South San Francisco City Council Adopts Wage Theft Ordinance, Approves Grants – Oct 9, 2024
STREAMING COPY IN PREPARATION — RECORDING AVAILABLE FROM THE ORIGINAL SOURCE
South San Francisco City Council Regular Meeting – October 9, 2024
Note on Meeting Time: The official agenda lists the meeting as taking place on October 9, 2024, at 6:30 PM Pacific Daylight Time. The metadata provided for this analysis specifies the date as 2024-10-09 14:30:00+00:00. This discrepancy is noted.
The South San Francisco City Council convened on October 9, 2024, for a regular meeting that included proclamations, public comment, the routine approval of a consent calendar, and two major discussion items. The council unanimously adopted a new ordinance targeting wage theft in the construction industry and accepted a $1.5 million state grant for intersection safety improvements.
Proclamations and Presentations
- Breast Cancer Awareness Month: The council recognized October as Breast Cancer Awareness Month. The proclamation was presented to South San Francisco resident and advocate Lori Ratliff, who shared her personal experiences as a breast cancer survivor.
- Code Enforcement Week: The council proclaimed October 6–12 as Code Enforcement Officer Appreciation Week. Code Enforcement Officer Don Lovell accepted the proclamation, noting the city’s three officers handle over 1,200 cases annually.
- Indigenous Peoples’ Day: The council recognized October 14 as Indigenous Peoples’ Day and presented the proclamation to RISE South San Francisco, with a community celebration scheduled for October 12.
Council Comments and Staff Announcements
- Staff announced upcoming events, including a volunteer tree planting, the annual Halloween Extravaganza, a Senior Showcase, a free flu shot clinic, and a film screening of “Nurse Unseen.”
- Councilmembers recapped the grand opening of Centennial Way Park South, the Filipino American History Month kick-off, the State of the City address, a climate summit, and regional discussions on homelessness and county services. Councilmember Nicolas recognized the Communications team and the Cultures United initiative. Councilmember Nagales reported on visits with local Girl Scouts and the diversity employment day.
Public Comments
- Michael Harris raised unresolved personal concerns regarding city/county services but also expressed gratitude for city workers.
- Corey David criticized local political campaign conduct and ethics.
- Cynthia Markopolis raised several issues: concerns over the preservation of official city meeting videos; an assertion that Measure W ballot language on the city website had been altered to remove the phrases “senior” and “disabled services”; the $210 million estimated cost of the Civic Center Campus project; and advocacy to remove the Municipal Services Building (MSB) from the housing element to repurpose it as a community facility.
Consent Calendar
The council unanimously approved the following routine items via a single motion:
- Approval of the meeting minutes from September 25 and October 1, 2024.
- Acceptance of a $12,000 grant from Pacific Library Partnership to launch a Virtual Reality program.
- Authorization of an agreement with Caltrans for the Shoreline Protection and Connectivity Project.
- Authorization to submit a grant application (MTC RM3) for East Grand Avenue corridor improvements (local match not exceeding $2,000,000).
- Acceptance of a $270,000 grant from San Mateo County for the Economic Advancement Center.
- Authorization to submit a grant application for the Grand Avenue Streetscape Improvement Project.
- Acceptance of a $10,000 grant from Sunlight Giving for children’s area furnishings at the Grand Avenue Library.
Discussion Item: Wage Theft Ordinance (Item 12/12a)
Deputy Director Tony Rozzi presented the proposed ordinance to add Chapter 8.78 to the municipal code, allowing the city to withhold certificates of occupancy or final building permits when an owner or contractor has an unpaid, final wage theft judgment sustained by the state.
-
Council Deliberation: Councilmembers discussed enforcement (complaint-driven, verified by the city attorney) and liability. Councilmember Addiego proposed lowering the applicability threshold from 15,000 square feet to 5,000 square feet to capture smaller commercial projects. Councilmember Nicolas requested clarity on worker protections and verification processes. The City Attorney confirmed the city’s interest is solely in the judgment being satisfied, regardless of who pays it.
-
Public Testimony: Numerous representatives from local building trade unions spoke overwhelmingly in favor of the ordinance. Speakers from the Carpenters, SMART, Laborers, Painters, Insulators, and Elevator Constructors unions provided local and regional examples of wage theft. Bart Ponto of the San Mateo County Building Trades Council highlighted state legislation (Labor Code 218.7) holding general contractors liable for subcontractors’ unpaid wages.
-
Outcome: The council voted unanimously to introduce the ordinance with the amended threshold of 5,000 square feet.
Discussion Item: Highway Safety Grant (Item 11/11a)
Associate Engineer John Wilson presented a resolution to accept a $1,527,120 grant from Caltrans (Cycle 11 HSIP).
-
Details: Derived from the city’s 2022 Local Road Safety Plan, the project includes retro-reflective signal backplates citywide (projected 15% reduction in total crashes), leading pedestrian intervals at Grand Avenue intersections, and a new traffic signal at Junipero Serra Boulevard and Arroyo Drive. The plan found South City’s intersection crash rate was 5% higher than the state average, and pedestrian crashes were 11% higher.
-
Funding: Requires a 10% local match from citywide traffic impact fees. Design is complete, with bidding in November 2024 and construction expected in fall 2025.
-
Outcome: The resolution was unanimously adopted. Councilmember Nicolas requested year-over-year tracking of crash data to measure the program’s impact.
Items from Council
- The council noted the Filipino American History Month proclamation presented on October 5.
- The council reached consensus to designate Vice Mayor Eddie Flores as the primary voting delegate for the League of California Cities Annual Conference and Expo.
Key Outcomes
- Adopted Wage Theft Ordinance (5-0): Introduced with an amendment lowering the applicability threshold from 15,000 to 5,000 square feet.
- Accepted HSIP Grant (5-0): Authorized the $1,527,120 Caltrans grant for intersection safety improvements.
- Approved Consent Calendar (5-0): Containing six grant authorizations and meeting minutes.
- Designated Conference Delegate: Consensus to appoint Vice Mayor Flores.
Meeting Transcript
Vice Chair Flores. Present. Mayor Mayor Coleman. Here. Councilmember Nogales? Here. Councilmember Nichols? Present. Councilmember Adiego. Here. Thank you. Now please stand for the Pledge of Allegiance led by our city manager, Sharon Randalls. 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. Thank you. Now on to agenda review. No changes to the agenda, Mayor. And next we have a statement about the Levine Act disclosures. Okay, for leave the VM Act disclosures. If you have donated 250 dollars or more to the campaign of a South San Francisco elected official in the past 12 months, the leaving act requires any party agent or participant as defined in section 84308A of proceeding involving any grants, denial, renewals, restrictions, or modifications to any licenses and permits, entitlements, or use contracts or franchises proceeding to disclose on the record any contributions they have made to any elected appointed or candidate for city officer totaling more than 250 dollars within the preceding 12 months. The Lavine Act also requires any elected appointed alternative alternate or candidate for city officer who has received a contribution totaling 250 dollars within the past 12 months from a party agent or participant of a proceed of your proceeding to one disclose the fact on the record involving the proceeding and two to recuse themselves from and in no way attempt to use their official position to influence any decision involving the proceeding. Elected officials appoint elected elected appointed alternatives or candidates for a city officer are prohibited from accepting soliciting and directing, and parties, participants, and agents are prohibited from making campaigning campaign contributions of more than 250 dollars while proceeding is pending, and for 12 months after the date a final decision is rendered for the proceeding. Violations of the Levine Act may result in a civil action brought by the Fair Political Practice Commission, FPPC, for an amount up to $5,000 per violation. Any person who knowingly or willfully violates any provision of the political political reform act is guilty of a misdemeanor and subject to a fine of up to a greater of $10,000 or three times the amount the person unlawfully contributed upon conviction for each violation. Thank you. Do we have any announcements from staff? All right, good evening, Greg Midiati, Director of Parks and Recreation. I have just a couple announcements for you this evening. Um first community members are invited to participate in a volunteer tree planting event at Brentwood Park. Um the event will take place as you see here this Saturday at 10 a.m. Details and um the link to RSVP are on our website at SSF.net slash parks projects. And next, um, we invite community members to join us for the age-friendly task force and center for age-friendly excellence engagement sessions as we discuss aging in our community. Um you have the opportunity to discuss un unmet needs of our aging community and cover topics and the categories of transportation, housing, social participation, inclusion, health services, outdoor spaces, and emergency planning. The next session will be October 17th. 10 a.m. at the Rotary Terrace. And our next slide. Um, we invite folks to join us um on October 19th, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Orange Park for annual Halloween extravaganza. Our pumpkin patch is already sold out, um, but folks are welcome to join us for trunk or treat, uh, indoor and outdoor games, food trucks, and other free activities. And then my last announcement. Um, the San Mateo Daily Journal and Parks and Rec Department are hosting the senior showcase on October 22nd from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. here at the Library Parks and Rec Center. There will be over 25 community resource tables, health screenings, live music, and more. Um and this event, of course, is free and open to all. Thank you. Good evening, Mayor, Council members. I'm Marie Pateya from the City Manager's Office. And it's flu shot season.
openpublica.com