The City Council of Santa Rosa convened at 4:00 p.m. on Tuesday, September 15, 2026, in Council Chamber at 100 Santa Rosa Avenue. Mayor Mark Stapp presided. Six members were present (Mayor Stapp, Council Members Alvarez, Bañuelos, Fleming, MacDonald, Rogers); Vice Mayor Jeff Okrepkie was absent. Council Member MacDonald participated via teleconference from Maui, Hawaii. The meeting adjourned at 5:19 p.m. The agenda included proclamations, staff briefings, reports, consent items, and public comment on non-agenda matters.
City Manager Jason Nutt reported:
City Attorney Ashle Crocker had no report.
Public comments during City Manager/Attorney reports:
Council members provided brief reports on subcommittee liaisons, district meetings, and community events. Council Member Rogers highlighted that SCTCA awarded $25 million in grant awards, including five Santa Rosa projects. She also shared heroic acts by Parks Maintenance employees Jared Gardner, Edward Wandre, and Moses Jacinto Ramirez in saving lives; they were commended. Council Member Alvarez reported on RUP/RCP high school integration. Council Member MacDonald thanked a park board representative and noted pickleball courts opened at Howard Park. Council Member Bañuelos announced a Violence Prevention Policy Team meeting. Mayor Stapp reported on state legislative fixes for goat herder wages, the Santa Rosa Marathon, former mayors luncheon, district town halls, the city being named most business friendly in Sonoma County (second consecutive year), Russian River Watershed consolidation efforts, and several ribbon cuttings. He also noted a prayer vigil for Nepal and Vince Harper Day.
Public comment on council reports: Michael Hilber urged council members to tour the area around Sam Jones Hall, citing vagrancy, trash, and fires in the ditch.
All consent items were approved by a 6-0 vote (Vice Mayor Okrepkie absent). The following actions were taken:
Public comment on consent items: Michael Hilber spoke in opposition to Item 13.8 (Groundwater Sustainability Agency JPA), arguing it would impose fees on well users and was wasteful.
More than ten speakers addressed the Council between 5:00 p.m. and 5:19 p.m. Key positions:
Good afternoon. I'd I I'd like to ask Grisel, currently on the Spanish channel to commence interpretation of the meeting. For those just joining the meeting, live interpretation 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. If you are on your cell phone or tablet, locate the three dots, tap them lightly, and put a check mark on your preferred language. Click done to activate and begin the interpretation. Once you join the Spanish channel, we recommend you shut off the main audio so you only hear the Spanish interpretation. Claudia, will you please restate this in Spanish? Yes. Vice Mayor Krepki is absent this evening. Do we do we need to make any kind of announcement pertaining to that? No, Mayor, she is uh participating under traditional teleconferencing rules under the Brown Act. Wonderful. Uh welcome remotely, Miss McDonald. Uh we will move on then. We have a very succinct or very uh succinct agenda this evening. We'll go right to uh the fun part here, our proclamations. Uh and I will hand it over to Miss Fleming. Thank you. Uh whereas public transportation plays a vital role in connecting communities, supporting economic vitality and enhancing quality of life, and whereas Santa Rosa City Bus and Santa Rosa Paratransit provides safe, reliable and accessible climate friendly transportation that which connects residents to essential destinations including employment, education, health care, and recreation, whereas Santa Rosa City Bus and Santa Rosa Paratransit provide essential transportation services supporting mobility throughout the community, including 1.5 million passenger trips annually and more than 780,000 service miles with an average of 2100 weekday student trips helping students get to and from school, whereas Paratransit promotes independence and mobility for individuals with disabilities, advancing equity and inclusion in our community, whereas the dedicated operators mechanics supervisors and staff of Santa Rosa City Bus and Santa Rosa Paratransit provide critical public service with professionalism and care and whereas public transit reduces traffic congestion, improves air quality, supports city's climate goals, and whereas the city of Santa Rosa is committed to transitioning to a zero emission transit fleet, reducing greenhouse gas emissions and advancing a more sustainable future. And whereas public transit reduces traffic congestion, improves air quality, supports cities' climate goals, and whereas the city of Santa Rosa is committed to transitioning to a zero emission transit fleet, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and advancing a more sustainable future. And whereas National Transit Month provides an opportunity to recognize the importance of transit and encourage residents to utilize these services. Now, therefore, be it resolved that Mayor Mark Stapp and the City of Santa Rosa hereby proclaim September of 2026 is National Transit Month in the City of Santa Rosa and encourages residents to recognize and support City Bus and Paratransit. And it's great we have so many members of our transit team out tonight. Uh and you've got you've got a number of dedicated bus riders up here on the Dais, including I believe Miss Ben Wellos. Three did the bus not get you here this evening. Oh, it was wonderful and very efficient, and I really appreciate the work that you all do. I, you know, I had to take the bus. I can't drive right now. So you know, you're there when people need you, and also for everyone else that needs you on a daily basis. So thank you. Thank you indeed. All right, we're gonna do a photo eventually, but is it but Jamie Smeatis or Rachel Eid, which of you, Rachel, are you gonna accept the proclamation? By all means, say a few words. Yeah, I'd like to say a few words, and I have someone else I'd like to accept the proclamation. Um good afternoon, Mayor and Council. I'm Rachel Lee, Deputy Director Transit. On behalf of the staff of Santa Rosa City Bus and Santa Rosa Paratransit, I'd like to thank the council for this proclamation for National Transit Month and for recognizing public transit as an essential component of the infrastructure of mobility and equity in Santa Rosa and beyond. A few years ago, one of our longtime bus operators coined a motto for City Bus, Moving Lives Forward. It's on the buttons that I think you all have in front of you right now. It's a deceptively simple motto that reflects the deep impact access to public transit has on individuals and communities. Public transit is for everyone, and whether it's providing access to education, employment, health care, shopping, recreation, or any other opportunity, our transit and paratransit services make it possible for all of us to move our lives forward. This is a mission the dedicated staff of Santa Rosa City Bus and Santa Rosa Paratransit take to heart and deliver on seven days a week. In the field every day delivering service to the public, our bus and paratransit operators, customer service staff, and field supervisors who are supported by our fleet maintenance teams and the bus service workers who fuel and clean our buses overnight. In the office, we have staff providing technology support, planning and scheduling services, managing our finances, and providing the administrative support required to keep everything moving smoothly. We have several representatives of the City Bus and Santa Rosa Paratransit teams here today, and Luis Rivera, a longtime city bus operator and chief steward of SEIU Unit 8, will accept this proclamation on behalf of our team. Thank you again for your support and recognition of National Transit Month. During transit month, we encourage everyone to come out and take a ride on City Bus or one of our partner transit agencies to discover where public transit can take you. Thank you so much. Thank you very much, Director Eid and Luis.