South San Francisco City Council Regular Meeting - March 27, 2024
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South San Francisco City Council Regular Meeting - March 27, 2024
The South San Francisco City Council held a regular meeting on March 27, 2024, at 6:30 PM. The meeting included presentations on a community award and the Child Care Master Plan, a public hearing on CDBG funding, discussion of a digital billboard agreement, a study session on a potential Community Facilities District (CFD), and reports on housing and general plan progress. Public comments focused on calls for a ceasefire resolution, preservation of the Municipal Services Building (MSB), and support for child care.
Consent Calendar
- Items 3 (approval of March 13, 2024 minutes), 4 (resolution authorizing application for Prohousing Incentive Program funds), and 5 (ordinances for digital billboards) were on the consent calendar.
- Councilmember Adiego requested to pull Item 5 for a separate vote; Councilmember Nagales asked to pull Item 4 for discussion.
- Item 4: The city received a Prohousing designation in summer 2023, allowing access to a formula award of up to $890,000. Funds would be used for acquisition of a building with single-room occupancy units. The resolution was approved unanimously (5-0) after a brief presentation.
- Item 5: The ordinances allow four digital billboards along US 101, including a 65-foot-tall double-faced billboard on a PG&E easement. The city will receive payments over time. Councilmember Adiego opposed, citing minimal long-term revenue. The vote was 3-2 in favor (Councilmembers Nogales and Adiego voted no).
Public Comments & Testimony
- Ceasefire Resolution: Over 20 speakers urged the council to agendize a resolution calling for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza, release of hostages, and unrestricted humanitarian aid. Speakers cited over 39,000 deaths, including 14,000 children, and described impacts on local Palestinian families and students. Many expressed disappointment that a resolution had not been agendized despite previous council comments. A few speakers opposed, arguing the issue is outside local purview.
- Municipal Services Building (MSB): Several speakers advocated for reopening the MSB and rezoning the property from housing to mixed-use, emphasizing its past use as a community center, senior hub, and childcare space. They requested a community town hall and preservation of the building.
- Child Care & Senior Services: One speaker urged attention to senior day care needs, suggesting the MSB or other facilities.
- CDBG Public Hearing: Representatives from Cora (domestic violence), Friends for Youth (mentoring), HIP Housing (home sharing and housing scholarships), Rape Trauma Services, and Rebuilding Together Peninsula spoke in support of CDBG funding for their programs.
Discussion Items
- Child Care Master Plan Presentation (Item 2): The Joint Advisory Committee (JACCCMP) presented recommendations on affordability, workforce, and systems. Key recommendations: sustain funding for subsidized care, maintain city funding for Parks & Rec child care (currently covers 50% of operational costs), grow local childcare workforce through pipelines, create a uniform registration system, and allocate funding for childcare coordination. Councilmembers praised the work and expressed commitment to implementation.
- CDBG Annual Action Plan – Needs Assessment (Item 6): Staff presented the FY 2024-25 plan, with an estimated $457,000 CDBG entitlement. Goals include affordable housing, public facilities, public services, and homeless services. Councilmember Nagales recused himself due to prior employment with a listed agency. A public hearing was held; no action taken. The subcommittee will develop a budget for adoption on May 8.
- Eastern Neighborhoods Community Facilities District Study Session (Item 7): Staff and consultants presented a potential CFD east of 101 to fund transportation improvements (transit lanes, protected bikeways, trails, pedestrian connections). The district includes ~260 property owners over 1,000 acres. Outreach will include town halls and one-on-one meetings. The council offered feedback: explore including tide lands, address maintenance funding, and ensure connectivity to the rest of the city. No action required.
- General Plan and Housing Element Annual Progress Reports (Item 8): Staff reported that 51% of 764 general plan policies/actions are complete or ongoing. The housing element (RHNA 3,956 units) reported only 100+ units produced in year 1, but 805 units are entitled. Councilmembers expressed concern about meeting production targets given market conditions, and discussed creative financing options (e.g., housing production fund). The report was accepted and transmitted to the state.
- Housing Successor Agency Annual Report (Item 9): The fund had a $4.2 million balance as of June 30, 2023. $335,000 was spent, mostly on rental assistance. An excess surplus of ~$500,000 must be spent within three years. The report was received and filed.
Key Outcomes
- Approved Minutes (March 13, 2024) – unanimous.
- Approved Prohousing Incentive Program resolution (5-0).
- Approved digital billboard ordinances (3-2).
- Accepted General Plan and Housing Element progress reports (5-0) and transmitted to state.
- Received and filed Housing Successor Agency Annual Report (5-0).
- Council directed staff to continue CFD outreach and return in June with results.
- Council comments: Mayor Coleman confirmed he is working on a ceasefire resolution draft with community input; Councilmember Adiego expressed frustration with delay. Councilmember Nagales suggested a housing production fund. Councilmember Flores noted the CFD could free up general fund monies.
- Closed Session items were announced but no reportable actions taken.
Additional Notes
- The meeting recessed briefly after public comments.
- Councilmember Nagales recused from Item 6.
- The next meeting is scheduled for May 8, 2024, for CDBG action.
Meeting Transcript
All right. It is 6 30. Hello, everyone. Welcome to the council chambers, the meeting of the South San Francisco City Council for March 27th at 6 30. We'll come to order. Madam Clerk, roll call, please. Councilmember I Diego. Here. Councilmember Nogales. Here. Councilmember Nicholas. Present, Vice Mayor Flores. Present. Mayor Coleman. Here. Thank you. Now please stand for the Pledge of Allegiance led by our new communications director, Anjanette. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God, indivisible with liberty and justice for all. Right. City manager, are there any changes to the order of the agenda? We have no changes, Mayor. All right. Thank you. And are there any announcements from staff? We do not have announcements this evening. On to the next item. Item number one under presentations is a certificate of recognition of recognition honoring Maya Thompson, San Mateo County Women's Hall of Fame inductee. All right. So if you haven't heard the news, uh South City's one of South City's very own Maya Thompson was recently inducted to the San Mateo County Women's Hall of Fame, which is very exciting. I know the Vice Mayor Eddie Flores and I were able to go to the Fair Lawn room at Skyline College and see so many of the amazing accomplished women get inducted to the Hall of Fame and inclusive of our very own Maya Thompson. And so I have the certificate here. And it reads the City Council of South San Francisco does hereby congratulate you on earning the National African American Recognition Award for your strong academic performance on the PSAT and advanced placement exams. And your inductee into the 35th San Mateo County Women's Hall of Fame. Thank you so much for being a volunteer extraordinaire and all that you do to help and inspire youth to achieve their goals. You are an inspiration to our community. And so I'll give you this presentation, this um certificate, and you are you'd be able to uh give us some words. Um I would just like to say thank you to Mayor Coleman for presenting me with this certificate. It is such an honor to be recognized for all of my achievements and just to have the opportunity to be acknowledged by the community. So once again, thank you so much. Moving along to item number two is a presentation from the joint advisory committee of the child care master plan for South San Francisco introduction, summary of work, and brief presentation. They will be up shortly. They're just coming down from a little uh celebration uh of their accomplishments. And for all those in the audience, um over the past year, we've embarked on creating uh an ad hoc child care committee to research the ways where we can implement our child care master plan that we created uh last year. And uh this committee was chaired by myself as well as as our council member floor Nicholas, and it really highlights uh how much we care about and want to prioritize child care and education from birth and all the way through K-12 and beyond. And of course, that includes child care and our after-school programs. And so uh very excited to hear the presentation uh by our members and all the great work that they have accomplished in the past year. Thank you. Thank you, Mayor. And good evening, uh, mayor and council people, council members. My name is Kathleen White, and I've been um coordinating this effort, uh, the joint advisory committee of the childcare master plan led by Mayor Coleman and Councilperson Flora Nicholas.
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