Good evening, everyone.

Thank you for joining us for closed session.

City Attorney Lowe will make a closed session announcement.

And then we welcome public comment on the items listed for closed session.

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

There are two items on the closed session agenda this evening.

Item two point one is a conference with legal counsel regarding existing litigation pursuant to government code section five four nine five six point nine.

If so, please click the raise hand button in Zoom or submit a blue speaker card.

So we will uh recess to the plaza conference room for close session and return to the council chambers at the close to continue to the regular session.

Thank you.

I think that would be a good thing, I think, I think I think that's a good idea.

All right, everyone, thank you for your patience.

Good evening.

Welcome to the regular meeting of the Mountain View City Council of September 23rd, 2025.

I invite you to stand and join me in the Pledge of Allegiance.

Great, thank you.

The city clerk will take attendance by roll call.

Councilmember Clark.

Councilmember Hicks.

Here, Councilmember McAllister.

Councilmember Ramirez?

Here.

Councilmember Showalter.

Here.

Vice Mayor Ramos.

Here.

Mayor Kameh here.

You have a quorum.

Great.

Thank you.

So before we begin tonight's meeting, I'd like to take time to honor and recognize our fire engineer paramedic Gabriel Shemaya, known affectionately as Gabe, who passed away at the age of 36 on Monday, July 14th, 2025, after fighting a fearless two and a half year battle with terminal disease.

Gabe proudly served the Mountain View community for nine years.

Most recently assigned to Fire Station 2 on Questa Drive and Grant Road.

He was an exemplary exemplary firefighter and paramedic, a valued member of our honor guard, and above all a devoted husband, father to his two year old son and brother.

His compassion professionalism and unwavering commitment to service made him one of the most respected and trusted paramedics in the fire department.

His radiant smile kind heart and quiet strength left a laughing lasting impression on all who knew him.

He was not only admired for his technical skills excellent bedside manner and a calm demeanor under pressure but also for the warmth and humility he brought to the firehouse every day.

And before I turn it over to Deputy Fire Chief Brian Jones to say a few words I want to say that I had the honor and privilege of knowing Gabe since he joined the department in 2016 and had an opportunity to do a ride along which I remember very fondly because he was um vegan and um we were all teasing him I said I'm a vegetarian but I can't go all the way like you're not only are you a firefire partner but you can do what I can't which is give up like dairy.

I love uh cheese and ice cream and uh he just said with a smile it keeps me healthy and happy to to do the job so um I'd like to turn it over to our deputy fire chief Brian Jones.

I think our our chief Juan Diaz is also here for so maybe if both of you would like to come to the podium good evening Mayor Kamei and Council members on behalf of the fire department and the Shamia family we'd like to thank you for honoring fire engineer paramedic Gabe Shemia with this proclamation your recognition not only honors his service and sacrifice to the community but also brings comfort to his family friends and fellow firefighters.

The fire department is very grateful for your support and for ensuring the grades Gabe's dedication to the community will never be forgotten.

I thank you.

Thank you.

We um have uh prepared also uh mayor's proclamation um for Gabe and the fire department and his family, so I'd like to come down and present it to the two of you.

Thank you to our Mountain View Fire Department who joined us tonight.

Thank you again.

We'll now uh turn it over to our closed session report.

City attorney Logue, do you have a closed session report?

Thank you.

Um no reportable action was taken in closed session this evening.

Thank you.

So we will move on to item three, which are our presentations.

Please note these are presentations only.

The city council will not take any action.

Public comment will occur after the presentation items.

So if you'd like to speak on these items in person, please submit a blue speaker card to the city clerk now.

And we'll begin with item 3.1, which is recognizing hunger action month.

We're happy to be joined this evening by Tracy Weatherby, Chief Impact Officer at Second Harvest of Silicon Valley, to accept this proclamation, and most importantly, a Mountain View resident.

Uh so Tracy, will you join me at the podium?

All right, and the proclamation reads whereas September is Hunger Action Month, a nationwide effort to raise awareness of food insecurity in communities across America and inspire action to end hunger.

And whereas every member of our community deserves the nutritious food they need to thrive.

Yet, due to the prohibitively expensive cost of living in Silicon Valley, food insecurity across our region is an unfortunate reality.

And whereas for more than 50 years, Second Harvest of Silicon Valley has served as the hub of the charitable food system, partnering with 400 community organizations across San Mateo and Santa Clara counties to support our neighbors with nutritious, fresh fruits and vegetables, proteins, greens, and other essential staples, and provides food assistance to almost half a million individuals, one in six residents each month.

Therefore, I Alan Kame, Mayor of the City of Mountain View, along with my colleagues on the city council to hereby proclaim the month of September as Hunger Action Month in the city of Mountain View and encourage our residents to support anti-hunger efforts in our community.

We're very fortunate too in Mountain View to have a nutrition site at our Mountain View Senior Center.

I'm sure Tracy will share all about that.

So go ahead, Tracy.

Well, thank you so much.

Many people know that that Second Harvest is the food bank for Santa Clara and San Mateo counties.

I think later in your presentations, you're going to be hearing about a lot of the impacts of HR1 and our community.

And hunger and CalFresh cuts are right up there as well.

Although you'll be hearing a lot more about the health and medical side.

So, you know, our work is more important than ever, and we couldn't do it without partners like Ellen Kamei, who is on our board, and partners who help us get this food to the community.

We provide the food to all of our partners for free.

And as Councilmember Kamei said, you know, the Mountain View Senior Center is one of our locations.

We support this CSA, the Community Services Agency, Hope's Corner, and Mountain View Hispanic are just a few of the partners we have here in Mountain View.

So we're so appreciative of the support and the recognition of hunger challenges in our community.

Oh, and uh the food bank has been undertaking a huge effort since uh the people we served uh doubled during the pandemic.

And so we are trying to build, we are building a facility to unify our locations because we have a lot of inefficiencies.

We have two different locations in San Jose.

So we just broke ground a couple weeks ago on a uh piece of land in Alviso where we are going to be building up one big integrated facility to be able to provide that much better support to our community.

Okay, thank you so much for the council.

Thank you very much.

Great, thank you.

So we have another um presentation item.

Item 3.2 uh recognizes National Suicide Prevention Month.

We're happy to be joined this evening by Andy Sweet, Associate Clinical Director at Pacific Clinics to accept this proclamation.

And Andy, are you here?

Okay, perfect.

Great.

And some um in the audience may know that uh Pacific Clinics um is the at the our former CHAC site, our community health awareness council is now Pacific Clinics that has a nice sign there that that says that, and that's been about a year now, I think, right?

Okay, and the pro so we'll go this way so everyone can see you.

Yeah, okay.

So the proclamation reads whereas National Suicide Prevention Month is observed during the month of September, a time when individuals, organizations, and communities around the country join their voices to amplify the message that suicide can be prevented.

And whereas suicidal thoughts can affect anyone, regardless of age, gender, race, orientation, income level, religion, or background, and it is vital to reduce the stigma associated with mental health and openly discuss suicide to encourage help-seeking behaviors.

And whereas suicide is a public health issue, and every death by suicide impacts hundreds of individuals, and whereas we must encourage relatives, friends, co-workers, and community at large to recognize the signs of suicide and guide those in need of appropriate services, resources, and support.

And whereas we can all work together as a community to improve the mental health of all Mountain View residents to raise awareness that prevention is possible, to understand that treatment is effective, and find hope and recovery.

Now, therefore, I Alan Kamei, mayor of the city of Mountain View, along with my colleagues on the city council to hereby proclaim the month of September as National Suicide Prevention Month in the city of Mountain View, and uh the council has been proud to support in particular our youth wellness, our uh teens just had their fifth annual uh youth wellness retreat this past weekend at our community center.

And I know that Pacific Clinics has been supporting that.

So thank you so much.

Andy, would you like to say a few words?

Thank you.

Thank you so much, Madam Mayor and the City of Mountain View for this recognition during suicide prevention month.

Rates of suicide among youth continue to increase, making it essential to raise awareness around this critical public health issue and emphasize the importance of behavioral health services, which can help to identify warning signs, provide interventions, and offer treatment.

On behalf of Pacific Clinics, I'm honored to accept this recognition.

Pacific Clinics has been providing services in the community for more than 150 years, and we will continue providing services in the North County community with much needed services such as our family resource center, which provides counseling and parenting workshops in our family shop where families can pick up essential items such as clothing, bedding this community and ensuring residents have access toiletries, as well as our school-based services, outpatient clinic crisis services, and more.

We have a deep understanding of the community's needs and the capacity and commitment to care that allows us to create sustainable outcomes for the people we serve.

Well, thank you again for this incredible honor.

I think before we take our photo with council, um, I just want to say that uh kind of end this uh presentation the way I did my remarks at the youth um wellness retreat, which is you matter, and uh we have 988 as well as a resource in every language, so thank you.

All right, and I'm moving back to up here because our next uh presentation, item 3.3, is a presentation from Santa Clara County.

We are happy to be joined this evening by Santa Clara County executive James Williams, another great Mountain View resident, for a presentation about the impacts of federal cuts through HR1.

So that's House Resolution One in Santa Clara County.

We're also um happy to be joined, and I think I saw her sneak in.

Our our former um mayor and council member and now upgraded to our current uh county supervisor for district five, Margaret Abicoga.

So I will turn the podium over to the two of them to do their presentation.

Good evening, everyone.

It's a real pleasure to be back in um my old hood here and um in chambers with uh all of you, and um I'm really happy to be here today and um just wanted to also um share my respects to our amazing firefighter, um Gabe Shimea, and um just a real epitome of um our Mountain View's finest and bravest, and um just really offer my condolences to his family and to our firefighter family, but it's great to be back to see all of you, um, all of my all of my former colleagues and um uh I often think about you all as I've uh uh now joined uh the county board of supervisors and um really do refer back to the many things that we were able to do here and accomplish and many of the best practices that I refer back to from our days here at the city council.

So it's really an honor to um be back and now to be serving on the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors as your representative, uh the first one from Mountain View in 50 years, and I think it was time for that Mountain View to be represented on the board.

So I'm very proud and grateful to have that opportunity, but um I you know just want to thank you all.

I know how difficult this job is, and especially in these times, and I know how hard you all work as uh we work together for so long, but um I we are here today.

We wanted to present to you and thank you for the invitation to um just to join you today to talk a little bit about um the federal administration and um the HR1, the legislation that was passed just two months ago on July 4th uh regarding the um federal government budget and how that is impacting our local communities, especially at the county level.

Um HR1 and often well, some some refer it to it as the big beautiful bill.

I think beautiful is questionable, um, but has really um is very really impacting um our local communities in a big way.

I'm just hearing Tracy earlier, in terms of with um Second Harvest Food Bank.

I think we're gonna see a bigger need there as HR1 and their um, you know, the billions, trillions of dollars in cuts will be cutting of SNAP, the supplemental nutrition assistance program.

And we have in our county of two million people, about a hundred and thirty-three million uh thousand folks who actually qualify and use SNAP.

And then, um, as you have probably heard, um, the larger cuts uh affecting us in mostly in the um health and hospital arena arena uh with about a billion dollars that we are looking at in cuts due to the cuts in Medicaid, which is often known as Medicaid in our state.

And um, as you know, we are the social safety net for the community at the county.

We help the most vulnerable.

We can we do not turn anyone away.

Um I'm very proud of our county, and that we um have our model of, you know, we have your back, we are one county, one future, and we stand committed to serving everyone regardless of background, but certainly with HR1, uh, that work is going to be much more challenging, and so um we are working really hard as an organization to um figure out ways to uh fill the hole that gap, um also looking at how we might have to change the way we do uh service delivery to to meet the needs uh with a much more tightened belt.

And so um to this evening, I'm here with our county executive.

We have other members of our um organization, Steve Preminger, Peter, and I'm sorry, I don't know your last name, um, and others from the um the other side, which I can't officially talk about, but um our ballot initiative efforts.

Um, so we're happy to um present to you uh the outlook, what we're looking at, uh what our strategies are to um address this challenge, um, and answer any questions you may have.

So I'm gonna go ahead and turn it over to our county executive, my neighbor.

We live literally two blocks from each other, James Saline.

Thank you.

Thank you, Supervisor Abacoga.

Uh, good evening, Mayor Kame, members of the council.

It's a privilege to be here in front of you.

Yes, as a Mountain View resident, but also as your county executive.

Um I'm gonna walk as quickly as I can through uh a presentation around what HR1 means for our community and the really significant impacts that it has for every single one of our Santa Clara County residents, including everyone living here in Mountain View, and then um happy to answer whatever questions you may have.

So if we can go to the next slide, please.

So what is HR1?

HR1 is the largest cut in this nation's history to two very critical and foundational social safety net programs.

The first and largest is nearly a trillion dollar cut to Medicaid, known here in California as Medical, and a nearly 200 billion dollar cut to SNAP, known here in California as CalFresh or food assistance.

Now, Medicaid nationally is the health insurance program for nearly one in five Americans and one in two children.

And here in Santa Clara County, Medicaal provides access to health care for one in four residents, and as you heard the supervisor mention, about 133,000 Santa Clara County residents for CalFresh food assistance.

Next slide, please.

What does this mean more concretely for our county government and for the services that we provide every resident in our community?

Well, Medicaid is our single largest source of federal funding, and importantly for our health system, Santa Clara Valley Healthcare, Medicaid is the single largest revenue source.

Let me put it in perspective.

It's about 16% from Medicare.

By the way, you may not know this, but Santa Clara Valley Healthcare is also the largest Medicare provider to residents in Santa Clara County.

About 13% from commercial insurance, and the smallest share, this is not as well understood by folks, the smallest share, only 12%, comes from local revenues.

So in other words, 88 cents on the dollar to operate the health care system comes from external sources, and the single largest source is Medi-Cal.

We are looking at over a billion dollars a year in lost revenue to our system from HR1, specifically from the Medicaid cuts.

And as you can imagine, if you have run a business or as you run a city government, losing your single largest revenue source, having that cut so dramatically, would have catastrophic impacts on your ability to operate the entire range of services that you offer.

Next slide, please.

This shows when we expect these impacts to hit.

And importantly, we are facing impacts already this current fiscal year, growing to over 500 million dollars this upcoming fiscal year and over a billion thereafter.

If you have questions, I can go into the details of the components that make up those cuts, but they are significant, they are fast, and they are extreme.

Next slide, please.

Well, what is Santa Clara Valley Healthcare?

Why does this matter to the nearly two million residents in the county, including those here in Mountain View?

Well, we are the health care system that serves about one in four Santa Clara County residents.

As I said, we're the largest Medicare and Medicail provider for Santa Clara County residents, but we also provide a number of important specialty services that are not available anywhere else.

I'll give you a few examples.

We run two of the three trauma centers in this community, the only comprehensive burn center in the entire South Bay, and one of only three such centers between Los Angeles and the Oregon border.

And we have the number one best-ranked rehabilitation center on the entire West Coast.

Some of these are critical services you don't find elsewhere and actually are quite common among public hospitals.

Public hospitals make up only 6% of the hospitals in California, but operate more than 50% of the trauma and burn centers.

Next slide, please.

And what does this mean for a community like ours here that maybe doesn't as directly utilize county hospitals?

Well, the reality is health care is an integrated ecosystem.

And impacts in one place in our community affect other places as well.

In fact, as you see from this chart, Santa Clara County has actually one of the lowest number of emergency department beds per capita of any county, major county in the state of California.

And our emergency rooms are busy.

They're very busy at all four of our county hospitals.

And so the impacts from loss of access to services there will affect the rest of the healthcare system across the county.

And we know that's not just conjecture, but is actually fact, because we saw some of those direct impacts with the closure of the trauma center regional medical center last year before it came under county ownership, and what that did to Valley Medical Center, which is the busiest emergency department in the county, but is also a very physically small one.

And both O'Connor Hospital and Valley Medical Center are extremely busy emergency departments and hold up the entire broader health care system for all the hospitals in Santa Clara County.

Next slide, please.

Similarly, given the magnitude of impacts and the fact that Medi-Cal is a critical revenue source for our behavioral health services and Office of Support of Housing.

There's a number of interrelated impacts.

For instance, Santa Clara Valley Healthcare on its own campuses and through its operation, is the single largest provider of acute behavioral health services in this community, including operating the only 24-7 emergency psychiatric services facility.

So there's a number of integrated impacts that occur across a variety of safety net services that are critical to taking care of individuals in need across our community, including here in Mountain View.

Next slide, please.

To give you a sense of the Mountain View specific numbers, right here in the city of Mountain View, nearly 14,000 residents rely on Medi-Cal.

9,000 of them receive care directly from Santa Clara Valley Healthcare.

And there's 10,000 visits to our North County clinics, including the dental clinic here in Mountain View.

3,400 residents rely on CalFresh.

These are Mountain View specific numbers.

During the pandemic, you may recall that we use Santa Clara Valley Healthcare resources to stand up extraordinary vaccination and testing resources, including here.

And with the support of the city for facilities access, we vaccinated 141,000 vaccinations were delivered right here in Mountain View, and 43% of Mountain View residents received their vaccinations from the county's health care delivery system.

Similarly, you see the numbers here around the families served directly by the county's homeless effort prevention and outreach efforts.

Next slide, please.

So what are we doing?

We're not just standing still.

This bill passed July 4th.

We're facing these catastrophic impacts.

We're moving forward boldly and aggressively to try to preserve as many services as we can for our community.

We have a three part of solutions, and I say set because each part has a multitude of elements, including the largest reducing costs and restructuring our services.

We know dealing with over a billion dollar hole, we're gonna have to do a lot as an organization on that front.

We also believe the state needs to step up.

The state can't fill this entire gap by any means, but we do believe that the state needs to step up, especially given the outsized role that public hospital systems play in serving and providing a backbone for health care delivery for all Californians.

But the reality of the magnitude of what we're facing also calls upon local solutions.

Next slide, please.

And one of those is the Board of Supervisors did unanimously place a five-eighth cent sales tax measure on the November ballot.

Unlike cities, counties have very limited legal authority related to taxes.

And five eighths of a cent is due to the specific legislation authority that we have.

Counties can only tax based on authority that is granted by the legislature.

This measure would provide about 330 million, far less than the billion dollar whole, but a very meaningful and impactful amount that would make a difference for the services that we provide.

Next slide, please.

This is an emergency, it's a fiscal emergency for our county organization, but for our community, and for the vital services that we provide and otherwise often take for granted as baseline services that are available and accessible to all residents here in our county.

We're doing and are committed to doing everything that we can to ensure access to these critical and essential services.

We're happy to answer questions that you may have, but we're certainly seeking support from every ally and partner we can in this endeavor.

Thank you.

Thank you.

So I think we, if colleagues have questions, for County Executive Williams, we can we can do that.

I see many other people in the audience who I'm sure can help us answer questions as well from their team.

Anyone have any that they would like to ask while we're receiving this presentation?

Council member Councilmember Ramirez.

Thank you, Mayor.

Uh, and thank you for the presentation.

I had the opportunity to watch also the county presentations to the city of Sunnyvale and the city of San Jose, and I'm very much looking forward to the presentation at the city of Cupertino.

Good luck.

Um, so a few questions based on what I've learned from uh some of those presentations.

Um during the San Jose presentation, you made, I thought, uh an important point that um cutting certain services may not uh there's a different value to the county, right?

So, for instance, there's revenue associated with public health, um, and for other certain cuts, there uh you get a dollar, right?

You cut a dollar, you get a dollar.

Um, so can you help um provide a little bit more um information about uh why uh we should anticipate cuts to public health in particular, knowing that there are revenue sources that would be lost as a consequence, and why not focus on some of those services where you get the full dollar if you make that cut?

Absolutely.

I think there's a really important point, and what the council members alluding to is some of the questions that I was answering from the San Jose City Council, where I was walking through the complexity of our county budget, but one of the important things to understand for Santa Clara Valley Healthcare in particular is that it is largely revenue-backed.

And so when you cut a service or you cut a dollar, given that 88 cents on the dollar comes from other revenues, you don't get a full dollar of savings, you lose the accompanying revenue sources as well.

And that poses a particularly catastrophic challenge when we're facing the magnitude of cuts that we're talking about targeted to our health care delivery system, because what it means is that if we were to try to balance that budget solely within the Santa Clara Valley Healthcare budget, we if we'll I'll give you a very concrete example.

The gross operating cost is about 1.3 billion dollars.

Now, the net cost is of course far, far less because significant amounts of those services are backed by revenues, whether it's Medicare fee for service, medical fee for service, commercial insurance payers, even in some modest cases private payers.

And so if you just shutter those services, you don't save 1.3 billion net if you closed all those facilities.

You actually save only a net amount, which is a much more modest few hundred million.

And so even though Medi-Cal services don't make a profit, and even though they don't fully cover all the cost of care, they do cover the majority of the cost of care.

And so we're able to deliver an incredible amount of care and actually support a broader ecosystem.

Let me give you a second concrete example.

Take our rehabilitation center.

Now, this is the best in the West Coast, it's the top 10 in the nation center.

We have patients coming to us from Kaiser, from Stanford, from other private hospitals, not just in our area but across the region.

But a majority of patients served by that center are Medi-Cal patients.

So a majority of the revenue is Medi-Cal.

You can't run the center if you lose a significant portion of your majority revenue source.

So these are the complexities as we tackle and stare down service line reorganizations.

There will be service line reorganizations.

There will be significant service line reorganizations in the health system.

But the idea that you would be able to take a billion dollars out of that system without cataclysmic impacts on health care delivery doesn't add up because of that revenue piece.

That's helpful.

And if there's time, a couple of quick questions about some of the uh accountability related concerns that I've heard from constituents and elsewhere.

Um in Mountain View, when we've uh placed uh revenue measures before the voters, we have historically adopted uh a resolution articulating some type of expenditure plan.

Uh and the staff have done a very good job of helping demonstrate to the voters subsequent to approval that we've we've adhered to our commitment.

And I'm curious why uh that's something that the county has not explored to help um make the the case to voters that you intend to spend that money in the way that you're you're sharing.

I think this is um it's a great question, and and I think the answer is is this.

Uh we're facing over a billion dollar impact to primarily our health system.

Unlike a typical revenue measure where you're talking about new programs or program expansions, what we're talking about is how do we put together a comprehensive plan to ensure preservation of critical services, and it's a multi-pronged strategy that includes some state stepping up, it includes our local community stepping up, and it includes really significant service line reorganizations.

But 300 million dollars, of course, does not equal over a thousand million dollars.

Uh and so the magnitude of what we're facing mathematically, it's addition and subtraction mathematically shows the place where we have need and the place where we're gonna have to leverage as much as we can in order to preserve these critical services.

We do have accountability measures, though.

We have significant ones.

Included in the ordinance that the board passed is uh independent oversight as well as independent auditing and reporting.

Uh our plan is to model it on the successful uh 2016 oversight model that was used for the measure a housing bond, uh which has been widely acclaimed as a very successful uh oversight uh model and approach.

And so there will be not only full transparency in how money is utilized, it is a limited five-year tax, uh, but also uh in independent oversight process that will be put in place as well.

Can you uh remind us how the members of that oversight body are selected for the 2016 measure A oversight?

Yeah, there's a number of seats kind of set aside um that the and these folks are appointed by the board of supervisors, but uh that committee happened to be uh chaired by the former now former assessor, uh, but included representatives from a variety of financial and in that case real estate and other relevant backgrounds, and included uh the hiring of an independent CPA firm uh to audit the expenditures.

So it won't be an exact one-to-one because we're talking about a different type of tax measure, but representatives of various relevant stakeholders, and independent uh support for that body.

Thank you.

And last question I promised, Mayor.

Um Mayor Klein and Sunnyvale asked uh a question that I felt didn't get a very good response, so I'm hoping to give you an another um uh another opportunity.

Um, I wasn't there for the Sunnyville presentation.

I don't blame you.

Um, but uh so what he asked was that there had been um uh reports in the media that uh the mayor of San Jose has been negotiating with the county in some way, shape or form, and and for for those of us who um you know have uh concerns about that feels a bit like a quid pro quote, right?

In exchange for your support, we're gonna give you some political win.

My question is: is there any way that, for instance, you know, our mayor or our city manager can negotiate with you also for a cut for Mountain View?

So let me be very clear about one thing, and I and there was some unfortunate statements made by um a public official who has not been part of any conversations uh between the city of San Jose and the county.

So let me say one thing very unequivocally and very clear.

There have been no conversations, none, about expenditure of Measure A funds, carving up Measure A funds, and candidly the answer for that is very straightforward.

I just presented to you all about how we're facing over a billion dollar impact, and 330 million doesn't equal a billion.

Measure A alone isn't sufficient, and so carving it up for other things doesn't make any mathematical sense.

What we have continued to have conversations about productive ones, parts of ongoing conversations around deepening work that has already been underway related to homelessness activity, partnerships that we already have, very strong ones with the city of Mountain View, including things like making sure that city-run temporary housing sites are part of our countywide network.

So those are things that um are long-standing conversations.

We are eager to continue those partnerships with San Jose and yes, with Mountain View and other cities.

And I'm very pleased to say Mountain View is actually one of our uh examples of really strong partnerships in those programs.

Thank you very much.

Thank you.

Councilmember Shell Walter.

Well, thank you so much for coming to Mountain View to tell us about this.

Um, it's it's not good.

It's a short walk to come here.

That's true.

It's it's not good news, but we need to be informed.

And so I really appreciate that.

One of the things that um I've heard people talk about a lot is the difference between a sales tax and a bond measure, and how a sales tax is fundamentally regressive, because you know, if you're um less less well off, you have to spend more of your money on things that have sales tax.

Um, and uh so I'd like to hear a little bit more about what the county's ability is to raise money because I was really surprised to hear you couldn't bond for this.

Well, you've this is my favorite topic.

So, you know, I'm by background, I'm a revenue and taxation attorney, so you've really touched on my favorite topic.

So um, so uh there's a couple really important legal parameters that are relevant here.

Uh one is there's a big difference between cities and counties in taxing authority.

Counties, even charter counties like Santa Clara, under the California constitution and California state law can only levy taxes with the express permission of the legislature.

So the types of taxes that we can levy and the amounts require specific authorization from the legislature.

By contrast, charter cities can levy any kind of tax except where prohibited by the Constitution or state law.

So it's kind of the inverse.

So that's one.

Second, specific related to bonds.

Under Proposition 13, bond measures can only be used for the acquisition or improvement of real property.

So you can do a bond to buy land, to build buildings, to renovate buildings, but you cannot issue a geo bond and spend that money for any services or operations.

And the issue we're talking about here, we certainly have facility needs.

I know Mountain View does, the county very much does, but the issue that we're talking about here is revenue to fund staffed operations.

We're talking about nurses and equipment and supplies, right?

You cannot use bond money to fund services and ongoing operations.

So for the county, we have very limited choices.

We are there are certain kinds of taxes that we can levy, but only in unincorporated areas.

So for instance, TOT business license can only be levied by a county in unincorporated areas.

As you know, there's not a lot in unincorporated Santa Clara County.

There's no meaningful revenue to generate there.

So the only uh measure that we could put on that would generate any meaningful revenue that's countywide is the sales tax, and it's only because we actually have uh special legislation that grants Santa Clara County that authority for sales tax up to five-eighths of a cent.

So that's where the amount comes from as well.

So we're really cabin.

Now we'll say one thing about the regressive nature of sales taxes.

You're right compared to say an income tax.

That being said, services are exempt, and some of the more common essential goods such as groceries are exempt from sales taxes.

So they're certainly not as progressive as an income tax, but those are not options available to us, and perhaps most importantly, the services and impacts that we're talking about, as is often the case when we're talking about critical government services, the impacts that we're talking about would far and away disproportionately harm uh those individuals who are uh the most vulnerable in our community.

Okay, and then my other question is that well, I'm hoping it if if it's the legislature that gives you the the rules, you know, perhaps we can come up with some legislative changes.

We have um, you know, we have some legislators who are always asking us for there ought to be a law, and um so uh I I think it's a it would be a good idea to put something together.

Um I don't know exactly what it would be, but just you're you know, the county has a lot of creative people, and in particular, I look at that because we have a little time.

I mean, if you look at this, the cuts are bad now, but they get catastrophic um as time goes on.

So um, you know, looking at this from the long term, which hopefully it isn't the long term because we might have a change.

Anyway, I I just I I just think that the the possibility of um future legislative changes to fix this taxing project problem are something to be considered.

So thank you very much.

Thank you.

I if I could just say one one thing, um, you know, counties have long sought broader taxing authority from the legislature.

There are some constitutional restrictions too, but uh I think we would certainly welcome partners uh in that effort, but that's a longstanding legislative ask that uh counties across the state have been making.

So thank you.

Thank you.

Councilmember McAllister.

Yeah, fairly quick question.

The one billion dollars is how how many years is that spread over?

Do you get a lump sum or is it spread over what period of time?

These are annual amounts.

So these are ongoing, these are ongoing revenue losses.

So what you see on that chart, I think it was on uh page four, yeah.

Those are grow, they're growing because some of the cuts from HR one do phase in.

So there's some that we are facing immediately as soon as this current fiscal year.

There's some that kick in during the course of the upcoming fiscal year.

There's some that kick in the following fiscal year, but the amounts that you're seeing are reflective of ongoing annual uh revenue losses.

So the billion dollars is gone going forward.

Okay.

So you were anticipating a theoretical 330 million dollars a year.

So you've got about seven, six hundred and fifty million dollars deficit.

What other ways are you going to try to uh you're gonna have to make cuts one way with it?

What do you expect to do to fill that gap?

Well, that's where we're taking uh um a number of different approaches.

One is we're going to have to push hard on that portion of the of the payer mix that is uh commercial and increase those rates.

A second is we're in the midst of a really significant restructuring that um we brought forward and the board of supervisors approved related to Medicail managed care in our community and how the Medical Managed Care plans are structured uh in this community that is an effort to increase the base rates associated with Medi-Cal.

Those are revenue, those are examples of revenue related uh solutions.

We're going to have to look at service lines and service line consolidations and what services are provided where, including which kinds of services are most able to be supported from a revenue standpoint.

We also, in coalition with the other public hospital systems uh in California, are seeking from the state a system.

Now the state's not in a position to backfill this full hole, and we're very we understand that we're clear about that.

But we do believe that that a piece of this the state needs to step up and mitigate impacts to public systems, in particular given the role that those six percent of hospitals play in providing more than 50% of the trauma and burn centers and training, more than 50% of the doctors in California.

So those are all examples of a multitude of things.

We're of course gonna need to deal with uh costs uh in our county organization, both on the labor side and services supply side.

Um but we're gonna have some very difficult, very, very difficult decisions that we will be confronting.

And we're taking actions already.

We have a uh very aggressive hiring freeze, for example, in the county organization.

We're moving forward a significant package of uh proposals that the board will consider at mid year this year, because as you see from the chart, there's impacts that already affect this current fiscal year too.

So it's a range of things, but what measure A does do is it very meaningfully makes the difference in magnitude in what's on the table and our ability to ensure the continuity of services for some of the most critical and essential services within the health system.

What would be the potential theoretical effect on El Camino Hospital if you're funding?

You shut down hospitals, are they gonna all people gonna come north, or are they just gonna how's that gonna affect us?

Well, that's where I was pointing out the the number of ED beds we have in our community.

We already are at the very, very low end of the spectrum per capita as a county as a whole.

That's inclusive of all public and private beds.

I actually personally think uh El Camino of all the pro of all the uh non-county health care systems uh in our community has the most at stake here because uh they're their ability to mitigate some of those impacts, I think is much less than some of the other systems.

Um the reality is when you look at our volumes, our hospitals are busy.

There's patients in acute care beds, the ED volumes are extraordinary.

These folks need those services, and since there's an obligation on the part of all hospitals to provide emergency services to anyone who presents, those patients will go somewhere.

A majority of ambulance transports countywide come to county hospitals today, and those patients will get transported by ambulance somewhere.

So we I think have to recognize that health care is an integrated system.

We happen to have a system in this broader community as a county that's stratified by payer mix.

What I mean by that is that the county system disproportionately serves Medical and Medicare patients.

It's really interesting the Medicare piece of this, by the way, which has grown over the recent years.

The county system disproportionately serves Medicail and Medicare patients, and we have other systems in our community that disproportionately serve commercial payers.

But collectively, the system has to serve all patients, and we're already seeing impacts elsewhere in the state.

There's at least three hospitals already that have said elsewhere in California that have said that they are closing, uh, and there's significant pressures on hospitals up and down the state.

The last thing I'll say about our other hospitals here in our community, and is that uh we are already a very expensive health care location.

Seven of the ten most expensive hospitals in the state of California surround the county hospital system and are located right around here.

That's a reflection of a number of factors, but having significant impacts to the county system and to Medi-Cal is gonna exacerbate those impacts and is gonna exacerbate impacts on health care costs for everyone in the community.

That is actually one of the things that will happen, I believe, nationally, as a result of HR1 as well.

El Camino Hospital says they're all full.

You call ahead beforehand to say we're gonna send somebody and they say we're full, and they just what happens then, hypothetically.

Well, the way it works is the you patient gets transported right by ambulance, they call 911 or they come in as a walk-in, and the hospital has an obligation to triage and to serve as best as they can on a triage basis, so it's not a matter of call ahead, it's a matter of patient arrives and then the system has to triage.

Great.

Thank you.

Um so I don't see anyone else in the queue, so I'm gonna ask a couple questions.

I think you and I have talked about them a little bit, but um, hopefully you'll be able to share with the the community.

So um a lot of the conversation has been focused on the hospital system, but one of the things that you've highlighted, um, and really appreciate the community impacts to Mountain View Slide is um how the the how HR1 is gonna be affecting food assistance, disaster response, and also those for our our unhoused community.

So can you maybe share how you'll be addressing that or how uh I don't want to go too far, but how measure A might address some of that?

Um, yeah, yeah, these are interrelated systems.

So take, for example, our behavioral health services department, a quarter of its budget comes from Medi-Cal.

Uh, and Santa Clara Valley Healthcare itself provides all the acute care behavioral health services that the county delivers.

A significant number of resources that support supportive housing, especially the service delivery piece, also comes from Medi-Cal.

There's a whole initiative you may have heard of CalAim, which is really a waiver the states obtained from the federal government that allows more flexible utilization of Medi-Cal revenues in order to deploy them for community supports, including housing-related supports that have been proven to help provide and lead to better health care outcomes and save health care costs in the long run.

Those are all Medicaid based funding streams that are dependent on the Federal Medicaid program.

So those are just some examples.

And so when folks are asking about the focus on the hospitals, it's important to share that there's there's other information.

You're talking about the cap.

Yes.

Yeah.

So in general, under state law, there's a cumulative cap for local sales tax measures.

The legislation under which this tax has been proposed, the specific state legislation, this sits above that.

So this doesn't affect that cap and has no impact on that cap.

So that's just an important thing to know legally about this particular measure.

And then just uh to follow up on Councilmember McAllister's question.

I think in Mountain View, we we have many private hospitals.

Um, but I'd like to pull the thread a little bit on the strain on you know how the public health system being the impacts of the public health system will really affect the the private.

And so I didn't know if you wanted to share a little bit more on what you see could be the impacts.

You know, we have PAMF, we have CETER, we have um Kaiser, Al Camino, Stanford, all in Mountain View.

So maybe you could share a little bit more.

Yeah, yeah, the as I said earlier, you know, healthcare is an integrated delivery system.

And you know, I think we saw that particularly true during the pandemic, where there was deep inner reliance uh across the systems, and where Santa Clara Valley Healthcare and the county public health department really had to step forward and fill some really critical gaps in terms of vaccination and testing.

Um, as I said in response to an earlier question, uh we're somewhat distinct in our county and having stratified payer mix between different hospitals.

And so some systems like the counties disproportionately serve certain types of payers, and other systems disproportionately serve different types of payers.

But the reality, and this is the reality up and down the state, including in communities that don't have the benefit of having the kind of investment, and it's really been a decades-long investment that this community is collectively made in having the kind of public health care infrastructure that we have with Santa Clara Valley Healthcare, that in those other communities that you know payer mix across private systems does look different.

I go back to that cost piece, our health care systems here locally, and I am sure all of them would agree with this statement, are under a lot of pressures cost-wise, and it's due to a multitude of factors, including the economics here around health care labor costs in particular.

And for those systems, uh the burdens associated with shifting payer mix can be quite significant.

And so the reality is that the health of all of our health care delivery systems is dependent on the other systems as well and the county system has really provided a tremendous amount of indirect fiscal support candidly to those private systems in our community uh and I think there's no better example of that than what's happened over the last decade with Medicare over time Medicare cost reimbursements have not kept up with cost of care and what you see today is that the county system is now the largest Medicare provider in this community and the percentage of Medicare patients coming to the county system is growing every single year.

And so as we have an aging population in our county overall and as that continues to worsen in terms of the revenue and cost um that's something that's going to only be exacerbated.

So it is integrated one county and one county together and I think the most tangible evidence of that is what happened during COVID where it was county staff county nurses delivering those shots right here in a city facility with our partnership with the city.

Thank you.

Did either of you want to make any closing remarks I don't see anyone else in our question queue so want to provide you maybe where people can learn more information.

Yeah we have a tremendous amount of information regarding HR1 the federal impacts the health system the also the impacts to Calfresh we didn't talk as much about those but the impacts to CalFresh and those are all available at scotinfo slash federal funding it's sc dot info slash federal funding and I'm sure you'll hear some public comment from uh measure folks about how to get that information thank you both for your presentation.

Thank you so much help you oh go ahead yeah and I just wanted to say thank you and going back to Councilmember Ramirez's question um about how do how do we work with cities um whether it's San Jose or Mountain View or the the all of the 15 cities I think what's really um critical and I think we're learning through this process even more is the importance of working together and communicating and actually I think it was Mayor Klein who brought up that during COVID you know we instituted that every Saturday morning call with county staff and all of the mayors and so that sort of ended after COVID died down but this is this up this is really brought up the importance of trying to bring back those types of communication lines um so for myself in our office we have started a monthly call with the mayors in in um district five so I mayor Kame was on our first call um and and that's really the commitment that I would like to make to you all obviously you hold a special place in my art but it's really about communicating and letting us know you know what your needs are um what we can work together on and with San Jose I'll say I have been talking with the mayor there too about that that I think we all agree that we can have better working relationships and that's really the intent is that we build that strong relationship between county and all the cities so that's my commitment as your representative and one that has nine out of the 15 cities in my district I hope you know that cities do are a big um have a big place in my heart and will always be committed to communicating and to working with you thank you.

I also just want wanted to echo that but add one other thing as a Mountain View resident.

Just a huge thank you for all the service that you provide our community.

Thank you.

So now that our three presentation items are over, would any member of the council like to say any words on any of the three items that uh presentation items?

All right, not seeing any.

We will open public comment for the presentation items.

Would any member of the public joining us virtually or in person like to provide comment on the presentation items listed on the agenda?

So if so, I see a few hands raised on Zoom and a few cards.

It looks like that went through.

So we'll do our in-person speakers first, and each of our speakers will have uh three minutes.

We'll start with Tim McKenzie, then Raymond Goines, Vivian Lowe, Jerry Minukian, and then Kylie Clark, and then we'll move to virtual.

Greetings, council.

Uh, good to see you in the meat world.

Uh Tim McKenzie, resident of the Montaloma neighborhood for more than a decade.

Um, here today as a member of the steering committee of Silicon Valley Democratic Socialists of America.

Uh, DSA, we have endorsed measure A, uh, because the county is under attack.

Um, I'm I'm personally furious at Donald Trump reaching into our pockets and stealing from us to the benefit of his billionaire buddies and the biggest corporations.

Um, I thank you.

I am not thrilled that it's a sales tax, but uh, as we heard, this is the only tool in the tool belt that we have to try to have a stopgap measure.

Uh, this is a common strategy we see of attack the public com the goods, the public goods, the commons, say it doesn't work, then let private equity swoop in, ring it for all every cent that it can.

Uh, there was just today in the uh annals of internal medicine.

There was a peer-reviewed paper showing that, demonstrating that when private equity buys healthcare systems, patient care decreases, more people die.

This is what we're facing.

We're under an attack, uh, our health, the public good is under attack.

Um, so DSA, we've endorsed measure A.

Every week we are phone banking and canvassing together with the South Bay Labor Council.

Right now, there are more than a dozen working class DSA members along with labor council allies, phone banking down in San Jose to talk to residents.

Um, I invite each of you to come join us at a phone bank or a canvas sometime before the election happens.

Um, and I'd also ask that we heard the county is limited in what it can do, but municipalities have different rules.

Uh and getting back to large corporations.

We have one of the biggest corporations in the world here in Mountain View that just cut down hundreds of trees to dig a ditch and then fill it back in.

Um, I think that there are revenue streams that we could have that stop putting things on the back of working people, and that we can fight back, build the public commons, not allow huge corporations and the wealthy to dictate everything that we do.

Um so I ask that you use your position as leaders in the community to let people know about measure A and come out and canvas with us in uh at DSA and the labor council.

Thank you.

Raymond.

Uh good evening.

My name is Raymond Goans.

I'm a community health worker whose patients come from some of the most marginalized communities in Santa Clara County.

And these communities will be impacted by these cuts in ways that will have a rippling effect throughout the county if this is not passed.

So I support Measure A, and I ask that Chiefs of vote, yes, with me.

In my role as a community health worker, I'm afforded the opportunity to have patients that live throughout the cities that make up this great county.

Some of my patients live right here in this very city.

And some maybe family and friends, each and every one of you have.

So I'm here to ask you to vote yes for measure A.

For them, for the population that this county, for population that this county is not forgetting.

For the homeless that feel that they are not seen because people just walk by without giving them a second thought.

I am here for the single parent households who depends on these services to support them.

So I ask each and every one of you to vote yes on measure A.

And I ask that the city of Mount View endorse measure A and stand by the community that will be impacted by these cuts, but will benefit if this measure is passed.

The community that I represent and I work with, my patients need this measure to pass, or some of my patients will die because they are not afforded the services that they usually would have.

I implore you to vote yes.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Uh Vivian.

Thank you.

I am a recently retired registered nurse who worked at El Camino Hospital for 25 years.

I am speaking for myself independently.

I've been a resident in this county since 1976.

I support Measure A.

To assume that citizens in higher economic areas would not be impacted by funding cuts from HR 1 is alarming to me.

We are not a stationary society, and you could be anywhere in the county when a medical emergency occurs.

When one hospital is overburdened and has to deny patient access, the burden shifts.

Ambulance are diverted, care is delayed.

The magnitude of the cuts that would impact the entire hospital ecosystem is daunting.

As soon as a crisis occurs, it levels the playing field regardless of where you live.

Cooperation during the COVID pandemic guys.

I was part of your local staff that administered vaccines.

I saw the integration with all South Bay hospitals.

I witnessed how safety improved and lives were saved when all county resources work together.

And felt the immense gratitude from our community and our voters.

We can't get complacent now.

The cuts are so horrific.

These are not normal times.

Arguments about seeking better structural design or reform as a solution take time.

The risk of delay is too high.

The massive level of funding cuts from HR1 required that unanimous vote and brave leadership from the County Board of Supervisors to maintain emergency trauma and public health care for all.

Today just happens to be a new year's for some cultures.

An opportunity for setting good intentions moving forward.

Please endorse Measure A.

Thank you for your time.

Thank you, Jerry.

Hello, uh, I'm Jerry Manukian.

Um I live and vote in Mountain View.

I'm a practicing physician uh for a little over 30 years.

Um I trained at uh Santa Clara Valley Medical Center.

I was there in the 1989 earthquake, uh, and I'm on staff at El Camino Hospital, uh, which has a very busy emergency room and cannot afford to have more uh traffic from the South.

A famous bumper sticker reads think education is expensive, try ignorance.

I say, think health care is expensive, try hospital closures.

Um our gentleman here has already talked about how Valley has taken over several other hospitals in the area.

Uh those hospitals were uh teetering on brink of closure at the time that they were taken over.

Uh the county hospitals are our main defense against things like earthquakes and we are always one earthquake away from another tragedy, fires, mass shootings, the occasional pandemic or measles epidemic.

Not to mention the mental health services.

If the county system cuts back on these services or heaven forbid closes, our patients are still going to get sick, and they will come to the other hospitals.

When I work in uh urgent care here in Mountain View, I see patients from Morgan Hill.

It works that way.

When an earthquake happens, people are not always in their residence.

They might be across town.

Lastly, as a Santa Clara Valley Medical Center trainee, I owe a debt of gratitude to the impoverished and marginalized people who trained me at my profession when I was a student, an intern, and resident.

Thank you.

Uh support Measure A.

Thank you.

Kylie Clark, Celine Ho, and then Eric Buicon.

Hello, mayor, vice mayor, and counsel.

My name is Kylie Clark, and I'm the campaign manager for Measure A.

I know that tonight you've heard about how this will impact our most vulnerable, and this is, of course, about them.

This is, of course, about your 14% of residents who are on Medi-Cal who will be looking at a very, very bad situation if Measure A doesn't pass.

But this is also about all of us.

Nobody wants to wait longer for an ambulance to arrive.

Nobody wants to sit longer in an emergency room, and nobody wants their health care to get worse, which would unequivocally happen to all of us if Measure A doesn't pass.

Importantly, nobody asked for these cuts, but here we are, and we're in this position, and we have to do something to address them.

Like you've heard tonight, the healthcare system is an ecosystem.

And this is our one shot to protect it.

It might be easy to sit back and not do anything right now, but it would be hard to justify having done so in a year when these cuts come into effect.

I'd like to end on three specific notes.

First, I have to tell you that you can learn more about measure A at SaveOur Local Hospitals.com.

You can also contact me at Kylie KYLIE at Save Our Local Hospitals.com.

I'm always more than happy to talk with any of you.

Second, I somewhat ironically chair the 2000 Measure A Citizens Watchdog Committee.

So I know a good amount about citizen oversight.

I've seen what it looks like, and I just really want to tell you, I believe you can place your trust in that and in the oversight that there will be for this measure.

And third, I want to address the point about the regressive nature of this tax.

There are no taxes on groceries, child care, rent, health care, or education.

So what is more regressive?

A temporary tax outside of these five categories or a severe depletion of our life-saving health care system.

I ask that each of you individually and that you collectively as a counsel endorse Measure A.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Good evening.

My name is Celine Ho.

I work for the Valley Homeless Health Care Program at Santa Clara Valley Healthcare.

Uh I come to you in my own capacity as a Mountain View resident and on my own time.

I've been a resident here in Mountain View for 14 years.

My two sons were actually born here at El Camino Hospital.

I strongly support Measure A.

I'm proud to be part of this Mountain View community where we stand together in solidarity in times of great success, but also in times of crisis.

And here we are in an unprecedented crisis that's not only affecting a few hospitals and a few Medi-Cal patients, but affects all of us.

When the emergency rooms close, patients don't simply disappear.

They crowd into the nearest hospitals.

And this leads to longer wait times, increased costs, and a decline in our quality of care.

Many Mountain View residents rely on Santa Clara Healthcare for their services.

Our Valley Homeless Healthcare program at Santa Clara Valley Healthcare provides vital services to unhoused neighbors here in Mountain View.

Our medical team is right here at Hope's Corner, tending to our clients' medical needs.

They're at the safe parking lots down the street providing care to those who don't seek services in traditional clinics.

And our backpack medicine team is out in the streets providing street medicine to the folks in the RVs along our streets.

In addition to these critical services, we have our Santa Clara Valley Dental Care down the street on El Camino that provides high-quality adult pediatrics and emergency dental care for our residents here.

These federal cuts to health care can restrict access to care for Mountain View residents that rely on the Santa Clara Valley Healthcare for primary care, homeless health care, specialty care, and emergency services.

Because these cuts are beyond our control.

Our Measure A gives our county the power to act locally, allocate the resources and make the decisions for our communities's health.

We must meet this moment and fight and protect not just the residents in Mountain View, but all residents in the county.

Thank you.

Thank you.

See Eric, Cassandra, then Jane Lombard.

It's late.

Good evening, Mayor Kamei and Council members.

My name is Eric Boitgon.

I'm a proud resident of Mountain View, also a proud employee of the County of Santa Clara here representing myself.

As you heard today, many of our neighbors rely on Santa Clara Valley Healthcare.

And just uh the past two years, about 130 Mount View residents were taken to Valley Healthcare hospitals for uh emergency services, and nearly 14,000 of uh our residents are enrolled in Medi-Cal and could lose access to funding if uh these uh if we lose this fund if the as a result of these funding cuts.

If hospitals throughout the county are forced to scale back or closed services, the hospitals in Mount TV that families rely on will be overwhelmed, creating impossible wait times when people need help the most.

Right now uh to protect access for our most needy communities.

Um but it's gonna really take an effort from all of us, not only as you as elected, but us as residents to vote in favor of this.

So I'm hoping that we're all able to pull together uh and ensure access to all our families throughout Santa Clara County.

So I implore you all to uh support measure A.

Thank you.

Thank you, Cassandra.

Hi, Mayor and City Council.

Do you guys know why I love Mountain View City Council?

It's because I never have to show up.

I love that's how much trust and faith I have in all of you guys to support Measure A.

I'm just here to um say that because I have so much faith in you guys.

I sit at six city council meetings.

That is my day job, including the Board of Supervisors meeting.

I do this for my job.

So I am so confident in the Mountain View City Council that I don't have to explain.

You guys, James just told you guys what's gonna happen.

I don't need to tell you guys any more.

I will say that 14% of our residents that that's a lot.

Um, I think the one category that does not get talked about is the low-income taxpayers who are private insurance holders who do not qualify for Medicaid.

Because I, when I started my job, I got kicked off of Medi-Cal, but I also require specialized services from Stanford.

I am a Stanford baby, so I do have a lot of love for Stanford and the private system, but just because they offer the care that I need to keep me alive.

Um, that's something that unfortunately I was kicked out of Medi-Cal, and there's a lot of us who have to have private health insurance to even get the specialized services to keep a lot of people alive.

Um, I will also say that it comes at a cost when you are no longer extremely low income.

Um, I pay upwards 1,200 a month just for my medications, all the specialized services that I require.

Um, that is probably true for a lot of people, and that puts a lot of us in debt.

Um, that would mean that we would have to pay higher premiums at the end of the day because of these cuts.

I was a Medi-Cal user, I've been through the system.

Um, unfortunately, San Mateo County system, which is a different um health system, which is why I was born at Stanford, but you know, that there is a portion of us who are low income taxpayers, and if I had the decision to pay five eighth cents tax on anything to help save those critical need services, I would do it.

I wouldn't even blink.

I wouldn't even notice.

None of none of us would notice.

We would just swipe the card and look away.

Most of the residents here, I know that for sure because it's it's unrecognizable.

You won't even notice that that's how the sales tax works.

But um, again, I'm just here to show my support.

I have so much faith in all of you guys and our city staff, and I don't I don't even know why I came.

I already know that you guys will stand by the community because I trust you guys that much.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Okay, Jane.

And then Alex.

Well, thank you, Council, uh, for giving me an audience.

My name is Jane Lombard.

I'm a practicing cardiologist, and I'd be practicing in Mountain View for 25 years.

But I also train in the county, and I worked at Kaiser, I worked at Stanford, I worked at the VA, I've worked every single system there is.

So one thing I think, you know, you were asking about the billion dollars.

The billion dollars is basically the operating budget for El Comuna Hospital.

It's about billion to billion and a half.

So if you take that away, you just wiped El Camino off the slate.

And just imagine, you know, I mean, hospitals were closing even before the big beautiful bill or whatever.

Um, you know, uh doctors' hospital Mantica, they had a shut, they almost closed, they shut down because their primary uh population was Medical and a few Medicare.

Uh, San Pablo closed.

Lots of hospitals were already on the brink, they were on the brink of bankruptcy, as you mentioned, and now this is just gonna make it worse.

And as a cardiologist, I think you know, if you're having a heart attack, what are you gonna do?

Let the guy just sit out there because you have no bed and and you, you know, we're full.

What are you gonna do?

We can't let people die.

So I'm petitioning for everyone to vote in support of measure A from a social justice point.

Santa Clara County is a fourth richest county in the United States, followed by San Mateo.

I mean, actually, San Mateo is a little bit ahead of us, but we have three times the population.

Twenty-five percent of the county's population is medical.

That gives us five hundred thousand people who depend on this these services, you know.

It's it's it's terrible because the rich becomes richer and the poor becomes poor or die.

And so I think that in order, you know, these 500,000 people, as the previous speakers have said, they're not gonna go away when your life is in danger, you look for help.

And the worst thing is there are more children who are medical recipients because a lot of them don't, you know, their parents' insurance don't cover them.

And I think that's if we don't invest in our future, we are a dying civilization.

And I just want to say one quote from Oliver Wendell Holmes.

I don't like paying taxes, but this is what he says.

Taxes are what we pay for a civilized society.

Thank you.

Thank you.

I'm for it.

All right, and we'll move on to virtual public comment.

Judy Stroyer.

Let's see if you can unmute.

Yeah, can you hear me?

Yes.

Okay, um, I was calling about um something that helps in the purview of your group there, and I would like to have um, is this public comment or is this on the presentation item?

Is this not public comment right now?

It is not, no.

We're we're doing presentations right now.

We have three presentation items.

Then we'll do consent and then we'll do public comment.

All right, I'm sorry about that.

Oh, no worries.

We'll we'll come back to you if you can, okay.

All right, how about Catherine Nagley Negley?

Hello, um, my name's Catherine Nagley.

I am a Mountain View resident, um, and I live just a few doors down from uh Mayor Kamei.

And I don't have a healthcare background.

I just know that if emergency rooms close and if hospitals close, we're all gonna end up paying a much larger, you know.

Dollar doll dollar amount for people not getting the services they need in the long run.

And I very much support Measure A, and I uh know that Measure A is not the only thing that we're gonna need, but it is an important piece of the puzzle.

Um, so I just want to express my support.

Thank you.

Great, thank you.

All right, I'm not seeing any more in-person or virtual public comment.

So I'm gonna close the presentation items.

Thank you to the public and our presenters for um coming today.

We'll move on to the consent calendar.

Um and before we move on to the consent calendar, I'd like to share that we are actively recruiting for volunteers to serve on our boards, commissions, and committees.

Applications for our environmental planning commission are due to the city clerk's office by October 8th.

The applications for all other bodies are due by October 15th.

The applications can be found online at Mountainview.gov backslash BCC.

These items, and we'll move on to the consent.

Uh these items will be moved by one motion unless any member of the council wishes to pull an item for individual consideration.

If an item is pulled from the consent calendar, it will be considered separately following approval of the balance of the consent calendar.

If you'd like to speak on these items or the next item, oral communications on non-agenda items in person, please submit a blue speaker card to the city clerk now.

Would any member of the council like to pull an item?

Uh I see council member McAllister.

Um I had a I wanted to not pull them but comment, but I did have a question on uh 4.4 and then comment on 4.7 and 4.8.

Okay, 4.7 or 4.8.

Okay, why don't you go ahead?

Okay.

Uh civil uh public works director, I believe this is for you on 4.4, the magic bridges.

What was the original bid uh estimate back in 20 uh 16, 17?

Good evening, Mayor and Council.

I'm Jennifer Ng, Public Works Director.

Let me just refer to my notes real quick here.

Oh, actually, I don't have that written down.

I'm gonna turn back and see if Ed's got that handy.

We don't have that handy right now.

That's something we would need to look back up in the files back in the office.

We can certainly get back to you with this information.

You think the community service director might have an idea of the original?

Okay, okay.

Uh I'll go ahead and make comments based on that.

What we have here.

Uh since I've been back on the council, I was off for four years, came back, and I've noticed a lot of projects that started on when I was back on the council in 2016 or through 2020.

And it concerns me that every time we have a project that's delayed, it costs us more money for the end time is uh to get this project stone, and we have a lot of projects that have been delayed for the 4.4, the Magic Bridge, 4.7 Miramani, and 4.

Those are the ones that I look at, and I know at 4.

Uh Miramani, that was 2019 that money was supposed to have been allocated to this, and we need as a council to start looking at projects and be concerned or be uh aware that every time we change something, every time we add something, it extends the life of these projects and it costs more money, and therefore it's taking money and resources of uh staff away for other things that we want to do, and that's why our list of projects keep going on and not get many done.

On 4.8, I want to comment there's property manager.

So many of you know that I've been asking that why don't we buy apartment complexes and rent them out?

And here we are using a property management.

So this could be an example of something that if we can do that on a rental property, we could probably do that for if we wanted to start buying our apartments that we then we could control and be able to take care of the rapid rehousing, the homeless, domestic violence, teens, and whatever needs we do.

So keep them in mind.

Let's watch this how this property management works going forward, and maybe this will relieve some of your concerns about when we want if we do buy some property that it will work.

Thank you.

Councilmember Schoelter.

Thank you.

Yeah, usually I um just make comments about the consent calendar because there really is a tremendous amount of work behind these items, and um they they don't get talked about too much, but and that's true tonight too.

There are 12 items in there and they do represent a tremendous amount of work.

But this time I would like to poll one.

I'm gonna pull um uh 4.9, the council and um, was it 4.9?

No, 4.10, um, which is the one about the federal um legislative platform.

So we do you want me to talk about that now or do you later because you pulled it?

Okay, do you have did you want to make comments on anything?

Oh, then the other one is.

Yeah, okay.

And the comment I'd like to comment on 4.9, and that's just that's the one about uh the work plans for our council advisory boards and um I just wanted to to thank all of the people who serve on those boards.

It was great that the mayor made the announcement about the openings for that.

Um they're coming up, but um we do pay special attention to the recommendations and comments we get from advisory boards, and we really appreciate all the time that's put in.

Thank you.

Okay, great.

So um I'll bring this um back for council action and note that a motion to approve the consent calendar should also include reading the title of the resolutions attached to consent calendar items 4.1, 4.2, 4.3, and 4.12.

Uh councilmember Hicks.

So I am making a motion uh to pass the consent calendar except for is 4.10 pulled.

We'll come back to that item.

So except for 4.10.

And I see that it is seconded.

So, um, so that would be a motion to include item 4.1, adopt a resolution of the city council of the city of Mountain View, one repealing resolution number 17235 and all amendments there too, which established and or prescribe the duties, responsibilities, powers, and membership of the youth advisory committee, and two reestablishing the youth advisory committee and prescribing anew the duties, responsibilities, powers, and membership thereof to be read in title only further reading waived.

Item 4.2, adopt a resolution of the city council of the city of Mountain View, authorizing the city manager or their designee to enter into an agreement with EV Energy for the installation of four electric vehicle charging ports at 1000 Villa Street for city fleet vehicle use for a total amount not to exceed 48,153, and finding that the project is categorically exempt under the California Environmental Quality Act to be read in title only for the further reading waived.

Item 4.3 adopt a resolution of the city council of the city of Mountain View one, approving a special event permit and sound amplification permit for the German holiday market special event subject to conditions to approving the closure of certain public streets in the downtown area on Friday, December 12th, 2025 at 1201 p.m.

through Sunday, December 14th at 1 a.m.

for the German holiday market special event pursuant to California Vehicle Code 21101E, and three delegating authority to the community service director for future German holiday market events to be read in title only further reading waived, and lastly, item 4.12 adopt a resolution of the city council of the city of Mountain View amending the fiscal year 2025 through 26 salary plan for regular employees to update the salary grade for performing arts assistant to be read in title only further reading waived.

Great, thank you.

So we have that motion from Councilmember Hicks, seconded by Council Member Show Walter.

And I think before we vote, our public direct, our public works director uh has, I think uh something to say, so we'll turn to her.

Thank you, Mayor.

Quick follow-up from Councilmember McAllister's question.

Initial budget for the Magical Bridge project in 2018 was $4,525,000.

We're looking that up right now.

I just asked.

Thank you.

I think updates as the meeting goes on.

We'll get to.

All right, let's vote.

All right.

And the consent calendar passes unanimously.

So we'll move back to item 4.10.

Councilmember Schoalter.

Yes.

That one is the adoption of amended federal legislat our federal legislation platform.

And this has been very hard to do this year because so many things have been changing on the federal government side, you know, kind of daily.

So I wanted to add a few um a few more items.

And uh I asked the questions in the um in our question and answer, and the staff was fabulous and coming back with suggested language for these.

So I'm wondering, um city attorney, can do I need to read that special language, or can we, since it's in the and the question and answers, can we just um uh cited or how how did we do this?

Uh council member so excuse me, showalter, we can include it.

Uh I believe it was three three items.

Um, yes, so we can include those statements that were in the council QA as far as thank you.

And just to tell everybody about it, one is basically um more information about um uh tax credits for affordable housing, which was one of the few things in HR1 that was positive, but didn't go far enough, so something about that, and then and then two more, or one of them is um supporting the development of and um continuation and funding of weather data for it for disasters and for ongoing needs um that we all need for public safety, and then a third was um essentially supporting um science, federal science.

As as we all know, we have NASA and the USGS, and and science and innovation is just a point of pride for our city.

So including a statement about that was I also thought would be a good idea.

So I hope my colleagues will support this.

And I just move that we add those um those three uh items to our list.

Okay, so for item 4.10, um, for our legislative federal legislative platform, uh, we have the motion by councilmember Showelter and then seconded by Councilmember Hicks.

And I think what's important to note this is these three items that council member showalters putting forward is in addition to other amendments that we're making.

Um, as uh council member showalter uh stated, we're kind of in an ever-evolving climate, and so just grateful to um staff as well as our um you know partners in Washington who are helping us um navigate this.

So this will be kind of in aggregate.

We'll be able to put this forward.

So um seeing no one in the queue, let's vote.

Great, and that passes unanimously.

So we'll move on to item five, oral communications.

This portion of the meeting is reserved for persons wishing to address the council on any matter not on the agenda.

Speakers are allowed to speak on any topic within the city council subject matter jurisdiction for up to three minutes during the section.

State law prohibits the council from acting on non-agenda items.

If you'd like to speak on this item or the next item in person, please submit a blue speaker card to the city clerk now.

Would any member of the public joining us virtually or in person like to provide comment on this item?

If so, please click the raise hand button zoom, and we will take our in-person speakers first.

Each speaker will have three minutes.

First, we have Dylan Rich, and then we have Ray.

Hello, city manager, uh, city attorney, council member, and uh mayor.

I really appreciate your uh time and all the work that you guys do for the city here.

Um it's very much appreciated.

Um I want to talk.

Uh I'm Dylan Rich.

I'm from Palo Alto Preparatory School.

We're a nonprofit.

Um Chris Keck spoke about two weeks ago.

I wanted to update you guys on the issues that we're having with the oversized vehicles in our area.

Um this is only incidents that have occurred in the last two weeks that we've been dealing with.

Um there's been three incidents of dumping feces and sewage down the storm dreams, uh, two times buckets uh that they're using uh manually dumping.

Uh today we had uh leaking sewage from an RV each time.

Uh the city has to come out and provide a truck that cleans up.

I don't know at what expense that is to the city, but I'm I'm assuming it's quite a bit.

Um we had a woman in daylight, um, and sorry, this is a little graphic, um, use a business sign to prop herself up, and then promptly pulled her pants down and defecated in front of uh in the view of students.

Um I had a staff member get yelled at um what the F is wrong, uh, because she was moving a van that uh the and they didn't like where it was parked.

I had to intervene because she was quite scared.

Um they're uh leaving doors open, blocking the sidewalk.

Um our female students walk by nervously because there's half naked men lying inside of the RVs that they're crossing the path just to go get lunch.

Uh these are uh uh teenagers.

Um RVs, I think this is the biggest problem that we're uh dealing with and why it's causing so much of an issue.

Um a lot of the RVs in our neighborhood are uh being bought by uh other people and then rented out.

A lot of the people living there don't have access to the keys even.

Um I think because of the pressure of other cities uh the of moving RVs out.

I think Mountain View is getting uh disproportionately more RVs, and we're seeing more issues.

Um you will notice I have not come to speak in front of you guys for many years because it has not been an issue, but it is an issue now.

Um finally, most importantly, we had a student who was nearly struck while biking because they couldn't see the car.

This once again, these are all issues that have happened the last two weeks.

Um Chief Mike Canfield was kind enough to visit and walk our streets and see what our kids are seeing every day.

Um I invite you and city council members to come out and visit.

I would love for you to see our beautiful campus, and I would love to walk the streets with you so that you guys can see what we see.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Ray.

Okay, sir.

Being old is not easy.

That's okay.

You ready?

Thank you.

Um, why am I here?

Well, we have Trump to thank for a lot of our problems.

But I'm here to talk about these guys in blue.

As long as I've been here, any problem I've had or any robberies or or damage to my property, they don't respond.

They don't respond because I'm a gay man.

They're bigots who hate people.

And they practice hate for the 50 years I've been here.

My life means nothing to them.

Nothing.

Just hate and bigotry.

I've been wrong, I've been marginalized, I've been my house has been damaged.

But they don't help.

They help themselves though.

And my life is nothing.

What are you gonna do about it?

What are you gonna do?

What are you going to do?

What are you?

Are you gonna do anything?

Nah.

Why?

Why would you help a gay man?

You never have, you never will.

These are hate Mongols.

These are people who want to.

Well, they've tried to kill me.

They wanted to incarcerate me for complaining.

Fifty years.

Fifty years of this kind of behavior.

Are you going to do anything?

Are you going to say anything?

Or are you just gonna follow their hate and bigotry?

Or you're just gonna follow their marginalizing my life.

They minimized it so they can feel like men.

These are not men, these are not men.

Extremely dishonest.

But you believe the cops.

We're all in trouble.

These are men that practice hate and bigotry and mineralize people.

These are not responsible cops at all.

I've been treated like that for about 50 years I've lived here.

And my life means something.

It means something.

Well, they don't think so.

They don't think I'm worthy of anything.

How long are they gonna minimize me?

How long are they gonna marginate my life, marginalize my life?

How are they?

Thank you.

All right.

I am not seeing any other speakers in the queue virtually or in person.

So I'm gonna close public comment and we'll move to item six, which is our public hearing.

Item 6.1 is our residential condominium development at 266-272 Tyrella Avenue.

Spanish translation services are available for this item.

We'll now hear from our interpreter.

Well, as personas can necessitation in persona tenemos auriculares disponibles.

For the set click in a button de interpretation, los commentarios publicos and persona y virtuales.

Great, thank you.

Uh would any member would any council members like to make any disclosures?

Vice Mayor Ramos.

Thank you, Mayor.

I uh went and saw the site.

I knocked on some doors and I spoke to some of the residents who live in that uh apartment complex.

Councilmember Ramirez.

Thank you, Mayor.

I had a phone call with the applicant.

Councilmember Schwalter.

Phone call with the applicant.

Okay.

Anyone else want to make any disclosures?

Alright, not seeing any.

Uh we'll move on to the item.

Principal planner, Diana Pancholi will present the item.

If you'd like to speak on this item in person, please submit a blue speaker card to the city clerk now, and we will have a presentation first from the city and then from the applicant.

Thank you and good evening, Mayor and the Council members.

My name is Diana Pancholi, principal planner with the city's planning division, and I am joined tonight uh by senior planner and the project manager, Krisha Pnona.

The item in front of you tonight is a request for a residential condominium project located at 266-272 Tyrella Avenue.

The approximately one acre project site is located on the west side of Tyrella Avenue between Keto Drive and Middlefield Road and spans across two parcels.

One parcel has a single family residence on it, and the other includes two existing duplexes.

The general plan land use designation for the project site is medium high density residential, and it is in the R31 multiple family residential zoning district.

The surrounding land uses are primarily medium to low density residential buildings, such as two-story apartments, condominiums, and single-story single-family residential developments.

The request before you tonight includes a development review permit to redevelop the site by demolishing all existing buildings and construct a four-story 47-unit residential condominium building above one level of underground parking and a heritage tree removal permit to remove eight heritage trees and a tension map to combine the two parcels to create one common lot and 47 residential parcels.

Additionally, the project is utilizing state density bonus law for 31% density bonus above the base units.

The proposed unit mix consists of one, two, and three-bedroom units, ranging in size from approximately 720 square feet to 1,500 square feet.

Staff has reviewed the project for conformity with applicable city codes and regulations.

The proposed project is consistent with the general plan designation, which allows for multiple family residential development.

For the general plan, the project has a base density of 36 units.

The project will provide five very low-income units, which qualifies the project for up to 42.5% density bonus and 16 additional units.

The project proposes to utilize only 11 bonus units to construct a total of 47 units.

Under state density bonus law, the project is eligible for up to two concessions and unlimited waivers of development standards.

To accommodate the proposed number of units, the developer is requesting four waivers of R3 zoning development standards, including maximum height, reduced setbacks for floors two to four, maximum floor area ratio, and maximum site coverage.

A detailed list of the analysis of the requested waivers is discussed in the staff report.

Staff has determined that the project could not be constructed as proposed without these development standard waivers, as full compliance would generally require a reduction in the proposed number of units or density.

To meet the city's below market rate housing requirement, the project is proposing five very low income units.

The proposed five very low income units exceed the deplacement unit requirement under SB 330, and the details of the project compliance with the state and local requirements have been discussed in the staff report as well.

All the project parking is proposed in one level of underground parking garage, and vehicular access to the garage is located off of Tyrella Avenue.

The primary pedestrian access to the project site is located on the northeast corner of the building along Tyrella Avenue.

The building ground floor includes the main lobby and a mail room, nine residential units, two courtyards, a paseo, a bike room, and a service utility areas.

The project has a contemporary design, but includes traditional design elements such as angle roof forms and wood awnings.

The building materials include board and batten siding, cementer share siding, stucco, brick rainstor, and wood-like metal railings at the balconies.

The balconies stack on the building breakup, horizontal massing, while changes in the material at the fourth floor help de-emphasize the four-story massing in the project.

A prominent wood trellis above the main pedestrian entrance announces the building's main entry as well.

In terms of the trees on site, the project site currently contains 24 trees, including 20 heritage trees and four non-heritage trees.

The project is proposing on removing eight heritage trees and two non-heritage trees for a total of 10 tree removals.

The heritage trees are in poor condition, and due to the conflict with the proposed building and the utilities, it would be infeasible to save the trees as reviewed by the applicant's arborist and confirmed by the city arborists.

Additionally, the applicant's arborists reviewed the viability of transplanting the heritage trees, but found there were not suitable candidates for the transplant due to the poor condition of the trees itself.

To mitigate the loss of these trees, the applicant will be planting 38 new trees, including four new street trees and 34 on-site trees at a 3.8 is to 1 replacement ratio, which exceeds the typical two is to one replacement ratio for heritage trees.

Parking.

The project is located within one half mile of major transit stops and is not required to provide any on-site parking spaces as per the city code section 36.32.50.

They would be subject to providing EV equipped installed spaces and ADA spaces.

The applicant is still voluntarily proposing 47 parking spaces in the underground parking garage along with bicycle parking for residents and guests.

Related to the previous meetings, the applicant voluntarily participated in a neighborhood meeting on July 16, 2024, and attended a design review consultation meeting on July 17, 2024.

Subsequently, the zoning administrator and the subdivision committee reviewed the project at a joint public meeting on August 13, 2025, when three members of the public commented on the project as detailed in the staff report.

At this meeting, the zoning administrator and subdivision committee recommended the city council to conditionally approve the project and tentative map for the conditions of approval attached to the staff report.

In conclusion, staff finds that the project aligns with the general plan policies and supports diverse housing options and is in compliance with the applicable provisions of the zoning code.

The project utilizes state density bonus provisions, which permits the greater densities and the proposed waivers.

Additionally, staff finds that the project is categorically exempt from CEQA pursuant to section 15332 for infill development.

Therefore, city staff recommends that the city council to adopt a resolution to approve the project and the tentative map subject to the conditions of approval.

Staff received three public comments on this item, which have been provided to the city council prior to the meeting via email and also available on Legislature.

This concludes staff presentation.

Staff, including the community development director, Christian Marda, and assistant community development director Blazinski are present here tonight and are available for any questions that you may have.

Additionally, the project owner applicant representative is also present here tonight and has a brief presentation for city council.

Thank you.

Great, thank you.

We'll now have a presentation from the applicant, project architect Bill Maston.

Good evening.

I'm gonna actually make it very brief.

I'm really here to not only endorse the project, but talk briefly about the experience of this project in particular, because there were so many rules and regulations that one way or another touched this project.

And it really was a collaboration on many levels and sometimes frustrating, sometimes not, of you know, dealing with differences of opinion about design elements, where to locate the front entry, where to put parking for not only cars but for bicycles, but all that work and all that level of detail was done early in the process.

That's a little bit of a change from the past, and I just wanted to compliment staff and the other people that we interacted with because it actually made it easier for us to come up with a solution that we have here today.

So other than wanting to make that uh comment of appreciation, I'd really like to just answer any questions that you have.

Great, thank you.

Um, we will do council questions next, and I'm sure my colleagues, if you just want to sit in front, I'm sure my colleagues will let you know if they have a question for you.

Um, so with that, does any member of the council have any questions for staff or the applicant?

Council member McAllister.

Yeah, I'm uh getting used to some of these new rules, and I just could you go to your slide 10?

Uh the parking.

I'm still trying to get a better handling on this, how parking is working, because every time we take off parking, it impacts the neighborhoods.

And you said it was a half a mile, and I was wondering if you can demonstrate to me a little bit or show on your slide how you consider a half a mile.

So where, yeah, I can see that, but where are the transit stations?

Where's your point from one to the other?

How does that how's that work out?

So as per the um as per the code and HCD guidance that we have received, the distance is measured in a straight line from the parcel, the project parcel, to the transit center.

So there are two uh major transit stop.

One is the Mountain View Transit Center in downtown, and the other is the Wisman Station Light Trail Station, which is right here in Darpu.

So a straight line from the edge of the parcel of the project site to the edge of the parcel of the transit center, or the other transit stop, that is how we measure the how one half mile distance.

The dark blue and the pink uh that shading that you see on the slides in here is the one-half mile radius around those uh transit center.

But that shows you the straight distance between the project parcel and this and the major transit stops is one half mile.

Okay, so it's not feed, it's just uh well, in this case you had enough overlay, so it didn't matter.

Okay.

And even though we had a highway, that looks like 85 is blocking the easy access to the Mount View Transit Center, and at the Wismuth Center, I guess you can get to it.

Um, okay.

Do you happen to know how many parking spaces that are on the street that surround that property?

Staff does not have that information.

Okay.

That's all right, thank you.

Vice Mayor Ramos.

Thank you, Mayor.

This is uh more for staff, and I'm looking over the questions uh that were uh asked before.

Um, and I I'm gonna I'm gonna preface this.

Um this is not to do any kind of attack.

I'm just trying to find out where the disconnect happened.

Um I had the ability to to go over and knock on doors at that property.

I spoke to two households there.

Uh both of them were primarily Spanish speaking.

Um, and one said she did not get any kind of notification about the tenant relocation assistance.

The other one showed me hers, the notice of intent.

It was only in English.

She managed to get a Spanish one because she went to a community meeting.

Um, uh, and so she managed to talk to someone who emailed her a Spanish version.

Um, so it it it it it's it's kind of different than what the answers that were given to us on our packet.

And I I I really would like to know where the disconnect kind of happened.

If it also possible is it is it also possible to see uh a notice of intent that you sent out?

Uh you could you could you could redact everything?

Um, but it it would also be helpful as well.

It's my first time there go.

Good evening, Council Julie Bonat.

I'm the affordable housing manager.

Do you mind speaking directly into the microphone?

Maybe we can.

All right, how about this?

Is that a little better?

People virtually can't hear.

Thank you.

Okay.

Um, good evening, uh, council.

I'm Julie Bana, the affordable housing manager.

I believe that um our rent stabilization team handles the tenant relocation um benefits, and I do believe that they are available virtually to answer the question.

So um is Andrea Kennedy.

Oh, yeah.

She is unmuted.

Okay, great.

Thank you.

Thank you, Julie.

And thank you, uh City Council members.

This is Andrea with the Rent Stabilization Division with the housing department.

And uh thank you, Emily.

Uh sorry, committee council member Ramas for letting us know the information.

I will um confirm with our tenant relocation consultant.

However, we do have copies of the English and Spanish versions of the notice of intents that were mailed to the tenants, and I do know that um the relocation consultant has also contacted via phone and in Spanish via phone.

Um at least three of the four they were able to get a hold of three of the four residents at the property to go over the relocation benefits and the application process.

Um, I do know there's one tenant that they're still working to get a hold of over the phone.

Um, but again, we are more than happy to resend any notice that maybe did not make it through the mail.

Um, so we will go ahead and work on that.

Um, and I also believe that um staff will reach out to you directly to get a little bit more information regarding the tenant who um was not receiving that information.

Um thank you for that.

Um, as you've had or your staff had conversations uh with the residents there.

Um have you had any indication why they have not applied for tenant relocation assistance yet?

Yes, thank you for the question.

Um we have not specifically myself had conversations with the tenants, however, our consultant who speaks Spanish.

Um I do not speak Spanish, but our consultant um has had conversations with the residents, and it seems um that they haven't applied for assistance as of yet, uh, mostly because the vacate date is so far in the future.

They have not received any termination notices as of yet.

And of course, with SB 330, the residents do have the right to stay in their unit up until six months before the start of construction.

So that's um pretty far out in the future, and it seems like they're a little bit more interested in waiting closer to that date to do the application and receive that funding closer to the move out date.

All right, thank you.

Does any other member of the council have any questions?

All right, not seeing any, we'll now open it up to public comment.

Would any member of the public joining us virtually or in person like to provide comment on any item on the on the count on this item?

Sorry.

Um, let's see.

We have a couple in person and a couple virtual.

So we'll start with Lon fam.

Is that right?

And then Roger Noel or Roger.

Noel.

And then we'll move on to virtual.

How much time, Mayor?

Three minutes.

You could rock paper scissors at here.

Hello again.

My name is Roger Noel.

I'm a 45-year resident of Mountain View.

I live on Tyrella Avenue, and I'm here to oppose the new condominium project that we're talking about right now.

Um, there are five reasons why I don't think this project is a good idea.

Neighborhood fit parking, excessive waivers, affordability, and other projects on Tyrella.

Regarding neighborhood fit, this is primarily a one and two-story residence neighborhood, and a massive four-story building towering over existing structures should not be permitted.

It's just not right.

Parking.

The applicant appears to be misinterpreting AB 2097 regarding parking minimums based on the one-half mile distance from transit station provision.

There are a lot of intricate rules in that in that uh act that should be looked at more closely.

The project appears to fall fail both geometric tests required under AB 2097.

Project has inadequate parking.

Currently, there is a major parking availability problem in the neighborhood.

Parking will only get worse if 47 more residents are built in this area.

Waivers.

Four waivers would not be needed if the project was scaled down a bit regarding height, floor area ratio, setbacks and site coverage.

Affordability, the project has no net increase in the number of affordable units based on the ones they're going to tear down.

There's also an oversupply of market rate apartments and residences in Mountain View.

Other projects on Tyrella.

The city has recently approved another large project of 294 296 Tyrella Avenue.

A seven-story 80-unit plus apartment building on less than a half an acre.

This is one-tenth of a mile away from this project at 266 Tyrolla.

Why is the city approving these two massive projects on one residential block?

The impact on the neighborhood by adding over 120 more residences in one block will be very severe.

In conclusion, this project should not be approved.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Hi, my name is Lan Pham.

I'm a resident on Tyrella, and I'm coming to share with you how much I oppose this proposal because I live there and I can see the impact it will have on the area.

So I'm not a public speaker, so forgive me if I don't get off the things tied in properly.

But one of the key element argument that developers use is that they're using there's a shortage of um affordable housing.

That's why they need to massively build in the area.

If you look around, I think Mountain View, I've lived here for a while too.

There's been a lot of um apartment buildings that's been built on Shoreline on West Middlefield, on Moffat and Castro, just around the area.

These are four, six, seven stories high, but the difference in that is that the streets are much bigger.

Um, and oftentimes if you go by, there's still a lot of advertisements saying that um it's still available for leasing or rental.

So if there's such a shortage and that leads them to build so massively, why aren't these units occupied?

Why are there so many vacant?

So there should be some type of um studies to really do um an impact on if they argue that this is for affordable housing, addressing that issue, that should be addressed, right?

And not just leave it in my community there once these massive buildings come up and there's no um accountability to make sure that those problems are addressed.

Um, you're leaving a huge problem for the people who live there to live with these massive buildings with you know the streets that we live on are literally one um one direction to and from, and so right now there's parking, there's no parking.

If you come there, I I I urge to go that night when people come home from work.

There's no parking.

So if there's no parking, um, how do you expect to have 47 and 80 more units on these one street, like one direction street, um, with 120 more.

And to say, you know, you have 47 parking spaces, nobody lives in there with just one family and one car.

It's just not realistic.

Typically, a family has three or four cars there, so if you come out there now, we're not.

I mean, people sometimes drive so fast in that narrow street, I fear there's a safety concern there as well for people who live there.

So I know I'm I'm going all over the place, but these are real concerns.

So one of the concerns I really need for you guys to address is if you argue that this is to address the affordable housing um issue, there's got to be an answer that when once this is done, it should address that, right?

But if you have things that are still full leased or people aren't buying it because they're not affordable, then I think that argument is flawed.

So I'm sorry.

So please consider that and say no.

Okay.

I don't see your name in the queue, but I saw you fill out a card, so go ahead.

Alex Brown.

Uh, so yeah, no, I think that it is unfortunate that we have a lot of new units that are going vacant because the rents are not being lowered to a point where it's affordable for the people who need it.

Uh that is really unfortunate.

I do think it's something that we need to address because we we need more housing, but we also need housing that's affordable and accessible to the people who are currently struggling.

Uh that said, I'm for it.

Thanks.

Thank you.

So now we'll move on to our virtual public comment.

Uh Natalie Solomon.

Hi.

Hi.

I first want to introduce myself.

My name is Natalie Solomon.

I live on Tyrella Avenue.

I actually live directly next door to the proposed development.

Um, I wanted to start by just thanking you all for taking the time to hear from the neighbors in the community.

My main concern is with what I really think is the misinterpretation of the half mile from a major transit stop law.

So I am aware in what was discussed earlier, which is that there are not minimum parking requirements for a project within a half mile of a major transit stop.

However, AB 2097 also incorporates the definition of a major transit stop, which is contained in CEQA, which says, and I'll read a brief quote from the law.

A project shall be considered within a half mile of a major transit stop if all parcels within the project have no more than 25% of their area further than one half mile from the stop, or if not more than 10% of the residential units in the project are further than one half mile from the stop.

So thus the project would need to meet these percentage requirements.

If it did, then I agree with what was said earlier that one could take the measurement from the nearest edge of the parcel as the crow flies.

But if it does not meet these percentage requirements, as it appears not to, then it simply does not escape standard parking requirements.

You know, I am new to this, I'm not a lawyer.

So I actually asked a lawyer to look over the report, and they also strongly believed the project does not meet the law of AB 2097's actual requirements.

So I just really am urging someone to please relook at this to please reject the project.

It does not meet the law.

And one other small note I wanted to make is that on page 11 and 12 of the council report, it states that 272 Tyrella is vacant.

Um, it absolutely is not vacant.

Our neighbors and friends live there, Kevin and Daniela, um, and they've lived there for several years.

So thank you again for hearing our comments, and I really urge you to vote no.

Thank you.

Next is Evelyn Gavino.

Hi, can you hear me?

Yes, we hear you.

So my name is Evelyn Govino, and um I am severely going to be impacted by this project.

Um, I live in a complex at the back uh on EC Street.

So the project will be directly behind my fence and all the rest of the complex owners.

I strongly oppose this, as yes, it'll be a towering four-unit over all our units.

The impact on us with just construction noise, and once you guys begin digging, how will that affect our complex because you're digging deep down?

I also have a concern that we were told that our fence will be changed.

If that happens, will we still have access to our back gates?

Four of our units have access.

And yes, I'm very much concerned with parking.

Right now, it's already a concern for us on Easy Street.

Then if this big monstrous uh condominium project is approved, then what happens to our parking?

Those residents will be grabbing our parking, and we don't have any right now.

I mean, we're short of it.

So I am speaking on behalf of the other homeowners.

I'm not sure if they'll be able to make comments, but yes, we strongly oppose this because it will disturb the peace and quiet of our complex, which we so dearly love.

I'm I've been uh um resident for about 16 years now.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Uh next is Sarah Cellas.

See this.

Yes.

Hi there.

Hello.

Um can you guys hear me?

Yes, we hear you.

Sir, okay.

Um, hi there.

I am speaking.

I know this issue was covered a little bit earlier, but um I appreciate the opportunity to talk about measure A.

Um, which I only supports.

Oh, sorry, we can only take public comment now on the item that's before us.

Oh, okay.

I'm so sorry.

That's okay that we just closed public comment on that item.

So you're welcome to mess email the council.

City Council at Mountainview.gov if you'd like to.

I'll just say I'm a medical social worker and link you.

Okay.

So we'll move on to our next virtual public commenter.

Is Judy Stroyer?

No, she's not.

Okay.

Hello, yes.

Am I live?

Can you hear me?

Yes.

Okay, yeah.

This is the moment where I can uh talk about uh the issue that we're having with Jewish supreme.

Okay, no, this is Tyrella.

All right, so that concludes public comment um on this item.

So I'll bring the item back for council questions and deliberation.

And please note that a motion to approve the recommendation should also include reading the title of the resolutions attached to the report.

And then I just had a quick question um for the applicant since it came up in the public comment with the the access with the fence.

Can you talk to us about that?

Did you hear that question in the public comment that the that they have access on the backside of the property and would that be able to be continued for the rest of the neighbors?

So this was brought up at one of the outreach uh meetings that we had, and there are no recorded easements anywhere on uh the properties that would allow such a thing.

I think those were fences of convenience if there's gates on them.

So is the the answer would be no.

That's correct, okay.

Thank you.

All right, um, Councilmember Hicks.

So some of the public commentary brought up and and uh council commentary or questions brought up.

So some questions, um, one is that it was said that we can correct me if I've understood wrong, that we can continue to track um over there's still time to track whether there are residents who possibly might want to take advantage of relocation.

Is that am I hearing that correctly?

Yes, good evening.

And our RSD, sorry, rent stabilization team is on the experts here, but yes, there is still plenty of time for the tenants to apply for relocation benefits.

And I'll have Andrea confirm.

Hello, yeah, that's correct.

There is still plenty of time for all of the tenants to apply for tenant relocation benefits.

And we have also I can also address the tenant C in 272 Tyrella.

That tenant was occupying previously the space and had moved out, and just last month they moved back in.

But we did receive income documentation showing that that tenant is above income to be eligible for relocation benefits under SB 330 or tenant relocation assistance.

Okay, thank you for your foresight because that was my next question.

Thank you.

And then what why do we appear to be hearing two different for this distance from transit centers?

What are we hearing two different uh definitions from different um documents?

Um, great.

So I think um you were reading my mind, Councilmember Hicks, because I was gonna ask the city attorney about that um to speak to the assembly bill.

So um city attorney logue?

Yes, I would be happy to address that.

Um so the definition that was read by one of the speakers this evening comes from the Pro Resources Code and it just does not apply.

Um the HCD guidance is crystal clear that when you're talking about AB 2097, which is government code section 658 63.2, and you are measuring the distance for purposes of AB 2097, which explicitly prohibits public agencies from imposing minimum parking requirements on projects that are going up within a half one half mile, the way you measure that is the straight line distance, and so the public resources code applies to their that section that they are reading from has other requirements and it talks about one half mile in that section, and for purposes of that section, one half mile is measured differently, but that's that public resources code section.

We are under AB 2097, and HCD has been very clear for purposes of AB 2097 how you measure and staff did that correctly.

So it's a little confusing, but they're just two different statutes.

Thank you, Mayor.

I was reading your mind for sure.

Yeah, thank you so much for explaining that clearly that it's it's two different legal documents, because I know that residents were very concerned about that, and it needed I think a clear explanation.

Um, with that, I'm willing to make a motion, um, and people can second or or tell me they they totally disagree.

Um, and I'll say along with the motion, you know, I would like to track this for parking because although I think I think legally we have to approve this, but I don't know whether it is actually a transit oriented um development.

I I think these kinds of developments may cause some kind of parking problems.

Um, so I would just like to keep track of it.

There's not much we can do uh because it is state law and there is a housing crisis, but you know, as a council, I would like to kind of see what what's going on with parking around these developments.

Um on a happier note, I should say.

Um I was really h I think for these developments, one of the big things you see is the cladding, the siding.

That's what you see as you walk down the street, and I was super happy to see that residents had asked to change stone to brick, because I think that's much more appropriate for sort of a transitional um architectural uh uh development like this, and I hope that's something we do in the future.

Thank you.

Oh, yeah.

Thank you, Councilmember Ramirez.

Um, so we have a motion by council member Hicks, and that's been seconded by Councilmember Show Walter.

Councilmember Hicks, will you indulge us with reading the two resolutions before we go on to further comments from our colleagues?

If you insist, um so uh it would be that the city council won adopt a resolution of the city council of the city of Mountain View conditionally approving a development review permit to construct a four-story 47 unit residential condo development, utilizing state density bonus law and a heritage tree removal permit to remove eight heritage trees on a 1.01 acre site located at 266 through 272 Tyrella Avenue.

Um APN is 1603206 and 16032007.

And finding that the project is exempt from review under the California Environmental Quality Act, also known as CEQA, pursuant to Section 15332 uh in-fill development of the CEQA guidelines to be read in title only, further reading waived, um, which is attachment one to the council report.

And number two, adopt a resolution of the city council of the city of Mountain View, conditionally approving a tentative map to create one common lot and 47 residential condominium units at 266 through 272 Tyrella Avenue, which is APM uh 1603206 and 1603 to 007 to be read in title only, further reading waived, and which is attachment two to the council report.

Great, thank you, Vice Mayor Ramos.

Thank you, Mayor.

Um I largely with this project, the main thing I I largely wanted to address is making sure that those residents who are currently living on the property that is being demolished is um they that we are continuing to follow them to see um that they aren't displaced from our community, that they aren't um that the policies that we are in the process of putting in place, because we have not really adopted we we haven't really moved forward.

Well, we're moving forward, but we haven't completed our displacement response strategy.

Um so um that is largely the thing that I'm looking at with this project.

Um it it's there the the differences between what's currently there and what's going to be there, it's gonna be ownership, so there's there's interesting things to look through and see what kind of barriers uh those residents will face, whether or not uh they'll they'll they'll actually have an opportunity to be homeowners, which is an incredible thing, especially since according to the staff report the current residents there are under the 30 to 50% AMI level.

Just imagine having a homeownership units at that level.

We we don't see that.

Um but one of the things that we need to make sure is that the the actual implementation is is done correctly, that they aren't falling through the cracks, and it is only four or five households, but it's it is going to be important for us to follow it as we look at our our displacement response strategy, similar and how 660 Mariposa provided uh that kind of like learning opportunities for us to see what barriers there were, and that was even just a renovation and a takeover kind of thing.

Um so I really hope that as we look at this project, this is an opportunity for us to to move forward on our goals to prevent displacement while providing the the housing that we need and ownership housing at that.

So uh I hope I plan on supporting this motion.

Thank you.

Great, thank you, Councilmember McAllister.

Bill, okay.

Um it's good to see you again.

Um I've always enjoyed Bill's projects because they were always ownership, and that was a big thing that was very important to me when I was on the council before, because uh we weren't getting enough ownership, and it was all apartments, and so Bill has been known to develop a lot of condos, and I always appreciate that.

So this going forward, this is a great that there are a lot of ownerships and for various levels.

But another concern of mine is that parking or the quality of life or the impact on existing neighborhoods always has to be reviewed and looked at.

And unfortunately, we got we got two projects.

None your project is nice, but we do have another project down the street that's going to be impacting the neighborhood in the streets, and I was glad to hear my fellow council member Dicks say, you know, we got to keep an eye on this traffic, and we really do because you could build, I know one of our you know, you could build, build, build, hi, hi, but it's only is it really going to impact the neighborhoods, and that's very important because when we look at projects, we always say we want to have a good project.

Does it benefit the neighborhood?

And this project with the parking as it is, and I appreciate that uh Mr.

Batson put in the 47 parking lots, parking spaces is not adequate, and there is going to be spillage out into the streets, and therefore um it makes the streets unsafe, it makes walkability not as nice, and there are things that are concerning to me.

While I support the project, I will not support the project going forward, and it's more of a symbolic thing because I know all of you will be voting on it, and that's a great deal, but we need to be aware of the impact that we do on our neighbors no matter where it is.

And I was looking at the map, and yes, it's a half a mile, but you know, who's gonna walk a half a mile if you get older folks in there or what young people are they really gonna walk a half a mile either direction in this particular one?

But somewhere down the line, it's gonna be as people get older, as the families get greater, there's more cars are gonna come into it, and it will impact the neighborhood.

So please let's always look at the impact and not just what it's gonna do.

So those are my thoughts.

Councilmember Schwalter.

We do always need to look at sort of the total impact of uh project, and and um uh we there are a lot of constraints with with uh state law now, but but I'm really pleased to see this particular project because um we we have had experience with this builder, and we know that they do really good quality work.

That's important and will be a very nice um project.

Uh they've been responsive to requests from the DRC and to um neighborhood requests, not all of them, but they have been responsive.

I think that's really important.

Um we we've we talk about all the time how we want to have ownership condos because that is some uh though that's some ownership units that um are much more affordable than townhouses or single family homes, and we need that in our community, so I think that's really good.

Um I uh um I'm also pleased that of the waivers that they didn't choose.

Um we've had some uh builders go for with density bonus units, and they one of the first thing they axe it seems like, or one of the first things besides parking is um is private storage space.

But if you're gonna live someplace for a long time, you need to have storage space.

So I'm glad that that was not axed that there's there's storage space um for each unit.

I think that's really gonna make them more livable.

Um there's lots of balconies, that's nice, and then another thing that I think that will contribute to um helping make this more transit oriented is all the bike parking.

There is quite a bit of bike parking in this um in this uh building, and it's it's easy to get to, and there's also space for bike um bike repair, which I know from having a bike that um just yesterday my husband spent three hours on my bike.

Thank you very much.

And that just has to happen from time to time.

So, um, so for all those reasons, I I'm really supportive of this, and and yet at the same time, we do need to keep our eyes on um what are the impacts to the parking?

Does is this the right amount?

And um, and uh, um watch it going forward.

And the other thing I want to say is for the people who get to live into move into this new building, it's a great neighborhood.

I mean, it's close to a school, it's close to the Stevens Creek Trail, um, it's close to the transit.

Uh, this is a very desirable place to live, as the individuals who've lived here a long time kind of testify.

So, um, I uh, you know, I I um I really look forward to seeing this um this uh building completed.

Great, thank you.

Um so no one else is in the queue, so I'll just um say some comments, which is um thanks to staff and thank you to the community who are sharing their um concerns with us about how we as a you know council can watch things and make sure that things work for our residents, as councilmember Calester likes to remind us.

I think that um projects where we see displacement are always difficult.

Um at least they're difficult for me, um, but um being able to move to much needed um ownership, um, is what heartens me.

Um, particularly as the vice mayor mentioned for our extremely low to um very low-income individuals, and I just wish there were it was more than five units.

Um but um I will say having lived in this um area that um the trail access is nice for the for bike ped, but uh there also is the community shuttle, which uh the council has um expanded um routes and hours, and so I'm hopeful that though it's not considered maybe to me it's I consider it kind of a mode of transit um, but um uh that that in addition to the light rail and the cow train, uh while those are a little bit, I would say farther and and accessibility right is is partially the issue.

So I'm thinking folks might use um the our community shuttle more, so at least it'll be ameliorated by that a little bit.

Um but I I think in this area a lot of people enjoy um going to Creekside Park, Stevens Creek Trail, and to hear that they won't have like the access on the property to be able to maneuver through um is is something that I wish that we could work on.

Um the other thing is um the tenant relocation assistance.

I think as we have talked about on account on this council, we have looked at TRAO so many times, and um to hear that there's still some difficulties with that is um hard to hear.

Um and so um I echo colleagues' sentiments on being able to track that and make sure that people are truly utilizing that um and what lessons we might learn on how we can be even more proactive to share that information um to meet those residents' um needs.

Um and with that, let's vote.

All right, and that passes six one.

So we'll move on to item 6.2 fiscal year 2024-25, the consolidated annual performance and evaluation report caper.

Housing officer Alec Vibrial and Housing Manager Julie Barnard will present the item.

If you'd like to speak on this item in person, please submit a blue speaker card to the city clerk now.

We'll begin with a staff presentation.

Hello, Honorable Mary Kameh, Vice Mayor Ramos, and Council members.

I hope you're all doing well.

My name is Alec Vibrill, Housing Officer, and I am joined by Julie Barnard, Affordable Housing Manager.

Today I will be giving you a presentation on the federal fiscal year 2024 through 2025, consolidated annual performance and evaluation report, also known as the CAPER.

The city receives grant funding on an annual basis from the U.S.

Department of Housing and Urban Development, or HUD for two programs, the Community Development Block Grant Program and the Home Investment Partnerships Program, known as CDBG and Home for Short.

As a condition of receiving this funding, HUD requires the city to complete an annual report called the CAPER.

This report summarizes how CDBG and home funds were used over the fiscal year, how those activities align with the city's five-year consolidated plan, and how effectively the funds addressed community needs.

The fiscal year 2024 through 25 CAPER covers the period of July 1st, 2024 through June 30th, 2025, and reports on accomplishments from the fiscal year 24-25 annual action plan.

This year's CAPER also marks the end of the fifth and final year of the city's 2020 through 2025 consolidated plan period.

Please note that the CAPER must be completed using a HUD required template, which includes set questions and tables to describe the city's housing and community development efforts.

Also, while the city provides general fund grants to support additional public services, these are not included in the caper as it only reports on the city's CDBG and home funds.

As a part of HUD requirements, the CAPER process includes a 15-day public comment period and a public hearing, after which staff finalize the report and submit it to HUD by the deadline of September 30th.

CDBG funding was provided to local nonprofits for public service programs, which were successfully able to help over 5,300 low-income residents of Mountain View over the fiscal year.

These programs provide services that help seniors, people at risk of homelessness, people with disabilities, and victims of domestic violence.

This change is due to the redistribution of funds following the closure of Life and Groove's graduate house case management program.

Affordable housing capital funds were carried over to fiscal year 2025-26 and allocated to new initiatives, including rehabilitation work at Midpen Affordable Housing Communities and the Lot 12 Affordable Housing Development.

Staff recommends that council hold a public hearing to receive public comment and approve the caper to be submitted to HUD by the deadline.

This concludes staff's presentation.

Thank you for your time, and we are happy to answer any questions you may have.

Great, thank you.

Does any member of the council have any questions?

Councilmember McAllister.

Bless you.

And under the community service agency, it says Public Services Homeless prevention.

CDBG funds of $31,0201.

And it said it served 10,063 mountain residents.

How was this?

How did this program work to reach so many people?

Because I think in their slide, it sort of maybe 5,000.

Yes, thank you.

That's a fantastic question.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

The CDBG funding that's provided to CSA for their homelessness prevention program goes towards staff and personnel costs.

And in supporting their staff and administration of the program, we are assisting to benefit all the beneficiaries who receive their services.

And although CDBG is only a small piece of the overall pie of their budget, it's crucial to ensuring that they can continue providing services at the level that they do.

Thank you for that.

But how did they come up with it?

Could you go to your slide two, please?

Slide three.

If I may, I think that this came up in council questions.

So staff can thank you.

Yeah, I think the 10,000 odd number, I think, is a little inflated.

Um we had a what?

Inflated.

Um, the way that the not the our sub recipients should be reporting is based on the number of people served rather than the instances that they have been served.

And I think there's been a little bit of a miscommunication in the way CSA have been reported in numbers.

We've had since had a conversation with them, and we think we've straightened up, or at least straightened out that it is not the 10,000 number, it's closer to 5,000.

Okay, and this is people that the community service agency made contact with or provided services or was it more than just contact?

Yes, um, CSA provides services through their homelessness prevention program like rental assistance, transportation assistance, and utility assistance.

So 5,000 people came by and we helped them out.

Okay, thank you.

Great, thank you.

I don't see anyone else with a question.

So would it we'll bring this to public comment?

Would any member of the public joining us virtually or in person like to comment on any item on this item?

All right, I don't see any in-person, but I see virtual.

So Madeline Musante.

Masante.

Yeah, hello.

Are you able to hear me all right?

Yes, we hear you.

Wonderful.

This is Madeline Musante.

Uh, I'm here representing Vista Center for the Blind and Visually Impaired.

I am our director of institutional giving.

And I first just want to thank the city council so much for your support of uh of our community.

Um, disability services are often some of the first that are cut, particularly when we're under threat from things like HR1 and other federal attacks.

So just thank you again for your support last fiscal year as well as the current fiscal year of our program.

Uh VISTA Center for the Blind and Visually Impaired provides an independent living skills and life enrichment services to folks of all ages who are blind or visually impaired to help them live independent, joyful lives.

Our CDBG grant uh allowed us to serve 45 unique clients that were the last year with mobility assistance, assistive technology, home safety, um, things like cook learning how to cook independently and manage their own medication so that they're able to live safely and independently.

Um the majority of folks who are blind or visual or who become visually impaired in life are seniors, and uh as we all uh as we all know uh age retirement ages have beginning uh have been getting pushed back far farther and farther due to the high cost of living and high medical costs.

So the fact that Vista services are able to help folks age in place uh despite their vision loss is huge for our community in terms of preventing premature institutionalization and homelessness.

And I just again really want to thank the city council for your support.

Um, your services are life-changing for our clients.

Thank you.

Our next virtual speaker is Georgia Assel Basel.

Good evening.

Georgia Basile, directing attorney of senior adults legal assistance or Salah.

We provide free legal services to Mountain View residents 62 or older, targeting clients that are low income or at risk of abuse or loss of independence.

We provide our services at appointments at Mountain View Senior Center and by phone for clients that cannot leave their homes or with emergencies.

We are a current CDBG grantee, and we thank you so much for your support.

Your funding supports expanded availability of our services to Mountain View seniors.

We're also a CDBG grantee from last year, and a summary about our services is included in the staff report for the CAPER.

Specifically, the CAPER notes that we served 61 unduplicated Mountain View residents 62 or older last year.

I wanted to share a little bit more information about them with you.

77% of these clients had very low incomes at or below 50% of the area median income.

They would not be able to pay a private attorney for legal services that we provided to them at no fee.

We want to thank you for your support.

It's very important to us because we cannot charge fees for our services or accept fee-generating cases.

The primary way we support our services is through grants like Mount View CDBG.

Your funding helped us provide the highest level of service possible last year, and hopefully it will continue to do this in the coming year.

Thank you so much again for your support.

Great.

Thank you.

All right, that concludes our speakers.

So I'll bring the item back for council questions and deliberation.

This was, I see a motion from Councilmember Clark, seconded by Vice Mayor Ramos.

Don't see anyone else needing to speak, so I think we should vote.

And I don't think you need to need to read some.

No, it's just a motion to approve the staff recommendation.

Okay, perfect.

It's like I'm making sure I didn't have to read anything.

All right, and that passes unanimously.

Thank you to staff.

So we'll move to items 6.3, our downtown business improvement improvement area number one, annual report and levy of business assessments.

Councilmember Clark, do you have an announcement to make?

Yes.

Thank you.

Councilmember Hicks, do you have an announcement to make?

Yes, I'm also recusing myself from participating in discussion about the downtown business improvement area.

Number one, due to the proximity of my personal residence to the improvement area.

Great.

Thank you.

Economic Vitality Manager Amanda Rotella and Community Development Director Christian Murdoch will present the item.

If you'd like to speak on this item in person, please submit a blue speaker card to the city clerk now.

Oh, excuse me.

Thank you for your patience.

Good evening, Mayor Council.

I'm Andrea Rotella, Economic Vitality Manager.

Tonight we're holding the first public hearing in the longstanding annual renewal process for the downtown business improvement area number one.

And the second public hearing will take place on October 28th, 2025, to approve the renewal and levy the fines.

There are two business improvement districts.

There we go.

Okay.

There are two business improvement areas.

BIA 1 includes all businesses along Castro Street and side streets between View and Franklin and between Evelyn Avenue and El Camino, and that is on the screen outlined in red.

And BIA number two includes businesses in the 100, 200, and 300 block of Castro, and it's in the light blue.

The BIA assessments generated from both areas are used for specific programming events and promotions to support downtown businesses.

And in the annual report prepared by the Mountain View Chamber of Commerce, which is attachment three in your packet, the 2027 projected revenues from both areas is anticipated to be about $50,000.

Tonight, City Council may discuss BIA number one and receive any comments or input from the public.

And then the recommendations are to approve the annual report for 2025 and also adopt a resolution declaring intention to levy an assessment in BIA number one for 2026.

That concludes staff presentation and myself, community development director Christian Murdoch and Chamber CEO Peter Katz are available to answer questions.

Thank you.

Great, thank you.

Does any member of council have any questions?

Councilmember McCallister.

No one ever increases their levy.

Are they even allowed to increase uh for inflation?

And the reason why is there the levy increase over all the years?

I mean, they vote on it, right?

Is anybody proposed to them to increase it or taken that step?

Good evening, mayor and council, Christian Murdoch, community development director.

Uh my understanding is the way that the BIAs are currently uh structured based on their um creation is that they do not include an index for inflation.

And so an increase to those levies would require essentially a vote, uh very similar if not identical to the formation vote.

And so I'm not sure of the full history of the entire uh duration of these as to why that maybe hasn't been done.

Uh but we are uh considering ways to raise more funding to provide the kinds of services that businesses in the downtown and that the community expects, and so that is something that the council will be seeing uh at a future date.

Why doesn't anybody reach out and do another vote?

Well, I haven't, and I mean you're fairly new, but over the years, why hasn't somebody reached out and says we need you know you want more money?

Here's an opportunity to do it.

And has there, to your knowledge, been a vote to increase the levy.

Again, I'm not aware uh of a recent effort to do that.

Uh I'm not sure if others on the staff have uh longer um history or time horizon on that point.

Um what I can say is we know that uh additional resources are important to the business community today, and we are looking at ways to try to address that need um after all these years.

Going forward, would you propose raising doing a vote to raise their fees?

I think what I could say is um we have identified a need uh from working with our business community in the downtown um to try to generate more resources for the kinds of upkeep and activations that they're looking for, and so um revisiting or expanding or reauthorizing the current BIA is one potential future strategy.

We are looking at a broader range of strategies at this point to try to find the right amount of funding and the right mechanism to make an equitable and effective uh program in the downtown.

Thank you.

And if I could just add, um it's important to note that the business improvement area the funds uh can be specifically used for activation and events and promotions.

So there are some limitations on how the funding can be spent, which um we're looking at the right match of what funding sources and what's it's what it is allowed to be used for and looking for that right size for the community's needs.

And I think this is being um is it co-co-presented with the chamber?

Is that or does it we do we need to wait for public comment for his?

Uh Peter is available to answer questions.

Um, yeah.

Do you want to make some com initial comments?

If that's all right.

Okay.

Thank you very much, and good evening, council.

And uh thank you for the opportunity just to clarify a little bit uh the uh question about uh renewing the BIA.

Um I've only been here for six years, but have actually consulted with others who have been here longer.

And the understanding is that the BIA kind of acts like homeowners do in that the businesses themselves need to vote for themselves that they want to have the fees increased.

And according to some of my predecessors, that's never been um explored because of the danger of losing the entire egg, because of course you put it up and they could say, Well, you know what, we don't want any tax whatsoever.

We don't want anything that there's no value.

That said, in different jurisdictions where they have looked at increasing uh BIA, um, it is a long, painful, and expensive process, and it often involves uh many of the same um uh capabilities or or um requirements that a campaign would.

And as all of our elected officials know, that takes a lot of time, energy, effort, and cost.

Um that all said, um, the chamber has in our few years of running the DBA have been talking to businesses um on and off about you know what the value is that they're getting and so on, so that we can look at the right way to do it.

One thing that's important to note is, and I think it was said a little bit earlier, is that given the rules under which the BIA was formed many years ago?

Um, it's rather restrictive, and so it's restricted to certain types of activities.

We at the chamber have actually been doing more than it says that we should, if you will, and uh want to look at a new approach, whether it be a BIA, whether it be a property-based um improvement district, i.e.

a P bid or some other mechanism before we go out to the public and basically say or to the businesses and basically say, hey, we have a new plan for you.

Does that help?

Great, thank you.

Any other council members have questions?

All right, um, would any member of the public joining us virtually or in person like to provide comment on this item?

If so, please click the raise hand button in Zoom or submit a blue speaker card.

I am not seeing any, so I'll bring the item back for uh council questions and deliberation.

Please note that a motion to approve the recommendation should also include reading the title of the resolution attached to the report.

Vice Mayor Ramos.

Thank you, Mayor.

Um, I move to adopt a resolution of the city council, the city mountain view approving the annual report of the Downtown Biz Mountain View Business Improvement Area number one and declaring its intention to levy assessments for 2026 to be read in title only, further reading Wade and set a public hearing date of October 28, 2025.

Great.

Thank you.

Councilmember Schwalter.

Yes, I just wanted to thank um the staff of the the chamber and and um the city for preparing this report.

It's always good to just see um listed all of the activities that go on downtown that bring people together and to have a good time and to do more business for our um our businesses.

So I really appreciate that, and um uh it uh you know, it it it it's good to sort of see the totality of it.

Um that said, I think we're all hoping that um as time goes on, we'll get more um you know, more activity in those vacant um locations.

I know that's something you work on very hard.

Thank you.

And until we get them filled, please keep doing it.

And um, then the other thing I I just like to put in a plug for a com uh a comment is that um we have had some pop-ups in the past.

I know we've talked about that, and they are again a lot of fun and good activities.

So I hope we can go forward with that.

But mostly I just want to say thank you.

Great, thank you.

Um, let's vote.

All right, and that passes with five of us and two of us absent.

So we'll invite our colleagues back to move on to item 6.4, downtown business improvement area number two, annual report, and levy of business assessments.

So we'll turn it back over to staff for a presentation.

All right.

Good evening, Mayor, City Council.

Um, this presentation might sound familiar, so bear with me.

Uh, tonight we are holding the first public hearing in a long-standing annual renew process for the downtown business improvement area number two.

The second public hearing will take place on October 28th, 2025 to approve the renewal and levy the fees.

There are two business improvement areas.

The first is business improvement area number one, which includes all businesses along Castro Street and side streets between Vue and Franklin and between Evelyn and El Camino.

Again, on the map, that is the area outlined in red.

BIA number two includes businesses in the 100, 200, and 300 blocks of Castro indicated there in light blue.

The BIA assessments generated from both areas are used for programming events and promotions to support downtown businesses.

And in the annual report prepared by the Mountain View Chamber of Commerce, again, attachment number three in your packet.

The 2026 projected revenues from both areas is approximately $50,000.

Tonight, City Council may discuss BIA number two and receive comments or input from the public.

And there are two recommendations before you.

The first is again to approve the annual report for 2025 and adopt the resolution declaring an intention to levy an assessment in BIA number two for 2026.

And again, myself, Christian Community Development Director Murdoch and Chamber CEO Peter Katz are available for questions.

Thank you.

Great, thank you.

Does any member of the council have any questions?

All right, um, not seeing questions.

Would any member of the public joining us virtually or in person like to provide comment on this item?

I am also not seeing any, so I'll bring the item back for uh council questions and deliberation.

And please note that a motion to approve the recommendation should also include reading the title of the resolution attached to the report.

And I believe that's been moved by council member Showelter and seconded by Vice Mayor Ramos.

So Council Member Schulter.

Yes, I would like to um approve uh to move approval of the annual report and to adopt a resolution of the City Council of the City of Mountain View, approving the annual report of the downtown Mountain View Business Improvement Area Number Two and declaring its attention to levy assessments for 2026 to be read in title only, further reading waived, and set a public hearing date of October 28th, 2025.

Attachment one to the council report.

Great, let's vote.

All right, and that passes unanimously.

Thank you to staff.

We'll move on to item seven, which is new business.

Item 7.1 is the annual compensation increases for the city attorney, city clerk, and city manager, and amending the fiscal year 2025-26 salary plan for regular employees to update the salaries for council appointees.

Vice Mayor Ramos will present the item.

Thank you, Mayor.

Each year, the city council reviews the performance and compensation of the council appointees.

The council appointees include the city attorney, city clerk, and city manager.

As the vice mayor, I oversaw this process and the council was assisted by a professional facilitator.

Nelson Biallo from the Renee Public Management Group.

Based on the annual evaluation process for each council appointee's performance and strategic contribution, the city council is prepared to consider adjustments that align with both individual accomplishments and organizational goals for the year ahead.

All of the council appointees have provided important and valuable service to the city of Mountain View over the last year, and the council is pleased with their performance.

The Brown Act requires the city council to orally report a summary of the council action on the salaries, salary schedule, or fringe benefits of council appointees during an open meeting of which the final action is to be taken.

To satisfy this requirement, I am providing this report of the recommended adjustment for the city attorney, city clerk, and city manager for the city attorney, 1% merit increase, and an additional 1% base salary as an ongoing city contribution to a 457B deferred compensation plan.

For the city clerk, a one merit 1% merit increase, an additional 1% base salary as ongoing city contribution to a 457B deferred compensation plan.

For the city manager, a 1% merit increase and an additional 1% of base salary as an ongoing city contribution to a 457B deferred compensation plan.

Thank you.

Does any member of the council have any questions?

Not seeing any, we'll move on to public comment.

Would any member of the public on the line like to provide comment on this item?

I'm not seeing any in-person or virtual public comment.

So I'll bring the item back for council deliberation and action.

And please note that a motion to approve the recommendation should also include reading the title of the resolution attached to the report that has been moved by Vice Mayor Ramos and seconded by Councilmember Hicks.

So I'll turn it back over to you, Vice Mayor.

Thank you, Mayor.

I was told that I was supposed to be the one that makes the motion.

So I move to adopt a resolution of the city council, the city of Mountain View approving annual compensation increases for the city attorney, city clerk, and city manager, and amending the fiscal year 2025 26 salary plan for regular employees to update the salaries for council appointees to be read in title only for their reading weight.

Great, thank you.

Let's vote.

Alright, and that passes unanimously.

So move on to item eight, council, staff and committee reports.

Does anyone have a report?

Council Member Show Walter.

Yes, I wanted to share a couple meetings I've been to on uh city behalf.

One uh I represented Mountain View at the Bosca meeting last week, and I'm pleased to report that the San Francisco PUC water supply system is um just at a great level this year.

We've we've really had a good water year, and um so the uh storage levels are very high, and um that's that's good news.

Um, the uh uh we are very concerned, of course, on the passage of the um water supply um amendment uh package that will um reduce the minimum purchase requirement.

I mean it will get rid of the minimum purchase requirement or reduce it to uh levels that are not a problem, and they have been a substantial financial problem for us over the last um 10 years or so.

So, anyway, um, there are 26 contractors in Bosca that have to approve this, and thus far, 24 of them have.

So we have two outliers, and um one of them is uh scheduled, and another one isn't scheduled yet, but um says that that it that their meeting to go over this will be scheduled in October.

So we're uh very optimistic, cautiously optimistic.

Bosca's cautiously optimistic that this will go through, and um that will provide quite a bit of financial um relief for Mountain View.

Last year we spent, I think it was over four million dollars on um on this minimum purchase requirement.

And as we all know, there are just so many other things that we would rather spend that money on.

So um wanted to share that with you at um another thing I wanted to mention was the national I serve on the National League of Cities Energy Environment and Natural Resources Committee Policy Committee, and we've been working on developing resolutions that will be up for the vote at the city summit in Salt Lake, and one of those resolutions uh was one of the things that I asked to be added to our federal legislative um platform, and I just want to thank everybody for um you know going along with that.

Um, I think that that this the one that we worked on in particular was the need for weather data um for both for disasters and for just um the day-to-day operations that we all use it for.

It's really a matter of public safety, and um the federal government is uniquely um qualified and and positioned to be able to provide that.

So I wanted to thank everybody for that.

And Silicon Valley Clean Energy.

We should all um be fine seeing a rebate of $40 on our bills this month, and um uh I was wondering, yeah.

So that's my report.

Thank you.

Councilmember Clark.

Yeah, I just briefly wanted to share since um I think almost everyone here has um been involved in the city for long enough to uh have worked at some point with John Igo.

Um he passed away um uh I think a week or 10 days or so ago, and just wanted to share that with everyone.

A few um I read his obituary, and there were just some really unique things about John that I I didn't realize at the time.

Um, for example, he was uh he was uh a captain in the Air Force and worked on the SR 71 Blackford in Alaska before uh ending up in the Bay Area, and then he was the construction manager for the Moscone Center in San Francisco and a whole host of other things, but I just thought that was really interesting.

I really enjoyed working with him, and I'm sure um sure others did as well.

So I just wanted to share that news with everyone.

Thank you.

Thanks, Mayor Ramos.

Thank you, Mayor.

We had a CNC uh meeting since our last open session, um, and it was uh covering Questa Park, Phyllis, Springer neighborhoods, and they had questions about Pickleball.

Um which we heard, and staff gave wonderful answers and traffic.

Um those were the two major things, and then I also attended um the ABAG executive board meeting.

I'm the city's association alternate.

Great, thank you, Councilmember McAllister.

I have a question for uh council member Showalter.

Who are the two holdouts?

You know, I'm positive that Hayward is the last one, and that that's the one that hasn't been scheduled yet.

They have two, they have a very complex system, and it has to go to two committee meetings.

I understand they have been scheduled, and then it goes to the council meeting, which my understanding is has not been scheduled yet.

I am honestly not sure who the other one is.

Did Palo Alto?

They did.

Okay.

They did, and um I uh I have to say I was really pleased by their council comments about it.

They I did go and um urge them along and brought up the fact that we were a neighbor and we were supposed to help each other, and you know, we had a history of doing that, and they um they talked quite a bit about that, uh, how being a good neighbor was important and and even there was opposition at their meeting.

There was public opposition from some members of their utility um uh group, and the uh Greer Stone, their representative on Bosca, went through very carefully to talk about how they were really separate issues, and um the utility commission was concerned about how um SFPUC considers and calculates droughts, and um uh that that is is an issue that's being followed up with Bosca, but that's completely different and separate from this minimum purchase requirement um uh process, and that um they they they need to separate them.

And so the council paid attention to his comments and um they passed it unanimously.

Great.

So I was going to sort of reflect, it's been six months since I've been on this board, and the things come through, and I was going to uh reflect and our observations that I've seen for the first six months.

But I want to get my thoughts together a little more concisely and bring them to you to see how we can make this council work much more efficiently in getting projects done on time, less projects done on time, more projects done within budget, less stress on staff, and um that's very important to me because today I saw two projects on our uh that I mentioned the other the magical bridge, which they said started out at four million and it ended at eight million, and that was what happens sometimes.

But I just give you a general thought is every time we add something at a meeting, even if it's just one line, or if we respond to people, the loudest voices in the room has impact, we represent 82,000 people.

We don't represent the one person that says, Oh, hey, can you add this?

Because what that actually does is staff one, it's disrespectful to the council because we haven't had a chance to vent it, and second to the staff.

They spent hours on projects, and when somebody comes along and says, School, you could add that, it wasn't fully vetted.

So we need to be careful about when we say something to staff, because they're getting worked, or when we hear one person comes up, and I've seen too much often that we respond to the one person, and that says, Okay, that's great.

We shouldn't do that.

It's our fiduciary responsibility and our obligation to the community at whole to make sure that we represent anybody.

And I've seen it again, and it frustrates the bejesus out of me, because we know we can do it.

There is everybody on this council has a lot of projects they want to get done.

But if we keep delaying projects or we add one item to a project or something, it's gonna take time and money away from the other things we can do.

I've seen tens of millions of dollars wasted, or not wasted, but well, yeah, wasted because of delays, changes, reviews, um, that have caused us, and it's starts with us.

We council members have to set the stage to say we are gonna discipline ourselves, we are gonna be financially responsible, we are gonna be efficient up here, and we're not gonna continue to add these things to it.

Again, we had a work plan instead of it grew instead of getting smaller.

So there was a position, there was an item on the work plan, came up at the very end, and it took a lot of time, a lot of time and money to do, and it was only gonna benefit a few people, maybe well, say a thousand or so.

So please, when you bring up something and you don't don't listen to the people in the room, consider them, but consider it in context of the whole community, and what are we trying to achieve in a broader sense because there's so many things that we need to get done, want to get done, but if all of a sudden we're sidetracked for something that's only gonna benefit a thousand or two thousand people, they're important, and all the issues that you bring up are important.

You have the right to bring up anything like that.

Are you gonna be proposing an item eight council member McAllister?

No, I'm just thinking of because I think this this is for um staff, council staff committee reports on official city business or bringing forward item eight.

Okay, so um, transitioned number eight.

Yeah, so I think um when you're ready to put forward an item eight, um, colleagues can can take a straw poll on that.

Um I'd like to make my report um on some official city business I've been um working on.

Um so one of them is we had our uh quarterly mayors and city managers meeting um last Thursday.

The focus was preparing for our big events, um, you know, regionally, uh Super Bowl, World Cup, um, but it's beyond just public safety, it's talking about you know transit and um commerce.

Um and then um later that evening um I attended the Silicon Valley Structures Awards where Eden Housing received an award for their um project that we have out on La Avenida.

Um, and then um some of us joined um the uh last week the new fire apparatus celebration where we were able to see um in person the new ladder truck and seven new fire engines, which celebrates a hundred and fifty years of our um fire service.

Um and then many other events, but not official city.

So um seeing no one else in the queue, I'll move to adjournment.

Um and as was mentioned at the top of our meeting, um, tonight we adjourn in the memory in honor of Mountain View Fire Engineer and Paramedic Gabriel Gabe Shamia, who passed away on July 14, 2025 after fighting a fearless two and a half year battle with a terminal disease.

We honored Gabe at the beginning of the meeting, and he will be deeply missed.

Our next city council meeting will be held on October fourteenth, twenty twenty five, and this meeting is adjourned at ten oh five PM.

Thank you everyone and have a good night, we have a lot of the other.