Santa Rosa City Council Meeting June 4, 2024: Tobacco Ordinance, Tree Appeal, Police Reports
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Santa Rosa City Council Regular Meeting - June 4, 2024
The Santa Rosa City Council convened at 2:00 p.m. for a closed session and reconvened for the regular open session at 4:01 p.m., adjourning at 8:23 p.m. Six members were present; Councilmember Chris Rogers was absent. Notable actions included adoption of consent items, direction to revise the tobacco retail licensing ordinance, denial of an appeal to remove a heritage tree, and approval of the police department's annual military equipment report.
Consent Calendar
- Approved minutes of May 7 and May 8, 2024, regular meetings as submitted.
- Adopted resolutions 13.1 through 13.6 by a 6-0 vote (C. Rogers absent). These included:
- Resolution RES-2024-077 increasing Blanket Purchase Order with Geotab USA by $175,000 to a total of $600,000.
- Resolution RES-2024-078 appropriating $263,000 from General Fund unassigned reserves for a settlement with Meadowgreen No. 2 Homeowners Association.
- Resolutions RES-2024-079 and RES-2024-080 calling the November 5, 2024, General Municipal Election for Council Districts 1, 3, 5, and 7 and adopting candidate statement regulations.
- Resolution RES-2024-081 extending the local homeless emergency proclamation.
- Ordinances ORD-2024-008 and ORD-2024-009 adopting second readings of the Oakmont Planned Development text amendment and pre-zoning for 5817 Highway 12.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Multiple members of the public spoke during the meeting. Duane DeWitt spoke in support of the wildfire awareness proclamation, community empowerment efforts, homeless emergency extension, and the tobacco ordinance, and raised concerns about veteran homelessness and weed abatement in Roseland.
- Public comment on the tobacco ordinance (13.7): Dr. Eva Yeeda, Greg Damron, Michelle McGarre, Avril Ramirez, Mary Lou Schmidt, Pam Granger (Tobacco Free Sonoma County), Duane DeWitt, and Dr. Lauren Gritzer spoke in support. Harman Dhillon and JP spoke in opposition, raising concerns about business impacts and jurisdictional inconsistency.
- Non-agenda public comment: Logan Leddy, Theresa Holm, and Miriam Pimentel shared personal experiences in support of affordable housing.
- Public comment on the Bunya Bunya tree appeal: Henry, a Silvercrest resident, spoke in support of removing the tree, citing falling branches and cones as dangerous.
Discussion Items
- Proclamation: Councilmember MacDonald presented the National Wildfire Awareness Month proclamation to Fire Marshal Paul Lowenthal.
- Community Empowerment Plan Update: Ana Horta and Francheasca Roberson presented updates, including the selection of 15 committee members for VIBE (Voices for Inclusion, Belonging, and Equity) and ongoing equity plan work.
Tobacco Retail Licensing Ordinance (Item 13.7)
- Assistant City Manager Jason Nutt answered Council questions regarding license transferability and fine/revocation structures. The proposed ordinance would impose a tobacco retail license fee and limit license transfers to family or corporate transfers. Councilmembers debated the impact on small businesses versus the public health goal of reducing youth access.
- A motion to adopt the ordinance as presented by Councilmember Fleming failed 2-3 (Fleming and MacDonald yes; Rogers, Stapp, and Okrepkie no; C. Rogers absent; Alvarez recused).
- A subsequent motion by Vice Mayor Stapp, seconded by Okrepkie, to direct staff to revise the ordinance to allow license transfers for business owners unexpectedly adversely affected by geographic restrictions and to align fines/revocation with the County's structure passed 5-0 (C. Rogers absent; Alvarez recused).
Bunya Bunya Tree Removal Appeal (Item 16.1)
- This public hearing concerned an appeal by the Salvation Army of the Planning Commission's 5-2 denial of a permit to remove an approximately 125-foot-tall Bunya Bunya tree at 1080 2nd Street.
- Staff and Planning Commission Chair Karen Weeks recommended denial, citing the tree's aesthetic, heritage, and lack of code basis for maintenance costs. The appellant (Salvation Army) argued liability risks, falling branches and 20-pound cones, and the burden of maintenance costs for their 186-unit HUD senior housing community.
- Councilmember MacDonald recused herself due to a previous business relationship with the Salvation Army. The Council voted 5-0 (C. Rogers absent; MacDonald recused) to deny the appeal and uphold the Planning Commission's denial, adopting Resolution RES-2024-082.
Police Department Annual Military Equipment Report (Item 15.1)
- Chief John Cregan and Lieutenant Tommy Isachsen presented the AB 481 annual report covering June to December 2023. The report detailed usage of drones, armored vehicle, breaching tools, projectiles, and specialized firearms; most items had zero field deployments and were used only in training. The department requested approval to continue use and future purchases such as 25 suppressors and a drone attachment.
- Councilmember Fleming expressed concern about the Bearcat's use at a faith-based 'Faith in Blue' event, stating it was not an appropriate use of public resources.
- The Council adopted the amended Resolution RES-2024-083 approving the report and determining that the military equipment ordinance should not be repealed or amended, by a 6-0 vote.
Independent Police Auditor Annual Report (Item 15.2)
- The OIR Group (Michael Gennaco, Brian Corr, and Stephen Connolly) presented its annual oversight report. They highlighted the real-time audit model, community outreach, and findings: 56 new internal affairs cases (41 public complaints, down from 2022), all homelessness-related complaints were exonerated, and few biased policing allegations were found. Six technical recommendations were made, focusing on documentation and communication with complainants.
- The report was received and filed without formal action.
Key Outcomes
- Approved consent resolutions and ordinances 13.1–13.6 (6-0).
- Directed staff to return with revisions to the tobacco retail ordinance on license transfers and fine/revocation alignment with the County (5-0).
- Denied the Bunya Bunya tree removal appeal, upholding the Planning Commission's denial (5-0).
- Approved the Police Department's Annual Military Equipment Report and renewed the ordinance (6-0).
- Received and filed the Independent Police Auditor Annual Report.
- Recognized Councilmember Chris Rogers' absence and congratulated him on the birth of his child.
Meeting Transcript
Mic off, I know the thousand mic might say on the home. I told him one fifty nine. Two o'clock. Well, no, no, no, no, no. 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 glow. Once you join the Spanish channel, we recommend you shut off the main audio so you can only hear the Spanish translation. Pablo, will you please restate this in Spanish? Councilmember O'Krupki. Councilmember McDonald. All right. Welcome everyone to our June third, twenty twenty-four, Santa Rosa City Council meeting. It is now four oh one and we will be starting our meeting seeing a quorum, Madam City Clerk. Can you please call the roll? Councilmember Rogers? Councilmember O'Krepke? Councilmember McDonald? Here. Councilmember Fleming? Here. Councilmember Alvarez? Present. Vice Mayor Step? Here. Mayor Rogers. Present. Let the record show that all council members are present with the exception of Councilmember Chris Rogers. Thank you. We have no study session today. So we will continue on to item seven, which is our proclamation Mayor. Yeah. I was looking for it, sorry. Um we will not go to our proclamations. We'll actually have report out on our uh closed session item. Thank you, Madam Mayor, Councilmembers. There is uh what's no reportable action taken in closed session. That's the end of my report. Now we will go to our proclamations. So I'm going to read the rock proclamation. Whereas since two thousand and seventeen the city of Santa Rosa was threatened and directly impacted by the Tubbs, nuns cancade and glass fires. Now, therefore, be it resolved that our mayor Natalie Rogers and the City of Santa Rosa on behalf of the entire city council do hearby proclaim May 2024 as National Wildfire Awareness Month. Thank you very much for reading that proclamation. And after those comments are made, I would like to hand it over to Madam City Clerk so you can facilitate public comment. Thank you, Mayor Rogers. Uh Vice Mayor, members of the council. My name is Paul Lowenthal, Division Chief Fire Marshal with the Santa Rosa Fire Department joined by members of our fire prevention team through our department. I want to thank you for recognizing uh the proclamation as well as the overall awareness of wildfire awareness. Um I feel that the efforts that our community's taken, the support that we have for council, whether it be in the form of approval for contracts or vegetation management work, support for local ordinances, state legislation is all paying off. Uh, we've seen uh obviously the impacts of our community, and we've seen how aware our community is and the measures that they've taken have definitely paid off. Yes, we still continue to have fires, but we've been able to keep those fires small, allow the work that people are doing, whether it's defensible space, weed abatement and vegetation management activities to truly pay off.
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