OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD
Record of Proceedings

South San Francisco City Council Regular Meeting - January 11, 2023

City Council — Wednesday, January 11, 2023
BodySouth San Francisco, California
SessionCity Council
DateWednesday, January 11, 2023
StatusFILED
Video Record
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Transcript — Verbatim
0:00

I was just waiting to see if council member Flores joined us online and I don't see him, but I am ready to go when you are let's give him one minute.

0:18

Maybe two.

0:19

Maybe two.

0:20

There we go.

0:21

I believe he's joining us now.

0:23

There he is.

0:28

Happy New Year, everyone.

0:30

This is our first meeting for the year, and um this is the regular meeting for Wednesday, January 11, 2023.

0:42

I'm calling to order the meeting.

0:47

Roll call, please.

0:49

Thank you, Madam Mayor.

0:50

Councilmember Adiego.

0:52

Here.

0:53

Councilmember Coleman.

0:55

Here.

0:56

Councilmember Flores.

0:58

Here.

0:58

Vice Mayor Nogales.

1:00

Here.

1:01

Mayor Nicholas.

1:02

Present.

1:03

Thank you.

1:04

May I request our sustainability officer, Christina Fernandez to lead us to on the Pledge of Allegiance.

1:15

I pledge allegiance.

1:16

To the five states.

1:19

And to the Republic.

1:20

For which it stands.

1:22

One nation under God.

1:24

Indivisible with Liberty and Justice for All.

1:32

Agenda review.

1:34

No changes to the agenda, Madam Mayor.

1:40

Announcements from staff.

1:44

Rosa.

1:47

Yes, ma'am.

1:48

And we do have an announcement from staff, and it's a loaded presentation.

1:52

I believe we have staff in the council chamber and our department has been promoted to answer any questions that the council may have.

2:02

Good evening, Mayor.

2:06

Good evening, Mayor, Vice Mayor, and Council members.

2:08

I'm Sharon Rannolds, the acting city manager.

2:12

What we do have for you this evening is a bit of a storm update.

2:16

And I'm gonna start the presentation and then I have some of the relevant staff here who are also gonna present their sections.

2:23

And I believe that we'll wait for the presentation to load.

2:28

There we go.

2:29

Very good.

2:31

And this is also for the certainly the benefit of the community.

2:35

South San Francisco was hit with three big storms in the past two weeks.

2:39

This resulted in widespread power outages, down trees, damage to homes, flooding, and also the temporary closure of highway 101.

2:48

The city declared a state of emergency on January 4th, which of course is subject to city council council certification this evening.

2:57

The county, the state, and the federal government has also declared states of emergency on a local level.

3:04

This will allow us to seek reimbursement for the costs associated with responding to the storms, at least some of the costs, and it will also set us up to contract more easily.

3:39

That storm delivered two to four inches of rain in the lower elevation and four to six inches in the hills.

3:45

We also experienced high winds in the 50 to 70 mile per hour range, localized flooding downed power lines, outages, and displaced residents.

4:14

As it caught up with me there, uh at the storm's peak, we had approximately 8,400 customers without power.

4:22

For residents to check on the status of the PGE outages, uh, you can visit WW.pge.com and click on that view and report outages.

4:33

Uh most of these outages were caused by high wind and down trees.

4:37

Uh the city did offer some temporary evacuation points for folks during the day who were uh impacted by that.

4:45

I wanted to mention that the uh city departments coordinated and prepared for the December 31st storm, but the the amount of rainfall, I believe a cell a cell sort of stalled over South San Francisco, and it delivered just way more uh rainfall than was expected.

5:03

With already saturated soil and the prospect of additional prolonged uh heavy rain and high winds, the fire chief, our emergency services manager, myself and the EOC team conferenced and determined that it would be appropriate to open the EOC to respond, and by EOC I mean the emergency operations center to respond to the storm.

5:24

And so we did activate that on January 4th, 2003 to pre-plan our responses, monitor conditions, and provide support to those who are responding out in the field.

5:35

And also outreach to the community.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Emergency Management█████████████████████21%
Affordable Housing████████████████████20%
Housing██████████████14%
Procedural████████████12%
Public Engagement█████████9%
Public Comment█████5%
Senior Services████4%
Public Safety███3%
Public Works Recognition██2%
Summary of Proceedings

South San Francisco City Council Regular Meeting - January 11, 2023

The City Council held a hybrid regular meeting on January 11, 2023, at 6:00 PM. The meeting included a staff presentation on the January winter storms, approval of the consent calendar, a study session on the draft Housing Element, public comments, and council announcements.

Consent Calendar

  • Approved minutes from the meetings of December 5, 13, 14, and 19, 2022.
  • Ratified the Interim City Manager's proclamation of a local emergency relating to major storm and flooding events (Resolution).
  • Approved an employment agreement for Sharon Ranals as Interim City Manager, with an annual salary of $336,679.20 (10% above her current Assistant City Manager salary) and vacation accrual flexibility; amended the FY2022-23 Salary Schedule accordingly.
  • Approved an amended and restated employment agreement for City Clerk Rosa Govea Acosta.
  • Approved a resolution to continue conducting City Council and advisory body meetings remotely due to health and safety concerns.
  • Approved a second amendment to the consulting agreement with Contractor Compliance and Monitoring, Inc. for $35,000 (total not to exceed $183,802) for the Wet Weather and Digester Improvements Project (CIP Project No. ss1301).
  • Approved authorization to file a grant application for Community Development Block Grant funds through Daly City to support Project Read, and to adjust the FY2023-2024 revenue budget upon award.
  • Approved the Annual Impact Fee and Sewer Capacity Charge Report for Fiscal Year 2021-22.
  • The Council discussed allowing public comment on consent items in the future and directed staff to add clarifying language to the agenda.

Public Comments & Testimony

  • Tom Carney (resident, District 5) spoke in favor of preserving the Municipal Services Building (MSB) as a future senior center, noting the city is a "desert for senior services" and that MSB is safe and historically significant. He criticized the lack of community input on its future.
  • Cynthia Markopoulis (resident) echoed support for MSB as a senior center, citing that 24% of the city's population is 60 years and older, and requested full disclosure of building condition documents.
  • Finola Villeme (resident) expressed concern about the large consent calendar undermining transparency and questioned the city's determination that MSB has no historic significance; she submitted a Public Records Act request for supporting documents.
  • Kenneth Doe (Field Representative, Carpenters Union 217) urged the Council to adopt labor standards (prevailing wage, apprenticeship, health care, local hire) for housing developers to ensure quality construction and workforce stability.
  • Keanu Simmons (Organizer, Housing Leadership Council of San Mateo County) praised the draft Housing Element but requested stronger commitments in Program EQ 6.3 (affordable housing funds from commercial linkage fees) and clarification on allowable density in Program CRT 7.2 (housing on institutional sites).
  • Brian Shields (Field Representative, Carpenters Local 217) also advocated for labor standards, noting that unrepresented construction workers often commute long distances due to low wages.

Discussion Items

Storm Emergency Update and Response

  • Staff Presentation: Interim City Manager Sharon Ranals, Emergency Services Manager Ken Anderson, Fire Chief, Police Chief Scott Campbell, Parks & Rec Director Greg Mediati, Library Director Valerie Summers, Public Works Director Yoon Jin Kim, and Communications Director Leslie Arroyo provided updates.
    • Event Summary: Three major storms in two weeks delivered 2–4 inches of rain in low elevations and 4–6 inches in hills, with winds of 50–70 mph. At peak, approximately 8,400 customers lost power. The city declared a local emergency on January 4; county, state, and federal emergencies were also declared.
    • Response: Emergency Operations Center (EOC) activated January 4; about 375 city employees involved. Fire Department responded to 84 storm-related calls (additional staffing added). Police Department managed 664 incidents (including non-weather calls) and provided dispatch for Pacifica and Colma. Parks & Rec reported ~20 trees down, minor slides on Sign Hill, and sandbag/erosion work. Public Works noted that the wastewater treatment plant handled about 16 million gallons per day (10 times normal dry weather flow), with no flooding on site. Library opened additional hours for shelter.
    • Communications: Social media engagement rose sharply (Facebook post reach up ~300%, engagements up 406%, new page likes up 220%; Twitter impressions up 215%). Over 100 new residents signed up for alerts.
    • Displacement: 14 adults and 6 children displaced from an apartment complex on Suzy Way; county shelter and landlord assistance provided.
    • Safety: Two minor staff injuries; no serious public injuries reported.
  • Council Questions: Councilmember Addiego asked about using impact fees for repairs (Director of Finance clarified impact fees cannot be used, but general fund set-aside is available). Councilmember Coleman sought numbers for tree and public works reporting. Councilmember Flores requested clarification on tree ownership and received details from Parks & Rec. Mayor Nicolas expressed gratitude and suggested additional outreach methods for non-digital residents.

Study Session on Draft Housing Element

  • Presentation by Chief Planner Tony Rozzi:
    • The draft Housing Element covers the 2023–2031 cycle with a Regional Housing Needs Allocation (RHNA) target of 3,956 units. The city has zoned capacity for approximately 13,000 units across four opportunity areas: El Camino Real North, El Camino Real South, Lindenville, and South Airport Boulevard.
    • Submitted to the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) in July 2022; HCD provided comments on December 7, 2022. Key revisions include additional analysis on affirmatively furthering fair housing, corrected ADU projections (average 38–40 per year), descriptions of opportunity sites, and updated program timelines.
    • Environmental clearance covered by the previously adopted General Plan Environmental Impact Report.
    • Adoption timeline: Planning Commission hearing January 19, City Council adoption target January 25.
  • Council Comments:
    • Councilmember Addiego discussed the need for veteran housing, parking considerations for disabled residents, potential for housing on institutional sites, and expressed support for the overall direction.
    • Councilmember Flores highlighted the emphasis on equity and avoidance of displacement, especially in low-income census tracts.
    • Mayor Nicolas explained changes in RHNA methodology (now weighted more toward segregation/poverty concentration rather than jobs-housing balance) and noted that ADU growth during COVID was partly due to the Hello Housing program.
    • Councilmember Addiego requested stronger language on commercial linkage fee priorities and labor standards.

Key Outcomes

  • Consent calendar (Items 1–8) approved unanimously (5-0).
  • Council directed staff to incorporate feedback on the draft Housing Element (including veteran housing, parking, commercial linkage fee details, and labor standard considerations) before the January 19 Planning Commission meeting, with adoption expected January 25.
  • Council agreed to agendize a letter supporting amendments to AB 2449 (remote meeting flexibility) for a future meeting.
  • The meeting will be adjourned in memory of Brad Ingersall and Frank Ingersall, Leona Lee Bryan, Raymond Wang, Irene Malabed, Joe Ventura, and Eduardo Aquino.
  • Staff will add a clause to future agendas clarifying the opportunity for public comment on consent calendar items.
  • Continued monitoring and documentation of storm damage costs for potential reimbursement.

Meeting Transcript

I was just waiting to see if council member Flores joined us online and I don't see him, but I am ready to go when you are let's give him one minute. Maybe two. Maybe two. There we go. I believe he's joining us now. There he is. Happy New Year, everyone. This is our first meeting for the year, and um this is the regular meeting for Wednesday, January 11, 2023. I'm calling to order the meeting. Roll call, please. Thank you, Madam Mayor. Councilmember Adiego. Here. Councilmember Coleman. Here. Councilmember Flores. Here. Vice Mayor Nogales. Here. Mayor Nicholas. Present. Thank you. May I request our sustainability officer, Christina Fernandez to lead us to on the Pledge of Allegiance. I pledge allegiance. To the five states. And to the Republic. For which it stands. One nation under God. Indivisible with Liberty and Justice for All. Agenda review. No changes to the agenda, Madam Mayor. Announcements from staff. Rosa. Yes, ma'am. And we do have an announcement from staff, and it's a loaded presentation. I believe we have staff in the council chamber and our department has been promoted to answer any questions that the council may have. Good evening, Mayor. Good evening, Mayor, Vice Mayor, and Council members. I'm Sharon Rannolds, the acting city manager. What we do have for you this evening is a bit of a storm update. And I'm gonna start the presentation and then I have some of the relevant staff here who are also gonna present their sections. And I believe that we'll wait for the presentation to load. There we go. Very good. And this is also for the certainly the benefit of the community. South San Francisco was hit with three big storms in the past two weeks. This resulted in widespread power outages, down trees, damage to homes, flooding, and also the temporary closure of highway 101. The city declared a state of emergency on January 4th, which of course is subject to city council council certification this evening. The county, the state, and the federal government has also declared states of emergency on a local level. This will allow us to seek reimbursement for the costs associated with responding to the storms, at least some of the costs, and it will also set us up to contract more easily.

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