Sand City Joint City Council & Successor Agency Meeting - February 5, 2026
Sand City Joint City Council & Successor Agency Meeting - February 5, 2026
This regular meeting of the Sand City Joint City Council and Successor Agency included a consent calendar item opposing offshore drilling, a presentation on local shelter funding shortfalls, and the appointment of a new council member to fill a vacancy. The meeting was held virtually and in person, in compliance with AB 248.
Consent Calendar
- Item 5A (Resolution Opposing Offshore Oil Drilling and Deep Sea Mining): Approved unanimously. Council members expressed strong support for protecting the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary and opposing any destructive extraction activities. The resolution also directs further policy evaluation.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Brian Clark: (On consent calendar) Commented that the mural consultant contract should include broken-out line items and allocate more funds directly to artists. (On appointment) Expressed support for candidate Luke, noting his long-term involvement and measurable contributions over five years.
- Richard Dole (Ocean View resident): Spoke in support of candidate Justin Rumps, citing his humility and service orientation.
- Jessica Kilpatrick: Spoke in support of her husband, candidate Luke, describing him as a dedicated father, husband, and passionate community member.
Presentation: Shelter Funding Update
- Robin McCray (CEO, Community Human Services) and Stacy (Program Director): Presented on two shelters for women and families – Casa de Noche Buena (35 beds) and Schumann Heart House. Highlighted that three-year average exits to permanent housing are 50% (Casa) and 57% (Schumann), nearly double the statewide benchmark of 23%. Each program has an annual operating cost of $1.0–$1.2 million. Projected deficits grow from about $267,000 in FY 26-27 to over $757,000 by FY 29-30 due to expiration of temporary state and local funding (e.g., HAP, City of Monterey PLHA). Without intervention, the shelters face service reductions, elimination of case management, or full closure. They requested city partnership in identifying bridge funding, replacement funding, and creative solutions. The city manager acknowledged the request and will explore opportunities.
Discussion Items
- Item 9A: Appointment to Fill Council Vacancy
- The council declared a vacancy effective December 31, 2025, and received three statements of interest by the January 14 deadline. Candidates presented for up to 10 minutes each, followed by council questions, public comment, and deliberation.
- Candidate Justin Rumps: Retired Marine, federal civil servant since 2009, resident since 2018. Emphasized service, listening, and teamwork. Has taken a new job with more flexibility. Council questioned him about adaptability to small city governance and time commitment for daytime committee meetings; he stated he could attend with advance notice.
- Candidate Kim Scudder: Resident since 2015; gave a comprehensive overview of city projects (Marriott hotel, West End art park, coastal boardwalk trail, TAMC multi-use trail, stormwater improvements, Surf busway). Active in CERT, end-of-life care, and other volunteer work. Expressed availability and desire to serve gently and listen. Received three letters of support from community members.
- Candidate Luke: Business owner (short-term rental, book sales), artist, and novelist who sets his novels in Sand City. Has attended council meetings and regional committees (TAMC, MST) for five years; lost a prior council race by three votes. Emphasized willingness to work as a team, recuse when conflicts arise, and bring technology skills.
- After public comment, council selected their top two candidates: Justin Rumps and Kim Scudder. Following further deliberation, council voted unanimously (5-0) to appoint Kim Scudder to fill the vacant seat through the remainder of Councilmember Sofer’s term (ending December 2026). Mayor Carbone encouraged all candidates to run in the November election.
Key Outcomes
- Consent Calendar Item 5A approved unanimously.
- Kim Scudder appointed to City Council by a 5-0 vote. She will be sworn in at the next meeting; staff will begin onboarding.
- Shelter funding request: The city will follow up with Community Human Services through its JPA and explore potential funding sources.
- Next meeting: Scheduled for February 17; budget and personnel committee recommendations will be brought forward.
Meeting Transcript
Gotta go back down. What? Sitting back down. Stuff like that. And then of course the cash is bugging me one follow up. Food. It's like one of my your owner. There's the button. There we go. Okay. They're 5 30. Welcome everyone to the San City joint city council's successor agency uh meeting of February 3rd. And with that this meeting has been held virtually and in person, and it's compliant with AB 248 signed in law into law on September 13th, 2022. So as I said, this meeting is being helped with the A Zoom and here in person. With that, I will ask our city will call vote. Mayor Carbone. Yes, here. Vice Mayor Blackholder. Here. Council Member Adams present. Council member Diaz here. All present. Okay. And um with that, I would like to ask Ellen Alpha. Councilmember Blackholder if he would bring this postplate at the latest. I think I forget the words. I'll try to die. I've done the United States. You're all okay. And uh with that, I'd like to welcome everyone uh here this evening, and if uh we'll move on to the announcements by mayor, city attorney and the city is manager. And um uh I will I do not have my city council report, my mayor's report yet. I just came back from a uh conference, so I'll uh have that at the end and I will should have some meetings where I could uh let you all know what's happening in those meetings. So it's beginning of that. So uh with that, uh city manager, yeah. Thank you, madam mayor, council. Um the uh on Friday, just let you know the budget personal committee meeting at those of you on the budget room um personal committee, and we'll be looking at the um 24-25 order financial statements and um seeing whether you recommend them for approval at the council, and if you do move those will come to you at the next meeting on the 17th. Um Jerry will find um flux stats for January have come in again. That's how many vehicles enter every day. Um average read in January was 25, 248 daily vehicles coming in to San City. Um always so committee appointments. Um we're gonna bring those to you. Usually we would have brought them in this meeting or in the last meeting, but since there's an open council seat, we'll bring those to you at the next meeting when we hopefully know who the new council member is. Um mural program. I've been doing some back and forth with the attorney for granite rock um on the building owners agreement, and but there are granite rock is 100% in Leon Kier has actually reached out and said he would love to paint a mural again in San City, so that's great news. And that that was council's wish. Um, so that's uh we don't have a date yet, but it will um once we have the agreement locked in with the building owner and all the safety stuff in place because this mural will be painted while there are the operations are happening at granite rock, so we need a lot of safety mechanisms in place. Um then we will and once we have an artist locked in, the renderings will come to you. Don't worry, there'll be a rendering by Leon Care, a rendering by one or two other artists, and they will go to the arts committee, and then if the arts committee recommends one, they'll come to you, the recommendation, and we will have this year an most amazing mural on that building because it's just an incredible site. I think you can see it from everywhere, and um lastly, I think um lastly I will be at the Calega City City Manager Conference next week, Tuesday through Friday. And um lastly, I think lastly, I will be at the Catalega City City Manager Conference next week, Tuesday through Friday.
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