and life commemorations and transforming the status of black peoples in the modern world.

And whereas 2026 marks the 100th anniversary of this celebration, the ASALH states in their executive summary to understand the modern world, especially nations where black peoples form a significant population.

One must grapple with the impact that the public observance have had in past and the present.

This year, when we are also commemorating the 250th anniversary of the United States independence, is important to tell not only an inclusive history, but an accurate one.

And whereas a community we can celebrate Black History Month and continue to work together towards a more fair and inclusive future.

And now, therefore, be it proclaimed that I, well, the mayor, Tyler Williamson, mayor of the city of Monterey, on behalf of the city council and the citizens, hereby proclaim the month of February 2026 as Black History Month.

Woo!

Yeah, it's a long one.

Thank you, Dr.

Barber, for reading that out for us.

And as she was reading this, and even before the council meeting, as I was prepping, I was deciding whether or not I wanted to make a remark about this because there is a an approach to this conversation where you don't bring up the negative and maybe just focus on the positive.

But I I figured it's probably good to share.

And my intentions with this are all to help bring light and shine light on why it is important that we continue to celebrate diversity, equity, and inclusion.

When the when an article was shared last week about the selection of our incoming city manager, assuming that the council moves in favor of supporting that direction tonight, there was a comment posted on a social media site that said the person was selected for a DEI hire without understanding the person's background, without understanding the reasons that justify the council's decision.

And I can speak confidently in saying that we selected this person because they were the most qualified for the job, not because of the color of their skin.

But that remark is not unique to that one individual.

That is a common theme that still exists throughout our community.

And so it is important that we continue to shine light on the successes of African Americans and other diverse communities.

And the work that we still need to do moving forward.

So thank you, Dr.

Barber, for reading the proclamation.

Thank you to staff for helping to put that together.

And I um am proud to stand as mayor of Monterey and knowing that a strong majority of our community stands with us in celebrating this uh momentous occasion.

So with that, I will open it up to my colleagues for any questions, comments on the proclamation.

Just please, proud to be part of it, proud to be on a uh a city council and to be in a city that we recognize um not only the diversity but the backgrounds uh regardless of the color of our skin and the background, we welcome everyone.

And I was born and raised on this peninsula, and I can honestly say that I I never want to be a person who judges another based on anything other than the qualifications and performance and what they bring to the community, and so proud to be part of the uh the council that represents that.

And um, I read social media, and if I read social media that's disgusting, I write it off as shame on that person.

I'm gonna pray for the fact that they are so disconnected and harbor such of the wrong things to think about, and not the values that I align with.

I have no place in my heart or for my person to spend any time with someone who expresses anything other than congratulations to someone who got a job and shame on them for them to write something like that.

And I pay no attention to people like that.

I choose to select the people I want to surround myself with.

They're open-minded, honest, and loyal humans and do not bring prejudice.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you, Ed, for your comments.

I I think it says so much about um where the state of our information gathering exists in today's society.

I mean, it's really easy for people to go on social media and pop off because they're behind a keyboard and um they can say things that they wouldn't say in person.

So congrats to you all for showing up to our council meeting in person, and thank you to those that are paying attention online because maybe you're not here in person, but you're dialed in and you're hearing um first uh primary source information.

So um it's important that we we check our sources before we try to comment on something without knowing all the facts.

And uh again, thank you, the Ed for um helping to amplify the message and where the council stands.

Um, with that, we'll go ahead and open it up for public comment.

So, how this process works is we identify folks that want to speak on public comment at the beginning of the public comment period.

Um, once those folks are identified, we then close it off, and then only those folks will be able to speak.

So I'll check with folks on Zoom first.

You can navigate your way to the raise hand function.

In the meantime, I'll check in the chamber.

Anybody in the chamber wishes to speak on this item?

All right, seeing none, we'll go ahead and close it off in the chamber.

I'll do a countdown for folks on Zoom to five, four, three, two, one.

We have one on Zoom, and then um I'm gonna go back to the chamber real quick.

We have one in the chamber.

I just want to do one last check-in with folks in the chamber.

Anybody else in the chamber want to speak on this item?

So I'm only seeing the one.

We'll go ahead and cut it off and we'll go ahead and start with you.

Please, thank you so much.

Absolutely.

May I give you the is this specifically on the proclamation?

Um I am here to talk about the sports center.

I think I have with.

This is not general public comment.

This is specifically public comment on the Black History Month proclamation.

Okay, so we'll sit down until my turn.

Yes, ma'am.

Yep.

I'll let you know.

I'll let you know when that time comes.

Thank you.

All right, we'll go ahead and go to our caller on Zoom.

Yes, Esther, you can go ahead.

Good afternoon, everybody.

I just wanna make a uh comment.

I really appreciate um the council taking the time to discuss this um message.

Uh given that it's been until very recently that we actually have a very diverse city council.

And I'm happy to see that diversity spreading to our city staff.

It's a long time coming, and I appreciate everybody who's involved in um working for our city and uh making it a place of inclusivity.

Thank you.

Thank you, Esther.

With that, we'll go ahead and close public comment.

Any last comments from the council?

All right.

With that, we will move on to item number two, which is to receive a presentation introducing Nicole Banks as the city's new park and recreation director.

She famously um at the beginning of the meeting agreed that we should be hosting our council meeting outside today.

Um so we'll have to see if we can loop that into another future beautiful Monterey Day.

Um, but uh before I pass it to Lou, I just want to say um welcome aboard.

Um I had the pleasure to meet you at our council meeting um last week when you came up and introduced yourself.

So thank you so much for um for joining our team and seems like we captured you at the right time because you missed that nor'eastern that was going uh through through uh uh the northeast up there.

So welcome to to Monterey.

And with that, I'll go ahead and pass it to Lou for uh a presentation.

Great.

Uh honorable mayor, council members.

Um, let me just uh reiterate what your mayor said.

We're just tickle pink to have a new member of your executive team join us this afternoon.

Um, before we let uh Miss Banks come up and and provide comment, I'm gonna turn it over to our assistant city manager, provide a little background on the selection process.

It's been a long time, I understand, before you had a permanent director and our hats off to our hardworking staff that kept uh all our parks and sports center operating.

So with that, I'll turn it over to Nat and uh we'll continue.

Great.

Thank you.

Thank you, Lou.

And uh as uh you all have mentioned, we're very delighted and excited to have Nicole Banks join us as our next uh parks and recreation uh director.

And it was uh quite a rigorous recruitment process that began last fall, and I would be remiss if uh we didn't take the a few moments to acknowledge the hardworking parks and recreation staff who uh who've uh kept the department going through the transition.

Uh specifically Shannon Leon, our recreation manager, Ty Snorton, our uh parks manager, as well as Bill Roshild with the sports center uh manager and and the entire parks and rec team over the last several months.

Uh not having a director in place.

So kudos and many thanks to to their team.

Uh Nicole comes to us from as uh you all uh mentioned New England.

Uh uh over 20 years of experience in municipal recreation leadership in New Hampshire as well as in Massachusetts, and uh most recently from the city of Newton, Massachusetts, which uh we uh understand her uh role prior was leading a team of over 50 full-time staff, hundreds of seasonal employees, and uh breadth of experience that uh ranges to over 200 acres of open space, 20,000 street trees, public trash collection, and something that we don't deal with here, snow clearing.

Slower snow removal.

So um yeah, if it if it comes, we we know who to call.

It's Nicole.

Uh but uh no, we're we're very excited.

Um, she spent uh time in Westwood, Massachusetts as well as a recreation director and has experience with summer camps, community programs, community gardens, tennis, tocleball, basketball courts, even in her community golf courses, and uh a small beach in a lake.

So uh some of that experience has been uh been great, and we're looking forward to having her join our team.

She's already hitting the ground running.

We gave her a little bit of a hard time for mentioning the Patriots uh this morning during during a meeting and uh but but uh but we do uh we do, and we've also told her the the weather we've had the last few days and dogs joining our council meetings are uh very typical for us here.

So uh I know she will not miss the 24 degree weather that's currently in Boston, uh, but uh she she brings a wealth of experience, and I know uh the team has been very welcoming of her, and she's also a certified parks and recreation professional CPRP, which is highly uh a very uh distinguished uh certification in the parks and recreation management industry, and uh we're we're really uh glad to have her uh be part of our our group.

So I've I've gone long enough.

Let's uh bring Nicole up to say a few words, Nicole.

Thank you, Nat.

That was uh nice, and you'll hear a couple repeats because I didn't uh check your notes first.

Um, mayor, council members, city manager, and members of the Monterey community.

Good afternoon.

Thank you for the opportunity tonight to introduce myself.

My name is Nicole Banks, and I'm really just honored to be here to serve as your new parks and recreation director.

I wanted to begin by saying how grateful I am for the trust that you've placed in me.

Monterey is a city with an exceptional quality of life, and it's shaped not only by its natural beauty, but by the parks, programs, and public spaces that bring people together every day.

It's a privilege to be a part of this important work.

In my background, I bring over 20 years of experience in parks, recreation, and community services, having worked as a department head in my three industry roles, and the most recent being in Newton, Massachusetts.

Throughout my career, I focused on building inclusive programs, maintaining high quality public spaces, and making sure services evolve alongside the needs of our community.

I've had the opportunity to work on park improvements, athletic fields construction, indoor and outdoor swimming pool renovations, golf course management.

Thank you, Nat, indoor and outdoor performance spaces, forestry, cultural development, programming, capital projects, partnerships, and of course, budgets, as we're in budget season.

Um lesson has stayed consistent.

The best parks and recreation systems are rooted in strong relationships with residents, staff, and partners alike.

As I step into this new role, my vision for Monterey Parks and Recreation is centered on four guiding principles.

First is stewardship and sustainability.

Monterey's parks, coastline, and recreational facilities are truly special.

My goal is to ensure that they are well cared for, resilient, safe, and sustainably managed.

So they will continue to serve our community, both today and for generations to come.

Second, access, equity, and community connection.

Parks and recreation are often the front door the front door to city services.

I want to make sure that our programs, facilities, and public spaces are welcoming.

They're accessible and they're responsible to the diverse needs of Monterey's residents.

Children, seniors, families, and visitors alike.

Third is strong partnerships and operational excellence.

Parks and recreation departments often work with virtually every other department based on the broad range of services that we provide.

From public works and planning to finance, public safety, libraries and culture, historic services, administrative services, collaboration is absolutely essential to getting the work done.

My focus will be on strengthening those internal and external partnerships while maintaining fiscal responsibility, transparency, and a high standard of service delivery.

Fourth is investing in and supporting our staff.

The strength of this department and really any city service comes down to the people, the people that are doing the work every day.

I am committing to committed to fostering a positive and supportive workplace that values professional development, clear communication, and staff well-being by investing in our team and giving them the tools they need to succeed, we strengthen our ability to serve the community consistently and effectively.

As I get started, my immediate focus will be on listening, getting to know our staff and understanding current projects and challenges.

We have really hit the ground running in my first week.

Also engaging with the community to learn.

I want to hear what is working and where we can continue to improve.

I'm very fortunate to join a team with deep institutional knowledge and a strong commitment to public service.

And I look forward to supporting their work.

They are true professionals and it is an absolute privilege to get to work along co-workers of this caliber.

I'm excited about what's ahead and committed to working collaborative collaboratively with city council, city manager and our community to continue strengthening Monterey's parks and recreation system.

I want to thank everyone again for the warm welcome.

It has been an amazing experience during this first week and I'm going to work to keep everyone informed as all of our shared work moves forward.

Thank you.

All righty I don't know if you want me to stay for questions or if there's um where I can sit back any questions at this time um so no questions but I wore red specifically for the 49er colors.

Ha ha it's gonna be a tough weekend.

So um yeah we have no fighting yeah niners and uh well welcome here from the cold and so you can set aside your uh your cold weather gear and uh enjoy the sunshine here um and we know that you've been a lot of places and hopefully um you settle in and you get to meet our team we look forward to hearing from you and hearing uh much more from your team and welcome aboard and uh I know you won't be shy if there's something you need so welcome aboard thank you.

Yeah please go ahead yeah no you're good you can go.

So I echo my colleague and just welcoming you uh here to the beautiful city of Monterey and so we know that you will enjoy it and we look forward to working with you.

Congratulations thank you please.

Congratulations welcome to Monterey um and from your remarks I notice that you have a sense of how much is happening in terms of parks and rec for our city so uh I look forward to um collaborating uh and sharing some information about district four and also uh just citywide uh projects and all that so congratulations thank you I'm glad you brought your stamina because we have 800 acres of open space and parks so you're gonna be very busy and we welcome your um your participation and how about some ballet classes at the Sports Center there's always the special requests.

Yes are you down for some teaching?

I'll take the class PG for my ballet class okay there was two things in what you said that uh uh stood out to me um the first and foremost was was your attention to the people in the amazing team that you we have here?

You're absolutely right.

There's three main divisions um for the general public um within parks and rec and Rec.

And so, you know, when we have our our parks department, which is managing this really unique city from the coastline to the pier.

Um the greater than most uh cities our size parks that we have.

Um there's a lot going on in that space to the unique programs that we have in recreation.

Um I keep hearing constantly from people all the time about um programs like Camp Kian Sabe.

Um it's cultural, and and that bleeds into the sports center.

Um, which uh I I've been more frequently going there since uh August, and you can just see how um it's not just a physical and an emotional outlet for people, but it's also a social space, and so it really helps change people's lives.

Um and so the other piece is that I I can see that you recognize that and Monterey is a special place, and we're really lucky to have you.

So look forward to continuing our work with you and just congratulate you on on your position and and the years to come.

Thank you.

I feel so fortunate.

It's a pinch me moment.

Absolutely for us too, Nicole.

Okay, thank you so much.

Let's give it up for Nicole one more time.

All right, with that, we'll go ahead and open it for public comment.

So for folks on Zoom, you can use a raise hand function.

Anybody in the chamber wish to speak on this item, and this is specifically regarding um Nicole coming in as our new parks and rec director.

All right, so I'm not seeing any takers in the chamber.

So I'll go ahead and cut it off in the chamber to a countdown for folks on Zoom to five, four, three, two, one.

We have one on Zoom.

Go ahead and take that caller.

Esther, you can go ahead.

Hi, Nicole.

My name is Esther Malkin.

I'm the president of the neighborhood association um adjacent to Laguna Grande Park.

I also want to welcome you and um reiterate how we are very lucky to have a great um staff that I've worked very closely with, and I'm sure we will have the opportunity to work together a lot on this park.

And um, you're definitely here at a good time because we have great weather right now, and it normally is great, but this is really great.

So I look forward to meeting you and um helping you um understand the this particular park's special needs and um anything else that I could possibly help you with.

Thank you.

Thanks, Esther.

With that, we'll go ahead and close public comment.

And her comment actually leads to a whole other thing with our city.

It's like, oh yeah, this is nice weather, but the other side of it is like it shouldn't be like this right now.

Uh climate change is real, and we have sea level rise, so all those elements I'm sure you'll be involved with as well.

So again, welcome, Nicole.

Um, with that, we'll go ahead and move on to our next item, which is general public comments.

So, this is an opportunity for folks to speak on things that aren't on today's agenda.

So I'll start with folks on Zoom.

You can use a raise hand function and I'll check with folks in the chamber.

Anybody in the chamber wishes to speak for general public comments.

I see one, two.

Anybody else?

If you don't mind stepping forward to the left of the podium if you're able and willing, um, that way we can just get folks lined up and ready to go.

So I have three folks in the chamber.

Anybody else in the chamber outside of the three?

All right.

So we'll go ahead and cut it off in the chamber.

I'll do a countdown for folks on Zoom to five, four, three, two, one.

We have one on Zoom.

We'll go ahead and start in the chamber.

Please.

Hello.

Thank you so much for listening to me.

Let me introduce myself.

My name is Edna Courry.

I live in Seaside with my husband.

He's uh this Ebel veteran.

And uh I'm here today to talk about the Sports Center, uh, an issue with the management there, uh especially with Mr.

William Richards.

I'm I'm sorry if I pronounced the name wrong, but um in short, I have been a member with the sports center, me and my husband since 2010.

I enjoyed going there, especially because I have lots of medical issues and I need to be in the sports center for the whatever I have, it helps.

And um, let me go back to 2019.

Uh, if you've been to Sports Center, guys, this is the hallway.

And to the left, you go to the woman's uh washer, to the right, you go to the men's washer.

The men's washer, you had a big hallway until you arrived there.

The woman's your step one, two, and you're already inside.

So in 2019, I was there after I swam, I was naked, and a gentleman entered.

I was shocked.

I was traumatized.

And uh I talked to the lady that was a manager there.

I forgot her name.

She was very nice, Dr.

something, and she understood the situation.

I come from a very traditional family.

I don't want anybody to see me except my husband.

And I have the right for that.

So I felt like my privacy was whether he did it in purpose or accidentally, I don't know.

But because the door was open, I I talked to the uh doctor there, and she said, Oh, okay.

So we are fixing it.

There is a problem with the button, push button, and we are fixing it.

And she tried and she tried.

She fixed it for a while, but then there was a COVID.

We went to COVID.

We came back from COVID a year and a half after that.

Uh the door was open.

And then Mr.

Bill came to be the manager.

I talked to him, and he said, uh, I'm sorry, there is there is a problem there, there is something going on, and we are fixing it.

And then after that, he said, we fixed it for so for a while it worked, and then again it was open until I had to talk with him and another lady who was manager here.

She came and we sat down and he said, okay, because we understand your situation, you had the trauma, somebody says he's seeing you and dressed.

We will allow you to be in the swimming pool for an hour and a half.

We will close the door.

When you leave, we will open it until we fix the problem.

But guess what?

The problem never fixed.

Every time Mr.

Bill will come and give me another uh another reason why it's not uh closed, another reason why until the day of August 4.

Uh, I asked the lady who was manager there, so please can you close the door?

Because I want to use the she said, no.

From now on, we're not closing the door at all.

The door will stay open all the time.

I said, but I have an agreement with the manager.

No, the door will stay open.

She said, talk to him.

I said, okay, is he here?

She said, no.

And then I went home and I found the letter.

He sent me a letter suspending me for six months, saying not come for six months.

Ma'am, I'm sorry, I I don't mean to cut you off, but the timer uh is going off.

What I would ask you to do is maybe a great time um for uh Nicole's introductory here.

If you wouldn't mind maybe connecting with her and um seeing if staff can assist.

I just need to sit with somebody.

He's he's refusing to see me.

Yep, sorry.

Send him anything.

Yeah, and I apologize.

The only reason why I'm I'm I'm um uh not allowing you to continue talking is because if I do that for you, everybody else will have the same right, and I just want to make sure that we're fair to everybody.

So if you wouldn't mind connecting with Nicole, and um hopefully staff will be able to assist you in addressing the Nicole.

Right here in the front row.

Nicole, thank you so much.

So can I get these back if you uh awesome.

Thank you, ma'am, for coming to speak.

Thank you so much.

Thank you.

Hello, how are you guys doing?

My name is Mohammed, me and my siblings.

Um, we own the two local businesses in all in downtown Monterey, Menasier's craves and Nacho Business.

We're a part of the board in old Monterey, and we just had a complaint about we constantly have these people.

Um, some of them are homeless, some are not, that are constantly um interrupting and and really corrupting that area in downtown Monterey.

It's a great area for tourists, beautiful area.

But when tourists come and they see these people trashing around our our shop.

They see people, you know, loud music, which is illegal loud music.

Um, and we've repeatedly complained about this.

We've told the police about it and stuff like that, and they come in, but they keep coming back, they just keep coming back, and we're just asking for the security because we know the security that comes until 5 p.m.

We're just asking for an extension of that because mostly they'll be at night, like 7 a.m., 6 a.m., uh, 7 pm, 6 p.m., something like that.

You know, they smoke marijuana, very like it's a very strong smell, all that stuff, and it's just uh dysfunctional.

Uh, to be honest, to be frank, and we're just looking for an extension of the hours for the security, and that's all.

Thank you so much.

Awesome.

Thank you for it.

Um, it may be good to connect with staff just to kind of provide any additional information to them.

And I and for the record, during general public comment, just for everybody's awareness, we don't engage in a conversation because it's not an agendized item.

We have to publicize that, so um, we usually just pass off to staff to make sure that everybody has a warm handoff and um hopefully we'll be able to get the issues addressed.

Alrighty, sir.

Hello, Mr.

Mayor, members of the city council.

Good afternoon.

My name is Bill Duros.

I'm formerly a resident of Monterey.

I live over the hill now in Carmel, but I still am a property owner here in Monterey.

I hold this town very dear to me, as well as where I live now in Carmel.

And I'm here to ask that the city of Monterey set as a priority for 2026, finding some way to connect the two cities via a bike path and or pedestrian path.

I know that you have a new parks director with nothing else to do.

Maybe this could be the first thing that she tackles this year.

This is a multi-jurisdictional issue, so it's not just the cities to share.

In fact, maybe the sum of the solutions of the majority might be outside of the city.

But the city's relevant because if someone else plans a bike path into the city of Monterey that's not where you want it to go.

Well, that's going to be a failed design effort.

Um I've done the walk several times in the last year.

Um I'm here, so um it's actually doable, but I can also tell you there are parts of it that are quite terrifying to walk along highway one to cut across off-ramps from the highway.

Same is true of written a bicycle there.

Maybe the risk goes down a little bit because you can pass through more quickly, but it's not inviting and it's not encouraging.

And yet, the city of Monterey, like the county of Monterey, the city of Carmel, Tamsi as well, all have projects and goals to reduce the impacts of climate change.

Getting people out of cars is number one on all of those lists.

And uh the promotion that goes on to bring more tourists here every every year, it's successful.

Um, I've lived here a long time.

The roads get more and more full with cars, not bicyclists.

And I think we need to make a real effort to find a way to connect those two, these two cities.

I have ideas.

I could suggest where that should be.

Should it go through the state park that's there along Highway One?

Should it be maybe some new restriping on Viejo Road, which is wide enough, and there is a small segment of uh class one bikeway that goes from highway 68 to Viejo.

Obviously, that should be part of it, but it shouldn't be designed by me as a citizen as much as I'd like to.

I used to work for a planning agency.

I find it very rewarding.

But experts like what you have here in the city of Monterey, but Tamsi has the city of Carmel and the county as well.

I've made presentations to TAMC earlier last week.

Um, also talked with and made a presentation in the same forum to the county of Monterey as well as uh the city as well.

So I have a letter that has more details in it addressed to the mayor.

Maybe it's something the city council could all see.

I just hope you can all tackle this this year and really make it a priority because it merges so many goals that the city has and all the other jurisdictions, and it'd be a benefit to all of us.

Thank you.

Awesome.

Thank you for your suggestion, sir.

And I would also have you connect with staff just to make sure that uh we capture all your feedback and suggestions there.

Um, mayor, yeah.

Bill.

Perfect.

Take the card begin call.

Yeah, so Ed, Ed is our rep on TMC, and so um, good connection point there as it relates to the city and the county um efforts.

Today was better than last week.

So, good to see you, Bill.

All right, we call with that.

We'll go ahead and close it off in the chamber and we'll go to our callers on Zoom.

Esther, you can go ahead.

Hello again, everybody.

I'd like to request um that the council in the near future agendize addressing the border between Seaside and Monterey, which runs along Laguna Grande Park.

It is an ongoing issue when it comes to homeowners that are living adjacent to the park, as well as when it comes to projects that we are trying to accomplish on the Monterey side that are on the seaside property.

We have precedence set with a soccer field that somehow was put there with NCIP funds, and a bathroom there that Monterey maintains.

Both of those are in the actual seaside city border.

So this is a problem that we've been encountering for well over a decade, um, previous leadership of the city said they would address it and have not.

And the problems only have continued to come up in various ways.

So I'm hoping that it can be agendized after some staff research and as well as even the legalities of it, because there is a JPA that has their hand in all in the whole park.

And if somebody gets hurt at the park, it's a liability to all three agencies involved, the two cities and the JPA.

So this should be an item that probably should have been addressed a long time ago.

The park was created almost uh half a century ago, and clearly the area used to be a bunch of orchards from my understanding, and it's very different now.

So it needs to be um addressed to bring it into this century, and um it should be also something to be looked at when it comes to the parks master plan that was last looked at in 2015.

Um I also want to bring up uh in general, since we have a new parks and rec manager coming on board.

We have residents in this city that are aging.

Our county is predicted to have a significant increase in seniors over 65 by 2030.

And I would suggest that, like it states in the master plan for all our parks that we should be addressing that um now that we're on the cusp of that, being very, very close to uh the needs of the area changing.

So I look forward to hopefully seeing this on in the agenda once uh Nicole has had a chance to look it over and that we can get this handled once and for all because the can has been kicked down the road long enough.

Thank you.

Thanks, Esther.

All right, and with that, we will go ahead and close general public comment and move on to our consent agenda.

Um, I've heard of no uh items being pulled at this point.

Counselor, do you wish to pull anything?

No.

All right, seeing none.

Uh staff, anything that should be pulled that you're aware of.

Not seeing any takers.

With that, we'll go ahead and go um out for public comment.

So this is an opportunity to speak on anything on the consent agenda or a request to pull an item from the consent agenda.

So if you're requesting it to be pulled, you'll leave your comments until that item is discussed separately.

So I'll check with folks on Zoom.

And if anybody on Zoom wishes speak on consent items, you can use a raise hand function.

Anyone in the chamber?

All right, I'm not seeing any takers in the chamber.

So we'll go ahead and cut it off in the chamber.

I'll do a countdown for folks on Zoom to five, four, three, two, one.

And there's nobody on Zoom.

Bring it back to the council for motion and deliberation.

Move to approve agenda.

It's been moved and seconded.

Any other discussion?

All those in favor?

Aye.

Aye.

Any opposed?

Motion passes unanimously.

With that, we'll move to our public appearance items 13 on the agenda is to appoint Dante G.

Hall as city manager, approve employment contract, and amend the city's full-time salary schedule.

With that, I'll pass it to Chrissy for staff presentation.

Good afternoon, Mayor and City Council.

I am have a brief presentation.

Oh, okay.

Um, as you know, there's been an active recruitment going on, a nationwide search for the city's next city manager.

And the request tonight is that the city council appoint Dante Hall as the next city manager for the city of Monterey, approve his employment contract, and um amend the position the salary schedule.

So Mr.

Hall was selected as um the next city manager, if you all approve it tonight, after a very rigorous um nationwide recruitment process with many qualified candidates.

He has more than 17 years of experience working for many cities, and he currently serves as the city manager for the city of Hercules.

He holds a Master of Public Administration degree and a bachelor of arts degree in social work.

He is also an international city-county management association, which is commonly referred to as ICMA, a credentialed city manager.

And as indicated in the agenda report, he has a depth of experience at all levels of city government, from uh a community development director position to housing issues to assistant city manager and city manager.

So he has the breadth and depth of experience that the city council was um looking for in this recruitment process.

Next slide.

So the Brown Act requires that the city um publicly hold a session where the amount of the proposed contract is disclosed and the public have an opportunity to comment on it.

This is a little bit different than the amount that was published in the agenda report because Mr.

Hall is a PEPRA employee and not a classic employee.

That probably doesn't mean much to most people out there.

Basically, PEPRA is a reform to the retirement system and newer employees, or if you had a uh lapse in service for a period of time, you become a PEPRA employee.

It actually saves the city money over time, um, although it does look like it's a bit more, and that's just because of the contribution, but over time it saves the city money.

So in some uh the request is for a salary, a base salary of $320,000 plus benefits in retirement and a relocation, uh stipend of $15,000, resulting in 410, 461 and change that will be prorated for uh the rest of this year as his start date is anticipated to be at the beginning of April.

And then it also shows um pursuant to the contract to 3% cost of living increases, which would also take place in April of those fiscal years.

And so next.

So with that, uh we um recommending on behalf of the city council, pursuant to closed session direction that Dante Hall be appointed as city manager, that you authorize the employment contract to be executed in a form uh approved by my office, and that the full-time salary schedule be amended.

Awesome.

Thank you, Chrissy, and thank you for all your help throughout this entire process.

You're welcome.

Um, and I also want to thank the council um for the great amount of deliberation that went into this.

Um it wasn't an easy decision.

We had, I believe it was 57 applicants, um, somewhere around there.

So there was a lot of interest in this position with a lot of qualified applicants.

Um, and I think it goes to show um how much there is a desire to want to work in a city um like Monterey, kind of goes to the point earlier around um the amazing team that we have uh in the city of Monterey.

And I'm just really uh excited to um have Dante come on board and um similarly to how Nicole shared in her remarks earlier.

I know that one of the things that he's excited to do and and is gonna be his tact when he comes on board um is to listen and uh develop the relationships and hear from all the different stakeholders, which there are not a shortage of uh in the city of Monterey.

Um I did chat with him uh a few days ago, and he did express that he wanted to be here today, but unfortunately they he has a council meeting um up in Hercules, so there he wasn't able to be here otherwise he would.

Um, but there'll be plenty of time uh for folks to get to meet him.

Um, but I just want to thank him for uh his interest in in working um with and for the city of Monterey.

And uh at this time I'll just open it up to my colleagues for any comments, please.

Yeah.

The um the community has had a lot of questions and interest in this appointment, and I'm relieved that we can finally tell you how we feel about it.

I was so impressed with Mr.

Hall.

Um, he's mature, and he's poised and he's very centered.

And I think that will be um a gift to to all of us, um, to the council, to the department heads.

I think he has a disposition to uh be a leader that we can all learn from.

So I'm very much looking forward to that.

Um he was very I laugh because he's very enthusiastic about helping us with our budget problem.

And I'm not sure I heard that from any anybody, including all of us.

So kudos to him if you're listening, Dante, or if you watch the video.

Also, he had an assistant manager position when he was in foster city.

That is a bustling um on the water city with an airport nearby.

I mean, he's hearing all these airplanes in foster city landing at the at the San Francisco Airport, which is really in right above Foster City.

And he has all the experience with a water port, and then at Hercules, the same thing that's on the East Bay water front, as you all know.

And so I want you to know how excited I am by the appointment.

And he uh he stood out.

It was hard to stand out in the final field.

It was very hard because we had some exceptional candidates, but um, I think we're in a great place going forward, and uh I'm very excited.

So, please.

I also share in the excitement um in uh Dante's appointment.

Um and I want to speak a little bit to the process because it it um it was uh it felt like a very thorough process.

I something that really stuck with me was um we as as a as a council had the opportunity to um craft our own questions uh during a very specific part of the process.

Um and uh I was very uh pleased and and impressed by my colleagues who brought very insightful questions uh to the process, which um once again reminds me of how uh each of us here really has um the best interest of the city in mind, and specifically for um, you know, selecting a candidate um to fill a position that's very important for for any jurisdiction.

So I just wanted to share that um I think it's important to to highlight that.

I'm very excited about uh what Dante brings to the table.

Uh his his experience I think is very impressive.

I think there are um uh many things that he uh will bring to our city that uh we are in need of.

So I'm very excited uh for Dante and excited about the appointment.

Thank you.

Uh yeah, so I echo my colleagues again.

Um just saying that I'm really excited about Dante coming on board, but I'd like to thank all of the candidates um who came forth in the process and the time and energy that they put in because it was a very thorough process, and so I'm very glad to that they took the time to do that, and especially at the final um interviews.

Uh, I really like to thank um those candidates um who put forth that effort um and knowing that it was a hard choice, but I do believe that um with Dante coming aboard with uh um strategic um planning and economic um economic development uh background that he has an idea and working with the structural deficits and having done those things before I believe um with his type of uh demeanor that it will be an asset to our um community.

Yeah, thank you.

Um yeah, difficult choice.

And uh as we go through a process like this, um, you know, the approach that I took was I was wanting to really dissect the position of a city manager and reflect on the job dimensions um and do a deep dive in terms of uh what are the things that the city manager will be doing uh not only on a day-to-day business, but but also this is a unique hire uh for city council, knowing that our position is to hire a city manager, and we also hire city attorneys.

So those are our two employees, so everything we want to try and do as a city and vision and and carry out our public service with a mission is through that city manager, and that's a unique position to be in as a council member.

So I drew on some experiences, and I was just counting up uh a couple days ago that I actually worked for eight different city managers in my public sector um time of service.

Um I've also as a city council member uh had uh two different city managers, and the third is an intromas is Lou Bauman.

So I've had a lot of experience in weighing and measuring the demeanor, the um ability for them to interact and build relationships, build trust, and create the basic team that works in very important work, and knowing that a city manager in the city of Monterey is only one of about 458 city managers in the state of California, so a very unique position, um, very important hire, very impressed with everything that we were able to see and weigh uh from uh Mr.

Hall.

So I look forward to seeing him come on board in April.

Um, and you know, the other thing is we we did get some input from our community, and that was that was great.

Uh part of the process is that we had the executive recruiter and hats off to um them following our direction and actually delivering what we ask for, and that was uh Bob Murray and associates and Valerie uh being the owner represented that I think it was amazing to me that we could function so high at 7 30 on a Saturday morning, and then a follow-up on Saturday morning and all day events, and then actually when we finally got to the point we met on a Sunday uh at a special session.

So this was a combination of hearing from the community, hearing from the applicants and what uh the match would be back to the job dimension, and I think it was a very effective process.

There is high talent, high achieving, maximum effort delivered by the entire organization.

So I look forward to seeing him uh come and join our um fine organization with the wonderful people we have at work here now.

And so look forward to uh April when we make our transition.

But I want to say one more thing.

We have a lot of things to do between now and April.

So don't think that we are just waiting for Mr.

Hall.

Uh, he's gonna watch, he's gonna participate.

He won't be here seeing you, but we will be talking to him as we make the transition.

So it'll be seamless for the community, and you'll still see high-functioning city of Monterey serving the public and the community at large and making sure that we are prepared for the decisions that we have to make as we build our budget uh coming up to uh be ready for July 1 as the start of a new year.

So still much more work to do with the council and the staff that's here and welcoming uh Mr.

Hall and congratulations on being able to offer him this position.

Awesome.

Um thank you for bringing up Valerie.

I was gonna uh uh thank her and and uh Bob Marie and associates for supporting um our efforts, and I think thanks also need to go to our HR team for helping to facilitate the experience as well.

Um, and in addition to the community members that helped support um providing feedback in regards to the elements that we were looking for for this position.

There was also other key stakeholders um throughout the city, including the business community that helped provide feedback.

So this was an all hands on deck approach, and I just really appreciate um everybody's support in in making this happen.

Um, I'm really excited.

I think it it's clear that the the council is pretty excited here.

Um the last thing I would say is um just ask for a little bit of patience as key transitions in because it's gonna be a lot.

It's gonna be like drinking from a fire hose.

So um oh, actually, I I do want to share one more thing because it was posted in the weekly.

Um, it was kind of these the message of their story, but but also I am certain that um folks are having sticker shock when they're seeing those numbers associated with um the compensation.

And and what I would share is that when I got on to the council seeing some of the higher salaries that it um um are in the city of Monterey, it was uh pretty hard for me uh to grasp that and figure that out.

Um and frankly frankly, there's still a little part of me that struggles with it.

Um but the fact of the matter is is that we have to stay competitive and in order to recruit and retain good talent within the city of Monterey.

Um, there is a very clear um strategic methodology methodology that is used in order to identify um where a salary should fall.

Um, and so when we went through the process of labor negotiations, um, one of the elements that we looked at was uh a salary survey, and it allows us to look at comparable agencies to determine um around how much do our comparable agencies um pay employees within similar positions, and so um again, we have to stay competitive and um I I would just what I would offer for folks that are still struggling with that is to say this is an opportunity to lean in more and to maintain that high expectation that you expect of our city services.

So with that, I'm gonna go ahead and open it up for public comments.

For folks on Zoom, you can use the raise hand function.

Anybody in the chamber wishes speak on this item.

All right, seeing none, I'm going to close it off into the chamber.

I'll do a countdown for folks on Zoom to five, four, three, two, one.

We have one on Zoom.

Yes, this is our telephone caller, and you can go ahead, please.

Yes, this is Nina Beattie.

Um, I first of all, I'd like some clarification on what is meant by feedback from the business community.

At what point did the feedback occur in this process?

Um the city claimed that interviews would be confidential.

I requested in the interest of transparency and honesty that the city confirm that all wireless communication devices, including smartphones, would be left outside the room.

This would have been simple to do if there was a will and an interest in transparency, but I received no confirmation.

In fact, one council member contacted me telling me that they had turned personally turned off their phone.

So it appears that all participants had their devices with them in the supposedly extremely confidential situation.

So I wonder how many others didn't turn off device, even turn off devices, because with their their those phones in the room, conversations could be easily monitored from outside the room by others and comments and directions sent into the room via those devices without other members being aware of it.

In a city where there's public trust and accountability by leadership, this wouldn't be an issue.

It wouldn't even be a question.

But leadership here has charted its own course against the will of the city and its residents over and over again.

Monterey leadership has recently and over the years repeatedly broken public trust, hiding information, providing false information, ignoring the public, ignoring facts, failure in accountability, and failing to comply with federal, state, and even their local laws, all of which harms the public in the city's future.

I hope that Mr.

Hall will be a good city manager.

He was partially responsible for Hercules being a finalist for the Smart Cities North America Award, and he spotlighted leveraging technology.

What does that mean?

It would be extremely negative and harmful to Monterey if he steered the city in the direction of being a smart city.

Which would be bring toxic wireless antennas throughout the city and increase surveillance to eliminate public privacy.

I hope that doesn't happen here.

I hope he will be a good city manager.

Thank you.

All right, give me one second here.

Um so there was a draft timeline that was shared publicly in an open session meeting.

Um that identified when we would be establishing uh a committee that would be helping to provide some additional feedback.

And I don't know exactly when it happened, um, but that was shared publicly.

So there was no, there was nothing snuck in there.

Um it was all publicly shared in regards to the timeline of of the process.

Um, but it would it that process happened prior to um the interview, the application period closing.

So it was all part of actually before the announcement went out.

So it was all part of us receiving feedback in regards to who we were looking for in order to make the selection in the process.

Um the the comment around phones.

Um Ms.

BD did contact the council in regards to um her request to have us not have any electronic devices in the room.

What I would offer as a response is that I haven't heard anything.

Um I I am open to receiving feedback if anybody has heard anything leaked out of the interview process.

Um but frankly, you know, we're all adults, and I'm I'm not gonna sit here and babysit the council.

Um, if we make a rule to not have electronic devices in the room, um, who knows if somebody has it in their bag or their pocket.

Again, we're not gonna sit here and police.

We expect the council and and I think it has executed as as it should have, um, to to uphold the the confidentiality of the process, just like all of our closed session discussions.

We have our computers in the room, our phones are here.

Um, so then there's not any difference in that confidential space um as well.

Um and frankly, um emergencies happen.

You know, we're we're community members just like the rest of you.

And I remember um one time a colleague on the council um had a uh family emergency that only they would only have known about and been able to respond to by having their electronic device.

And if we needed to, we could pause the session in order to make sure that we provide that flexibility.

So I I appreciate the effort in regards to um trying to uphold the process, um, but I think we did exactly that.

I and nothing has shown me anything otherwise.

Um, and then in regards to the the critique around um Mr.

Hall helping to champion the smart city experience.

Um, I can guarantee you, Miss Beattie and to the rest of the community that if anything like that were to occur in the city of Monterey, that is a policy decision that has to give the authority from the council.

And so as long as it's legal and ethical, I have every confidence that Mr.

Hall is gonna uphold the direction that the council and the community give him.

But again, that has to go in front of the council in order for something to be implemented.

Um, and we will make sure that we have an open public transparent process as it relates to that and make sure that the community has an opportunity to provide feedback and input.

Um, so with that, I'll go ahead and make a motion to approve uh make a motion contract.

Make a motion to approve of the contract for second.

We all want to.

Who made the motion?

I didn't okay.

Then I'll second.

Um motion and seconded.

Any other discussion?

All right, all those in favor?

Aye.

Any opposed?

All right, motion passes unanimously.

Congrats, Dante, whenever you see this.

Um you'll see it tonight at about 11 30.

We've got the discussion.

Exactly.

All right.

With that, we will go to our um last agenda item for this even or for this.

I guess it's kind of approaching evening here.

Um, number 14 is to authorize the city manager or doesn't need to execute an agreement with Monterey County Office of Education for an amount not to exceed 120,668 dollars and forty cents for production and broadcast services.

Before I pass this to Lou, I am just going to share that.

So I'm still stealing maybe a little bit of your thunder, Lou.

But the city of Monterey has been utilizing AMP for quite some time here.

And of course, we're going to allow some public feedback and input.

So not predetermining in the direction this is going.

In fact, I haven't talked to any of my colleagues about this, so I don't know where they all stand.

But this is a difficult decision because AMP is rooted in Monterey.

And these are our neighbors, these are our community members.

And so the potential transition for us away from AMP, I know is going to be detrimental to AMP and what that means to folks that are living within our communities.

At the same time, it is important for the city to make sure that we're managing public dollars appropriately and as efficiently as possible.

So I just ask for everybody's grace, not just for the city, but also for our partners in AMP to just help with whatever the transition looks like here as we move forward.

So with that, I'll go ahead and pass it to Lou for staff presentation.

Thank you, member and mayor and council members.

Thank you for the introduction to the item.

This evening we have uh Lori Huelga, our communications manager who was involved in the process and will provide a brief overview.

And if you have any questions, both myself and assistant city manager can, as well as our county uh excuse me, city attorney can chime in.

Thank you.

Awesome.

Thank you, Lou.

It's not too often we get to see you in the chambers, Laurie.

Thank you, Lou.

And thank you, Mayor and Council, for letting me present to you tonight.

We have uh just a few slides here.

Uh just for quick background, our current service provider, as you know, is uh is AMP.

And uh the city of Monterey originally contracted with AMP in 1998 to provide PIG X government access programming on the Monterey Channel, which is Cable Channel 25.

And since 2020, uh, with COVID, uh AMP services also now stream city programming live and on demand on the city's YouTube channel.

Uh the current agreement with AMP expires April 20th of this year.

Uh next slide.

So uh in keeping with the city's standards of practice, staff published a request for proposal last October for production and broadcast services with the goal of determining whether these services could be provided more effectively and at a lower cost.

Also, this budget deficit strategy, if you remember, was an index card number 10.

Uh the oh, number 10 and the index card during the exercise in the fall of 2025.

So the uh the next slide shows our RFP evaluation criteria.

So we went through we based it on six criteria proposed cost, technical approach, experience and qualifications, management team and organizational structure, compliance and communication.

The uh proposed cost and experience and qualifications were rated at 25% each, technical approach 20%, and 10 each on the the last three.

And then um we received a total of um six proposals, and the top three were invited back for an in-person interview.

Ranked first is uh McKate, Media Center for Art Education and Technology.

That's what McCate stands for, and they're a division of Monterey County Office of Education.

Ranked second is Pegasus, a company from Southern California who has provided broadcast services since 2008 to several Southern California uh cities and counties, and then ranked third is our current provider, Access Media Productions.

Uh here um you see the annual cost proposals from each.

So as our recommendation uh based on the RFP results and while city staff appreciate the longstanding relationship with AMP staff recommend authorizing the city manager to execute a contract with MCOE MCOE for future production and broadcast services that would begin the spring of 26.

Awesome thank you for the present laurie any questions at this time from the council this is probably an appropriate time to um ask you for reassurance that we will have a contract that retains access to the um YouTube videos of all our commissions and proceedings that that will have a library of content within whatever contract gets awarded tonight our YouTube channel is managed by the city of Monterey we we have access to it so that that piece will not change at all okay could I ask a follow up to that um our YouTube channel only goes back I believe it's five years so all the video recordings prior to that date aren't available on YouTube.

When I talked to Hans about this um sometime last year because I was trying to go back and look at a council meeting um he said that AMP had that so I guess my that's my question is is how does that data reside and and will we maintain access to that even if it's not on YouTube.

So we had an so the we go with the um retention policy and right now the retention policy says that we should be keeping um the videos for 10 years and if the council or I I guess it goes back to council and would change that if they need if they wanted to is that how that works um but we do have past uh videos and we we had it on hard drive and so they have it in the cloud and so that those are still available and um I'm not a hundred percent sure how far back they go but I know they I'm not sure if they go back to 1998 technically the the minutes are the official record though and those are always retained.

Okay maybe a maybe a deeper conversation for another day but I just wanted to make sure that we can right in the data it it's important for the public to have access to that historical knowledge of of what we were doing and and for the city to have it so I would be real supportive of looking into assuring that there's some kind of library of retained of what we're doing.

Okay.

Any other questions at this time please Dr.

Barber I thank you so I was noticing in the packet how we had the breakdown of the technical approach in the management team and the compliance for the other two for Pegasus and for AMP but I didn't see and it may I might have dismissed it I didn't see where MCAET um breakdown is for that what their approach is and their management team and compliance did I miss it somewhere are you are you referring to the agenda report yes let's see and that was for the compliance with standards you have um on page um 80 you have the breakdown for the criteria oh right and then when you have the breakdown for the criteria you have it for AMP and I see it for um for Pegasus because they were the second highest and then when it comes to then it goes straight to MCAET recommended by the city of Salinas but it doesn't give the breakdown like it does for the other ones as far as the um compliance and their approach and I was just curious.

So the weight the weight is um all each of the six criteria were weighted the same for each of the three um right I'm not asking about the weight I'm um I'm trying to see if they had the breakdown of it because they kind of talk about it a little bit but they don't go into the same breakdown as they did for um other than seeing the recommendation from the city of salinas i was just curious as to what that looked like for mc ae t and their approach and management team and compliance yes so their their compliance and standards um all the broadcasting services that they provide comply with all applicable state and federal regulations uh as well as any standards set forth by the city of monterey and uh they they implement measures to ensure accessibility which is uh you know a big piece as well um and they they understand that whole accessibility piece and how it you know is evolving and changing constantly um and then they also uh provide Spanish subtitles that's part of their compliance and standards okay um and then they do do the post production and upload to YouTube as we currently have and then they also uh say that they they base the level of service um let's see oh they they designate you know point of contact related to the scope of the work and provide regular updates and progress and performance of services uh just as we had had requested and then it says um they'll submit an annual report summarizing the meetings broadcast technical performance and any recommendations for service enhancements okay thank you yeah thank you laurie for the uh information um could you speak a little bit about the transition plan and then i might have a follow up depending on your so there's um just a little over oh probably about 10 weeks um so they've already um they would take a look at what we currently have and they and take a look at the infrastructure here and uh then they would talk with our IT and then basically get their um service their technology piece aligned with ours and they've already you know kind of because they did the proposal they've already had to figure a lot of that out so it wouldn't be you know just starting they've already you know taken a look at that um and then in terms of the technical piece um our IT has been involved with this process as well so they're more in tune with exactly what that turnover process would be I don't know if not do you have any other you know information on that transition part.

It uh the RFP I think we uh talked about the transition timeline and uh the details I think I wasn't part of the interview but uh Lori you and uh we we had um Clementine the city clerk and also our uh lead uh IT network systems analyst who uh who is uh the lead for this facility was part of that interview process and I believe uh connected with uh MK directly about uh the transition and they feel confident that we'll be able to make that uh make that switch.

Yeah and I do remember in our conversations they were confident in the the time frame that there would you know we felt like it would be seamless.

So my follow-up is um from the conversations that have had have been had regarding say hardware or software or anything equipment-wise do you foresee staff having to come back to request additional funding for for that aspect of the transition so that their systems will align with ours the systems are will already align but I do during this process I did learn that um our ISD team has a an RFP um proposed that they're gonna open up for we do need more um hardware purchasing for this for some upgrades so there it's very seamless they know are the software that we're currently using they use it um and they are able to you know tie in and and understand it but just so the a whole separate piece would be another RFP for some um hardware that that we will be needing.

And also that the um that hardware upgrade would be needed regardless of the vendor we we have some aging technology in the chamber that was it's already been planned yeah um so if I can clarify the the RFP that we're talking about releasing that was that would happen regardless of the transition correct okay question yeah laurie I think you maybe answered it on the technology and the storage piece so um when we go to a new provider and we end the contract in April there is nothing that we need to continue to pay AMP for access to what they have recorded already so that's in our cloud that we control that we can access it's it's ours and um but they have it on their cloud and we have a hard drive and we're just um with copies in case there's a PRA or you know it then we can you know locate that video and provide it.

So it's just something we're going to be moving um we would move it but we still have access to it yes okay so if I'm a member of the public and I want to go back and see Ed Smith at a time when he had a mustache.

Five years ago rule the tapes yeah if they want to go back and they search on our portal are they actually accessing our side of the cloud or is there a pipeline that goes to AMP and is there a couple other steps that have to occur between now and April that ensures the public will be able to call up those within that 10 year mark and I understand videos take up a lot of space and cloud service and all that but is there something else that has to happen between AMP?

So so on YouTube we have um since 2019 when we start or 2020 um on the website that we link to from our monterey.gov website we have we had an agreement to have three years worth because of the storage capacity but they we do have those other ones that that that would be something that we would have from three from four years on that is something that we had a hard drive and the hard drive um kind of it failed and so but it's still all those files are still in the cloud and they there are so we will be able to get them but that we that's gonna be a transition piece okay thank you um yeah so in in whenever we have the you know hard drives and now we go to the cloud service I think we get much more portable abilities because it's the cloud and not because there's a server on a rack and it goes down and you have to have a backup server those days are gone so that's a good thing.

Right.

Um so and I know that these transitions take take a little bit of time in your conversations with the uh potential new provider through the Monterey County Office of Education did you get a sense that the folks that would be assigned to us are folks that are experienced in other city council meetings and maybe there's an opportunity for AMP employees that go to work there.

So do you have a sense of the employment pool that we might see that come to us.

Yes they have a very substantial training program and they do um over a lot of um shadowing and overlap to make sure all of the specific pieces of the where they work um have multiple people being able to to do that and um I can't speak that if there would be additional opportunities, but that is obviously a um a definite possibility, but I'm not sure in terms of of staffing but the they did say that you know they they do um they have a good stable um learning facility that really helps them and a lot of their students become staff and long-term staff.

So that that piece is was um very it was very impressive.

Yeah, okay, good.

Um, and just that's all the questions I had.

Yes, please.

Um pink me back off of that uh your question.

Um, because I said the city of Salinas um recommendation is that the is that the city council that they were that they actually were um videotaping.

Did they have that that type of um partnership or what the city of Salinas?

What did they do for them?

They do the same thing for the city of Salinas that we currently have.

Okay.

That's what I was just getting.

Yeah, it's the same.

Okay, thank you.

All right, let's go ahead and thank you, Lori, for answering those questions.

Um, we're gonna go ahead and open it up for public comment for folks on Zoom.

You can use the raise hand function.

Anybody in the chamber wish to speak on this item.

I see two takers.

Anybody else in the chamber?

I only see the two that are coming up to the podium.

So I just want to make sure one last time.

All right, so we'll cut it off to the two in the chamber.

I'll do a countdown for folks on Zoom to five, four, three, two, one.

We have two on zoom.

We'll go ahead and start in the chamber.

Hello, council.

Uh just want to say thank you for your service.

I appreciate it.

I'm here at a lot of different meetings.

I do a lot of meetings for different entities and cities all over the peninsula.

Apologize, nervous public speaker, usually in the back, but um my name's Kodiak Adams.

I'm a Carmel resident, actually.

I've been working with uh AMP for seven years, pretty much straight out of college.

And um just wanted to say like one of my first experiences uh with the city of Monterey was COVID hitting and sitting at a 12 and a half hour virtual meeting on Zoom where everyone else from the city was getting laid off and it kind of it's it struck me.

Um the second big thing I did was getting a call from a friend and a lot of the city employees were there, but helping with the Panetta Institute during during COVID, and I was an integral part of that, and that was through my connections with the city and John Hiddleston, who's a professional professor at CSU and B.

Um it's been my life for seven years.

This has been my career, it's what I studied in college, and I'm a little afraid I'm just gonna go back into the service industry like everyone else now around here my age.

So just wanted to say thank you and let you know how much it's meant to me to work with the city.

Thank you, Cody.

Thank you for sharing.

Thank you, Cody.

Hello, mayor and council.

My name is Noah Daniels.

I'm the executive director for AMP.

Um I had something written and I decided to scrap it last minute and just come speak to you from the heart.

We've had an almost 30 year relationship with the city of Monterey, and I personally would hate to see a relationship get thrown away.

Um quite honestly, in haste.

It's going to take AMP to complete this transition.

It's going to take AMP to retain that 10 years of data that we currently hold for you right now.

Um and for 30 years it's taken AMP to run these meetings.

So I just would like to first thank the staff.

I know the process was thorough.

We applied like everyone else.

We went through the interviews and it was a great process.

And so I'm not negating any of the findings.

I'm not negating anything, but I think as you all know what the cost of living is here in Monterey, not in Salinas, where McKate happens.

Um I'm running a nonprofit and I'm trying to pay my employees fairly.

So the price that you see that we are asking for this contract is reflected in that cost of living, just like you talk about with your city manager and these hard decisions.

So I just would like to ask the council to maybe think about the transition period a little bit more.

Maybe think of some options how we can assist with the transition, because it's not been something that we've discussed with the city at all.

Um so yeah, I just would like a little more thought to this issue before a decision is made.

Thank you.

Thank you.

All right, with that, we'll go to our callers on Zoom.

Yes, Ms.

Beattie, you can go ahead, please.

This is Nina Beattie.

Um, I oppose leaving AMP media.

MCOE is a government agency.

AMP Media is a public nonprofit that's a big difference.

Let me read the description they have on one of the websites AMP Media is the community media organization for Monterey County.

We help everyone the general public nonprofit organizations and public agencies get their message out through video and other digital media founded in 1998 is Access Monterey Monterey Peninsula a 501c3 tax exempt group we operate through community support user fees and funding from the cities of Monterey Marina Seaside and Pacific Grove.

And we offer the community broadcast and webcast of video programming on five channels that's incredible.

It really is when you turn on the TV and there's five channels of AMP training on the skills needed to create video programs equipment for public use including field cameras studios and computer editing systems professional video production available at very affordable rates.

AMP Media includes free speech TV, Democracy Now, Zero Hour, Green Party and local events with viewpoints differing from corporate news and government supporting AMP media supports community access to broad information and Monterey's involvement supports that continuing work and experience by contract MCOE is a government agency supporting government views and initiatives in the past I personally saw problems with MCO problems and disadvantaged students as well as making choices that impacted student health negatively.

In addition I hear people opposing government taking over the work of independent entities this is one example of disempowering independent public facing groups.

The agenda report summary doesn't provide the small difference between MCOE and AMP media's bid it uses old contract ad by comparison instead of the gap between bids which is a the true gap gap $80,000 isn't a large gap for all the benefits that AMP media provides to the community and they reduce their costs for that experience you have their for that gap you have their experience and the status of being a truly public media entity public access is not where the city can cut costs.

Please retain AMP media for all the benefits they provide thank you.

Thank you and our other speaker is Esther Esther you can go ahead yes hello again I wanted to comment on it kind of is difficult to watch this process happen when we go out for RFPs and we usually give some weight to whoever it is that's applying that is from here as opposed to outside of the area specifically the city.

And there are a number of features that I really have liked to see there.

They have a Chiron all the time with the name of the person who's speaking on the council and the topic and the agenda item number and a couple of other detailed things like that that I wonder if AMP could provide for us without a significant cost.

I agree with Ms Beattie before me that the difference in price isn't uh that much relative to what all the the expenditures are with the city and there is value to using a nonprofit versus a government agency especially given the times that we are in right now where all data and information are being compromised and bought by corporations and uh the government is taking information that we all have enjoyed the privacy of uh having it that we really don't anymore.

So while I understand that there is a cost savings I kind of do feel strongly that we should be supporting a local company from within our city that makes the effort to employ people at a salary that they can afford to at least live on the peninsula and not necessarily um have to commute which is something that as you all well know is part of the affordable housing crisis that I work a lot on.

And so I I understand um the dilemma that you guys are facing but I think this is an area that it should be considered um not just when it comes to cost but I know you guys have a tough decision I would um personally like to see AMP stay so I'm sure you guys will make the right decision thank you okay with that we'll go ahead and close uh public comment thank you for those who provided uh comment on this item bring it back to the council for motion and deliberation please add I I've got one other question and one of the speakers um actually covered it and maybe Laura you can answer this for me it's the channel 25 government channel so there's no loss of that so the channel 25 is still there for us to have access but who is that licensed to I don't know that answer.

It's it's yeah it's with my understanding is it's with uh it's a Comcast channel so Comcast assigns different channels to and that's assigned through 25 uh our research has indicated that uh that would there would be a switch with Comcast from the AMP feed into Comcast that goes into our households to uh businesses those who have Comcast or subscribe to Comcast uh and and MKD would do the same the way that they do that in City of Salinas uh MCOE would okay so if you have Comcast you can have access to 25 but if you have satellite TV if you have another provider uh some other cable provider you might not be able to get that like you can't get it now unless you have Comcast.

Comcast uh does uh I ATT may um the 25 is is known for the we always say Comcast channel uh 25 yeah uh the uh if for those who might uh not have traditional cable that's direct TV or something like that direct TV you you go you go to YouTube as most people most of the viewers do the the third option though is the live stream um on the website yeah okay that's the only question I had not maybe this is not helpful but is there an opportunity to pause for a week or two and see if AMP would lower their bid a bit and we could reconsider.

My assumption is that we would have to cancel the RFP and probably re-release it but uh is there um here's maybe another way to look at it uh there was criteria that developed and RFP was issued we have a purchasing process and rules to follow um is there dissatisfaction with the criteria that was used or what what are what is the thought process here on um well I'll tell you mine mine is the history in the community for so many years that that does matter to me and and things that Esther said were we're spot on we local local employees I'm probably the most conflicted because I was assigned to be on the on the board and so I've gotten to know them all and we all love David in the back room shake the door David and um so it it is hard so you know I I would defer to um interim city manager Bauman if maybe it's best to continue this and we can um look at it some more or so certainly if there's a consensus among your council that you like a little more time to consider this one option is to continue this item to a time certain um we could either do that to the February 17th I think that's a pretty busy agenda the following time would be if I can ask Clement time.

That's right.

I would recommend the 17, the next council meeting gives us some more time.

Uh the reason is uh if if there is uh a switch to another provider that needs to be planned sooner than later.

And if the decision is to continue with it with the AMP, then uh then we we won't have a problem in terms of the transition time.

But it's a two two-part question.

Not only can we time, find a time date certain going forward, but can we enter, can we even procedurally ask AMP to offer a lower bid?

I mean, is that even my making that up is yeah, that's it's a competitive process where um they are supposed to submit their best and final offer to the city and uh those are all submitted in confidence and evaluated at the same time open at the same time and um so it's it's challenging.

So if there's new questions, new information um that you could ask us to look into, we can do that.

On the question, I I and it kind of maybe gets a little bit to what I hear you saying and the public comment as well.

Um there's like that local factor criteria, and I don't know if that's something that is appropriate for us to include in the uh criteria that's used to determine um uh ranking.

Yeah, if if the criteria were to change and it sounds like maybe the council isn't uh would like to maybe see a change in the criteria, we would need to develop that and issue a new RFP.

I guess I just wanna make sure, and I'll get to you in a here in a second.

I just want to make sure that that's something that's appropriate because I just my experience in doing this, I've heard over the years that we can't focus on uh like a local, like a local preference kind of point for for determining the rating.

Um so I guess I I would I kind of want to make sure that we're not pushing something to a later meeting for then us to ultimately make the same decision.

I think we need to figure this out, and if the direction is to move forward in a certain direction, then that's the direction in which we go back through the process again.

I don't know that the local preference that you're talking about is implicated here because uh Monterey County Office of Education would be deemed local.

Uh and sorry, I didn't mean to cut you off.

No, no, I'm just I'm you know, the ordinary course of business, uh, we did the RFPs um and there's a recommendation before you and um is there is there a distinction that we can create in the criteria though that distinguish between like the peninsula versus like a wider scope like the like the county where where like Salinas might not get the same amount of points.

I guess it's kind of maybe more.

Well, we can't we don't want to craft an RFP to reach a conclusion.

Yeah.

So but I I think this isn't specific to this RFP.

This is something that I've and the reason why I brought that up is because I've experienced this over time, and maybe there's something different about this RFP process, but I always have local preference, right?

If somebody's providing a service in the city of Monterey or within our local community, to me, there is extra value in that, even if it costs us more because you're you're keeping those dollars local.

So it's not specific to trying to create in a certain outcome, but I I just kind of wondered.

I think if I can have your indulgence rather than answering these questions now, I think it'd be great if we had some time to uh think about what's the concern and and see what some options may or may not be.

Let me add that this is gonna be one of 25 painful processes we go through.

I mean, NCIP has been just miserable to to watch them suffer.

It's it's uh freezing positions.

I mean, all of this is gonna be extremely hard.

So uh maybe I just have to toughen up, but it's difficult.

Please add.

Yeah, so just want to offer a perspective about the the local Monterey County versus Monterey.

I think you you, you know, basically it's hard to do that because Salinas is local, Monterey is local, we're connected.

It's not that we are guaranteeing that all the AMP employees live in Monterey.

I know that's not the case, and we don't know where the future provider employees live.

They might live in Salinas, they might live in um, you know, Seaside or Monterey or Pacific Grove, and they're doing this provided service for.

So I I think we need to look at the new provider, is a local provider already doing local uh technical services.

There they would just be adding Monterey, and we would have a contract for them.

It seems like the solution might be that a transition might need to be longer than 10 weeks.

If there is a way that if AMP agreed that they did a month-to-month, and we gave a little bit more time for the transition because it sounded like AMP was concerned about doing everything they needed to do between now and April, but all these technology transfers and transitions um are they always um they're always tough, and it's never like somebody finishes on Monday and then the new company comes in on uh finishes on Friday and you come in on Monday.

So there's going to be a natural transition between the current provider to the new provider, but also we did have a bid, AMP did have an opportunity to change their price based on the equal fairness of the qualifications, and the winning bidder is presented to us, and now it's a cost savings, and I think it was $76,000.

So we haven't even talked about the uh RFP that will be going out to change the blasted microphone that does not work, and a little things in here like something that's a better presentation screen.

I know staff is coming back with some improvements, but if there's $76,000 savings on a contract moving forward, maybe that's the solution that that money is going to be spent to do the equipment that we need to do.

So I can't be blinded to the fact that this contract proposal to approve tonight is saving us money, and that's where our focus needs to be.

And because I think it was a fair process, um, there are others locally that are doing it for other cities, so they're a proven service provider.

It's a savings, and I think we have an obligation to honor the bid process and look towards the savings.

Uh and and all all due respect to AMP, they've been fantastic.

I mean, I have no problem with what they provided.

They've been around a long time.

The folks that have staffed our meetings, boards, commissions, and council have all been fantastic, on time, prompt, great solution for what we needed.

It's not a personal's decision, it's a business decision, and those are always hard.

But that's my perspective is I I think we should move ahead.

And if we need to, you know, offline staff can work on more in the transition time, but I think it's time that we we look at approving the contract and be prepared for the transition to uh the less money and move to the new provider.

And maybe there's opportunities that some of the AMP folks are still gonna be employed in the business and may wind up working for the other provider.

Um, but the the local, I kind of look at everything in Monterey County as local, and I I'm in Salinas two, three times a week, and I have no problem driving over there, and I see people that live in Salinas and work here and work side by side with me.

So I kind of see Salinas and Monterey as we're connected and we're all local.

Thank you.

Better require it.

Yeah, no, no worries.

Um, so I'm I'm listening to my colleagues and and I feel that um they all have really valid points, but I do have to uh agree with uh Ed that the process was done and it was done, it sounds like it was equitable, and if the process was done equitably, I think that you have to kind of honor the process.

And though I have a love for AMP, I still have to honor the process and trust that the staff did what they needed to do, and that the criteria was fair.

And so with that, I would have to agree with Ed on that.

Yeah, I'm equally torn, um, because I I also do want to keep business local um and local to the peninsula, local to our city.

Um, but uh as I think about this item, um, I think it was council's directive to uh staff to go and and look at items like this to see if there were any cost saving opportunities, and I think we've got the uh the firm numbers here that demonstrate that there's there's an opportunity here to um for us to look after our residents' dollars right and put them to good use and any opportunity we have, especially during this time, um, to save uh any funds um then as as a responsible body that's um that's making decisions over our budget, I think um we need to move forward in in that direction as well.

I think uh any other time um there maybe would have been a little bit more opportunity, more wiggle room to uh find other alternatives, but um like council member rash uh mentioned, you know, this um it's a series of difficult decisions that that we have to make, and I think this is also one of them I agree.

Um and also I think tonight's decision doesn't necessarily mean that there might not be other opportunities for business between City of Monterey and AMP.

So I just want to you know um put that out there.

There might be other needs that that come up in the future um for the for other uh AV items.

So you know, just to keep that in mind.

Thanks.

And just two last things.

I so appreciate your suggestion that there must be this work is going somewhere.

So there are employment opportunities theoretically through the Monterey County of education.

So hopefully they land with the AMP employees and and also um appreciate I think council member Garcia, it was you mentioning our own staff.

Our own staff put a lot of work into this recommendation, and I think they're probably just painful for them to put all this together as it is for us to hear it and decide on on these financial um cuts that are so painful throughout the community.

So um I I will honor the staff's recommendation.

Um I mean, clearly this is uh uh a challenging uh uh decision to make and um I think the part that makes it challenging is that we see you guys working back here um every time we come back to get a snack, go to the restroom.

Um any time that there's a technical issue, you're diving in deep with our staff.

And um, you know, we might talk about how hard it is for us, but it doesn't pale in consideration to the impact that it has on the staff of AMP.

And so I don't want to um I don't need and I don't think the council needs any sympathy in regards to the the resolution of of the decision.

Um I just hope that we can find any opportunity to to the point of um I think it was council member Garcia, just like future opportunities that might exist there.

Um so um the thing that also sits heavy with me is the fact that I think in the staff report it's shared that we're fifth we pay 52 percent of the AMP um budget essentially, and so what are the implications of so I mean it's not just a decision about the city of Monterey, it's a decision about the future of AMP.

And um, and that's that's that's that's a challenge.

Um but but here we are, and um I don't know what this looks like moving forward.

I I I um I hope that AMP and and uh the staff know that beyond the confines of the contract and the decision that the council's making tonight, that we're we're here to partner and try to find opportunities beyond um the the relationship that we've had prior to today for the last 30 years.

So um on behalf of the city, truly um wanna wanna thank the service that you all have provided and um and with that I'll go ahead and just make a motion to approve staff recommendation.

Second.

So moved and seconded.

Any other discussion?

All those in favor?

Aye.

Any opposed?

Motion passes unanimously.

Um to council comments.

Uh nothing for me.

That was hard.

Yeah.

That was hard.

I I do have um a few things and I and I'm kind of bummed that Sabrina left.

Um, please, because I know you'd like to wrap it up.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Um so I went to the Monterey Vista Neighborhood Association meeting um last night, um, which I always do, and um they had convened um a discussion on the tree ordinance, and it was very lively and and very healthy.

And I I just wanna share my perspective that I I really hope we take time with this tree ordinance.

Um, in my mind, we would have a special session either late February or late March where we don't decide anything, but we look at the draft from TICE and the community opines and we have a back and forth again.

And um I'm I'm understanding that we might have to present that to um SEQA for sequal review, but I but I want to encourage us to get the draft done be before we hit those kinds of walls.

So in my mind, having been the the proponent of this whole discussion, we would do a deeper dive with the community before we have a final draft to go through the rigors of the process that I don't even understand.

Uh certainly uh council member rash.

The sequel process would actually provide for that community engagement and would go through the you know potential environmental impacts and the pros and cons.

So I think that's actually a good part of the um the process of uh uh approving that.

So we'll talk to staff about getting an initial um draft or proposed ordinance before you with further direction, and then we can go through the process.

It will take some time, right?

But it's a thoughtful um deliberate process that involves community engagement.

And at the end of that, you'll come forward with an ordinance that you can feel comfortable with.

Right.

I mean, there might be a few drafts.

And and I I would defer to the city attorney about where where that goes in time and position.

Thank you.

Um Tyler, can I address the OMBA piece?

Please, because I think that's where you were gonna go with Sabrina.

Yeah, I was just gonna recognize her for being the new, and she was here and I was I was gonna use it as opportunity to maybe introduce her to the community at large, but please, and I think she'll be back too.

Uh as the council's representative on OMBA, I just want to say I did receive uh a highlight of the meeting last week and a couple comments that have been coming from some of the business owners.

We heard from a gentleman tonight uh that's conveying uh some ideas.

Uh that was a memorandum draft to the board members.

Uh I'll carry that forward to um the city manager and enter into some considerations of what the ask is from OMBA.

And it has to do with trying to figure out a way to get um additional eyes downtown at key dates and key times of day uh for additional uh presence of a contract that is provided uh by a private security contractor managed by OMBA but with city dollars.

So I'll bring that back so we'll be informed and uh I'll bring it to the city manager and make sure the police chief gets a copy of what OMBA is talking about.

Awesome.

Part of what I heard um from the public comment earlier was just a conversation around the curfew hours for related to loitering.

And so I I've had many conversations with the chief about this, and is there an opportunity for us to adjust uh what those hours are to provide a little bit more um control for for the business owners in downtown conversation to be continued there.

Um and then in regards to um the tree ordinance, I know that we're transitioning um uh right now with city management, and and this doesn't mean, and Ed kind of alluded to this earlier, doesn't mean that we're stopping business.

We have a lot going on and we're gonna continue pushing forward.

Um but um what what I've talked to to Lou about, and something that I've been considering um with this transition that's been occurring, is usually we have a uh strategic planning discussion at the beginning of the calendar year.

There hasn't really been discussion around that happening, and we haven't really seen something move forward.

Um for me though, I think it's a great opportunity to have Dante come on board and be a part of that discussion, and that way he can have a deeper experience with us and understanding our strategic priorities.

So this isn't an effort to delay things, but it's more of an effort to make sure that we can get realigned here with our incoming city manager.

Um, I don't know what that means in the context of the tree ordinance, but I'm just as eager to get that done.

And I and I'll just share that it's um a high priority for me that I hope that we at least get a good start on that discussion this year.

Um, so for whatever that's that's worth, um, and and and I trust staff to help try to balance the many priorities that we have going on in the city of Monterey while we have Lou here in the interim.

Um so uh the the only other update that I wanted to provide was um I'm the city's representative on Monterey One Water, our wastewater treatment facility.

Um one of the big things that we've um been discussing over the last few years, but things are really starting to pick up, and we're we're starting to see a lot of development and construction around this project is the utility and electric reliability program.

Um and so this is really trying to get us to modernize, be creative and innovative around our energy supply.

Um, and if you can imagine the millions and millions of dollars of infrastructure associated with managing our wastewater um is pretty extensive.

So there's three facilities that M1W manages mainly that will benefit from this program.

It's our regional treatment facility.

So all of our waste goes there.

It's um it basically purifies the water enough to meet state standards so that if that water ends up getting pushed out into the bay, that it it meets those state regulatory requirements to be clean enough for um for um releasing into into the ocean.

There's the advanced water purification facility, which folks may be most familiar with and as it relates to the pure water monterey project, which takes different source waters, including our wastewater stormwater runoff and water from the ag industry.

It puts it through an advanced purification process.

So beyond just that basic state level requirement, and there's a whole other state level requirement in order to be make that water potable.

Um and um so that's another whole other system.

Um, and then there's this Linus Valley reclamation program, which um folks may not be aware of this, but underneath all the ag fields um are um uh oh god, what are they called?

Um it's it's basically a um a water catchment.

What is it called?

No, no, no.

Are you talking about the purple pipe water recycling system?

Yeah, but what are the um why am I struggling with the name of of the transmission pipeline?

The tiles.

So there's a there's a layer underneath all the ag fields that basically collect the water.

So all that water is um is essentially reused.

And so M1W's responsible for managing that.

So these are huge systems um uh again, that manage our water supply, a huge part of our water supply in Monterey County.

So these systems would benefit.

Um, but what this utility and electric reliability program do is it will provide organic diversion.

So some of the waste that goes to places like regen, um, which Dr.

Barber is our rep for for the city of Monterey, will be able to take that waste and utilize it for basically reuse into into energy.

Um another component of that is biogas.

So right now there's methane that's released into the atmosphere.

Um, and so capturing that methane and cleaning it, purifying it enough to be able to use as an energy supply and then electric upgrade.

So our system is, I think it's more than 30 years old, so it needs an update anyways to be able to provide reliability.

And that's the main benefit of this program is to provide reliability for the long term.

If you think about all these power outages that we've had in our region, that impacts our wastewater treatment facility.

Um, and luckily we have uh systems in place that can help create some level of reliability, but this will help amplify that.

It reduces greenhouse gas emissions, um, it creates uh compliance with state diversion mandates and it's revenue generating.

So thought I end with that part, which is really exciting because as opposed to just not only will it allow our system to be sustainable by itself, but it will provide so much energy beyond our needs with our wastewater with our waste treatment plant.

We'll be able to sell some of the energy back to PG and E.

So it's gonna be it's gonna essentially pay for itself after a few years.

So just really exciting project to it there's a lot of funding going into it, and a lot of the funding is um being given to us by grants.

So a lot of great things going on in M1W.

I just wanted to share that quick update.

Um, or maybe not so quick.

Uh with that, I'll pass it to Lou for city manager reports.

Thank you, uh Mayor and Council members.

Um, just uh by way of a request from our clerk's office, there are a number of vacancies on our appeals hearing board, as well as the measure P and S Oversight Committee.

So we invite members of the public, and then if you any of you council members have um colleagues that might be interested in serving on those boards, it certainly is um great public service and it's good training for individuals that are interested in moving on and and uh in various government capacities.

Um I know it's been a tough night, but there is some some better news.

Uh on the 21st, um, we'll have the Monterey County Public Library annual chocolate and wine event, and that's hosted by our foundation, and it's uh it's a lovely event, and uh we invite members of the public, and uh it is on the uh the library foundation website where you can pick up tickets for that.

And again, that's Saturday, February 24th.

That's from four to 7 p.m.

And um also um the city is hosting the pop-up fund at Montecito Park, and there'll be a number of dates uh including February 7th, March 7th, April 4th, May 2nd, and June 6th.

And uh I understand this is a great event for youth games, activities, neighborhood fund, and uh we're just pleased to host that for that uh for that community.

Thank you.

Awesome.

Thank you, Lou.

Um with that, we will move on to public comments on closed session agenda items.

So we have two items on our closed session.

The first is real property um closed session and real property conference of real property negotiators regarding 160 municipal wharf number two.

Um approximately 3,238 square feet of area located under wharf number two warehouse.

And then um item sixteen is conference of legal counsel deciding whether to initiate litigation pursuant to government code 54956 Tech 94 um regarding 548 Mar Vista Drive.

So with that, open it for public comment for folks on Zoom.

You can use a raise hand function.

Anybody in the chamber wishes to speak on either of these items.

Seeing none, we'll go ahead and close it off in the chamber.

I'll do a countdown for folks on Zoom to 54321.

All righty.

We have nobody on Zoom, nobody in person.

With that, we'll go ahead and adjourn.

Have a great evening, everybody.

Thank you.