Novato City Council Meeting: Oath of Office, Reorganization, and Consent Calendar – December 10, 2024
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Novato City Council Meeting: December 10, 2024
The Novato City Council convened on December 10, 2024, at 6:00 PM for a regular meeting that included the administration of the oath of office to newly elected and re-elected councilmembers, the reorganization of the council to select a new Mayor and Mayor Pro Tempore, and the approval of a consent calendar. The meeting also featured public comments criticizing a recent camping ban ordinance passed with 24-hour notice, and farewell remarks to outgoing Councilmember Susan Wernick.
Consent Calendar
- G.1 – Election Results: The council adopted a resolution accepting the canvass of election returns from the November 5, 2024 General Election and declaring the results.
- G.2 – Tax and Administrative Agreements: The council adopted resolutions authorizing the City Manager to execute agreements with the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration (CDTFA) for a local transactions and use tax, authorizing examination of tax records, and amending the agreement with Hinderliter de Llamas and Associates (HdL) to include services related to Measure M.
- The consent calendar was approved by a vote of 5-0.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Two speakers addressed the council during the public comment period. Both criticized the city council for passing a camping ban ordinance the previous day with only 24 hours' notice, which they argued would criminalize homelessness and endanger lives. The first speaker, a fifth-generation Novato resident, expressed concern about increased deaths, incarcerations, and mental health issues. The second speaker, who served a lawsuit to invalidate the ordinance for alleged Brown Act violations, also criticized the city manager's management style, claiming the homeless policy steering committee was shut down and that the assistant city manager had recently resigned. Both speakers urged the council to reconsider.
Discussion Items
- J.1 – Oath of Office and Reorganization: The council administered the oath of office to newly elected Councilmember Kevin Jacobs and re-elected Councilmembers Tim O’Connor and Mark Milberg. Following the oath, the council recognized outgoing Councilmember Susan Wernick, who did not seek re-election. Councilmembers and staff offered tributes to her service, and she delivered a farewell speech highlighting accomplishments such as the General Plan update, the Pioneer Park playground, and the passage of Measure M. The council then voted to reorganize: Tim O’Connor was appointed Mayor (5-0), and Rachel Farac was appointed Mayor Pro Tempore (5-0). Outgoing Mayor Mark Milberg reflected on his term’s achievements, including the appointment of the first female city manager, the sales tax measure, and completion of citywide studies. New Mayor O’Connor expressed gratitude and noted additional accomplishments such as the agreement with the Novato Historical Guild, the SAFE response program, and the completion of audits. The meeting concluded with adjournment and an invitation to enjoy cake and refreshments.
Key Outcomes
- Consent Calendar Approved: 5-0 vote.
- Oath of Office Administered: Kevin Jacobs, Tim O’Connor, and Mark Milberg were sworn in as councilmembers.
- Council Reorganization: Tim O’Connor elected as Mayor, Rachel Farac elected as Mayor Pro Tempore (both votes 5-0).
- Next Meeting: Scheduled for January 14, 2025.
Meeting Transcript
Good evening, everyone. Good evening, everyone. Welcome to the Navado City Council meeting of December 10th, 2024. I like to ask if you can all rise to uh do the Pledge of Allegiance with me. Thank you. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible with liberty and justice for all. There was no uh I'm sorry, if we could please do the roll call. Councilmember Eklunds, present, Councilmember Farack, present, Councilmember Warnick, present. Council Mayor Pro Tem O'Connor. And Mayor Milberg. Present, thank you so much. So now just to announce that there was no closed session this evening, and we do not have any ceremonial matters, presentations other than what we will do later. So the first uh agenda topic will be approval of the final agenda. Can I ask for a motion and a second to approve the final agenda, please? I'll move. A second. Motion and a second. Could you please call the vote? Councilmember Eklund. Aye. Councilmember Farack. Aye. Councilmember Warnick. Aye. Mayor Pro Tem O'Connor and Mayor Melbourne. Aye, that passes five to zero. Thank you. So now we're gonna move to the council reports from the city council and city manager. I'd like to start with our city manager, Amy Cunningham. Good evening, Amy. Good evening, Mayor, members of the council. I have no comments tonight. Thank you. Thank you. So uh move to the city council reports. Uh start with Councilmember Eklund, please. Uh thank you very much. Uh, first of all, um want to wish everybody a happy holidays. And uh in that light, I did attend the Margaret Todd Senior Craft Fair, which was outstanding. And I really want to thank all the artists uh who made their goods and and uh sold a lot, which was kind of fun. And also I want to thank uh also the tree lighting committee. Uh tree lighting was a fantastic event and really appreciate that as well. Um for work side, um the we did have a North Bay watershed meeting, and um I also we also had the first uh countywide sea level rise governance meeting. And um I was uh a little concerned about the this new group, and I've had some discussions with Stephanie Moulton Peters um uh about why we just don't continue Bay Wave, which is gonna be something that we're gonna hopefully be looking at because they were talking about the structure of the group rather than talking about the issue, really. What is the issue that we need to solve? Santa Fel's already started their sea level rise. Um we haven't uh had ours, but we don't know if we're gonna do it by a city or by a county, so we have to have some of that discussion. And also um Ren County Mayors and Council members uh every month, um most months anyway, the mayors and council members in the county get together, and we did um in um in late November. The issue I wanted to spend a few minutes on is the I serve on the Bay Conservation and Development Commission, which is a statewide commission, and uh we adopted the regional shoreline adaptation plan, which sets out the requirements for all cities in the county on how we are to address sea level rise on our shoreline and our um streams or rivers.
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