| Time | Speaker | Text |
|---|---|---|
| 00:00:00.03 | Joan Cox | Non-commercial, Part 15 compliant radio station, broadcasting great music and community information 24 hours. |
| 00:00:07.32 | Heidi Scoble | Streams up. Now we're going to let in all 47 participants, 48 participants. Soon to be 121. |
| 00:00:19.02 | Heidi Scoble | Good evening, Mayor Hoffman and council members. This meeting is being held pursuant to section three of executive order N-29-20 issued by Governor Newsom on March 17th, 2020. And all members are joining this meeting telephonically through the Zoom and is broadcast live on the city's website and on cable TV channels. |
| 00:00:39.59 | Jill Hoffman | Good evening and welcome to the first ever, I think, in recent memory anyway, town hall meeting for the City Council of Sausalito. Heidi, could you please take the role? |
| 00:00:51.62 | Heidi Scoble | Council member Sobieski. |
| 00:00:56.34 | Heidi Scoble | Councilmember Sobieski. Thank you. |
| 00:00:58.01 | Ian Sobieski | here. |
| 00:00:59.33 | Heidi Scoble | Council member Blaustein. Here. Councilmember Cleveland Knowles. |
| 00:01:04.76 | Cleveland Knowles | Thank you. |
| 00:01:05.83 | Heidi Scoble | Vice Mayor Kelman. Here. Mayor Hoffman. Here. all members are |
| 00:01:11.04 | Jill Hoffman | and there is a quarantine. |
| 00:01:11.92 | Heidi Scoble | I'm not. |
| 00:01:12.09 | Jill Hoffman | Thank you. Very good, thank you. Could I please have, to the extent that we have one tonight, could I please have a motion for our agenda, which is? just City Hall Open Forum. |
| 00:01:24.34 | Melissa Blaustein | I make a motion to approve our agenda of open forum, Mayor Hoffman. |
| 00:01:29.44 | Jill Hoffman | Are we good? Can I have a second? I'll second that. Heidi, could you please take the role? |
| 00:01:36.50 | Heidi Scoble | Councilmember Sobieski? |
| 00:01:38.01 | Ian Sobieski | Yes. |
| 00:01:38.83 | Heidi Scoble | Councilmember Blastie. Yes. Councilmember Cleveland Knowles. |
| 00:01:44.06 | Jill Hoffman | Thank you. |
| 00:01:44.08 | Cleveland Knowles | Yeah. |
| 00:01:44.23 | Jill Hoffman | Thank you. Thank you. |
| 00:01:45.01 | Heidi Scoble | Vice mayor Kelman. Yes. |
| 00:01:46.60 | Jill Hoffman | Thank you. |
| 00:01:46.61 | Heidi Scoble | Mayor Hoffman. |
| 00:01:47.20 | Jill Hoffman | Thank you. Yes. Very good, thank you everyone. I would like to welcome everybody to our first ever town hall. Welcome and thank you for attending tonight's meeting. We're glad that you're able to join me and my fellow council members and we appreciate the effort you made to come and participate tonight. Um, for, I have some preliminary statements, so bear with me, I'm gonna get through these pretty quick. Um, And it, City staff is going to do a presentation basically to let us know what areas we're going to focus on tonight. Abbott's going to do a short presentation in just a minute. For those of you that are used to attending city council meetings, |
| 00:02:40.50 | Ian Sobieski | You're muted, Jill. |
| 00:02:41.15 | Melissa Blaustein | Chair Huffman, I can't hear you. |
| 00:02:42.17 | Ian Sobieski | Yeah. You're muted. |
| 00:02:47.08 | Jill Hoffman | Oh my God, I was brilliant. I can't believe you guys didn't hear that. Sorry, there was an automatic muting of me. Okay, let me start again. Sorry about that. Uh, okay. Welcome. Thank you for attending. This is town hall meeting. We're glad you're able to join me, my fellow council members, and we appreciate you made the effort to come and participate or listen. This is the first time the city has ever provided a dedicated time and opportunity for the community to let us, the city council members, and city staff know what is important to you with areas and what areas the city should focus on. For those of you who are used to attending city council meetings with a structured agenda, this is a little bit different. It's essentially an evening dedicated to items not on the agenda. The meeting will be first be a series um, This may be a series of meetings in this format that will be scheduled throughout the year with the purpose of providing an opening listening session and a little bit more informal Um, talk with the City Council to hear from you and collect input to identify common topics, themes and priorities and interests. We may adopt a similar format with special topics as we move through the year, but we'll see how it goes tonight. Um, To add to the conversation, a brief survey was developed by the city's director of communications, Abbott Chambers, In just a minute, Abbott will provide an overview of the survey and results. So if you just hold on with me just a second, I'm going to make a couple of announcements before we start. |
| 00:04:28.31 | Jill Hoffman | I wanted to first say, that the council and city staff have heard from many residents regarding the tent encampment at Dumpy Park. and we understand and are sensitive to your concerns. To that end, to ensure that Sassio is doing and letting you know that we're doing all that we can to address this issue, the council has scheduled a special |
| 00:04:49.59 | Cleveland Knowles | Thank you. |
| 00:04:49.82 | Jill Hoffman | City Council meeting tomorrow. Friday, February 4th, starting at 4 p.m. to discuss how Sausalito has been working to address homelessness and to consider additional steps we can take to address the encampment and any homeless present at Dunphy Park. We initially had scheduled this discussion for our regular city council meeting on Tuesday, but have determined that the issue warrants a special meeting tomorrow evening. The agenda for tomorrow is Tomorrow's meeting and supporting documents and staff reports are available now on the city's website under meetings and agendas. As you may know from the daily postings on the city website and from news stories, we have a meeting with local and regional officials and agencies on nearly a daily basis, sometimes multiple times a day. for multiple hours a day in an effort to find alternative housing for the occupants of the camp. I want to thank and acknowledge council member Blaustein for working with me on this issue and to also publicly thank and acknowledge the help and support of the city manager, Marsha Raines, city attorney, Mary Wagner, our police chief, John Roebacher and his team. as well as our county supervisor Stephanie Moulton-Peters and our state senator Mike McGuire. Sosli was committed to finding alternative and appropriate housing for the individuals in this encampment who are without shelter. Regrettably, our country and our state has experienced an alarming increase in homelessness made all the more difficult by the COVID pandemic. Tonight we welcome any and all comments related to the issues confronting Sausalito However, I would ask perhaps that if people, given that we're having a meeting tomorrow, You may wanna hold your comments until tomorrow, but if you're here and you showed up You know, we're welcome. We'll welcome your comments. But just ask you to consider saving your questions because we're going to address this issue in a substantive way tomorrow at our meeting that starts at 4 o'clock. I understand there are strong opinions on this other matters that may be on our town hall list of topics. I want you to know that we value your comments and always strive to be respectful of our speakers who take time to make comments. And we would ask that everyone who speaks tonight, do your best to treat everyone with respect and give them their time to speak. Let's treat each other with kindness and empathy as we move through these important topics. And with that Abbott, I would invite you to begin your presentation. |
| 00:07:15.86 | Abbott Chambers | Thank you, Madam Mayor and good evening council members and members of the public. As the mayor said I'm going to provide a brief overview of the results of the survey conducted by city staff in support of today's forum. |
| 00:07:29.99 | Abbott Chambers | We launched the survey on January 28th with a special edition of the Saucydo Currents and notices posted to next door and to the city website In our communications, we emphasized that it was a simple survey asking residents to list up to five of the local issues that they consider most important for the city council to prioritize for 2021 and beyond. We were also careful to note that it was not meant to be a scientific survey but rather an opportunity for the council and the community to get a general sense of the most important issues in advance of today's forum. |
| 00:08:04.09 | Abbott Chambers | And this is what the survey questions looked like. In order to take the survey, respondents were required to register by creating an account with their name, email address and physical address. A total of 369 registered users responded to the survey, of whom 344 reported Sausalito addresses. The responses from non-residents did not appreciably change the results, so I have included them in this presentation. Anyone can go to our open city hall website to see all 369 individual responses to the survey. A link to the responses was included with a special edition of currents that went out yesterday. And the link will appear in tomorrow's Currents and on the city website as well. What you're seeing here is an example of one of the responses. As you can see, respondents had the option of not displaying their name To refine the results, I read through all of the responses and categorized the issues that people identified into different themes. I had planned to limit my list to the top five or 10 themes. And so as not to overgeneralize, I ended up with 14. The table you see here shows the most frequently listed themes when you take into account all of the issues that each respondent listed. Answers referring to the homeless, the tent encampment, and the anchor routes. appeared as one of the five priorities in approximately half of the survey results and you see that one at the top at the bottom of the list, disaster preparedness appeared in approximately one in 10. It's important to note that there is overlap between some of the categories. I use quality of life when people refer to things like Sausalito small town character or keep Sausalito salty. But obviously many of these other themes are important to the quality of life in Sausalito. if we look at just the number one priority of respondents according to the same themes. The order has a few changes. For example, responses identifying streets, parks, pathways, and infrastructure as an important issue appeared on lots of survey responses, but was less likely to be the number one issue. Conversely, COVID-19 response was the number one issue for some. but listed by relatively few respondents overall. |
| 00:10:17.59 | Abbott Chambers | That concludes my presentation. I want to thank everyone who responded to the survey for taking their time. Thank you. to share their perspective. |
| 00:10:30.99 | Jill Hoffman | Okay, thanks, Abbott. Very, very nice. Thank you so much for working on that. So here's what I think we're going to do. Let me bring up my list here. |
| 00:10:46.93 | Jill Hoffman | So there they are. Okay. So, um, I, What I think we're going to do is We're going to start off at the top of the list. And we're going to go, we'll probably make it through the top five. We'll see how many comments we have on each topic. But the idea is that I'll open it up starting at the top. And I'm going to if anybody's here wants to make a statement on the homeless encampment and you just really can't wait till tomorrow, then OK, then I'm going to, you know, I'm going to open it up for that. But I Um, I would ask that if you can hold for tomorrow, just so that we have time to get to the other things on the agenda, but we're going to start with homeless and then we're going to go, um, Karen Grove- Down local business city government quality of life streets parks housing and we're going to work our way down through the list and see you know how far we can get our target was to get through the top five. So we'll see if we get that far. and keep in mind, it's gonna be a different kind of format where we're gonna take your comments. There may or may not be any comments from the city council. It doesn't mean that we're not interested or that we're not, we're not interested in what you're saying. It's just that we're here to take comments and keep in mind also that we have rules that we have to operate under under various guidelines where if we are going to consider something, we have to have it on agenda. People have to know we are going to consider it. If we are going to have a discussion and make a decision, Um, Just understand that, that That's why it's a little bit different tonight. Let's start with the homeless tent encampment and anchor house. If anybody's here that feels like they can't wait until tomorrow, raise your hand and Heidi will put you in the queue and we'll take comments on that. Otherwise, we'll move forward on to our first presentation. Now to our first item. Okay. Yes, well Susan Cleveland Knowles, council member has her hand up, yes. |
| 00:12:40.37 | Melissa Blaustein | Yes. Yeah. Yeah, so sorry, Mayor Hoffman. I was under the impression we were accepting public comment as if this was general public comment on anything that people in the community felt was important to them? Is this, did you say there's only five topics that we'll be considering tonight? |
| 00:12:55.37 | Unknown | Thank you. |
| 00:13:00.01 | Jill Hoffman | So we have, so the, the, um, The survey that Abbott did, so when we put out that we're doing a town hall, we also said, hey, participate in the survey. And we talked about this when we were talking about the structure of this town hall. So the survey is to get sort of a scope of what people want to talk about and... you know, a list. just to focus what we are doing and focus our efforts. So, I mean, we are going to go down through the list. I'm not. the, you know, if we have time, you know, we can see how it all unfolds, right? We have two hours that we've scheduled for this. The idea is that we work down through our list because those are the topics that were identified by people on the survey as the highest concern. So, you know, if we feel like we want to call it and just take open without going to the survey, that's, you know, we can talk about that. Let's talk about that at about an hour and a half in and see where we're at and if we've gotten down through the list. Maybe we've hit everything. So that's the basic structure for today. Okay, I see two hands up. I see Robbie Powelson and I see, um, Ava's iPhone. So welcome. And we'll take Robbie, I think he had his hand up first, and then we'll take Eva. Welcome. |
| 00:14:16.96 | Robbie Powelson | Yeah, thank you. So we're just calling in Tennessee, South Salido, and I'm going to be passing around the phone a little bit to some people who are interested. Um, here. We can even, I'm not sure. Some people like privacy. So, um, oh where's the I was just You know, right now, I just bought a bucket and a toilet seat. help out with people who need to go to the bathroom at night because people have issues, medical issues, people have disabilities. It's very hard in the only bathrooms. right now that's open at night is the one over in |
| 00:15:03.28 | Cleveland Knowles | Yeah. |
| 00:15:03.50 | Robbie Powelson | Thank you. on Bridgeway in the downtown. Um, I know personally, I had to go to the bathroom yesterday at that. earlier in the morning, I tried to set my tent up there very aggressive police. I don't, you know, toilet towns, Very challenging. And I just want to read from the Pacific Sun. what they were saying about Um, just kind of Sausalito's response. Thank you, Nikki Silverstein, for all your coverage. Sausalito is long in rhetoric and short on specifics regarding a plan for the encampment. Our priority remains finding alternate and appropriate shelter through Marin County Health and Human Services for the individuals who are homeless. Hoffman said in the email, Sausalito's commitment is to health, safety, and welfare. But she recommends you look at Sausalito because she continues to say, the Sausalito encampment lacks bathrooms, except for the nearby dumping vector. that don't be parked restrooms that are only open from sunrise to sunset. And where else the current set of fails to follow the Center for Disease Control and Prevention guidance for homeless encampments during COVID-19, which instructs local governments to provide nearby restrooms and ensure they're functional stock and remain open 24 hours a day. So, You... People have been here for a while. There's no reason why the city of South's leaders should be failing to follow CDC guidelines for encampments over 10. There's no reason. You know, and you're It's a no brainer. And if we have to continue to go over to the downtown and we need to have a little suburb so people who need access to toilets in the evening have a space to do it and we're going to continue to pursue that or City stops there because simply follow CDC guidance and provide bathrooms and hand washing stations. It's very simple request. So with that, I'll just invite anybody else here. Anyway else? Thank you. All right. Well, then that's all it. Thank you. Have a great rest of your evening. Thank you. |
| 00:17:18.52 | Jill Hoffman | Thank you. |
| 00:17:18.59 | Robbie Powelson | Thank you. |
| 00:17:18.60 | Jill Hoffman | Thank you. |
| 00:17:18.70 | Robbie Powelson | Thank you. |
| 00:17:21.40 | Jill Hoffman | Okay. I see Ava's iPhone and I see two new hands, Vicki Nichols and Elias. Thank you. |
| 00:17:32.04 | Heidi Scoble | I'm not a mayor. |
| 00:17:32.15 | Jill Hoffman | THE FAMILY. |
| 00:17:33.76 | Heidi Scoble | Madam Mayor, I excuse the interruption clarification are we taking three minute public comment two minute or one minute public comment |
| 00:17:44.49 | Jill Hoffman | Well, I think we have a lot of topics to get through tonight. So my sense is that we should cut, you know, we should take. Shorter public comment. How did the rest of the City Council feel? I'm thinking it should be two or one minute |
| 00:17:56.99 | Janelle Kellman | I think two minutes would be appropriate so we can get through. And then, as you mentioned, the last 30 minutes are probably for general topics, not on the top five. |
| 00:18:05.94 | Melissa Blaustein | Thank you. |
| 00:18:05.99 | Janelle Kellman | Thank you. |
| 00:18:06.01 | Melissa Blaustein | Okay. How do the rest of you guys feel? Two minutes okay? We're going to have individual topics. Two minutes is fine, although I'd prefer to just hear what people think is most important. right? |
| 00:18:15.96 | Jill Hoffman | Thank you. Understood. Okay, if there's no objection, so we'll do two-minute comments. so we can hear from as many people as possible. Okay, so we'll go Ava's iPhone, and then we'll go Vicki Nichols, and then we'll go Elias. |
| 00:18:33.61 | Eva Cresanti | Thank you, Mayor Hoffman, Eva Cresanti. At first, I went to my first Sausalito City Council meeting when Sally Stanford was still the mayor. and I'm here right now to urge you to be responsible with regard to the encampments. There's no reason in the midst of a pandemic that THE END OF THE END OF THE people don't have functional restrooms and hand washing stations. It's really, really important. I just want to point out, I worked at UCSF. I had a lot of homeless patients that I helped care for, and it was really, really an educational experience. I think that I think that there are a lot of wealthy property owners in Sausalito who just don't know this population and don't care to. But I urge those wealthy residents to break out of their bubble and get to know some people. And to think about what our responsibilities are in the midst of a pandemic. I want to point out something, a lot of the money um that um the wealthy property owners in Sausalito have is actually as a result of uh mass privatization of all sorts of public goods in this country that's been going on since the Reagan era So one of those things was the privatization of what remained of our public health infrastructure. And unfortunately, that's resulted in all sorts of issues. But it means that in the midst of a pandemic, we are simultaneously looking at what will probably be a much larger population of unhoused people. And simultaneously we do not have enough medical staff to deal with everything that's flying at us with, with the pandemic. We can't seem to get vaccinations out. Look at countries that have functional public health systems. Okay, yeah, if I could just finish, look at Vietnam, look at Taiwan, look at even Greece. These are all places that have universal health care, and they're functioning much better. Thank you. |
| 00:20:42.17 | Cleveland Knowles | Thank you. |
| 00:20:42.20 | Heidi Scoble | Two minute time has elapsed. |
| 00:20:43.48 | Cleveland Knowles | Yes. |
| 00:20:53.98 | Unknown | Thank you. |
| 00:20:54.01 | Jill Hoffman | and they're functioning. Bye. Thank you. Yeah. Okay. Thank you. We have to be respectful of other people's time too. Okay, thank you. Vicki Nichols? and then Elias. |
| 00:21:06.47 | Vicki Nichols | Thank you. Hi, thank you, Mayor Hoffman and council members. Just as usual with my little... I would like to see you continue a tradition, maybe the first Zoom town hall meeting, maybe the first Zoom town hall meeting, but this was something championed by former council member Herbie Weiner. So we have done them before. I'm glad you're doing them again. I wanted to just mention, perhaps I'm not the only one, but I was a little bit surprised on format tonight. I understand your reasoning, but I did not respond to the survey. I'm a little bit more I think you may hear more from the public. I think it's a more open process if you let people speak on what they want. And then if these additional comments fit into those categories, you might want to discuss these. more later, but trying to go through a list with deliberate topics Someone's going to be left out. So I know that you want this inclusive. I know that you're all trying to do a really great thing here, being transparent. It just seems that not trying to work through a list tonight because technically you haven't received all your public comment. might be more helpful and encouraging. So thank you for doing this. I really appreciate that you're gonna be having uh, topic tomorrow i think that a good portion of information for the community could be discussed in terms of what our Legal obligations are with emergency shelter provisions and current laws to help some people understand that you have a very complicated issue that you're dealing with here. You're trying to deal with it in a very compassionate way. but there are some conditions that are directing what you're able to do. And I think that would be helpful for the community to know. Thank you very much and I'll tune in tomorrow too. And I appreciate what you're doing. Thank you. |
| 00:23:05.28 | Jill Hoffman | Thank you. |
| 00:23:06.50 | Vicki Nichols | Thank you. |
| 00:23:06.52 | Jill Hoffman | Christina Feller. I'm sorry. |
| 00:23:09.52 | Janelle Kellman | I'm sorry. |
| 00:23:09.59 | Cleveland Knowles | I, |
| 00:23:09.84 | Janelle Kellman | Thank you. |
| 00:23:09.89 | Elias | Thank you. |
| 00:23:10.08 | Jill Hoffman | Elias was next and then Christina Feller. |
| 00:23:13.50 | Elias | Good evening. |
| 00:23:13.59 | Jill Hoffman | Bye. I'm not. |
| 00:23:15.69 | Elias | I'd like to make my comments about the encampment currently in Sausalito. I think what Robbie Pallison said was really important. I'd like to see the city of Sausalito follow the CDC guidelines and provide basic facilities for those folks out there. Um, And then You know, just kind of going off of that, And. I think it's important to talk about what the function is of the city of Novato not following those guidelines, not providing those basic necessities. We're right now experiencing one of the most serious crises in our country's history, the COVID crisis, where a lot of people are losing their income. And that creates precarious situations for, you know, a lot of our Marin County residents and people all over the country. So what happens when those kind of basic facilities and refuges aren't provided for folks who are about to lose their home. is something that really isn't So, Imagine a single mom who's in an abusive relationship and needs to leave But there's no, you know, there's no tent city with a bathroom that she can go to for a couple of nights or even a couple of months. There's nowhere where she can, you know, take her kid. I have a friend of mine who has struggled with homelessness. He finally found a place to live with roommates. They exploited him. Um, beat him up regularly. but, because the encampments around his house were so poorly maintained by the city. it made more sense for him to stay in a apartment with people who are abusing him. And that's the kind of environment that you guys as you're producing when you don't provide those basic facilities for those campers. |
| 00:25:23.44 | Jill Hoffman | Thank you. Okay, thank you. Next up I have Christina Feller. |
| 00:25:31.40 | John Barbera | unmute. Okay, can you hear me? |
| 00:25:34.44 | Jill Hoffman | Yes. |
| 00:25:35.50 | John Barbera | Hi, this is John Barbera. Um, I want to change the subject to the residents of Sausalito here. I have a lot of friends and neighbors who are senior citizens, and they just do not have the information they need. to get their vaccinations, to get help for the COVID vaccination and the information that's so important for them. Um, and, you know, as a resident of the town as the tax paying resident Um, I just think we have to, as a town, serve the community and we have a very older community than most towns in Marin. |
| 00:26:17.93 | Unknown | and we're going to have a |
| 00:26:23.33 | John Barbera | And I would like to see the city put some sort of a task force together to go out and seek out these older senior citizens who really need help. who need help understanding how to get through their computer, the websites, how to access the sites themselves for getting appointments. and to find out who is out there in need. Um, I have a lot of everything, I guess, for people who decide to camp out, but God. I'm really more concerned about the people who live here full time and for a long time. So I would like to have the town readdress the situation with the COVID. emergency that's in place and to try to get together and access, you know, and give access to these people who probably need a little extra help and advice and how to you know, navigate. you know, all the websites and internet. That's it. Thank you. |
| 00:27:25.95 | Jill Hoffman | Thank you. Okay. I don't see any other hands on this topic. So we're going to move on to our second topic on our list. And the topics on the list, if you don't have it up, it's Um, The next is local businesses and the local economy, city government, city finances and city services. The next one is quality of life. The next one is streets, parks, pathways and infrastructure. So we're going to move to local businesses and the local economy now, if anybody would like to speak on that topic. And I see I see a hand up for Stephen Barber, I believe. And Connor J is next. So it'll be Steven Barber and Connor J. |
| 00:28:07.40 | Unknown | Hi, this is Steven Barber from living here in Sausalito. I just had a quick question actually, nothing to really comment. I was wondering if you guys were going to actually like respond to anybody's comments and whatnot. As much as I enjoy hearing how my fellow residents feel about the issues I have next door for that or Facebook, I can just go to talk to my neighbors. I was really kind of hoping to hear how my elected officials felt about everything tonight. |
| 00:28:32.52 | Jill Hoffman | Well, I don't know. The format for tonight basically is for us to hear from the citizens and to take, you know, those comments, you know, to help us guide us through the year and what priorities we have, you know, as the year progresses. So that's the idea for the town forum tonight. I think That's the general format. That's how we'll see how it all unfolds, but that's kind of, um, That is how we will roll. We do have staff listening and taking notes. If we have things we need to follow up on, the idea is that this is the time to talk about some things. Anyway, our topic now is local businesses and the local economy. Um, Heidi, I see on my cue. Um, I said Connor, but I'm just going to go across the top. So Megan Boynton, Connor J and Kelly Adams are the next three up. With Megan first. |
| 00:29:54.62 | Meg Boynton | Good evening, Council, Madam Mayor. Thank you so much for giving me a chance to speak with you tonight. I'm Meg Boynton and I'm here to advocate for cannabis slicing in Sausalito. We had our third community call on Tuesday and I'd like to briefly recap our learnings for the council. The agenda included a doctor of addiction medicine, a former Tam High student, and Louis My Company and Otter Brands presented our intentions for cannabis slicing in Sausalito. Throughout there were comments and as you can imagine, some were quite jarring and colorful. We captured the questions and have published them in a recap email that has been sent to the attendees, Madam Mayor and council members and staff. Perhaps the most important question was, how will you protect our children? And I'd like to take my moment right now to answer that to the spirit of the question. Statistically speaking, many of us on this call have a friend or a relative that is now or has been a substance abuser. The journey is very difficult for families and loved ones and often ends in tragedy. I have personal experience with that and I know many of you do too. There is nothing more insidious and tragic than the loss of a child to substance abuse or any death of despair. Cannabis was called in the 80s a gateway drug. However, the real gateway drugs are actively and actually in your household today. Those are alcohol and opioids. I lived in Sausalito my whole life and I have been a customer at the Golden Gate Market, Molly Stone, 7-Eleven, Colonial Liquors. I've been a customer at the No Name and Smitty's. So I urge the council as you consider licensing for cannabis to regulate cannabis and ask us as cannabis businesses and owners to focus on education. The CDC says that peer influence education and parental intervention is far more effective in combating substance abuse and other deaths of despair than prohibition. Prohibition's lasting impacts has jails full of blacks and brown men, which is also tragic. Thank you so much for your time, and I look forward to talking to you next week. |
| 00:31:52.86 | Jill Hoffman | Thank you. Next I have Connor. On my screen I have Connor J, I have Kelly Adams, and Kyle. |
| 00:32:04.52 | Connor Johnston | Good evening, councillors Connor Johnston. And if you're sick of hearing my voice, I don't blame you. Most people are, but that is because my partners, Chris Monroe of CrossFit Sausalito and Karen Cleary and I are now in month 26 of working in the Sausalito community and doing our outreach in the hopes of opening a cannabis store. And I'll just follow up briefly on Meg's point. that people sometimes ask us what is the advantage of a retail store as opposed to just delivery, which currently exists. There are many, including the jobs, the tax base, the increased foot traffic for other merchants, the increased security. But the big one is really education as Meg touched on. At my store in San Francisco, each person who comes in is matched with a staff member who is an expert on these products. asks what they're looking for, what their experiences, recommends the lowest dose, and gives them a very personal experience. And that is the true benefit of cannabis retail, is that education, that compassion, that caution of maybe you should start with 2.5 milligrams and then try five and see how it goes. That education is so crucial and fundamental to what we want to do. And I just want to pivot quickly. As you may know, I worked in San Francisco City Hall for over four years. And so I can empathize with the complexity of The homeless issue that you are facing now, I've been there, I've worked many, many long hours on the issue. But you know, what Meg and Chris and Karen and I We're easy, right? We're not a hard issue. Fundamentally, we just want the opportunity to open a small business in town. And I think that small business can help with issues like homelessness The development agreement that we pitched to the city a year ago pledged $350,000 as a minimum in community benefits in our first five years of operation. But more than that, I want to be a part of the community as a small business owner and help with issues like the ones you're facing now. So I look forward to seeing you again on Tuesday. |
| 00:34:09.40 | Jill Hoffman | Thank you. Okay, I see Kelly Adams and Kyle and then Jennifer Green. |
| 00:34:17.13 | Kelly Adams | Thank you. Kelly Adams, hi everybody nice to see you all Kelly Adams. rower and I'm here because Open Water Rowing Center has been part of the waterfront for 35 years. And we would very much like an aquatic center. And we think that that would really help Sausalito. um, It would, um, stimulate the economy, bring in healthy tourism restaurants, hotels, It would be, If we could get a location close to Dumphy Park, perhaps, it would stimulate that area. We could really activate the waterfront down there by, Donkey Park. so many people lost access to the water with COVID. We saw complete chaos. down here on the waterfront. We had to put a gate up. on our dock at Open Water Rowing, just to keep people from bringing their motor boats down on our dock. um, It's, I think it would be great. There's a boat now that we have at Open Water Rowing, It's called a coastal boat, and it will be in the Olympics in two years. It is the, it's a rough water racing boat. It is, been sanctioned by U.S. rowing as a competitive boat. It'll be in the Olympics. And the waters in San Francisco Bay are perfect for it. This is a golden opportunity for us to take advantage of this. So. That's So what I wanted to share with you tonight. So thank you very much. |
| 00:35:57.48 | Jill Hoffman | Thank you. Thank you for your comments. Jennifer Green, Sean Cleary, Chris Monroe, and then Wendy Richards are the last four that I see. Okay, Jennifer? |
| 00:36:12.79 | Jennifer Green | Hi there. Thank you for having me and thank you for hosting this meeting today. I appreciate it a lot. I also just wanted to echo Kelly Adams and needing to have a working in Sausalito. This is a picture that she took. |
| 00:36:27.23 | Unknown | Thank you. |
| 00:36:29.87 | Jennifer Green | This is what we do, we row all the time. enjoy the Bay and want others to be able to have access to it in continued years. We currently have pretty high overhead where we rent. Just north of Schoenmecker Beach. and we'd like to work with the city as a 501c7 nonprofit to be able to secure space and open up. the ability to serve the community and our neighbors, and offer water access to all. the Open Water Rowing Center, As you heard from Kelly has been open for over 30 years and we have a huge membership and would like to secure it in the future. Also, I'll probably be in a meeting tomorrow about homelessness because I've been a paramedic in San Francisco serving on the front lines there with all of the homeless people for about 15 years. So. I hope to help out. |
| 00:37:26.38 | Sybil Boutier | here. |
| 00:37:26.68 | Jennifer Green | Thank you. |
| 00:37:26.74 | Jill Hoffman | Thank you. |
| 00:37:26.89 | Jennifer Green | and I appreciate your time. Thank you. Thank you. |
| 00:37:32.56 | Jill Hoffman | Okay, Sean Cleary, Chris Moreau, and then Wendy Richards. |
| 00:37:46.88 | Sean Cleary | Hello? Can you hear me? |
| 00:37:48.47 | Alice Merrill | Yes. |
| 00:37:49.35 | Sean Cleary | Sorry, I was having some tech issues over here. Hi, Sean Cleary, native son. My parents still live in town and I've spoken to council before on this, so I'm not going to take too long. On the topic of the cannabis dispensary in Sausalito, look, I've heard a lot of new oppositional voices at the public events around this and at city council. I don't agree with these voices because I haven't heard a single one that's presented a fact-based objection to the presence of a dispensary. But my disagreement isn't my point. My point is that none of these activists or naysayers, professional obstructionists, whoever they are, none of them are from Sausalito. They don't speak for Sausalito. They speak for themselves. Our town's voiced its support for dispensary several times over four years. In fact, we've supported having a dispensary in town by a wider margin, I think, than any survey in the state. So, yeah. I strongly urge the council just to listen to its constituents and please move forward with permitting a dispensary. Thanks. |
| 00:38:44.43 | Jill Hoffman | Thank you. Um, I see Chris Monroe and Winnie Richards and then Art Bruzzoni. I hope I said that your name right. |
| 00:39:00.61 | Ian Sobieski | Hi, good evening, council members. Nice to see you all again. Tonight I actually will only be speaking on behalf of my business, CrossFit Sausalito, not on auto brands. I think everything that needs to be covered has been covered. But I wanted to touch on what I talked to you about at the last meeting about if Sausalito has any plans to help small businesses. As you know, gyms and fitness centers have been some of the worst hit businesses since the pandemic hit. Since March 15th, I've been allowed to operate for 10 weeks as of now. And I'm still on the hook for all of the rent. I have not reached an agreement with I'm currently trying to pursue a different space to move to, but inventory is very low. I know zoning restrictions can make it very difficult, but You know, I'm in dire straits. I owe a tremendous amount of money. And it seems like any sort of help that we can try to get on a, you know, state, federal level, it's really just more of a shoulder shrug. And it's really, it's very, it's difficult. I mean, I have to live almost day to day emotionally. You know, that business for me represents a decade worth of work. I mean, it's not just something I bought two years ago. You know, I was moonlighting as a CrossFit instructor in my early 30s, and it's something I did for fun. And now it's the center of my life, really. And to lose that because the state thinks it's unsafe based on no facts is something that would be incredibly difficult to deal with. So I'm just hoping that Sausalito can have some sort of reprieve for us or help or direction or anything, really. I mean, I'm just basically sitting in my business as it disappears, and it sucks. So thank you very much. Hopefully, next meeting will be better, but that's all I got. Thank you. |
| 00:41:02.08 | Jill Hoffman | Thank you. Um, art. Oh, sorry. Wendy first and then art. |
| 00:41:12.89 | Jill Hoffman | Thank you. |
| 00:41:12.98 | Wendy Richards | Thank you very much. I'd like to speak on this topic and I will then speak separately on a further topic later on if that's part of the rules. |
| 00:41:23.17 | Jill Hoffman | There's no limit on how many topics you can speak on. |
| 00:41:23.81 | Wendy Richards | Yeah. Thank you. Thank you. |
| 00:41:26.24 | Jill Hoffman | Thank you. |
| 00:41:26.49 | Wendy Richards | That's unusual. So on the topic of small business, actually, the first item on my list is exactly what Chris was talking about. relief for our small businesses and our smallest businesses. Staff had presented an alternative choice a couple of meetings ago. You generously gave a 60-day reprieve on paying the business license tax. And I'd like to have you revisit what staff presented, which was actually giving a full reprieve for the very smallest businesses, because that would make a difference. And to actually take a second look and raise that limit, A second point on the business license tax, and I know you've heard this, and I spoke at EDAC, and I hope that EDAC will consider this. The Measure M trebled the tax rate on service businesses overnight with no notification. It's extremely punitive. And, you know, we're talking about our dentists, our vets, our chiropractors, all the small offices. It's outrageous and it's unfair and there's no basis for it. In addition, it created the business license tax now suddenly overnight taxed home-based businesses, which means that residents who get W-2, don't pay the tax. And next door, if you earn a living as a gig economy, you're suddenly subject to these huge taxes. And it's just, you know, people wonder why am I so passionate about this? It's an integrity issue. And it's time that we put the integrity back in. And this is a really important issue. And I hope that we'll be able to give Chris and many other of our businesses some help. Thank you. |
| 00:43:12.54 | Jill Hoffman | Thank you. and Art Bruzzoni, and that's the last That's the last person I see on this topic, which is local businesses and the economy. So Art, go ahead. |
| 00:43:30.39 | Heidi Scoble | Madam Mayor, I'm not quite sure if Mr. Brezzoni is calling in with his phone, but there's no way to unmute him. So if he is calling in from his phone, if he could press star nine. to speak, otherwise he may not have his microphone set up. |
| 00:43:48.04 | Janelle Kellman | I think staff has the survey results that they could post on the screen if you think that would be helpful. |
| 00:43:54.79 | Jill Hoffman | Yeah, I did. I think Abbott was going to share those with you, Heidi. |
| 00:44:04.01 | Heidi Scoble | Yes, I have the slide, so just let me know when you want to pull it up. |
| 00:44:06.71 | Jill Hoffman | Yeah, just go ahead. I think, yeah, just go ahead and share it. And then I can't, we haven't heard you, Mr. Brisoni, so let's go ahead and go to the next, it's just a phone number, on the next hand I see raised is just a phone number. So if you want to unmute that person, we'll hear what they have to say. And maybe Mr. Brazoni could call back and we'll hear him whenever he can |
| 00:44:29.18 | Heidi Scoble | with the you |
| 00:44:30.84 | Jill Hoffman | Come back in. |
| 00:44:31.49 | Heidi Scoble | Thank you. The phone number has been unmuted. Okay. |
| 00:44:39.36 | Cleveland Knowles | Thank you. |
| 00:44:39.38 | Heidi Scoble | So that might be another situation where they might want to press star nine to speak. |
| 00:44:39.51 | Cleveland Knowles | Thank you. |
| 00:44:39.55 | Melissa Blaustein | Thank you. |
| 00:44:49.25 | Jill Hoffman | I'm sorry callers, we can't hear you. But however, if you call back in, just call back in. And when we see you again, we'll try to get you in. Whenever I see you. |
| 00:45:04.47 | Heidi Scoble | Madam Mayor, excuse me, sorry for interrupting. I just wanted to let you and the general public know if you are having problems checking in or being able to raise your hand, You can email cityclerk, one word, at saucelito.gov. And you can either provide me with your comment or let me know what your name is. And then I can let the mayor know that you'd like to speak. |
| 00:45:30.78 | Wendy Richards | Okay, thanks. |
| 00:45:31.93 | Ian Sobieski | For what it's worth, Madam Mayor, this is Ian Sobieski, just a request since Heidi offered |
| 00:45:31.96 | Wendy Richards | I'm not sure. |
| 00:45:32.38 | Heidi Scoble | I mean, |
| 00:45:32.60 | Wendy Richards | Thank you. |
| 00:45:39.52 | Ian Sobieski | An email address, there are some comments that I wanted to follow up with. And I know in past experience, we don't have the contact information for everyone. So if anybody wants follow up and is willing to email their contact information to that same address, it would facilitate following up with some of these comments. |
| 00:45:57.83 | Jill Hoffman | Councilmember Sobieski, that is an excellent point, and I was thinking the same thing. And so, yeah, I would ask that anybody who speaks tonight, if you would like to send an email to the clerk with a brief summary of the topic that you spoke on and your comments, I think that would be really helpful for us. I do note that our clerk is taking notes, as I asked her to take notes, but it would be really helpful for us if we had a contact information for you for follow up. So thank you for that. And I appreciate that. |
| 00:46:17.25 | Unknown | Thank you. |
| 00:46:30.36 | Jill Hoffman | Okay. So we're going to. Um, We, I see John Dury has his hand up now. John, I'm thinking that you want to talk about local business and the local economy. So let's take that as our last comment. And we'll see if Mr. Brezzoni, if we can listen to him. If not, then we'll move on to our next topic. Okay, Mr. Dorey, go ahead. |
| 00:46:55.17 | John Dury | Thank you, Mayor. I wanted to comment since we're talking about the local economy. I wanted to point out something I think we all know, and that is the real... is the marine ship. And I think we also know that the maritime businesses down there are booming. and the service companies and yacht sales are through the roof. Everybody's as busy as they've ever been. Um, The same goes for industrial. The industrial folks are very busy. Unfortunately, everybody is looking for space in those industries, and that is a problem. Um, There are a lot of signs if you go down Gate 5 Road, But the bottom line is, if you make noise, you are not welcome. It's an industrial zone. You're allowed to make noise and you have. Um, property owners that are making these rules. So this brings me to something that I hope the City Council will focus on this year, which is enforcement, enforcement of the zoning ordinances. It's the law. I kind of. I can't believe that we have to say this, but all I'm asking is, instead of what's happened for the last three or more decades of not enforcing zoning the law, that perhaps the city council can do something in order to grow our economy and grow our business space and grow our jobs. And not just jobs for us. Hopefully, we can reach out and bring jobs in for our next door community, Marin City. So I really hope that there can be a focus on enforcement. Thank you very much for your time. |
| 00:48:44.22 | Jill Hoffman | Okay, thanks very much. Okay. I don't currently see any other hands up, so I am going to move us on to streets, parks, pathways, and infrastructure. And so do we have anybody on the call right now who would like to speak on streets, parks, pathways, and or infrastructure? I see one hand up and that is Hein. I'm going to, I am not going to say this. So my apologies. Yes. Yes, sir. |
| 00:49:20.93 | Bill Hines | Hey, Jill, this is Bill Hines from South |
| 00:49:23.23 | Jill Hoffman | Thank you. |
| 00:49:23.26 | Cleveland Knowles | No, no. |
| 00:49:25.31 | Bill Hines | having a little difficulty navigating the name in Zoom. um So I'm president of Sausalita Beautiful. And I'm also a local landscape architect with SWA. I've been involved with the Blue Ribbon Committee the Fairy Landing Plaza and several other things. And our organization, Sauce Leet of Beautiful, for anybody who doesn't know, is devoted to creating, enhancing, and protecting public green space, primarily in Sausalito. I think there are kind of a number of key issues facing Sausalito A lot of them have to do with planning and design. And I think there's a sort of a theme here with thinking about public green spaces and planning and design. The fact that we have a lot of cultural attributes in the marineship that are not very well celebrated the fact that several of our park spaces are imminently threatened by sea level rise. Gabrielson, Yi Tak-Chi, Tiffany, Dunphy, Marin Ship Park. And so I think my sort of message in terms of focusing on priorities is these streets, parks, pathways, and infrastructure is a very important element in Sausalito. It's imminently threatened by sea level rise. And I also think that there is the possibility of developing public landscapes in a way that enhance the local economy, provide additional traffic to local businesses, make Sausalito an even greater place to visit, and can really help improve the physical environment and quality of life for the citizens. So with that, I think if anybody uh specific council members anybody in the community has questions or wants to use us as a resource uh we're we're here We're also looking for people that want to join us and kind of help with this mission. you know, people that may have specific |
| 00:51:38.60 | Heidi Scoble | Your two-minute time has elapsed. |
| 00:51:41.89 | Bill Hines | And with that, That's all I have to say. Thank you. |
| 00:51:45.66 | Jill Hoffman | Thank you. Okay, next up I see Alice Merrill and after that Robert May. Welcome. |
| 00:51:53.79 | Alice Merrill | Bye. Thank you. I would like to say that in the subject of pathways that that if it's an idea to put pathways throughout the Marin ship, It is an industrial area and a lot of it is actually got things, big, big equipment down there. and to put a pathway through that's big enough for for wheelchairs and bicycles and strollers and et cetera in an area that could very easily have a, the big, some industrial machinery driving around on the street. Isn't... A good idea. And, And if you look at the Marinship as big and empty, And just a few little things down there, then you think, oh, well, we all like to walk down there and it's on the waterfront. If we don't pay attention, it will not be there anymore. And the reason for those big equipments driving around in the streets will be gone. And the ability to to pull out boats and to do the kind of work that John DeRay talks about It won't be there anymore. So I just want to say that if we think about that that's a place to put pathways. We really need to think about it. Thanks. |
| 00:53:19.31 | Jill Hoffman | Thank you. Robert May. |
| 00:53:24.81 | Robert May | Yes, hi there. |
| 00:53:27.50 | Jill Hoffman | Thank you. |
| 00:53:27.51 | Robert May | Thank you. |
| 00:53:27.53 | Sybil Boutier | Welcome. |
| 00:53:28.00 | Robert May | Thank you. |
| 00:53:28.19 | Sybil Boutier | Thank you. |
| 00:53:32.34 | Robert May | Thank you. |
| 00:53:32.36 | Sybil Boutier | Thank you. |
| 00:53:32.47 | Robert May | Thank you. |
| 00:53:32.73 | Sybil Boutier | Thank you. |
| 00:53:36.36 | Robert May | Thank you. |
| 00:53:36.64 | Cleveland Knowles | Thank you. |
| 00:53:36.74 | Robert May | Thank you. Hey, my name is Robert May. I'm a longtime resident of Sausalito. I'm a rower with Open Water Rowing Center and also a businessman and tech guy. I'm particularly interested in the economy of Sausalito as a business person. And I think that it's incumbent on us to take a look at the looming risks of sea level rise as something that's a real opportunity for Sausalito. Sausalito has got a history of small business, a history of technology and light industry down in the marineship that I think could really serve us well in terms of building solutions for sea level rise, not just for local markets, but for global markets. So I'd like to ask the city council and other residents here, to consider what we can do to grow businesses in Sausalito, grow revenues in Sausalito, and really serve the world in terms of developing solutions for sea level rise with what we have here in Sausalito. Thank you for your consideration. |
| 00:54:42.89 | Jill Hoffman | Thank you. Okay, I don't see any other hands up for this topic, which is streets, pathways, parks and infrastructure. And so we will move on to our next topic, which is city government, city finances and city services. |
| 00:55:03.89 | Jill Hoffman | Not seeing any hands. Heidi, oh, there we go. Okay, Wendy Richards has her hand up. Very good. Go ahead, Wendy. |
| 00:55:15.33 | Wendy Richards | Thank you. So this was the other topic I'm happy to speak about. Thank you. First of all, thank you for your vision for the new Sausalito, the way you've expressed it in your search for the city manager. And I'd like to suggest that the quickest way and the first way to really prioritize and tighten the ship is To take the city budget. And to, 20% out across the board. It's the best way to get efficiency to get focus, to get priorities, And honestly, our union employees have taken a 20% cut in their hours for COVID. and why can't we take a serious long-term look at the budget and say, Thank you. Let's live without all these things. And let's Get rid of the fluff. Pull back. re imagine the core services and really make this city efficient. I've lived here 20 years, the budget keeps going up and up and up, and we're still the same number of residents and the same number of business locations. And it's time that we skinny down the city And that, the best way to do it is to bring the long-term budget in line with what we are living with perfectly well right now, which is a 20% reduction in that services. That will also force efficiencies in the areas such as permitting, which is clearly not working perfectly. And it will let us then focus on pensions, which is the other big looming financial question. So I just invite you to tighten the belt so that we can focus on what's really important going forward. Thank you. |
| 00:57:19.29 | Jill Hoffman | Thank you. Okay, thank you. Um, I see Kevin Carroll has his hand up. Can we? Go ahead. |
| 00:57:28.99 | Kevin Carroll | Good evening and thank you for the opportunity. One thing I'd like to point out, I noticed The discussion tomorrow night is going to be on the homeless situation. And I guess it sort of fits into this category. is the bottom line is most of the homeless issues are dealt with on the county level. And I hope you've tried to invite our supervisor, Moulton Peters, and perhaps the new president of the board, Supervisor Rodoni to the meeting tomorrow night. I realize only two of them could be there. because the Brown Act rules but really I've been involved in this issue for a number of years. I have a an adult son who's both mentally ill and at various times homeless, and these issues are decided at that level. things like the Mill Street Center is now closed. There's no longer program for homeless to sleep on the floors of church. And these are all directly related to issues dealt with by the Board of Supervisors. And I know the city budget, I... been around long enough to know you guys just don't have the money to deal with this. And I would just strongly recommend that you invite them to participate tomorrow night. Thank you. |
| 00:58:45.89 | Jill Hoffman | Thank you. Mary Griffin. |
| 00:58:55.56 | Mary Griffin | Yes, I just wanted to say my screen is just showing a list of issues. Is that what you intend? |
| 00:59:01.08 | Sybil Boutier | Thank you. |
| 00:59:01.10 | Jill Hoffman | Yes. |
| 00:59:01.52 | Mary Griffin | Thank you. |
| 00:59:01.55 | Jill Hoffman | Thank you. |
| 00:59:01.82 | Mary Griffin | OK, thanks. Sure. |
| 00:59:05.16 | Jill Hoffman | So Mary, for anybody else who came on late, we're working our way down the list. The list was prioritized from a survey that we did that our city communications director, Abbott Chambers, did. And so these are topics in priority from the survey that he did. What we're doing is we're gonna go down through this list for another half an hour And then the last half hour, we're just going to do a free for all. we might, whoever wants to speak and speak on whatever they want to, We might consider... At that point, we might bring it down to one minute so we can get as many people in as we can, but we'll talk about that in half an hour so you guys think about that. So... We just finished with the city government, city finances, and city services. I don't see any more hands up for that. And so. We will move on to our next topic, which was housing and development. Anybody who wants to speak on housing and development, raise your hand. And we're all calling. |
| 01:00:11.47 | Jill Hoffman | And I have a hand up with Carolyn Revell. And if anybody else wants to speak, please put your hand up. Welcome. |
| 01:00:19.43 | Carolyn Revell | Actually, I was trying to weigh in rather belatedly on the issue of city. government and finances, I guess I don't really agree with the speaker who said that we should be cutting the budget, I understand and she was making an interesting point, but in my experience, trying to see that the city has enough money To enhance our parks and to maintain the green spaces that we have It seems to be very often that there's not enough money. to do the things we need to do. And secondly, I'm often struck by the fact that the Community Planning Division seems to have to rely on contract employees. You don't have the continuity to allow of proactive planning. hope that a budget would allow for permanent planning. Staff. I realize there are many, many issues in the budget, but I guess I do not agree that our budget is floated. Thank you. |
| 01:01:09.35 | Jill Hoffman | Thank you very much. And I see Bill Hines has his hand up. |
| 01:01:17.75 | Bill Hines | Yeah, just another quick comment along along those lines. My observation as a landscape architect and seeing, you know, this happened in a lot of communities is that the COVID situation has just really been an accelerant or a catalyst to a lot of other trends. So I think, you know, this trend of city budgets expanding less revenue to fund parks and services is a trend across the board. And it's definitely been accelerated by COVID. So I think that there's sort of a difficult task with trying to manage the near-term needs with a lot of the long-term goals of the community. Thank you. |
| 01:02:00.93 | Jill Hoffman | Thank you. Okay, well this was our housing and development topic. We had a little crossover, but that's fine. Do we have anybody that wants to speak on housing and development? If not, we'll move on to... the always popular tourist bicycles and congestion topic. Okay, let's move on. We're gonna go to tourist bicycles and congestion. Anybody here want to talk on that topic? |
| 01:02:32.76 | Jill Hoffman | I'm not seeing any hands, so... Quality of life. Any takers? |
| 01:02:42.26 | Jill Hoffman | Okay? Crime and Public Safety. Would anybody like to speak on the topic of crime and public safety? |
| 01:02:53.35 | Jill Hoffman | I'm not sitting hands. How do you am I? reading this correctly? to stick to the ground. |
| 01:03:00.47 | Heidi Scoble | Madam Mayor, there are no hands that are raised at this time. |
| 01:03:04.77 | Jill Hoffman | Okay, great. Well, we're just gonna shoot through these and maybe we'll get to our open open topic much faster. Okay, next topic is schools. |
| 01:03:17.51 | Jill Hoffman | I'm not seeing any hands for schools, environment, climate change, and sea level rise. Would anybody like to speak on that topic? |
| 01:03:28.53 | Jill Hoffman | Yes, Bill Hines again. |
| 01:03:33.26 | Jill Hoffman | And I see Bill Hines and Kelly Adams and Alice Merrill on the topic of environment, climate change, and sea level rise. Go ahead, Mr. Hines. |
| 01:03:42.17 | Bill Hines | Thank you. As I mentioned earlier, I think this is a very important topic for Sausalito. You know, sea level rise threatens the circulation through town. It threatens the parks and open space. You know, it's actually a portion of the town's infrastructure. It's, you know, the public landscapes treat stormwater before it runs out into the bay. And you know, that, space available for doing all these things is continually shrinking. So I would just ask that the council keep a focus about what we can do both immediately and long-term to work toward these goals You know, since the development of the Marin ship 80 years ago, I think that there have really been a lot of significant sort of alterations or thoughts or visions for, you know, how we might approach this problem. And, you know, I think all the evidence points to it and it's easily observed, you know, when the boardwalk in Richardson Bay is underwater, you know, things like that never used to happen. And I think that, you know, we're going to get to the marine ship here. The Marinship, this is an extremely important issue for, it's important for me as being located at SWA And I think that this is going to be a key issue moving forward. And I think that it would be definitely important to have some follow-up discussions and some kind of leadership at the top level to see what we can do about some different initiatives to make progress in this area. |
| 01:05:36.92 | Jill Hoffman | Okay. Thank you. Carolyn Revelle, Kelly Adams, And then Alice Merrill. or the next three. Go ahead. Go ahead, Carolyn, Ravel. |
| 01:05:55.77 | Janelle Kellman | Carolyn, you're on mute. Thank you. Thank you. |
| 01:05:59.12 | Carolyn Revell | We can't hear you, there you go. Can you hear me now? Yes. Sorry, okay, just to continue where Bill Hines I would say, that we have a tremendous opportunity here, as also Robert May said earlier, to be a thought leader and to be an example to the nation of the waterside community that is proactive in using nature-based solutions to climate change. So I really urge the council to continue imaginative thinking on this issue, as I know you are already starting to do. Thank you. |
| 01:06:31.53 | Jill Hoffman | Thank you. Alice Merrill and And then, Jamie. |
| 01:06:39.96 | Alice Merrill | Whiting. |
| 01:06:40.66 | Jill Hoffman | Thank you. |
| 01:06:43.12 | Alice Merrill | I just want to say that I hope and I think that it is going to happen that this is the subject that is really really taken on by the city council and really, a lot of information out to the city so that people who Don't think that this is a problem, can learn in ways that it is or be shown ways that it's it's really affecting Sausalito as well as everybody else. I think that we have to Keep being proactive. constantly. about the information that we can get out to people about what we can do. The women's club had a little I'm not sure. talk with a couple of people who were very, very interesting. And I think that if the city would do something like that, that was informational time interview thing that was like this but it was a was different people talking about actually what is happening, it would be very helpful so that people really can start to tune in Thank you. |
| 01:07:48.68 | Jill Hoffman | Okay, thank you, Allison. um i see jamie all i can see on the screen is jamie jamie whiting and then kelly adams and lauren lauren and newland next so jamie go ahead |
| 01:08:06.94 | Jill Hoffman | Jamie, I think you need to unmute yourself. |
| 01:08:15.09 | Jamie Whittington | There you go. There you go. Sorry. Thank you. Jamie Whittington. Thank you for having this. The issue that I want to raise is I think it cuts across a lot of topics. So I'm jumping in here, but it does cut across city government, housing, safety, quality of life, and it's land-based housing in the marine ship. I keep hearing that there is no alternative to meet state mandates other than construction of land-based housing in the Marin ship. As I understand that the purpose of this is to help the council members identify areas of concentrated attention over the course of the next year or so. I'm, I would like to submit that perhaps if it hasn't already been done, a more thorough revisiting of whether there aren't alternative sites in Sausalito to the Marin ship for construction of low income housing. I'm all in favor of increasing the and meeting state mandates and even without state mandates, increasing the inventory and meeting state mandates and even without state mandates, increasing the inventory of low income housing in Sausalito. However, I haven't yet seen the evidence that there is absolutely no alternative to the marine ship. There are no sites in Sausalito that would be appropriate. and available. So maybe one area of study. could be revisiting the entirety of South Foligno. for possible alternatives to the marine ship which we all know has toxic issues and sea level rise issues that start to smack of what we don't want, which is environmental racism. So... Your two-minute time in it... |
| 01:10:23.52 | Heidi Scoble | You're two minutes. |
| 01:10:25.18 | Jamie Whittington | That's good. |
| 01:10:28.03 | Jill Hoffman | I'm done. Thank you. Thank you. Next up is Kelly Adams and then Lorna Newland. |
| 01:10:41.56 | Kelly Adams | I guess I can't do my video, but that's okay. So my, I wanted to say that my studio landscape designer. Studio is in the ICB building. I landscaped the strip around the ICB building And I wrote a letter to city council with some images too, showing the water that gets pumped. from other sites and it goes to the lowest spots, which are a lot of the parking areas. And the ICB parking lot floods more than it has ever. The plants in the parking is stripped by the sidewalk have started to die. They've been in the ground there for I don't know, some of them 30 some years, Recently, 10 years ago, maybe seven, we put new plants in. And so those have been fine until this year. we're at a tipping point. And I think that if we follow, if we watch the details, that's where a lot of information is. Salt saturation in the soil now is, Um, a true indication of the saltwater rise. That plus If we build any new buildings around there, they're going to rise up. And then all the lower sites are going to be filled with water. We have to do something. I believe the solution's in the problem. And I know that Janelle's talked a little bit about doing some I'm not sure. We could do some tiny houses, houseboats, float them out in the water. a great solution for housing. People come down to Sausalito, look at the houseboats. I live on a houseboat. THEIR HISTORY. It's, people love it. It's a great way to live. Living on the water is a great quality of life. People could age, at home in their houseboats. you know, small, small houseboat units for, um, so people could live and not drive into Sausalito for work. So just an idea, a direction. |
| 01:12:47.50 | Jill Hoffman | Your two minutes has elapsed. |
| 01:12:48.09 | Heidi Scoble | Thank you. |
| 01:12:50.25 | Jill Hoffman | Thank you. Next up is Lorna Newland and then Christine Durbin. |
| 01:13:03.48 | Lorna Newland | . Hello, Mayor Hoffman. Actually, I want to speak on crime and public safety, and I'm sorry, I could not find the raise hand thing. It used to be in participants, and it was in the reactions area. And I think it would be helpful, Heidi, if you could move the timer to the top of the list, because since it's a shared screen, we don't generally see the timer going. So what I wanted to talk about in, I live in Whiskey Springs, off Bridgeway between Coloma and West Harbor. And In a span of about 30 days, the police were here four times due to crime. The first one was there was a stolen car that was stolen from Platt Street. And my neighbor called me to say or texted me it. 11 o'clock at night, the police are outside your place and there was a stolen car that was dumped. right in our parking lot. Um, the next one was, uh, stolen mail from Olima Street and Casno that was in the parking area next to my car, along with broken, boxes that had come from the southern end of town from a storage unit. Let's see, the next one was, there were four. Oh, my husband was walking the dog about quarter to one, one night. a witness to car, he flashed his flashlight and the car hit the retaining wall, didn't really damage it too much. We called the police on that. And then that same night, an hour later, a car alarm went off in front of my place. And that night, eight cars had their windows smashed. I think the only reason his window wasn't smashed was because he had left it open. It was a nice day about two weeks ago. And so somebody got into the car, nothing was taken, but at least his window wasn't smashed. And it was all reported to the police. They were great about it, but what I mean- For two minutes. |
| 01:15:09.44 | Heidi Scoble | The two-minute time has lapsed. |
| 01:15:19.24 | Jill Hoffman | Okay, anyway, sorry. Christine Durbin, you're up. |
| 01:15:29.53 | Christine Durbin | Sorry, I wasn't able to. |
| 01:15:32.03 | Jill Hoffman | That's okay. |
| 01:15:32.74 | Christine Durbin | I'm having trouble with Now I can't, oh well. I guess I can talk or see myself. I just wanna put in a good example a word in favor of the idea of low income housing on the water. I just love that idea. is excellent and in this sea level rise discussion, That will be a non-issue. It just seems, I think, a brilliant way to deal with |
| 01:16:03.13 | Melissa Blaustein | THE END OF THE END OF THE |
| 01:16:03.76 | Christine Durbin | I was seeing And THEIR OWNERS. Anyway, that's it. That's all. I just think. |
| 01:16:12.24 | Jill Hoffman | Okay. |
| 01:16:12.78 | Christine Durbin | to figure that. |
| 01:16:13.39 | Jill Hoffman | Thank you. Thank you very much. Joan Cox is up next. |
| 01:16:27.30 | Jill Hoffman | Don't worry. |
| 01:16:27.55 | Joan Cox | Thank you. |
| 01:16:27.64 | Cleveland Knowles | Thank you. |
| 01:16:27.75 | Jill Hoffman | Thank you. |
| 01:16:27.97 | Cleveland Knowles | Yeah. |
| 01:16:28.70 | Jill Hoffman | Thank you. Thank you. |
| 01:16:29.02 | Joan Cox | You're on mute. |
| 01:16:29.96 | Cleveland Knowles | Thank you. |
| 01:16:31.99 | Joan Cox | I wanted to follow, good evening, thank you. I want to follow on to Lorna's comments because the terraces have had a good bit of prime. recently as well and we're very grateful for the prompt response and and and increased patrols from the police department i really um The police department is one of the best in all of California in terms of its commitment to local residents. We're actually, the homeowners association is exploring um, installing cameras, just as they did up in the prospect neighborhood, which was the subject of lots of crime. I'm very grateful for the license plate leaders, which have resulted in a number of apprehensions over the last several years. So I think that we're doing a lot of things right, but In these unfortunate times, there just has been a higher level of Um, crime throughout town. than we're accustomed to. I wanted to make sure the council was aware it's, you know, it's in neighborhoods throughout town. I'm sure you've seen that. on next door but i am grateful to the police department which gets so many calls for service and is stretched so thin but yet manages to give great service to all of us that's |
| 01:17:49.65 | Jill Hoffman | Thank you. |
| 01:17:49.68 | Joan Cox | Thank you. |
| 01:17:50.03 | Jill Hoffman | Thank you. Thank you. Next up is Sue White and |
| 01:17:57.04 | Sybil Boutier | Sue, you're up. |
| 01:18:01.61 | Sue White | mute. Okay. Can you hear us? |
| 01:18:04.75 | John Dury | Yes. |
| 01:18:05.71 | Sue White | Okay, this is both Sue and Chris White. We were both very, very touched by the young man who I think has some kind of an athletic facility, small business, and just trying to make ends meet. As we all know that are on this Zoom experience tonight, there's an enormously high number of |
| 01:18:24.11 | Unknown | and then, |
| 01:18:27.21 | Sue White | high net worth people that live in Sausalito. And I would encourage the city council to add some kind of a special tax during this pandemic. I'm probably gonna get booed off the stage, but I would be willing to write a very serious check of several thousand dollars, earmarked exclusively in 100% for the small businesses like this gentleman. in order to try to make ends meet. It's a one-time thing during the pandemic, It's about time we step up and help these folks. Thank you. |
| 01:19:01.75 | Jill Hoffman | Thank you. Thank you. Okay, these are our topic that we're on right now as we're moving down a list is the environment, climate change and sea level rise. Um, |
| 01:19:15.57 | Melissa Blaustein | We just before we move on, excuse me, Mayor Hoffman, just to Sue and Chris White's point, I did maybe Julie Vera is on the line, but we did establish during COVID-19, I love Sausalito Fund for exactly. |
| 01:19:15.59 | Jill Hoffman | We've. |
| 01:19:29.73 | Melissa Blaustein | the purpose of helping our small businesses during this tough year. I don't know if Julie wants to speak to that at all. |
| 01:19:37.49 | Jill Hoffman | Thanks for bringing that up. I see Julie's hand is up. So, Julie, go ahead. |
| 01:19:44.47 | Julie Vieira | Yes, good evening. The Love Sausalito account is still open. We still are giving out grants. We just gave out a small grant to help the Princess Street merchants with their lighting. |
| 01:20:00.56 | Unknown | With their lighting. |
| 01:20:02.00 | Julie Vieira | So if anyone would like to make donations to the Love Sausalito Grant Fund, We have so far given out $30,000 to local businesses Um, in Sausalito, they do not have to be a chamber member to apply We had a request for over $102,000 in grant requests, but we were only able to raise 30,000. So there is still a need. We still have those applications. and people We're happy to take the checks. You can just mail them to the chamber. at 22 El portal in Sausalito, because that is going to be our new location. and we're happy to answer any questions. My email is Julie, J-U-L-I. at Sausalito.org. And I'm happy to answer any questions about the Love Sausalito program. Thank you. |
| 01:21:01.03 | Jill Hoffman | Thank you. Thank you, Julie. Okay. Any more hands for the environment, climate change, and sea level rise? If not, we'll move on to marineship and the working waterfront. Okay. Our next topic is the Marin ship and the working waterfront. I see one hand up, John DeRay. Go ahead, John. |
| 01:21:24.36 | John Dury | I thank you, Mayor. I wanted to mention how proud I was of, uh, our industrial businesses in the marine ship during coven what they did for our community by producing 15,000 plastic face shields for not only us but around the country and 45 gallons of hand sanitizer I looked into it there's no other small. town that I could find in the US and the world. That's... was able to pull that off. So I'm so proud of them. The other thing I wanted to mention is our boat yards. We have We have essentially four ship repair and haul-out businesses here. And I think people need to realize every time one of these is gentrified away, all the rest become that much more valuable. Alameda lost theirs, Spensen's boatyard business. and they lost it to housing. There are 11,000 boats in Alabina. They now have to go to Richmond. We have 2500 boats. Fortunately, a lot of those boats are also coming here to Sausalito waters. So that's a good thing. Um, I also wanted to mention, I recently found out that there are, I counted 12 companies, small businesses in Sausalito that looking to reach out to kids and adults, but mainly kids for experiential learning opportunities, especially when COVID recedes. Things that kids can do come work with welding work with machines, learn to sail Um, crafts, things like that. So that's another aspect of the marine ship that I think is just amazing. At some point when it comes to sea level rise, I think our community is going to have to determine whether we want to look more like the Netherlands or more like fisherman's war. And so it's something I think we should keeping the back of our mind. Thank you very much. |
| 01:23:40.80 | Jill Hoffman | All right, next I see Alice Merrill and then Wendy Richards. Go ahead, Alice. |
| 01:23:46.27 | Alice Merrill | Hello. Here I am again. the Marine ship. What I have noticed in my lifetime here is that the Marineship is a place that not a lot of people know about. And I was talking to somebody who's very involved in the housing, senior housing and all, And she said, well, maybe if there was a Maybe if there was a a museum. It would help us know what's there. And I said, well, there is a museum. So. The people in Sausalito, Great generalization here, but there you are. are not really tuned in to what happens and what is the value of the Marineship. And I always liken it to Port Townsend, when poor towns and shipyards and, Marine services were having a problem. The whole town came out for them and said, we can't let this go. And they made it, they helped to make it come back And I truly don't think that a lot of people know what it is, what's there, why it's important. And so here it is, the fourth from the bottom. And so, and that just is why I'm saying this, that, I wish that we could help people really learn about it, but also learn about it in a way that makes them not want to take it but to rather I'm not sure. understand the value of it with all of the things that Janelle and John talk about. And then of course, having your boat hauled out and the fact that the, ferry boats all over the Bay Area come and get hauled out there. That's a big deal. That's a really big deal. The closest places are someplace like Southern California and Seattle. Those are, that's a big deal that we have that here in Sausalito, it's cool. So I want us to really really love this place. Um, You're too... |
| 01:25:54.52 | Heidi Scoble | Your two minutes time has elapsed. |
| 01:25:57.05 | Alice Merrill | Thank you. Thank you. |
| 01:25:57.28 | Jill Hoffman | Yeah. |
| 01:25:57.50 | Alice Merrill | Thank you. |
| 01:25:58.01 | Jill Hoffman | Thanks. Thank you. Winnie Richards and then Robert May. Sorry, my apologies. |
| 01:26:10.04 | Wendy Richards | Thank you. |
| 01:26:10.06 | Jill Hoffman | Go ahead, Wendy. |
| 01:26:10.61 | Wendy Richards | Thank you very much. So I just would like to endorse both of the last prior two speakers. I have lived aboard on a boat as an official live aboard. I have had my boat hauled. I no longer own a boat, but I've had the I'm not sure. pleasure of owning boats over the years. These businesses are so vital And to think that we're talking about adding more other kinds of businesses to the marine ship just tears my heart out. These are vital businesses The fact that we have those, what they call the ways to get your boat out, to get these big ships out. There are very, very few of those. This is a, this should be considered a crucial resource for the security of our bay. to be able to have that and to have the the personnel who know how to repair these kinds of engines, who know how to do this kind of work, It is crucial. And like Alice and John, I cherish these businesses. They are so, so important. And if you've grown up on the water, lived on the water, if you don't, had that experience. there, We've got to do everything to protect those businesses and frankly, with COVID, we have a unique opportunity because it's an unexpected booming sector. And I really appreciated Robert May's comment to say, look, let's take the sea level rise issue, let's take these marine businesses and let's create a hub for growth, a hub for innovation, a hub for creativity. and really protect and grow these businesses And please do not allow housing to be built there. Shops to be built there and other unnecessary and non marine uses. Thank you very much. |
| 01:28:04.99 | Jill Hoffman | Thank you. Thank you. |
| 01:28:06.41 | Wendy Richards | Thank you. |
| 01:28:06.43 | Jill Hoffman | Robert |
| 01:28:06.92 | Wendy Richards | Thank you. |
| 01:28:06.94 | Jill Hoffman | Thank you. |
| 01:28:06.97 | Wendy Richards | MAKE SURE. |
| 01:28:07.04 | Jill Hoffman | You're next |
| 01:28:19.74 | Jill Hoffman | Mr. May I think you're still you're still muted sir |
| 01:28:23.57 | Robert May | Here we go. |
| 01:28:23.69 | Jill Hoffman | Thank you. |
| 01:28:24.94 | Robert May | I wanted to thank Wendy. One of the joys of this kind of communication is that we can find allies among folks that we've never met. So Wendy, I don't think I've met you, but I appreciate your support and I also support your comments. Very enthusiastic about the Marin ship and the working waterfront. And one of the things that I think I suggest for us all to consider is we have a congressman in Jared Huffman. We're the second district of the US Congress. Jared Huffman is our representative, as many of you know. And Jared just became the chairman of the House of Representatives Water, Oceans and Wildlife Committee. Jared is very focused on increasing the viability of working waterfronts throughout the United States, and in particular, Sausalito is his backyard. So I think that if we can find our way to generating interest in the potential of the Working Water Fund both to increase our revenues and address some of the city finances opportunities and issues we've got. as well as increase the breadth and the resiliency of our climate change response And then, Frankly, I think there's also an enormous opportunity here to bring in the racial and social equity part of the conversation we're about to have. So I spent a fair amount of time in Marin City and spent a lot of time on the, what used to be called the Sausalito Community Boating Center. trying to create a place for folks who don't have the opportunities that so many of us have had in life to come and get on the water. and experience life in the water and build community and build also an economic opportunity, an economic pathway to skills that are here available locally. So I think the working waterfront represents many, many different opportunities for sauce leader. They're absolutely unique. As Wendy said, And I again encourage the entire council and all of us to consider that. Thank you. |
| 01:30:29.44 | Jill Hoffman | Thank you. Sandra Bushmaker, Jennifer Green. I see Sandra next and then Jennifer Green. Thank you. Go ahead, Sandra. |
| 01:30:41.26 | Sandra Bushmaker | Okay, I'm trying to, can you hear me? Yes. Well, okay, I just can't not see my video. I'm just delighted to hear this conversation about the, the Marin ship and the working waterfront and the, the uh the desire in the community to grow the uses that are there and to develop Um, further our maritime industries and our excuse me my new dog is crawling all over me and and allow us to use our waterfront for waterfront purposes. And given the fact that we have this monstrous sea level rise and other issues facing us, I do agree with John DeRay. I would rather see us look like the Netherlands. In fact, I did suggest that the council take a trip to the Netherlands to see what can be done. But I would rather take my boat. to a business here in Sausalito for its annual haul out, which is usually a big ticket item and have the revenues go into the city coffers rather than having to go to the East Bay or the South Bay in order to get my boat serviced. So it's, . The numbers work for us. The Marinership is already a huge economic engine for Sausalito. And we have a lot of work to do. We have an opportunity to build a great community. And deal with our racial and social equity in order to involve our community in this wonderful resource that we have available to us so i hope that the focus remains on growing the businesses that are there for the benefit of the entire 94965. Thank you. |
| 01:32:29.90 | Jill Hoffman | Thank you. And I see Jennifer Greens up next. |
| 01:32:45.39 | Jill Hoffman | Go ahead Jennifer. |
| 01:32:46.98 | Jennifer Green | Muted. |
| 01:32:48.80 | Jill Hoffman | There you go. |
| 01:32:49.51 | Jennifer Green | Can you hear me now? Thank you for letting me speak again, and hopefully I can bridge a few topics. I agree with everyone who's spoken so far about the working waterfront and how it supports the infrastructure in Sausalito. And I think that the open water rowing center can really bridge the gap between Marin City, and Sausalito and really bring about change in social equity within our community and including Marin City and Sausalito There can be learn to row programs and things like that developed at an aquatic center that's helped by the city if we can get a tow hold in a piece of city property And then we can sort of bring about that sort of integration with Marin City and Sausalito. |
| 01:33:35.95 | Jill Hoffman | Thank you. |
| 01:33:36.50 | Jennifer Green | Thank you. |
| 01:33:37.01 | Jill Hoffman | Thank you. |
| 01:33:37.47 | Jennifer Green | Thank you. |
| 01:33:37.53 | Jill Hoffman | Thank you. Okay, so that was our Marineship and Working Waterfront topic. We're now at 734 and we have three topics left. And so we have COVID-19 response, racial and social equity, and disaster preparedness. I'm gonna just Why don't we take a Let's take the slide down. So COVID-19, um, social equity and disaster preparedness. And if people could raise their hands so that I can get a sense of how many speakers we have on that. and then we'll adjust as we need. So those three topics again were Our last three, which, um, I don't know. Um, Can you tell me, Heidi, I thought I had it written down, but it's different than the list that I have. COVID-19 social and racial equity, And then what was the third one? Sorry, COVID-19. |
| 01:34:49.47 | Jill Hoffman | Thanks. So anybody who wants to end disaster preparedness was the last one. So anybody want to speak on those three things, raise your hand if you would. I see one hand from Sandra Bushmaker. We're going to take all those three together and then we're going to roll straight into Just whoever wants to, wants to talk and then I'll pull again. So raise your hand if you have any topic you want to talk on. And we'll look at how much time we have. So we may go down to one minute per speaker. It just depends on how many hands I see. |
| 01:35:14.82 | Sandra Bushmaker | Okay, go ahead. Uh, Hi everybody again, I wanted to speak to my frustration in trying to get COVID vaccine and I recognize that there have been problems in the supply side of that, but we are in a situation, I am right between the two age cutoffs. more at the higher end than the lower end uh and yet uh we are having difficulty getting in line so to speak so i would like to see some help for those of us 65 and over in order to get ourselves vaccinated which will help the entire community with and also I think the city needs to not relax its policies on COVID preventive measures that have been recommended by our health care professionals in Sausalito in an eagerness to get back to normal. I am very concerned. I mean, it seems that we've already seen the effect of premature opening. And we've gone backwards in our numbers and our numbers are continuing to grow. at alarming rate, particularly in light of the variants that we're starting to see. So I really encourage the council to take a very measured approach to reopening anything in Sausalito with regard to those preventive measures. With regard to disaster preparedness, I'm now, I used to serve on that committee and serve my term. I am now working with the Sausalito Village on the clusters. and we are very, organized very together. And I would like to see some cross-pollination between the Disaster Preparedness Committee and the Sausalito Village clusters. So those are my two comments on this session. Thank you. |
| 01:37:10.68 | Jill Hoffman | Thanks very much. The next hand I see up is Kevin Carroll, and then we'll do a poll for how many people want to speak about anything, and we'll look and see how many hands we have. Okay, Kevin, go ahead. |
| 01:37:24.13 | Kevin Carroll | Good evening again. Just last week was my best week in about 10 months. I saw a Toledo taxi. because I had four customers who went up to get their vaccine shots. which by the way, went very smoothly. They were all in and out in less than a half an hour. I don't charge for waiting time on the vaccine. And they were all treated wonderfully. They all had very positive experiences. At the last Board of Supervisors meeting two days ago, I did bring the topic up Dr. Willis, because these people could afford the $60 round trip but I have many customers in Tossolito on fixed incomes who could not afford that. And I asked specifically, were they planning on opening anything here in Southern Marin? He said there really isn't anything at this time. sounded like most of the problem is because of a lack of supply than anything else. I know CBS is gonna start giving shots in San Anselmo. But they really don't know in Sausalito or in Marin City whether that's going to be coming up or not. He did mention that they have plans to contact the various village organizations to work with them. on getting transportation up and they are going to set something up for homebound seniors where paramedics would have access to come and give them a shot at home. So the subject is on their mind. They are thinking about it, because of a lack of supply, they're just not able to lay anything out right now. Thank you. |
| 01:38:58.97 | Jill Hoffman | Thank you. Um, Okay, so... Now I'd like to just poll anybody who wants to talk about anything. If you could just raise your hand. And we'll get a we'll get a number And if we have a lot, then we'll probably reduce our comments down to two minutes. So I see one hand up, I see Winnie Richards, Does anybody else on the call want to talk about anything? This is a free for all. Any... Brief of all topic wise. Um, Okay, Emily, I'm seeing two hands right now. We have about 20 minutes left. So that indicates to me that we can stick with our two minute, I, oh, well, hold on, hold the phone. Um, Yeah, I mean, I see four hands now. So, okay, very good. So unless the council members have another idea, I think we'll just stick with the two-minute time limit. Is that okay? I'm seeing nods, no objections, got it. Okay, so we'll start with Wendy Richards, Lorna and Jamie. Whittington will be our next three speakers. Welcome, go ahead, Wendy. Okay, thank you. |
| 01:40:09.98 | Wendy Richards | And... |
| 01:40:10.23 | Jill Hoffman | Thank you. Thank you. |
| 01:40:10.50 | Wendy Richards | So, I think you can hear me. Yes, okay. I wanted to just bring up the topic of vegetation management. Thank you to Public Works. I had come to the City Council previously about two very large dead trees up at the end of the street on which I live and I just want to thank Public Works in this context, because eventually the issue was that PG&E was responsible for those, and shortly after The last meeting when I spoke about it, the PG&E crews came in and over the course of nearly six days took down these huge trees. It was a lot of work. And it, it, given the snowpack is still, even with our last storms, we're still, I read that we're still at only 70% of where we needed to be by now. that we continue to prioritize vegetation management. the Crews from the fire department have been down the streets. They've done a good job and they have a certain mandate. The city crews have another mandate. I've seen a lot of trimming being done on the trails, walking in the town. And I would just like to reiterate the importance of vegetation management and giving residents education on that and to continue that because we may be in for another very dry summer and fall. |
| 01:41:27.94 | Unknown | THE END OF |
| 01:41:35.89 | Wendy Richards | Uh, and, um, I want to make sure that we're ahead of the game. Thank you. |
| 01:41:40.53 | Jill Hoffman | Thank you. Next up is Lorna Newland and then Jamie Whittington and Julie Vieira. So go ahead, Lorna. |
| 01:41:55.73 | Lorna Newland | Okay, thank you. I just wanted to... I'm not sure. Sorry, pick up where I left off. Oh, I've got something in my screen. It won't do. I can't see. I'm sorry. I lost eight seconds because of that. |
| 01:42:09.50 | Jill Hoffman | can see you. |
| 01:42:09.67 | Lorna Newland | see you. Yeah, I know. I couldn't see my Nevermind, I can't explain. There's too many problems going on. So thank you, Joan Cox, former council member for having a similar problem and talking about what you're doing with your neighbors. We're doing the same thing here. We're gonna talk to our homeowner board about perhaps installing cameras. I really wanna thank, come back on and thank the police department for reacting so quickly. And My question is, and I don't know if it's to city council or county or state, the police always tell us they can't do anything about these people, that it's not a thousand dollars worth of damage and they essentially get a citation. But when somebody is going through my parking area where I live and nine cars are smashed, It's like each instance doesn't count. So as a homeowner and a citizen here, I mean, we called the police twice that night and they reacted and they came and we're trying to do what we can. But it's really getting on at hand and it's getting frightening. And it's all over next door about mail theft, all up and down the hills in Sausalito. Um, Would like to know what do we do? How can we get these criminals to stop People say it's because of COVID and people are hungry, The problem is they're smashing, it's not just that, they're smashing cars of people who can't afford to get things fixed. And okay, so that's one thing. And then in the last 10 seconds, thank you, Chris White, for what you were saying about local businesses. I'm a small business. I have a Sausalito Pottery. And please remember to try to shop locally. Thank you so much. |
| 01:44:01.74 | Jill Hoffman | Thank you. Sandra Bushmaker, Jamie Whittington, Julie Vieira, and Teresa Ancona. Sandra. |
| 01:44:16.10 | Sandra Bushmaker | I'm trying to unmute here. I'm trying to unmute. I wanted to just add a short little comment about the male theft. You know, I take my dog out to walk early in the morning every morning. I can't tell you the number of times I have walked up Sausalito Boulevard and all the unlocked mailboxes are open and the mail is strewn in the street. So it's somebody is coming through and checking out all the mailboxes, removing mail. And I don't know what the answer is to it. I just wanted to bring it to the council's attention. that it is a problem obviously throughout town and we're starting to see higher and higher crime. Maybe it's considered petty by some, But if you have important documents that you're waiting for in your mailbox, It's a serious problem. Thank you. |
| 01:45:06.00 | Jill Hoffman | Thank you. Jamie Whittington, Julie Vieira, Teresa Ancona, and then I see Bill Warner and Civil Boutier. So Jamie, go ahead. |
| 01:45:18.79 | Jamie Whittington | Yeah, hi, thank you. I wanted to circle back to schools. I was somewhat surprised that we failed past schools with no one having anything to say about the schools because I know it's an issue that emotions run high. Clearly, you know, it's our children. Um, And, On the subject of the schools, when I read all the comments and the survey responses, there were a number of comments that made it appear that people are not real up to date on on where we are, which is that both schools have entered into full Um, Seemingly fairly enthusiastic, no issue of this magnitude is going to please everybody. but both schools seem to be in good faith fairly far down the road, conversations about how to develop a world-class unified school for all of the children in both Sausalito and Marin City. And I wanted to, I guess, hitch. that the city council put, your enthusiastic support behind the unification effort that is underway that could land up with a really phenomenal opportunity. for all of the children in both Sausalito and Marin City. We're ready to put the acrimony behind us. We think that, having followed it fairly closely, good reason to believe that there could be tremendous opportunity building on the successes of both schools. to move into a much brighter future. But it needs the Sausalito City Council's support. So, Since we failed past schools and there was a little bit of time. Your two minutes has elapsed. All right. Thank you. |
| 01:47:28.27 | Heidi Scoble | You're two minutes. |
| 01:47:31.29 | Jill Hoffman | Thank you. |
| 01:47:31.55 | Jamie Whittington | Thank you. |
| 01:47:31.56 | Jill Hoffman | Thank you. |
| 01:47:31.98 | Jamie Whittington | Thank you. |
| 01:47:32.03 | Jill Hoffman | Thank you. Julie Vieira and Teresa Ancona and Sybil Boutier, you guys are up. And then Bill Warner's going to be our anchor, I guess. Last speaker, perhaps. Okay, go ahead, Julie. |
| 01:47:39.51 | Julie Vieira | last night. |
| 01:47:39.86 | Sybil Boutier | Thank you. |
| 01:47:39.90 | Julie Vieira | Thank you. Hi, everybody. I just wanted to say, since I said something about the Love Sausalito grants, I've received several emails. So we are going to put up on our website the information on how to apply. for the grants and also how to make donations. I just posted it to our Facebook page. We will have it on Instagram and next door by tomorrow. because I have a feeling that there are several people out there who wanna know how to apply. And hopefully we have some donors that want to make a donation to it. The information will get out there. It is on Facebook and it will be on our website tomorrow at Sausalito.org. |
| 01:48:21.85 | Jill Hoffman | website. |
| 01:48:25.80 | Julie Vieira | Thank you. |
| 01:48:26.78 | Jill Hoffman | Thanks very much. Theresa Ancona is Sybil Boutier. and Bill Warner. So go ahead, Theresa. |
| 01:48:38.74 | Theresa Ancona | Hi, I just wanted to say thank you all for hosting this meeting. And I just have, I guess, a small thing to talk about the merchants on Princess Street have really been struggling for COVID. And they wanted to do a small beautification project that they started to get the permit process back in November. which was wrapping some lights around the bases of 13 trees that go up Princess Street. And now we're in February. And they're still trying to get that permit to do that small beautification. And they seem to be having a very hard time getting communication back from the planning department And so I'm hoping that maybe somebody can help facilitate, I mean, it seems like such a small project. They're not talking about lighting the whole trees, really just running some rope lights around the bases of the trees on Princess Street just to beautify and hope to bring So more people to their streets where They've really been struggling with, you know, the construction and everything that's been going on. So thank you. Thank you. |
| 01:49:52.55 | Jill Hoffman | Thank you. Yeah, as we suggested earlier, they might want to send an email to Heidi on this subject. And anybody, actually, everybody and anybody who's talked, please send an email in to our city clerk. Okay, so we're getting close to our end. And our last speakers are the lineup is Sybil Boutier, Bill Warner, Christine Durbin, and Pastor Paul. So Sybil, go ahead. |
| 01:50:30.03 | Jill Hoffman | Sybil, do we ever unmute, Sybil Boutier? |
| 01:50:37.95 | Jill Hoffman | Thank you. |
| 01:50:37.98 | Heidi Scoble | Madam Mayor, we've given complete control to suit someone. |
| 01:50:38.00 | Jill Hoffman | Thank you. |
| 01:50:38.03 | Sybil Boutier | That a man. |
| 01:50:38.47 | Jill Hoffman | THE FAMILY. Exactly. |
| 01:50:39.43 | Sybil Boutier | Can you hear me now? |
| 01:50:40.82 | Heidi Scoble | Thank you. Yes, I can hear you now. |
| 01:50:42.00 | Sybil Boutier | So, Thank you. Thank you, Mayor Hoffman. I just wanted to talk about one specific issue and then answer a quick question. I'm not sure. So for some time, there's been a number of us that lived right around the Olima Coloma. Street corner. which is by the tennis court. and on a link at MLK Park. And also the senior housing at Rotary have a rotary village. Um, cars that come down the hill from Lincoln and Butte Um, tend to come fast around the corner. It's a blind corner from Olima onto Coloma. It's 100% a blind corner. especially if there's anybody parked in front of their house on that South side of Coloma. And we have tennis players. dogs Children. seniors walking in the street because there's no sidewalk, and school kids when the school's in session or they've been at the playground, I'm not sure. For a few years, we've been asking for a stop sign there. And, um, so that cards don't go swooshing around that corner where they can't see that there's somebody in the street which is the only place for all those people to walk. And sometimes it's quite congested on the street. especially when there's cars parked on both sides of Coloma Street. And people are forced to walk almost in the middle of the street So I once again ask that that be reviewed. and considered as for some kind of a, mitigation. Um, for safety. Thank you. And then I just wanted to mention Somebody asked about Your two-minute time has elapsed. |
| 01:52:47.68 | Heidi Scoble | The two-minute time was allowed. |
| 01:52:48.93 | Mary Griffin | Yeah. |
| 01:52:48.95 | Heidi Scoble | . |
| 01:52:49.00 | Julie Vieira | Yeah. |
| 01:52:50.62 | Sybil Boutier | Can I give one piece of information? Yeah. |
| 01:52:53.50 | Julie Vieira | Yeah. |
| 01:52:54.36 | Sybil Boutier | Just that Whipple Stop is going to start giving rise for vaccinations. for the older adults as they open up the Now for the 75 year olds, and then when they open up to the 65 year olds, The county's working right now to make those arrangements for Vivillon, which used to be called Whistle Stop. Moran access to give those rides. So I just wanted to answer the gentleman who brought that issue up. Okay. |
| 01:53:23.03 | Jill Hoffman | Thank you, Sybil. Thank you. Okay, so we have, we have one, two, three, four. We have six speakers and we're just about out of time. So I'm gonna call it with these last six speakers. I think we're getting up to the end of our time. So I'm just gonna, these are the last five speakers. So it's gonna be Bill Warner, Christine Durbin, Pastor Paul, Robert May and Jennifer Green. So Bill Warner, go ahead. |
| 01:54:04.09 | Jill Hoffman | Thank you. |
| 01:54:04.11 | Bill Warner | Thank you. |
| 01:54:04.67 | Jill Hoffman | Thank you. Thank you. Bill, I can't. Oh, there you go. |
| 01:54:07.35 | Bill Warner | you |
| 01:54:07.52 | Jill Hoffman | Thank you. |
| 01:54:09.05 | Bill Warner | I'm unmuted now. |
| 01:54:11.36 | Jill Hoffman | You're getting, |
| 01:54:12.07 | Bill Warner | Okay. I am absolutely astonished that during this whole two hours No one has mentioned probably the most important thing that the city council is going to have to deal with and confront. in the next couple of months and that is the selection of our new city manager This is absolutely critical to everything that goes on in Sausalito. and the council is now listening to people who want to talk about putting light fixtures on tree trunks and sidewalks in Coloma. that's all pretty much irrelevant to the important things that this city council has to deal with. And I hope you understand that and you will deal with them in your best way. Thank you. |
| 01:55:03.78 | Jill Hoffman | Thank you. Christine Durbin. Thank you. |
| 01:55:07.98 | Wendy Richards | Thank you. |
| 01:55:08.02 | Jill Hoffman | Thank you. |
| 01:55:08.17 | Wendy Richards | Thank you. |
| 01:55:18.97 | Christine Durbin | Thank you. I just wanted to speak to the school's issue as well very quickly. And to second what Jamie Whittington said that Both school boards have worked so hard together and done amazing work. and have come up with phenomenal plans for our new unified school, which is on target to open on July 1st for the schools to unify. And I would just really like to encourage Thank you. Council to regularly have Superintendent Garcia give a presentation to our community, to Sausalito, about what's going on in our schools. There's such exciting plans. So just wanted to put that wanted to say that. Thank you. |
| 01:56:04.66 | Jill Hoffman | Very good, thank you. Um... I, let's see, Jennifer, yeah, Jennifer, Pastor Paul, and then I'm just gonna, because people are jumping around my screen. So, Pastor Paul and then Robert May and Jennifer Green. So go ahead, Pastor Paul. |
| 01:56:20.29 | Cleveland Knowles | Don't move. |
| 01:56:20.93 | Pastor Paul | I can't keep my name. I, um, I just wanted to say that I really, oh, first of all, I really like Christopher Also, I really just appreciate this. these forums. It's just so great. I don't know how often you guys do this, It's so great to hear what's on people's minds. And I really am grateful to everyone who just showed up and you know, wanted to either about something or listen to something. And also a shout out to the new Council members, and I'm glad that our former Council member Cox is here and thank her for her her service and compassion for some of our neediest neighbors and our returning council members I, I survive on volunteer energy. You know, as leading a church, it's all about people just giving of their time and their gifts. And, um, What you guys have to do with the hours and the complexity and often the thanklessness and I just really, really It's such an amazing service, and I'm really grateful to you for everything you do. I'm sure there are hours I'm so glad you did. I'm so glad you did. And since I'm just on this roll, I saw Chief Tubbs here And I myself was really dependent on the EMTs last year. for an emergency. And without bias, just a big shout out to our Asasio Police Department. It's such a tough job out there and I just know |
| 01:57:57.00 | Unknown | and I'm not sure. |
| 01:57:58.42 | Pastor Paul | There's so many acts of kindness that nobody, probably not even the council members or the city manager would ever hear about that just takes place day and night with the different shifts and with the professional staff. And so We are grateful we have them and they are dedicated. It is such a challenging time to with this pandemic but I'm just so grateful for everybody here for everything you do to make this a community. So just wanted to say thanks. |
| 01:58:28.98 | Jill Hoffman | Thank you. Robert May and Jennifer Green is going to be our last night. Go ahead, Mr. May. |
| 01:58:38.66 | Robert May | I don't care. I wanted to first of all, thank Pastor Paul. That was lovely. And I also share his admiration for the council Um, It's unfortunate, I think, that The subject of racial equity has ended up at the end of the evening's discussion. And I know that's not because it's not important to all of us, but it is really, really important that we keep this dream, this aspiration in our hearts to find a way to make Sausalito what it could be, which is really that bright and shining city on the bay that is a demonstration of racial equity working in progress I won't go into all the details of why historically it makes the most sense for Sausalito to embrace all of our community and find a way to invite all of our community to create value, to create economic growth, to create the the crazy sense of Sausalito as salty. that we can do from Otis Redding to I won't even go into all the names. I was fortunate to watch the Marin Speaker Series last night and there was a gentleman by the name of W. Kamau Bell. who apparently has a CNN show called The United Shades of America. He's an African-American guy who just did a fabulous job speaking to the Marin Speaker Series. And he left us with one thought that I'd like to leave us all with. And that was Every day. What small action can we take? to create racial harmony, to create this sense of worth and a sense of, of Um, community between every member of our society, no matter their skin color So, Thank you so much for hosting this. I could go on and on about this. It's a passion of mine. I know it's a passion of many of you on the City Council. I'd love to find a way to see a city manager chosen who happens to be African-American. I'd love to find I, cannabis shop chosen because it has an African American partner. Let's find a way to raise the equity in our community. for those of us who didn't have the privilege that I had, and many of us have had. Thank you. |
| 02:01:06.32 | Jill Hoffman | Okay, I don't see any other hands up. Jennifer Green had her hand up, but I don't think she has her hand up anymore. She does not have her hand up. Okay, so that's it. Okay, I wanna thank everybody that came. The rest of the city council members have been remarkably quiet this entire town hall. And I'm, you know, I'm gonna- |
| 02:01:30.30 | Ian Sobieski | Can I break that mold with just one request since we have 86 people on the call? I'm just going to... |
| 02:01:34.23 | Jill Hoffman | I'm just going to let you guys just go through and say goodnight or whatever closing comments you make and thank you for your participation. |
| 02:01:40.80 | Ian Sobieski | I would like to riff off Rob May's comment. The city sent out a request for nominations for city manager positions. Everyone has an extensive professional network. If anyone can pause for a moment and think about people in their network that might make great city manager candidates, We are open to unusual backgrounds, people that might be I think that's a great question. I think that's a great question. In addition to that, there's some communications from Abbott with things that you can post on your Facebook pages and your LinkedIn pages to broaden that search and the hope is to supplement our paid professional recruiting effort with additional candidates from our amazing network here in town. So please do consider making that little effort. It is probably the most important thing that we can do to affect the future of our town. So thanks for your help. |
| 02:02:44.87 | Jill Hoffman | And that information is on our website, right? It's on the city website? and I'll see you next time. |
| 02:02:50.24 | Ian Sobieski | Yes, it is. And also you can email the email that Heidi provided before and we will get you any of that stuff if you I can't find it. So just email anyone and someone will forward it too. to us to follow up with. |
| 02:03:05.22 | Jill Hoffman | Okay, I'm just going to go around so Councilmember Cleveland knows and then Councilmember Blousey and we'll end with the Vice Mayor for closing comments so House of members, please an all-zining. closing comments or |
| 02:03:18.18 | Melissa Blaustein | Sure, not much, but thanks, Mayor Hoffman. I wanted to thank everyone that came tonight, but even more importantly, I loved reading the responses to all of the surveys. So I wanted to thank... hundreds and hundreds of people that took the time to fill that out. I would just echoing some comments made at the end about race, equity, and inclusion. I would love, we've really been trying to be more inclusive of our 94965. area. So the next time that we do a survey, I would love to have the outreach be less focused on Sausalito and more on our entire surrounding community. design the survey to qualify or whatever the right word was, everyone within our zip code accept comments and have more broad outreach to the complete community. |
| 02:04:12.45 | Jill Hoffman | Oh, go ahead, I'm sorry. I think the survey, we had people from outside to also participate. |
| 02:04:18.32 | Melissa Blaustein | Right, but they were the verified ones were only in Sausalito and the request was to Sausalito residents and the issues were whether what was important in Sausalito. So I would just love to use more inclusive language and be more inviting and inclusive of our broader community the next time that we do that kind of outreach. And if we want to distinguish between South Lido and Nan, that's fine, but I'd just like to welcome and receive comments from the entire community. |
| 02:04:50.10 | Jill Hoffman | Okay, thank you. Council Member Walsh, any final comments? |
| 02:04:54.54 | Melissa Blaustein | Yeah, it's just so rare that we get an opportunity as council members to only listen. And I really appreciate the chance to |
| 02:04:58.98 | Jill Hoffman | Thank you. |
| 02:05:01.88 | Melissa Blaustein | be here and hear from community members and even more so I appreciate all of the community members who chose to submit comments or to show up and take your time to be with us this evening and let us know what matters to you, what's on your mind, because we don't know, you know, we're elected by you to do the work for the community and we won't know what the community wants unless we can listen to the community. And I really hope that we can continue these conversations. I hope you email cityclerk at sausalito.gov with any of your comments or citycouncil at sausalito.gov. We are all |
| 02:05:13.81 | Unknown | it matters. Thank you. |
| 02:05:32.14 | Melissa Blaustein | very responsive, I think you'll see, and we all love hearing from you. I, to echo some comments on social justice, as I was appointed to the racial justice working group with Mayor Hoffman, and I'm really looking forward to beginning work there, but I would really like to see continued conversations and perhaps a dedicated town hall specifically on this issue, because I think it's so valuable to have the opportunity to really listen to community members. So I'm looking forward to continued conversation. I hope that you'll all reach out to us, and thank you. |
| 02:05:41.45 | Unknown | and I know that |
| 02:06:00.96 | Melissa Blaustein | We have such a special community. I really appreciate the feedback and participation of everyone who joined us this evening. |
| 02:06:07.22 | Janelle Kellman | Thank you, and Vice Mayor. Yeah, thank you, Mayor Hoffman. And thank you, my fellow council members. I can't thank you all enough for spending two hours of your evening with us. I want to remind everybody we have another meeting tomorrow at four. And I hope that you will join us for that as well. And a city council meeting on Tuesday as well. But this was something, as you know, that's really important to this council. that we take the time to listen to the community, to our residents, to our businesses, to hear what is important to you all. We had almost 400 individuals respond to the survey. And I hope this is just the beginning of this type of dialogue, this type of conversation. It's our job to serve you. And so we want to hear what it is that is top of mind. This community always blows me away with its passion and its intellect and its interest in making things better for ourselves and those around us. And whether it's racial justice and equity or environmental issues or new city manager, I'm always impressed and I welcome everyone's feedback. So in addition, all of our individual emails, I'll point out are also on on the website. And you are certainly welcome to email us with your thoughts and ideas. I hope this is the beginning of continuing dialogue. And hopefully, we'll do some that are more focused on particular issues. And then we'll continue to do some broad-based communications as well. So thank you, everybody. |
| 02:07:28.32 | Jill Hoffman | Okay, thank you guys. Thanks especially to Abbott Chambers who put the survey together and the structure for tonight and Heidi Scoble as always our city clerk who managed it all and kept the train on the track. Thanks everybody. This is a wrap and We'll see you tomorrow. Thank you, Mayor Hoffman. Thank you, everyone. |
| 02:07:45.97 | Unknown | Thank you, everyone. |
| 02:07:46.98 | Jill Hoffman | THE END OF |
| 02:07:47.03 | Unknown | He named it 5,000, but they were quite higher than that, and sometimes people came out to it. take estimates of what it would take to do the plumbing. We did not have money fairly to eat at the time. We took it upon ourselves to redo the plumbing. Thank you. and sweat the pipes and do, basically do two bathrooms in the the rest of the house and sitting in these coffins |
| 02:08:11.34 | Robert May | Proud to be a source of comfort in these crazy times. |
Eva Cresanti — Against: Urged the city to provide functional restrooms and handwashing stations at the encampment during the pandemic, and called for wealthy residents to engage with the homeless population. ▶ 📄
Vicki Nichols — Neutral: Expressed surprise at the structured format, suggesting a more open process, and recommended the council discuss legal obligations regarding emergency shelter. ▶ 📄
Elias — Against: Supported providing basic facilities at the encampment per CDC guidelines, arguing that lack of safe refuge exacerbates crises for vulnerable individuals. ▶ 📄
John Barbera — In Favor: Requested the city form a task force to help senior citizens access COVID-19 vaccinations and navigate online appointment systems. ▶ 📄
Steven Barber — Neutral: Questioned whether councilmembers would respond to comments, expressing a desire to hear elected officials' perspectives. ▶ 📄
Meg Boynton — In Favor: Advocated for cannabis licensing in Sausalito, emphasizing education over prohibition to address substance abuse. ▶ 📄
Connor Johnston — In Favor: Supported a cannabis retail store for its educational benefits and community contributions, including a proposed development agreement. ▶ 📄
Kelly Adams — In Favor: Proposed an aquatic center to stimulate the economy and activate the waterfront, mentioning the Open Water Rowing Center's long history. ▶ 📄
Jennifer Green — In Favor: Echoed support for an aquatic center and offered expertise on homelessness from her experience as a paramedic. ▶ 📄
Sean Cleary — In Favor: Urged the council to permit a cannabis dispensary, noting strong community support and dismissing opposition from non-residents. ▶ 📄
Chris Monroe — In Favor: Requested city assistance for small businesses, particularly gyms hit hard by COVID-19 restrictions, sharing personal struggles. ▶ 📄
Wendy Richards — Against: Called for a full reprieve on business license taxes for the smallest businesses and criticized Measure M for unfairly taxing service and home-based businesses. ▶ 📄
John Dury — In Favor: Advocated for enforcement of zoning ordinances in the Marinship to support industrial businesses and economic growth. ▶ 📄
Bill Hines — In Favor: Highlighted the importance of public green spaces, threatened by sea level rise, and their role in enhancing the local economy and quality of life. ▶ 📄
Alice Merrill — Against: Opposed pathways in the Marinship due to industrial activity and emphasized the need to protect maritime businesses. ▶ 📄
Robert May — In Favor: Suggested leveraging sea level rise as an economic opportunity for Sausalito to develop global solutions and grow businesses. ▶ 📄
Wendy Richards — In Favor: Proposed a 20% across-the-board budget cut to increase efficiency, focus on core services, and address pension liabilities. ▶ 📄
Kevin Carroll — In Favor: Recommended inviting county supervisors to the homelessness discussion, noting that many issues are handled at the county level. ▶ 📄
Carolyn Revell — Against: Disagreed with budget cuts, arguing for more funding for parks and permanent planning staff. ▶ 📄
Jamie Whittington — Against: Questioned the necessity of building housing in the Marinship, suggesting a thorough search for alternative sites in Sausalito. ▶ 📄
Lorna Newland — Neutral: Reported multiple crime incidents in her neighborhood, including car break-ins and stolen mail, and praised police response. ▶ 📄
Joan Cox — Neutral: Acknowledged increased crime townwide and expressed gratitude for the police department's efforts. ▶ 📄
Sue and Chris White — In Favor: Proposed a special tax during the pandemic to provide financial aid to struggling small businesses. ▶ 📄
Julie Vieira — Neutral: Provided information about the Love Sausalito Grant Fund for small businesses and encouraged donations and applications. ▶ 📄
Sandra Bushmaker — In Favor: Expressed frustration with COVID-19 vaccine access for seniors, urged cautious reopening, and suggested collaboration between disaster preparedness and Sausalito Village. ▶ 📄
Sybil Boutier — In Favor: Requested a stop sign at the Olima and Coloma Street corner for pedestrian safety and mentioned Whistle Stop providing vaccination rides. ▶ 📄
Bill Warner — Neutral: Emphasized the critical importance of the city manager selection process over other discussed issues. ▶ 📄
Christine Durbin — In Favor: Supported school unification efforts and encouraged regular updates from Superintendent Garcia to the community. ▶ 📄
Pastor Paul — Neutral: Thanked the council and community for the forum, expressed gratitude for council service, and praised the police and EMTs. ▶ 📄
Robert May — In Favor: Stressed the importance of racial equity, encouraging daily actions to promote harmony and suggesting diverse hiring for city positions. ▶ 📄