About future economy.

We talked a lot about sports, as uh the consul general mentioned, and we ate wonderful food in a place that you know is diverse and exciting and future focused, just like San Diego is.

So as we sign, as our mayor had the opportunity with his counterpart to sign the sister city agreement, which really creates a durable framework for continued partnership.

I think all of us who have had the opportunity to be along for the ride feel like what you all have built over years and years of connectivity, uh, that now we have sort of a future uh pathway to continue to deepen that that economic connectivity.

And I think, you know, two secrets in international economic development.

One, there's always a lot of uncertainty, and the biggest hedge against uncertainty are really good partners that you trust around the world.

And two, uh, we focus a lot on economic partnerships, but maybe my favorite secret is underneath those economic partnerships.

When you build them well, there's a tremendous amount of joy and uh sort of the social outcomes of that, the cuisine you get to experience, the friends that you meet along the way, and then that you have for a lifetime are probably some of the best benefits of global competitive competitiveness and of the work we do.

So I want to close by thanking Mayor Gloria by thanking Consul General Frier by thanking Congressman Peters for their leadership in this space.

You don't get partnership like this with very good political leadership.

I want to thank all of our delegates who traveled with us.

Many of you are here in the audience today.

And truly, I want to thank this community uh that cares about France and cares about San Diego and has worked so hard to continue to deepen this relationship for our two regions.

Thank you.

All right, let's get to this sign.

Three, two, one.

Three, two, one.

This sign is a marker of friendship, of partnership, and of the ties that connect our communities across oceans and across borders.

And it is a symbol of the future that we will be building together.

What brings these two cities together?

Case Met French and Almond Sponge.

He's much stronger than sheer business.

And our sister city relationship is not just symbolic, it's strategic.

Together we can work to make our regions more competitive, innovative, and better for our for San Diego and our friends in Marseille.

San Diego and French companies already have incredible working relationships in many, many different ways in the areas of clean energy, life sciences, maritime innovation, and advanced manufacturing that is driving global investment on both sides of the Atlantic.

Today we celebrate two new sister cities.

But we also celebrate and big tribute to how multiple leadership can change the course of people's data ducks.

They make the economy stronger, they create jobs, and they also create uh tremendous enjoyment for all of us, which is part of what we're all here today to celebrate.

Thanks to the Cedar Cister City Agreements, both Mercedes and San Diego will benefit from one another's assistance.

San Diegans know who we are.

We are a global city.

We're a proud border city, we are a proud military town.

We understand respect service, understand sacrifice, and embrace our cultural diversity.

Those things give us the competitive edge that we need to compete on a global stage, and again, not just compete, but win.

SB 79 is a new bill that's intended to address the state's housing shortage, and it's intended to provide more homes near transit.

The bill is scheduled to take effect on July 1st, 2026.

SB 79 requires the city to approve certain housing development projects that are located within a half mile of a major transit stop.

SB 79 is generally consistent with the city's housing policies, which are intended to encourage more home development, especially in places that have access to transit and access to jobs.

This implements the city's climate goals.

Phasing implementation gives us an opportunity to see where the increased density makes the most sense.

It also gives us an opportunity to address issues like fire safety, climate resilience, fair housing considerations, and historic resources.

Wildfires are a year-round threat, especially in our canyon communities.

For new construction, zone zero starts now.

Current property owners should aim to make changes by February 2027.

Preparedness takes all of us.

Visit San Diego.gov slash defensible space.

Hi, I'm Bethany Bezack.

It takes a lot to keep the eighth largest city running.

A lot of buildings, roads, sidewalks, street lights, parks and reservoirs, and a lot of vehicles.

In fact, San Diego has more than five thousand vehicles in its fleet.

Trash trucks, fire engines, and police cars.

All of these vehicles need fuel and regular maintenance.

But over the past several years, fuel prices have continued to rise, and that's directly impacting San Diego's budget.

In fact, for every one cent increase per gallon at the pump, the city's monthly fuel costs rise by ten thousand dollars.

Construction and insurance costs have increased dramatically over the past several years, and our city revenues have not kept pace with those rising costs.

As we face some difficult budget decisions, we want San Diegans to know that we're listening.

We will continue to prioritize public safety and protecting our neighborhoods and work to create a more efficient and effective city government.

Ready?

All right.

Good morning.

I will now call the special city council meeting of Wednesday, May 20th, 2026 to order.

Clerk, please call the roll.

Thank you, Council President.

Councilmember Campbell.

Councilmember Whitburn.

Here.

Councilmember Foster.

Councilmember Von Wolpert.

Council President Pro Tem Lee.

Here.

Councilmember Campillo.

Here.

Councilmember Moreno.

Councilmember Elo Rivera, and Council President Lacava.

Present.

Also attending the meeting, our assistant city attorney, Michelle Garland, independent budget analyst Charles Modica, Council Affairs Advisor of the Mayor's Office, Coda Zeiser, and myself, your city clerk, Deanna Fuentes.

Thank you, Council President.

All right, thank you.

With that, a quorum is now present.

So clerk, please go over how the public can offer their testimony.

Thank you.

I'd like to highlight the slide on the screen that reviews how the public can offer their public testimony during this evening during this morning's meeting.

The order can be found on the agenda summary found online or at the table in the back of the room.

If you're in person, please complete a speaker slip located at the entrance of chambers and bring it to the front of the room.

Council ambassadors are available near the entrance of chambers and can assist with questions and speaker slips.

No further in-person testimony will be taken once the council begins virtual testimony.

Thank you, Council President.

All right, thank you.

With that, we will now proceed with the approval of the consent agenda.

Clerk, please proceed with public comment.

Thank you, Council President.

We do have one speaker here.

It's item 600.

Um item 600 is on the consent agenda.

You'll have one minute.

Please proceed.

Uh thank you, council members.

Uh I just wanted to say I I appreciate the thoughtful compromise that was reached at the May 7th meeting.

Um, I think it's put it in a place where we can proceed forward.

It's in deg with uh determination of what the transit stops will be for SB 79.

Um, the only thing I will say is a lot of the uh debate revolved around the the proposition that there are 48 additional bus stops in the that should have been included in the SB 79 map.

Um we've actually gone through in detail what those arguments were and submitted it as a public comment today, so you don't have to listen to me go through all five pages of it.

And I just hope that people look at that.

Um, and one of the things that's important is SB 79 is a transit oriented development bill.

It's not a general housing bill.

And if the goal of this is to push development in the single-family neighborhoods, we have other tools for that.

Thank you.

Thank you.

So why should we our cities big enough to determine our own zoning laws?

Right now in Claremont that up on Claremont Drive, there's like a four-story ADU right off in a great neighborhood.

And for some reason that slipped in.

We're ignorant when all that stuff happened.

But we're big enough to just ignore the bill and uh move on with our own zoning laws and like we had in the past.

They seem to be working pretty good.

And there's probably there's also enough housing being built.

There's just people that can't afford them.

Because there's a hundred thousand illegal aliens living in our county.

And when they leave, it's gonna lower the rent for a lot of people.

So if we go the rapid deportation plan that Trump's gonna come come through with after he takes over Cuba, he's gonna turn hopefully.

Next is 8700.

If you can please unmute, uh thank you, Joy Sonyata.

Uh yes, uh, two phased-in implementation prior to broader implementation, plus exemptions, exemption of areas outside of one mile walk from TOD stop.

This is for me just to add thought to it.

Um please uh look at the in loop fee application.

Please look at the ministerial process and projects.

Uh the word ministerial is used a lot.

I I checked it, it's used a lot in SB 79.

No public hearings or neighbor notifications are required, and the timeline is fast and predictable.

So please use your due diligence on SB 79 profits.

It's a big deal, it's an important deal, and I appreciate all of your work on all levels.

Well up to all.

Thank you.

This item did receive one comment in favor and one comment in opposition via e-comment form, which has been distributed to the council, and that concludes public comment on the consent agenda.

All right, thank you, City Clerk.

With that, I'll turn it over to my council colleagues.

Questions, comments, entertain a motion, and we'll start with council member Whitburn.

Thank you very much, Council President.

I will move the consent agenda.

Uh, this is the second reading of this item, so I'll be brief.

Uh at the first reading, I proposed amending the ordinance to reflect that the bus corridors on Park Boulevard at University Avenue at El Cohode Boulevard, log stretches of which follow within my district should be included as qualified transit oriented development stops.

Thank you to my colleagues for working with me on that.

Uh we ultimately removed specific language, calling out specific stops, leaving it to SADG to determine.

I supported that outcome.

Uh I do want to be clear about where I stand.

Uh, I believe that those corridors do qualify and my office will be communicating that directly to SANDAC.

Uh again, happy to move the consent agenda.

Thank you, Council President.

All right, thank you, Council Member.

So we have uh Council Member Whitburn moving the consent agenda.

We'll go to Council Member Foster.

Yes, thank you.

Um Council President.

I was not here for the last um hearing.

I do understand this is a second reading, but if I can have some clarification as to why that change was done, based on what I reviewed of the hearing, it seemed like there was sound legal, a sound legal determination between planning and the city attorney's office in regards to the language that they originally developed.

So can you explain to me what impact this actually has or what was the how this determination came about and why we landed here?

This is and and also I'm asking because if I recall the original draft of the ordinance, I believe as you um highlighted or indicated what the bus stops were, there was also the next line indicated that whatever sandag the the way the state bill is written, it's my understanding that sandag is the agency that will determine what those routes are and certain things, and I thought there was another line that said the maps weren't done.

As soon as Sandag completes their maps and their routes, then we would incorporate their determination at the end of the day.

So can you explain to me overall what took place, how we're here?

Um I will probably leave it to your council colleagues uh to explain you know the viewpoints and the debate that occurred at the council.

Um, however, what I will say is that um the amendments that were made at council, um, staff is supportive of um because they have little effect uh moving forward.

Staff had always planned um to defer to the sand egg map, as that is what is specifically required by the state statute.

Okay, so that last so that last point that you made, that the law does state that um at the end of the day, Standag does have that authority, and that is how we would proceed as we are developing said plan.

Correct.

Yes, that it that is correct.

Uh we, as the professional staff do communicate and coordinate with other agency staff, and have been coordinating closely throughout this process.

Um the maps that were presented was what our understanding was of the interpretation of the statute, consistent with other agencies that we had coordinated with.

Um but again, Sandeg has not yet released that map, so I still cannot tell you with 100% certainty what that will look like.

But what I can tell you is whatever it looks like is what city staff will incorporate.

Okay, thank you.

And if I recall, I'll turn to my colleague, Councilmember Campillo.

I believe there was a line that there was a point in the hearing where you essentially said the same thing.

Is that correct?

Well, I asked that question and they confirmed it.

So yes, I was getting at the point that you're absolutely pointing to, Councilmember Foster.

Thank you so much.

Which is why I supported the motion.

Okay.

Thank you.

I will conclude there and uh I will second the motion.

All right.

So thank you, sir.

And if I can, Heidi, I just want to thank you for your position in um in proceeding in accordance with the statute and the provisions that will allow us to really take a look at areas to make sure that we are um trying our best to account for any unintended consequences in what's in the best interest of the public.

So thank you for um your approach to this to this item.

Thank you.

All right, thank you.

So again, we do have a motion by Councilmember Whitburn, second by Councilmember Foster, and we'll go to Council President Pro Tem Lee.

Thank you, Council President.

Uh, just to keep it simple, um, I unfortunately missed the the first hearing on this item as we had our first budget town hall um that evening in the community, um, but just wanted to share my appreciation to my colleagues for um I know this is cons considerable amount of time was spent to try to work things out that evening and thank you to the team as well, given the timeline that we have to get this implemented, uh, and we'll share my support.

Thank you.

Sounds good.

Um and I'll see anybody else in the lights.

Um I will also express um my thank yous to everyone uh despite some of the comments we heard uh that night uh and I've heard in other places.

SP 79 has very specific language and options for local jurisdictions and how to implement them.

What we're doing is exactly implementing what SB 79 allows.

It also had to be done under a very a bit of a compressed timeline.

So I want to thank everyone that made this morning special hearing possible.

Um apparently how you calculate calendar days is critically important, and today was the magic day to both uh have the second reading and get it in place on our city books before the July 1st turnaround time.

So thank you, everyone.

Thank you to my colleagues for making time for a special meeting uh on a Wednesday morning and clerk and my staff and just Louis and Heidi and just everybody who made this possible.

So with that, we have a motion by Councilmember Whitburn and a second by Councilmember Foster to move the consent agenda.

Clerk, please call the roll.

I'm sorry, the voting system, please cast your vote.

That passes unanimously six to zero with council member Elo Rivera, Councilmember Kentley, I mean sorry, Councilmember Von Wilpert and Councilmember Campbell absent.

All right, again, thank you to everybody's good work, make this possible.

With that, Clerk, please introduce item 601.

Item 601 is the TransNet Local Street and Roads Program 2027 Regional Transportation Improvement Program, RTIP development and fiscal years 2027, 2020 2031 program of projects.

If you'd like to speak on this item and you're here in council chambers, now is the time to submit your speaker slip to the front of the room in the clear box.

Is there a reminder, no additional speakers will be taken in chambers once we go to virtual comments.

And now's the time if you're in virtual participation to raise your hand by pressing the raise your hand icon or star nine.

Thank you, Council President.

All right, thank you.

Uh, as a brief reminder, the this was one of the items that was on the Monday afternoon docket uh that we uh canceled due to those unique circumstances uh and tragic circumstances of the day.

Uh we found a little bit of time uh to schedule it for this morning.

So I appreciate staff's patience in rescheduling this.

So with that, introduce yourselves for the record and let us know how much time you need.

Good morning, Council President, Council members.

My name is Naomi Chavez, transportation department interim director.

Joining me today is Patrick Ock, interim deputy director, and we will need uh 10 minutes for this presentation.

When you're ready, the item before you today includes the development of the 2027 Regional Transportation Improvement Program, commonly known as the RTIP, as well as an update to the fiscal year's 2027 to 2031 program of projects.

This item was direct docketed due to committee being adjourned and needs a signed resolution by July 1st.

The RTIP is a multi-billion dollar multi-year program of transportation projects that is managed by SANDEG, and the transnet revenue allocations included in the RTIP are based on the fiscal year 2027 proposed transnet budget.

With this, I turn it over to Patrick to go over the presentation.

Thank you, Naomi, and good morning, Council President LaCava and members of the City Council.

This um presentation will first go over an overview of the transnet local streets and road formula funding before diving into the fiscal year 26 status of transnet funds.

Then we will take an outlook on the 27 to 31 five-year revenue forecast that SANDEC puts out once a year, and then we will have a look at the 2027 proposed transnet budget and the specific project allocations that are being proposed.

And we're ending this presentation with an overview of any budget adjustments that were processed in the current fiscal year using the appropriation ordinance.

The transnet funding comes from a half cent local sales tax that is administered by SANDEC to fund local transportation projects consistent with the regional transportation improvement program.

As the graph on the right side of the slide shows, 29.1% of the net annual transnet revenues are set aside for the local streets and road formula funds.

This revenue gets distributed to 19 local jurisdictions, of which the City of San Diego is one of them and receives uh proportionate allocation of roughly 41% of the total funding.

The transnet ordinance and sandy board policy 31 require require to spend at least 70 percent of the funding on congestion relief projects and no more than 30 percent on maintenance activities and about 1% on the program administration.

Projects that receive transnet funding must be programmed in the RTIP as a requirement to receive the funding, and unlike the city of San Diego, the RTIP is on a two-year budget cycle.

And in fiscal year 2027, we're moving from the 2025 to the 2027 RTIP.

This table shows an overview of the city's estimated revenue projections as well as our actuals and expenditures for fiscal year 2026 and the last four years of actuals.

We started the fiscal year with a 40 million dollar fund or cash balance that was at SANDEC, which means these are budgeted transnet funds, but we haven't spent them down yet.

Transnet funds get reimbursed to the city of San Diego at the same pace as we spent them, and the transportation department in collaboration with the Department of Finance process monthly reimbursement requests, equal to our actuals.

We're projecting to have a disbursements by the end of this fiscal year in an amount of 49 million dollars.

That would bring down our fund balance to 31.1 million, anticipating 48.1 million of additional revenues this fiscal year.

That would be a decrease of 2% compared to the beginning fund balance this fiscal year.

And our goal is to continuously decrease our fund balance at SANDEC and through proper fund management and prioritization of the transnet fund expenditures, decrease that fund balance even more.

In this chart, we can see how effectively our 19 local jurisdictions in San Diego spend their transnet allocation.

The graph shows um that in comparison, shows the annual transnet revenue in comparison to the cash balance that the local jurisdictions hold.

A value of 100% would equal a cash balance of uh equal to the to the current fiscal year's revenue.

And as you can see, the city of San Diego has the third lowest cash balance with a 101% compared to their fiscal year 26 revenue.

In this chart, we can see the five year transnet revenue forecast that gets updated by SANDEC once a year.

It is categorized by the required split between administration, maintenance, and congestion relief.

Transnet funding is allocated via the budget development process at the beginning of each fiscal year, but it is important to note that SANDEC receives actual revenue on a monthly basis, and some years' budget adjustments might be required at the end of the fiscal year.

For fiscal year 2027, the transnet revenue is estimated to be 49.1 million dollars.

Following the required split between maintenance, congestion relief, and administration.

We're proposing to allocate 14.6.6 million to maintenance activities that are related to street division.

34 or 70 percent will be allocated to congestion relief activities, of which 79% will go to the capital improvements program, and that is also included in attachment A and C on the report to council, and 21% are congestion relief activities that do not meet the capital threshold.

On the next slide, we will take a deeper dive into the allocation that will go to the CIP.

So 14.8 million is proposed to go to street resurfacing, of which 13.7 million is for the in-house mill and pave project.

3.5 million will go to El Comino Real to Via de la Valle.

3.2 million goes to the Choyas Creek to Bay Shore multi-use path project, which is which is coded under the bike facilities asset type.

2.6 million goes to new walkways, specifically to College Meridian to Judy McCarthy sidewalk, and 1.3 million to traffic signals, 0.4 million to normal street promenade.

This slide shows all transnet budget adjustments that have been processed using the current fiscal year's appropriation ordinance and that require a programming update in the current RTIP.

It can also be found on attachment number B.

Please note that attachment B was updated in the backup documents and in the resolution.

These are all even budget swaps with a net zero budget increase in all projects to prioritize transnet spent down.

So this brings us to our last slide, which is a summary of what this action is asking the council for.

So this action requests the authority to develop the 2027 RTP and to program transnet budget adjustments as outlined in attachment C.

Program the next five years of revenue forecasts as outlined in attachment A, and make any programming changes triggered by the use of the current fiscal year's appropriation ordinance as outlined in attachment B.

For your reference, we also included a list of all transnet funded projects as of quarter three and attachment B of this item.

Sorry, an attachment D of this item.

This concludes our presentation, and we're happy to answer any questions.

Alright, thank you for the work and the presentation this morning.

Clerk, please proceed with public comment.

Jeff Hutter, if you can please come forward.

You'll have two minutes, please proceed.

I shouldn't need very much of that.

The only thing that caught my eyes was an emphasis on the statement that the cash balance was ratio being particularly low relative to the rest of the county.

I would be interested if somebody in the council is too, and what the significance of that ratio is and whether there's actually any policy levers that need to be changed in order to change that.

The typical understanding is you get money from transit, transnet, and then you spend it.

So it seems like just sort of a pass through, but if there is something that's of interest there, I'd be interested to know as well as the public.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Sorry, the five-minute time, or one of those participating remotely.

We have three speakers in the queue.

Sorry, with Hector, if you can please unmute.

All right.

Thanks for taking my call.

Hey, I know a few years ago you guys spent millions of dollars to look at all the streets and determine what street needed the best, how they repay the streets.

And uh don't allow sandag to do that anymore.

Don't pay millions to look at the streets.

Hire the boy scouts and the girl scouts to go around.

They always do it with their parents anyway.

When they're going to school, they can know where all the streets are, all the communities, and pay them instead of two million dollars for a computer that scans the streets.

They know where the streets everyone knows what the streets are, but uh have the Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts and pay them instead of a contract, kind of shady deal that the city does normally, but just go direct, have direct standag, do not study the streets no more.

We know the streets, and we'll work with the boy scouts and the girl scouts.

They'll get a badge on your thing, and we'll actually pay them money back.

That's my idea.

Thanks a lot.

Thank you.

Next is 8700.

If you can please unmute, 8700.

Uh, thank you, uh Joy Sanyata.

A program transnet money.

Uh wow, sales tax revenue shares the load.

Thank you, everyone.

So on the budget, uh just three items uh I definitely like uh maintenance activities and question on that.

How much how many uh how much is deferred and new side box yay?

Uh traffic signals are so important, especially regarding uh dangerous intersections.

And the gentleman that just spoke in the chambers, uh I thought that was interesting too.

I I didn't understand it probably like he does and all of you, but the low cash balance uh policy levels change question there.

So uh that's the best I can do on this this morning.

So uh thank you for the meetings.

Uh have a beautiful day.

Love to all.

Thank you.

Next is Blair Beekman.

Your final speaker in the queue as well.

All right.

Thank you.

Good morning, Blair Beekman.

Um the two uh items on my mind for this item I wanted to offer up as thoughts of consideration.

Um with our tran this being uh funded by transnet dollars.

Um I wanted to offer a reminder that um with there's a serious question of uh bus fare increases coming up that uh sandag transnet money that this comes from can be a way to uh help mitigate uh bus fare costs for a short term.

And I think how do you change the name on the top?

Hold on, hold on.

Uh my comments being screwed up here.

Um I just wanted to quickly offer that.

Um can someone turn that person off.

I don't have any.

Oh, there's something that is re is is is bouncing back and forth here.

So I just wanted to quickly offer that as just uh uh a note as how to think and work on the bus fare uh situation and transnet dollars, how they can be used.

To uh offer quickly, uh, you know, this is money that can be used for the first future of surveillance tech and our street lights.

Um, with the incidents that have happened a few days ago, uh police chief wall is making a really big uh push.

It sounds like that he's gonna want more uh ALPR tech and surveillance tech.

Um, and I don't think that's the answer.

I think we have to go really slow on that and really ask the question: how do we better coordinate our our human communication and our and our social laws that dictate how we you know uh work that sort of crime situation.

Something stopped them from working that situation deeper.

And I think it was a human communication error and and our and our societal values that we couldn't work more clearly, and we don't need more tech.

Please we don't need more tech.

Thank you for that concluding statement, and that does conclude public comment for this item.

All right, thank you, City Clerks.

I'll turn over to my colleagues' questions, comments, and entertain a motion, and I will kick it off if nobody else wants to get on the councilmember Whitburn.

Thank you, Council President.

Sure.

Uh, thank you to staff for the presentation.

Uh great to see these funds being used that uh for projects that make the public right of way safer and more desirable for pedestrians and bicyclists, such as by using new walkways and bicycle facilities that will be installed.

Uh also very uh pleased to see 400,000 in transnet funds going toward finishing the durable street pravidad project at Hill Crest.

Uh, I can tell you the community is very excited for that Prabhupada to open.

I'm grateful that these funds will help us get there, the new future.

Uh, and I'd like to thank everybody from the transportation department for all the hard work on creating this highly anticipated public space, a cultural destination.

So happy to make the motion to approve the staff recommendation.

Thank you, Council President.

All right, thank you, Councilmember Whitburn.

Um I'll jump in and second uh the motion.

So we have a motion by Councilmember Whitburn, a second by myself.

Do you want to make the second?

Okay.

Well, we'll go to Council.

I'll I'll keep on the second and then we'll go to Council Member Foster for questions.

Thank you.

Um I think one I just want to um thank you, Council President, thank you, staff for the presentation.

Um we've had some very um I guess pointed conversations about paving and transportation.

And I just want to say thank you for the work that you guys have done.

Um we've went to a 43% commitment for districts 4, 8, and 9.

Um, and I just want to say thank you.

You have um you are continuing to uh proceed um with that policy decision and that determination.

Um so I just want to say thank you, because that is a shift in philosophy and uh making sure that we are seeing investment in our um typically historically under um resource communities.

Um also would like to say um I do appreciate um my good friend um George Anthony.

Um I I just want to bring him up.

Um I I do still appreciate getting his emails every time I see him.

I do read them myself, but he is doing a great job at identifying those um really poor condition streets and getting our millenni folks out there.

So I also want to say thank you for that, um, as I often um tend to be very critical of of our efforts and and and how we are um investing in our under-resourced community.

So I just wanted to say that um what we're getting with our millen pave team.

Uh love to see the numbers, numbers moving in the right direction.

Um again, I will say I am all for us bringing as much as we can in-house.

Um I know we have our issues and and challenges out at the yard and so forth that we still need to get our arms around, but I am a full supporter of looking at how we can continue to grow our in-house paving um program because I still feel we uh will be more competitive than um outsourcing.

So I do I do want to thank you for that.

Um the one thing that does trouble me is the term bicycle facilities.

Um, and I brought this up in our our briefings.

Um, but can you as as we are in the financial scenario that we are in?

I know we've made some changes with our mobility department and so forth, so I think we are kind of winding things down.

But you can you explain what's in this actually in this line item for bicycle facilities?

Because I think there's an immediate interpretation that this is the bike lanes, and we're continuing to invest in just bike lanes, which is driving um, you know, a lot of contentious conversations in my community.

So if you can shed some light as to what that term is, what's included, and what that actually accounts for.

Of course.

First of all, thank you for your words of appreciation, Councilmember Foster.

Um, in in in this budget, the $3.1 million dollars for bicycle facilities is for the Choice Creek to Basure project.

Um there are other grant funds available for this project, and it is scheduled to go into construction this coming year.

Okay.

Thank you for that.

Um, and again, as I have asked, you you know, I know it's a term that we use, but I think it would all it's always good when we can give some clarification in detail.

So folks just don't think it's we're just continuing to invest in bike lanes as we are going through our financial challenges.

So thank you for that.

Um, and that I will be supporting the item that concludes my comments.

Thank you.

All right, thank you, Councilmember Foster.

Not seeing anyone else on the lights.

Uh I will add my thanks to the work that you do every year to bring this item forward and clarify.

Um, you know, I'll add, uh, inspired by the public comment, uh, that the city in days gone past in prior administrations had a different philosophy.

Uh, let money sit in buckets uh that we were receiving and not spending.

You know, at the end of the day, what the public wants us to do if we have the funds, let's go out and get the work done.

Um, and so I'm uh I've been around long enough at City Hall to know that that pivot I think is an extraordinary measure.

We have the money, let's put the money to work as efficiently and thoughtfully as possible, uh, given the balance between congestion relief and uh maintenance.

Um, to be a little protective of our smaller cities, um, projects cost a lot of money, and the allocation that those smaller cities get is not enough in one year to actually do those bigger projects, and so they have to save up year after year after year to get enough money to actually build the bigger projects.

So it is somewhat understandable why their ratios are much different than ours.

We're a big city, we have plenty of projects that we can tackle uh in our um uh CIP.

So that's exactly what transportation is doing.

So I very much appreciate putting that money to work, and I know our residents do uh as well.

So with that, we have a motion by councilmember Whitburn and a second by myself to move the staff recommendation.

Clark, please call the roll.

I started the voting system, please cast your vote.

And that passes unanimously six to zero with council member Ila Rivera, Councilmember Von Wolford and Councilmember Campbell absent.

Thank you, Council President.

All right, thank you.

Um, so that concludes this very short um docket this morning.

We will now adjourn council to the special closed session meeting today, Wednesday, May 20th, 2026 at 10 a.m.

So, see everybody in about 20 minutes.

Thank you.