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.
The council unanimously approved the following routine items via a single motion:
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.
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.
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.