This meeting of the Santa Rosa City Council included a study session on homelessness and council compensation, a proclamation for Black History Month, consent calendar approvals, two public hearings (vacant properties program and senior care facility zoning), approval of a right‑of‑way vacation, adoption of the 2024 State Legislative Platform, and extensive public comment on the Israel‑Hamas conflict (ceasefire resolution requests). The meeting ran from 2:00 p.m. to 9:26 p.m.
Good afternoon. I'd like to ask the interpreter currently on the Spanish channel to commence translation of the meeting. For those just joining the meeting, live translation in Spanish is available, and members of the public or staff wishing to listen in Spanish, can join the Spanish channel by clicking on the interpretation icon in the Zoom toolbar. It looks like a globe. Once you join the Spanish channel, we recommend you shut off the main audio so you only hear the Spanish translation. Um three point two is conference with labor negotiators. The five PM deadline as noted on the agenda. The live public comment is not a secondary opportunity to provide public comment on the same agenda or non-agenda matter. The first public comment will be from Steve, followed by Dwayne, then James. Please go ahead, Dwayne. Thank you, Mr. With the Transportation and Land Use Coalition. I can remember in 2015 sitting in this room when that when that started. And it's unfortunate that it's taken this long to get it going. But I hope we've reached an agreement with the city and SMART for a reasonable construction cost. So you can take their budget for that hundred and divide it by a hundred, and uh you'll have what the city ought to contribute in order to have that crossing going. So glad to see this moving forward. Thank you. Thank you. The next public comment will be from Dwayne, followed by James and Thomas. Hello, are we ready? Yes, we are. Hello, my name is Dwayne DeWitt. I'm from Roseland, but I frequently spend time over in the Jennings Avenue neighborhoods. I am very supportive of you folks pushing forward to get the Jennings rail pedestrian crossing at grade level. This is most important. For many years now, folks in that neighborhood have been cut off from their access over to Cottingtown easily. And this is something that you folks can get a positive outcome by just continuing to apply pressure upon the Sonoma Marin Area Rail Transit folks. This is the type of thing that helps the community, and the community has definitely been burdened by SMART's delay in all of this. Thank you for your time. Thank you. The next comment will be from James, followed by Thomas. I have lived a short walk from the Jennings Crossing since 1978. I have been a party in support of the CPUC application for the crossing since it was first filed. The city has had to file for an extension of time to build the approved crossing. Although there is no opposition, the CPUC's judge has ruled that the city must file a status report on March 1st on any agreement with SMART to construct the crossing. If no agreement is reached, a hearing will be set for the city to justify the extension. Otherwise, the approval will expire and it could be a very long time, if ever, before it is approved again. The crossing is important by itself, but it is also a key component of the Jennings Bicycle Boulevard, which will eventually connect to the planned pedestrian and bicycle overcrossing of 101. The impending development of the very large property at Lance Drive and Guernville Road will, with up to 800 new units, will create additional considerable traffic. The Jennings crossing and bicycle boulevard and the 101 overcrossing will provide an active transportation alternative, which will help alleviate traffic congestion and greenhouse gases. The city council has always acted in the public interest to keep the crossing open. If SMART had honored its commitment to build the crossing, it would have been opened years ago, but SMART did not. Thank you. The next comment will be from Thomas, and then we will move to the Zoom public comments. Please go ahead, Thomas. Thank you very much. Uh uh Jim, thank you. That was well spoken. Uh the transportation and land use coalition has been at the forefront of each of the two items that we're talking about that are bicycle pedestrian crossings today.