Council Appointments Review Committee Meeting - April 28, 2026
Council Appointments Review Committee Meeting (April 28, 2026)
The Council Appointments Review Committee met on April 28, 2026, at 6:38 PM to review and interview applicants for two vacancies: one on the Downtown Committee and one on the Human Relations Commission. The committee also approved prior meeting minutes. The meeting adjourned at 7:00 PM.
Consent Calendar
- Approval of November 17, 2025 Minutes: Motion by Council Member Kamei, seconded by Vice Mayor Clark, passed unanimously.
Public Comments & Testimony
- No public comments were made on non-agendized items.
Discussion Items
- Interview of Downtown Committee Applicant (Janaid Harashi): The applicant, a downtown business owner, expressed desire to serve to improve downtown and support businesses. He discussed the need for process improvements, easing facade restrictions, and making downtown more lively. He praised staff but noted that businesses feel outreach and speed of process could be improved.
- Interview of Human Relations Commission Applicant (Mary): The applicant, a former Downtown Committee member, shared her experience and highlighted pressing human relations needs including protecting immigrant communities and increasing Asian American civic participation. She stated she would focus on completing the current work plan for the remainder of the term (expiring December 2026).
Key Outcomes
- Motion to Recommend Appointments: Vice Mayor Clark moved to recommend that the City Council appoint Mary to the Human Relations Commission for the unexpired term ending December 31, 2026, and appoint Janaid Harashi to the Downtown Committee for one of the two unexpired terms ending December 31, 2028. Council Member Kamei seconded. The motion passed unanimously.
- The committee's recommendations will be considered by the City Council at its May 26, 2026 meeting.
Note: The transcript contains some confusion regarding the applicant's name for the Human Relations Commission; the interview was introduced as "Mary" but later references are unclear. The name used in the motion is transcribed as "very end," which may be a mishearing.
Meeting Transcript
Good evening, everyone. Um, I'll call this meeting of the council appointments review committee to order at six thirty-eight p.m. We have um and note that both um uh committee member Kamei and um myself, Vice Mayor Clark are present. Um the mayor is currently not here, but we expect her to join shortly. Um the first item on our agenda is the approval of the prior minutes. Um these are from the November 17, 2025 council appointments review committee. Um there any questions on the minutes. Happy to move. I don't see any, so we will um entertain a motion to approve the minutes. Some of the motion of by committee member Kamei and seconded by and I'll go ahead and second it. All in favor, say aye. Aye. So that carries unanimously. We'll move on to oral communications from the public on non-agendized items. So this is the portion of the meeting reserved for anyone wishing to speak on any matter that's not on tonight's agenda. Um does anyone wish to speak on anything that's not on the agenda tonight? I don't see any. Um the only other item tonight is new business. Um to discuss our community our committee openings and all uh if uh if the committee's okay with it, we'll just uh recess for a few minutes and uh and wait for the mayor or pause the meeting for a few minutes. Are we still live? Can I um if the committee's okay with it? Can I also do item six? Um any staff comments, questions? Yes, first I don't have any, I did have one question maybe for a future um in the in the packet, it looked like there was one other HRC member turning out of the end of the year. Do it we'll do that recruitment in the fall. Is that right? Now we have the AKC right here. Yeah, yeah. And then the magic will take that people for it. Yeah, so this is interim. Yeah. And then we're kind of in open recruitment. Okay, because there's two boy like we'll have another meeting. Anything else on that item? We'll give it till six forty-five, and then I'll just proceed. Take talk. We'll have been waiting. We're not doing anything. I have a question. Once you once you're live, do you are you just live the whole time? Do you like mute? Um be live again. No, like yeah, just curious. Hi, I think you dressed. Thank you. Oh, I like credit. I went ahead and started, but and I did everything with your business. Sorry. All right. So we're in new business.
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