The Visalia City Council met on December 15, 2025, beginning with a work session at 4:00 PM and transitioning to a regular session at 7:00 PM. The meeting included new employee introductions, departmental updates, a federal lobbyist presentation, an arts consortium report, a review of the live entertainment permitting process, a discussion of the Sequoia Shuttle's 2025 season and 2026 fare structure, and a public hearing on the 2025 Building Code adoption. Key decisions included extending the federal lobbyist contract, approving a two-year arts consortium contract, directing staff to develop a hybrid live entertainment ordinance without a moratorium, authorizing the 2026 Sequoia Shuttle season with a $15 round-trip fare and a $5 discount for Visalia residents, and approving the first reading of the 2025 Building Code.
All right, good afternoon, everybody. Welcome to the Visayas City Council meeting. We're gonna go ahead and get started with this work session. We'll start off with uh public comments. Anyone from the public wishing to speak at this time, uh, please come forward. You can come to this uh lectern right here on your right hand side, my left hand side, and feel free to speak. You get up to three minutes. Anyone from the public wishing to speak? All right, seeing a lot of city employees and not a lot of public, I'm guessing that's a no. All right, next one go on to um item number one, which is new employee introductions. Who's gonna start off? Jason. Fantastic. Yeah, good evening, council, uh Jason Surba Public Works Manager. We're gonna try it a little bit different today. I'm gonna go ahead and bring all the new employees up all at once, all nine, and then each individual supervisor can come up, introduce their individuals, and then everybody can shake uh counsel's hand at the end if that's okay with everybody. So I'm gonna go ahead and name off the new employees if you can come up in order. Uh Pamela Davila Lopez, Rachel Archer, Brett Adams, Daniel Luna. Ricardo Lopez, I mean Ricardo Perez, Joshua Martin, Frank Lawrence, Ivan Nicker, and Nicole Ritchie. Good evening, Mayor and Council members. I am excited and pleased to introduce Pamela as our new administrative assistant. Pamela joined the city two years ago through the police department records division, where she gained experience working with sensitive information and supporting a fast-paced public safety environment. She brings that background with her into this new role. Pamela is a proud, is proud of the path that led her here, and she often speaks about the support of her family and friends, especially her parents, who taught her the value of dedication and perseverance. She is a product of her parents' hard work and sacrifice, and she carries those values with her into her work every day. She's grateful to share this moment with her family and her dogs who are streaming this from home. So let's say hi. Outside of work, Pamela enjoys Marvel vintage items and creative hobbies that keep her inspired. Thank you. I want to say thank you to Pamela, and we all want to welcome you. So thank you so much, Pamela. Next, we're going to invite Amy so she can introduce Rachel. Good afternoon, Mayor Taylor and Council members. I'm Amy Powell, Human Resources Manager. I am very pleased to introduce our newest team member in human resources and risk management, Rachel Archer, who joined the city on November 17th as a management analyst. Rachel comes to us from the city of Fresno, where she served as a senior management analyst for five and a half years. Prior to her work in municipal government, she was the administrator of finance for the Central California District Church of the Nazarene, bringing extensive experience in financial oversight and organizational support. Rachel holds a master's in organizational leadership from Treveca Nazarene University and a Bachelor of Arts in Business Administration from Point Loma Nazarene Church University, excuse me. Outside of work, Rachel enjoys spending time with her husband Chris and their two children, Ashley, who's 16, and Hayden, who's 12. She also loves traveling, reading, and experimenting with new recipes. Please join me in welcoming Rachel to the team. We're excited to have her talent, experience, and fresh perspective, strengthening our organizational practices and supporting the city city's continued growth. I'm excited to introduce uh Brett Adams. Brett is our newest project manager within the engineering division. Uh Brett will be focusing on parks projects, which we're very excited about. He's jumped in with both feet and uh and started to get things moving quickly and looking to complete a lot of projects very soon. Uh Brett attended Fresno State University where he received his bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering. He lives in Vicelli with his wife Julie and two awesome boys, Peter and Jack. He's blessed with a warm home life, excellent friends, and a wonderful church family. We are excited to have Brett on board and hope he'll join us in welcoming him to the city's team.