Joint Rules and Open Government Committee Meeting – August 20, 2025
STREAMING COPY IN PREPARATION — RECORDING AVAILABLE FROM THE ORIGINAL SOURCE
Joint Meeting of the Rules and Open Government Committee and Committee of the Whole – August 20, 2025
The committee met at 2:00 PM on August 20, 2025, with Vice Chair Foley presiding (Chair Cohen absent). Members present: Candelas, Doan, Foley, Kamei. The meeting lasted approximately 6 minutes, adjourning at 2:06 PM. No public comments were received. Key actions included approval of the August 26, 2025 final agenda, receipt of the consent calendar, and direction to staff to explore a fee waiver program for small businesses in urban villages.
Consent Calendar
- Public Record for August 7–14, 2025: Received and filed unanimously. No discussion or public comment.
Discussion Items
- Vacant Storefront Incentive – Fee Waiver Program (Item C-1): Councilmember Ortiz presented a referral to direct the City Manager to explore a year-long pilot fee waiver program for first-year permit, license, and business registration fees for qualifying small businesses opening in urban villages and growth areas. Ortiz noted that San Francisco has piloted a similar policy and that the program would target areas with vacant storefronts, such as East Side San Jose, Alum Rock, and Story Road. The referral was not a final adoption but a request for staff analysis.
Key Outcomes
- August 26, 2025 Final Agenda: Approved by voice vote (motion by Vice Mayor Foley, seconded) with the add sheet. No items were assigned time certain.
- September 2, 2025 Draft Agenda: Noted as canceled; no vote required.
- Consent Calendar: Approved unanimously.
- Fee Waiver Program Referral (Item C-1): Motion by Vice Mayor Foley to approve the referral subject to a workload analysis, seconded. Councilmember Doan added a request for a financial impact analysis over the one-year pilot. The motion passed unanimously. Staff will prepare a report evaluating feasibility, workload, and fiscal impact before returning to the committee.
Meeting Transcript
Okay, the time is now two o'clock, and we shall uh start the uh joint meeting for the rules and open government committee and committee of the whole. Um roll call, please. Candelas here, Duan here, Foley here, Kameh here, Cohen absent. We have a quorum. Thank you so much. Okay, so we have our uh review of August uh 26 final agenda and we will start with 930 closed session, uh regular meeting at 130, uh which starts at uh page four consent calendar will go from page four five six seven eight, continuing on to nine, ten, eleven, twelve, thirteen ending there on page thirteen and moving on to uh item three strategic support. Uh just on page 14, uh nothing in public safety and in transportation and aviation service. We start on page 15. Um nothing on environmental utility services. We have neighborhood services starting on page 16. We have community economic development on 16 as well, going on to uh page 17 18 and the top of 19. We have no land use consent items, and we do have land use regular agenda at um starting on page 20, general plan amendment, uh, and an open forum, and that's it. Do we have uh comp uh no public comment? We also have an ad sheet. Oh, yes, and we do have an ad sheet. Thank you for the reminder. Vice Mayor Foley. Uh move approval of the agenda with the move approval move approval of the agenda for the August 26th meeting and the ad sheet. Second. Great. There's a motion and a second. Um this vote. That motion passes. Thank you very much. And then for uh September 2nd, uh, which has been canceled. Do we need a vote on that? No, okay. Um, and then moving on to our consent calendar. Uh we have uh public records. Is there in the rules committee? Is there any public comment? No public comment. Okay, uh let's vote. That motion passes. Great. And then there's uh two the last sheet. Yes, um, a vacant storefront incentive. Um item C one uh explore fee waiver program for new and expanding small businesses, and I see that we have uh council member Orties can tell us a little bit more. Hello, honorable vice chair and rules committee. Uh I want to uh bring forward a referral to explore a fee waiver program for new and expanding small businesses focused specifically on our urban villages and other designated growth areas. So that's aligned with our general plan. San Francisco has recently piloted a similar policy to waive first year permit, license, and registration fees, and it has shown real promise in reducing barriers for local entrepreneurs. By tailoring such a program to San Jose, we can encourage investment where it aligns with our general plan, support local entrepreneurs, and help bring vitality to our commercial corridors, especially in areas that are plagued by vacant storefronts, like you know, in east side San Jose, uh as well as Alam Rock and Stoy Roads. This proposal is not about adopting a program today, but about asking staff to evaluate the feasibility and bring us back options. I respectfully ask for your support in moving this forward to the next stage. Thank you. Vice Mayor Foley. Thank you, Councilmember Ortiz, for the presentation and for bringing this forward. I think it's important work, but typical of rules, we like to see workload analysis analysis and analyses. So I will move approval of the item subject to the workload analysis.
openpublica.com