All right.

We will call the meeting to order.

And I will just, the last time, because it's February 3rd,

Happy New Year, because many of us haven't seen each other

and we haven't had a meeting this year.

So, Amanda, would you please call the board?

Thank you.

Committee Member Foreman, don't see.

Is it Ryder?

Ryder.

Committee Member Ryder.

Katz.

Here.

Oh, we only have one Lynn now. Okay. The one and only Lynn.

Malera is on her way. Sheik.

Here.

Vice Chair Baird.

That's it.

And Chair Kasperzak.

Here.

All right.

Moving on. Item number three, approval of the minutes.

And staff send out the minutes from the December 2nd meeting.

And a motion to approve.

And just one typo was caught.

I think it's spelled Manasol's name.

So that's been noted.

Yes.

So a motion to approve would be in order.

I'll make a motion to approve the minutes.

All right.

Jamal made the motion.

Is there a second?

Second.

All right.

Before we vote, is there any public input on the minutes?

No one online.

Okay.

Seeing none.

All the papers say aye.

Aye.

Opposed?

saying nay.

Hearing none, the motion passes.

Abstain because I wasn't there.

Okay.

But they still have to be approved whether you were here or not.

I understand.

This is the great debate.

If you weren't there, do you have to abstain?

No, you don't.

But you can.

We don't have a quorum if you disagree.

I guess we have.

Once you have a quorum, you maintain a quorum

unless there's a quorum call.

Progress rules of order.

Okay.

Item number four, upcoming agenda topics.

The portion of the agenda is reserved for identifying agenda items for future meetings.

And Amanda has a nice sort of list of things that are in the docket.

We, of course, cannot discuss any of them.

But is there anything that people would like to see that isn't on that list?

yes um i noticed walking down castro street the most of the uh street murals are covered up with a

green indoor outdoor you will get information about that in our next item okay safe we can

have an update on that's in the yep good catch though seeing nothing else we will move on to

item five, oral communications from the public. This portion of the meeting is reserved for

members of the public wishing to address the committee on any matter that is not on today's

agenda. And speakers are limited to three minutes, and state law prohibits the committee from

taking action on any non-agendized items. Any oral communications from our public that's here?

seeing none is there any online all right we will close oral communications from the public

move on to item six unfinished business it's 6.1 castro street update i'm gonna say that is me

i've got let's see as to share my whole screen i have a bunch of things to show you all so um

is Pam. There's a lot going on downtown on Castor Street that I want to share sound.

And the biggest thing, well, first I'll just note this, the Downtown Digest is out. I have copies

on the table there. Our email list continues to grow, which is great. We're seeing pretty good

open rates. But if you have some friends that you'd like to take some to, please take some

extra digests. Please share. Yeah, there's lots of good information in there. You got it. A bunch

of them. All right. Thanks, Jamila. I printed extra because I figured you'd want to.

Okay. So the big thing happening downtown this weekend is the FanFest tailgate. And that's

supposed to say party. We're missing a Y. Party. But there is a lot going on around Super Bowl,

aka the big game aka the football championship. SP60. Right exactly and so there are a number of

things that are happening. The first is we are hosting a tailgate party downtown and this is

going to be this Saturday before Super Bowl so that is two to five. As Pam mentioned we have

turf that's been installed in the downtown. It is for that event so we're going to have turf out

there. We're going to have giant oversized games. You can see some of them. You've got the field

goal challenge that'll be on Castor Street. There's this bungee football thing where you get

strapped in and you're like, it's sort of like a tug of war. We have a great band that will be

playing. We have giveaways. And then the businesses have really leaned in and have created a tailgate

menu. So they have specials where you can go and purchase tailgate items from different businesses

downtown. So it should be really a good time. And in the spirit of that, I just wanted to show

a little video that we created to promote.

What's up?

so just a little fun there but we've been promoting on social media the chamber has

been a really excellent partner with engaging businesses and we've been promoting business

specials and we have created what we're calling our fan fest map and we've been promoting this

And so this is an online interactive map that businesses have submitted special deals to us.

Like, good example, dandies.

If you show up with your jersey, they'll give you $10 off a haircut, 10% off at Ava's for Wagyu beef patties.

So there's real tangible deals that businesses are really leaning in, which is exciting.

And, yeah, this map is citywide.

There's obviously a concentration in downtown since we have so much activation down here.

But this is another way that we're really trying to drive traffic to downtown.

Peter, do you want to add anything?

Well, I just want to say that the nice thing is, is that the businesses that are participating are not just restaurants or bars.

Yeah.

You know, that there's other things that people will want to do or things that are ancillary.

You know, and I mentioned a couple of things there.

And also that it's not just downtown.

I think both of those points are important.

um now if only john would answer our calls um and but um but yeah and and so like on the map there

you can see like the sports pro i mean talk about an old vintage place to watch you know watch the

game or whatever you know that's on the map you know um and other things too so um we encourage

people to be about town and when i created this slide deck um last week we were already up to

1300 views of the map. So it's getting a lot of, we're getting eyeballs on it. I imagine we have

a number of ads that are running in the town crier in Mountain View Voice. And we get three or four

phone calls a day on it. Oh, okay. So it's really great. And I'll just say we are seeing this as a

really great opportunity to test some concepts out as we head into World Cup later this year.

So there'll be some good lessons learned that we can take it with us as we move forward. Yeah.

I understand what Peter was saying.

If we should go, Peter, any business in Mountain View,

should first ask him, do we have any Super Bowl specials?

Yeah, there you go.

Are you on the FanFest map?

Yes, please do.

And if they are not and wish to be,

then go onto the website and sign up.

It's a very, very quick, simple setup.

Yeah, we have a survey that's easy,

and Kirsten's been updating the map almost in real time,

so we've been really responsive.

which I think is important.

Go ahead, Emma.

Thanks.

I'm just curious.

Obviously, there's marketing dollars involved

or dollars of staff time to do this.

Does the city have a splash fund for these kinds of things?

Or was this part of city council's master plan two years ago?

Yeah.

Same for the World Cup.

Yeah, it's a great question.

So in December of last year, 2025, council approved about $300,000 to go towards the Super Bowl and World Cup activations.

They also approved a grant to the Mountain View Chamber to help us with the business activation.

So this was a really intentional move that they made.

I think it was December, the first meeting in December.

Well, the only meeting in December.

Right.

Right. Other than seeing like clicks and stuff, do you have a sense of is there any sort of pre-registration that, you know, just let us know you're coming, yada, yada, where we have a sense of.

For this, we're not because it's going to be outdoors on the Ped Mall.

You know, there's no way for us to check registration.

So, but. Well, not that people actually check it, but I'm RSVPing that I'm coming.

Yeah, we're not doing RCPs, but we have a dynamic QR code that's on all of the materials.

So that'll give us information about who's accessing that.

We obviously have the counter on the map itself.

We have, you know, data about the web page.

And then Kirsten and I will be on site staffing the event.

And so, you know, we'll be kind of trying to get a sense of, okay, how big is this?

What's the interest been?

And but it's sort of that it's sort of an interesting like, what are we hoping for?

Well, we want people to show up, but we don't want too many people to show up.

Right. It's like we want the right the Goldilocks amount of people to come downtown and enjoy and shop and and utilize the businesses.

Well, the police department have an extra patrol walking around, making sure people's got a pockets or not.

So police is aware of the event. They have a number of things that they're they're solving for this weekend, but they have they are they are staffing downtown since they know that we're going to have this large event.

Obviously, things will be busy the following day for Super Bowl portions of downtown.

The street will be closed, close to the train station. So there's going to be a lot of moving pieces downtown.

yeah cool i will say i'm in communications with with the police department i i will have a phone

number like to call if we you know um so i'll have a point of contact today up as well and

police and fire both have my cell so we'll be in communication yeah so i take the train so around

the parking lot already is caution tape so i assume they sort of be putting up

barricades or whatever did yeah it's interesting for super bowl 50 there was like no usage of

no transfer from train to light rail i mean they had all these corrals set up and everything and

there were like 20 people yeah we'll be interested to see i mean i believe last year we had like

paid parking opportunities that weren't really utilized so i think we want to be prepared for

everything and you know so that no matter what what happens we're yeah yeah we were expecting

people to come down and park in the garage yeah the goal is really to have people come down the

day before you know avoid the super bowl you know watch the super bowl at home or at one of our

watch parties at one of our businesses but come down and celebrate community the day before yeah

So I see the transit center, they had the banners and markings to go to the light rail on ground.

So it looks like the Super Bowl is here.

But when you walk through it, look at the businesses, you don't see those things.

Like there are no banners saying that we're ready for Super Bowl or something.

Yeah, you know, we've been working kind of, there's a lot that's going to happen in the next couple of days.

So the turf went out yesterday. There's going to be sidewalk decals installed. We're putting flags up. We're going to have oversize like like foam football related things.

We're bringing out this giant these giant letters MV. I mean, they're literally going to be as tall as I am.

So there's going to be a lot coming just in the days as we lead up to Saturday. So I would imagine every time you come downtown every day, there will be something new down there.

So we're really trying to build some energy and excitement.

I will say, you know, Super Bowl is coming at us very quickly after the holidays.

So we are doing our best to get, you know, ramped up.

But it's been a really short runway just as we, you know, everything shut down for a couple of weeks ago.

Good luck. I'll be in rainy Honolulu.

Womp, womp, warm up.

I know, it is going to be raining.

It's like, oh, I got a brick hit in the monsoon.

I don't think we feel bad for you.

I know, I don't.

Cloudy here too on Sunday, they say.

Cloudy on Sunday.

Oh, gosh.

Okay.

Not rainy.

No, not rainy.

Peter, did you have your hand up?

I did not.

I was doing this.

Oh, okay.

All right.

Okay.

Moving right along.

The other thing that is happening downtown on Saturday is the grand opening of our pop-up.

So this has been over a year in the making.

The economic development team brought on a consultant Moment who specializes in placemaking and pop-ups.

They have a number of pop-ups in downtown San Jose.

There is or was one at the Google Visitor Center.

And we are officially opening up on the 200 buck of Castro Street on Sunday.

And just in the spirit of having some fun.

Whoops.

I just wanted to show.

So these are some of the small businesses, there's four small businesses that will be

opening up in the spot so you can see the products that they'll have, the small businesses

through the banner, Don't Eat Me, because they all have these little caricatures that

they...

Are they next to me, Bob?

So they're right next to made by. Yeah. Which is really, to me, kind of an exciting place for them to be.

This is becoming like the 200 block is sort of become a little retail central in a way.

You know, we've got we fashion, we have makers space, we have this store.

So it's going to be really exciting to have them open.

So there's a ribbon cutting at noon. The mayor will be there. I will be there.

Kirsten will be there. The chamber will be there. And we'll have Nancy G, the property owner,

who's been a really great partner. We're really appreciative. I mean, our biggest challenge

has been finding a property owner willing to work with the program. And that's why,

you know, I will say candidly why it took us a year to, it's been a year finding a location.

And so Nancy's been a really amazing partner for us. Why is it they don't want, why is it property

managers don't want to partner with the city? Well, this program, there was sort of a guaranteed

base rent. And then if the businesses do well, they pay more rent. But there isn't necessarily

a guaranteed market rate rent. There's the likelihood that they would get there. So it's

sort of a different rental approach. And so I think a lot of downtown property owners, one,

want market or above market rent. Or they want to be available to rent should somebody come along.

Now they're tied up for a year.

It's a year long lease.

Yeah.

Yeah.

And so there's been a variety of challenges that we've faced.

But this, again, it's a huge win.

As we continue to talk about downtown vacancies, we continue to talk about activation.

One of the things that's really great about Moment is they are good at activation.

They have been really aggressive with their social media campaigns.

They put together great videos, as you can see.

So they're a really great partner.

And I think not only are they going to help drive traffic to the pop up, but they're going to help drive traffic to downtown.

And so there's an opportunity here for us to capture, you know, new visitors.

Yeah, we hope we hope that this also is an example, you know, and that other, you know, other property owners will look at, oh, this actually worked.

You know, we've tried activations before. A chamber has, the city has, so on.

And the reasons that you get for some property owners are all over the map from perplexing to just downright dumb.

And, you know, being tied up for a year. OK, I get it. But it would be empty, you know, and things like that.

And then there's others that say, no, we just don't want to take the liability or we don't want to take the risk or we don't want to be confused with a kind of store that we're not, you know, kind of thing.

It's really amazing. Or you never hear back.

or you know that's from the ones yeah and so and so you know i applaud the city for for their

uh commitment to making this happen and and understand what a process it is and i'm not at

all surprised that nancy was our shining star who came through she was our signing shining star that

came through the last time we did an activation um but you know i i just really would love to get

some i would love to have pictures and social media and everything that just says you are really

stupid if you don't take advantage of this in more polite terms. We'll let the chamber work on that

message. But just so you know, it's just, in some ways, you just kind of scratch your head.

But I will say, two last comments on this, and then I will move on. The first being,

if you're walking downtown, you'll see vacant storefronts are being filled. And so we've seen

a number of new businesses come into the downtown, which is really great. We have a couple of

what I'll call persistent vacancies that we're continuing to work on.

But this is a real win of moving the needle.

And it would be great.

I just would like to invite you all to attend the grand opening if you're available on Sunday.

It is just a really big win for downtown.

They already started setting things up.

Oh, yes.

They had a soft opening in December trying to get ahead of the Christmas holiday.

So it's set up.

But this is sort of the official.

They'll have a 50-year-old hour, so you can do some chopping later.

Okay, and then we have a number of really exciting art-related updates, and I'm going

to hand it over to Kirsten.

Yay!

Okay, so you guys may know the Visual Arts Committee annually selects exhibits to display

in the lobby of the Center for Performing Arts, and as part of an ad hoc committee with

the Downtown Visual Arts and Performing Arts Committee. We're planning a pilot artist reception

gallery talk with the artist who's currently exhibiting. So John Hirschman, his exhibit is

the art of post-switching, which, so it examines identity, language, culture, and the ways that

individuals navigate multiple social spaces. So we're doing this reception on Tuesday, February

17th. In the evening, we are asking people to register just so we can keep track of attendance.

Yeah, but it's free to register. We'll have food and wine, and we're really excited for this. And

Don has done a number of artist talks, and so he's really, like, couldn't have worked out better,

the timing and the person that we're doing this with. So we're really excited to get this going.

And just to note on this, this is, as Kristen mentioned, this is a collaboration between our committee, the downtown and the visual arts committee, and the performing arts committee, and this has been an item, you know, this collaboration has been on our work plan for a number of years. So this is a huge win for us in being able to move forward a long standing item on our work plan.

Both Stephanie and Pam served on our subcommittee. I don't know if you have anything you want to add.

just great um go ahead well i was just going to ask if this is going to become um a part of a

regular repertoire like maybe you know every six months we do something like this or uh yeah i

think i mean this is going to be a good test run on how we can get this done i know um the visual

arts committee would be really excited to be able to do more of these and i think through the public

card strategy and, you know, potentially hiring another staff person to manage public art would

give our team more capacity to be able to do that. So I think, you know, being able to do this as a

pilot is us being able to see, you know, how much effort are we needing to put into planning all of

this and can we get it done and how frequently. And how interested are people? I mean, I think,

you know, that's the big piece. We need people to show up. If it's a huge success, then we know

this is something the community is really interested in. Do you have a success goal? I mean,

you know, is 100 people the right number? Is 400 people the right? I mean, any idea?

I think maximum is 150, 200. We're going to be in second stage. So right where we do tech

showcase talks. And so, I mean, that would be absolutely amazing. I think we've planned for,

a variety of attendance

and being able to shift

if there's not a lot of people who show up

and it's a smaller, more intimate group.

But yeah, I think it would be great

if we could have 50 people.

Maybe in the future get sponsors.

Oh, nice.

We got a postcard yesterday, I think.

That's great.

That's been a big part of our marketing

was sending postcards out.

So good, good to hear you got one.

The little TV.

Yeah, the marketing.

All right, it's working.

Since we're talking about the Performing Arts Center for a second, is the city going to be doing any sort of analysis of if TheaterWorks is able to consummate the Coverley theater deal?

You know, that is not something our team works on.

We could certainly find out, but that would be, yeah, we'd want to talk to the community service department.

That would have some impacts for the downtown business community as well if TheaterWorks were no longer a home cover.

Right.

which I think is a couple years down the road, but they're working on it.

Knowing that Palo Alto way of doing things, they'll have a committee, and then they'll have another committee,

and then another committee, and then maybe 10 years from now.

Process is our most important product.

All right.

Okay, next fun update.

This is another thing that's been a year in the making, if not more.

So the Bullard Beautification Project, we started this in the summer of 2024.

We did a call for artists and the Visual Arts Committee selected six artists at the time to do art, to paint several bullards along Castro Street.

So, and I, you know, we've talked about this contractor's license requirement that came up in interpretation of state code and that all of a sudden we learned that muralists needed to be a licensed contractor.

So there was a bill that passed effective January 1 that exempts them from needing a contractor's license or able to move forward with the project.

and we're moving forward with five of the artists one wasn't able to participate but

we're really excited these are their proposals so it may not look exactly like this but this is what

the visual arts committee had approved they'll be throughout the 100 to 300 block each artist

is going to paint two so they're supposed to be kind of a pair at the intersection

and we're working on scheduling those for March or April.

There's a few things, a few operational things in progress,

but we're finalizing those schedules now.

Do you like notify people when it's happening?

My kid would be so into just watching them paint it.

I'm just letting you know.

Yeah, so each artist will have a week period to do the installation.

So we'll post and share information about when they're going to be going out to paint

so people can go out and interact with them and watch them.

So they will be better on site.

Yep.

Two quick questions.

One is, will there be any kind of flack or identification of the artist

or of the works or anything like that?

It's a good question.

I think we'll have to talk with Public Works about how to get that adhered to the bollard.

And I think we really want to, they'll be on our art map,

so there'll be a way for people to get more information.

And certainly, you know, we've talked about having, you know, like something printed.

But, you know, these are ideas we've tossed around.

They probably won't immediately have anything, but we'll certainly be doing promotion to try and make that connection.

Yeah, I think the other point, too, is the bollards are technically temporary art.

So how long they'll be up, we're not entirely sure.

You know, I think the paint on the solid colors on these bollards has lasted, I think it's been over a year with some kind of smudging on them.

Kids probably climbing on them and stuff. But so, you know, they could change in the future, too.

The second question I have is, does the legislation that passed, does that have positive impact on other mural sites that we were considering?

Right. Yeah. So for all murals or all mural projects, a muralist wouldn't need to be a licensed contractor.

So it provides more opportunity, really. And this is it's directly related to public projects.

So this would be for cities hiring someone. If a private business wanted to hire a muralist to paint on their building,

then they're you know they're able to they were able to do that before they're able to do that now

without the um artists needing to get a contractor's license but uh now if the city's involved if they're

getting a facade grant to do a mural then there's um less uh restrictions okay are we getting any

requests from other businesses because some businesses wanted to

with Miro, you know, like,

I remember

there.

Yeah, we have, we've heard

from a few businesses.

So I know Odd Fellows was really interested

in getting a facade grant.

They're not, unfortunately,

eligible right now.

The facade grant program was approved

with

stipulation that the business had to be

a personal service retail

restaurant.

Amanda and I are working on some updates to the facade program that might expand eligible uses and kind of create more flexibility in the program.

But I think that that's planned to go to council in March.

But they could still move forward on their own without city funding.

I mean, that's that's the thing. We'd love to see more murals in the downtown and any business could move forward.

You know, we'd be happy to connect them with artists if they're interested, you know, help to make that connection.

Kirsten's been a really great resource in helping with permitting and getting through all of that.

But any business at any time, we'd love to have a conversation if they are interested and want to move forward.

You know, they may or may not be eligible for some grant funding, but we'd love to just see more art in the downtown.

It could be like CSA and just paint their own.

So we've got just a couple more art updates for you.

And then I see Diana's here from the planning team.

Yeah, so the Train Depot Public Arts. So Arts Mountain View, local nonprofit run by one single person who's really interested in just bringing more art to the community.

She received a grant from VTA to put art in downtown Mountain View.

So we've been working with her for a year or so.

And Arts Mountain View worked with the Visual Arts Committee to help find artists to place art on the Train Depot building.

They selected John Patrick Thomas, who is also doing a bullard. And these are the designs that he created. The goal was to be vibrant, to represent history of Mountain View. They got some valuable guidance from Mountain View Historical Association in creating the panels or the designs.

And, yeah, so I think the installation, it hasn't been scheduled yet, but it should be done by May.

So thinking in the next few months, another thing that we'll definitely share about once it's up and we'll be planning a ribbon cutting for this as well.

This was a really huge collaborative effort between multiple groups like Arts Mountain View City, Historical Association, VTA, Caltrain.

there's been a lot of involvement from different groups.

Is it a single panel or is it eight panels scattered around?

Eight panels scattered around.

So Savvy Cellars is sitting kind of on the side.

It's going to curve around the opposite side of the building.

Are there any plans to make any of that permanent?

I mean, the whole reason for doing the panels at one point was because of this contractor problem.

But, you know, are there any plans to make any of these panels permanent?

I mean, the goal is to keep them up. Yeah.

Has the city ever thought about having it like a live mural thing?

You put a board in there and then let the kids go with this pen, draw everything up.

And every day they erase the whole thing and the next day it's a different thing.

That sounds fun. We haven't we haven't talked about that, but that sounds like a fun.

idea.

You can do interactive art like

that. The art

wall at Art and Wine Festival.

Interesting.

Okay.

What do we do with that wall?

We don't do anything.

If they

have offered for us,

like if we wanted to buy the

pieces and we could

have it exhibited somewhere,

but we've never looked into

it, but usually just

TAKES IT AWAY.

CLEANS IT AND USES IT FOR ANOTHER.

AND THEN LASTLY, I ASK KRISTEN TO BRING A PUBLIC ARTS STRATEGY UPDATE.

WE'VE GOTTEN SOME SURVEY FEEDBACK, WHICH HAS BEEN REALLY EXCITING.

THERE'S BEEN PRIORITIZATION OF THE DOWNTOWN, WHICH I THOUGHT WOULD BE HELPFUL FOR YOU

ALL OF YOU.

HOPEFULLY EVERYONE HERE FILLED OUT THE SURVEY.

IT DID CLOSE IN DECEMBER.

And so we had 306 total survey responses, over 450 in-person participants, which was really great.

We went to Dia de Muertos, the Senior Center, Monster Bash, the Tree Lightning.

And we just had constant interaction, which was really awesome.

And if you had a chance to see us at any of those events, we had a big art installation.

people could participate in creating these like big bubble letters, which I'm actually getting

today. And they, you could write what type of art you want to see in Mountain View. And then these

pieces of plastic were put onto these, creating these blow up bubble letters that we can use at

different things or whatever you can display in the rotunda downstairs. But it's kind of a way to

show how you could use single-use plastics to create art and people can be involved in doing

this and there's a fun way to get people to come to our booth too but so this is some of the

responses from our survey so it doesn't equal to 100 because there were more answer or more options

in this it was multiple choice you could choose I think up to three or something but so these are

kind of the top preferences by categories so people really want to see murals they really

want to see art in downtown and in terms of how like what the role of art is in Mountain View

the top response is providing opportunities for people to experience art that enriches their life

my favorite is the bringing a sense of whimsy and delight to everyday spaces but it's a close

close tie almost that's our next steps we're kind of taking in all the feedback that we've

gotten from the public. We're finishing up some stakeholder interviews with artists, talking to

some developers about art and private projects. And we're just going to be kind of blending all

this feedback with a vision that the VAC has already had and creating the strategies, the

goals and recommended action items. And so I think we're anticipating council adoption by fall.

um certainly the visual arts committee will review a draft before then we're thinking in the spring

but yeah exactly as we're talking about murals downtown yeah the survey reflects that yes okay

and just the final update about the farmers market so as i reported out on at our last

meeting in december lot 12 will be going offline um on february 10th um for the development of an

affordable housing development. And as you may or may not know, when the farmer's market is not able

to be at the Caltrain station, that's usually on 49 or home games, they need to move to an

alternate location, which was formerly lot 12. But we have worked with the farmer's market and

have identified another location. So you can see here lots four and eight, which are essentially

on Hope Street at Evelyn and Villa will be where the farmer's market is moving to.

So that will be future spot, probably in the fall when football starts back up again.

Until they build the hotel.

And depending development on this site, this is where they will be.

Just a question on safety.

Will there be extra guards of any sort or traffic moderation for Hope Street?

So the farmer's market has a full plan in place for helping people to move between lots four and eight.

Yes. And we've been working with the city traffic engineer to ensure that there's proper signage, there's proper the orientation of the market.

They're they're very being very intentional about how they set it up and staff it.

Yeah.

So Stephanie may also know that Mount TV Historical Association news director or newsletter director.

We are looking at writing an article on murals and artwork in downtown.

It's going to be going to be a bit of a print it, I'll bring it over.

I have a separate article I'm working on, so yes.

All right.

And that concludes staff's presentation.

Okay.

Good stuff.

Thanks.

Any questions?

Any public input on item 6.1?

Any online?

I see one person online.

If you want to raise your hand, if you have any comments you'd like to make.

Is that Bruce?

Mary?

Yeah, I'm not seeing any hand raised.

All right.

Then we will move on to item 6.2, downtown development update.

And you got that one?

Yeah.

Morning, everybody.

We're excited to be back.

I have one item that I wanted to give an update on, but before I go into that, I wanted to

ask if you all have any questions from what you see on the regular projects that we have.

Just one comment, walking up there, that second block, tap plastic, you know,

It started and I walked through the barrier, the safety barrier.

I just want to say that's very well done.

It's very nice.

I felt very comfortable walking through it.

It's very well done.

We're excited to see that project move forward.

It was a good collaboration.

They checked in with us before since we have our event and activations taking place.

But yeah, they're doing a good job with that one.

Any others?

Nope.

Okay, so then the one thing that I wanted to bring everybody's attention,

we underlined as well, so it's hard to miss, is the citywide project.

Just wanted to give you an update on the downtown precise plan.

So as mentioned in the memo, you know, we have some recent state laws

which have been passed by the legislators AB 130,

which basically for streamlining of CEQA for development projects,

And then SB 79, which allows streamlining housing development at higher intensities near transit stops.

So City Council has directed staff to, you know, recently looking through efforts to implement both these state laws.

And they're complicated.

So a lot of staffing resources has been diverted.

the City Council on January 27th. The council provided us the guidance. And of course,

I think the most challenging part of that study session item was balancing of the staffing

resources and getting direction from council on which time they would like us to explore

in the implementation of, especially SB 79, because it's so complicated. For SB 79, we have

We have five transit stops within Mount Amur which qualify under SV 79 and two of them

are tier one stops which allow very high intensity near transit stops and three light rail stations.

So the two tier ones are the Kupiauf train stations down from Panamtonia and then the

three light rail stations that we have Middlefield light rail station, the Wisman station light

station and then there's one in Bayshore. So the station, the lateral station in Bayshore is not

in the city of Mountain View, but the impact area is half of the impact area is in Mountain View. So

we still have to consider that. So yeah, a lot of staffing resources has been diverted

with immediate effect to implement those. And that definitely, you know, required moving the

the resources from some of our advanced planning projects. And downtown precise plan was a big one

because a lot of the area within the downtown has been covered under SB 79 impact area. So it just

made more sense to move forward more judiciously before, you know, coming up with, say, land use

alternative options for the downtown precise plan. Just wanted to give you an update on that.

Yeah, and because of the delays, are there any like downtown projects where the developers or property owners are being told, well, we're not going to do anything until the new precise plan is done or you're still capable, able to move through the current process if you want?

I mean, I know sometimes staff gets, you know, we're kind of trying not to do anything until we're done sort of stuff.

So how's.

We haven't heard any pushback like that at all.

So whoever is in the pipeline or, you know, has an application is there, they're moving forward.

And then very often you get the request from interested parties for the kind of delight on, you know, what can we do?

So we constantly give them whatever the parameters are.

People are very much aware of SB 79.

So SB 79 comes into effect July 1st.

So starting July 1st, the state law will become effective.

The cities do have an option to adopt a local alternative plan,

but that requires first developing a local alternative plan,

then going to HCD first to cancel.

and then if council approves going to HCD, for them to approve it, they have 60 days.

SB 79 also requires for us, the MPOs, the MTC, to provide us the map of what is really the affected area.

And we have been in close association with MPCA back on this, and they have not provided the maps yet.

and we are in February.

If it becomes effective in July,

this looks nearly impossible for somebody to say,

oh yeah, this is exactly accurate impact area

that we have identified.

The other thing is all the neighboring jurisdictions

are in the same boat.

We're trying to get some clarification from HCD

on tell us what does this mean in the legislation.

Very similar to all the other recent legislation,

it's not very clearly written.

They are there to understand what what does it really mean on certain aspects.

And I met with HCD, I think, mid-January.

And yeah, there was no indication of any clarification coming out at any time.

So that is impacting a little bit of the work.

But we got very clear direction from council to kind of look at exclusion ordinance for historic resources,

existing historic resources in downtown. So that will be something that staff will be working on

as it relates to SB 79. And then AB 130 will just move forward with streamlining

some code amendments to streamline that process. Other questions?

Did the city council, and I watched part of that, I don't remember, considering it doing the optional

local alternatives plan. Yeah, but I think looking at the time frame,

they directed staff to do the exclusion ordinance first and then come back and

you know devote resources towards the preparing an alternative plan.

Any public input on the development?

all right is that it yeah all right thank you dan we will then um close out item 6.2 and move

on to item seven new business and the first item there 7.1 is the mountain view near the hood small

business center

thank you

thank you

Yeah.

That's all.

Well, good morning, everyone.

Thank you very much for having us.

Thank you very much, Jamil, Amanda, Christian, for the invitation.

This is a very nice forum for us to spread the word about what we're going to implement

here in Mountain View.

We're here on behalf of Enterprise Foundation.

I'm Samuel Ardantes of Stanford. I'm the Programs Director of the Price Foundation.

And here's Dennis King, our Executive Director. Well, a little bit about us, if you can,

a little bit about us. We were founded in 2007, thanks to the vision of the Gentleman of the Day.

And since then, we have been strengthening and increasing opportunities for small business owners and entrepreneurs throughout Santa Clara County and beyond.

And what we have done through these years is we have hosted three small business development center programs.

Those are federally funded programs.

And we have assisted the launching of 700 plus businesses.

in the county and we have helped gain access to 160 plus million in capital infusion for small

business owners and entrepreneurs and also administered 10 grant programs during COVID

with different cities like Sunnyvale, Cupertino, Yitpidas, San Jose, the county of Santa Clara and

the state of California and we have provided we have been providing services in seven plus languages.

All of this thanks to the partnerships that we have built during that time with government agencies, with local stakeholders, with community-based organizations like CDIF Mountain View and the Chamber.

okay our vision is pretty simple we envision an economy where diverse ownership is a path

to prosperity so we break barriers uh bring uh to opportunity to technical knowledge to

capital and we bridge this gap between entrepreneurs and opportunity to build resilient and scalable

businesses in the county. The county has been our partner for 12 years, our main partner,

so we were pretty proud of that relationship. We go to the next one, please.

This is a little bit of our numbers.

Just in the past four years, we exceeded our main goal that was at that time the creation

of new businesses.

We exceeded it by 180 percent through these one-on-one sessions.

That's our most important tool to do that.

We provided the order of 11,000 one-on-one sessions helping 2,300 clients,

and which represented the creation or retention of 2,000 jobs

and a capitalization of $40 million for use.

Something important to say is that most of our clients have been already rejected by banks

to get that loan that they needed.

So we help them put together that loan package, build financial projections, put together a strong business case.

And now the exciting part.

We're introducing the Mountain View Neighborhood Small Business Center.

This is a program specific for Mountain View and designed by a lot of the main stakeholders in Mountain View.

It is funded by the BTA, Transit Oriented Communities Rant Program.

So it is a transportation focused business support near the transit center, both covering the whole city.

And this is a 10-month-long support for small business owners and entrepreneurs so they can launch or grow their business, well, accelerate the rhythm or build more resilient businesses through this changing economy.

The core value proposition is our bread and butter, our one-on-one sessions and, well, workshops, intensive training sessions, and also very important to support early stage and home-based entrepreneurs in the city.

So all services, thanks to our sponsors and thanks to our partnership with the city and the chamber, are free for Mountain View-based small businesses and entrepreneurs.

This is our preliminary program schedule. As you can see, we're having our kickoff event later this month, February 26. Please join us. It would be a very nice opportunity to engage with the stakeholders of the ecosystem.

It's going to be held at the Mountain View Community Center.

And we're going to have those advising services throughout the whole program.

As you can see, there are four workshops throughout the program on transit-connected business tools,

doing business with public agencies,

business storytelling and policy panel.

And between workshops,

we're going to have four training intensive sessions

on fundamentals, on financial readiness and access to capital,

on customer experience and branding,

and business planning and resilience.

This is our idea,

But we want to fine-tune our program using the feedback from the community here

because we want this plan to reflect the local priorities, not ours.

So we're going to launch a survey so we can collect that feedback.

It is a pretty short survey.

In less than five minutes, small business owners or stakeholders can answer some priorities there.

BTA also added a couple questions.

They want to understand how they can provide better services

so the business community can engage even more with the transit center.

So this would be very important for us.

And this is also an opportunity not just to fine-tune the program,

but also to find any gaps that we can have in our pool of advisors.

So how to apply for services is pretty straightforward.

I mean, you just have to call us or send us an email and our intake coordinator, she's bilingual, she will provide a form to capture your needs.

needs, and then we will match you with an advisor.

The advisor will reach out to set up a meeting and to agree in which would be the most convenient

format of the meeting.

If it is virtual or if it is in person, we're planning to have in-person meetings in the

public library study rooms, but also throughout the coffee shops near the transit center.

While this is a program open for all the Mountain View residents and small businesses here, there's a strong priority also in businesses located near the transit center.

Just a note there, which is part of the reason we're wanting to connect with the committee since downtown is a big part of that geographic area.

Exactly, exactly. That's what is very relevant for us.

Thank you.

About the kickoff event, as I mentioned, February 26th from 2 to 3.30 p.m. at the

Mountain Views Room Center.

It is the CIDA room.

At the CIDA room, and this is going to be an opportunity to learn what the program offers,

but also to engage with some of our business advisors and, well, an opportunity to, for

a nice networking with stakeholders, fellow entrepreneurs, small business owners, ecosystem

leaders. Plus, it will be free and we will have refreshments and small bites there.

Thank you very much for helping us and hosting that event at the Mountain View Community

Center. There's the...

Oh, sorry.

if we do go back and what that's the the link to register to the event right uh website for the

for the event of course i'm gonna send you uh an invitation to all of you uh if i through amanda

so uh please join us it would be very nice to have you there and and we'll also learn a lot

about your experience and how to bring a most valuable program for the Mountain View City.

And that's it. Please reach out if you have any questions, comments. We're going to have right

now some of the actual session, but if you have after that any questions that you want to get

getting involved in some somehow uh that's my email and mobile phone thank you very much again

thank you so i was just at um the mayor's innovation project and during their they do

a thing like cities like what they're doing new and special one of the one of the cities um

was doing something where they have this business development program and they decided but we're

not doing anything with nonprofits. So are nonprofits that either want to establish because

there's a need, are they able to avail themselves of the business development center as well?

Because they are new employers and providing services. They're just, you know, not in it for

the profit. I don't think nonprofit starters are considered entrepreneurs, but they should be.

So could nonprofits avail them new startup nonprofits and stuff?

One very good thing about using this vehicle, that is the Mountain View Transitor into Communities grant program, is that we don't have restrictions in terms of serving businesses for profit businesses or all the restrictions that we used to have in the past.

So, yeah, we're going to be able to provide assistance also for nonprofits that want to grow here and help the community.

Probably be good to emphasize that as well.

Not over the for-profit, but most nonprofits would say, well, that's not us.

So, right.

Thank you.

Pamela.

Where do you draw your advisors and how do they work with businesses?

Well, we have had a pool of advisors for 15 years working with us. So a lot of them have been already helping businesses since then.

So, but they have, well, our main areas of focus have been access to capital,

marketing, everything related with the permits, licensing, insurance, compliance, HR compliance,

and finances in general.

but we want to

that's what we want to

collect feedback from the community

to see if validate

if our list is full

or if there is a gap we are going

to engage with another

business

advisors that could help us

bridge that gap so

and what we do is we interview

them and

we review their

backgrounds

a lot of the times

it's people that it's

a referral

from another

pretty trusted

admin so

that's what we did that and

also how they

engage with the

businesses they can provide

training programs

and after that

they can start

having one-on-ones with the

attendees of that training program. That's the most common option, most common pathway, but they can

also be matched when a client reaches out and their needs will fit with their business advisor

background. Yes, thanks for being here. Thank you very much. And besides being here to talk to us,

how you plan to reach to the businesses.

Outreach efforts will involve,

well, since we have that specific half a mile radius,

we're going to do that by walking

and start engaging with the business owners in that area.

But we're also using some of the city's

already communication channels as a newsletter.

We have our own social media, but also the city social media and through partnerships.

We have been reaching out some of the nonprofits established here.

And of course, with the help of Peter, that would be also a very good channel to spread the word about what's going to be offered here.

They presented both to our board as well as to Bill.

I was saying that

personally walking is my favorite thing

so I mean we go

to the businesses, community

members you know

we go to the businesses

sometimes we have a contact person

with it

would there be anything like a nice

fancy card with a QR code

or something after that we just give to them

you know

that's it yeah

and then

that is

yeah and but yeah since it is a pretty small area our the main priority of the program

we want to be really exhaustive and reach out as much as possible

yes um do you specialize in certain businesses or do you tackle all kinds of we want to be

sector agnostic.

So that's why it is

important for us to

the community. But we have served

through our years

since our foundation, any kind

of business. Of course,

a lot of restaurants,

a lot of retail,

a lot of procurement,

well, contractors.

But we have served

a lot of

different businesses.

Because even for like a

restaurants within the restaurant industry, it can be pretty nuanced what their needs are,

depending on what the restaurant is. And you can provide those resources then.

Yeah.

If they, let's say, would say, I'm like planning on a fast food business versus like fine dining,

because they have very specific needs when it comes to marketing, reach out.

Different KPIs.

Yeah. I mean, we want to be able to serve as much as possible.

So that's why we have launched that survey and we hope to learn through any opportunity of engagement with small business owners.

This particular program or cohort has to do specific with transportation, right?

Because of the, is that what I read earlier?

Yes, it is funded by the BTA.

And so the curriculum is also?

No, I mean, there are some parts of the curriculum that digital doorway,

for something like that that would help bta to engage with or help the small business community

to engage with that but we're not just focused on that we want to be really broad so any so i guess

going back to any business can yes any business yes i mean one of the priorities is to bring

for traffic to the center.

There's a lot of traffic already,

but maybe sometimes during the week or, yeah.

Is there like a basic connection?

Like how would you explain it to a restaurant

that like part of the goal of this

is to bring transportation?

How does that benefit them?

Like what's the...

In this program, we're also kind of building a bridge

between BTA and the business's needs.

So it would be a process of getting learning back and forth for both parts to understand better their needs and how the transit center could be a most valuable resource for them and for their employees and for their clients.

Yeah.

And sorry, last question.

Owners and entrepreneurs, does this count like the managers of a business?

Like let's say they're.

It doesn't have to be the business owner.

See, if the business owner would like to send a manager or somebody from their staff, it would be welcome.

And we know that sometimes they are pretty busy.

So, I mean, we are just here to add value.

So if that goes through a manager that is already valuable for the business, we are happy to help.

Other questions?

Just a comment that a lot of people know about the SBA and the SBDC and all of that.

And a lot of these resources kind of-

And score.

And score.

And one of the things that I think is confusing for a lot of our small businesses, well, who do I call?

What do I do?

And so on.

And the other problem is, where do I go?

And one of the things that's exciting about this program, first of all, is that it's right here.

So you don't have to go down to San Jose to get any of these services.

And the second is that the SBA and the SBDC, being government funded, have certain restrictions placed on them in the last, oh, I'd say a little over a year.

This organization does not. And so it's a lot more open and open to whom they can serve and open in terms of the services they can provide.

And so it's building on what Peter is saying is SBA can't offer loans now.

I mean, to be eligible for a loan, you need to be a citizen or a permanent resident.

And all the partners within the business having more than, I think it was 5% or 10% ownership of the company.

All of them, they need to be citizens or permanent residents.

So that's a pretty hard restriction for some of our business owners in this county.

And yeah, that's flexibility for us.

That's something that we will want to bring here to Mountain View, along with our track record and also using the community needs as an input.

Yeah. And I'll say one more thing just because of one of the comments that Marisol had.

And that is that, you know, the partnership with the VTA is important and critical, but not necessarily important to a lot of our businesses.

They don't necessarily understand that the better our transit hub, the more foot traffic comes to their doorstep.

I mean, I guess they get that somewhere in the back of their minds, but it's not front of mind.

You know, front of mind is how am I going to serve six more tables?

Front of mind is how I'm going to, you know, make next week's paycheck.

So the degree to which we can hope to educate them on that is great, but that wouldn't be what I would lead with, you know, if I was having a conversation with them.

you know, so.

Good idea.

Yeah.

I mean, also,

I think that using more of the transit center

for people to come and dine here in Mountain View,

it's pretty comfortable

and you don't have to drive.

You can have maybe a drink or two

and you're going to be safe back home.

So we want also to strengthen that connection

in every people's mind here.

Yeah, I want to open that up for public input.

and so Dennis did you have something you wanted to if you don't mind I think Samuel does an

excellent job of communicating how flexible the program is and of course we're hoping that this

is a great beginning but I wanted to share just a personal observation and that is for me this is

a homecoming I worked my way through St. Francis a long time ago from St. Francis I was a yearbook

editor. I finally still am doing magazines. I went to Fudel College, where I, as student

party president, I learned Robert's Rules of Order. So Mike, I appreciate your running

of this meeting. For the last 19 years, I am the state parliamentarian. I teach Robert's

Rules of Order and Democratic decision making for the California Hispanic Chambers of Commerce.

And so I'm very impressed how much that you know, because most people seem to learn by

osmosis by just hanging out in these kinds of meetings.

So congratulations on that.

16 years on the council.

I've seen many councils that are, let's say, creative about the Roberts Rules of Order.

But I'm delighted about the possibilities of coming back home.

Because, I mean, at St. Francis, I used to hang out at Castro at Linda's restaurant in El Camino.

I mean, this is home for me.

So I'm very enthused about this.

This is a beginning. Samuel did a great job of trying to explain how plastic it is or how flexible it is in terms of trying to meet the needs.

We have funded pop-ups, many. We have funded home-based businesses.

We've also financed small restaurants, getting people buying the restaurants.

So our loans that we facilitated were as low as $1,000 and some were several million dollars.

And so we've got that kind of gamut.

Peter and I have had the experience of working together.

We are the co-chairs of the Chamber of Commerce Coalition.

So I have a great respect for him and certainly for what you do.

I think this is a great beginning.

this program is only for a year, but certainly we are already in contact with others to say,

you know, if this does solve some of the problems in Mountain View, if we could be an added value

to what you're doing, we'd like to be able to team up with others and keep the program going.

But a large part depends on are we serving legitimate needs? And it seems to me you've

got a very dynamic program. I've been very interested in all the things that you're doing.

And if we can add on to add to value to what you're doing, to me, a win-win situation is the best way of all.

And so in that sense, thank you for what you're doing.

Thank you for making me feel welcome back and coming back home.

Thanks for being here.

Anybody online for public input?

Okay.

Any other questions?

One question is that, Manu, is it okay to plug in the Historical Association?

you should come to our Mountain View Historical Association,

you know, because you're involved with history.

I've been guilty of being too much of a storyteller.

I'd love to learn more.

I could add to it.

I could certainly talk about the apricot trees and the trains.

Anyway, yes.

Our next meeting will be Streets of Mountain View,

the stories of the names of the streets of Mountain View.

Nice to meet you.

Well, I went to school with the Cusumanos.

So, yes, I'd be very interested.

We just had a program about it.

We had a program about Cusumanos, Italians here the other day, you know.

Wow.

So one question I did ask, you're trying to service a half a mile radius of the transit center.

So how are you going to reach people who may want to locate their business?

because you said you're going to be doing outreach,

walking around and talking to businesses.

How are you going to approach people

who may be interested in locating?

That aren't in that half mile radius yet.

Well, through the channels that I already mentioned

and also we want to activate the spread

through the word about

through every event.

Will you also be speaking to building owners

and leasing people?

Yes.

Yeah.

Licensing the building permit office in Mountain View.

I mean, are they, you know, if somebody is coming in for a new business license, will they be told about this?

Certainly if they interact with economic development.

I mean, between the chamber and the economic development team, we intercept a lot of businesses.

And we both connect businesses to a variety of resources.

And this will be one of them.

Great.

Thank you.

And maybe a bunch of flyers down in the office.

We will use every public space here to share a lot of flyers.

Great.

Thank you both.

Thank you.

Thank you both very much.

All right.

Okay.

We'll move on to item 7.2, election of chair and vice chair.

And so I just put it out there.

Just are there any nominations for chair of the committee?

Can we nominate the same people?

I was like, can we

nominate the same people? I was like,

is there a rule against that?

Can we nominate

Mike? He clearly knows that

Robert's rule of order.

I was like,

seems to be the logical

for me.

My nomination

for Mike.

Okay.

That's out there. Are there other nominations?

I'm happy to continue to serve, should that be the case.

We're also doing vice, right?

We will do, we'll do, we'll do, chair and then vice chair.

Yeah.

Okay, so you have formally nominated Mike.

Yes.

I will second.

That's right, that's right.

All right.

Okay, and I have been nominated and seconded.

All in favor say aye.

Aye.

Any opposed?

No.

Okay.

Now the travel schedule will be lighter.

Yeah, my travel schedule will be lighter.

Okay.

So, are there nominations for vice chair?

I'd like to nominate Pamela.

Second.

If elected, will you serve?

I will serve, yes.

I'm happy to serve.

Okay.

We'll close nominations.

It's been moved and seconded for Pamela to serve as vice chair.

All in favor, say aye.

Aye.

Any opposed, say nay.

Is that a nay?

Not a nay.

No.

All right.

Congratulations, Pamela.

We're back.

I believe we can cross out 7-2-1.

Nothing happened.

Okay.

And so we'll sort of keep doing what we're doing and have our agenda meetings and stuff like that.

We'll get this back on the calendar.

Right.

Okay.

Then moving on.

Item number eight, committee and staff comments, questions, committee reports.

Just a note, as you know, with our approved 2026 calendar, we will not be meeting in March.

So our next meeting will be in April and we'll have a string of meetings as our spring is very busy with approval.

So we will meet April, May and June, and then we'll take a recess along with city council.

So don't show up tomorrow, next month.

That's all I have. Thank you.

Any other questions or comments?

I was going to say great to have you on the committee.

Welcome. Pamela?

The Mountain View Historical had a walking tour schedule at the end of January.

Unfortunately, nobody signed up, so I canceled it, but our next one will be February 22.

And when is the streets of Mountain View?

That would be May 3rd, Sunday, first Sunday of May.

That would be Street Names of Mountain View.

Sounds great.

And that would be probably at the library.

I'm sorry, May 2nd?

3rd.

3rd.

And then May 2nd is the Multicultural Festival.

Yeah.

We're not sponsoring that, the city.

And of course, if you're a member of the Montbea Historical Association, you get a newsletter, which has all of these dates in it.

So one of the benefits and lifetime membership is quite a bargain.

Well, you've got to buy it early enough to make it.

Well, that's true.

Five more years.

I bought it 20 years ago.

I'll get on it now.

I'll get on it now.

I'll refer for counsel when I join.

I'm free now.

All right.

Any other comments or questions under item eight?

If not, we'll move on to item nine, and we will stand adjourned at 917.

I love your new model.

Happy 4 million, Myla.

You will love that, yeah.