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Record of Proceedings

Rules and Open Government Committee Meeting - May 21, 2025

City Council — Wednesday, May 21, 2025
BodySan Jose, California
SessionCity Council
DateWednesday, May 21, 2025
StatusFILED
Video Record
0:00 / 7:10

Original source
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0:11

All right, it's two o'clock.

0:12

We're gonna call to today's meeting of the rules and open government committee to order.

0:15

Let's start with role, please.

0:16

Candelas absent.

0:18

Duan here.

0:19

Foley.

0:20

Here.

0:21

Come here.

0:22

Cohen.

0:22

Here.

0:23

We have a quorum.

0:24

All right.

0:24

We don't have a meeting next week, so we're going to start by reviewing the first draft of the June 3rd agenda.

0:32

The meeting is scheduled for 9 30 closed session, 1 30 regular session, and consent starts on page five.

0:43

Continues on pages six.

0:59

11 12 and ends on page 13.

1:07

Section 3.

1:08

We have a community facilities district.

1:12

Two of them, items 3, 3 and 3, 4.

1:15

Section 6, public hearing on sewer service and charges.

1:19

62 is a hearing on residential service.

1:23

I mean garbage service and charges.

1:25

And then the water service and charges is section is item 63.

1:31

Deferral recommended for item 8.1.

1:35

A two is the amended community participation plan.

1:38

A three is public hearing on the consolidated plan for fiscal year 25-26.

1:46

Is a loan commitment for housing on South First and South Market Streets.

1:58

No items on land use.

2:02

No public comment.

2:03

All right, back to the committee.

2:04

Any comments or a motion?

2:06

Motion of foot.

2:07

All right.

2:08

We have a motion and a second.

2:10

Let's vote.

2:13

All right.

2:14

That motion carries four zero, and we are on to our consent calendar.

2:18

There are today six items on consent.

2:22

Do we have any public comment?

2:24

Blair, please go ahead and make your way to the podium.

2:36

Hi, Blair Beekman.

2:38

Uh, this is gonna be my last week here in San Jose.

2:41

I'll be back uh mid uh June.

2:44

Um interesting city council meeting yesterday.

2:49

I need to review.

2:50

Uh thank you for your work and efforts.

2:52

Um I wanted to comment uh there was a good public record that's still asking about the future of uh Zoom meetings here in San Jose.

3:00

You'd promised you'd work on the issue when you'd close Zoom.

3:03

I hope that you're thinking about items.

3:06

I I know there's legal issues involved with with Zoom.

3:09

Um you created an awesome system to really say no to people when they use that language.

3:15

They may have a legal defense to fight back that I think you're probably nervous about.

3:19

Uh I can acknowledge that.

3:21

Good luck in working on that.

3:23

And uh I think we can develop a community process with it.

3:27

Uh, I think we know what it can add to the community, and to be able to openly talk about the moral questions of continuing Zoom post-COVID era.

3:38

Um, good luck that we can have that conversation openly as well.

3:42

Uh with my remaining time, um, you also had a consent calendar item.

3:48

Oh, yeah, about um uh community um and economic development uh committee that um the issues talked about, I think that can fall under the purview of the future of the flea market issues, and that I mentioned last time I was here.

4:04

Um there seems to be to myself that uh the more educated class, the political people in San Jose are fully willing to talk about how the flea market can be developed uh itself.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Technology and Innovation█████████████████████████████████████████████50%
Procedural███████████████████████25%
Community Engagement███████████████████████25%
Summary of Proceedings

Rules and Open Government Committee Meeting - May 21, 2025

The Joint Meeting of the Rules and Open Government Committee and Committee of the Whole convened on May 21, 2025, at 2:00 PM. The committee reviewed the June 3, 2025 draft agenda, considered six consent calendar items, and heard public comments. The meeting adjourned at 2:07 PM.

Consent Calendar

  • Public Record (May 8–15, 2025): Received and filed.
  • Community and Economic Development Committee Work Plan: Approved an amendment to shift the June 2025 meeting from June 23 to June 16 and drop the Housing Stabilization and Eviction Prevention Status Report item.
  • Travel Request: Authorized Mayor Mahan to travel to New York City from July 12–16, 2025, for the Bloomberg Harvard City Leadership Initiative, with travel payments accepted by the city.
  • WEPA Salsa Festival (District 1): Approved as a City Council sponsored special event on June 13, 2025, with expenditure of funds and acceptance of donations; placed on the June 3, 2025 Council agenda.
  • Preservation Action Council of San José Grant (District 3): Approved a $2,000 grant for their 35th anniversary Gala; placed on the June 3, 2025 Council agenda.
  • Retroactive Approvals of Events in District 3: Retroactively approved the Earthquakes Saturday Night Lights Launch (April 12), Dumpster Day (April 26), and Villas at 4th Community Meeting (April 28), and approved the Backesto Movie Night (June 6); all with expenditure of funds and acceptance of donations; placed on the June 3, 2025 Council agenda.

Public Comments & Testimony

  • Blair Beekman (appearing both as Blair Beekman and Blair Weekman in the transcript) spoke twice. He expressed support for preserving public access to Zoom meetings post-COVID, urging the committee to develop a community process to address legal issues. He also commented on the future of the flea market, stating that while political leaders are willing to discuss development, workers and residents at the market are not receptive, and he hoped they would engage. He criticized the city for a lack of transparency regarding technology issues, particularly electronic billboards and surveillance tech, and called for more honest and open discussions with the public.

Discussion Items

  • Review of June 3, 2025 Draft Agenda: Chair Cohen presented the draft agenda, noting that the meeting is cancelled for May 27, so the committee reviewed the first draft for June 3. The agenda includes a 9:30 AM closed session, 1:30 PM regular session, consent calendar items (pages 5–13), community facilities districts (items 3.3 and 3.4), public hearings on sewer service and charges (item 6.2), garbage service and charges, water service and charges (item 6.3), a deferral recommendation for item 8.1, and items on amended community participation plan, consolidated plan for FY 25-26, and a loan commitment for housing on South First and South Market Streets. No land use items or public comment were noted. The committee voted unanimously (4-0) to approve the draft agenda as presented.

Key Outcomes

  • Draft Agenda Approved: The June 3, 2025 City Council draft agenda was approved by a 4-0 vote.
  • Consent Calendar Approved: All six consent calendar items were approved by a 4-0 vote.
  • Meeting Adjourned: The meeting ended at 2:07 PM.

Meeting Transcript

All right, it's two o'clock. We're gonna call to today's meeting of the rules and open government committee to order. Let's start with role, please. Candelas absent. Duan here. Foley. Here. Come here. Cohen. Here. We have a quorum. All right. We don't have a meeting next week, so we're going to start by reviewing the first draft of the June 3rd agenda. The meeting is scheduled for 9 30 closed session, 1 30 regular session, and consent starts on page five. Continues on pages six. 11 12 and ends on page 13. Section 3. We have a community facilities district. Two of them, items 3, 3 and 3, 4. Section 6, public hearing on sewer service and charges. 62 is a hearing on residential service. I mean garbage service and charges. And then the water service and charges is section is item 63. Deferral recommended for item 8.1. A two is the amended community participation plan. A three is public hearing on the consolidated plan for fiscal year 25-26. Is a loan commitment for housing on South First and South Market Streets. No items on land use. No public comment. All right, back to the committee. Any comments or a motion? Motion of foot. All right. We have a motion and a second. Let's vote. All right. That motion carries four zero, and we are on to our consent calendar. There are today six items on consent. Do we have any public comment? Blair, please go ahead and make your way to the podium. Hi, Blair Beekman. Uh, this is gonna be my last week here in San Jose. I'll be back uh mid uh June. Um interesting city council meeting yesterday. I need to review. Uh thank you for your work and efforts. Um I wanted to comment uh there was a good public record that's still asking about the future of uh Zoom meetings here in San Jose. You'd promised you'd work on the issue when you'd close Zoom. I hope that you're thinking about items. I I know there's legal issues involved with with Zoom.

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