2024 State of the City Address – Special City Council Meeting – March 18, 2024
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2024 State of the City Address – Special City Council Meeting
On March 18, 2024, the Redwood City Council convened a special meeting to deliver the State of the City Address. The meeting was conducted in a newsroom format, with the Mayor and councilmembers presenting pre-recorded segments highlighting key city initiatives and accomplishments. The event was celebratory and informational, focusing on housing, homelessness, transportation, youth, seniors, economic vitality, and climate resilience. No formal votes or decisions were taken.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Todd Freeman and Todd Wrights (emailed comment): Expressed opposition to the city’s pursuit of new revenue sources (business license fee increase and document transfer fee) to address pension obligations, arguing this approach merely defers needed service and personnel cuts. Criticized the city’s staffing priorities, specifically noting the size of the DEI department relative to shortages in police officers and maintenance services (tree trimming, sewer). Urged the city to reduce CalPERS exposure and move to fixed, manageable retirement benefit outlays.
Discussion Items
Housing & Homelessness (Councilmember Aguirre)
- Presented updates on affordable housing, including 353 Main Street Family Apartments (125 units, city contributed $3.5 million, 61 extremely low-income, 63 low-income units).
- Described the Affordable Housing Preservation Program (HPP) providing gap funding to preserve unsubsidized affordable units.
- Noted over $4 million awarded for a new affordable housing project on Middlefield Road.
- Reported that the city’s 2023-2031 Housing Element was adopted in February 2023, with zoning updates to increase density. Over the past year, 316 units were entitled and 586 units permitted, making progress toward the Regional Housing Needs Allocation (RHNA).
- Highlighted homelessness initiatives: 55 long-term unhoused residents transitioned to emergency housing and 14 to permanent housing in the last year; 24 families with children sleeping in vehicles were placed in emergency housing. The city receives approximately 2,500 calls related to homelessness annually.
Transportation (Councilmember Aitken)
- Reported on a Quick Build traffic calming project at Roosevelt Avenue and McGarvey Street, using temporary materials with federal grant funding to convert to permanent improvements in 2–3 years.
- Announced the upcoming Woodside Road complete makeover from I-280 to US-101, incorporating Caltrans’ updated Complete Streets Action Plan, including ADA upgrades, high-visibility crosswalks, and bicycle facilities.
- Noted that Redwood City adopted Vision Zero policies in 2021 aiming to eliminate all traffic fatalities and severe injuries by 2030, focusing on six priority corridors: El Camino, Woodside Road, Whipple Avenue, Middlefield Road, and Redwood Shores Parkway.
- Provided an update on the US-101/Woodside Road Interchange reconstruction project, environmentally cleared and designed; right-of-way acquisition ongoing; construction could start as early as 2026 pending funding.
Children & Youth (Vice Mayor Espinoza Garnica)
- Reported on youth programs: 2,000 youth in afterschool sports, 4,000 in summer camps, 1,400 in free summer mobile recreation, 62,000 library program attendees, 9,000 summer learning challenge participants.
- Highlighted the Redwood City Together collaborative (38th year) and its initiatives: Promotora Youth Model, PACE Opportunity Youth Program, Youth Unlimited Bus Pass Program (766 passes distributed as of November 2023, saving low-income families an estimated $82,000).
Seniors & Community Spaces (Councilmember Howard)
- Provided progress on the new Veterans Memorial Building and Senior Center at Red Morton Park (45,000 sq. ft., multi-purpose rooms, health programs, veteran space); construction to be completed later in 2024.
- Described the Hoover Park Master Plan (10.5-acre park) with community outreach completed; construction drawings awaiting state approval; bidding expected in early 2025.
- Announced the Downtown Library Park at Middlefield Road and Main Street, designed to connect downtown to the bay; environmental review and construction drawings underway; bidding in early 2025.
Economic Vitality (Councilmember Sturkin)
- Reported on the permanent closure of Broadway to cars, creating a pedestrian mall to support local businesses (e.g., Zarines, Coffee Bar) and outdoor dining.
- Outlined the new two-year Economic and Workforce Development Plan to be presented to council in spring 2024, focusing on small business support, streamlining permits, reviewing 7.7 million sq. ft. of proposed development, and exploring electronic billboards.
- Noted the city’s evolving economy with increased life science industry interest.
Climate & Sea Level Rise (Councilmember Martinez Sabayos)
- Discussed sea level rise vulnerability: Redwood City has over 10 miles of bay shoreline; partner with One Shoreline on levee improvements; city initiated its own sea level rise vulnerability study, with community engagement in spring 2024 and final report expected summer 2024.
- Reported expansion of recycled water pipeline (800 ft. on Marshall Street) and development of a recycled water master plan due by end of 2024.
- Announced work plan to maintain and expand urban forest, prioritizing vulnerable neighborhoods, including tree inventory, maintenance procedures, financial assistance, and tree ordinance updates.
- Highlighted rebate programs for electric lawn care and EV chargers; partnership with Peninsula Clean Energy resulted in $17.4 million in customer savings (94% reduction in greenhouse gas emission rate for electricity).
Key Outcomes
- The council delivered the 2024 State of the City Address, showcasing progress across strategic priorities: housing, homelessness, transportation, youth, seniors, economic development, and climate action.
- No formal votes, resolutions, or directives were issued during the special meeting.
- The presentation will be posted on the city’s YouTube channel with closed captioning and automated translation.
- The next regular city council meeting was announced for April 1, 2024.
Meeting Transcript
Wow, I didn't even have to do the gavel. It got really quiet really fast. So thank you. We all set to get ready. All right, I'd like to call our special meeting of the City Council to order here on March eighteenth for our State of the City twenty twenty-four. TV, but we don't have cable in our house, so I don't know what that is. So thank you. And it's really a great pleasure to bring the state of the city to all of you. We've got a few things to take care of before we get to our main presentation. We are continuing to offer in-person and remote options for our city council meetings. However, due to continued disruptions during public comment at open meetings throughout our region and state, we've modified our public comment procedures until further notice. Lastly, as tonight's event or meeting is a celebratory event to share updates on the work happening in our city. We ask for your cooperation and maintaining a meeting environment where everyone feels comfortable participating in the public process and expressing their views and opinions in an atmosphere of respect for all. And I just need to add the other part. If you have one of those smart things in your pockets or purse, can you turn it to silent so that we can be uninterrupted during our presentation? I'd like to now turn it over to our city clerk for the roll call, please. Good evening. Thank you. We'll start with Councilmember Aguirre. Here, Councilmember Aiken. Here, Councilmember Howard. Here. Councilmember Martina Savallos. Here. Councilmember Sturkin. Here. Vice Mayor Espinosa Garnica. Here. And Mayor G. Present. Thank you. Thank you, Jessica. Councilmember Sturkin, would you lead us in the pledge, please? Thank you, Councilmember Sturkin. On to item number four. This is the part where we will take public comment. We'll take public comment on topics within the city's subject matter jurisdiction on or off the agenda. But before I turn it over to our city clerk, I'd like to ask her how many speaker cards we have this evening or emails. Mayor, we have zero speaker cards at the moment. We'll do a last call to the audience for anyone who wants to give public comment this evening. Seeing none, I have one emailed comment if you'd like me to read that. Please proceed. Okay. Our emailed comment this evening is from Todd Freeman and Todd Wrights. I suspect what I will hear in tonight's meeting is a restatement of the obvious that ongoing pension funding obligations require the city to seek out additional sources of dedicated revenue to fund these huge and growing obligations in the form of a very controversial increase in business license fees and an additional document transfer fee upon the sale of property. The council's engagement of consultants to help package this bitter pill of a ballot proposition is dishonest at best. May I simply suggest that CalPurz represents a sizable, growing, and unpredictable hole in the city's budget bucket, and that more income will merely defer the time before it will be necessary to exercise serious personnel and service cuts in order to afford the retirement benefits of those who have already left the city's employee. If you are going to hire consultants, you should start now to figure out how to reduce the city's exposure and to move towards a fixed and manageable outlay for retirement benefits, as virtually every other business in the country and the city does now. When I read that the city has 590 employees, I was a bit surprised, considering you have multiple people in the DEI department, and yet quite obviously are short police officers and have issues handling mundane issues such as tree trimming and sewer maintenance. Perhaps your priority should be revisited before the next election.
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