The Redwood City Council held a hybrid meeting on May 8, 2023, starting at approximately 6:00 PM. The agenda covered proclamations for Mental Health Awareness Month and Jewish American Heritage Month, a study session on proposed amendments to the Downtown Precise Plan (DTPP) and General Plan (including the gatekeeper process and affordable housing options), a presentation and discussion of a Police Operations and Data Analysis report by the Center for Public Safety Management (CPSM), and a public hearing on the 2023-2027 Consolidated Plan and 2023-24 Annual Action Plan for CDBG and HOME funds. The council also approved the consent calendar and several motions.
Good evening, everyone. Welcome to our May 8th council meeting here in Redwood City. I'd like to call our meeting to order. Thank you for joining us this evening and giving up a little bit of the warriors game. Uh here's this basketball game tonight, isn't there? Hopefully, thirty points come our way and on our side tonight. We tonight we are holding our meetings in a hybrid format with both in-person and virtual participation. Items will be taken in the order they are listed on the agenda. With our hybrid meeting format, the public comment procedures are as follows. Speaker cards are located at the back 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 you wish you wish to speak on. Virtual attendees who have joined us by Zoom will be called after the in-person comments have been given. Detailed instructions for public comment will be provided on the screen when the time for public comment begins. And we really welcome information from the community that will help us with understanding what has happened. So we invite members of the community if they have any information regarding the case to please contact Detective James Schneider at 650 780 7607. Now, because this is not on our agenda this evening, um, unfortunately I am not able to take any other questions. The City Council is not able to discuss this further this evening. Um, but we did want to make sure you knew and that the public knew we would be providing updates as soon as we have anything substantial to share. Thank you. Thank you, City Manager Stevens and Diaz, and I want to thank our law enforcement and our law enforcement partners that responded to the incident yesterday, and it is an active and ongoing investigation, so the public's help is much needed. Thank you. On to item number five is our presentations and acknowledgments, and we have two for this evening. The first one is a proclamation recognizing mental health awareness month. In the month of May, we recognize several events that are near and dear to the Redwood City community. The first recognition this evening is the Mental Health Mental Health Awareness Month, a national awareness campaign which aims to fight stigma, educate the public, and advocate for policies that support the millions of people in the United States affected by mental illness. To honor Mental Health Awareness Month in Redwood City, stop by Courthouse Square later tonight. Courthouse Square is illuminated in Lime Green during the month of May. On behalf of the City Council, I'd like to present the following proclamation recognizing Mental Health Mental Health Awareness Month to the National Alliance on Mental Illness, often known as NAMI of Sam Mateo County. I'll just read a couple of the excerpts from our proclamation. Whereas every day, millions of people face stigma related to mental health and substance abuse conditions and may feel isolated and alone, going years before receiving any help. And whereas mental health and substance use conditions are treatable health conditions, and people who have mental health and substance use conditions can recover and lead full and meaningful lives. And whereas the National Alliance on Mental Illness, NAMI, is dedicated to improving the quality of life for people with mental illness and their families through support, education, and advocacy. Now therefore, be it resolved that as Mayor of Redwood City on behalf of the City Council and the people of Redwood City, we do hereby recognize May 2023 as Mental Health Month in Redwood City to encourage the community to join us in celebrities this year's campaign. More than enough is a reminder that you are inherently worthy of life, love, and healing. I like now to welcome NAMI's executive director, Robert Taylor, to accept this proclamation and say a few words. Robert, if you join me at the Discovery. Hello. All right, there we are. Hi, uh my name is Robert Taylor. I am the executive director at uh NAMI National Alliance on Mental Illness. Actually, it's a new position for me, and I'm absolutely thrilled to be joining such a wonderful organization. Um, you know, our mission is dedicated to providing services to those uh individuals and people uh with mental illness and their families through, and I think Mr. Mr. Mayor, uh Mr. G mentioned that through education support and advocacy. Uh we have a variety of programs that that help those that are struggling with mental illness and their families. Um, and we continue and we want to continue to grow those programs so we can continue to serve more individuals because I think as we all know, mental illness is a is a growing epidemic here in the not only in San Mateo County but the nation as a whole. So we're uh we're poised to continue to do more so we can we can meet the challenge that's uh that that's facing all of us here in the community. So thank you very much for the proclamation and uh look forward to working very closely with uh with Redwood City and and the officials here and and the individuals as well as San Mateo County as a whole. So thank you very much.