Sausalito City Council

City Council Meeting - March 03, 2021

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Meeting Summary

I
CALL TO ORDER IN THE COUNCIL CHAMBERS AT CITY HALL, 420 LITHO STREET – 4:00 PM ▶ 📄
The meeting was called to order by Mayor Jill Hoffman at 4:00 PM. City Clerk Heidi Scoble confirmed all council members were present via Zoom, establishing a quorum. ▶ 📄 The mayor announced that item D1 (conference with legal counsel regarding existing litigation: Sausalito Marin County Chapter of the California Homeless Union vs. City of Sausalito) would be discussed in closed session. ▶ 📄 Public comment was opened specifically on the closed session item regarding the litigation and potential appellate review.
Public Comment 5 2 In Favor 2 Against 1 Neutral

Meeting Transcript

Time Speaker Text
00:00:11.27 Heidi Scoble that I am admitting all of our participants.

Good afternoon, 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 Zoom and is broadcast live on the city's website.
00:00:34.13 Jill Hoffman Thank you, Heidi. Good evening or good afternoon and welcome to the special city council meeting on Wednesday, March 3rd of 2021.

Thank you.

Heidi, would you please call the roll?
00:00:46.71 Heidi Scoble Councilmember Sobieski?
00:00:47.87 Jill Hoffman Thank you.
00:00:48.24 Melissa Blaustein it.
00:00:49.22 Heidi Scoble Council member Blasky.
00:00:50.99 Melissa Blaustein Yes.
00:00:51.06 Heidi Scoble Yeah.
00:00:51.28 Melissa Blaustein Thank you.
00:00:52.01 Heidi Scoble Council member Cleveland Knowles.

Vice Mayor Kelman?

Here.

Mayor Hoffman.
00:00:59.13 Jill Hoffman Here.
00:00:59.97 Heidi Scoble All members, sorry, excuse me. I was just going to say all members are present and we have a quorum.
00:01:00.41 Jill Hoffman Thank you.
00:01:02.60 Unknown Thank you.
00:01:02.62 Jill Hoffman See you.
00:01:07.03 Jill Hoffman Thank you.
00:01:07.13 Heidi Scoble Thank you.

Thank you.
00:01:07.70 Jill Hoffman Um,
00:01:08.27 Heidi Scoble Thank you.
00:01:09.44 Jill Hoffman item D1 will be discussed in closed session.

D1 is conference with legal counsel, existing litigation pursuant to California government code section.

54956.9 D1. Sausalito Marin County Chapter of the California Homeless Union versus City of Sausalito.

I will now open public comment.

on this item.
00:01:43.59 Heidi Scoble Madam Mayor, would you like me to provide my introductory speech on how public comment may be taken?

Yes.
00:01:49.97 Jill Hoffman Please.
00:01:50.26 Heidi Scoble At this time, members of the public may address the city council.

Regarding this agenda item, video or audio public participation is limited to three minutes per speaker. If you'd like to make a comment, please raise your hand in the Zoom application, and you'll be called upon when it's your time to speak.

To raise your hand from the phone, press star nine.

Each speaker will be notified when the time has elapsed.

Madam Mayor, it looks like we have a David Schonbrunn who has his hands raised at this time. I will unmute David.

Thank you.
00:02:22.74 David Schonbrunn Thank you.

Uh, Thank you.

Good afternoon, council members. I'm David Schoenbrunn.

I live on Bridgeway.

I wanna comment on the decisions you took on February 5, on the court's decision, and on the discussion you are about to have.

as to whether to seek appellate review.

I attended that Friday meeting because of what I saw as the cruelty of the draft resolutions.

I was struck by how you acted.

as if you seemingly hadn't heard the more than 30 people testify against those resolutions.

I didn't feel You had disclosed the real reasons why you chose to act that night.

I think this is important.

because the city's papers opposing the TRO claimed that the city was concerned about the health of the campers.

I hadn't believed that during your consideration of the resolutions and the judge didn't buy it either.

Now that the campers are going to be here for a while.

I want to suggest a course of action that matches your intent to be compassionate and respectful.

It will enable the city to legitimately be seen as a good actor in future court proceedings.

I recommend that the city pick up the cost of maintaining two port-a-potties and a hand wash station.

At the camp.

On top of that, paying for refuse bins to be picked up there would mean that the camp's garbage doesn't end up in someone else's dumpster.

The last element of basic survival would be for you to provide drinking water.

I've suggested longer term initiatives in an email I sent to each of you, especially as relates to BCDC.

I believe that in the midst of a housing crisis, it is absolutely unconscionable that a government agency is responsible for making people homeless. I would be pleased to discuss those ideas with any of you, not as a representative of the campers, but as a concerned citizen trying to help resolve a crisis. I've got two more sentences here.

As for the closed session that you're going into, I would point out that the city's position in the record is very weak.

I urge you to avoid a second black guy.

and not seek review.

of the trial court decision.

Thank you.
00:05:34.53 Jill Hoffman Thank you. Heidi, you can call our next speaker, please.

Our next speaker is Ava Crisante.
00:05:40.70 Ava Crisante Thank you.
00:05:41.65 Jill Hoffman Thank you.
00:05:43.81 Ava Crisante You've been unmuted.

Thank you so much. Thank you, Saucerito Council and Mayor Haas.
00:05:51.03 Unknown Bye.
00:05:51.49 Ava Crisante you
00:05:51.72 Unknown and I'd like to leave with the company
00:05:52.30 Ava Crisante and, you know, the
00:05:56.33 Unknown And I'm very grateful to know that people like him still live in Sausalito as someone who was raised in Marin. It is sad to see how cool the current crop of homeowners are.
00:06:00.70 Ava Crisante Thank you.
00:06:00.97 Unknown AS WE CAN.
00:06:07.33 Unknown Um, Thank you.
00:06:10.57 Unknown I'd also like to suggest I've recommended the Grapes of Wrath previously in meetings as a really important book about what we're now seeing. The Graves of Wrath isn't just a book about Dust Bowl refugees coming to California and being very ill-treated. It's also a book about an environmental crisis.

It's a book about a human and a political crisis. It's a book about a family crisis.

But what was happening at the time, what Steinbeck records, is actually a lot of it is very similar to the kind of things that you're seeing now here in your own town. And I think particularly with regard to some of the angry homeowners who've been so cruel and who've moved the council to act in cruel ways.

toward the encampment. It really is a very relevant book. I'd also like to recommend Rick who was a Wall Street Journal reporter wrote a book called Obscene in the Extreme, and it's about the burning and banning of John Steinbeck's book, The Grapes of Wrath.

And what Wurtzman shows is how much research Steinbeck did for that novel, and particularly with regard to business interests and property owners in the Central Valley and how absolutely vicious they were.

to these people who'd been displaced by the Dust Bowl environmental crisis, which was entirely man-made, should be consonant with today because our global warming crisis is entirely man-made. I think what you're seeing here now with the encampment is just the tip of the global warming iceberg, if you will.

we're going to see a lot more displacement all over the world.

California will be no exception. You'll see it in Texas, you'll see it on the East Coast, you'll see it in the Midwest.

I We have a housing crisis, but this is nothing compared to what about to see. So I think Mr. Schombroon's recommendations are really solid. You need to make sure that this encampment has of parties.

They need to make sure that you create standards and that you are supporting people because they need to make sure that you create standards and that you are supporting This isn't going away.

And this won't be solved tomorrow.

So I thank you for your time and, um, I'm optimistic that you guys can take a much better approach than you have. Thank you.
00:08:44.51 Heidi Scoble Madam Mayor, our next two speakers will be Charlene Eldon and Elizabeth Dupar. I will unmute Charlene.

Charlene, you've been unmuted.
00:08:57.35 Melissa Blaustein Hi, thank you all.

Um, I'd like to add to what David and Eva were saying.

And just point out that when your constituents ask you to violate the civil rights of others, it's more appropriate for representatives to push back than it is for them to pretend like there are two valid sides of an argument when the civil rights and human rights of others are concerned.

Instead of that, we have leaders minus Council Member Blaustein who hear these suggestions of smashing and destroying homeless people's dwellings, moving them every morning at dawn, or segregating the schools and hear it as two sides to an argument. There are not two sides to this argument and we need more strength from the leaders. I'd ask you to also not seek appellate review and yes, make long-term plans like the trash pickup.

drinking water.

station.

and two porta potties. Thank you.
00:10:01.66 Heidi Scoble Elizabeth Dupar has been unmuted.
00:10:06.00 Elizabeth Dupar Yes, hi, I followed this story with quite a bit of interest because, oh, and thank you so much for taking my comments.

and I appreciate all the hard work that the city council does for the people of Sausalito. So I like to say that.

I downloaded the decision from the Judge Chan's ruling and I find that possibly part of the problem is that there's not enough resources for the city of Sausalito to set up some type of task force to set to address the homeless problems.

We know it's not going to go away, but at the same time, as a homeowner in Sausalito for over 20 years.

I'm very concerned about the taking of the Dunphy Park.

I was part, I participated in city council hearings just like this when the Dumpy Park funds were allocated And at the time, it was just, who wasn't a waterfront.

I'm concerned about the environmental impact of the water.

And I understand from the ruling that there wasn't any investigation of the environmental impact of the camp on Dunphy Park.

I'm wondering if there's some type of task force that can be set up to set up some model, there's other cities that have gone through this, like the city of San Jose, for example, that has some modeling for how to, deal with the homeless population at the same time address the needs of the homeowners who who pay taxes.

to support something like Dunphy Park.

And so, people who've lived there a long time are not able to access Dunphy Park because of the the taking of the park by people who are homeless.

Sausalito doesn't need to spend all their resources trying to manage this on their own. I think we need to get county resources. I think there needs to be some type of, And I think that's what the committee set up to help just deal with these problems because as the ruling shows, that the city couldn't accomplish prior to the hearing.

And if there's a I was a little bit shocked that they hadn't looked at Marinship Park and the impact of the on the people if they were relocated there.

So I think we need to look at all the options to relocate the people in a place that complies with their needs and that we also need to accommodate the needs of the homeowners who have invested in Sausalito as part of their their lifestyle and their life. And it's not to say either one is better or worse or to try to deprive somebody of their constitutional rights, but homeowners have rights to And right now the homeless population is dictating what Sausalito does.

Three minute time has elapsed.
00:13:09.48 Heidi Scoble Three minute time has elapsed.
00:13:11.35 Elizabeth Dupar Thank you.
00:13:11.43 Heidi Scoble Thank you.
00:13:16.06 Heidi Scoble Our next commenter is Jason Saras.
00:13:16.08 Elizabeth Dupar Our next commenter is Jason
00:13:17.97 Unknown Sarah?
00:13:25.36 Unknown Yes.
00:13:25.42 Heidi Scoble Yes.
00:13:27.25 Unknown Okay, great.

I'm actually in Novato, I'm at the homeless camp in Novato.

And from my understanding, The bathrooms, wash stations and garbage is mandated by the by the CDC guidelines to help alleviate, you know, encampments, you know, to help the stress on the camp.

And if you are having problems with having to pay for those items for the camp.

you might want to go through the county because that's where it's supplying our bathrooms and wash stations.

And, uh, Also, I really strongly suggest that you guys nix the breaking down the camps and setting them up every day. That is just no way for anybody to live. That's not gonna help anybody out whatsoever.

Thank you.
00:14:28.37 Jill Hoffman I don't see any other hands.

Hands for public comment.
00:14:34.43 Heidi Scoble Thank you.
00:14:34.48 Jill Hoffman not a mayor.
00:14:34.97 Heidi Scoble that.
00:14:35.05 Jill Hoffman are no
00:14:35.66 Heidi Scoble It's not.
00:14:36.03 Jill Hoffman raised at this time.
00:14:36.91 Heidi Scoble Thank you.
00:14:37.02 Jill Hoffman Thank you.

Very good. Thank you. At this point I will close public comment and we will adjourn to closed session.

Thank you.