The Walnut Creek City Council held a regular meeting on July 15, 2025, beginning at 6:00 p.m. after a special closed session. The meeting included a proclamation, presentations from county supervisors and the summer arts program, a consent calendar with numerous routine and financial items, public communications focused on the California Climate Superfund legislation, a public hearing on zoning amendments for state housing law compliance, and consideration of a downtown outdoor dining incentive program and a clean water program overview. The meeting was adjourned at 9:16 p.m.
Good evening. I'm Cindy Darling, mayor of the city of Walnut Creek. And welcome to the regular meeting of the Walnut Creek City Council. The City Council is conducting this meeting from the City Council Chamber. This meeting is being video streamed and can be viewed live or later on the city's website. As some attendees may be participating in their first Walnut Creek City Council meeting, I wanted to welcome everyone and talk briefly about the public comment process. For each agenda item, there will be an opportunity for public comment on that item. Thus, if you desire to speak to an item on the agenda this evening, please hold your comments until the city council considers that item. Additionally, we have a section on the agenda titled Public Communications, which is for public comments for items not on the agenda. Any comments during public communication should not relate to an item that is on the agenda this evening. Consistent with section 9.5 of the City Council handbook. 30 minutes will be initially allocated for public communication for items not on the agenda. Additional time for public communications for items not on the agenda will be provided at the end of the open session portion of the meeting if necessary. If you desire to provide a public comment, please complete a speaker identification card and line up behind the lectern at the appropriate time. Wait your turn, and then when you approach the lectern, please state your name, City of Residence for the record. You will have two minutes to address the city council. Please keep in mind that this is a city business meeting. The City Council has adopted rules of decorum to ensure that meetings are conducted efficiently and effectively, and that all members of the public have a full, fair, and equal opportunity to be heard. The City Council handbook outlines decorum expected in the council chamber and can be found on our website. All remarks should be addressed to the City Council. Please do not use threatening, profane, or abusive language, which disrupts, disturbs, or otherwise impedes the orderly conduct of the council meeting. Again, each speaker will have two minutes to make your remarks. Written comments submitted and received up to two hours before the meeting have been posted to the city website for public review and are included in the meeting record, but will not be separately read into the record. Good evening. I'm Cindy Darling, mayor of the City of Walnut Creek, and welcome to the Tuesday, June 17, 2025 regular meeting of the Walnut Creek City Council. Why don't we all stand and join me in the Pledge of Allegiance? I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America. One question individuals of justice. Councilmember DeVinny. Here. Councilmember Francois. Here. Councilmember Silva. Here, and I'm attending the meeting from Columbus, Ohio, where I'm attending a summer leadership meeting for the League of National Cities. Mayor Pro Tem Welk? Here. Mayor Darling. Here. All right. That brings us to our first order of business, which is the Port Chicago Remembrance Day. You know, Port Chicago was one of those things that happens that makes you realize that we are not yet truly a country of equality. For those of you that haven't been exposed to this before, there's at the Port Chicago Naval Magazine, about seven miles north of here, was a site where African American soldiers were assigned during World War II to the dangerous task of loading explosives onto cargo ships. And on the night of July 17, 1944, a catastrophic explosion resulted in the deadliest home front disaster of the war, killing 320 people, most of them African American soldiers or sailors, and injuring 390 others and widespread damage to the nearby town of Port Chicago. And this is where the story even takes a dark turn. You know, the surviving sold sailors said, we don't feel safe going back. This is not safe. We don't want to go back in. They ended up court-martialing them. Fifty of the sailors known as the Port Chicago 50 were wrongfully charged and convicted of mutiny. Well, thanks to Congressman Mark DeSaulmier and a lot of other local folks on July 17, 2024.