Rules and Open Government Committee & Committee of the Whole Joint Meeting - August 19, 2026
Rules and Open Government Committee & Committee of the Whole Joint Meeting - August 19, 2026
The joint committee met on August 19, 2026 from 2:00 PM to 2:06 PM to review upcoming City Council agendas and approve a consent calendar of routine items. All votes were unanimous (5-0). One member of the public provided comments on future agenda items.
Consent Calendar
- Received and filed the public record for August 6-13, 2026.
- Recommended release of the study session date held for September 14, 2026.
- Approved the San José State University Flag Raising set for September 1, 2026 as a City Council sponsored special event, authorizing expenditure of funds and acceptance of donations, and placed the item on the August 25, 2026 City Council agenda.
- Authorized travel for Mayor Mahan’s Office staff Amber Kappagantula to Tampa, Florida on September 22-25, 2026 for the Chamber Study Session (funded from the Mayor’s Office budget).
- Retroactively approved the Mayor’s Office purchase of tickets to the Silicon Valley Business Journal’s “40 under 40” Awards event for $900, and placed the item on the August 25, 2026 City Council agenda.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Blair Beekman spoke on item 8.2 on the upcoming August 25, 2026 City Council agenda (a public hearing on a development tax and fee waiver for multifamily housing). Beekman expressed support for a “humble approach” towards multifamily housing and the “missing middle,” and urged others to recognize that a small-scale approach can be effective.
- During Open Forum, Beekman commented on a previous council discussion about land in South San Jose (former IBM plant), questioning whether the land is contaminated (“poison land”) and suggesting that redevelopment options (housing vs. data centers) should be discussed more openly through a public process rather than a rushed permit process.
Discussion Items
- The committee reviewed the August 25, 2026 Final Agenda (including a discussion on statewide ballot measures, electric service franchise, airport consultant services, civil grand jury responses, geothermal power purchase agreement amendments, and a conditional use permit for San Pedro Social). No changes were made.
- The committee conducted an initial review of the September 1, 2026 Draft Agenda (including amendments to CalPur’s contract, financing for affordable housing production, and an exclusive negotiation agreement for an arena hotel). No changes were made.
Key Outcomes
- The August 25, 2026 Final Agenda was approved as presented (motion 5-0).
- The first review of the September 1, 2026 Draft Agenda was approved (motion 5-0).
- All five items on the Consent Calendar were approved by a single motion (5-0).
- The clerk noted that consent item B.4 (travel request) was approved for placement on the August 25 City Council agenda.
- Meeting adjourned at 2:06 PM.
Meeting Transcript
All right, it's two o'clock. We're going to call today's rules and open government committee meeting to order. Candelas. Here. One. Here. Foley? Here. Come here. Cohen? Here. Have a quorum. All right. Let's review the August 25th council agenda. And the there is an ad sheet. The meeting is scheduled for 9:30, closed session, 1.30 regular session, and consent starts on page five. And continues on pages six, seven, and eight. Section three, we have a discussion on the 2026 statewide ballot measures. And um franchise for electric services. A right of way, I think, related to electric services. Section five. Consultant services for the airport. And two civil grand jury responses. Section six amendments to our geothermal power purchase agreement and section eight. And in land use, a conditional use permit for San Pedro Social. Looks like there's no public here. Any online? Yes, we have one virtual public comment as a reminder. Speakers must comply with the city's code of conduct for public meetings. Please direct comments to the body, limit remarks of the agenda item and observe the time limit. Conduct that materially disrupts a meeting or interferes with others' ability to participate may result in muting or removal as authorized by a law. Blair. Hi, Blair Beekman. I wanted to quickly speak on item 8.2 on your agenda coming up next week. A public hearing to uh uh to address a uh development tax and fee waiver in connection uh to construction costs for the item. I wanted to comment uh on multifamily housing that you guys were talking about. I think a lot of things last night uh at council about the future of housing in San Jose. I've I took the position of uh council president Tordias that um you're trying to take a humble approach towards the towards the future of multifamily housing. If you take a small approach to that and middle and the missing middle issues, a small humble approach uh can be effective. And I I hope other people of San Jose realize that. Uh a small approach can be uh really interesting for the future of San Jose. Good luck on those sort of efforts. Thank you. Back to the committee. Approval plus the action second. All right, we have a motion and a second. I don't see any hands, so let's vote. Okay, motion carries five zero. And so now we're going to review, do our first review of the council agenda for September 1st. 9:30 closed session, 130 regular session, and consent starts on page five, and continues on pages six and seven.
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