| Time | Speaker | Text |
|---|---|---|
| 00:00:00.03 | Walfred Solorzano | 3 recording in progress being held at 420 Little Street in Council Chambers. It is also being broadcast live on Zoom and it is also being broadcast live on the city's website and cable TV channel 27. I'm not sure. |
| 00:00:16.47 | Steven Woodside | Thank you, city clerk. And I will now call the meeting to order at 5.02 p.m. But before I do that, I will note that one of our council members is participating remotely and we do have to take a vote on approval of. that remote participation. So Council Member Kellman, if you could just note your participation and we can take a vote in support. |
| 00:00:34.29 | Jill Hoffman | I am here participating remotely from Pennsylvania. with my parents caring for my elderly parents. |
| 00:00:42.42 | Steven Woodside | Thank you. Okay. So can I have a motion to approve Councilmember Kelman's participation remotely? |
| 00:00:47.84 | Joan Cox | So moved. |
| 00:00:48.78 | Steven Woodside | Second. And because she is participating remotely, we do have to take a roll call vote. Okay. |
| 00:00:54.18 | Walfred Solorzano | Council member Cox? Yes. Council member Hoffman? Yes. |
| 00:00:59.41 | Jill Hoffman | Yes. |
| 00:00:59.92 | Walfred Solorzano | Councilmember Kelman? Thank you. |
| 00:01:01.66 | Jill Hoffman | Yes. |
| 00:01:01.95 | Steven Woodside | Thank you. |
| 00:01:01.96 | Walfred Solorzano | Thank you. Vice Mayor Sobieski, he has not arrived yet. Mayor Blosting. |
| 00:01:07.75 | Steven Woodside | Yes. Okay, so motion carries unanimously and Council Member Kellman, you'll have to do that again as we return from closed session, but just making it clear that you'll be participating remotely. So if you want to pause for a second, I see. Yeah. Great. We'll just give the vice mayor a second to come on in before we call roll. Hi vice mayor. |
| 00:01:20.29 | Ian Sobieski | Okay. |
| 00:01:25.47 | Steven Woodside | Hello. Sorry something. |
| 00:01:29.17 | Ian Sobieski | Thank you. |
| 00:01:29.18 | Unknown | important. |
| 00:01:30.26 | Steven Woodside | All right. Hello. Hello. Okay. So now that the vice mayor has arrived, why don't we call the rural city clerk? |
| 00:01:35.64 | Walfred Solorzano | Council member Cox here Council member Hoffman. |
| 00:01:36.13 | Steven Woodside | Thank you. here. Here. |
| 00:01:40.54 | Walfred Solorzano | Councilmember Cowan? |
| 00:01:41.40 | Steven Woodside | What is it? |
| 00:01:41.75 | Melissa Blaustein | because it's... |
| 00:01:42.01 | Steven Woodside | Cheers. |
| 00:01:43.29 | Walfred Solorzano | Vice Mayor Sobieski. Here. And Mayor Blasdine. |
| 00:01:46.60 | Steven Woodside | Thank you very much, city clerk. Okay, so we'll now begin with the closed session portion of the agenda on the items for closed session this evening. We have conference with labor negotiator, agency designated as Charles Sikhi Sloan and SEIU Local 1021, Conference of Labor Negotiator. uh, I'm represented employee city manager, public employee appointment, employee title city attorney, Conference with Legal Counsel existing litigation Government Code Section 549569, DeHannion v. Colwich, and Conference with Legal Counsel on Anticipated Litigation. pursuant to paragraph two of subdivision of section 54956.9. So I will go ahead and open up our closed session items for public comment at this time. |
| 00:02:29.46 | Walfred Solorzano | If the public would like to make any comments, they can go over to the table and pick up one of the speaker forms and bring it back over to the Turks. We have nobody in attendance right now. And if you are on Zoom, you can use the raise hand function or press star nine if you're on the phone. I've seen no public comment. |
| 00:02:48.78 | Steven Woodside | Okay, so I will go ahead and |
| 00:02:51.03 | Joan Cox | session at this time. |
| 00:02:51.82 | Steven Woodside | Yes, go ahead. |
| 00:02:51.85 | Walfred Solorzano | And that's it. |
| 00:02:51.90 | Joan Cox | Mayor. Mayor, I would like to note that I'm recusing myself from the fourth item that you mentioned, which is public employee appointment for the employee title of city attorney since my office presently serves as city attorney. |
| 00:03:02.16 | Steven Woodside | Thank you. |
| 00:03:07.26 | Steven Woodside | Okay. Thank you very much. We'll go ahead and adjourn to closed session and return at 7pm for open session. |
| 00:03:12.95 | Jill Hoffman | Great. |
| 00:03:15.04 | Melissa Blaustein | Thank you. |
| 00:03:15.29 | Jill Hoffman | Thank you. |
| 00:03:15.36 | Melissa Blaustein | Thank you. |
| 00:03:15.41 | Jill Hoffman | Thank you. |
| 00:03:18.51 | Melissa Blaustein | All right. Thank you. |
| 00:03:24.24 | Unknown | There you go. |
| 00:03:24.50 | Melissa Blaustein | Thank you. |
| 00:03:24.57 | Unknown | Thank you. |
| 00:03:24.83 | Steven Woodside | Okay. All right. So we have everybody. |
| 00:03:29.89 | Unknown | you |
| 00:03:29.92 | Walfred Solorzano | Yeah. |
| 00:03:30.06 | Unknown | Thank you. |
| 00:03:30.72 | Steven Woodside | Okay. All right, are we ready city clerk? |
| 00:03:34.16 | Walfred Solorzano | Yes, we are. |
| 00:03:35.19 | Steven Woodside | Okay. Welcome back to our regularly scheduled meeting of the Sausalito City Council. I'm calling the meeting back into order from closed session at 718 PM and there are no announcements. I do want to point out that Council Member Kelman is joining us remotely. And we will be taking a vote of consideration to accept her remote So Councilmember Kelman, did you want to speak to your participation for |
| 00:03:59.17 | Jill Hoffman | this |
| 00:03:59.50 | Steven Woodside | Thank you. |
| 00:03:59.52 | Jill Hoffman | Thank you. |
| 00:03:59.57 | Steven Woodside | evening. |
| 00:04:00.75 | Jill Hoffman | Yes, thank you, Mayor. I am joining this meeting remotely from Pennsylvania where I'm caring for my elderly parents. |
| 00:04:06.74 | Steven Woodside | Thank you. Thank you. Do I have a motion to approve? Councilmember Kellman's remote. Okay, so move. Okay, and now we'll take a roll call vote. |
| 00:04:18.15 | Walfred Solorzano | Councilmember Cox. |
| 00:04:19.23 | Steven Woodside | Yes. |
| 00:04:19.62 | Walfred Solorzano | Councilmember Hoffman? Yeah. Councilmember Kelman? |
| 00:04:24.67 | Steven Woodside | Here, yes. |
| 00:04:25.78 | Walfred Solorzano | Vashmir Sobieski. Yes. And Mayor Blasny. |
| 00:04:28.61 | Steven Woodside | Yes. Okay, great. Thank you everyone for that. All right. So we'll just get started right away with the approval of the agenda. Can I have a motion to approve the agenda this evening? |
| 00:04:37.29 | Sue King | Yes. |
| 00:04:37.30 | Melissa Blaustein | evening. Thank you. |
| 00:04:38.11 | Steven Woodside | Thank you. Okay, and the second. |
| 00:04:41.24 | Melissa Blaustein | Second. |
| 00:04:41.73 | Walfred Solorzano | Thank you. |
| 00:04:41.79 | Steven Woodside | And unfortunately, we do have to take a roll call vote for everything this evening. So please bear with us. Roll call, please. |
| 00:04:47.31 | Walfred Solorzano | Councilmember Cox? Yes. Council member Hoffman. |
| 00:04:50.55 | Steven Woodside | Thank you. |
| 00:04:50.57 | Ian Sobieski | Yes, except I want to remove something from the consent calendar, but I understand. We'll get to that. Yeah. Okay. Yes. |
| 00:04:55.48 | Steven Woodside | Thank you. |
| 00:04:55.78 | Walfred Solorzano | Councilmember Kelman. |
| 00:04:57.23 | Steven Woodside | Yes. |
| 00:04:57.49 | Ian Sobieski | Thank you. |
| 00:04:57.52 | Walfred Solorzano | Thank you. Vice Mayor Sobieski? Yes. And Mayor Blostein? |
| 00:05:00.96 | Steven Woodside | Yes. Okay. And so with that, I'll go ahead with our special presentations. And if any of you were here over 4th of July, you know, we had a fantastic parade and picnic and fireworks. And so we have our Parks and Rec Director, Ryan Vitale here to give us a little bit of a recap of festivities and how the city did. He looks very snazzy in his suit. He looks very snazzy. He's an attack guy. |
| 00:05:21.85 | Joan Cox | He looks very snazzy. He's in a tie, a suit and tie. I did not recognize him. |
| 00:05:26.44 | Ryan Vitale | I try to go in a little incognito just to... Thank you. |
| 00:05:29.03 | Steven Woodside | And. |
| 00:05:29.19 | Ryan Vitale | You know, I go walk in. |
| 00:05:30.31 | Joan Cox | Thank you. |
| 00:05:30.32 | Steven Woodside | Thank you. |
| 00:05:30.36 | Joan Cox | Thank you. |
| 00:05:30.38 | Steven Woodside | I walked right back. |
| 00:05:31.05 | Ryan Vitale | Well, good evening and thank you, Mayor, Vice Mayor, Council Members, City Manager, City Clerk. |
| 00:05:31.20 | Steven Woodside | Well, |
| 00:05:35.17 | Steven Woodside | Sergio, why'd you just turn on your camera? You're making me nervous. |
| 00:05:37.88 | Walfred Solorzano | Thank you. |
| 00:05:37.90 | Steven Woodside | THE FAMILY. |
| 00:05:37.97 | Walfred Solorzano | Oh, uh, |
| 00:05:38.85 | Steven Woodside | Do I look too sharp? Is that right? Is Brian too long? |
| 00:05:38.86 | Walfred Solorzano | I'm going to go. |
| 00:05:38.88 | Ryan Vitale | Do I look too sharp? |
| 00:05:39.98 | Walfred Solorzano | Yeah. not skip over our closed session announcements and our report of reportable actions. |
| 00:05:50.10 | Joan Cox | We already announced there were no reportable outcomes. |
| 00:05:52.45 | Walfred Solorzano | Thank you. |
| 00:05:57.76 | Ryan Vitale | Well, thank you for the opportunity to be here today. I appreciate it. The 2023 4th of July festivities were a big hit and were fun for all. And the Parks and Rec department would like to thank each and every attendee for coming out and celebrating Independence Day with us. Mayor Blaustein, Vice Mayor Sobieski, City Council Members, Kelman, Hoffman, Cox, thank you for your support and enthusiasm for all our programs and events. It's greatly appreciated. Thank you for financing the 4th of July full day of festivities. It's a great tradition in Sausalito, loved by all, and brings us closer as neighbors. On this day, we honor the people who have great impacts in our community, and we partner with local nonprofits who reinvest their earnings back into Sausalito. The effort that goes into this day is so huge and would not be possible without the support of our city staff, volunteers, community nonprofits, and merchants and restaurants. Thank you, City Manager Zapata and Martha, for volunteering your time to help set up the firework tables. I'm going to go through a lot of thank yous here. Bear with me on that. Thank you to our Public Works Department and Parks Landscape team for helping stage the parade route and setting up the additional stage at Gabrielson Park. Thank you to Finance for cutting checks and helping our vendors get paid. A big thank you to Southern Renn Fire Department for leading the parade in style, our Sausalito Police Department for closing our streets and support throughout the day. Sorry about the tug of war. I'm sure you'll beat the kids next year. For the VIPs, for putting on, or for putting out the no parking signs, helping keep our streets closed during the parade, and for taking down the signs after The 4th of July event, the Rotary Club for providing burgers and hot dogs and feeding our staff, our volunteers and the Cal Band. The Lions Club for giving a veggie option to our non-meat eating friends and raffling off an e-bike. For Galilee Harbor for providing fish and chips, corn and watermelon. to the wreckers for their continued support for the Parks and Recreation Department and providing libations at the picnic and the fireworks for Drivers Market for the Sparkling Waters, Molly Stone for the Five Dozen Eggs, for Jim Madden for captaining the cleanup vessel for the fireworks and donating parking spots in the Sausalito Yacht Harbor. To all the friends and significant others of the staff and volunteers, thank you. And thank you to the 31 parade entries. I can read them if you'd like, but maybe do that after. |
| 00:08:14.47 | Steven Woodside | It won't be necessary. |
| 00:08:15.51 | Ryan Vitale | Bye. Thank you. A big thank you to our events team and city staff who spent their holiday making this the best 4th of July yet. From our Parks and Rec team, thank you Carly Bartlett, Candice Panisi, Robert Halperin, Adrienne Hanson, Estella Wong, Sian Lewis-Ferrin, Moises Zarate from CDD, Maria Hernandez, Matthew Mandich, and Lisa Telles from DPW, Ali Iqbal, John Bush, Guillermo Mia, David Raffo, Brian Littlegreen from HR and Admin. Walfred Sir Lonzo. Did I say that right? Okay. and Kathy Nikitas. We greatly appreciate the efforts from everyone involved and could absolutely not have done this without you. So I really want to thank everybody for taking the time on their holiday to come out to Sausalito and celebrate Fourth of July with all of us. I do have some statistics for the day that I'd like to give you. It's difficult to get the exact numbers of a free event in town, especially when there are three events that are happening throughout the day in town. Uh, for the parade, I'm guessing we had somewhere between 1,500 and 2,000 people, although I'm sure council may have a better idea since all of you were in the parade. And, uh, hopefully you had a little clicker or something you couldn't, you could tell people. Uh, at the picnic, I think there were about 1,000 people at any given time and about 1,500 to 2,000 throughout the event. And at the fireworks, we sold out all 50 tables and had about 1,500 to 2,000 people at the event. At around 8.30, people started piling in the park and pouring in, and we probably had about 2,000 to 3,000 people in that park. Our total revenue for the event was $20,385. There are still donations that are coming in, and we have eight more weeks of Jazz and Blues parking and raffle, which goes towards firework donations. That should be about another $5,600 coming in, so we should finish with about $26,000 to $30,000 in total revenue. The total expenditures for the day, $45,000 were on for fireworks and $10,470 on all other expenditures. Majority of that $45,000 were on for fireworks and $10,470 on all other expenditures. Majority of that $10,000 coming from two bands, sound engineers, portable toilets, and T-shirts. We had $6,100 in staff costs, so we spent a total of $61,775. As it stands today, the total event cost was $41,390, or $5.83 per Sausalito resident, if we're going by the city manager's ROI, the return on involvement, which I think is a great way for $6 to be spent on a 4th of July fireworks. I know many people that were sitting at their homes enjoying the fireworks from the comfort of their home. It's a wonderful day. So that's a little snippet of the day. I'm more than happy to talk more about this event, give more info on it. And overall, I appreciate your time. I appreciate your support. And thanks for having me today. |
| 00:11:11.79 | Melissa Blaustein | Thank you so much. |
| 00:11:16.60 | Melissa Blaustein | Yeah, let's see what we do with. |
| 00:11:17.65 | Steven Woodside | Thank you. |
| 00:11:18.15 | Walfred Solorzano | Oh, I. |
| 00:11:19.37 | Steven Woodside | Okay. |
| 00:11:21.04 | Walfred Solorzano | Very appreciative. |
| 00:11:21.22 | Steven Woodside | Thank you so much, Brian. It was a truly amazing 4th of July. I really appreciate it. |
| 00:11:21.71 | Ryan Vitale | Thank you. |
| 00:11:26.27 | Steven Woodside | your department and everyone who showed up on their day off from the city to to help us make it great. So thanks again. Thank you. |
| 00:11:33.34 | Chris Zapata | Thank you. Mayor, before he leaves, can you announce the grand marshal, please? |
| 00:11:39.13 | Steven Woodside | Thank you. |
| 00:11:43.79 | Ryan Vitale | I knew I forgot somebody. Thank you, Tricia Smith, for being our Grand Marshal. She's a wonderful member of our community, just a wonderful person in general. She runs Sausalito Village. She started Age Friendly here in Sausalito. She's with the CARS program, with the Edgewater Seniors. Anytime you come down into Parks and Rec or anytime you're in town, you'll see somebody smiling. It's always going to be Tricia that's out there. And she is just... She's the person you should aspire to be when you turn 60 plus years old. Thank you. She doesn't look 60, by the way. Thanks. |
| 00:12:18.25 | Steven Woodside | Yeah. What do you mean? |
| 00:12:21.32 | Ryan Vitale | in her 40s maybe, somewhere around there. |
| 00:12:23.00 | Steven Woodside | Thanks, Brian. Okay, great. Fantastic. Wow. That's... |
| 00:12:31.52 | Melissa Blaustein | Thank you. |
| 00:12:32.77 | Steven Woodside | I'm not going to be a Yeah. I'm sorry. All right. Thanks for that, Brian. Okay, so we'll go ahead and move on to action minutes of a previous meeting. Do we have a motion to approve the action minutes? Second. Roll call vote, please, City Guard. |
| 00:12:48.97 | Walfred Solorzano | Councilmember Cox? Yes. Councilmember Hoffman? |
| 00:12:51.08 | Steven Woodside | Yes. |
| 00:12:53.83 | Walfred Solorzano | Councilmember Cohen. Vice Mayor Sobieski? Yes. And Mayor Blopstein. |
| 00:13:00.50 | Steven Woodside | Yes. Okay, and we'll now move on to our consent calendar. Matters listed under the consent calendar are considered routine and non-controversial, require no discussion, are expected to have unanimous counsel support, and may be enacted in one motion in the form listed below. There will be no separate discussion of consent calendar items. However, Before the council votes on a motion to adopt the consent calendar items, council members may request that specific items be removed from the consent calendar for separate action. Items removed from the consent calendar will be discussed later on the agenda when public comment will be heard on any item that was removed from the calendar. So this evening we have 3A, five-minute order to waive business license tax penalties imposed on tile fever. adopt a resolution authorizing the city manager execute the professional services agreement with Marin IT. 3C, adopt a resolution rejecting all bids for construction on the bridgeway slide repair. 3D. Adopt a resolution extending 20 minute parking zone to convert an existing three hour meter stall to 20 minute parking. 3E, adopt a resolution extending existing no parking from 210 to 280 feet along the northwesterly curb of Bridgeway and Napa. 3F, adopt a resolution approving industrial disability retirement, for local safety member Jason McConaughey. 3G authorizes city manager to execute successor memorandum of understanding between the city and SEIU local 1021. and 3H, adopt a resolution approving the city's revised publicly available pay schedule effective July 1st, 2023. So with that, are there any consent calendar items that members of the council would like to remove from consent? |
| 00:14:35.07 | Ian Sobieski | Yes, I would like to remove the I just had the agenda up. G and H, I think. Let me. Let me ask for clarification City managers, I'm looking through this. H is just, that's just our current pay schedule, not the newly revised one based on the new, I'm going to go ahead and the new contract. or whoever can answer the question. I just want to know if I need to take that off as well. Yes. |
| 00:15:03.94 | Deborah Muchmore | Yes, hello, this is Deborah Muchmore. It is, you do need to take it off. If you're removing SEIU for discussion, you should remove that. Also, that should follow approval of that agreement. |
| 00:15:10.32 | Ian Sobieski | Thank you. Thank you. Yeah. |
| 00:15:14.77 | Ian Sobieski | Yeah, thank you. Thank you so much for that. Yeah. |
| 00:15:19.03 | Steven Woodside | Okay, so we'll go ahead and take public comment on items 3A through 3F, and then we will discuss 3G and 3H after that. So I'm opening up public comment to items 3A and 3F. |
| 00:15:34.74 | Walfred Solorzano | Sandra Bushmaker. |
| 00:15:42.25 | Melissa Blaustein | Hi, Sandra. |
| 00:15:43.12 | Sandra Bushmaker | Good evening, everybody. |
| 00:15:45.34 | Melissa Blaustein | We're having a little bit of trouble. Is it the audio? |
| 00:15:48.30 | Sandra Bushmaker | you |
| 00:15:48.36 | Steven Woodside | on our end? |
| 00:15:49.62 | Sandra Bushmaker | Thank you. |
| 00:15:49.67 | Steven Woodside | I'm my audio is up. Yeah, we had, we were in Janelle was rather silent as well. Could you try to adjust that a little bit so we can hear her in the chambers? |
| 00:15:59.59 | Sandra Bushmaker | Okay, I have my audio at home here up as high as I can get it. Okay, that's a little better. It's getting better. |
| 00:16:03.81 | Joan Cox | That's, |
| 00:16:05.77 | Sandra Bushmaker | It's not you, it's us. Okay. |
| 00:16:07.34 | Joan Cox | Okay. |
| 00:16:07.78 | Sandra Bushmaker | Thank you. |
| 00:16:09.48 | Melissa Blaustein | Hi, Chad. |
| 00:16:10.02 | Joan Cox | Nice to see you. You're on mute, Chad. |
| 00:16:13.01 | Chad Hess | Yeah. I can hear you through the audio very well. So it must be council chambers. |
| 00:16:18.31 | Joan Cox | Thank you. |
| 00:16:18.33 | Sandra Bushmaker | Okay, much better. Okay, great. Go ahead, Sandra. Okay, I just, you know, when I see a big ticket item like the IT contract, which is for $600,000 for two years, I always get nervous when I see it on a consent calendar. And I guess my question is, is the council Uh, happy or happy is not the right word, is it content with the scope of work for that $600,000? Yeah. So it's just a question I had and wanted to know what the process was, why we didn't get other bids. I did see in the staff report that they didn't have other interested parties. So I was just curious what the process was. So number one, are you satisfied with with the scope of work and number two, I just wanted to question the outreach to get contracts or whether there was a request for proposals. Thank you. |
| 00:17:13.71 | Melissa Blaustein | Thank you. |
| 00:17:13.73 | Sandra Bushmaker | Thank you. |
| 00:17:13.91 | Melissa Blaustein | and we'll see you next time. |
| 00:17:15.52 | Walfred Solorzano | Next speaker is Jan Johnson. |
| 00:17:23.63 | Melissa Blaustein | Bye, Jen. |
| 00:17:24.04 | Jan Johnson | Yeah. |
| 00:17:24.05 | Melissa Blaustein | Thank you. |
| 00:17:24.27 | Jan Johnson | Hi, I'm sorry to intrude. I don't have any objections, but I'm just curious, the area of Bridgeway at slide, has anyone looked at that and the adjacent city owned property as possible housing sites? It looks like some something where a skinny ADU could be built, and it would be a shame to miss the opportunity. Not to mention that more than a million dollars for retaining walls seems a lot. That's all. Thank you very much. Sorry to bother. |
| 00:17:58.01 | Melissa Blaustein | Thank you. |
| 00:17:58.02 | Steven Woodside | Love it. |
| 00:17:58.51 | Jan Johnson | Thank you. |
| 00:17:59.04 | Melissa Blaustein | Thank you. |
| 00:17:59.05 | Steven Woodside | Thank you. Do we have any further public comment at this time? |
| 00:18:03.91 | Walfred Solorzano | No further public comment. |
| 00:18:05.67 | Steven Woodside | Okay, so I will now ask for approval of consent calendar items 3A through 3F before we move forward with 3G and 3H. |
| 00:18:13.45 | Joan Cox | So moved. |
| 00:18:16.25 | Steven Woodside | Thank you. Okay, city clerk, would you please call the roll? |
| 00:18:19.17 | Walfred Solorzano | Councilmember Cox. Yes. Councilmember Hoffman. |
| 00:18:20.52 | Steven Woodside | Yes. Yes. |
| 00:18:22.47 | Walfred Solorzano | you Councilmember Cohen. |
| 00:18:24.31 | Steven Woodside | Yes. |
| 00:18:25.17 | Walfred Solorzano | Vice Mayor Sobieski. Yes. And Mayor Blossy. |
| 00:18:28.19 | Steven Woodside | Yes. Okay. So let's begin then with the SEIU agreement, which is item three. And I city manager, did you want to present that in partnership with Deborah? I know we have a chat on here as well, but, and then. you would, would you want, do you want to comment on why you pulled it first? And then we can go from there. How would you like it? |
| 00:18:46.32 | Ian Sobieski | Yeah, and we don't have to, we could put it after the bike lanes. I know there's people that are here, or the plan, the bike plan, like I'm happy to hear it after that as well. It's, but I wanted, the reason I pulled off is there's some, some of the data in the staff report. I wanted Chad to highlight some of it and I wanted to add, I asked him to add. Um, some additional, an additional chart. Um, and discuss that as well, because a lot, a lot of people don't understand that an increase in. just the union contract affects you know, it's doubled because it affects all the other non-union employees that are the non-union. Police Association. employees. A lot of people don't understand that. And so I wanted to go through that so that it's clear to the public when they're looking at this issue on the agenda and in the future. the impact of this, the true impact of this on our city budget. And so, That's why I requested that it be taken off. And I did email back and forth with Chad, or at least I tried, I think we did this afternoon. And I think it's clear sort of the scope of what I would like for him to discuss, so. That's it. But I mean, we don't have to do it now. We can do it after. I don't care. What are you doing? |
| 00:19:56.03 | Steven Woodside | you guys want to. |
| 00:19:56.43 | Ian Sobieski | Thank you. |
| 00:19:56.48 | Steven Woodside | Thank you. |
| 00:19:56.52 | Ian Sobieski | Thank you. you |
| 00:19:56.87 | Steven Woodside | Well, I think we have members of the public that are waiting to hear the bike lane. So let's just do that out of respect for the folks that are here waiting for that item. And then we'll circle back to the consent counter items that we pulled. Okay, great. So let's go ahead and get started then with our public hearing item this evening, which is 5A, adopt a resolution, sorry, business item, adopt a resolution authorizing the city manager to execute the professional services contract with parametrics for the development of conceptual design options related to the Bridgeway Safety Improvement Project. And hello, Director Miguel, and nice to see you. |
| 00:20:27.40 | Kevin McGowan | Kevin McGowan, Hello Mayor good evening i'm Kevin McGowan public works director for city Sausalito I have a presentation this evening. If we could bring that up, that would be great. Perfect. And while she's doing that, I will just have an antidote here that my wife is in Arizona visiting her dad. who is a little elderly and it was 118 degrees there today. So I am glad to be here in Sausalito. |
| 00:20:51.70 | Walfred Solorzano | Thank you. |
| 00:20:53.02 | Kevin McGowan | So item 5A before you this evening relates to authorizing the city manager to execute a professional services contract with parametrics incorporated related to safety improvements along Bridgeway Boulevard between Princess Street and Richardson Street. Next slide. Oh, you're ahead of me. Yeah. In 2020 through 2022, the Sausalito Pedestrian Bicycle Advisory Committee, has been discussing improvements to bicycle and pedestrian travel in town. The committee identified an area in town that has has regional significance and has experienced accidents between motorists and cyclists in the past. The section of Bridgeway Boulevard between Princess Street and Richardson Street is one of the most beautiful sections of waterfront in the Bay Area. During many months of the year, tourists from San Francisco rent bicycles, cross the Golden Gate Bridge, and travel this section of roadway to the Sausalito Ferry Terminal in order to return to San Francisco. This section of roadway, which was reconstructed in the 1980s, has two lanes of vehicle traffic and a center median. Bicyclists and motorists share the lane Share a lane, both south and northbound. and this is called a class three bike lane. The median is also utilized for deliveries and emergency vehicle access. Next slide. |
| 00:22:27.01 | Kevin McGowan | There we go. Thank you. In an effort to seek out additional funding, staff applied for and was approved for a planning grant. from the Association of Bay Area Governments, otherwise known as ABAC. The original concept approved by a bag includes the installation of a dedicated class for bike lane on the east side of bridgeway and a class to bike lane on the west side of bridgeway between princess and Richardson. In order to pursue this approach, the center lane would need to be repurposed for vehicle access. The planning grant, not only covers the development of a plan, specifications and estimate, but also covers public outreach for the project. Council authorized the city manager to execute the agreement with ABAG in May 2022. It took Abag some time to return the signed agreement to the city. based on internal staffing issues. And the city did not receive approval to issue the request for proposals until February 2023. Next slide. Thank you upon receiving notification from a bag the city solicited for professional traffic engineers to develop a plan based on the original concept. The original concept was narrowly focused and did not include alternative designs. In addition, the public input and analysis of current data is needed to determine what alternatives can work in this area without significantly impacting current uses and concerns. On April 11, 2023, City Council, the City Council continued an item related to securing the services of Parametrix, a professional traffic engineering firm |
| 00:24:19.67 | Kevin McGowan | A little reverberation there. |
| 00:24:20.70 | Steven Woodside | It's our last meeting before recess. We're having some technical difficulties. |
| 00:24:26.16 | Walfred Solorzano | in the office. |
| 00:24:32.59 | Melissa Blaustein | Are we okay? |
| 00:24:40.98 | Kevin McGowan | There we go. Are we doing OK? Thank you. |
| 00:24:42.90 | Steven Woodside | Thank you. |
| 00:24:43.14 | Kevin McGowan | Great. Thank you. |
| 00:24:43.48 | Unknown | It's a great day. |
| 00:24:45.28 | Kevin McGowan | So I'll start back again. On April 11th, 2023, the city council continued an item related to securing the services of Parametrics Incorporated, a professional traffic engineering firm, and had additional questions which need clarification before moving forward with the project. Next slide. |
| 00:25:08.40 | Unknown | Here we go. |
| 00:25:10.44 | Kevin McGowan | The Council's questions and staff's responses are noted in the staff report. Specifically, staff has reached out to ABEC with regard to exploring different options. The State Coastal Conservancy funds ABAC's grants. The intent of this grant is to complete the Bay Trail Network. Design options developed with this process need to meet the design goals of the Coastal Conservancy, such as including a Class 1 multi-use pathway, installation of a Class 4 bikeway with a sidewalk, and installation of a Class 2 bikeway with a sidewalk. On page four of the staff report, we noted that the funds may be used to develop designs And the same general character of the project intent which is to improve safety. Based on discussions with ABAG this week and today, This statement needs to be modified to say that ABAG will fund the development of the conceptual design options that meet the minimum design requirements to be considered a completed bay trail segment. This includes facilities such as the class one bike path and the other ones I just named. If the city develops alternatives that meet this goal, the grant funding can be applied to that development. A revised project scope was submitted by Parametrics, which is also included with your package. Next slide, please. Right. Parametric's revised scope of services is intended to address the project in stages, with gathering data and examining the existing traffic patterns as being one of the first phases of the work. This includes examining existing conditions, which will be compared to the options developed and should be detailed in a table in the final report, which lists the pros and cons of each option. The parent metrics revised scope also includes meeting with the public, interested groups, PBAC, and the council to assist with the development of possible concepts and options. Staff anticipates that this project, excuse me, staff anticipates that this work should require about six months or less to complete with the work culminating in a presentation to the council on possible design options. There's no construction with this contract. This is just developing design concepts. City staff will also coordinate the work on this project with our granting agencies. We are already in contact with our a bag representatives, and if we move forward with construction in the future, we will coordinate with our MTC representatives on the O bag three funding. Next slide. Traffic modifications generally... require trade-offs. modifications have a tendency to impact other uses. We need to keep this in mind when we're looking at traffic issues. Studying the existing traffic patterns, parking characteristics, loading and unloading on this roadway, along with vehicles, bicycles and pedestrian usage usage is a key step in developing various concepts. that can improve safety in this corridor. Communication efforts with our granting agencies is also important. Staff will communicate with council if any of the information provided in this presentation in the staff report changes over time. There are there may also be other opportunities to secure funding in this area other efforts related to sea level rise, as well as our downtown parking study. and others may come up in the near future. which may lead to improvements in this corridor. Staff will continue to seek out these opportunities and communicate the possible funding the funding possibilities to support improvements in the area of town. So this concludes my short presentation. I'm hoping that our rather lengthy staff report covers some of your questions. And I look forward to hearing your comments and your questions and those from the public as well. Thank you. |
| 00:29:39.85 | Steven Woodside | Thank you, Director McGowan, and thank you for your lengthy staff report. We appreciate that. So I'll bring it back up to the dais for questions from council members. Does anyone want to get us started? Council Member Hoffman. |
| 00:29:49.15 | Ian Sobieski | I have, I think some clarification questions based on a lot of the public comment that we've received, not just for this meeting, but when we talked about this back in April and we talked about this a year ago, I think it was May of 2022, right? Yes. Just for clarification. at May, 2022 at the April meeting, Nor are we being asked today to approve a plan to remove the bridgeway median and insert bike lanes. |
| 00:30:20.15 | Kevin McGowan | That's correct. We are not approving any of that. |
| 00:30:24.15 | Ian Sobieski | And the only thing that we're here today is to Um, for the council is to decide whether or not we want to use grant funding money that we've received from a bag. to pay for, um, to pay for the consultant to do a review that's set forth really nicely on, on your slide six. So, to look at project management conditions with police and fire departments, review of parking, Conceptual Alternatives. preliminary curbside operations plans, preparation of recreational recommended concept plan. Sorry. and stakeholder meetings and outreach. to P-back and outreach to the city on what direction to move in. Is that, have I got that right? |
| 00:31:07.05 | Kevin McGowan | Yes, that's correct. I would add gathering data in there too, because sometimes that's not terribly clear in their proposal. They have to gather the existing data of what's happening out there as well. |
| 00:31:17.54 | Ian Sobieski | And then your last on slide six, your last point is, I WANT TO MAKE A LOOK AT THE And that would be a presentation by you or parametrics or both about what you've learned during this Um, modified scope of, of what you're going to be looking at. paid for by the ABAC grant. and then you're gonna come back to city council and present that And then city council will again look at this issue and give direction. perhaps one way or the other at that meeting. |
| 00:31:47.80 | Unknown | That's... |
| 00:31:47.97 | Kevin McGowan | That's correct. |
| 00:31:48.47 | Ian Sobieski | Okay. Yes. Okay. So thank you for that. I think those are the, Those are all my clarifying questions at this point for Director McGowan. Thank you. And nice job, by the way, on this staff report. Thank you. Councilmember Cox. |
| 00:31:59.61 | Joan Cox | Thank you. Thank you. And just for further edification of those who may not be aware, David Parisi, the principal of parametrics who will be charged with this work, has performed significant work for the city in the past. Is that right? |
| 00:32:15.32 | Kevin McGowan | Yes, that's absolutely correct. |
| 00:32:16.89 | Joan Cox | And some of his work included an evaluation of as-built conditions along the Bridgeway Corridor as part of developing the general plan, right? |
| 00:32:26.43 | Kevin McGowan | Yes, and quite a few different sections too, yeah. |
| 00:32:28.92 | Joan Cox | And he also did an evaluation of the entire corridor between downtown Sausalito and Alexander Avenue for purposes of evaluating the ability of Sausalito to comply with complete streets mandates of measure AA funding from the county of Marin. right? Yes, that's correct. And so he has significant experience and data already that he's gathered. based on previous work that he's performed for the city of Sausalito. |
| 00:32:59.00 | Kevin McGowan | Yes, their firm does have that. |
| 00:33:00.63 | Joan Cox | which hopefully would enable them to perform this work in an efficient and effective way. manner. |
| 00:33:07.89 | Kevin McGowan | Thank you. |
| 00:33:07.92 | Joan Cox | Yeah. |
| 00:33:07.96 | Kevin McGowan | Yes, ma'am. |
| 00:33:08.55 | Joan Cox | Thank you. |
| 00:33:11.26 | Steven Woodside | Other questions from the diocese? I had one additionally just because we did receive so much correspondence from members of the community on this particular issue. And I wanted to see what you had and it's written in the scope. And again, thank you for this exhaustive staff report, but could you speak to the public outreach portion of the conceptual process so that people know when they might be engaged and what to expect? |
| 00:33:35.99 | Kevin McGowan | So based off of parametrics proposal, The intent is to meet with staff initially, gather data, as well as go out to the field and see what's happening with some of the traffic patterns. excuse me, on this section of the roadway. Take a look at some of the deliveries. Take a look at emergency services and how this area is actually used. Following that, they need to meet with staff and to develop their baseline type of concepts. After that, it's intended that our parametrics group will meet with not only our PBAC, but also with the general public, and that includes some of the businesses or maybe the some of the businesses in downtown and the interested parties, as well as possible in other members of the public. So we're looking at multiple meetings with the public, generally after we've gathered the data and kind of get a game plan moving forward. |
| 00:34:33.93 | Steven Woodside | Great. Thank you very much, Dr. McGowan. Yes. Vice mayor. |
| 00:34:36.94 | Melissa Blaustein | So you mentioned that the professional assessment will be eventually presented as a set of pros and cons for various alternative designs. Will David Precian and Parametrics be also charged with providing an assessment of a no build option and that that would be considered doing nothing, in essence, and comparing it to the circumstances? |
| 00:34:56.02 | Kevin McGowan | You know, I can't necessarily dictate what they will find, but I think that that is always an option when we take a look at improvements. Is it better to not do anything compared to making changes that could affect other things? Like I mentioned, traffic issues, they are trade-offs. |
| 00:35:18.45 | Steven Woodside | And Councilmember Kelman has her hand raised. |
| 00:35:20.61 | Jill Hoffman | Thank you, Mayor. Two questions, Director McGowan. The first is, what is the geographic scope of the study? We've had some public comment that is asking about the crosswalk area down by Golden Gate Market. Can you just tell us the scope geographically? |
| 00:35:37.42 | Kevin McGowan | Yes, Golden Gate Market is included in this. That's possibly the end. of the limits of the work. The other end of the limits is right there at Princess, probably the center of the intersection with Bridgeway. |
| 00:35:50.46 | Jill Hoffman | Okay, and then my second question for you is, I did not know the money was coming from the California Coastal Conservancy, which is very exciting and interesting. Is there a way, or have you spoken with Parisi about conceptual alternatives that also take into account potential impacts from storm surge and intensity. I'm thinking back to council members in March received a very dramatic video from the Coast Guard showing wave action coming actually up and over the south end of that part of town and hitting or almost hitting a vehicle. Is that part of this conversation for you in talking to the scope? |
| 00:36:28.89 | Kevin McGowan | We are specifically looking at traffic issues. We're not looking at wave run up or any other things that may be incorporated with climate change. I'm anticipating that when we do move forward with any sea level rise studies, that that will be included in those type of studies, not with this one specifically. |
| 00:36:49.19 | Jill Hoffman | Thank you, Kevin. |
| 00:36:49.96 | Steven Woodside | Thank you. |
| 00:36:50.01 | Jill Hoffman | Thank you. |
| 00:36:52.53 | Steven Woodside | Okay, Councilmember Cox. |
| 00:36:56.26 | Joan Cox | Thank you, Mayor. A couple other questions. um, A resident reached out to me today about the danger of the kind of blind curve between Richardson and second, you know, bridgeway to Richardson to second street in front of golden gate market. Would this study include the consideration of traffic calming measures such as a, you know, crosswalk with caution signs that, cause people to slow down, you know, various ways to address bicycle safety concerns that have been raised. |
| 00:37:31.12 | Kevin McGowan | I'm actually very glad you asked that question because the city staff has reached out to Mr. Parisi in years past in order to look at that specifically. And we do have a preliminary sketch and a plan in order to put in a crosswalk right there. It appears that a lot of the patrons of the Golden Gate Market will walk up there, get a sandwich or do whatever you would do in a market. But then they tend to cross the road right there because you can see in two directions. So we're interested from a safety perspective of making improvements in that area that would help the pedestrians cross that area. It could include bulb outs. It could include maybe a refuge area in the center of the lane because there can be a wider section there. that there's a lot of little details that need to be looked into, like turn radiuses and other things, sight distance. So we have a preliminary sketch for that. And I think that if we definitely want to look at those safety characteristics. |
| 00:38:32.01 | Joan Cox | Along those same lines, we heard testimony... Earlier. this year from a resident of Richardson Street, whose home was smashed by a car that missed the curve. So again, you know, placement of bollards or some other safety measures, that's something that would protect Homes from traffic. that may be unaware of the sharp curve or that sharp transition. Is that also something that this consultant can consider as part of their menu of options. |
| 00:39:09.15 | Kevin McGowan | I'm sure the consultant will consider it, but we're a little bit ahead of our consultant with that particular issue. So what we've done so far with that particular issue is reached out to several different contractors to get quotes on installing bollards on that limited section. So we're waiting for two more bids to come back, and we're hoping to bring that back to council. to ask you whether you would like us to proceed with that. based on the fact that some of the accidents haven't necessarily been because of the city's infrastructure. There may be a reason to There's not a requirement to put something in, but it's more of a, what would you as a council like us to do? |
| 00:39:53.39 | Joan Cox | Okay, and the final thing is one of the something else on the resume of parametrics and Parisi is the design and implementation of measures on Miller Avenue in Mill Valley, where they had to weigh competing interests of parking, you know, rush hour traffic, buses, pedestrians, etc. Is that right? |
| 00:40:17.85 | Kevin McGowan | Yeah, I haven't I haven't dived too much into their their details. But yes, I know that David worked on that section in the valley. Thank you. |
| 00:40:24.50 | Joan Cox | Thank you. |
| 00:40:24.53 | Kevin McGowan | All right. Thank you. |
| 00:40:26.49 | Steven Woodside | Do we have any further questions from the dais? Okay, so let's go ahead and open it up to public comment. And City Court, could you remind members of the public, since we do have so many with us who maybe haven't been since pre-COVID, how they can submit public comments? |
| 00:40:37.49 | Walfred Solorzano | If you are in-house, there's the speaker slips over by the table. You can fill it out and then hand it over to me or Noelle, and then we'll call you in the order they were received. If you are on Zoom, just use the raise hand function. If you're on the telephone on Zoom, you can press star nine. So we'll start with the people in the house. Okay. And so once I call your name, head over to the... |
| 00:40:58.97 | Unknown | And |
| 00:41:04.14 | Walfred Solorzano | the podium, and you will have two minutes to speak if there's a timer. All right, so first person is James Gabbard. |
| 00:41:15.16 | James Gabbard | Thank you very much. And hi, all of you, since I've got a limited amount of time. I think, first off, I came to Sausalito in the early 60s, and Bridgeway was two lanes plus parking, and that was it. And there was a need to get an ambulance up that way. And since you couldn't, there's no other way unless you go out on one-on-one, a person died. So Sausalito got together very smartly and said, let's put another lane in. And they actually put that, they filled with dirt and rock and made that lane. They picked up Trident, they picked up Skormis and moved them out. So today, you basically have the two lanes, parking, and the median. And the median was made so it didn't look like a bunch of black yuck. They made it out of a wood, I mean a rock, and it looks so graceful. And today, as somebody who lives right on Bridgeway, 445 Bridgeway, I find it the way it is today, for bicycles especially, it's safer than the plans they have, because the bicycles now, would be on one side or the other side of the street. As you get around to pass a bicycle in a car, you need by law three feet. So you slowly work around them. Now, if it's this other way, and especially during the weekends when Blazing Saddles goes crazy, you've got bicycles everywhere. And whereas now that barrier is basically the median. And to me, it would be absolutely foolish to undo it. And the other thing with climate change, we are going to have, look what's going on in the country now with heat waves and all. We have fires up there and the fire engines are down here. There's only one way you can get them there. And that's the median and the road. You can have the two lanes. But once they get blocked, what do you do? And that's why we put that lane in in 1964, I think it was. |
| 00:43:17.01 | Walfred Solorzano | Thank you very much. |
| 00:43:17.28 | James Gabbard | Thank you. Thank you. |
| 00:43:17.94 | Melissa Blaustein | Thank you. Bye. |
| 00:43:19.39 | Walfred Solorzano | So for those at home that are on Zoom, the raise hand function, you'll see the little hand, little yellow hand. There we go. You can see me right there. I think it'll be towards the bottom. You can click on that and we'll be able to spot you. |
| 00:43:32.89 | Unknown | Thank you. |
| 00:43:32.91 | Chris Zapata | Sorry. |
| 00:43:35.22 | Walfred Solorzano | Next person is Randa Emera. |
| 00:43:42.19 | Ian Sobieski | Thank you. |
| 00:43:42.98 | Randa Emera | Thank you. So I'm here also because I read somewhere that you were planning to do away with that lane. And I think it's a useful thing for people who live here. I live here and it's useful for me. I'm going to say how I use it, because a policeman told me that I could do that. I could actually move away from the bikers by going slightly in that lane. And with that lane gone, and if bikers are in the bike lane, but still outside it, what do I do? So. Adding to what was said already about the emergency vehicles and the deliveries. Businesses need deliveries. We're already losing businesses. So I don't know how deliveries would happen. They would have to deliver them someplace else or I don't know. But for me, it's a useful thing. And so also the fire engines, how would they get up there? And when I think of biking accidents, I don't think this is where it happens. I think it happens. I live on South Street. Sometimes to get out of the parking lot, I have to wait three, four or five minutes for them, for the bikers to come through. There's no place to go. You have to wait for them. And then you can't really pass them because... of the double yellow line. You can't. You just have to be patient and follow them. So that lane to me is very useful because I can safely pass them slowly by going slightly in there. And I was told that that was okay to do, that that was not the double yellow line that you cannot cross. So I just wanted to... tell you my opinion, and I just think there's so many other things we can do. I really enjoyed the presentation. You know, there was a lot of things in it that I didn't know. I enjoyed the comments of the previous resident about why that lien was put there. I didn't know that, so I'm glad I came today. and spoke to you. Thank you so much. |
| 00:45:45.56 | Walfred Solorzano | Next person is Hannah Woolley. |
| 00:45:53.03 | Hannah Woolley | Hi, Hannah. Hello, Melissa. How are you? Nice to see you. Nice to see you. Hi, council members. I'm Hannah Woolley. I'm a resident of Sausalito, lived here since 2018. I used to live on Bridgeway also. I'm here to urge you to vote yes on item 5A. The proposed plan has been thoroughly vetted as we saw in that great presentation. And the it would be. Evaluation of the potential safety upgrades to Bridgeway would benefit all of the folks that use Bridgeway residents, tourists, into businesses. The public comments we've heard so far have made great points about emergency vehicles and deliveries. and the plan proposed wouldn't automatically make it more difficult for them. It would evaluate the best use of the road. Also, the fact that the grant has already been allocated, let's make the best use of that for as many Sausalito citizens as we can. Thank you. |
| 00:47:01.51 | Steven Woodside | Hannah. Great to see you at a council. |
| 00:47:02.75 | Melissa Blaustein | You can tell me. |
| 00:47:03.17 | Hannah Woolley | Thank you. you. |
| 00:47:03.42 | Melissa Blaustein | Thank you. |
| 00:47:04.48 | Walfred Solorzano | Next speaker, Kieran Culligan. |
| 00:47:15.23 | Unknown | Mm-hmm. |
| 00:47:17.58 | Kieran Culligan | Good evening, council members. Yeah, it was great to both read comments, hear comments. I'm sure more comments to come, which I think are all great sources of feedback, concern, ideas that our professional traffic transportation engineer can take into consideration when thinking about the designs. Because there is no design. There is no plan today. One clarification for Council Member Kelman. Task four actually has one potential long-term conceptual alternative. So this is in addition to the three designs that would create a new seawall and provide a path east of the existing roadway. So, you know, certainly not up to snuff for like, you know, designing the seawall, but at least probably imagining that there's a little bit more real estate. What would we do? So I think that's pretty cool. Um, You know, One really personal element that I want to add is that There are so many ways that this benefits our community. One of the pleasures I take as a parent is having my three-year-old and the five-year-old on. The cargo back we had. our house, we go down Bridgeway. We might go to Discovery Museum. We might go into San Francisco. We might go to see friends. in Old Town that we can play with, And I've ridden my bike everywhere, all over the world, crazy conditions, downtown Boston, avoiding crazy traffic. And this is a place that still makes my heart rate go up when I've got my kids on board. And it just doesn't feel good. And I'd love to see someone look at a way of improving it. This is our option right here. We want to modernize infrastructure. It's a priority for the city. We've got it here on a platter. So thanks for considering it tonight. |
| 00:48:51.66 | Melissa Blaustein | Thank you. |
| 00:48:53.58 | Walfred Solorzano | Next speaker is Jake Baer. |
| 00:49:02.37 | Jake Baer | Council members, thank you. Thank you, Director McGowan. Thank you as well. My name is Jake Beyer. I'm also a member of PBAC. I'm here to urge you to vote yes. I think this is an incredible opportunity to use use it or lose it grant money with zero obligation to take action. We'll evaluate a plan or plans when they're ready. It sounds like in the next six months or so. And we'd love to hear feedback from everyone that has feedback today about what we should do and why and why not. I echo a lot of the comments that Kieran, this is one of the most beautiful roads in Sausalito, the busiest and most dangerous and I have kids that I bike with in their own bike or in the cargo bike. Thank you. And there's also businesses that I love. you know, Angelino's Golden Gate Market. So there's, as a PBAC member, I don't wanna throw a bike lane in to the detriment of everybody else. That's not our plan. We want to make sure that we can make this a better place for everyone. Thank you. |
| 00:49:56.47 | Steven Woodside | Thank you. |
| 00:49:59.14 | Walfred Solorzano | Okay, we have Warren Wells. |
| 00:50:05.27 | Steven Woodside | Hi, Warren. |
| 00:50:08.03 | Warren Wells | I'm Mayor Blassey, members of the city council. I'm Warren Wells with the Marine County Bicycle Coalition. I'm here to speak in support of the council, the staff's recommendation to initiate the contract with parametrics, understake this grant funded study. This plan, and again, as we talked about, it's worth remembering this is a plan that is a chance to reimagine Bridgeway so that parents in Old Town feel more comfortable traveling with their children to the ferry or Dumpy Park. They'll evaluate how to improve pedestrian crossings, particularly at Golden Gate Market. We'll consider how to provide curbside loading zones that our delivery drivers don't have to put themselves at risk darting back and forth across southbound traffic. And by giving bicyclists their own lane, Drivers will no longer have to wait behind slower riders headed into town. If more people feel safe riding bikes in a Sausalito, the better use we can make of the parking for those that still have to drive. We believe that staff has done an excellent job of responding to council's direction in April. And the current plan will provide robust outreach with multiple alternatives to the public and council to consider. And obviously it's being fully funded by this Baytwell grant. And we have great trust that David Precii and his team at Parametrics develop a plan that serves existing uses and improve it for users beyond just those people riding bicycles. This is an opportunity to use other people's money to look at ways to improve the city's main through street Director McGowan has done an admirable job of finding funding to improve safety. in the city, using regional and state funding, effectively tax money that people of this community have already paid. I look forward to your iVote and working with you and this community to bring out the best bridgeway we can as the residents of Saucyut all deserve. Thank you so much. |
| 00:51:45.34 | Steven Woodside | Thank you. |
| 00:51:47.06 | Walfred Solorzano | Thank you. |
| 00:51:47.07 | Warren Wells | Virginia Irwin. |
| 00:51:48.44 | Walfred Solorzano | Thank you. |
| 00:51:53.42 | Virginia Irwin | Good evening, everyone. And I really enjoyed listening to everyone's comments because I'm learning as I go as well. The one thing I have not heard is a way that the grant will focus on education. As an educator, I think educating the blazing saddles company. to maybe have a little quiz for their participants that get on those bicycles and drive three or four across Bridgeway going into Sausalito would be a really helpful way. I don't know if you can study that one, perhaps just observation. Also, having better signage on that area of Bridgeway with flashing lights, I I'm a driver, I'm a biker. And I'm embarrassed to say that I no longer go up Alexander because I'm in fear of my life. I will walk my bike up. And I try to make myself as skinny as possible. Yes, I can get skinnier, everybody. And it's just, it's disheartening because when I lived in Chicago, I used to ride my bike right down Michigan Avenue at rush hour. And like the other fella said, I felt. So safe. signs everywhere, beware of bicyclists, don't hate us because we are mostly car drivers as well. So again, just thinking about education. kindly. you know, giving somebody a little wave on your bike, you know, sorry, I, you know, I don't want to hit your car door again, please. So just, you know, I'm happy that we have this opportunity to make Sausalito again, a leader in |
| 00:53:25.12 | Unknown | know, |
| 00:53:36.76 | Virginia Irwin | Biking and greenways and kindness and just a great place to visit and to live. |
| 00:53:42.63 | Steven Woodside | Thank you. |
| 00:53:43.19 | Virginia Irwin | Thank you. |
| 00:53:43.68 | Steven Woodside | Thank you. Thank you very much. |
| 00:53:45.59 | Walfred Solorzano | Next speaker, Michael Smiley. |
| 00:53:56.67 | Michael Smiley | members. I'm Michael Smiley. I live at 186 Casano Avenue. I'm a bicycle route planner. I've been a route planner for 40 years. I'm also a very serious bicyclist myself for all that time. And I've ridden across the country, east, west, up and down in various places and all that. So I've been a lot of places on a bike, self-supported. And I can't say that there are very many places in the country that have such a high intensity of bicycle uses that have such poor bicycle facilities. There's a handful of places in the country that have higher bicycle intensity. Than here. And most of those places all have Really amazing bicycle infrastructure. And we are so far behind here. Since I moved here in 1973, I did a little calculation. So when I first came, and I think I've probably ridden this stretch of the bridgeway something like 2000 times. And I've commuted along the corridor at different times into the city and so on. And I think it's been really interesting to me to watch both as a route planner and as a user. What's happened in San Francisco? because 20 years ago, We were having these same conversations. And it was impossible. We couldn't do it. We can't possibly, the answer is, but we can't possibly build extensive bicycle facilities in San Francisco, because the city just isn't designed for it. That was what the argument was. Now look at San Francisco today. It's catching up with the world. And you can now cross San Francisco safely on a bike, east, west, north, south, all these different directions. In fact, when I commute now, even today, when I go into the city, the bridgeway is the least safe segment of my trip to the ferry building or down into the downtown. So I think it's imperative we do this. And I think that the fact that as prior speakers and Here's a chance to plan and improve the city with free money. just for the planning program. I think, I don't see how we can pass it up. So please, please. Thank you very much. Past the planning study. |
| 00:56:03.94 | Walfred Solorzano | Thank you. |
| 00:56:04.35 | Melissa Blaustein | Thank you. |
| 00:56:04.43 | Michael Smiley | Thank you. |
| 00:56:06.26 | Walfred Solorzano | All right, Jenny Silva. |
| 00:56:09.60 | Melissa Blaustein | Hi, Jenny. |
| 00:56:10.09 | Jenny Silva | Thank you. |
| 00:56:14.53 | Jenny Silva | Hi there. And I'm here today to urge you to please say yes to this. I hear the fears of some of the people in the room of what happens if we make change. And it can be scary to make changes to things. THE FAMILY IS A cities all over the world have been relooking at their streets and making them safer and focusing on safety for their residents to great success. They've made their communities more livable. retail more vibrant and better places. All the concerns that have been raised have been addressed worldwide over and over again and bringing in parametrics to redesign. our street can really be a huge improvement to Sausalito. I walked down Bridgeway, all the time. It's one of my favorite walks. And as I was walking earlier this week, I just sat down and watched the traffic on there. And honestly, it just makes my heart race watching it and seeing cars serve in and out and the bikes don't know how the share works and the cars don't know how the share works and everybody's going in different places. And it just feels bad. And even if you're walking, it feels bad kind of seeing this chaos happen beside you. And so we've got such a great opportunity here to make something better. And I really encourage you to do so. Thanks. Thank you. |
| 00:57:37.40 | Walfred Solorzano | Next speaker is Alice Merrill. |
| 00:57:40.74 | Melissa Blaustein | I am. |
| 00:57:41.03 | Deborah Muchmore | I'm going to go to the |
| 00:57:41.33 | Melissa Blaustein | Thank you. |
| 00:57:41.35 | Deborah Muchmore | Thank you. |
| 00:57:45.23 | Alice Merrill | Alice Merrill, I live on Caledonia. I... Absolutely want to have a lane for emergency vehicles, period. I'm hearing some interesting comments about emergency vehicles. Just learning, learning what we what can we do? I don't like it when I feel like things are railroaded. and getting this grant. before you guys had even decided to talk about it. feels railroading. um, I understand how it happened. You know, let's do that. Let's do this. Let's do grants, et cetera. I understand that, but just the same. And, I know it's scary. You have to be. very patient. You have to have Absolutely no agenda to get anywhere other than where you're going safely when you drive in that area. And it is scary because everybody is in a hurry or not paying attention or whatever, bicyclists and drivers. And maybe we can learn something. I'm hearing that this is a study that maybe we can learn something, but I'm hoping that it is not a railroad in the end. to do this because losing that middle lane You know, it's just, it's, it's suicide to that end of town. Thank you. |
| 00:59:13.21 | Deborah Muchmore | Thank you, Allison. |
| 00:59:15.14 | Walfred Solorzano | Okay, Reagan Fulton. |
| 00:59:22.26 | Melissa Blaustein | Hi, Regan. |
| 00:59:25.18 | Reagan Fulton | Hi, I'm Regan Fulton. I'm a longtime resident, and I'm a member of the Pedestrian and Bicycle Advisory Committee. I'm very proud to have been part of the development of this and some other ideas about how to improve infrastructure. I've been a little frustrated, however, that not much has occurred. And I know we've been living through some very difficult times, but it is also... a shame that we're not keeping up with surrounding communities in terms of how other communities are embracing. the change that one of the prior speakers has just referred to. We've talked about Miller Avenue in Mill Valley. I've just ridden from Novato down to Sausalito on my bike on Sunday. The facilities were really quite modern and safe all the way until Sausalito. And it's really a shame because we have not only a obligation to ourselves to secure the transit and safety of our children, our community, the drivers passing through. But again, The whole community, our neighbors who have invested in infrastructure for a greenway north of us and to the south in San Francisco, we are a pinch point. And it's a very uncomfortable one. And there is a famous picture of me with my children in front of me on Bridgeway with a truck parked in the median and a car passing us right as we went with the truck to our left. This is an illegal maneuver, but it happens all the time and it's highly unsafe, especially for children. It is important to point out that this is only a proposal to make a design, and that is to be remembered here. Thank you very much. |
| 01:01:26.88 | Steven Woodside | that. |
| 01:01:30.20 | Steven Woodside | Thank you. |
| 01:01:31.40 | Walfred Solorzano | All right. And now we have guests on Zoom, Sandra Bushmaker. |
| 01:01:37.55 | Sandra Bushmaker | Welcome, Sandra. Hi, I'm back again. Thank you for having a public hearing on this matter. It's hard to argue with safety, the need for safety. I agree with the need for safety and we should figure out why. But it's not just safety for bicycles, it's safety for pedestrians, senior citizens, and are safety vehicles in addition to that. So I think some of the points, I won't repeat them, are very valid. I have a suggestion for you, and that is to look at some of this grant money. to use to beef up our our police department for Enforcing our current rules of the road for both cars and for bicycles along this stretch, it seems to me, we should be able to use some of the grant money for that particular purpose. And lastly, my second point is, actually I have two more points, And I have a minute 14 task number seven in the outreach with regard to the outreach for the contractor. says, that the outreach includes businesses and residents along Bridgeway. It does not include residents it at large. So I think we need to improve that particular tasks number seven in the contract. And then lastly, the idea of the seawall, that's a billions and billions and billions of dollars I don't think that we're ready to go there yet, but I think that let's not commit ourselves to something we can't afford. So those are my three points. beefing up the police patrols in that particular area. And I live at the South end of town, I see what happens coming down from Alexander to South to 2nd to Bridgeway. I see that all the time. I drive on that portion. of Bridgeway many times during the week. So I agree that we need to study and see what we can do to improve the situation, but I'm against removal of the median. plain and simple. Thank you so much. |
| 01:03:45.05 | Walfred Solorzano | Next speaker, Joris. |
| 01:03:54.23 | Unknown | I have one. Folks, can you hear me? I'm trying to |
| 01:03:54.69 | Walfred Solorzano | Bye. |
| 01:03:57.93 | Unknown | Yes, we can go. Yeah, Cameron, great. Thank you for hearing the opinions today. I'm a Sociedad resident since a couple of years. I'm a big biker also. I commute to the city on my bicycle almost every day, which I very much enjoy. I also like to ride my bicycle here in town. And I frequent the businesses also in the stretch that we're talking about here. In fact, I had a custom engagement ring made for my partner, Elina, here, who sits next to me at the Prince Estate Jewelry. So, yeah, we like to frequent that part of town as well. But realistically, it is dangerous there as a cyclist. I'm from the Netherlands. I'm very familiar with biking infrastructure. I have biked all my life. And this part here, even when I consider my whole commute to the city center of San Francisco, this part here is really quite dangerous. We also have a young baby, a young daughter, who I'd love to bike around town with at some point. Currently, I would say that's not really... something I would consider just because of how dangerous they are. The area here is with all the users mixed and and the heavy car traffic not really minding cyclists and pedestrians sufficiently. So yeah, also a very strong supporter of researching what can be done here to improve conditions, considering all the different uses and all the different businesses. people living here. Thank you. |
| 01:05:32.34 | Steven Woodside | Thank you very much. |
| 01:05:33.20 | Walfred Solorzano | Thank you. Thank you. |
| 01:05:33.44 | Steven Woodside | Thank you. |
| 01:05:33.47 | Walfred Solorzano | All right, next speaker, Jen Johnson. |
| 01:05:38.13 | Steven Woodside | Hi, Jan. Oh, we can't see it. |
| 01:05:40.39 | Jan Johnson | Here we go. OK, can you see me now? |
| 01:05:43.31 | Steven Woodside | now Yes. Hi. Welcome. |
| 01:05:45.74 | Jan Johnson | Um, I don't oppose a study, but I think the study contract is leaving out a major aspect, and that is the use of the median by fire and ambulances. To say you're going to study it for one week doesn't take into account the many times when traffic piles up when the grade is closed. And the only way to get to Old Town with emergency vehicles is that median. Since I live in Old Town and I'm now in that elderly age group, I'd like to think the ambulance can reach me when I dial 911. The other thing is that although I no longer commute by bike as I did when I was a kid. I use that median to get across Bridgeway. Without the median, if I'm standing on a double... yellow line with cars whizzing both sides of me. I will not be able to safely to get across. And there is no crosswalk. from Princess Street all the way to Main Street to get across that length of Bridgeway and 2nd Street. So unless you're going to put in multiple crosswalks, that allow pedestrians to cross the street then you're gonna kill pedestrians rather than endangering bikes. And the other thing I'm gonna say is it seems to me this is gonna make me very unpopular, that every member of the pedestrian and bike committee seems to be an ardent bicycle advocate. I don't see anyone who's just a pedestrian there. And this project has been pushed by Ardent Bikes advocates, not by people who actually walk this section that much and who want to crisscross to get into the shade when it's hot or to get to the water. et cetera. So I'm against taking the median out. If you're going to study it, study it. but add to the contract That they look at the pedestrian. |
| 01:07:51.75 | Walfred Solorzano | Next speaker is, we have somebody on iPad. |
| 01:07:59.49 | Walfred Solorzano | Can I mute yourself, please? |
| 01:08:03.93 | Steven Woodside | Thank you. Pat, we can't hear you yet. Can you turn off your mute? Still can't hear you. Okay. |
| 01:08:09.25 | Melissa Blaustein | Okay. |
| 01:08:09.64 | Pat Zook | Thank you. |
| 01:08:09.89 | Melissa Blaustein | Thank you. |
| 01:08:10.03 | Pat Zook | Can you hear me now? |
| 01:08:10.60 | Melissa Blaustein | Thank you. |
| 01:08:10.95 | Steven Woodside | Thank you. |
| 01:08:10.97 | Pat Zook | Okay. It's hard to advocate against |
| 01:08:11.04 | Steven Woodside | Bye. Bye. |
| 01:08:16.25 | Pat Zook | gaining information and doing a study. So I won't do that. I will say that you are signing up for a contract and the contract has specifications. One element that concerns me is that it specifies that the Police and fire have already been consulted. this is really an issue for me because the alternatives have not been developed. or considered. So. why you would not add to the contract that police and fire would be consulted after the alternatives are developed, seems to me foolish. Secondly, a comment that Mr. McGowan made was that the ABAG funding is predicated on satisfying the bike lanes Um, not prerogatives, but premises. that, The funding needs to be fund projects that will develop section or quality one or two or three. bike lane facilities. And, that presumes that that kind of facility is preferable to what we now have. Um, that is not, that's a solution in search of a project rather than a project in search of a solution. Um, And in addition, Mr. McGowan said, oh, well, the current state of affairs is quote, always an option. Always an option are nice words. They need to be embedded in the contract. because that is the element, that is the description that the uh, contract E is going to follow. Um, I think information is a good thing. but I do think you need to include more than what is currently specified. Thank you. Thank you, Pat. |
| 01:10:18.61 | Walfred Solorzano | Kevin Carroll. |
| 01:10:21.24 | Steven Woodside | Hi, Kevin. |
| 01:10:25.30 | Steven Woodside | You're still muted. We can't hear you. |
| 01:10:27.64 | Kevin Carroll | Good evening. I'll try to keep it real short. I had about three pages of notes Most of them grandpa stories, I have to admit. John Bridgeway 50 years ago, I was working my way through college out of a team for hiring hall so i've delivered beer soft drink. frozen food, and bottled water on Bridgeway and on that section. And I remember the street so very well when that Lane was put in One of the big issues back then was the tour buses headed south out of town would stop because people would get out with things called brownies and Instamatics to take pictures that you had to stand perfectly still for. And that created huge traffic jams. That's not a problem we have anymore. I remember when I started driving a cab in Sausalito 30 years ago, there'd be five or six of us sitting in front of the Bank of America marveling at the bicycle traffic jam that occurred every morning between 5 and 7 a.m. when about 50 people would be biking to the city There was no tourist trade back then. There were no 3,000 to 5,000 bicycles pouring into Sausalito on summer days. Since COVID's hit, even those numbers have changed dramatically of how people come and visit and how they use this section of street. So there have been very dramatic changes over the 50 years. And all this study is doing is to give you the facts to make the best decision for what to do now and possibly in the future. That's it. giving you facts, to be able to make a rational decision. That's all this is really about. And I strongly urge you, to approve this tonight and look at the facts to see what's best for everyone in Sausalito. Residents, tourists, and God knows our dogs. Thank you. |
| 01:12:32.57 | Steven Woodside | Thanks, Councilmember Carroll. |
| 01:12:35.96 | Walfred Solorzano | Next speaker is Swin. |
| 01:12:44.82 | Sven Colterman | Hi, good evening. I'm Swen Colterman. I live in I've been here for 17 years. years. and I've raised two boys here. I'm still raising one of them is 14 oldest. And we have, ridden bikes along Bridgeway. Many, many times we've crossed in front of the Golden Gate market illegally hundreds of times that led to a bad example. because We wouldn't walk too good. the other way to find the crosswalk. So I was really happy to hear that, um, an evaluation of that area is on the table as well. So I endorse, this discovery process to think of solutions for everyone's needs. Um, And I, we've had two crashes as well in the 14 years. two different bike crashes, one of them resulted in a cast not on this stretch of bridgeway, but on a stretch of bridgeway hundred yards south and a hundred yards north. Um, due to uneven surfaces and confusion that occurred before the crash. My son, My son here would like to make a statement in our remaining one minute. |
| 01:13:56.94 | Steven Woodside | He gets two minutes because he's another person making public comment. |
| 01:14:00.59 | Sven Colterman | Okay. |
| 01:14:01.31 | Steven Woodside | Reset the clock for swim sun, please. |
| 01:14:03.84 | Sven Colterman | Thank you. |
| 01:14:06.19 | Steven Woodside | I mean, it's only fair. Two, not three. |
| 01:14:09.53 | Axel Colterman | Sweet three. |
| 01:14:11.17 | Steven Woodside | We're nice. We're not that nice. |
| 01:14:12.92 | Axel Colterman | Hello, my name is Axel Coltsman. I've been a resident of Old Town for all my life. Oh. When I learned how to walk more than 11 years ago, my parents lost no time teaching me how to ride a bike. When I became more independent, my parents told me never to ride through Bridgeway from Richardson Street to Princess Street because of how dangerous it was. Since that day, I've always avoided that section of road because it was dangerous. My bike path would greatly improve the safety of the bikers going through Bridgewood, but also can help with bikers riding places they should not be. After the pandemic, I've seen many tourists on my walks, walking my dog Gromit, who's now 18 years old, walking or riding on the sidewalk. to avoid the cars going up and down Bridgeway very fast and of course they want to take pictures of our beautiful bay out here. but they don't want to stop on the road. Um, Indeed, that endangers many pedestrians who walk on our very small sidewalks. and the many people who want to also walk on the sidewalks. A bike path would help the bikes stay on. The road? and let them stop to the side and take a picture instead of stopping in the road or riding on the sidewalks. Thank you for the time and listening. Thank you. Thank you. |
| 01:15:32.39 | Walfred Solorzano | All right, next speaker, Matthew Hartzell. |
| 01:15:41.84 | Walfred Solorzano | Matthew, if you can unmute yourself, please. |
| 01:15:48.86 | Walfred Solorzano | All right, we'll go on to Su King for right now. |
| 01:16:00.08 | Sue King | Hi, I'm Sue King. And I've lived here since 1980. And I live just above Um, Alexander. and Second Street. And so I've seen the proliferation of Rental bicycles. over the last years. So when we're all talking about bicycles and bicycle riding and all these wonderful people, are sharing these great stories of the bicycles they ride through town and the other cities they've ridden in, etc. We're talking about people who own their own bicycles and know how to ride When we were talking about bicycles in Sausalito, And. the kind that wobble, and get in front of cars, ride three or four abreast, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. These are bicycles rented by tourists. who are sent into this wilderness with no instructions and no safety instructions and no knowledge of where they're going. I've had many people on these bicycles, especially by age and in my group, stop and ask me Where the hell am I? And what is it like going forward? I don't know why I'm on this bicycle on this street. It's way too dangerous. And I say to them, yes, it is. Did no one tell you what you were getting into? No, they said, we had no idea. So I think There certainly is a responsibility to these humans, since the Blazing Saddles et al. seem to have none to tell Blazing Saddles and those people that they don't take responsibility for their customers, they shouldn't be allowed to come here. That is my word on the subject, and I love the idea of a study. Thank you. Thank you. |
| 01:17:42.86 | Steven Woodside | Thank you. |
| 01:17:44.10 | Walfred Solorzano | Back to Matthew Hartsell. You're still on here. |
| 01:17:49.18 | Steven Woodside | I saw him a second ago. |
| 01:17:50.47 | Walfred Solorzano | popped up. |
| 01:17:52.57 | Steven Woodside | Was it on? |
| 01:17:55.57 | Walfred Solorzano | All right. We'll go on to Aaron Roller. Right? |
| 01:18:04.36 | Deborah Muchmore | Bye. |
| 01:18:04.48 | Unknown | Hey, everybody. |
| 01:18:04.50 | Deborah Muchmore | Hey, everybody. |
| 01:18:04.87 | Walfred Solorzano | Thank you. |
| 01:18:04.92 | Deborah Muchmore | Bye. |
| 01:18:05.53 | Unknown | Hey, everybody. Aaron Roller, chair of the PBAC. And first of all, I want to thank the mayor, vice mayor for bringing this here today. I know it's been a big deal, as you can see from all the public comments. and a well-worthy one. Also the city council members collaborating through the time in preparation for this. I really appreciate that. Kevin McGowan for Really a great staff report. Thank you, Kevin. That was what we intended the entire time. Uh, when we've been talking about this to make sure that we got money so we could get the public outreach. And that's where we're headed. David Parisi and Parametrix for giving a, I think a very thoughtful and generous proposal. So, and for the public for the so many comments. And I think that's an important part of it guys. We get this, this is a beautiful stretch of road. It's a very important one. So let's all talk about it. Let's all get out there and actually contribute to what it can be in the future. Thank you to all the PBAC members for getting us here today. And thank you to the Marin County Bicycle Coalition and Warren Wells for your leadership in finding us the grant money as we've come forward here. I wanted to kind of just mention a little bit about the motivation. I mean, certainly we all are. We bike. We're all parents. We walk. we walked that section. I was motivated by Logan Mack the day that I met him and we were riding the kids to school and Logan was five years old and he was so excited about this. And I can just say, Imagine riding with somebody else's child through that section. without the protection in the morning. We have a picture of that, some of those, the danger there. I've got five seconds left. Mostly just let's get this to go forward. Thank you so much for your consideration. |
| 01:20:07.33 | Steven Woodside | Thanks, Aaron. |
| 01:20:08.16 | Walfred Solorzano | All right. And I think we have Matthew back on. Yeah. Thank you. |
| 01:20:12.95 | Steven Woodside | Hi, we can hear you now. |
| 01:20:14.62 | Matthew Hartzell | Thank you. I was at the San Rafael Design Review Board meeting, and I was actually speaking there at the same time that you called me. So I apologize for that. Thanks for calling me eventually. I just want to take a step back and talk about how this stretch of street is both part of the Bay Trail and the North-South Greenway. The Bay Trail being a hundreds of miles long network of pathways for pedestrians. and bicyclists and all other forms of non-motorized users, including people in wheelchairs and walking dogs and many others, to circumnavigate the whole San Francisco Bay. And this is one of the most used segments of that Bay Trail in the entire Bay Area. So it's really important, not just from a city perspective, it is important from a city perspective, but also from a county and regional perspective. And that's That's why the grant funds happened to come from the regional government. I'm not sure. The transportation authority of Marin has recently been placing a lot of newfound attention on the North-South Greenway, which is bicycle and pedestrian path that runs the north-south length of Marin County from the Golden Gate Bridge to Sonoma County and then it continues up into Sonoma County and is actually part of Great Redwood Trail, which goes all the way to Eureka. And this, again, is one of the most key. on that North-South Greenway. And in fact, TAM just completed a study that identifies those gaps and they're going to start a planning process soon where they prioritize completion of those gaps. And so There's countywide regional attention on this stretch of bridgeway. It's, I think, Everyone has said why the safety on the street is not acceptable right now. We need a planning study. And all the people who are concerned about the median they can come to the workshops in that planning process and express all of their concerns and ideas. And there will be a whole process and a place for that. Right now, I urge you to pass this resolution. and this contract. |
| 01:22:22.04 | Steven Woodside | Thank you very much. |
| 01:22:23.27 | Walfred Solorzano | Jessica Penroth? |
| 01:22:25.57 | Steven Woodside | Hi, Jessica. |
| 01:22:26.19 | Jessica Penroth | Thank you. Hello. Thank you for having me this evening. And sorry to be joining kind of at the very end, but wanted to, I am also a member of the PBAC and a resident of Sausalito. I've actually been a resident of Sausalito my entire life, born and raised here. And just really wanna urge you to approve this grant to go forward just for the opportunity for us to understand and have the educational piece. This is for the future of our families that live here in Sausalito. And I think that it's just a great opportunity for us to make a safe place for pedestrians, bicyclists, and cars, and all businesses that live down there. So, |
| 01:23:04.03 | Melissa Blaustein | So thank you. Thanks, Jessica. |
| 01:23:07.94 | Walfred Solorzano | Thank you. |
| 01:23:07.96 | Kevin Carroll | Thank you. |
| 01:23:07.98 | Walfred Solorzano | Thank you. |
| 01:23:07.99 | Kevin Carroll | Thank you. |
| 01:23:08.01 | Walfred Solorzano | Great. I do have a comment to be read into the record. Yes, please. It's from Babette McDougall. My concern is not the plan itself, but how its implementation is funded. The ABAG MTC conditions for granting money in exchange for decision rights on future development plans is simply bad for Sausalito. I strongly urge it to be removed from the budget as an anticipated funding source. We can do better. From Babette McDougall. |
| 01:23:11.84 | Melissa Blaustein | Thank you. |
| 01:23:11.86 | Steven Woodside | Yes, please. |
| 01:23:37.17 | Steven Woodside | Thank you for reading that aloud. Walford, do we have any other further public comment from folks in attendance who might have arrived later and didn't submit a slip or anyone else? |
| 01:23:46.76 | Kevin McGowan | Thank you. |
| 01:23:47.75 | Steven Woodside | Okay, then I will go ahead and close public comment at this time. And I just want to say it's so nice to have people in the council chambers. I'm sorry if I showed my excitement when all of you came to the podium, but it's lovely to have. your presence with us. So thanks to everyone who showed up in person. Also appreciate those commenting online, but it was really special to have so many folks back in the council chambers. So with that, I'm going to bring it back up to the dais and I'm just going to, in the interest of. Uh, my moving things forward. make a motion to approve the agreement and ask for a second and have discussion. And we can go from, go from there. So I'm moving to, to, pursue and pass the consulting agreement with Parisi if there's a second |
| 01:24:27.09 | Melissa Blaustein | Second. |
| 01:24:28.23 | Steven Woodside | Okay, so now we can open it up for discussion if folks wanna make comments or weigh in. |
| 01:24:33.04 | Melissa Blaustein | I just had a question for Director McGowan. There was one comment, I think properly, that I read the same thing in the report. It seemed to suggest that the outreach to the police department and the fire department were finished, task completed, I think it even said. I'm sure that's not the case. But can you just confirm that, as Pat Zook proffered, that whatever alternative designs are put together by parametrics are going to be fully vetted with the police and fire department? |
| 01:25:02.76 | Kevin McGowan | Yes, that's correct. We actually started reaching out to the police department before we initially got this proposal from parametrics. And so we want to continue that on a separate track. We want to make sure that we have police and fire interacting with us on this and interacting with our consultant. It's just that it isn't included in this specific scope. It's in another one that we're already working on. |
| 01:25:28.34 | Steven Woodside | Thanks for coming on. Councilmember |
| 01:25:31.08 | Joan Cox | talk. |
| 01:25:31.30 | Steven Woodside | and then we'll go to |
| 01:25:32.04 | Joan Cox | So, |
| 01:25:32.11 | Steven Woodside | we're coming. |
| 01:25:33.57 | Joan Cox | There's a pending motion, but one of the public comments struck me, which was that the outreach should include all residents and not be confined to those living in the vicinity. And so I'm wondering if it's possible to amend the scope to include all residents And if so, would the proponent of the motion, agree to that friendly amendment. Sure. |
| 01:26:01.67 | Kevin McGowan | So I'd like to make a comment on that. We have already mentioned that the The city's feedback will be closely involved with this already. That is a public a public facing entity and we are encouraging all members of the public within Sausalito and other places to join those meetings when we discuss this subject so that there is public outreach through that entity. To have a separate line item may increase the cost, and I'm just a little bit concerned about that aspect right now. |
| 01:26:32.27 | Joan Cox | I would respond, we already have a line item for outreach. It's simply stakeholder meetings and outreach. So it's all, it's just confined. And I'm just suggesting outreach could simply be publishing in the currents or, you know, giving people a heads up of how they can hear what's being proposed. |
| 01:26:40.35 | Unknown | Exactly. |
| 01:26:52.52 | Joan Cox | The reason this is so important is that last year, or there have been concerns that not every component of this process has been fully transparent. And there are people who are... affected who aren't just neighbors nearby. You know, we've gotten letters from San Rafael, from San Francisco, from all over the place. So I just would like, for this really important consideration that affects potentially public safety throughout Sausalito, not just in that vicinity. that we, ensure that all of our residents are informed in some manner. |
| 01:27:35.97 | Kevin McGowan | I welcome that. Let's do our best to do that. Thank you so much. |
| 01:27:43.44 | Joan Cox | Thank you. |
| 01:27:43.46 | Steven Woodside | Councilman Rick Hellman? |
| 01:27:44.64 | Jill Hoffman | Thank you, Mayor. So I wanted to support the motion and the friendly amendment. But I do want to reiterate what Councilman Cox and the Vice Mayor said, and also ask if there's support, not just for the department to do their best, but I think we should give direct direction that the scope be updated per task seven to include public outreach. And to be very specific as to that and have it written so it does not get bypassed and have the support of the Council that in addition to feedback, it goes to all members of the public. Similarly, I think the scope needs to specifically say even if it's being handled in a separate document or separate effort, that each and every alternative will be vetted with our public safety experts. I think that's incredibly important. And then I also think that that scope should specifically say that we are directing Parisi to, amongst its other alternatives, examine the no action alternative. And with all three of those, I would be very much in support of moving forward with this. Thank you. |
| 01:28:50.64 | Unknown | THE END OF THE END OF THE |
| 01:28:50.68 | Jill Hoffman | Thank you. |
| 01:28:50.78 | Unknown | Thank you. I endorse those updates. |
| 01:28:55.60 | Ian Sobieski | Mm-hmm. Same. Absolutely. |
| 01:28:58.44 | Unknown | So just for the record, memorialize that the motion is amended to include the updates associated by council members. |
| 01:28:58.77 | Ian Sobieski | So, |
| 01:29:07.11 | Steven Woodside | So that means public outreach beyond all residents. The other three were just for the record. |
| 01:29:07.18 | Unknown | Thank you. |
| 01:29:13.34 | Melissa Blaustein | direction. Thank you. |
| 01:29:14.30 | Steven Woodside | Thank you. I'm sorry. Yeah. Right. |
| 01:29:14.65 | Melissa Blaustein | Sorry, yeah, right. That all designer on terms will be exempt. |
| 01:29:19.53 | Steven Woodside | Thank you. |
| 01:29:19.73 | Melissa Blaustein | by public safety. |
| 01:29:21.23 | Steven Woodside | Great. Okay. And councilman Hoffman. |
| 01:29:23.35 | Ian Sobieski | Thank you. |
| 01:29:23.43 | Steven Woodside | Thank you. |
| 01:29:23.53 | Ian Sobieski | I'm not sure. |
| 01:29:24.39 | Steven Woodside | you |
| 01:29:25.74 | Ian Sobieski | Yes, I agree with those two. I just wanted to... reiterate that in the minutes, there's been confusion. And every time this has come up on our agenda, there's been confusion about what the action was of the city council at the prior meeting. So I would ask that in the action minutes of this meeting, consistent with what actually happened at the prior meetings, We are not voting to move forward. on a plan to remove the bridgeway median insert bike lanes. We are moving forward with a plan to evaluate a project. that is being funded by a grant from ABAG. Period. So I, you know, we've gotten angry emails from a lot of different people. Hey, you've approved this three times. I'm like, no, we haven't. We've been very, very specific to each one of those meetings. It's not, we're not approving the plan were important. approving a study of the plan consistent with the grant that we received, from the transportation agency to pay for that evaluation. So- Whether or not we move forward with it will be consistent. Whenever it comes, whenever the review is finished, and it comes back to the city council. that's super important. So there's, We can point to that with regard to no. and confusion. |
| 01:30:44.29 | Joan Cox | Thank you. Thank you. |
| 01:30:44.61 | Ian Sobieski | Councilman. |
| 01:30:45.04 | Joan Cox | on that note, may I note that we're evaluating a plan and conceptual alternatives to that plan. |
| 01:30:52.55 | Ian Sobieski | Yeah. Great. If you could include that in the action minutes, I think that'd be super helpful. and provide clarity going forward. And for future staff reports, if you could be precise in your language, That would be, I think, super helpful too. I support, I support the, um, the study, I have to say, you know, I'm interested most, or not interested most, but I'm interested in the safety professionals who, the agencies that give us their recommendation on access to their vehicles along that corridor consistent with the reason why the bridgeway median was built in the first place. So that those are one of my those are one of my primary concerns. I will say that as an enthusiastic bicyclist myself, who has biked this all over Sausalito, UP AND DOWN AND ALL AROUND. Um, my personal experience, and that's all I can speak to at this point, my personal experience is, That's not my area of concern. My area of concern is up and down Alexander. Yes. And so that's of a safety priority, my personal safety priority. where it narrows in and the pavement is wacky and there's a sharp grade coming down. Um, that's, that's my area of concern. And so if we could shift that. If we could shift it to that area, I think we would have a lot less opposition in the area. you know, but I'm not advocating for that now knowing that the work that everybody's gone through to get to this point, I'm just telling you from my personal experience, Those are my concerns at this point, but I think this is will give us interesting information, regardless of whether or not we move forward for it. It's being paid for, thankfully, by another agency. And so I think it's a worthy exercise that we should move forward. assuming that we all understand what the parameters are and what we're voting on tonight. And especially as it's referenced going forward. Thank you. |
| 01:32:48.86 | Steven Woodside | Thank you for that. |
| 01:32:49.56 | Joan Cox | Thank you. |
| 01:32:49.96 | Steven Woodside | a lot of really important points. |
| 01:32:51.02 | Joan Cox | Yes, Councilmember Cox. So I made my friendly amendment, but I also just wanted to comment to say thank you to all of the members of the public who called in, wrote in, participated, including three former mayors and a member of the Board of Supervisors, who really took enough interest in this project to reach out to us to ensure that we understand their views on it. So, and I think a lot of what we heard tonight is really Productive. in terms of, education being an important aspect of whatever plan is adopted, especially, you know, the point about, um, the bike vendors who sometimes rent bikes to people who have no idea what they will encounter after they've crossed the Golden Gate Bridge. So I'm thrilled that the county and others are continuing to move forward with developing an alternative for those folks to be able to go down through Vista Point. and avoid the Alexander Carter to a large extent. But education I think is paramount. |
| 01:34:04.79 | Joan Cox | And the other things that we had talked about was traffic calming and bollards. I would also love to ask that as part of public outreach, the city clerk ensure that the consultant has a list of everybody who wrote in and spoke this evening and that they're included in that public outreach so that they're aware of what's going on. |
| 01:34:26.59 | Steven Woodside | I was. |
| 01:34:27.89 | Joan Cox | Thank you for allowing me to comment. |
| 01:34:30.30 | Steven Woodside | Of course, thank you for your contributions to other members of the council want to comment before we go forward and take a vote. Okay, well, I echo the great comments that were already made by others and just again really thank the members of the public who weighed in on this and who spent time contributing to a really important conversation about the future of a really critical and beautiful pathway and into our community. So thanks everybody. All right, so just to be clear, the motion on the table is to approve the consulting agreement with the following three amendments. Public outreach of all residents be included. There'd be no specific action taken without that public outreach and all design alternatives are to be examined by public safety. So with those amendments in consideration, I think we have a motion in the second. So let's go ahead and call the roll. |
| 01:35:21.38 | Walfred Solorzano | Councilmember Cox. Councilmember Hoffman. |
| 01:35:24.71 | Steven Woodside | Yes. |
| 01:35:24.77 | Walfred Solorzano | . |
| 01:35:24.98 | Joan Cox | Yeah. |
| 01:35:25.09 | Walfred Solorzano | Councilmember Cummins. |
| 01:35:25.23 | Joan Cox | Thank you. Okay. |
| 01:35:27.10 | Steven Woodside | Thank you. |
| 01:35:27.12 | Joan Cox | I'll see you next time. |
| 01:35:27.15 | Steven Woodside | Yes. |
| 01:35:27.52 | Joan Cox | Thank you. |
| 01:35:28.03 | Steven Woodside | My mic was off. |
| 01:35:28.98 | Joan Cox | . |
| 01:35:29.03 | Steven Woodside | So. |
| 01:35:29.47 | Joan Cox | Thank you. you know, the |
| 01:35:29.89 | Walfred Solorzano | Vice Mayor Sobieski. Yes. And Mayor Blasdain. |
| 01:35:33.70 | Steven Woodside | Yes. Okay. Motion passes unanimously. Thanks very much, everybody. Oh, thanks. All right. We'll give, we'll give the folks on the bike lane a second to, um, to move out before we move on to, we're gonna return to the consent calendar items that were brought up by council member Hoffman. So that's the SEIU agreement and the pay schedule. So I think, I don't know if we wanna have, thanks guys, thanks for being here. I don't know if we wanted to have Chris and Deborah with aid from Chad way in here to present these. Yeah, okay, go ahead. |
| 01:36:00.21 | Unknown | Thank you. |
| 01:36:10.99 | Walfred Solorzano | for the movie. that was a very strong one. |
| 01:36:14.28 | Steven Woodside | No. |
| 01:36:14.76 | Walfred Solorzano | football. |
| 01:36:14.98 | Steven Woodside | Thank you. |
| 01:36:15.94 | Chris Zapata | We ready, Mayor, Council? |
| 01:36:18.86 | Steven Woodside | Yes. Yeah, we're ready. I just wanted to give folks a second to |
| 01:36:20.04 | Chris Zapata | I just wanted to give folks a second. |
| 01:36:20.92 | Melissa Blaustein | Thank you. |
| 01:36:22.05 | Chris Zapata | I'll provide some backdrop to the item on the agenda in front of you. And Deborah will provide the specifics. She's worked on this with us. And Chad Hess will be on the call as well to answer anything that comes up that's financially related. First and foremost, let me just say that our city colleagues that form SEIU are a backbone in our organization. And I know that you know this, but the public may not know this, but during the pandemic, they cooperated with the city and provided a 10% furlough to help the city's finances. Last year, when our finances were uncertain, they agreed to a 36-hour work week. In the meantime, the city council has done its part in this relationship by making sure that they kept the employee workforce intact. And that's a big thing. And this was done during bad times. All employees were kept. No employees were reduced. And so that's to the council's credit. And, you know, in their budgets, city council continued to fund things that are important to our city and our residents like quality of life, whether it's the library or jazz by the bay, all of that was funded in a difficult financial environment. And the city council also provided to the SCIU bargaining unit a non-prosable, meaning non-retirement, one-time bonus of $8,500 last year to offset the 10% reduction in pay that they took with the reduction from 40 to 36 hours. And all of that was part of a design to try to create a sustainable workforce, a place where there was work-life balance, where our commuter workforce, which is predominantly from out of Sausalito, will be able to stabilize the stay in Sausalito. So it's been a partnership. And so the real work that has been done to get to this new agreement is against the backdrop of what I call some serious budget work that's been done. And I want to address the budget that was adopted last month. All budgets are projections. And the comment was made when we adopted the budget that we adopted it without the labor contracts in play. And the budget balance that we spoke about would soon be out of balance. And that's true. Budgets are Rubik's cubes. You move one thing and then you got to move something else. So we're moving the Rubik's cube around. And so one of the things that I want to commit to the city council, in a general sense, into the public, into the community is, as these labor agreements unfold, it will be our job, the city manager, the finance director, as well as city council to ensure that there is budget sustainability and that we do not, you know, tap into the $10.4 million cash reserves that you currently have, that we continue to fund pensions and infrastructure at the rate that you've agreed to. Thank you. And that we use creative and aggressive ways to grow our revenue streams, whether it's the interest market that's now four and five percent, which we're approaching to find money, as well as grants. And as well as, you know, making sure that we study cost efficiency and cost containment in the coming year. so that when the year ends up, after you've adopted a series of labor agreements, which will be in front of you over the next couple of meetings, that the council and the community and organization can feel like there is a sustainable path forward. It doesn't mean that you know we're neglecting key areas of emphasis, but we are also not creating a financially untenable Sausalito organization. So with that, I want to turn it over to Deborah to talk about the specifics of this agreement that we're recommending for approval tonight, and she'll do that. |
| 01:40:42.34 | Deborah Muchmore | Good evening, Mayor, Vice Mayor and Council Members again. So this evening, the SEIU agreement is a three-year term from July 1, 2023 through June 30, 2026. There are wage increases agreed upon 8% effective July 1 this month, 2% effective July 1, 2024, and 3% effective July 1, 2025. The work week will continue to be four days, 36 hours for most SEIU positions. There are some like The wastewater positions that continue to work a 40 hour week and are funded through a different, not through general fund, through a special fund. Then it's also maintains the existing cost sharing structure on healthcare through the end of the contract term. There's a handful of other non economic language things that we've agreed to as well. |
| 01:41:53.34 | Steven Woodside | Is that... Is that it? Oh, sorry. I just wanted to make sure there wasn't further presentation. Okay, great. We didn't know that it was going to be pulled. So there isn't a PowerPoint, but thank you for outlining those numbers. I really appreciate it. Okay, well, do we have questions from the dais? I know Councilmember Hoffman had a few. Yep, please, by all means. So I think Chad's still on the line. |
| 01:42:12.52 | Ian Sobieski | Thank you. |
| 01:42:13.64 | Steven Woodside | Thank you. |
| 01:42:13.65 | Ian Sobieski | Of course he is. Yeah. Chad and I had several conversations this afternoon. |
| 01:42:13.94 | Steven Woodside | Thank you. |
| 01:42:13.98 | Melissa Blaustein | you. Thank you. |
| 01:42:19.14 | Ian Sobieski | And my concern and what I talked to that chat about was what the full cost of this contract is. One thing that most people don't realize is that when you do a contract with SEIU, the, I don't think it's a requirement, but the customer practice has always been in Sausleo to extend that to all of the non-union employees or the non, I THINK I'M GOING TO BE employees. So when I say non union employees, I mean, you know, the non-police department employees, right? So we have another police group that we are negotiating with now, although I think, anyway. Sorry. So, so here's the thing is that, you know, when we're looking at these contracts in the impact on our budget on page three of our staff report. know it says the fiscal impact is 900 the total impact for three years is 953,988 but Chad and I, as we discussed this afternoon, when you add in all the other the two other groups that this same raise is also extended to, the total fiscal impact is $2,270,022. And Chad, I had asked that you somehow, I guess I thought that there was a PowerPoint presentation, even though as the mayor points out, it was on consent, How do you have that that you can put up? And my follow-up question is, can you somehow attach that to the agenda? So when people wanna go back and find that chart that has that information in there, that they can find the full impact chart. So this is the, So this is a chart that we discussed, right? |
| 01:44:01.40 | Chad Hess | Yes. So the SEIU is right here on this first row, row four of my Excel, and that is what you see in the staff report. Um, to Councilmember Hoffman's question. If the confidential non-represented and then the management non-represented or the non-sworn management, excluding police department. That's a whole separate discussion. Um, with, their adjustments, bringing back the that the 10% that they forgave of their salaries. as well as the confidential following the same SEIU agreement, the eight eight, three, and three, I believe. Um, The total cost of that contract or that discussion is $2.7 million as Council member Hoffman has stated. So I can certainly attach this to that staff report to show the full impact. of this potential decision. |
| 01:45:02.12 | Ian Sobieski | I'm sorry, Chad, we were whispering up here on the dais very, you know. bad manners. And so... You said that you would insert this in the staff report? Oh, no. |
| 01:45:13.42 | Chad Hess | I'll provide it to Walford and we can attach it to the documentation. |
| 01:45:18.94 | Ian Sobieski | That's fine. Yeah. Just attach it to the agenda item. Right. So whatever you guys want to call it, just attach it. So the people who are interested. can easily find that and it's a clear representation of the total cost over three years. of this contract. And the other thing I didn't see that was called out in the staff report, I think you gave the breakdown of eight of eight, um, The increase in year one was eight. and the increase in year two Thank you. |
| 01:45:48.07 | Alice Merrill | too. |
| 01:45:49.77 | Ian Sobieski | was two, right. And then the increase in year three is three. Yes. Well, that likes like that's easy, right? Two and two and three and three. |
| 01:45:53.22 | Deborah Muchmore | Yes. |
| 01:45:56.98 | Ian Sobieski | Okay, so eight years in the first, but overall, you know, it looks like it's a 13% raise, but it's really a 13.4% over the three years because you compound every year. In other words, the first year is an 8% raise. So the next year, it isn't a 2% raise on The original salary is a 2% raise on the salary at an 8% increase. Right. And so on. |
| 01:46:19.71 | Chad Hess | That's correct. There is a compounding effect. Let me pull up that calculation real quick just to illustrate your point. One second. |
| 01:46:56.80 | Chad Hess | So yes, there is the compounding effect. We have the 8%, the 3%. and the 2%, Over the life of that contract, it's essentially a 13.46% because of that compounding effect of those annual annual increases. |
| 01:47:15.35 | Ian Sobieski | Okay, thank you. I would ask that this, I think, Was this also in the staff report? I can't remember if it was in there or not. |
| 01:47:22.67 | Chad Hess | This was not, this was part of your questions. |
| 01:47:27.18 | Ian Sobieski | Okay, thank you. If you could also attach that, I think that would be super helpful. And I would ask that we also have what we think is a proposed full you know, full calculation of both the SEIU and if, if, if, like an estimated for the police association, although we haven't finished that, when we get the staff report for that negotiation for vote, I would request that that be included in the staff report just so it's easily people can easily find what the what the fiscal impact is of the current negotiations. Deborah, I didn't warn you I was gonna ask you this question, I had sent you a, um, I sent you a, I think an email a couple of weeks, I don't know, a month ago or something like what were, what were the prior raises up to this point and whether or not we had ever done like a 13% increase. in recent memory. And I think all the increases were like at two, 2% and 3%. as you move forward. |
| 01:48:31.00 | Deborah Muchmore | That's correct. |
| 01:48:31.57 | Ian Sobieski | Thank you. Okay. Um, So, you know, honestly, those are my questions. I don't want there to be any, anyway, we're gonna have a vote, we're gonna have a motion, and then I have some comments on that, and I'll finish. |
| 01:48:44.09 | Deborah Muchmore | I have a point of order, if that's okay, for just a moment. Sure. Tad, would you put that very last screen back up? |
| 01:48:50.72 | Chad Hess | Yes, I sure will. |
| 01:48:52.48 | Deborah Muchmore | before we put it in the staff report, can we make it be eight to three? |
| 01:49:00.49 | Unknown | Thank you. |
| 01:49:00.51 | Deborah Muchmore | you. |
| 01:49:00.63 | Unknown | Thank you. |
| 01:49:00.78 | Deborah Muchmore | Thank you. Okay. |
| 01:49:02.87 | Steven Woodside | Thank you. |
| 01:49:04.12 | Deborah Muchmore | Thank you. |
| 01:49:04.16 | Steven Woodside | That'd be great. |
| 01:49:05.44 | Chad Hess | It'll change the math slightly, but yes, I can. |
| 01:49:08.32 | Steven Woodside | I have a few questions, Deborah. So I take Councilmember Hoffman's comments regarding that this is a large raise with regards to our history and what we've traditionally done. But could you speak to the pay cuts that SEIU endured through COVID and in the prior year and what we had done with them in the prior year so that the. members of the public are aware. |
| 01:49:33.57 | Deborah Muchmore | Sure. So during the initial year of COVID, we negotiated a furlough with SEIU of 10%. And so they took that many hours off and did not receive that pay. And then in this last 12 months, they have reduced down to a 36-hour schedule with no increase in their wages. And that's and I'll see you next time. 12 months, they have reduced down to a 36-hour schedule with no increase in their wages. And that's another 10% reduction to their bottom line, basically. So |
| 01:50:08.59 | Steven Woodside | Thank you. So this is a pathway to the reduction or to the, to a return. |
| 01:50:11.69 | Deborah Muchmore | Yeah, it's not the full 10%. It's 8%, but it is a pathway towards that, correct? |
| 01:50:19.47 | Steven Woodside | Okay, and then Chad. Hi, thank you for that. I really appreciate it. I just wanted to outline that that cut had happened so that folks are aware. And then when we look at the numbers for cost projections for this agreement over three years, and this is, you know, there's some things that we're still not aware of, but in considering just the SEIU agreement, |
| 01:50:22.03 | Unknown | Yeah. |
| 01:50:39.53 | Steven Woodside | Do we have projections potentially that demonstrate that maybe we'll have some budgetary slack around here around these numbers? I know that you shared something with some members of the council that maybe you can outline. Yeah. |
| 01:50:51.70 | Chad Hess | Yes. So, so there is, there is budgetary slack built into this first fiscal year. |
| 01:50:52.16 | Steven Woodside | So, |
| 01:50:57.54 | Chad Hess | When we did our budget projections, we didn't know where negotiations were going to go. So we included a 40 hour work week. for all participants, SEIU included, So there's budgetary slack of about 10% on the SEI use FCI use wages within our current fiscal year 24 budget. as well as the confidential and administrative or management group, we assumed that the restoration of that 10% cut in salary would be reinstated. So those are factored into the current fiscal year 24 budget. going forward, fiscal year 25 and 26, we would just have to compound that or adjust that. Um, as well, or included in future budgets. Um, But yes, there is budgetary slack available as well as there are revenues that are starting to trend higher. than what was projected or known at the time of the fiscal year 24 budget. |
| 01:52:00.62 | Steven Woodside | And what are some of those projections that you see in our budget that are going to be higher than expected? |
| 01:52:07.20 | Chad Hess | Yes. One second. Let me just pull something up real quick on my side. Um, So we've got potential increased rents. at the MLK facility. |
| 01:52:18.40 | Unknown | Mm-hmm. |
| 01:52:18.66 | Chad Hess | We have stronger than projected parking revenues for fiscal year 23. which we assume will carry forward into 24, 25 and 26. Um, business license revenue has been very strong. We've had some really good compliance work done by our partner HDL, which is bringing more businesses into compliance. And that should be an annuity type revenue that will continue to grow. and be strong. Um, We have property tax growth, which has been about 4% on average. over the last number of years. which brings additional dollars to the table and the each fiscal year. um, based on our initial projections Um, The first year will be fully covered through the budgetary slack. as well as those additional revenue sources. I'm not sure. The subsequent years when we factor in those additional revenues We are slightly below. that projection, but it, it still is made up for the additional revenues in the first year. The graph that I have, does contain Um, calculations for the other unions that have not been finalized. So I don't want to publicly share that information at this point. |
| 01:53:42.05 | Steven Woodside | But in your perspective at this point, over the three years, we will come out ahead with this deal. |
| 01:53:48.28 | Chad Hess | about break even, yeah, slightly ahead. |
| 01:53:49.34 | Steven Woodside | Wilbur. Yes. I think that's a great question. Okay, and then just finally, we did just to remind folks who were maybe not following our budget proceedings, we did come out about a million dollars ahead at the end of the year. And in the black, and we chose to put that towards pensions and our our section 115 trust but I could have been used for this if we wanted to as well. |
| 01:54:10.00 | Chad Hess | That's correct. So fiscal year 23, the general fund budget My projections is still strong. We still should finish in the black by short, by just right around a million dollars. It changes a little bit as additional bills come in, but we're still finishing fiscal year 23. very strong. in the black by about a million dollars, which was invested in the section 115 trust for pensions. June 28th. in fiscal year 23. |
| 01:54:43.09 | Steven Woodside | Thank you, Chad. And Deborah, one more question. Does this agreement move us forward towards having our employees be at a median pay range with regards to other regional cities? |
| 01:54:52.64 | Deborah Muchmore | Yes, it does move us closer to that. |
| 01:54:54.89 | Steven Woodside | Great. Thank you. Do we have other questions from the dais? I do, based on those. |
| 01:54:59.04 | Ian Sobieski | Okay, great. So Chad, with regard to the projections that you just went over for increased rent to, in order to bring us to a break-even point for these pay raises. you would agree that you know, The projections are projections. So somewhat speculative, right? Hopefully fingers crossed, right? |
| 01:55:18.81 | Chad Hess | To some degree, yes. |
| 01:55:20.22 | Ian Sobieski | But things have happened obviously where |
| 01:55:20.38 | Chad Hess | You know, they are projections. |
| 01:55:24.42 | Ian Sobieski | we didn't meet those projections and you would agree that when we talk about increased rent to MLK, we have significant capital improvements that we still need to do at MLK, correct? |
| 01:55:34.66 | Chad Hess | That is correct. MLK is cash flow positive. which has been subsidizing the general fund for a period of time. But yes, there are improvements that need to be made at the MLK facilities. |
| 01:55:47.77 | Ian Sobieski | And with regard to the increase in parking revenues, I guess we'll just, you know, let me before, I don't need to go through these individually. But you would agree principally, right? That if we use money that we receive from, various business, uh, business enterprises in Sausalito, obviously we can't use those for capital improvements if we're allocating them to. pay increases, right? Makes sense. |
| 01:56:12.49 | Chad Hess | That's correct. We do have the measure L dollars that is funding the bulk of our capital improvement plan. as well as other special revenues coming from various government entities. |
| 01:56:22.92 | Ian Sobieski | Okay. Okay, I think those are |
| 01:56:28.12 | Steven Woodside | Thank you. |
| 01:56:28.14 | Ian Sobieski | Thank you. |
| 01:56:28.15 | Steven Woodside | Councilmember Cox, sorry, pardon me. Councilmember Cox had a question. |
| 01:56:28.22 | Ian Sobieski | I'm only for the question I have. |
| 01:56:32.05 | Joan Cox | I'm going to put our city manager on the spot. City Manager, when I was discussing this with you on a prior occasion, I think last Friday. you were reminding me of the commitments that the council has made to several of our priorities. infrastructure. Um, personnel. pensions. Could you just review those? Again, to clarify that our focus is not simply on personnel and how we're going to be funding those personnel, but the efforts that we've made to ensure that our budget is operating in the black and funding other priorities. |
| 01:57:07.03 | Chris Zapata | Thank you for that question, Council Member Cox, Member of the Republic. So as you know, there was a significant discussion about the 115 trust and taking the $1 million approximate excess in this budget year that just was completed and applying it to that 115 trust, it puts it up around $3.2 million. That money should grow. We're going to give you a full-on report about that. So the idea of the city neglecting its pension obligations. I think when you started with your 115 trust in 2015-16 and committed to funding it in 2019, Chad just provided a report that says we're about on schedule. We're about $147,000 behind where we thought we should be on pensions. And that's going to bode well for 26, 27, and 28 when we know we're going to see pension spikes. So you're covering your pension concern. There are other concerns in this city that I talked to you about, like landslide mitigation, stairwell repair. And besides funds that have the stair fund that has money in it, the city just received a notice from FEMA and Cal OES that we're going to get another $449,000, which is new money and general fund money that will help address some of those concerns that have been, you know, plaguing the community for years. And you could have taken that money as you could have taken the million dollars that you had in the black this past year and applied to pay for all of these wage increases, but you didn't. We're putting that into a stair and landslide mitigation fund, and it's not part of this budget solution. You talked about a better management of our investments. When I got here, all of our money was at Bank of Marin and Leif, Vivian Chu, people on the council, vice versa, Viesky, Chad, and myself said, this is not what we want to see. We'd rather see in this new interest rate environment some return on that money that Sausula has sitting in a bank. So we went from 0% and about 2% to now where we have $18 million, Chad, in Bank of Marin, which is getting 4% and 5% money. and that two percent to now where we have 18 million dollars chad in bank of marin which is getting four percent and five percent money and that's going to generate you know found money of 180 200 000 so you're taking care of your cash and the other thing is your investment in infrastructure which chad alluded to with measure l you know three million dollars a year measure l and two million dollars more from other funds that are special funds that are non-general Thank you. alluded to with Measure L, you know, $3 million a year Measure L and $2 million more from other funds that are special funds that are non-general fund. And so you're putting $5 million rolling into your capital improvement program, which is significant. So you're paying attention to your infrastructure. And then, you know, I really want to highlight this a year and a half ago, the council gave strong direction to hire grants consultants. So we have a team in place. We've applied for many, many grants. We've not been as successful as we wanted, but we've laid the groundwork for some success. And, you know, just recently we were awarded a $495,000 COPS grant. So that's significant. And then last year. maybe four months ago, we retained the services of NHA advisors to talk to the council about other revenue sources. And so that will be coming forward to help build what I call some revenue diversity options. The things that rose to the top of that were, you know, looking at things like impact fees, which makes sense given the arena requirement to build housing in Sausalito and making newcomers pay their fair share. Look at how we could, in fact, incent vacant buildings to be full. So vacancy tax is one of those. The idea of looking at a hotel vision and talking about adding some additional hotel rooms to create some revenue. And then, you know, last but not least, just today, we received what I call some uncertain money is now certain. The Board of Supervisors approved a half a million dollar grant to the city of Sausalito, to the work of people on the dais, you know, Mayor Blaustein, then Mayor Kelman, then Mayor Hoffman. The whole council adopted a whole resolution asking the county for support to help the city with the homeless's expenses that were, you know, really impacting our budget. So today was a good day because Sausalito received $307,000 to help the Dorothy Gibson expansion, which won't have to come out of the General Fund Reserve. And Sausalito also received another $194,000. I believe it was $93,000 that is to reimburse us of the general fund reserve and saucy to also received another 194 000 i believe it was 93 000 that is to reimburse us for the expenses that we've provided for and that's new money to the budget this year that we did not budget so all in all things are moving in the right direction and i go back to this idea of a rubik's cube you make a deal it moves the budget a certain are projections. And, you know, I've spent a career not being aggressively optimistic on budgets. I'm aggressively conservative. So some of the things that have been done in the past to solve social budget problems, I didn't agree with, whether it was projecting aggressive revenue from the B of A, or looking at pension obligation bonds when it was uncertain to me that they might work. So what you have in front of you is honest brokering. The money we say is going to come in through enhanced property taxes, some new revenue streams, some one-time money and some savings is not pie in the sky. It's real money. So I apologize for the long answer, but I think the public deserves to hear that because at some point, this $2.2 million is going to become something when you add the police contract to it. And the question is going to be, how do you pay for it? And so my commitment to you has been to maintain your cash reserves, which are currently at $10.4 million. for any emergency in Sausalito. And then to be wiser about some of the other funds that we have, whether it's the stair fund, whether it's the Thailand's fund, whether it's other grant funds that we haven't been using for their purposes and to continue to be aggressive with grants. So I, I thank you for that question and that opportunity. And, you know, again, after two years and one month, I am if Sostrata was a stock, I'd buy it, you know, it's getting better here. So thank you. |
| 02:03:20.71 | Joan Cox | Thank you for that answer, City Manager, exactly what I was seeking. Thank you so much. Thank you. |
| 02:03:25.44 | Steven Woodside | Sausalito was a stock I'd buy it is a great line. Thank you for that. We appreciate it. Yes, Councilmember Hoffman. |
| 02:03:33.77 | Unknown | Thank you. |
| 02:03:34.18 | Ian Sobieski | It's... Okay, so I had one follow up. I'm sorry. With regard to this is to Chad with regard to the budget slack and the the budgeting to a 40 hour work we can instead of a 36. And so you're saying that for the first year that covers 200, that slack is 241, 579. |
| 02:03:54.18 | Chad Hess | The slack that is built in for the first year, the SEIU slack is 367,000. The confidential was 95,000 and management was 173. So that's 636,000 in the first year. |
| 02:04:11.32 | Ian Sobieski | Thank you. |
| 02:04:11.36 | Steven Woodside | Okay. |
| 02:04:11.71 | Ian Sobieski | Thank you. |
| 02:04:11.73 | Steven Woodside | Thank you so much for that. Okay. |
| 02:04:13.18 | Chad Hess | You're welcome. |
| 02:04:15.32 | Steven Woodside | Okay, do we have any further questions from the dais? All right, let's go ahead and open this up for public comment. Thank you. |
| 02:04:25.06 | Walfred Solorzano | See you then. |
| 02:04:26.07 | Steven Woodside | Okay, I'll close public comment and bring it back up to the dais and I will just do what I have been doing lately, which is to make a motion to approve the SEIU agreement and look for a second. |
| 02:04:39.44 | Melissa Blaustein | second. |
| 02:04:41.16 | Steven Woodside | Thank you. |
| 02:04:41.17 | Joan Cox | May I just? You can comment, of course. Will you authorize the city manager to execute the successor memorandum of understanding between the city and the SEIU? |
| 02:04:50.12 | Steven Woodside | Why yes. |
| 02:04:51.23 | Joan Cox | Second. |
| 02:04:51.87 | Steven Woodside | Thank you for that. Okay, we can bring it up for comment if folks want to comment. Councilmember Hoffman. Yeah, I took it off. |
| 02:04:58.00 | Ian Sobieski | Yeah, I took it off. So I'll comment. Oh, just let me preface this by saying, you know, this is this is in no way any kind of criticism or comment on our workforce. I think we have an incredible workforce and they've been hardworking through COVID and after COVID and stuck with us, the people that stuck with us. So I thank them for that. My questions are, and my concerns are mainly that we're allocating and spending money faster than we're actually making it. That we're, we finally got on some solid ground, principally through our city manager and our efforts The first month that he got here to understand our budget. And last year when we did some aggressive things to bring down our spending, which is why we had a very close to a balanced budget this year. for two weeks. And now I think we're, this is, this contract is throwing us straight back into. an unbalanced budget and a deficit budget. If you look at the projections over three years, And it's a very aggressive budget. And so I would have advocated a slower return to this number and perhaps, you know, a contract with what we did last year, combined with a bonus to slowly bring us back. And hopefully see what happens next year. My personal experience again is all I can talk about it here in Sausalito. But the time I've been on the council, we have had projections like this in the past. in 2018, principally I WANT TO TALK ABOUT THE We approved a budget based on two revenue generating, combined with two revenue generating efforts, which was a business license tax and the an increase in TOT to increase revenues to pay for the salary increases. At the last meeting, we talked about using similar types of efforts to increase revenues to pay for I'm not sure. to pay for the salary increases that we're talking about tonight. I'm happy that the city manager has projections and Chad had projections about, what our increase in revenue is going to be in the future, but I would have been more comfortable waiting for that to actually happen before we made these types of decisions with regard to long lasting commitments for payments to our community. to our our employees, as everybody knows, it's not just, um, you know, it's a contract and it's a pension. that's tied to the number of the salary increase. It's not like in the private sector where you get a raise and you pay your 401k out of your raise if you choose to or not choose to. I mean, these are commitments of the people of Sausalito for... decades. So I think, anyway, that's, that's just my, those are my views on this. I'm glad we came to an agreement. I'm glad we have a workforce that we have in Sausalito. But I would have, I would have I would have wished for more caution. I will say we received the same kind of projections in 2019 was the first that was the first year we voted for a deficit budget. And this is the sixth year of a deficit budget. And you can debate what a deficit means and we've debated that, but we've heard pretty clearly from Chad, that, um, you know, that if you look at this accounting wise, this is, we are back into now a deficit budget and, you know, there's more to come. Anyway, I appreciate the hard work of everybody. I appreciate the work of the council to come. you know, and to come to this agreement, and their patients in letting me pull this item off off the consent calendar so that we can all understand and especially members of the public can understand the intricacies of this budget. So I thank you. |
| 02:08:40.39 | Steven Woodside | Thank you to other members of yes. Councilmember Cox. |
| 02:08:44.97 | Joan Cox | Thank you for those comments and for the opportunity to vet this agreement. in greater, detail. The point of my question to the city manager was to demonstrate that Sausalito is carefully guarding all of its priorities. One of the most important of which is what I would refer to as our human capital, our employees, whose level of service throughout COVID, persevering with us through salary cuts, furloughs, hourly cuts, is truly commendable. And so, but beyond respecting them, we are also taking care of our infrastructure, our pensions, and our long-term financial viability. And I'm satisfied. respecting them, we are also taking care of our infrastructure, our pensions, and our long-term financial viability. And I'm satisfied that the efforts of this city manager with the rest of my fellow council members and other city staff are continuing to position us in a positive path towards Erika Endrijonas, Ph.D.: Ending deficit spending and i'm actually confident we'll do that this year, and so with that i'm pleased to vote in favor of advancing this agreement on behalf of our very highly valued employees. |
| 02:10:04.18 | Steven Woodside | you |
| 02:10:05.83 | Joan Cox | I'm sorry. |
| 02:10:05.97 | Steven Woodside | comments from council members? |
| 02:10:11.10 | Steven Woodside | You know? Okay, well, before we vote, I just want to say that I... I'm really pleased that we've come to this agreement. And I think that the strongest investment that we can make as a community is in our people and our workforce because they help move everything forward. And I'm so appreciative of all that. our workers, our staff have put in. I mean, I think the 4th of July was an excellent example of how much our staff really shows up for us on days off when they don't need to be here. Chief Gregory sitting through this whole meeting, We just have an incredible team here in Sausalito. So I really appreciate. the hard work that SEIU put to come forward to this agreement with Deborah Muchmore and our city manager. So thanks for that. And let's go ahead and call roll on. Yes, please go ahead. |
| 02:10:58.21 | Melissa Blaustein | I just was listening to the comments thinking about what to say, and I just wanted to emphasize that it really is night and day having Chad on board in the finance department. And I think some of my colleagues, Council Mayor Hoffman's concerns are well founded on a previous regime of opaque financial reporting and those days are shifting. It seems, um, An open question is kind of confusing set of facts. How do we have multiple years of general fund deficit, but also have multiple years of increasing net cash on hand in the city? How can those two things be true? How can we have cracked streets and frustrated employees but still have more than $10 million in the bank as city managers and Spada said. And I think part of the answer is the, lack of clarity on our financial statements. So I hope that We will get regular reports to validate the projections that were promulgated here today and that will You know, my expectation is that, that city manager Pat is right and that his projections are conservative and that we'll be happily surprised. And if they're not, we'll have to adjust, but, |
| 02:12:07.38 | Unknown | God. |
| 02:12:09.73 | Melissa Blaustein | The real hope also is that we'll be able to make exactly the trade-off that Councilmember Hoffman outlined, which is taking resources and figuring out where to put them into our people or infrastructure or our future liabilities. And then we'll be able to do a better job at that in the months to come. |
| 02:12:25.10 | Steven Woodside | Thanks, Vice Mayor. Okay, so we'll go ahead and call it vote. |
| 02:12:28.38 | Walfred Solorzano | Councilmember Cox. Yes. Councilmember Hoffman. |
| 02:12:31.38 | Ian Sobieski | No, due to my concerns that I've stated during this meeting. Thank you. |
| 02:12:34.60 | Walfred Solorzano | Council member coming. |
| 02:12:35.99 | Ian Sobieski | Yes. |
| 02:12:36.83 | Walfred Solorzano | Ismar Sobieski? Yes. And Mary Blossom. |
| 02:12:40.19 | Steven Woodside | Yes, motion carries four to one. Thank you everyone. So for item eight, the consent calendar item, 3G. Or do we, that's just the pay schedule. So do we need to make a formal motion to approve the pay, 3-H pardon me, to approve the pay schedule? I don't think that we have a need for discussion of the pay schedule since we've addressed. Okay, so then I'm just gonna go ahead and make a motion that we approve item 3-H the pay schedule. |
| 02:12:54.18 | Unknown | Yeah. |
| 02:12:58.94 | Melissa Blaustein | Thanks. |
| 02:13:04.74 | Melissa Blaustein | Second. |
| 02:13:05.92 | Steven Woodside | Okay, so we'll do a roll call vote on that as well. |
| 02:13:08.27 | Melissa Blaustein | you need to make public comment. Oh, yes, I'll |
| 02:13:09.70 | Steven Woodside | Oh yes, I'll take public comment on item 3-H. |
| 02:13:13.16 | Melissa Blaustein | Seem not. |
| 02:13:13.55 | Steven Woodside | Thanks, Sergio. Okay. We pick take public comment on 3G. We did. We sure did. We had none. Okay. So I'll go ahead and ask for a roll motion to. |
| 02:13:19.44 | Unknown | We did. We sure did. We had none. |
| 02:13:26.43 | Steven Woodside | Thank you. |
| 02:13:26.46 | Walfred Solorzano | We already did. Oh, sorry. We have a second? |
| 02:13:26.93 | Steven Woodside | I'm sorry, we have a second. Great. Sorry. Carl. |
| 02:13:28.57 | Walfred Solorzano | Okay. Council member Cox? Yes. Council member Hoffman? |
| 02:13:30.71 | Steven Woodside | Yes. Thank you. No. |
| 02:13:34.68 | Walfred Solorzano | Councilmember Kelman. |
| 02:13:35.93 | Steven Woodside | Yes. |
| 02:13:36.94 | Walfred Solorzano | Vice Mayor Sobieski? Yes. Mayor Blaustein. |
| 02:13:39.39 | Steven Woodside | Yes. Okay. Motion carries four to one. Thank you again for everyone for hanging in there. So I was pulled off of consent and we'll move on now to item six, which is communications. This is the time for on the agenda for members of the public to provide any public comment for items that are not on the agenda. If you would like to provide public comment, fill out a speaker slip or raise your hand in the Zoom application. The city clerk will call on individuals who have raised their hands in the order that they were raised. |
| 02:14:07.11 | Walfred Solorzano | All right, we have one person, Sandra Bushmaker. |
| 02:14:10.13 | Steven Woodside | Hi, Sandra. |
| 02:14:10.84 | Sandra Bushmaker | Thank you. Again, I'm back. A couple of things, I had sent a letter for item five five that on your hearings tonight that didn't make it to the packet and I did scroll through all of those that were on the agenda. I'm not going to belabor the content of it, except for one item. And that is. I would like to see the city a little more aggressive with weed control. Yeah. in in Sausalito our fire hydrants are encased in weeds and I can I've sent pictures to the mayor on this. We have our curbs have disappeared on Sausalito Boulevard due to weeds. I was at parking lot one on this past weekend and I was shocked to see the amount of weeds that were growing in foxtails that were growing in parking lot one. I think we can do better on this. I have made a request of Public Works to have this taken care of, but I haven't seen any action in that department. So I'm bringing it to your attention. I think we can do better with our vegetation management and weed control. Granted, I understand that this past year was highly We had high rainfall, which germinated more weeds. But here's what I see happening. is we're waiting until this time of the year In order to start cutting these weeds, we need to be doing this at the beginning, at the end of winter, beginning of spring, before these things go to seed. and then multiply. So I think a little preventive maintenance would really, really be helpful and would also make our city much more attractive. Just take a look at that parking lot one and I think you'll be really surprised to see what visitors who come off the ferry see of our city as they enter into it off the ferry. That's it. I just wanted to bring that to your attention. I've tried every which way to get it taken care of and I'm not very successful at this point. So thank you so much. |
| 02:16:12.80 | Steven Woodside | Thank you, Sandra. Do we have any further public comment at this time? |
| 02:16:17.60 | Walfred Solorzano | No further public comment? |
| 02:16:18.89 | Steven Woodside | Okay, I'll go ahead and close public comment and we'll move on to council member committee reports any council members have committee reports they'd like to share. |
| 02:16:27.63 | Jill Hoffman | Thank you. |
| 02:16:27.66 | Steven Woodside | Thank you. |
| 02:16:27.76 | Jill Hoffman | Thank you. |
| 02:16:27.78 | Steven Woodside | Thank you. Thank you. |
| 02:16:28.15 | Joan Cox | Yes. I attended a Sister City Board of Directors meeting last night as the liaison to the Sister City organization. And they are making huge strides toward continuing to further our diplomacy with three sister cities around. the world. Um, And right now planning for the arrival of the Japanese delegation on July 27th. We will meet them here in City Hall on the morning of July 28. about half a dozen former mayors. in attendance, who have worked with them in the past to welcome them. to celebrate our 35th anniversary of being a sister city with Sakaide Japan. They also heard from the city manager a proposal to enhance the appearance of our stairways, as well as enhance the visibility of sister cities. I think that's a really nice intersection of values, including potentially lighting up these stairways. And so that's a project that they are undertaking with great enthusiasm. And so I look forward to seeing what that reaps. So anyway, we have, as you all know, we have an award-winning Sister City program that's recognized worldwide, especially for its participation with youth. And so I just wanna commend them and give them a thumbs up and keep up the great work. |
| 02:18:01.64 | Steven Woodside | Councilmember Kelman, you have your hand raised. |
| 02:18:03.36 | Jill Hoffman | Yeah, thank you, Mayor. Not a committee report per se, but I just want to let my fellow council members know I sat in on a meeting today regarding CBCI, which is community-based catastrophic insurance. with the reinsurance broker Guy Carpenter and several members of our staff, including the city manager. City manager, I think, took away a lot of good information and will be working on bringing as much of that information to the Council when it suits the agenda setting committee. So I want to let you all know that was in process and I will be supporting that, however needed, to make sure that the full Council has all the information at their disposal. That's it. |
| 02:18:38.07 | Steven Woodside | Thanks Councilmember Kelman. Any other city or committee reports? Okay, seeing none, I'll move to city manager reports. Before I do that, I'm gonna take public comment on items 8A, 8B, and 8C. So that's city manager reports, city council appointments, and other council business. |
| 02:18:56.50 | Walfred Solorzano | See you then. |
| 02:18:57.21 | Steven Woodside | Okay, I'll go ahead and close public comment and I'll go to the city manager for information for council. |
| 02:19:02.15 | Chris Zapata | Thank you, Mayor and Council members of the public. I want to talk a little bit about the downtown ferry concept that has been germinating since January 11th, 2022, where the city council unanimously authorized $185,000 to support the development of a potential ballot measure. So the operative words are potential ballot measure, and that would include consideration of Ordinance 1128, consideration of parking and revenue, bicycles and circulation, sea level rise, and public input before it would even see the light of day in terms of a ballot measure. So the city authorized this money and we hired a project manager from SWA, a world-renowned local architecture firm, to help lead this with our staff, which is Kevin McGowan, our police department, and being worked with the council subcommittee of Vice Mayor Sobieski and Council Member Hoffman. So one of the things that's happening is we're trying to figure out what to bring to the city council, the work that needs to be done that covers these areas direct by the council, and to bring you a concept and a presentation that you could thumbs up or thumbs down. Ultimately, the plan would be to get it out to the community to see if there's a thumbs up or thumbs down, bring it back to the council and see if there's an appetite to put it on the ballot in, I believe, November of 2024. That is happening. My concern is that, you know, as we do the work that we do, persons might say, you know, where did this come from? Why are you doing this? Who authorized it? What's the status update? So one of the things that's happening in these weekly meetings is we're getting good direction. And one of the things that I want to highlight is in the last meeting where we looked at a draft draft of a presentation, we were directed with good intent and with, I think, appropriateness to make sure that we don't do this before we solve the problem of the ferry landing grant, which is seven years old. So don't start bringing anything to us that's going to convolute or combine the two. Finish one, which is the ferry landing one grant. Work on that. And then in the meantime, you know, make sure that the public understands that they're not one in the same, even though they're in the same general area. So one has a great deal of years behind it in terms of the grant. We're not talking about that. We're talking about the January 11th direction from the city council to bring something back that they could see. And so we're working very hard on that. So I want to give you an update on that. The second thing, I was fortunate enough to go see the new historic ice house and that asset in our community downtown. It's way beyond cool from the mural to the interactive exhibits. So I'd encourage all of you in the public to go and take a look at it. And then I want to read a thank you letter from sasudo village regarding uh the council adopting the budget and it's to the city council members uh says we want to express our gratitude for recognizing the significance of the cars program committing to funding in the upcoming budget thank you for supporting our sasudo seniors and helping keep them an integral part of our community sincerely all of the cars volunteers that concludes my reports mayor council |
| 02:22:33.55 | Steven Woodside | Thank you very much city manager. Okay. We'll go to item eight C, which is appointments to boards, commissions and committees, and we do have to reappoint, reappoint Lauren Wiley to the sustainability commission for retroactive three-year term effective July 31st, 2025 to July 31st, 2025 and Mary Faust to parks and rec for retroactive term effective March 31st, 2026. So could I have a motion for those appointments? So moved second. |
| 02:23:01.25 | Walfred Solorzano | OK. Councilmember Cox? Yes. Councilmember Hoffman? |
| 02:23:03.11 | Steven Woodside | Yes. |
| 02:23:06.77 | Walfred Solorzano | I don't remember it coming. |
| 02:23:08.33 | Steven Woodside | YES. |
| 02:23:09.35 | Walfred Solorzano | Vice Mayor Zobieski? Yes. And Mayor Blaustein. |
| 02:23:13.24 | Steven Woodside | Yes. Okay. And we will now move to item 8D, which is future agenda items. Are there any future agenda items? Yes, Councilmember Cox. |
| 02:23:21.76 | Joan Cox | So two that we possibly heard about tonight is the 268 Woodward site was mentioned as a potential site for housing. I'd like to, whether that's an agenda item or simply something that's explored by staff. if it can just be, Explorita doesn't have to be brought back to us, but I'd like to have that addressed. So, Any. Opportunity for Housing Inventory. that should never be ignored, especially a small site that might accommodate a narrow and perhaps affordable ADU. And then I also would like to hear from staff, either as an agenda item or simply a report at some point regarding city weed abatement of public property. |
| 02:24:06.04 | Steven Woodside | Thank you. Anyone else? Okay, seeing none, are there any other reports of significance this evening? All right, with that, then I'll go ahead and adjourn our meeting ahead of time at 9.38 PM and remind members of the public that we will now be on adjourn for a recess. And our next council meeting will be on September 5th, 2023. So we'll see you after the summer vacation. Thanks, everybody. |
Randa Emera — Against: Against removing the median, stating it is useful for safely passing bicycles and for emergency vehicles. Concerned about impacts on deliveries and businesses. ▶ 📄
Hannah Woolley — In Favor: Urged a yes vote, stating the study would benefit all users of Bridgeway and that the grant should be used effectively. Noted that the plan would evaluate best uses, not automatically hinder emergency vehicles. ▶ 📄
Kieran Culligan — In Favor: Supported the study, emphasizing it is only a planning stage. Shared personal experience of feeling unsafe biking with children on Bridgeway and urged modernization of infrastructure. ▶ 📄
Jake Baer — In Favor: Urged a yes vote, calling it a 'use it or lose it' grant opportunity with no obligation to act. Emphasized the goal is to improve safety for everyone, not just bicycles. ▶ 📄
Warren Wells — In Favor: Spoke in support as Marin County Bicycle Coalition, highlighting the chance to reimagine Bridgeway for safety, improve pedestrian crossings, and use grant funding effectively. Trusted Parametrix to develop a balanced plan. ▶ 📄
Virginia Irwin — Neutral: Focused on the need for education, such as for rental bike companies, and better signage. Supported safety improvements but emphasized education and kindness. ▶ 📄
Michael Smiley — In Favor: As a bicycle route planner, argued that Sausalito lags behind in bicycle infrastructure. Cited San Francisco's progress and urged approval to study improvements using 'free money.' ▶ 📄
Jenny Silva — In Favor: Urged yes vote, stating change can be scary but cities worldwide have successfully made streets safer and more livable. Described current traffic on Bridgeway as chaotic and unsafe. ▶ 📄
Alice Merrill — Against: Expressed concern about the process feeling 'railroaded' and opposed removing the median, calling it 'suicide' for that end of town. Wanted assurance the study is not predetermined. ▶ 📄
Reagan Fulton — In Favor: As a PBAC member, expressed frustration with lack of progress on infrastructure. Noted Sausalito lags behind neighboring communities and emphasized this is only a design proposal, not construction. ▶ 📄
Sandra Bushmaker — Against: Suggested using grant money for increased police enforcement. Critiqued the outreach scope for not including all residents and opposed median removal. Cautioned against costly seawall ideas. ▶ 📄
Joris — In Favor: Supported the study as a daily bike commuter from the Netherlands, calling the stretch dangerous. Wants safer conditions for biking with his young daughter. ▶ 📄
Jan Johnson — Against: Opposed removing the median, citing its critical use for emergency vehicles and pedestrians crossing. Argued the study contract overlooks these aspects and that PBAC lacks pedestrian representation. ▶ 📄
Pat Zook — Neutral: Concerned about contract specifics, suggesting police/fire consultation should occur after alternatives are developed. Noted ABAG funding presumes bike lane solutions and urged including 'no action' explicitly in the contract. ▶ 📄
Kevin Carroll — In Favor: Urged approval, sharing historical perspective on changes in Bridgeway use. Emphasized the study will provide facts for a rational decision benefiting residents, tourists, and businesses. ▶ 📄
Sven Colterman — In Favor: Endorsed the discovery process to find solutions for all needs. Shared personal experience of bike crashes and illegal crossings near Golden Gate Market. ▶ 📄
Axel Colterman — In Favor: As a young resident, stated he avoids the section due to danger. Believed a bike path would improve safety for bikers and pedestrians, keeping bikes off sidewalks. ▶ 📄
Sue King — Neutral: Highlighted the problem of rental bike tourists lacking safety instruction. Suggested holding rental companies accountable. Supported a study but emphasized the unique danger from inexperienced riders. ▶ 📄
Aaron Roller — In Favor: As PBAC chair, thanked council and staff. Motivated by safety for children biking to school. Encouraged public dialogue and urged approval to move forward. ▶ 📄
Matthew Hartzell — In Favor: Emphasized the regional importance of the stretch as part of the Bay Trail and North-South Greenway. Urged approval to allow a planning process where all concerns can be addressed. ▶ 📄
Jessica Penroth — In Favor: As a lifelong resident and PBAC member, urged approval for the educational opportunity and to create a safer place for pedestrians, bicyclists, cars, and businesses. ▶ 📄