Redwood City Council Meeting – June 24, 2024
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Redwood City Council Meeting – June 24, 2024
The Redwood City Council met on June 24, 2024, beginning with a closed session at 6:00 PM (no reportable actions) and reconvening for the regular meeting. The agenda included recognitions, consent calendar approvals, public comments, a budget adoption, federal grant plan approval, park impact fee discussions, and parklet program modifications. Key decisions included adoption of the FY24-25 budget with a $400,000 contingency, rejection of a park impact fee discount, and updates to the outdoor business activity program.
Presentations & Recognitions
- Proclamation for Dr. Grace Firch: Recognized for her 30-year tenure as physician-in-chief at Kaiser Permanente Redwood City, including leadership in LGBTQ+ healthcare and transgender care. Dr. Firch spoke about her transition and community support.
- Oath of Office for Commissioners: 29 newly appointed or reappointed members to various boards and commissions were sworn in by City Clerk Jessica Castro.
Consent Calendar
- Items 7A through 7N were approved in one motion, except Item 7J (Arts Commission funding) which was voted separately due to recusals from Councilmembers Aiken, Aguirre, and Mayor G. Item 7J passed 4-0 (three recused).
- Item 7H (Fire services agreement with San Carlos) was highlighted: a three-year agreement with optional two-year extension, including contributions for emergency management, training, wellness, and recruitment, as well as a fair allocation of unfunded pension liability. City Manager Melissa Stevenson Diaz thanked staff.
Public Comments & Testimony
- In-person: Olga Gabries and Stacey McClam from Brave Maker Organization promoted the Brave Maker Film Festival (July 2024), featuring films from Turkey, Sundance award-winning "Daughters," and noted a $50,000 loss in sponsorships.
- Written comments: Two emails regarding security cameras urged privacy safeguards and questioned total costs.
- For Item 9A (park impact fees): 21 written comments (7 customized, 14 template) opposed fee reductions, citing Redwood City's low parkland per capita (0.25 acres/1,000 residents) and the need to fund parks.
Discussion Items
- 8A: FY24-25 Budget and CIP Adoption
- Staff presented the revised recommended budget, using community survey priorities (infrastructure, fire/police response, after-school programs). One-time funds of $7.1 million allocated with $400,000 set aside as contingency (reducing security cameras by $200,000 and ADA curb ramps by $200,000).
- Council debated security cameras ($1M proposed): Vice Mayor Espinosa Garnica expressed concerns about ongoing subscription costs and lack of prevention; Councilmember Sterkin proposed a study/pilot. Councilmember Aiken supported full funding, citing community requests after an incident at Red Morton Park.
- Motion to adopt staff recommendation passed 6-1 (Vice Mayor dissented). Council directed staff to refer the camera policy to the Equity and Social Justice Committee.
- 8B: CDBG/HOME Action Plan
- Planning and Economic Development staff presented the 2024 action plan for $1.299 million in federal funds. Housing and Human Concerns Committee recommended funding for Project Sentinel (fair housing), Renaissance (economic development), minor home repair programs, and First Community Housing for elevator modernization at Villa Montgomery (CDBG). HOME funds earmarked for a future rental project due to BABA requirements; staff exploring joining San Mateo County Home Consortium.
- Motion to approve passed 6-0 (Mayor G recused).
- 9A: Park Impact Fee Discounts for Pipeline Market-Rate Housing
- Community Development Director Jeff Schwab presented options: no reduction, 25%, or 50% discount. Staff recommended no reduction, citing Redwood City's low parkland ranking and mid-range fees. Two projects may convert to affordable housing (exempt from fees).
- Councilmember Sterkin motioned for 25% discount; failed 3-4 (Councilmembers Aguirre, Howard, Aiken, Vice Mayor opposed). Councilmember Aiken then motioned to keep fees as-is; passed 5-2 (Councilmembers Sterkin and Martinez Saballos opposed).
- 9B: Parklet Program Modifications
- Assistant City Manager Patrick Heisinger and Economic Development Manager Amanda Anthony presented changes: (1) Require only property owner notification (not explicit consent) for parklet permits, and (2) Allow parklets to extend into adjacent building frontage with both business and property owner consent. Four license agreements executed; six businesses blocked by lack of owner consent.
- Motion to adopt the ordinance passed unanimously.
Key Outcomes
- Budget Adoption: FY24-25 budget and five-year CIP approved (6-1). $400,000 contingency included.
- Park Impact Fees: No discount for pipeline market-rate housing (5-2). Staff recommendation upheld.
- Parklet Ordinance: Amended to ease property owner consent and allow adjacent frontage with consent (unanimous).
- CDBG/HOME Plan: Approved (6-0).
- Security Camera Policy: Referred to Equity and Social Justice Committee for review.
- Next Meeting: Special meeting scheduled for July 15, 2024.
Meeting Transcript
Well, good evening, everyone. Thank you for joining us on a regular City Council meeting of June twenty-fourth, twenty twenty four. 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, we've modified our public comment procedures until further notice.org so that we can see your comments and they will be part of the meeting record. Listening devices are available with staff at the front counter in the lobby. Well, he'll make that announcement when we come back from closed session. So Jessica, I'd like to turn it over to you now to call the role. No speaker cards or emailed comments at this time. Last call to the audience for any comments on the closed session item this evening. Seeing none, no public comment, Mayor. Thank you. Thank you for joining us at six o'clock. We are going to go into closed session, and we hope to be back by six fifty. So thank you for your patience. Oh, yeah. I mean, it's right now. I don't know. Oh, wait, oh yeah. So we're gonna show the video. She says hi. Hi. Yeah, because we all were muted. Keep talking for another minute. We're we'll since everyone gets here, we'll get started. Okay, thank you everyone for your patience. We are coming back out of closed session, and there's no reportal action taken during tonight's closed session. Again, thank you for your patience with us. As I mentioned earlier in my opening remarks, uh, we do have Spanish translation interpretations available this evening for item A on the city budget adoption. Listening devices are available with staff, the front counter and lobbying. I'd like to now invite our interpreter to make this announcement in Spanish. Gracias. On to section five presentations and acknowledgements. This is a fun part of our agenda. We get to celebrate great things in our community. And our first one up this evening is a proclamation recognizing Kaiser Permanente's physician physician in chief, Dr. Grace Firch. I'm going to read some whereas is and we have some presentations for you. Um what's important is that we want to recognize Dr. Grace Firch, who is completing her eight-year tenure serving as the physician in chief for Kaiser Permanente Redwood City in San Mateo after over 30 impressive years in her clinical career. I'd like to take a few minutes here to read some excerpts from her proclamation from the City Council. Whereas Dr. Grace Firch joined the Permanente Medical Group in 1992, and whereas Dr. Firch's professional interests has been the rehabilitation and the non-surgical treatment of hopefully I can say this right, musculosculoskeletal disorders. And whereas during her tenure as PIC, Dr. Firch supported her teams in achieving program leading performance in outpatient quality, inpatient quality, and inpatient care experience. She is proud of the strong culture of excellence demonstrated by the physicians and staff she has supported, always focusing first and foremost on the well-being of the patients and the communities that Kaiser serves. And whereas Dr. Grace Firch is the is a community champion and will be cherished for years to come. On behalf of the council, we have a proclamation to present to you. But before we do that, I'm going to invite Councilmember Martina Sabayos to present a proclamation of certificate certificate from Congressmember Kevin Mullen's.
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