Walnut Creek City Council Meeting - May 5, 2026

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 the 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 communications 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 lector, please state your name and 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's website for public review and are included in the meeting record but will not be separately read into the record.

Alright, we're back.

Uh we'll do a little bit of McGivoring in the background.

We'll let uh we'll make sure that there's this is going to be recorded as well.

So people will see this.

There'll be a broadcasting component to it.

Little bit different than usual, but uh uh we're on.

With that, good evening.

I'm Kevin Wilk, mayor of the City of Walnut Creek, and welcome to the Tuesday, May 5th 2026 concurrent regular meetings of the Walnut Creek City Council and Parking Authority.

And would you all please join me in the Pledge of Allegiance?

Under God, indivisible liberty and justice for all.

And City Clerk Susie Martinez, would you please call the role on this Cinco de Mayo?

Council Member Darling.

Here.

Councilmember Deviney.

Here.

Councilmember Silva here.

Mayor Pro Tem Francois.

And Mayor Welk.

Here.

All right.

Uh the first item is we have a proclamation for Bike to Work Week.

And I invite the Walk Bike Walnut Creek and Bike East Bay forward to accept the proclamation.

And while they're coming up, I will just quickly read a few of the proclamation information.

Whereas throughout the month of May, the City of Walnut Creek will celebrate biking in the sense of freedom, joy, and well-being that it inspires.

May is National Bike Month, and May 14th, 2026 is bike to wherever Day in the Bay Area.

The City of Walnut Creek has a robust network of trails perfect for cycling, including the Contra Costa Canal Trail and the Iron Horse Trail.

And city staff, schools, parks, and recreation departments, police departments, public health districts, hospitals, businesses, and civic groups will be joining the League of American Bicyclists in promoting bicycling during the month of May 2026.

And whereas these groups are also promoting greater public awareness of bicycle operation and safety education during bike month and year round in an effort to reduce collisions, injuries, and fatalities and improve health and safety for everyone on the road.

I, Kevin Wilk, Mayor of the City of Walnut Creek, on behalf of the Walnut Creek City Council, do hereby declare May 2026 as bike month in the city of Walnut Creek and encourage Walnut Creek residents and citizens to join me in this special observance.

So welcome here, and if you have a few words that you'd each like to say, uh oh.

You're not making me do that.

I'll say just a quick word of thanks for making this uh something that we celebrate.

Uh these kids have been biking since they were three to Heather Farm Preschools where they started biking every single day of the weekdays, and they biked here tonight.

Uh I've been on the Transportation Commission with some of you, and back then we were working on getting a way to bike safely from the trail to downtown and from downtown into the trail, and I think we're still working on that.

So hopefully we can get that going a little bit faster so we can bike more and more safely.

Great, thank you.

And Danny, while we know who you are, would you like to introduce the people that are up here?

These are my daughters, Sage Tennyson and Sky Tennyson.

Great.

Second and fourth grade, and they bike to school every day.

Wonderful, wonderful.

And I talk it off.

Uh yeah, uh, I'm Kate Ming.

I am a bike advocate, and one of the reasons I love living here is the bike trails.

There's definitely a lot of work to do, but I see that work is happening, however slow but happening, and so I appreciate that.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thanks, Mayor, City Council for the proclamation.

I'm Robert Prince, advocacy director with Bike East Bay.

Um, I'd like to invite everybody to celebrate bike month, all month with us and bike to every day on May 14th by finding an energizer station um in your neighborhood.

All the location maps for all across the East Bay are available at Bike East Bayorg slash BTWD for bike tour everyday.

Um we've got fun free events happening all throughout the month um to help encourage more biking and safer riding.

Thank you.

That's great.

Thanks.

And we're promoting this within the city websites as well and social media.

So why don't we take a picture?

Let's do it this way.

Thanks very much.

Here you go.

Oh, yeah.

Thanks.

Thank you for the question.

All right, next, uh we have a proclamation for National Police Week.

And I see some of Walnut Creek's finest in the audience here too.

So I invite Officer Shane Blats with the Walnut Creek Police Department to come forward to accept the proclamation.

And I'll read a few words on this.

Uh whereas in 1962, President John F.

Kennedy designated May 15th as Peace Officers Memorial Day, and the week in which that date falls as National Police Week.

There are more than 800,000 law enforcement officers serving in communities across the United States, including the dedicated members of the Walnut Creek Police Department.

The names of these dedicated public servants are engraved on the walls of the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial in Washington, DC since the first recorded death in 1786, where there are more than 24,000 law enforcement officers in the United States who have made that ultimate sacrifice and have been killed in the line of duty.

And whereas the service and sacrifice of all officers killed in the line of duty will be honored during the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Funds 38th Candlelight Vigil.

I therefore Kevin Wilk, Mayor of the City of Walnut Creek, on behalf of the Walnut Creek City Council, do hereby proclaim the May 15th, 2026 as Peace Officers Memorial Day, and encourage that U.S.

flags be flown at half staff in honor of all fallen officers and their families, and that the week of May 10th through 16th, 2026 be recognized as National Police Week.

Thank you.

Yes, Shane Blats, Walnut Creek POA president.

Um I'll keep this real brief because I know my colleagues want to get home like I do.

Just want to say thank you on behalf of all of us uh that uh are dedicated and serve this community.

Uh, we always appreciate this uh recognition.

So thank you.

Great, thank you.

Well, why don't we take a picture together with your with the team?

None of you guys are going to sit in the back.

All right.

All right.

One.

Okay.

It's all right tonight.

One.

Two.

Thank you.

All right.

Thanks so much.

Yeah.

All right.

We're gonna talk a little bit more about the police later.

But for now, I want to move on to the consent calendar.

And consent calendar items 2G and 2H relate to compensation payable to the city attorney and city manager.

If these items are approved, a rate increase of 4% effective July 1st, 2026, and an additional rate increase of 3% commencing on July 1st, 2027.

Contingent upon the city attorney receiving a satisfactory or better evaluation in spring of 2027 would be implemented for Redwood Public Law for General Legal Services, Labor and Employment Services, cost recovery and litigation services.

For the city manager, which is item two H, it would amend the city manager employment agreement to increase Mr.

Buckshai's salary by 4% effective with the pay period, including June 30th, 2026, and a further increase Mr.

Buckshy's salary by an additional 3% effective with the pay period including June 30th, 2027, following a satisfactory or better performance evaluation by the city council in the spring of 2027.

The amendment to Mr.

Buckshai's contract also extends the time frame to not involuntarily terminate Mr.

Buckshy from 90 days to 180 days following the seating of a new council after an election and increases the severance payout provided for in the contract from nine months to 12 months and includes health benefits as part of the severance benefits.

State law specifically government code section 54953 requires a verbal announcement of the compensation change prior to action by the city council.

With that said, would any council member wish to pull an item for discussion?

Yes, I would like to pull items two C and two D to be discussed together.

Any other items, okay?

I would like to pull items two F to G and H.

And does any member of the public?

Uh one second.

So does any member of the public wish to comment on an item on the consent calendar?

And as a reminder, each speaker will have two minutes to make their remarks.

Written comments submitted have been posted to the city's website for public review and are included in the meeting record, but not be separately read into the record.

And just let us know which item you'd be speaking to.

Good evening, Jan Warren from the Woodlands.

I'm pulling uh I'd like to speak on I.

Yes, okay.

The wonderful affordable housing that's gonna be uh built.

And I wanted to thank everyone's work on this, and I have just a little bit of a question.

Um, in terms of the uh funding in terms of our money, uh I read that uh oh over the past three years we've come gotten revenues of about 500,000.

So after we um uh have awarded this 2.9 million for the SAHA project.

How much money will be left for us to um have next year?

Are we anticipating?

I don't know if you you know how much new revenues coming in from all the construction or not.

If you have any idea whether we're gonna wait, you know, a couple of years or or whatever before we can get some more uh affordable housing, but I really appreciate um the and I wanted to pull it and celebrate.

Thanks.

Great.

Thank you, Jam.

Any other member of the public wish to speak on an item on the consent calendar?

No, okay.

Seeing that I'll entertain a motion for items that have not been pulled.

So I can make the motion, but do we want to answer the question from the public before we take before we do that uh on two I?

Yeah, if uh we can ask that city manager that come on up, Jennifer.

While she's walking up here, I'll make a motion to approve consent calendar items to A and B through M.

Not I JKLM.

I'll have to take care of that separately.

Uh second.

Uh so I believe the question was how uh how much money will remain in the commercial linkage fee fund and in the housing in lieu fee fund if we distribute the 2.9 million dollars.

And so I actually have the uh current balances uh for those funds.

There is currently about 1.3 million in the commercial linkage fee fund, so we would subtract 500,000 from that for a balance of 800,000 in the uh housing in lieu fee fund.

We have about 3.5 million.

We would subtract 2.4 million for a balance of 1.1 million.

So between both funds, it would be about 2 million based on current balances.

Thank you.

My motion still stands with the apply.

And uh I will second still second down.

Councilmember Silva.

Hi, Mayor Will.

Hi, Councilmember Darling, yes, Councilmember Davin, Mayor Pro Tem Franco.

Okay, let's uh go to items consent calendar two C and D.

Council Mr.

Silva.

Yes, I had some questions, and I think staff is prepared to um respond to the questions.

Thank you very much for taking the time to do this.

Good evening, Mayor.

Uh Charles Mayor City Council Charles Ching assistant city manager, available to answer any questions.

So we're doing the second reading of an ordinance around the entertainment zones tonight, and we're also approving the management plan as proposed by Walnut Creek downtown.

That's correct.

So uh a few questions.

The enter entertainment zone that we're establishing is one multi-block congruent area.

It is um it is not the only downtown area.

Could we have multiple entertainment zones?

Could a second one be brought forward in a couple of years, for example, involving Broadway Plaza?

That is correct.

Um multiple entertainment zones can be established within the same area.

So I had some exciting questions that were coming to me from people outside the city as well as to local residents who were talking to me at the farmers market.

So just because there's a zone does not mean it has these entertainment hours just allowed 365 days a year.

Correct.

On the um events put together by uh qualified nonprofit in this case the project sponsor W Walnut Creek Downtown, um will be allowed to operate within uh the entertainment zone area, and as an entertainment zone when it's being used for these special events, are the streets closed and so that there's more free flowing of um participants along the sidewalks and in the street itself?

That is correct.

There the the event area will be closed.

There will be designated um ingress and egress areas uh for these events where uh a check of valid ID and in age will be done.

And this is in compliance or what's allowing with this is Senate Bill 969 or is it assembly bill nine six nine?

It's Senate Bill.

Senate 969.

The um the days we're proposing to do this in the ordinance itself, it talks about Friday and Saturday, and then it talks about Sunday through Thursday.

In the management plan, it talks about Friday and Saturday and then Sunday through Thursday, but then it also talks about weekends and weekdays.

Would it perhaps be better if we just consistently used the specific days so there's no confusion as to what days we're talking about?

Yes, we can certainly make that change within the management plan.

Now the hours and the ordinance are 10 a.m.

to 1159 p.m.

on week on Fridays and Saturdays, and 10 to 10 on Sundays through Thursdays.

Then the management plan talks about this being from 10 to 11 on Fridays and Saturdays, and 10 to 10 on Sundays through Thursdays.

I'm looking at this whiteboard in my head that I'm trying to remember all this detail from.

Why is there an in- is that inconsistent or is that just basically tearing it down where it's a fewer hours in the management plan, but the ordinance is broader?

That's correct.

That's a good question.

Um the intent is under the ordinance, this is the outer limit of the amount of hours or the out the operating hours of an entertainment zone.

Um the management plan is a subset of the the ordinance, and so the management plan for WCD only allows them to operate on the weekends from Friday to Saturday from 10 a.m.

to 11 p.m.

which is a shorter time compared to the ordinance, and same with uh weekdays, which is Sunday through Thursday, which will be 10 a.m.

to 10 p.m.

And does each event that might occur have potentially even shorter hours or fewer days?

Yes, I believe the latest event WCD puts together ends at 9 p.m.

Management plan refers to public safety, health, sanitation, trash, but yet I don't see any specific references to restroom facilities, which can be an issue when you're having a lot of people in an area.

Can that be addressed in the management plan?

It can certainly be added.

Um that said any event that is done within the entertainment zone requires a special event permit from the city, which explicitly outlines the amount of restroom facilities that is required per event.

But we can certainly add that land.

Which might be portable or temporary facilities as well as the establishment, the facilities with within each of these establishments that are participating.

That's correct.

I think those were the questions.

Did I ask you any other questions that I I didn't remember?

Uh there was one additional question about ensuring that all per participating businesses within an event has the necessary ABC licenses and business license.

So we can incorporate that into the management plan as well.

Because by ensuring they have the business license, that also means they are basically a member of the bit the business improvement district because they've paid that fee as well.

That's correct.

Okay.

I didn't have any further questions, although I'd like to recommend that we make those minor updates to the management plan.

So there's remove ensure clarity and remove the likelihood of debating on the day of an event whether porta potties are required or not.

No, I appreciate that.

In fact, uh, this item uh I was going to pull it as well because of clarification that I relicense our last meeting.

A lot of calls came in from the media, a lot of social media, everybody thinking that Walnut Creek is going to the dogs now because look what we've done, and others can't wait to celebrate like it's 1999.

So uh I appreciate the clarification on this.

It uh it'll absolutely help spread the word of what this actually means and what it doesn't mean.

Mayor, if I may, we I actually um prepared a slide that outlines the three proposed changes put forward by council member Silva.

That way City Council can visualize what those are.

I can make a motion that includes them.

That's correct.

He's got a slide.

That's they're looking for the slide.

Analysis like that.

You can say it when your mouse dies.

At least the electronic mouse.

Technology is not our friend tonight.

There you go.

So these are the three proposed changes to the management plan under section Roman numero numeral number two, one G, under sanitation measures, we would add the language project sponsor to provide restroom facilities required under the city's special event permit to address the concerns about restrooms, under section Roman numeral four for B hours of operation, just to clarify that the hours specified under the ordinance is different from the hours in the management plan at the end of the first paragraph in parentheses, we will add that, which is less than what is allowed under the Walnut Creek Municipal Code, just so that to eliminate confusion, and finally under section Roman numeral numeral number four seven permits, we will add to the end of the section that the project sponsor is responsible for ensuring that all business establishments have all the permits and licenses necessary to participate in the event, including but not limited to uh ABC permits and business city business licenses.

There's one other one.

Okay, this one in item section two item one be it rather than saying weekends and weekdays, it would say Friday, Saturday, and third and Sunday through Thursday.

Right.

So we will explicitly say the days.

So I'm happy to make the motion to approve item C with the typographical correction that was provided at the dio that it's SB 969, and then with the changes and the uh updates to the proposed management plan.

And I will second that.

Okay, we have a motion and a second.

Councilmember Silva.

Hi.

Council Member Darling.

Hi.

Council Member DeVini.

Hi.

Mayor Pro Tem Francois.

Hi.

Mayor Well.

Hi.

I would just like to thank staff and Walnut Creek Downtown for bringing this forward and working out all the details.

Well, I'm sorry.

Sure, if you'd like to speak for a minute, of course.

Good evening, Kathy Hemenway, Walnut Creek Downtown.

I just wanted to share that between now and the 30-day waiting period, information um is available on our website, and so we have a web page just for the entertainment zone.

So there's um facts and um logistics and information available at Walnut Creek Downtown.com.

So thank you.

Okay, thank you, Kathy.

All right.

Um I pulled item two F uh regarding the projects for fiscal year 2627, uh proposed funding by SB1, the road repair.

And I less questions and really more of uh I just wanted to make sure to amplify the message regarding Nacy Valley Road.

I get a lot of questions, especially living on the east side of Walnut Creek, down Ignacia Valley Road into the Northgate area.

A lot of questions come of when's road repair going to be happening down Ignacio all the way down to the city limits.

So if we could just talk a little bit more about that as it relates to this, we'll get that message out.

Sure.

Um so first off, thank you for you know, I guess pulling this comment, letting me speak on this.

Um I'm Austin, I'm an assistant engineer for the public works division.

Um so as far as Ignatio Valley Road, the plan is to go in construction next year in 2027.

We're currently um, you know, communicating with Caltrans to receive the the construction funding um to provide um or to construct that project next year.

That's the plan, and that's what we are aiming for.

And will that be to complete all the work on the Ignacio Valley Road or just one section of it?

Um, I believe it's just Oak Grove.

To Oak Rove Road.

Oh city limits to the city limits.

Oak Rove Road to the city limits, which is up to the hill before you get down into Concord.

Great.

All right.

Thank you very much, Austin.

Thank you.

I think your first time up here, right?

Second, you did great.

Thank you.

And uh I'll make the motion to uh to approve item two F.

Second.

We have a motion and a second.

Mayor Welk.

I council member Darling.

Hi.

Councilmember Silva.

Mayor Pro Tem Francois.

Hi.

All right.

And lastly, I pulled items two G and H.

We already talked about these at the start of the consent calendar.

But I just really wanted to mention because our city attorney and city manager are far too humble to talk about uh how fortunate we are to have them here.

And uh we did have their performance review a few weeks ago, and uh we are very fortunate to have Steve Mattis as our city attorney uh with Redwood Partners and our city manager, just to let you know, because I think we hear from Dan Buckshai up here, and of course we know what he does within the city is essentially the CEO of this organization that we call the city of Walnut Creek.

We are basically the board of directors of that.

Uh but we are I hear from people as my colleagues do from throughout the region from throughout the state, they will come to us.

City managers from other cities come to us and tell us how fortunate we are to have Dan Buckshy as a city manager.

Um newer city managers that are in the East Bay have mentioned that they look to Dan as a mentor to help their own progress.

His financial acumen has got us through the pandemic previously and helps keep us on a path where we can approve budgets even if we've even if we have to cut back on budgets by a little bit without there being significant effect that the public sees.

And so a lot of it is done in the background where our residents don't feel the impact as much and the many challenging issues that Dan has helped us navigate through.

Again, the the residents and a lot of visitors don't notice that, and that's what we like.

That's great, but we recognize it within the city council, and that's why we have uh we are happy to have Dan here as our city manager, and that we have reading that we have uh updated the contract, and we look forward to having Dan Buckshaw here as our city manager for many more years.

Thank you.

And with that, I will make the motion to approve items two G and H.

Second.

We have a motion to second.

Mayor Welk.

I mayor Pro Tem François, Councilmember Darling, Councilmember Divini, Councilmember Silva, aye.

All right, on to public communications.

This portion of the meeting is reserved for comments on items not on the agenda under the Brownary Act.

The council cannot act on items raised during public communications but may respond briefly to statements made or questions posed, request clarification, or refer the item to staff.

Consistent with section 9.5 of the city council handbook, 30 minutes will be allocated at this time for public communications 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 meeting if necessary.

Written comments submitted have been posted to the city's website for public review and are included in the meeting record, but will not be separately read into the record.

And at this time, I'll note that the time is 6 39, and we will take public comments on items not on the agenda until approximately 7 09, and then the remainder of any such comments at the end of the open session portion of the meeting.

And if anybody would like to speak on public communication, now is the time to do so.

And please state your name and city for the record.

Yes, just for the record, before I start, there's three of us that will be talking on the same subject.

Okay, good evening.

I'm Joe Warren, resident of the woodlands uh sections since 1985.

This regards city regulations in whatever form requiring rentals of property such as homes listed through VRBO to be over 31 days, tracking state law.

But property across from me is rented regularly, a few days to two weeks under 31 days.

The listing realtor agent apparently has a long-term lease with the 13-year owner and sublets for short periods, but represents otherwise.

This is clear from verbo listings, including user reviews and neighbors' observations.

City staff have known of this since at least mid-2025.

Code enforcement says that while planning had not directed the agent to remove listings under 31 days, owner was advised to remove such listings until a conduce conditional use permit cup might be approved.

Yet rentals under 31 days continue, and staff seem to ignore.

On April 15th, I jointly emailed code enforcement and planning, copied the city manager.

I subsequently provided receipts.

Planning referenced a commission hearing schedule for May 28th, but did not ensure compliance.

Planning also cited a more lenient standard for B and Bs, that the agent might prevail, but requires a cup that does not exist.

Neighbors want action.

We expect the city to enforce its regulations in whatever form and not disregard residents who are informed who have informed of and documented violations.

Thank you, Mr.

Warren.

I'll be kind of short because we weren't sure whether our neighbor could join us or not.

Her husband had some health issues.

So I'm also here to speak about this house across from our driveway, and I actually uh brought it up in August.

And that was the first time I came to city council, mentioned it at the regular city council meeting in August.

And then in November uh I followed up on it with the mayor, and uh there was some confusion later that we I was hearing well uh the uh this agent was gonna get a was considered getting a uh use permit, and then it was gonna it was trying to uh get an appeal for it, and then pulled it back, and so it took a couple of months before I even heard what was going on.

Um and and yet the the short-term rentals have been ongoing.

Uh, and so you know, then they're all nice folks, not a problem with the people coming.

The problem is I brought it up because my concern was about okay.

If if somebody comes to our city and and stays at one of our nice hotels, the city gets some revenue from that.

And if they're you know staying in somebody's home, it's not a B and B, they're not fixing them breakfast.

That are we getting any funding?

And if not, why not?

And what sort of rules do we need?

And we've just we've talked to a lot of different people and emailed, and it doesn't seem like any one person is is in charge of this, and uh it's a business model for this person.

He's not the only property does this with.

Uh, and so um we're interested in what is the city's policy, does it apply to this house?

And if not, and if so, it should be enforced, and if not, just let us know.

Thanks.

Thank you, Jan.

Good evening.

My name is Lisa Blanco from Walnut Creek, and I am said neighbor, uh, and I'll just add just some color to um what uh Mr.

and Mrs.

Warren um provided, and so I first contacted the city about this property because I was awoken at 3 30 a.m.

in the morning by a uh a guest of uh this home looking for the uh they called it an Airbnb.

Um we have found it on verbo repeatedly, and you can certainly um make a reservation on verbo, which is vacation rentals by owner.

Uh the gentleman's not the owner.

I do know that because I've spoken with him, he did represent the property as a long-term rental.

He told me directly that that would be for a month or more for people who are moving, etc.

Um, but that's not the case at all because we can see people coming in, going and coming and going.

There's also been uh oh, my time's running out, okay.

Anyway, there are 44 seconds.

There has been, I at least I know of from talking to neighbors in the area, um, you know, some noise complaints and things.

Also, there's a school two blocks away, an elementary school, Valley Verde.

Um, and so there's concerns among uh other neighbors as well that uh about their children coming and going to school and having people kind of rotating in about every weekend or so.

Um so that's um pretty much it.

I have 11 seconds, that's okay.

I'll give I'll I'll not reclaim my time as they say.

Thank you for listening.

Thank you very much.

Um I appreciate you the three of you coming forward and bringing this up.

I know this has been an ongoing issue.

What I'd like to do is have you speak to our director of community development, Erica Vanderbrand in the back and get some more details on this, and the city will follow up.

Thank you.

Do we have any more public comment tonight?

All right.

Seeing none, I will close public communications.

Uh, does anybody beyond what we just heard?

Does anybody have anything directed to staff?

I I had one mayor.

I think related to this, it might be helpful to get at some point a clarification on the rules on short-term rentals, less than 30 days, more than 30 days, what's allowed, what the permit requirements are as a public service announcement at some point.

I think that makes sense.

Thank you.

I would agree with that.

I know state law has intervened on telling us what um the tenor tenure of those rentals can be.

I think.

So I am not sure that a real estate agent that doesn't own the property can get a conditional use permit.

That seems a little incongruous because the use permit goes with the property owner's property, but I'm not the land use attorney.

Yeah, again, I think we've all seen this is this has been an ongoing issue.

So I think this does make sense to have staff follow up uh on things.

Great, thank you.

So we'll close public communication now, and we'll bring it in to council member and staff announcements, reports on activities or requests.

And do we have any closed session announcements?

Mayor, there were no reportable actions from closed session this evening.

And city manager report.

Yeah, good excuse me.

Good evening again, Buckshai City Manager.

Just wanted to highlight that this week is municipal clerk's week and wanted to thank our city clerk team, Susie Martinez.

Elena Branson and Sophia Jacobs uh for all their work that they do as uh as your council knows, but many do not.

Uh our city clerk team does a lot behind the scenes.

There are official record keepers.

They are notaries, they manage uh some point if you ever wanted presentation and all the things that they manage it.

The public comes in uh that are related to any official business associated with the city, and then also they are active in working on elections to ensure that uh they are safe and that they are fair and they are done accurately and appropriately in concert with the county clerk's office.

So thank you for all you do and happy clerks week.

Thank you.

Uh why don't we start with Councilmember DeVinny on uh any of your activities?

Yes, good evening.

Um busy couple weeks uh on the 23rd of April.

We had the state of the chamber and tourism uh update uh where we were able to hear from the Chamber of Commerce and the Visitors Bureau on the progress they're making there.

Um was uh attended with our uh my fellow council members, so uh that was a good event.

Um, on that same day, we uh we went to the uh to Rossmore to hear from uh one of our gubernatorial candidates, uh Katie Porter, and then uh later Steve Lescher opened up the Leisher Theater and hosted uh Javier Bessera.

Uh so it was great to hear from two candidates uh and hear about their agenda for California.

Uh the following day, the uh 25th, we had the author's gala, that's the uh 15th anniversary of the uh authors gala that supports our two walnut creek libraries.

Uh we were fortunate enough at our table to have uh Bayer author comedian broadcaster and entertainer Brian Copeland.

So uh I wanted to thank him personally for being there as well as all the other authors who gave their time and to everyone who made that event possible.

It was a big fundraiser for our libraries and uh very appreciated.

Um following day we had the Challenger Baseball Jamboree over at Heather Farms where Mayor Wilk and I attended.

Uh that's really uh uh turned into a great community event.

Um it's sponsored by our own walnut creek else club.

Uh we have Boys Team Charity there, the Little League.

Um, and what it is is it's uh what used to be a small kind of uh baseball tournament has grown into one of the largest uh events of its kind where uh kids with special needs come from cities uh near and far to uh to play in this tournament, and um it's really uh really a joy to be a part of that.

The uh we had uh then on the 27th.

Uh the Walnut Creek uh police department had their awards ceremony.

So congratulations to all those in our police department who received their awards.

Uh it is very nice to see law enforcement getting recognized here in Walnut Creek for the great work that they're doing.

It was um really a family affair, great turnout, um, and uh again a pleasure to be a part of the uh 28th.

Uh we uh were we were fortunate at our local rotary club to have uh Chief Hibbs come and speak to us.

So thank you, Chief Hibbs for speaking to the Rotary Club.

We got to listen to um all that is current in uh policing here in Walnut Creek, and so that was very informative and appreciated.

On the 29th, uh Teleferic Barcelona um had their 10th anniversary celebration.

It was a very impressive celebration complete with music and flamenco dancing and food and drinks, and uh so thank you for um hosting that uh uh thank you for having that event, inviting us uh teleferic Barcelona, and congratulations on your 10th anniversary.

See on the 30th Cal City's East Bay, we had our division meeting.

Uh there was uh an e-bike uh legislative or e-bike update, um, which I know has been a very important uh topic, not just in our community, but in the communities across California.

There are no less than 12 legislative bills that will be uh up this year in regards to uh legislating e-bikes in our communities.

Um there was some discussion that these bills may not be successful, um, partially to do with this being the fiscal constraints right now at the state level and uh if these some of the bills require uh increased spending, so that may be a challenge.

And also the ongoing issue of how to enforce how to police these uh e-bikes when you can't tell the difference now between a class one, a class two, a class three e-bike, um an unclassed e-bike, an e-moto, they all look very similar, and so a big struggle is how how to how to construct a bill that will meaningfully uh reduce sort of the um what we could say is maybe the abuse of um e-bikes um or unclassed e-bikes and uh the dangers that they pose.

Um I want to uh remind everyone that on May 9th, so this Saturday, uh Sustainable Contra Costa is having their 5K um run in the open space that is at 9 a.m.

Marshall Drive.

It is to benefit sustainable Contra Costa's youth leadership team.

So there are still spots available.

Um I will be there with my family and hopefully see some of some of you as well.

Uh this past weekend, I want to recognize uh we did earlier um national uh police week.

I've also wanted to take this time to recognize um this past weekend was National Uh Fallen Firefighters uh Memorial Weekend.

The uh flags were flown at uh half staff this past Sunday.

So we want to remember and honor our brave men and women of the fire service who have given their lives in the line of duty.

And that's all I have.

Thank you, Councilmember DeVini, Mayor Pro Tem Francois.

Thank you, Mayor.

Uh I wasn't quite that busy.

That was quite a list.

Thank you for doing all that.

After our last council meeting, I had a makeup day for uh read across America because I wasn't feeling well in March and got over to Buena Vista Elementary and was able to read to Mrs.

Choi's first grade class, and uh that's a great that's a great activity.

I would encourage anyone who wants to restore their faith in humanity to go and spend some time with some first graders.

And uh was able to share with them one of my favorite books from that time period, Sylvester and the Magic Pebble.

And they had not, it turns out it was a band book at one point for reasons unknown, but uh it was nothing controversial in it.

One young gentleman asked me at the end, how come you don't have any hair?

I said, Well, there's this thing called male pattern baldness.

Oh no.

I said, Well, everybody has different hair, some people have blonde hair, some people have black hair, some people have no hair, but we're all different, and it's okay.

So it's just refreshing to uh get that honesty and have that interaction with young people.

Uh I was also able to attend the quarterly uh chair, vice chair commission uh update.

I'm gonna let the mayor give more of an update.

It was good to hear from all the commissions.

There seems to be a lot going on in planning.

Uh one of the items we'll be hearing tonight on the safety element was uh talked about.

There's also some comments about how they appreciated it's helpful when they get a housing project come before them and they might have limited discretion that they can at least uh have an environmental impact report, explain to the public that the impacts of the project have been addressed, similar to the Builders Remedy project we had heard kind of earlier last month.

So I thought that was helpful feedback.

Also attended the authors gala and had a really nice evening.

They raised a lot of money for our two libraries.

Um our author was uh Kevin Smokler, who has written a number of books, including that what attracted me to him was he has delved into 80s pop culture and has written a book called Brat Pack America, sort of about all the movies of that time frame and where they're located and how that's you know spoke to that period in time in our culture, and it was fun to sit down and talk to him, and he's also written a recent book about women directors, and so he he's like an encyclopedia encyclopedic mind in terms of film discussography, and he could if you told him your three favorite movies, he would pick out kind of a deep cut and recommend it for you.

So it was really fun to sit with him and interact, and the mayor came over at one point and shared in that, and that was a good time.

Along with uh Councilmember Silva, I serve on the Recycle Smart Board, and we had a busy meeting a week or two ago.

We had our annual performance review evaluation of our executive director.

He got extremely high marks from all the members of the board as well as his staff.

Uh, we also adjusted our uh staff salary schedule and updated our policy on how we allocate costs and revenues.

Most of that is done on a per tonnage basis.

Uh the one exception is on collection costs, which are done by route hours, and that's we're going to keep that going for the time being until we come up until we can adjust that rate salary schedule.

We also talked about the diversion recycling program and budget and of note there.

Two programs.

There's the school recycling and organics program, which has gone on for some years now, and we'll get an update on that, I believe, at our next meeting or this meeting in May.

What I'm always impressed with is Walnut Creek schools routinely get the wastebuster award for having diverted the most uh trap items out of the landfill into the recycling and organic.

So proud of the kids for starting early and learning those skills.

And then there will be, and I believe this is the first time they're doing this authority-wide a household hazard waste drop-off event.

The details on on that are to be determined, including the contents and the location and the date and so on, but I'll give an update on that or Councilmember Silva will at a future meeting.

And I believe that's it for my update.

Thank you.

All right, thank you.

Next uh council member.

If you come to me first, I can add on a couple of things too.

All right, we're going to jump over, Councilmember Darling to Councilmember Silva.

They'll come back.

Um I would continue on the recycle smart presentation just to clarify or elaborate on how we share costs.

It's six agencies work together to form Recycle Smart, but we all have different rates that we in Walnut Creek's rates are different from those that are being used in Arinda and Danville, and the costs that we are expenses and our revenues are calculated based on sharing, it's not the same.

So in Walnut Creek, the routes are flatter by and large than they are in Arenda, so Arenda takes longer to pick up the garbage, so they pay more in their collection rates.

And see, something you didn't know.

How would you share?

And so those really important, and so how we calculate that is really important.

And um the other thing I would mention is in the school programs, what we hear about a lot in recent years is they are getting better and better at the recycling.

But one of the things that they do is they share their food at lunchtime.

Now it's not a sandwich that's already been eaten.

It's basically if they have a piece of fruit, the kids are taught that if they have a piece of fruit, they can put it into the share bin, and then the kid can pick up that apple, for example, and it have that apple for lunch.

So they're taught to not throw away food, but somehow to put it back into the into circulation, so to speak.org and look at the calendar.

There are perform end of your performances, and there are a lot of speakers, and there's the arts that are going on at the Bedford Gallery.

And then I will mention that in two weeks ago was the city leaders summit for the League of California cities.

There were about 400 of us in Sacramento.

There were two reasons to be in Sacramento.

One was to advocate for certain pieces of legislation that we're promoting with the legislature.

There was a lot of things that we were advocating about.

From this area, we met with Assembly Member Bowery Cahen with Assemblymember Anna Maria Avalafarias, and also with Senator Tim Grayson, and we talked about a number of bills that we were um promoting.

One is SB 922, that's Senator Laird's bill that will allow it's going to clarify that cities may recover the cost of street maintenance and road repair that results from the damage of roads from very heavy vehicles like garbage trucks, and so that's an important bill.

And we were getting universally the assembly and the senators, the assembly members and the senators were going.

Well, that makes sense.

So hopefully that will continue to move forward.

Another bill we were advocating for was um in the homelessness and housing arena, two bills to mention one is AB 2296 by Assemblymember Papen out of the peninsula, and it's basically we're sponsoring a bill that would allow our cities to start earlier work on their housing elements so we have more time to get it right, and then it also requires the state to improve the housing element review process and provide greater certainty.

So being more objective and providing feedback.

And finally, I would mention that we also advocated for a minimum one billion dollars in ongoing funding to the homeless housing assistance and prevention grant program.

Right now it's been it was a billion dollars per year for a number of years and it was reduced last year to 500 million, and it's sitting the January proposal had it at 500 million, so we're hoping to increase that funding.

And also we're advocating to allocate 400 million dollars to fully implement proposition 36, which is the public safety um constitutional amendment that the voters approved, California voters approved like 80 percent in the last general election.

And so that's Cal State Board also met during that whole meeting, and a couple of things to note.

We we voted um to take a no position, an opposed position on the Howard Jarvis initiative that is moving toward the ballot in November, and it's a constitutional amendment that would change how local government can adopt certain taxes and prohibit existing and future property transfer taxes that local governments may impose.

This could basically result in a loss of about two billion dollars annually in funds to city municipals, cities and counties across California, but more importantly, or just as importantly, it's retroactive, and so those have been all approved, but those that are on the books right now and have been approved by local voters would be null and void.

So there's a lawsuit waiting to happen if it's passed.

And we decided to take no position on a statewide ballot measure that will be on the ballot in November that will remove the prohibition on general law cities to enact public campaign financing.

Currently, charter cities, which two a third of us in the state or charter cities are allowed to have campaign financing programs for their local elections, but general law cities are not allowed, and this initiative, if approved, will allow general law cities like Walnut Creek to put public financing if we chose to do so, a public financing in campaign for the local elections.

So we took a no position, we took a we took no position on that.

It was so and there were other bills, but e-bikes were a robust discussion for over an hour, so they always are now.

Yes, thank you very much.

Thank you.

All right, so my experience in going back to school was distinctly different than the mayor pro tem.

I um as an MCE board member John McCormick from the Lafayette board board member and myself went back to school and took a about a week long class from two graduate professors from the Hoff School of Business on the Energy Economy.

And I tell you, I've never written so fast in my life and said, wow, what are these people explaining to me?

But they were explaining to us how the energy markets have changed over the last 20 years since the energy crisis and with the onset of the community choice aggregates and the CAISO and everything.

And it did make a lot of what we do at MCE make more sense, and Director McCormick and I our heads are now bigger as a result.

Um we are touring the Mulqueney wind project tomorrow.

It's out of lot out of um, it's in the foothills over by Livermore, and it is a new project.

The MCE is going to build on.

One of the things that we've been trying to do at MCE, we have a lot of solar which works during the day.

We're looking for additional power resources that work when the sun is not shining, and this is one of the things we also have a large geothermal project coming online as well as significant battery storage.

Um the city manager and myself went to East Bay Mud Luz Gomez, our local rep on the East Bay MUD board, had her local workshop.

We've I brought up the issue we had faced a couple years ago with the cost of the um water meters for low-end for affordable housing, is sometimes a real barrier, and they said they are working on it.

Um, and then I think the city manager brought up making sure that good neighbors in the area around the treatment facility and a few other things.

Um where the mayor pro mayor and I were at the Meals on Wheels rubbing cutting, but I'll let you cover that.

I did state of chamber police awards, the library gala was especially fun.

Brian Copeland, who was at our table, he was doing a writing a thriller about somebody that is trying to go through and prove a murder, whether or not a murder occurred.

But he sets it in an area of the town of Hayward that was not incorporated, where basically that is the only place where people of color could afford to live back in the last century, and that the businesses that wanted to take over that area did some things to encourage people to move, including setting fires.

And my husband was like, Really?

Did they do that?

I'm like, strange things happened back there in the days of redlining.

And so that was a that was a really, he was a fun author to have.

And I do want to say a huge thanks to the mayor pro tem because