South San Francisco City Council Regular Meeting - January 24, 2024
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South San Francisco City Council Regular Meeting - January 24, 2024
The South San Francisco City Council held a regular meeting on January 24, 2024, at 6:30 PM in the Council Chambers. The meeting included a proclamation, council comments, public comments, consent calendar approvals, and several administrative business items. All consent items and most discussion items were approved unanimously, with one item passing 4-1.
Presentations
- Proclamation Recognizing National Gun Violence Survivors Week (January 22-26, 2024): Mayor Coleman presented the proclamation to Police Chief Scott Campbell. Chief Campbell reported that in 2023, the police department encountered 38 individuals with illegal firearms or assault weapons, a 17% increase from 2022. He emphasized the department's efforts to remove illegal guns from the streets.
Council Comments & Requests
- Councilmembers reported on recent events: a Lunar New Year celebration at the Library Parks & Recreation Building (over 300 attendees), a memorial for former Supervisor Don Horsley, an MLK Day of Service at Alta Loma Middle School, an affordable housing roundtable with Senator Josh Becker, a panel on race-conscious housing policies, and a Valentine's for Troops event at the senior center. Vice Mayor Flores highlighted ongoing efforts to address illegal dumping in District 5, including coordination with Public Works and the Engage SSF app.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Cynthia Markopoulos (District 4 resident, Save the MSB supporter) requested a meeting with Mayor Coleman to tour the Municipal Services Building (MSB) for its potential use as a senior multi-use community center. She noted that a year has passed since the MSB was rezoned and no public meeting has been held.
- Charlene Roosevelt (Save the MSB supporter) urged the council to consider the MSB as a multi-use building for seniors, citing parking issues at the new campus, lack of alphabetical signage in the library, and safety concerns at the intersection of El Camino Real and Westborough. She referenced the National Council on Aging's emphasis on equitable aging.
- Peggy (senior, MSB supporter) advocated for keeping the fire station at its current location and expanding the police department instead. She also noted the need for better traffic flow and emergency access in the area.
Consent Calendar
- Minutes of January 10, 2024: Approved.
- Ordinance approving Development Agreement DA22-0005 with HCP Forbes, LLC for Vantage Life Science Campus (420-490 Forbes Blvd): Second reading and adoption.
- Resolution accepting $4,069.14 from San Mateo County for a 30-day Vote Center at the Main Library for the March 5, 2024 Presidential Primary Election; Budget Amendment 24.029: Approved.
- Resolution approving South San Francisco Fire Department's annual inspections performance per California Health and Safety Code Section 13146.4: Approved.
- Resolution authorizing application for $16,427 from CalRecycle for beverage container recycling programs; Budget Amendment 24.031: Approved. Councilmember Addiego requested more creative use of funds; staff indicated funds will be used for additional Big Belly trash/recycling containers and educational materials.
- Resolution approving Annual Impact Fee and Sewer Capacity Charge Report for FY 2022-23: Approved.
Discussion Items
- Item 8: Professional Services Agreement with Maze and Associates for Independent Audit Services: A three-year agreement (not to exceed $290,818, including 10% contingency, with option to extend two additional years). Maze has been the city's auditor since 2004. The selection committee (Finance Director, Deputy Finance Director, Acting Accounting Supervisor) evaluated six proposals, with Maze scoring highest. Council discussed selection criteria, partner rotation, and the composition of the interview committee. Motion passed 5-0.
- Item 9: Acceptance of Annual Comprehensive Financial Report (ACFR) and Related Reports for FY 2022-23: Amy Meyer (Maze) presented audit results: unmodified (clean) opinions on all financial statements, TDA, Measures A and W, and no compliance findings. Four other matters were noted in the internal control memorandum. Finance Director Chang presented financial highlights: General Fund operating surplus of $12.9 million, ending fund balance of $71.8 million, reserves at 20% of revenues (GFOA best practice). Council discussed pension liability ($86 million increase due to market conditions), sales tax variances, and infrastructure reserves. Motion passed 5-0.
- Item 10: Every Kid Deserves a Bike Program – $200,000 State Grant Appropriation: Assistant City Manager Rich presented. The program began in 2022, distributing 150 bikes (2022) and 350 bikes (2023) to students at Martin, Spruce, Los Cerritos, Sunshine Gardens, and Parkway schools. Funding from Assemblymember Diane Papan. Council expressed strong support, discussed tracking bike usage data, infrastructure needs, and the program's impact on underserved youth. Vice Mayor Flores noted the program intentionally targets low-income families. Motion passed 5-0.
- Item 11: Professional Services Agreement with Boucher Law, PC for Labor Relations Consulting – $100,000: HR Director Lockhart presented. Boucher Law scored highest (37/40) among three proposals. Christopher Boucher described his experience (20 years, including HR director roles and private practice). Council debated: Vice Mayor Flores expressed concern about proceeding given unions' request to extend contracts, and wanted more transparency. Councilmember Addiego shared past stressful negotiations and wanted to feel comfortable. Councilmember Coleman and others supported moving forward. The motion passed 4-1, with Vice Mayor Flores voting no. The contract is for one year with optional extensions, and can be terminated early.
- Item 12: 2024 City Council Committee Assignments: Mayor Coleman presented assignments. Councilmembers noted minor corrections (e.g., SAMTrans vs. Council of Cities, and alternates on Conference Center Authority). No action required.
Key Outcomes
- All Consent Calendar items (items 2–7) were approved unanimously.
- Items 8, 9, 10, and 11 were approved individually (item 11 passed 4-1).
- Item 12 was noted.
- Closed Session: Item 13 (Conference with Legal Counsel – existing litigation) was postponed to a future date. Item 14 (Conference with Real Property Negotiators re Sign Hill parcels) was held as agendized.
Meeting Transcript
So we'll just have one item in the closed session this evening. Thank you. And do we have any announcements from staff? We do not have announcements this evening. All right. That means moving on to proclamations and presentations. Thank you, Mayor Coleman. Before we move on, uh Madam City Manager, what item from closed session will we not be hearing tonight. It's item 13. 13. Thank you. Moving on to presentation number one is a proclamation recognizing National Gun Violence Survivors Week, January 22nd through January 26, 2024. Sure, I can leave this one off. So this week marks the sixth annual National Gun Violence Survivors Week, and it is a time when we come together to honor and amplify the stories and voices of gun violence survivors who live with the impact of gun violence every day of the year. And so just this past week, I had the opportunity to travel to Washington, DC for the U.S. conference of mayors, and there I met with uh some advocates um against gun violence, and they invited me and I graciously signed um a form that allowed me to join mayors against illegal guns to really join the fight against gun violence uh throughout the country. And I know our our city of South San Francisco, we uh are doing a lot when it comes to addressing gun violence. We uh host we have hosted multiple anonymous gun buyback programs, uh partnering with our county of San Mateo, and we also have a gun storage and lock ordinance uh that we passed about a couple years ago. And uh of course there's always more we can do, and I'm looking forward to working with our city staff, our police department, and our and my colleagues, of course, to addressing gun violence and seeing how many other ways that we can really reduce that here. Every day in America, at least 120 people are shot and killed, more than 200 are shot and wounded, and countless others experienced trauma from gun violence. And um, you know, early February, you know, by early February, more people are killed with guns in the US than are killed with guns in any other high income country in the entire year. Tragically, our gun death rate is 13 times that of our pure countries, and sometimes it really hits closer than you would think at home. This week marks this week also marks the anniversary of the two deadly mass shootings at Half Moon Bay and Montreal Park here in California. So during National Gun Violence Survivors Week, we really recommit ourselves to honoring survivors with action. And so I have this proclamation and I am uh honored to present this to our uh our police chief Scott Campbell. Uh good evening, Mayor, Vice Mayor, and Councilmember Scott Campbell, your chief of police. Uh first and foremost, our hearts go out to those that have lost loved ones due to uh gun violence and blessings to those uh survivors that are out there. We all know the impacts that it has on them and their families. Uh I could ensure you that your police department is doing the best that they can to prevent gun violence from happening in South San Francisco. In 2023, uh we encountered 38 individuals with illegal firearms or assault weapons who are safely taken into custody. That is a uh 70 per 17 percent increase from 2022. So um the guns are out there. We're doing our best to safely uh take those guns off the streets and hold people accountable that are gonna use those to cause harm. Once again, thank you. I'm honored to receive the proclamation. Thank you. Moving on to council comments and requests. Who would like to start off? I can go first. Mine is not very extensive. Um, I want to thank uh the mayor for hosting which I hope it will be an annual lunar new year celebration that we've been doing. Um it was great. The crowd um it was a f packed room. Um and the lion dance performance was fantastic. Um I appreciate kind of just us recognizing the the multiple cultures that we celebrate in South San Francisco. We are a very welcoming inclusive city, and we keep showing that. And the and I know that Unar New Year's are very um festive celebrations, so I look forward to kind of seeing um the celebrations throughout South San Francisco. I look forward to kind of seeing the celebrations throughout South San Francisco. And I think it was great that we had Bulba and Dimsom there. I think that was one of the major attractions for people.
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