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Record of Proceedings

San Ramon City Council Special Meeting – September 8, 2026

City Council — Tuesday, September 8, 2026
BodySan Ramon, California
SessionCity Council
DateTuesday, September 8, 2026
StatusFILED
Video Record
Meeting Thumbnail
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Speaker numbers apply only to this recording.

Speaker 1

0:00

We're ready.

Speaker 2

0:03

Okay, good evening.

0:04

I'm going to call to order the special meeting of the City Council for September 8th, 2026.

0:09

Please call the roll.

Speaker 1

0:10

Councilmember Adler.

0:11

Councilmember Joana.

Speaker 2

0:13

Present.

Speaker 1

0:13

Councilmember Verose.

0:14

Vice Mayor Rubio.

0:16

Here.

0:16

And Mayor Armstrong.

Speaker 2

0:17

Here.

Unassigned speaker

0:18

All

Speaker 2

0:18

right, we're going to move to item two, closed session.

0:21

Item uh 2.1 is convened to closed session pursuant to government code 54957.6 to meet with the city's labor negotiators, Megan O'Donohue, Steven Spadowski, and Martin Lysens for direction to city negotiators regarding a grievance brought by SEIU and the POA concerning retirement contributions.

0:43

Any settlement will also apply to retirement contributions to unrepresented miscellaneous employees.

0:50

And let me ask if uh anyone wishes to make any statements before we call for public comment.

Unassigned speaker

0:58

Vice

Speaker 2

0:58

Mayor Rubio.

Speaker 3

1:00

Um I was just uh going to say, as I previously announced to this council during this special meeting August 24.

1:06

I'm recreating myself from this item to avoid appearance of conflict.

Speaker 2

1:11

Okay.

Unassigned speaker

1:12

All

Speaker 2

1:12

right, thank you.

1:13

So then uh this time I'm gonna open up public comment on item 2.1.

1:18

Public comments open.

1:20

Do we have any speaker cards?

Speaker 1

1:22

We received one speaker card from we the people.

Speaker 4

1:25

Through the mayor.

1:26

Um councilmember Rubio has recused, she should leave the dais at this point.

1:33

Yes, thank

Unassigned speaker

1:34

you.

Speaker 2

2:02

Okay.

2:03

Uh again, uh public comment is open, and uh please limit your comments to three minutes.

Speaker 5

2:08

Mayor and council member, I represent we the people here to ask you to please edify attorney and also city manager for repeatedly not spelling out the proper acronyms in full words to the public.

2:29

Why does it matter here?

2:31

Because SEIU stand for something that they're trying to hide from the public.

2:38

I just asked them earlier who wrote that.

2:41

The clerk told me the attorney's office wrote that.

2:46

And I asked if it was attorney's office, naomi young the paralegal who wrote

Unassigned speaker

2:51

that.

Speaker 5

2:51

He said no, she said no, and then he said, Oh, he missed it.

2:56

Despite last time I asked you guys to spell it out, and you were kind enough to spell out what is POA.

3:02

POA stands for police officer association.

3:06

SEIU actually stands for a foreign employee union.

3:12

Why is it that it is okay to lump the two together?

3:17

Our police officers are are being hired as foreign employees,

Unassigned speaker

3:24

and

Speaker 5

3:24

the foreign employees are now considered Americans.

3:29

This should have been separated as two different items.

3:32

Police officers are police officers.

3:35

Their benefit is by the American codes.

3:38

The SEIU, God knows what it is that they're unwelling to disclose.

3:42

They have something to hide.

3:44

How can an attorney, supposedly licensed, miss EIU was not spelled out as acronym, despite I have already asked you guys last time?

3:57

It's on public record.

3:59

How much more disrespectful and showing disdain can you guys be to we the people?

4:08

I spend so much time participating in public affairs, and this is what I get.

4:28

And he still continues to want to hire more foreign employees and put our police officers' retirement fund in foreign bonds, government bonds.

4:39

Why is this okay?

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Procedural█████████████████████████████████████████████50%
Employee Benefits█████████████████████████████████████████████50%
Summary of Proceedings

San Ramon City Council Special Meeting – September 8, 2026

The San Ramon City Council held a special meeting on September 8, 2026 at 6:00 PM in the Council Chamber at San Ramon City Hall. The agenda contained one substantive item: a closed session to meet with the city's labor negotiators regarding a grievance filed by SEIU and the Police Officers Association (POA) concerning retirement contributions. Vice Mayor Marisol Rubio recused herself from the item prior to closed session citing a potential conflict of interest. One member of the public provided comments before the council adjourned to closed session. After the closed session, the council reported that they had given direction to negotiators and had nothing further to report.

Public Comments & Testimony

  • A speaker representing "We the People" expressed dissatisfaction with the city for not spelling out the acronyms SEIU and POA in full on the agenda materials. The speaker characterized SEIU as a "foreign employee union" and argued that the two organizations should be handled as separate items to avoid negatively impacting police officers' retirement benefits. The speaker requested that the council separate the two items and not automatically apply decisions to both.

Closed Session

  • The council convened into closed session under Government Code § 54957.6 with labor negotiators Megan O'Donoghue, Steven Spedowfski, and Martin Lysons to discuss the grievance filed by SEIU and the POA regarding retirement contributions. The agenda noted that any settlement would also apply to retirement contributions for unrepresented miscellaneous employees.

Staff Response

  • Following public comment, the city attorney provided clarification, stating that the negotiations involve two separate organizations and that there is no commingling of funds or transfer of money between the organizations.

Key Outcomes

  • Vice Mayor Rubio recused herself from the item.
  • The council gave direction to city labor negotiators.
  • No reportable action was taken in closed session.

Meeting Transcript

We're ready. Okay, good evening. I'm going to call to order the special meeting of the City Council for September 8th, 2026. Please call the roll. Councilmember Adler. Councilmember Joana. Present. Councilmember Verose. Vice Mayor Rubio. Here. And Mayor Armstrong. Here. All right, we're going to move to item two, closed session. Item uh 2.1 is convened to closed session pursuant to government code 54957.6 to meet with the city's labor negotiators, Megan O'Donohue, Steven Spadowski, and Martin Lysens for direction to city negotiators regarding a grievance brought by SEIU and the POA concerning retirement contributions. Any settlement will also apply to retirement contributions to unrepresented miscellaneous employees. And let me ask if uh anyone wishes to make any statements before we call for public comment. Vice Mayor Rubio. Um I was just uh going to say, as I previously announced to this council during this special meeting August 24. I'm recreating myself from this item to avoid appearance of conflict. Okay. All right, thank you. So then uh this time I'm gonna open up public comment on item 2.1. Public comments open. Do we have any speaker cards? We received one speaker card from we the people. Through the mayor. Um councilmember Rubio has recused, she should leave the dais at this point. Yes, thank you. Okay. Uh again, uh public comment is open, and uh please limit your comments to three minutes. Mayor and council member, I represent we the people here to ask you to please edify attorney and also city manager for repeatedly not spelling out the proper acronyms in full words to the public. Why does it matter here? Because SEIU stand for something that they're trying to hide from the public. I just asked them earlier who wrote that. The clerk told me the attorney's office wrote that. And I asked if it was attorney's office, naomi young the paralegal who wrote that. He said no, she said no, and then he said, Oh, he missed it. Despite last time I asked you guys to spell it out, and you were kind enough to spell out what is POA. POA stands for police officer association. SEIU actually stands for a foreign employee union. Why is it that it is okay to lump the two together? Our police officers are are being hired as foreign employees, and the foreign employees are now considered Americans. This should have been separated as two different items.

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