Redwood City Council Meeting - January 9, 2023: Storm Response, Planning Commission, Equity Plan
STREAMING COPY IN PREPARATION — RECORDING AVAILABLE FROM THE ORIGINAL SOURCE
Redwood City Council Meeting - January 9, 2023
The Redwood City Council met on January 9, 2023, to address the ongoing winter storm emergency, appoint a planning commissioner, and receive a progress update on the 2021 City Equity Plan. The meeting included public testimony, council discussion, and several unanimous votes.
Consent Calendar
- Approved the consent calendar unanimously, including: annual self-insured assessment fee; final acceptance of California Water Tank project; agreement with San Mateo County for core agency services at Fair Oaks Community Center (FY2022-23 through FY2024-25); final map for 955 Woodside Road; stormwater treatment maintenance agreement for the Navigation Center; fiber optic installation agreement with Mobile LLC; vehicle equipment contract with Western Truck Fabrication ($246,932); five-year fire equipment maintenance contract with High Tech Emergency Vehicle Service Inc. (total up to $500,000); resolution declaring continued state of local emergency and allowing hybrid/virtual meetings (AB 361); acceptance of impact fee report; minutes of December 12, 2022; and claims and checks through January 23, 2023.
Public Comments & Testimony
- General Public Comment (before storm item):
- Dionisia Barrera Garcia (in-person, Spanish): Described flooding on Saturday (Dec 31) at 1903 East Bay Shore, slow 911 response (over 25 minutes), and lack of shelter or assistance for evacuated elderly residents. Thanked Chris and Lizeth for visiting.
- Marcelina Luna (in-person, Centennial neighborhood): Thanked public works for storm response. Noted flooding from Cordilleras Creek and clogged bridge at Stafford and Old County (Caltrain). Asked city to address private creek maintenance by Sequoia High School District. Emphasized need for infrastructure investment.
- Greg Biles (via Zoom, G Street resident): Called for a new city policy on Cordilleras Creek (currently private property). Reported evacuations and hundreds of thousands in damages from Dec 31 flood. Thanked Councilmember Stirkin for visiting.
- Sahari Espinosa Salamanca (via Zoom, Dreamers Roadmap founder): Criticized city and county response at mobile home park; no Spanish-speaking staff on site for five hours; evacuation center at Veterans Memorial Senior Center had no staff or food. Thanked fire department for evacuating two seniors.
- Tanya Soleil (via Zoom, Docktown resident): Cited deferred maintenance on storm drains, still flooded at low tide. Asked city to designate flooding streets publicly and clarified docks in Docktown are unsafe.
- Public Comment on Storm Update (Item 8A):
- (Same speakers as above re-stated or supplemented their earlier comments.)
- Public Comment on Planning Commission (Item 8B):
- Adrian Brandt (via Zoom, applicant): Expressed willingness to serve, highlighted technical experience with Caltrain and transit, and support for housing and sustainability.
- Public Comment on Equity Plan (Item 8C):
- Jim Recker (in-person): Supported equity plan but urged cost-effective bike path designs. Noted $460,000 for three blocks seemed excessive.
- Clara Jackal (via Zoom): Praised equity plan, especially sidewalk repair program, anti-displacement strategy, and youth programs. Expressed concern about police presence in youth programs potentially deterring participation.
Discussion Items
- 8A – Winter Storm Update and Emergency Proclamation:
- City Manager Melissa Stevenson Diaz presented: The Dec 31 storm was an atmospheric river event with tides over 8 feet. City opened EOC Dec 31. Fire responded to over 232 calls (6x normal); police dispatch handled 3x normal calls; public works received 85 calls (6x normal). Over 5,000 sandbags distributed Dec 31–Jan 1, total 16,000 this winter. Bayfront Canal (nearly complete) helped reduce flooding. City provided 20 unsheltered people with county shelter placements; 25 households accessed services. Emergency proclamation issued Jan 5 to bypass purchasing rules and enable resource sharing.
- Council discussed language barriers in outreach, need for proactive multilingual communication, and improved coordination with mobile home park owners and state regulators. Vice Mayor Espinoza Garnica stressed equity in storm response; Councilmember Geary called for preventive planning and CERT training in flood-prone areas. Councilmember Howard suggested mobile home park managers join CERT. Councilmember Stirkin asked about language assessment protocols. Chief Moholland detailed translation resources (bilingual officers, dispatcher, phone lines). Councilmember Martinez Saballos inquired about damage reporting process; building official noted only six properties reported as of Jan 9.
- Vote: Unanimous approval of resolution ratifying local emergency proclamation.
- 8B – Planning Commission Vacancy:
- City Clerk presented: The seat, term expiring June 30, 2026, became vacant when Councilmember Stirkin was elected. Four candidates from a previous applicant pool (Adrian Brandt, John Marini, David Thomas, Steve Sujisaka) confirmed interest.
- Councilmember Eakin requested reopening recruitment, citing lack of cover letters and desire for broader, more inclusive process. Councilmembers Howard, Stirkin, and Martinez Saballos expressed support for a special expedited recruitment rather than waiting until June. City Manager noted challenges in recruiting diverse applicants and recommended proceeding with regular spring recruitment.
- Motion by Councilmember Geary, seconded by Councilmember Martinez Saballos: to reopen the recruitment with an expedited timeline. All council members voted yes. Direction: City Clerk and City Manager to design a special recruitment timeline; council members will help promote.
- 8C – 2021 City Equity Plan Update:
- Assistant City Manager Michelle Pochet and Equity Officer Brianna Evans presented: The plan adopted Oct 2021. First full year of implementation (2022). Three core goals: clarify commitment, demonstrate action, institutionalize equity. Key achievements: People’s Budget participatory pilot (1,759 voters, $1M allocated to four projects); 73 equity impact statements included in staff reports (May–Dec 2022) for policies like anti-displacement strategy, minimum wage, budget, Vision Zero; geographic equity index (Healthy Places Index) used for ADA transition plan; policy reviews (fire department tattoo policy to reduce barriers, library material policy to amplify diverse voices); departmental equity commitments (all departments made progress, with 2023 commitments refined). Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) launched July 2021: BIPOC, LGBTQ+, Women, AAPI, Disability; 10% of staff participated; 100% of surveyed participants reported increased sense of belonging.
- Council discussion: Councilmember Geary asked about measuring outcomes beyond completion; staff acknowledged need for data-driven SMARTIE goals and continuous improvement. Vice Mayor Espinoza Garnica suggested prioritizing high-impact, time-sensitive initiatives. Councilmember Stirkin asked about ERG participation and shift workers; staff noted flexible timing and one-on-one support. Motion to receive the update (unanimous).
Key Outcomes
- Storm Emergency Proclamation Ratified (unanimous) – confirmed local emergency, enabling resource sharing and expedited purchasing.
- Planning Commission Recruitment Reopened (unanimous motion) – staff directed to conduct a special, expedited recruitment for the vacant seat; timeline to be determined, with council outreach for applicants.
- 2021 City Equity Plan Update Received (unanimous) – staff will integrate equity reporting into future annual budget documents.
- Council heard reports on conferences attended (Vice Mayor Espinoza Garnica attended International LGBTQ Victory Institute conference in Washington, D.C.) and city manager updates on upcoming police chief recruitment and housing element submission (final public review ends Jan 13, 2023, pending state submittal).
Meeting Transcript
So like to call the meeting to order. Good evening. Thank you for joining us. As a reminder, we are holding our meetings in hybrid format with both in-person and virtual participation for council members and the public. Items will be taken into order. They're listed on the agenda. Before I get too far in the agenda, I would like to also welcome our newly elected council members, Councilmember Stirkin and Councilmember Eakin. Welcome to your first meeting of the year and first meeting of your terms as council members. With our hybrid meeting format, the public comment procedures are as follows. Speaker cards are located at the back of the table in the council chambers and must be turned into the city clerk at the dais. Please be sure to indicate the agenda item number in which you do sp you wish to speak on. Um we will first take uh in-person speakers. Um I do not have any speaker cards for in-person speakers, and I'm looking at the audience just to make sure that's correct and so I will turn to Zoom to see if we have any speakers who have joined us virtually. Yes, we can. Hi. Thank you for your time. I'm here today to bring your attention to an urgent matter that affects everyone that lives along corridors creek. As you may know, the flooding from this creek has caused significant damage to homes and businesses in the past week. I believe that you might be speaking on an item that's actually agendized later in the meeting uh in the city clerk. Could you please confirm? Yes, if you are speaking on um the storm uh update, planning commission uh appointment or the equity plan, you'll have an opportunity to make your comment on those items later on on in the agenda when they are called. Well, this actually is not really I don't believe it's tied to a storm update, although I'm I wasn't aware of that on your agenda and I'm not sure what that would encompass. Um if I could speak, I I think um it's very short what I have to say, but you know that what you might talk about with a storm uh if it involves solutions, uh then maybe I'll hold off until that item on the agenda. Um so it's your call. And so maybe I can help uh this is the city attorney Veronica Ramirez. Um right now what we have is public comment on the closed session, which is um about to convene, and that's on labor negotiations. If you would like to put your uh make your comments during the gener general public comment, that can happen as soon as closed session session has uh re has convened, and you can come back and we'll speak then about that. Oh, my apologies. No problem. And you or you can speak during the storm update about this as well. Okay, okay, thank you. Uh very sorry about that confusion on my part. Thank you, our city attorney, for the assist there. There are no other public comments for the closed session item, Mayor G. Thank you. So thank you for those that are watching or sitting here and in attendance. The council's now gonna adjourn to closed session. We'll be going upstairs. We'll be leaving the dais, and then we'll be back here once we are complete with our closed session, and we'll continue our regular meeting. We expect to be here approximately 645, hopefully, and um thank you for your patience. But council is adjourning to close session. Thank you. All right. Thank you, everyone, for your patience. We're a little bit behind schedule, but we're back in session. We just completed our closed session. And there were no reportable actions taken in closed session for agenda item number four A. So moving on, our next items at number five, presentations and acknowledgments. The first one, number five A, is Poverty in America Awareness Month Proclamation. And whereas poverty is about not having enough money to meet basic needs, including food, clothing, and shelter, and be can link and can be linked to the lack of education, physical disabilities, lack of access to health care, unemployment, and the absence of social services.
openpublica.com