Santa Rosa City Council Regular Meeting - May 7, 2024
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Santa Rosa City Council Regular Meeting - May 7, 2024
The Santa Rosa City Council held a regular meeting on May 7, 2024, starting with a closed session at 12:00 PM, a study session on the FY 2024-25 budget at 12:30 PM, and the regular session at 4:00 PM. The meeting included proclamations, a public hearing, consent items, staff briefings, and future agenda requests. Key outcomes included approval of revised Bennett Valley Golf Course fees, adoption of the City Council Goals & Objectives with amendments emphasizing employee recruitment and retention and economic development, and direction to place discussions on senior overlay for mobile home parks and language access policy on future agendas.
Consent Calendar
- Adoption of Final City Council Priorities (Item 13.1): Approved with amendments adding a bullet to Goal #1 ("Implement the Economic Development Strategic Plan") and a bullet to Goal #3 ("Recruit and retain staff and set competitive standards and pay to ensure workforce stability"). Motion carried 7-0.
- Professional Services Agreement for Court Renovations (Item 13.2): Approved a $314,304 agreement with Callander Associates Landscape Architecture, Inc. for design and geotechnical engineering services at Howarth Memorial and Galvin Community Parks. (Resolution RES-2024-063, 7-0)
- Extension of Exclusive Negotiation Agreement – 625 and 637 3rd Street (Item 13.3): Approved a 90-day extension of the Exclusive Negotiation Agreement with Rogal Projects for potential disposition and development of the property known as Garage 5. (Resolution RES-2024-064, 7-0)
- Purchase of Battery Electric Buses (Item 13.4): Approved two resolutions authorizing purchase of six 40-foot battery electric buses from New Flyer of America, Inc. and six from Gillig, LLC, each not-to-exceed $9,000,000. (Resolutions RES-2024-065 and RES-2024-066, 7-0)
- State of Good Repair Program (Item 13.5): Approved the SB1 State of Good Repair Project List and authorized filing of FY 2024-2025 funding claim estimated at $27,383. (Resolution RES-2024-067, 7-0)
- Transportation Development Act and State Transit Assistance (Item 13.6): Authorized application for approximately $17,200,000 in FY 2024-2025 funds for transit operations and capital. (Resolution RES-2024-068, 7-0)
- Low Carbon Transit Operations Program Funding (Item 13.7): Authorized request for $543,405 in LCTOP funds to assist in purchasing a battery electric bus. (Resolution RES-2024-069, 7-0)
Public Comments & Testimony
- On Proclamation – Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls, and Persons Awareness Day (Item 7.3): Multiple speakers including Yolanda Smith Ocampo, Frank Gonzales, Micky, Lisa Diaz McQuaid, and Adina Flores expressed support, with some calling for a culture center and justice for victims.
- On Proclamation – Bike to Work Month (Item 7.1): Chris Gunther (Bikeable Santa Rosa) spoke in support and promoted Bike to Work Day events.
- On Proclamation – Affordable Housing Month (Item 7.2): Angie Dillon-Shore (First 5 Sonoma County), Abby Torrez, Jen Klose, Max Zhang (Generation Housing), Kyle and Jordan Gregoire spoke in support, urging action on impact fee reform and investment in affordable housing. Adina Flores also commented on the importance of genuine action beyond proclamations.
- Public Comment on Non-Agenda Matters (Item 14): Approximately 12 speakers addressed employee compensation, retention, and morale. Representatives from Teamsters 856 (Robert Maddock, Matt Finnegan, Sasha Brown) and city employees (Chris Huffman, Bernie Buchanan, Miles Burgin, Juan Flores, Jandon Brisco, Christian Candelaria, Jeff Bittner, Jerilynn Schisser) called for equitable wages, parental leave, bilingual pay, and competitive compensation to address recruitment and retention problems.
- Public Comment on Non-Agenda Matters (Item 18): Mark Spencer Martin raised concerns about police misconduct policy compliance; John Kozlowski spoke on equal pay; Michael Hilber commented on utility fees and wages; Jason Sweeney urged council to adopt a ceasefire resolution regarding Gaza.
- Public Hearing – Bennett Valley Golf Course Fees (Item 16.1): Catherine Conrado, Lynne Carlile, Sheila Bell, and Richard Carlile (Save the Bennett Valley Golf Course) spoke in support of the modest fee increases. Ken Richter and Michael Hilber opposed, with Hilber arguing against general fund subsidies for the golf course. An unidentified speaker supported general rate increases but noted inconsistencies in the proposal.
- Consent Items (Item 13): Comments on Item 13.1 from Robert Maddock (Teamsters) and Cassidy Anderson (city employee) urged making employees a top priority. Michael Hilber objected to union use of public comment time for negotiation-related issues.
- Future Agenda Item – Senior Overlay for Mobile Home Parks (Item 11.2.1): Tom La Penna (Santa Rosa Manufactured Homes Association) and JoAnn Jones (Santa Rosa Manufactured Homeowners Association) spoke in support of the senior overlay to protect affordable housing for seniors.
- Staff Briefing – Active Transportation Plan (Item 8.1): Michael Hilber spoke in support of improved bike racks, citing examples from Davis.
Discussion Items
- FY 2024-25 Budget Study Session (Item 4.1): The study session (Days 1 and 2) covered the citywide budget overview, general fund deficit of $5.3 million, use of fiscal stability reserves (remaining $18.7 million), and proposed mitigation measures. Council discussed continuation of ARPA-funded programs (in response, safe parking) with broad support for maintaining them. Staff presented departmental budgets for Administration, City Attorney, Communications, Human Resources, Finance, Non-Departmental, IT, Housing & Community Services, Fire, and Police. Key points: 12 additional firefighters via SAFER grant, $7.08 million; fire department responded to 30,000 calls in 2023, 82 calls/day average; police department reported 234,000 calls, 122,000 dispatches, reduction in response times to 6:57 (priority 1), 1,595 calls to schools annually; in-response team handled 4,700 calls in 2023; police hired 37 new employees, aiming for zero vacancies. Council directed staff to include in response in future budget and to remove limited-term paramedic positions in the final budget.
- Public Hearing – Bennett Valley Golf Course Fees (Item 16.1): Council discussed the proposed 10% fee increase and introduction of resident/non-resident rates. Some concerns raised about data accuracy (twilight rate discrepancy) and potential impact on non-resident rounds. Overall, council supported the increase to improve financial sustainability and fund deferred maintenance.
- Future Agenda Items (Item 11.2): Council approved placing a discussion on developing a senior overlay for mobile home parks on a future agenda (motion 7-0). Also approved placing a discussion on a language access/translation policy on a future agenda (motion 7-0). The request for cell phone tower buffer zones was withdrawn by Councilmember Alvarez; City Manager Smith will add it to a project list for goal-setting in 2025.
- Staff Briefing – Active Transportation Plan Update (Item 8.1): Transportation Planner Torina Wilson presented the update to the 2018 Bicycle and Pedestrian Master Plan, now renamed the Active Transportation Plan. Public outreach is ongoing, with 11 events and an online survey. Adoption anticipated in spring 2025. Council received information and had no action.
- Staff Briefing – Community Empowerment Plan Update (Item 8.2): Community Engagement Manager Ana Horta reported on upcoming events including Women in Public Safety Day, violence prevention outreach, and police department community meetings on AB 481 military equipment report. Received as information.
- Council Reports (Item 11): Council members reported on various community events and subcommittee meetings. Councilmember Rogers requested a future agenda item to discuss amending the voting process for Council appointed positions (Mayor, Vice Mayor, vacant seats, board/commission appointments). The request was concurred by Mayor Rogers.
Key Outcomes
- Adoption of City Council Goals & Objectives FY 2024-2025 (Item 13.1) – Approved as amended with two additional bullets (economic development plan implementation and employee recruitment/retention). The motion carried 7-0.
- Approval of Revised Bennett Valley Golf Course Fees (Item 16.1) – Resolution RES-2024-062 approved with updated Exhibit A, effective July 1, 2024. The motion carried 7-0.
- Direction on ARPA-Funded Programs – Council expressed strong support for continuing in response and safe parking programs. Staff will include in response in the final budget and remove limited-term paramedic positions to facilitate 24/7 operation and Medi-Cal billing.
- Future Agenda Items – Council approved placing discussions on (1) senior overlay for mobile home parks and (2) language access/translation policy on future agendas. The cell phone tower buffer zone request was withdrawn and will be considered during 2025 goal-setting.
- Councilmember Rogers Request – Council agreed to agendize a discussion on amending voting procedures for Council appointments (ranked-choice voting proposed). This was added to a future agenda.
- Study Session Adjourned – The budget study session was continued to May 8, 2024, at 9:00 AM.
- Meeting Adjourned – The meeting adjourned at 8:32 PM in honor of Cindy Benzerara, a former city employee.
Meeting Transcript
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. Will alert at the end of that period. Welcome back everyone to our May 7, 2024 Santa Rosa City Council meeting. It is now 1234, and we will be reconvening our meeting, seeing a quorum. Madam City Clerk, may you please call the roll. Councilmember OK. Councilmember McDonald. Here, Councilmember Fleming, here Councilmember Alvarez. Mayor Vice Mayor Stapp. Mayor Rogers. President. Let the record show that all council members are present with the exception of Councilmember Alvarez. Thank you. We will now proceed to item four, which is our study sessions for the day. I would like to remind everyone as noticed on the agenda that public comment will be taken on this item tomorrow, Wednesday, May 8th, after all the departments have had the opportunity to provide their presentations. And with that, Madam City Manager. All right. Good evening, Mayor and members of council. So we will go to item 4.1 review of fiscal year 2425 operations and maintenance budget and capital improvement program budget. Good afternoon, Mayor and City Council members. My name is Veronica Connor. I'm the budget manager, and I am joined here by Alan Alton, Chief Financial Officer, and Scott Wagner, our Deputy Director of Finance. And today we're going to be taking you through the fiscal year 24-25 budget study session. I also do want to give a shout out to the rest of my budget team. So today we're going to start our presentation with some opening comments from the CFO and the city manager before we move into an overview of the citywide budget, followed by an overview of the general fund budget and a staffing summary. And then we'll get into the department presentations. Today we're hoping to get through all the administrative departments as well as IT, housing, fire, and police. So with that, I will turn it over to our city manager for some opening comments. Thank you. Thank you. So good evening, uh, Mayor and City Council members. So it's my pleasure to present the FY 2425 budget. I would like to extend my appreciation to the finance team and to the city staff for their contributions in crafting this budget. This budget has been developed with careful considerations, um, including the fact that we are expecting a revenue shortfall that could impact our financial stability. We are facing a projected deficit, and the staff have begun to develop long-term solutions to enhance our revenue streams. Um this budget does include strategic additions aligned with your goals following the recent adoption of the economic development strategic plan. We have allocated resources to support the uh synchronization of this plan. Additionally, we've introduced the role of an eco uh an environmental sustainability manager to help us achieve our sustainability targets uh by 2023. While not included in this budget, but we are hoping for some additional discussions or on the topic of school resource officers. Chief Cregan and I, in collaboration with Superintendent Trinell are working actively to develop a program to propose to the ad hoc committee. We are optimistic optimistic about the school board's approval of our proposal and have proactively applied for a state earmark of 2.2 million dollars to fund this initiative. Additionally, we have initiated internal discussions for the waiving of impact fees. As we are currently in the process of crafting a policy for your approval, we welcome your insights on potential funding strategies for the fees that are projected to be waived. This budget session is designed to be interactive, and we really want to have some um intentional discussions. Um staff um will present details of their departments and be ready to discuss and answer any questions that you may have. Questions that require further uh analysis will be compiled and forward following the conclusion of tomorrow's study session. I want to thank the staff again for their hard work, and we are looking forward to today's and tomorrow's discuss discussions so that we can begin to move your policies forward. So thank you for your support.
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