| Time | Speaker | Text |
|---|---|---|
| 00:00:02.85 | Walfred Solorzano | This special meeting of September 3, 2024 is being held in council chambers located at 420 Little Street. Staff and members of the public are also participating through Zoom. This meeting is being broadcast live on the city's website and on cable TV channel 27. |
| 00:00:19.22 | Steven Woodside | Thank you, Mr. City Clerk. So we will call this meeting to order. We have one absence today. Council Member Kalman will not be joining us at today's meeting. Could you please call the roll, Mr. City Clerk? |
| 00:00:31.37 | Walfred Solorzano | Councilmember Blossene. |
| 00:00:32.78 | Vice Mayor Cox | Yeah. |
| 00:00:32.85 | Steven Woodside | Sure. |
| 00:00:33.05 | Vice Mayor Cox | Thank you. |
| 00:00:33.73 | Walfred Solorzano | Councilmember Hoffman. |
| 00:00:35.20 | Vice Mayor Cox | Here. |
| 00:00:35.40 | Walfred Solorzano | Thank you. Councilmember Kelman, as noted absent. Vice Mayor Cox. Here. And Mayor Sobieski. |
| 00:00:39.57 | Vice Mayor Cox | here. |
| 00:00:41.51 | Steven Woodside | here. There are three items on the closed session. I'll just go over the titles, and then there are a few recusals that will be announced. The first is the Conference with Real Property Negotiator. Property site is the MLK school site. The second is Real Property Negotiation. The property is 558 Bridgeway. And the third is Conference with Legal Counsel Anticipated Litigation. There are some recusals that have wanted to be announced. |
| 00:01:04.64 | Vice Mayor Cox | Thank you, Mayor. I will recuse myself from item one regarding the MLK property due to its proximity to my residence. Thank you. |
| 00:01:11.89 | Councilmember Blaustein | Thank you, Mayor. I will be recruising myself from item 2585 Bridgeway due to its proximity to my residence. |
| 00:01:18.42 | Steven Woodside | Very well, those are the two recusals. And we will now open the floor to public comment. Are there any public comment on the closed session? |
| 00:01:23.88 | Walfred Solorzano | Yes, we have Stephen Woodside. |
| 00:01:27.51 | Steven Woodside | History Woodside? Is his microphone on? I don't think it's right for us. |
| 00:01:33.10 | Daniel Daneloff | Thank you. |
| 00:01:47.95 | Steven Woodside | I'll start over. Mayor Sobieski and Vice Mayor Cox, I'm only here to ask a question about the real property negotiation items. I know from prior history, it was brought up by... Member Hoffman that there should be a comprehensive view of all of these things, and then further that there be a policy applicable to the real property negotiations. I'm just curious whether there's a date where that is likely, either of those are likely to come back. |
| 00:02:23.05 | Steven Woodside | That being, thanks. Okay. City manager maybe can give something like that. That's a staff item that's being worked on. |
| 00:02:24.31 | Steven Woodside | Okay. |
| 00:02:29.09 | Chris Zapata | Yeah, that promise was made to come back to the city council six months, six months to the day of September 12th, 15th, 13th. So we're coming back on the 17th with that report. |
| 00:02:39.31 | Steven Woodside | Thank you very much. |
| 00:02:39.97 | Steven Woodside | Thank you. Any other public comments? |
| 00:02:44.16 | Walfred Solorzano | See you then. |
| 00:02:45.22 | Steven Woodside | We'll close public comment, adjourn to closed session. We'll resume at 7 p.m. here. |
| 00:03:26.23 | Steven Woodside | everyone. Good evening. Good evening. |
| 00:03:35.36 | Steven Woodside | All right, we are calling this meeting to order. We'll begin, there are no announcements from closed session. And how's the recording started? Thank you. And we'll begin our meeting today with the Pledge of Allegiance. |
| 00:03:50.26 | Unknown | of the United States of America, and to the world of the future which is a land of the world and to the world of the world and to the world of the world. |
| 00:03:51.35 | Unknown | Thank you. |
| 00:03:51.39 | Steven Woodside | My pleasure. |
| 00:03:51.98 | Unknown | Yeah. Hello. THE END OF THE END OF THE |
| 00:04:00.72 | Unknown | Thank you. |
| 00:04:05.51 | Steven Woodside | As I said, there are no announcements from closed session. We will... I proceed with the agenda and it starts with the adoption of the action minutes from the previous meetings June 25th, July 6th and July 30th. |
| 00:04:23.45 | Vice Mayor Cox | Mayor. |
| 00:04:23.86 | Steven Woodside | Please. |
| 00:04:24.43 | Vice Mayor Cox | Mayor, I had a recommended revisions to the minutes for Tuesday, July 16. Two revisions. First, at the beginning of the meeting, right under the list of attendees. We should add the statement Vice Mayor Cox stated the circumstances on why she attended the meeting remotely. We did that for the meeting on the 30th, but we didn't do it for the meeting on the 16th. And I think we need to. And then Under closed session, it says vice, it's not ringing. Thank you. |
| 00:04:56.90 | Unknown | Thank you. |
| 00:05:01.01 | Unknown | Thank you. |
| 00:05:01.05 | Vice Mayor Cox | and |
| 00:05:01.81 | Unknown | questions. |
| 00:05:02.41 | Unknown | you |
| 00:05:05.54 | Vice Mayor Cox | It should say Vice Mayor Cox recused herself from the first closed session item. I think maybe the items are listed in a different order than they were on the agenda, but it turns out that it was the first item. |
| 00:05:17.06 | Walfred Solorzano | Okay, I'll make that revision. you |
| 00:05:19.10 | Vice Mayor Cox | Also, is your mic on? Yes, my mic is on. Are you not? |
| 00:05:22.38 | Walfred Solorzano | Are you? |
| 00:05:22.97 | Steven Woodside | not. The gain seems to be low and the staff is adjusting the gains. you |
| 00:05:29.16 | Vice Mayor Cox | OK, thank you. |
| 00:05:30.11 | Steven Woodside | other editor. |
| 00:05:30.65 | Vice Mayor Cox | Those are my only edits. |
| 00:05:30.70 | Steven Woodside | Yeah. |
| 00:05:31.03 | Jill Hoffman | Thank you. |
| 00:05:31.05 | Steven Woodside | Thank you. Thank you. |
| 00:05:33.87 | Vice Mayor Cox | you |
| 00:05:33.89 | Jill Hoffman | Hoffman. I know. Yeah, I have some, it's to the July 30th meeting, but I need to look at... I need to look back at my notes from that meeting. I looked at the resolution and I emailed the city clerk. about the resolution for the ferry landing. We had some language that we were going to introduce. I didn't see it in the minutes or in the resolution. So I think I need to go back and look at that. So I think then I'll move. |
| 00:05:59.03 | Vice Mayor Cox | continue. |
| 00:06:00.36 | Jill Hoffman | Thank you. |
| 00:06:00.38 | Vice Mayor Cox | well let's public comment and then we can just pull that we'll just pull that yeah continue it to next meeting okay thank you |
| 00:06:00.95 | Jill Hoffman | I don't know. |
| 00:06:01.02 | Councilmember Blaustein | Thank you. |
| 00:06:01.21 | Jill Hoffman | THE END OF THE END OF THE |
| 00:06:06.59 | Steven Woodside | the United States. public comment on the agenda. |
| 00:06:11.70 | Jack Ullman | I'm sorry. |
| 00:06:12.18 | Steven Woodside | The minutes of the previous agendas. Ms. McGircle, please search. |
| 00:06:22.81 | Babette McDougall | Thank you, Babette McDougall-Sasalito. So the July Minutes. I don't think it's really a server issue, as might have been suggested to me at one point, because I tried more than one kind of service provider. But I found that the two July official records are not 100% intact. In fact, the July 30th one is the worst of all the two. But this 15th one cuts in and out as well. what to do about that, but I just wanted to add that to reflection because without an accurate transcript, It's a legal public meeting. I mean, what are we going to do without an accurate transcript? Thank you for your consideration. |
| 00:07:03.86 | Steven Woodside | Any other public comment? See you then. All right, we'll close, cover, comment, and we will move to adopted minutes into June 25th and July 16th. |
| 00:07:14.81 | Vice Mayor Cox | as amended. |
| 00:07:15.96 | Steven Woodside | as amended by Vice Mayor Cox. |
| 00:07:18.22 | Vice Mayor Cox | Second. |
| 00:07:19.57 | Steven Woodside | All in favor? |
| 00:07:20.72 | Vice Mayor Cox | Bye. |
| 00:07:21.63 | Steven Woodside | Bye. |
| 00:07:22.27 | Jill Hoffman | Thank you. |
| 00:07:23.15 | Steven Woodside | All right. Adopted unanimously, 4-0. Thank you. We will now move on to the consent calendar and at the request of staff, a last minute change item 3P as in Paul. uh is being removed from this consent calendar there's some errors in the staff report that are going to be fixed so this is 3p as in paul otherwise the consent calendar is made up of a variety of items 3a is adopt the resolution accepting a grant from the u.s economic development administration in the amount of 768 000 for gate five road i want to make a special shout out to our absent colleague council member former mayor kelman who made large efforts in regards to attaining this grant as well as our staff, including our sustainability director, Katie. 3B, adopt a resolution declaring certain phone equipment surplus. Item 3C, adopt a resolution authorizing the city manager to execute a construction contract for the 2024 Marinship Tennis Court Reconstruction Project to Drico Construction in the amount of $347,065 and a construction contingency for the project in the amount of $33,935. It authorizes an additional appropriation of $26,803 from Measure L funds to support the project and determines the project to be exempt from CEQA. Item 3D, which is adopt a resolution approving the fourth professional |
| 00:09:01.53 | Steven Woodside | 4th professional services contract for BKF engineers with construction services related to the Ferry Landside Improvement Project. 3E, adopt a resolution authorizing the city manager to execute the professional services agreement with parametrics to develop a traffic and engineering survey related to speed enforcement in an amount not to exceed $41,900. Item 3F, adopt a resolution authorizing the city manager to execute the professional services agreement with parametrics to provide on-call traffic engineering services in an amount not to exceed $60,000. 3g adopt a resolution authorizing the city manager to execute a professional services agreement with bureau veritas technical assessments to perform a building facility assessment study of city properties in an amount not to exceed $124,684. 3H, receive and file library Q4 report for fiscal year 2324. 3I, review and file the treasurer's report for June 2024. 3J, adopt a resolution approving an encroachment agreement for exterior improvements in the public right-of-way adjacent to 215 Main Street. 3K, adopt a resolution amending parking regulations to enforce a no parking zone, fronting 115 3rd Street and adopt a resolution amending parking regulations to establish a no parking zone opposite the driveway of 101 Prospect Avenue. 3L, waiver of second reading and adoption of Ordinance 4-24 and Ordinance of the City Council of the City of Sausalito amending Sausalito Municipal Code Section 2.58.040 relating to residency requirements on city boards commissions and committees 3m approval of updated job classifications for administrative aid one that's the police 3n adopt a resolution to expand existing residential parking permit program b zone restrictions to include a no parking restriction from 6 30 PM to 7 AM on designated streets within the existing B zone address, including bulk Lee Harrison, portion of Princess Street and Santa Rosa Avenue. Adopt a resolution to expand existing residential parking permit program C zone to include Gerard Avenue between Litho and Filbert. And three, two, consideration of the city council approval for an amended and restated lease for the city property at 100 ed five avenue and salsa leader to the new village school, including specific property for an initial term beginning September 1st of 2024 to June 30th of 2029 with five six-year options. So I'm just reminding myself that I would ask that we vote on all the items except 3N, which I will not vote on as I live in the B zone. And so out of an abundance of caution, I just won't vote on that. Any other changes or polls or comments on the consent calendar? |
| 00:11:45.91 | Vice Mayor Cox | Thank you, Mayor. I will recuse myself from item 3Q due to the proximity of my residence to the property. at issue in that item. |
| 00:11:54.67 | Steven Woodside | Thank you. Any other comments? Council Member Hoffman? |
| 00:11:58.32 | Jill Hoffman | Mayor, I have a I'd just like to clarify something with the police based on the question that was posed to me. Is that okay? The question was, and I see our |
| 00:12:09.03 | Steven Woodside | have a game towards the family. Oh, you got it. Thank you. |
| 00:12:14.43 | Unknown | I'm sorry. |
| 00:12:14.45 | Steven Woodside | Bye. |
| 00:12:14.47 | Unknown | Bye. |
| 00:12:14.48 | Steven Woodside | Good. |
| 00:12:15.04 | Jill Hoffman | Thank you. |
| 00:12:15.07 | Steven Woodside | Thank you. |
| 00:12:15.12 | Jill Hoffman | Oh my God, it's genius, right? I see our police officers in the back. I even see Wayne back there at Juan. Okay, so here's a question. We have resident permits, but if a resident needs someone to come and assist them with whatever, with medical things or with physical therapy or something, they can use, it looks to me like they can get two guest passes. |
| 00:12:15.56 | Unknown | Oh my God, it's genius. |
| 00:12:42.12 | Unknown | And it's limited to- |
| 00:12:43.42 | Jill Hoffman | Yeah, I'm sorry, Wayne, you got to come up here. |
| 00:12:43.83 | Wayne Kwan | I'm sorry. That's correct. No, you get it. |
| 00:12:46.66 | Jill Hoffman | Thank you. |
| 00:12:46.68 | Unknown | No. |
| 00:12:46.93 | Jill Hoffman | Thank you. |
| 00:12:47.17 | Jill Hoffman | Thank you. Thank you. |
| 00:12:47.52 | Wayne Kwan | Thank you. |
| 00:12:47.54 | Steven Woodside | Come up to the microphone, Mr. Kwan. Yeah, we can hear you. Just so your answers can be on the record. |
| 00:12:47.56 | Wayne Kwan | Thank you. |
| 00:12:47.69 | Jill Hoffman | Thank you. |
| 00:12:47.73 | Wayne Kwan | Thank you. |
| 00:12:49.95 | Jill Hoffman | I mean, yeah, we can hear you, but it's how you go. |
| 00:12:55.08 | Steven Woodside | So this is a clarification. Yeah. |
| 00:12:56.80 | Wayne Kwan | Thank you. |
| 00:12:56.82 | Jill Hoffman | Yeah. |
| 00:12:57.04 | Wayne Kwan | Thank you. Yes, that is correct. Each resident is limited to two guys. PERMITS MAX. |
| 00:13:02.93 | Jill Hoffman | Okay, and they get those through the police department? |
| 00:13:04.85 | Wayne Kwan | That's correct. |
| 00:13:05.65 | Jill Hoffman | And those are like temporary, right? They hang on the windshield, as I recall, something, they hang on the, Um, rear view mirror or they're on the dash or something. |
| 00:13:12.97 | Wayne Kwan | It's not temporary. It's an annual cycle from October 1st through September 30th. There's no prorate. It's $50 each. |
| 00:13:20.66 | Jill Hoffman | Yeah, yeah. But you have a, it's a fungible guest pass, right? So if you have different guests on different days. Right. |
| 00:13:25.56 | Wayne Kwan | Right, it's transferable. It's a hand tag that you can move from car to car. |
| 00:13:26.76 | Jill Hoffman | IT'S A GOOD THING. that you can move. Okay, thanks. Okay, thank you. Thanks for explaining that. You're welcome. |
| 00:13:31.70 | Wayne Kwan | Thank you. |
| 00:13:31.72 | Steven Woodside | Here, welcome. Thanks for that clarification. Is there any other requests concerning consent agenda? If not, then I'll move that we approve all. Thank you very much for the reminder from the audience. Let us please open up the floor. We'll start with Carolyn Revelle. Everyone. |
| 00:13:38.45 | Wayne Kwan | the approval. |
| 00:13:39.02 | Jeffrey Chase | Thank you. |
| 00:13:39.04 | Wayne Kwan | Thank you. |
| 00:13:39.14 | Jeffrey Chase | Oh, look. Public comment. |
| 00:13:41.15 | Scott Thornburg | Thank you. |
| 00:13:45.79 | Carolyn Revell | We'll start with Carolyn Revelle. |
| 00:13:50.32 | Carolyn Revell | evening i'm carolyn revel representing sausalito beautiful |
| 00:13:50.43 | Steven Woodside | evening. |
| 00:13:53.61 | Carolyn Revell | And we're pleased to see the plans Is this working? We're pleased to see the plans for repaving the tennis courts at Marinship Park, item 3C. |
| 00:13:57.82 | Unknown | Thank you. |
| 00:14:03.05 | Carolyn Revell | We're pleased to see the plans going forward to the construction contract stage. Regarding the remainder of the site, we have two points. First, we believe plans for the rest of the site should derive from a comprehensive review of facilities and needs in the city's entire park system. Sausalito Beautiful is developing an inventory of our park facilities with recommendations for the city to consider. We hope this will help. in setting capital improvement priorities. based on needs assessments and long-term management and maintenance projections Second, based on recent experience, we strongly urge that the city involve a design team From inception to completion, to ensure the best possible part for the remainder of the site. at Southview Park. If a landscape architectural firm had been retained throughout the project, the grades could have been set in a way that did not require the intrusive fences that partially obstruct the magnificent views for which the park is named. The plans would have included essential landscapes rather than a separate plan having to be developed afterward and extra funding. To conclude, we strongly recommend that the city hire... a landscape architecture firm to develop a concept plan for the balance of Renship Park and be retained throughout all development stages. A design professional can integrate the Vardis sculpture into the park and address environmental concerns such as stormwater management, sea level rise mitigation, and other aspects of climate change. Such an approach will be cost effective and ensure a park that best serves the community. Thank you. Here. |
| 00:15:36.19 | Walfred Solorzano | Next speaker, Jeffrey Chase. |
| 00:15:48.54 | Jeffrey Chase | Shalom, Melissa. Hello, Mayor, City Council. City Clerk Walfred? City manager. And a bunch of people in the house Sausalito remains the only venue, the only town including the county that does not have Public comments before the meeting. There are many, many, many hundreds of thousands of dollars that are being spent from our pockets on the consent calendar. Mr. Mayor, you seem to go through it very quickly. |
| 00:16:39.17 | Jeffrey Chase | Item Q is $601,000 for a risk assessment. of what happened when the police came in front of my eyes and beat a black journalist. And Sausalito's insurance was henceforth taken away. It was called the Black Swan event. Bye. The mayor here. Now my friend, the Admiral calls it purple swan. I like that a little bit better. So now a risk assessment, what is that? That means a bunch of people in an office exchange a bunch of papers, And it's going to cost you $601,000. And there's no discussion here. Mr. Walfred has obstructed A public election. I'm running for city council again. I didn't plan on this, but as soon as someone tells me I can't, that makes me want to. So Timothy McCloud and myself arrived at his office A few minutes before 5 o'clock, I moved my boat to the Sausalito side. I had $25. And he continues to obstruct. Shema Yisrael, Adonai Eloheinu, Adonai Echad, and Shema Palestine as well. That we are about bigger issues. |
| 00:17:57.10 | Steven Woodside | Thank you. |
| 00:17:57.11 | Jeffrey Chase | you |
| 00:17:57.18 | Steven Woodside | Thank you, Mr. |
| 00:17:57.77 | Jeffrey Chase | Thank you. |
| 00:17:57.79 | Steven Woodside | Thank you. |
| 00:17:57.82 | Jeffrey Chase | that the money now is not being discussed. |
| 00:17:57.94 | Steven Woodside | Thank you. |
| 00:18:01.46 | Jeffrey Chase | I can't do that. Please don't disrupt the election. Okay? I'll be in federal court tomorrow. We have witnesses. |
| 00:18:12.27 | Walfred Solorzano | All right. Next person is Adrian Britton. |
| 00:18:20.60 | Adrian Brinton | Adrian Brinton, South Slater resident. This won't be nearly as exciting. I just wanted to make a comment on O, the C-zone permit changes. So I just wanted to call out that The CJL and permit changes have had a lot of impact on the businesses around Caledonia, both for their employees. and also for customers. So it's a lot harder to go down there and park, say to go to dinner, And the employees are having to move their cars every two hours. So I don't have an answer for it, but I think it's something we do need to keep on the table and look at it and try to figure out how we can adjust the C-zone permit to better accommodate the businesses in that area. Thank you. |
| 00:18:56.55 | Walfred Solorzano | Then we have Damian. Morgan. |
| 00:19:00.48 | Steven Woodside | Thank you. |
| 00:19:09.67 | Damian Morgan | Good evening. Regarding the marine ship improvements, You know, there's a lot of history in Marinship. Many black families, including my family, obviously before I was born, moved west for a better life, more opportunities. But as we know, black folks were redlined, not able to buy a home, in Sausalito, Mill Valley and further. What I'm getting at is Marinship, is you don't see much history regarding the black, accomplishments. You don't see much about Thurgood Marshall who represented Jesse James Here, the black union workers who obviously were treated horribly, obviously. There's not much about that. kind of alarming to me. I'm hoping that as we improve Marinship, whatever you, whatever the plans are for the next 5, 10, 20 years, that you include more of history. The ugly history that has happened is still our history, is our story. Marin City, the community I grew up in is still going through a lot of craziness, gentrification, racism, no, no, investment. There's projects that are coming up on the horizon that I sent you a text few days ago that you saw what the Army is coming in soon. with the, the great work of Terry Green, as you know, and many others. Um, So, Marineship. display the history. The ugly mystery that it is. Display it. Talk about it. We want to see it. People want to know the truth about black folks, why they landed and why we landed at Brandon City. We love it. Not because we necessarily wanted to. We couldn't buy a home. My grandparents couldn't buy a home in Saucelito. |
| 00:21:18.30 | Walfred Solorzano | Babette McDougal. |
| 00:21:27.93 | Babette McDougall | They're so short. Thank you so much. So actually, I think you may have covered my question in the open discussion, but I just want to say that I certainly am sorry that so much of our roads are being so licensed away. And I'm very mindful of the people in my neighborhood who work down the hill. but are very faithful about coming and making sure that their vehicles are never in anyone's way. So whatever we can do to help facilitate employee parking so that it doesn't take a big bite out of the small businesses in town, I'm all for it. Thank you. |
| 00:22:07.10 | Walfred Solorzano | Okay. And then on Zoom, we have Sandra Bushmaker. |
| 00:22:14.02 | Sandra Bushmaker | Good evening, council. I just wanted to comment that the 17 items on the consent calendar seem very onerous for the day after a three-day holiday. And it seems that there are a number of items on this calendar that could be of interest to the public for discussion. Just out of curiosity, I added up the expenditures on the consent calendar tonight. And they're $1.3 million, without discussion, without controversy. I find that, Basically impossible. I think that the public, had they known, There would be this many items on the consent calendar and actually were able to digest all of them would have comments on such an expenditure. Thank you. Wait, one more thing. I just want to make sure that I would like to recommend that in the future, the consent calendar be short enough to be manageable. What's been happening historically is that the large consent calendars have ended up having items continued to dates, um, uncertain or to God knows where they go. But in any event, I think a more manageable consent calendar would benefit everybody, including the council and the public. Thank you. |
| 00:23:33.13 | Vice Mayor Cox | May I ask a question? Sure. Um, Ms. Bushmaker, I would invite you to apprise us of which items you had wanted to comment on and felt that you lacked the ability to meaningfully comment because they were on the consent calendar. |
| 00:23:49.68 | Jill Hoffman | Mr. Mayor, I don't think public comment or consent items is time for... question and answers from people that call in, for comment and I would say that we veered off what we should be doing up here. |
| 00:24:02.03 | Vice Mayor Cox | I frequently ask |
| 00:24:02.98 | Jill Hoffman | questions of people who make public comment. I am uncomfortable with that and I'm saying that right now. |
| 00:24:09.04 | Vice Mayor Cox | Thank you. |
| 00:24:09.07 | Jill Hoffman | Thank you. you |
| 00:24:09.76 | Steven Woodside | All right, thanks. I will point out that we did remove the 600,000 item of three P and the other largest item was a $760,000 grant. And, uh, And so... |
| 00:24:22.30 | Vice Mayor Cox | And I saw no public comment in writing on any consent item. |
| 00:24:27.82 | Steven Woodside | So let us thank you for the comments. I believe there was another comment from the audience. Someone was walking up to the table. Maybe they laughed. |
| 00:24:35.19 | Walfred Solorzano | Yes, we have Fred Moore. |
| 00:24:36.10 | Fred Moore | Thank you. |
| 00:24:36.56 | Steven Woodside | more. |
| 00:24:39.46 | Fred Moore | Good evening, council members. I hope I'm not that guy who comes up and wants to talk about every item that's before the city. So I apologize. I appreciate you indulging me. I specifically wanted to mention about 3E and 3F, 3F being an on-traffic services, $60,000 contract. I'm concerned about two things. One, if you read the description of what they're going to be doing, traffic assessment, transportation planning, preliminary design work, pedestrian bike path, it's not specific. And I think a problem when you don't have a specific contract, but it's on call, that you end up wasting some money and don't end up with a product that's positive for the city. So I would consider whether you not take that off, don't approve it, wait for the engineering staff and the city to come up with a specific project where the staff is not qualified and they need to hire third-party experts and then enter into a contract with a specific proposal. Also, the companies in Berkeley, both for 3F and 3E in Berkeley, I didn't see an exclusion for travel time on the 3F, and travel time at $390 an hour beats up about $1,000 just getting here and back, or more if there's traffic. With respect to 3E, I'd also consider whether or not you actually need all of that versus just taking the portion of the contract that deals with hiring the traffic counts plus to come up with the information, the data that then city staff can look at and determine if the data isn't overwhelmingly obvious what should be done. And if it's not, then enter into a second contract for the actual analysis that that engineering company was offering to do for the contract. |
| 00:25:06.16 | Unknown | specifically. |
| 00:26:20.44 | Fred Moore | Thank you very much for listening. |
| 00:26:25.35 | Steven Woodside | Please don't. |
| 00:26:30.04 | Unknown | Gregor. |
| 00:26:37.55 | Bonnie McGregor | I'm Bonnie McGregor, a long-time resident of Sausalito. I live on Princess Street. And I'm not sure why we had trouble hearing in the room why item 3N is not being considered tonight, because we definitely have- |
| 00:26:51.96 | Steven Woodside | Nancy? Thank you. |
| 00:26:53.20 | Bonnie McGregor | Thank you. |
| 00:26:53.21 | Steven Woodside | Thank you. |
| 00:26:53.23 | Bonnie McGregor | and Nancy. |
| 00:26:53.97 | Steven Woodside | is on the agenda. The only item removed was 3P as in Paul because of errors in the staff report. |
| 00:26:59.93 | Bonnie McGregor | Okay, this is the area parking on... |
| 00:26:59.96 | Steven Woodside | Thank you. |
| 00:27:03.31 | Steven Woodside | Boakley. |
| 00:27:04.15 | Bonnie McGregor | Yes. |
| 00:27:04.20 | Steven Woodside | Yes. Yes, that is being heard. Okay. |
| 00:27:05.84 | Bonnie McGregor | Okay. |
| 00:27:06.31 | Steven Woodside | That is part of the consent calendar. |
| 00:27:08.45 | Bonnie McGregor | I guess I'll be back. |
| 00:27:09.84 | Steven Woodside | Well, no, you can make your comment. This is your time to make comments about that item. |
| 00:27:11.89 | Bonnie McGregor | Okay. |
| 00:27:12.97 | Steven Woodside | All right. |
| 00:27:13.77 | Bonnie McGregor | ALL RIGHT. |
| 00:27:14.02 | Steven Woodside | Thank you. |
| 00:27:14.04 | Bonnie McGregor | Thank you. |
| 00:27:14.19 | Steven Woodside | THE FAMILY. |
| 00:27:14.36 | Bonnie McGregor | I have a few things to read about it. Thank you. There's several issues with it. And I'm glad to see some action is going forward. I hope it's done with leaving it the open door at the end for future. I don't know. Considerations. The main issues here now are the inability to find a parking spot in the area where the resident pays taxes and an annual fee. for an Area B sticker. Visitors are paying the city nothing towards keeping the roads they use repaired. as they are not paying for parking when they're parking on those streets. The city already recognizes that parking is a problem by setting up specific areas with identifiers. Excuse me, Area B, for example, and charging residents a fee to display a sticker. This is supposed to give them priority. It's not working. Fifteen years ago, my wait for a spot was 10 to 15 minutes several times a week on Princess. Today, I wait an average of 45 minutes to an hour. several times a week. If a meter after six o'clock is open and I still haven't found a place to park, I go park at a meter for the night, knowing I'm going to have to move the car in the morning. And the current thing that's being proposed is a start, but it certainly doesn't solve my problems on Princess Street at all. Thank you very much. |
| 00:28:33.05 | Walfred Solorzano | Aaron Motto. |
| 00:28:39.98 | Aaron Motto | Good evening. I wanted to also make a comment on 3N. I've been a resident of Sausalito for over seven years and lived on Balkley that entire time. Parking has always been an issue, but it's gotten considerably worse over the last few years, similar to what Bonnie was saying. As you guys may be aware, almost all of the residents on Balkley don't have driveways or garages, and so we're forced to park on the street. the issue has gotten particularly worse as both restaurant workers and patrons park for free on in that area to avoid pain in the city lots and i understand there's a program that the city of sausalito provides so that workers can have a discounted rate and i would encourage them to use that i'm excited that this agenda item is on the agenda and And I'm hopeful that the worst time to park is usually between 4 PM and midnight. And I am excited to see it and hope that it gets approved. Thank you. |
| 00:29:40.34 | Steven Woodside | or any other public comment. |
| 00:29:42.76 | Walfred Solorzano | Seeing none. |
| 00:29:43.36 | Steven Woodside | Thank you. you'll close, bubble, comment. Do you have a comment? Yeah. |
| 00:29:45.54 | Councilmember Blaustein | Yeah, I just had a comment on the parking issues, something that came up, and I wanted to see if it could be considered or mentioned. But especially in area zone C, we have some low-income housing in that particular zone, and we don't have any sort of program for economic hardship for people who might be living within zone C who otherwise can't afford the $70 permit or the $50 permits for guests such as caregivers. We have a senior housing facility there as well. So I don't know that we need to include it tonight, but I would like to see us consider or have an addition so that there is an accommodation made for economic hardship, especially in senior housing and otherwise. |
| 00:30:23.44 | Steven Woodside | don't wanna pull it off, could I ask you to repeat that at future agenda items and we'll put it on our list? Sure. |
| 00:30:28.45 | Councilmember Blaustein | Sure. I mean, if I pull it off, would we be able to add that this evening? It's not agendized specifically. |
| 00:30:35.20 | Steven Woodside | a little bit. Don't know, it might be complicated. |
| 00:30:39.05 | Councilmember Blaustein | That would be a city attorney question, but I can. |
| 00:30:43.64 | Steven Woodside | How much wordsmithing would it be? |
| 00:30:46.16 | Vice Mayor Cox | We didn't notice. Okay. And I think it's a worthwhile conversation for not just that zone, but for... Yeah, absolutely. |
| 00:30:48.60 | Steven Woodside | I think it's Thank you. |
| 00:30:53.45 | Councilmember Blaustein | Yeah, absolutely. Okay. Okay. I'll mention it again at future agenda items. I just wanted to make sure it's considered. Thanks. |
| 00:30:55.17 | Vice Mayor Cox | Thank you. |
| 00:30:55.18 | Jill Hoffman | Thank you. |
| 00:30:55.20 | Vice Mayor Cox | Bye. |
| 00:30:59.45 | Steven Woodside | Any other comments? Councilmember Hoffman. |
| 00:31:01.12 | Jill Hoffman | This might be another question for Officer Kwan. I believe we do have programs for a reduced fee for parking permits based on economic hardships. |
| 00:31:17.34 | Jill Hoffman | You might as well just stay up here. Thank you. |
| 00:31:20.53 | Wayne Kwan | Regarding your question regarding hardship, we currently do not have a program for hardship. However, we do have a |
| 00:31:27.43 | Unknown | Thank you. |
| 00:31:30.08 | Wayne Kwan | employee reduced parking program, There's daily fee at $6 a day or a monthly fee at 160 per quarter, I'm sorry, per quarter for an L permit. So any employees that work in the area, that's looking for a parking solution. They're happy to contact me and I can offer them the options that we have available. |
| 00:31:54.18 | Councilmember Blaustein | Okay, thank you. But that doesn't, just to clarify, that doesn't include specifically folks living in perhaps senior housing or lower income housing. There isn't yet a provision for that. |
| 00:32:04.10 | Wayne Kwan | For the low income housing, we currently do not have programs. |
| 00:32:07.24 | Councilmember Blaustein | Thank you. So. I would say add that to your Petriden. Exactly. Yes. Thank you. |
| 00:32:11.64 | Unknown | Right. |
| 00:32:14.68 | Steven Woodside | So we will, hearing no other comments from the dais, we'll do a motion and I guess I'll make it to approve the consent calendar, excluding items 3N and 3D. Oh, who's the other exclusion? 3p is removed so we're going to vote without 3n and 3q so we can all vote together and then we'll do separate votes on the last two items. So consent calendar excluding 3n and 3q. I move they be approved. |
| 00:32:44.69 | Vice Mayor Cox | Second. |
| 00:32:45.09 | Steven Woodside | Thank you. All in favor? |
| 00:32:46.53 | Vice Mayor Cox | Bye. |
| 00:32:47.71 | Steven Woodside | Opposed carries unanimously four to one will now consider item 3q that the vice mayor is not participating in I'll move the first week you |
| 00:32:55.55 | Councilmember Blaustein | two, three, and five. |
| 00:32:59.00 | Steven Woodside | Is there a second to approve item 3Q? |
| 00:33:02.25 | Councilmember Blaustein | Second. |
| 00:33:03.21 | Steven Woodside | All right, all in favor, say aye. I recuse. So that passes three to zero with vice mayor, Fox, using herself. And then I'll let you do the honors for |
| 00:33:05.76 | Councilmember Blaustein | Thank you. |
| 00:33:15.26 | Steven Woodside | Thank you. |
| 00:33:15.31 | Vice Mayor Cox | Thank you. |
| 00:33:15.35 | Steven Woodside | of that pine rock. |
| 00:33:16.60 | Vice Mayor Cox | Thank you, Vice Mayor. I move we approve consent calendar item 3N. Thank you. |
| 00:33:21.96 | Councilmember Blaustein | and |
| 00:33:22.22 | Vice Mayor Cox | Thank you. All in favor? Bye. |
| 00:33:25.00 | Councilmember Blaustein | Bye. |
| 00:33:26.48 | Vice Mayor Cox | And that motion carries 3-0 with the mayor recusing himself. All right. And we will now move on to our public hearing. |
| 00:33:32.15 | Jill Hoffman | Mr. Mayor, sorry. I think I missed this, but 3P, the resolution for the city manager execute professional services. We removed that. Just removed that thing. Okay. Sorry. Thank you. |
| 00:33:42.01 | Steven Woodside | roof. We will now move on to the public hearing item, conduct a public hearing pursuant to the California streets on Highway Code Section 8320 and adopt a resolution to vacate Tracy Way in El Perretel to Anchor Street. here at McGowan. |
| 00:33:56.20 | Kevin McGowan | Good evening, Mayor, members of the City Council. I'm Kevin McGowan, Public Works Director for Sausalito. I'm hoping Ms. Hernandez can bring up our presentation. It has a bluish background. There we go. |
| 00:34:13.68 | Kevin McGowan | set. Thank you so much. So item 4A before you this evening is related to the vacation of Tracy Way. Next slide, please. The actions recommended by staff this evening include conducting a public hearing pursuant to the California Streets and Highways Code section 8320 and 8324. The and following. holding the public hearing staff recommends adopting a resolution to vacate Tracy way. Next slide. Tracy Way is a small roadway which connects El Portal to Anchor Street. The road is abutted by Parking Lot 1 and Vina del Mar Park. which are both owned by the city of Sausalito. Tracy Way was acquired in February 1955 from the Northwest Pacific Railroad, and parts were granted from the state pursuant to Chapter 791 Statutes of 1957. This roadway is shown on the county assessor's parcel map shown on this slide. Next slide, please. In June 2024, the Sausalito Planning Commission adopted a resolution noting that vacating Tracy Way complies with the city's general plan. The City Council approved the construction of the Ferry Landsite Improvement Project on July 30, 2024, which repurposes Tracy Way as a pedestrian promenade. In August 2024 DPW staff notify notified known utilities of the city's intent to vacate the right of way. No known utilities are located within this section of the roadway, such that vacating this section does not impact any utilities that we know of. DPW reached out to emergency services as well, and access to this area can still be achieved from city property, and the roadways on either side of Tracy Way. Next slide. Just a quick little glance back in time from July 30th. This plan shows work proposed for the Ferry Landsite Improvement Project, which includes Tracy Way to vehicles. That's on the lower section of the screen. Next slide, please. With Tracy Way no longer being utilized as a roadway for vehicles, the right-of-way should be vacated per the California Streets and Highways Code Section 8320. Staff posted notices two weeks in advance of this meeting at the site in compliance with this code section. In addition, notices were also published in the Marin Independent Journal two consecutive weeks prior to this meeting in compliance with the Streets and Highways Code. Next slide. As mentioned before, the city owns all parcels fronting Tracy Way, and as such, the underlining ownership of the roadway is still maintained by the city based on Civil Code 831. If in the future, the city needs to reestablish this area as a roadway, it may easily do so since it has the underlying ownership of the roadway itself. Next slide. Here we go. This exhibit, which is included with your board packet, shows the recommended area of vacation. This exhibit is in conformance with the proposed improvements for the Ferry Landside project. And next slide, please. So that concludes my presentation and staff welcomes your comments and questions at this point in time. Thank you. |
| 00:37:59.49 | Steven Woodside | Thank you very much, Director McGowan. Are there any questions for Director? I've heard, Steph, that people can't hear my microphone. It's just me, huh? It's just my problem. |
| 00:38:08.62 | Unknown | huh? |
| 00:38:10.02 | Steven Woodside | well. I'll just speak louder then. Apologies, tell me if I'm too loud. Other questions please from my colleagues. We can hear it. |
| 00:38:17.97 | Kevin McGowan | Thank you. |
| 00:38:25.34 | Steven Woodside | Are there any questions here from the Dice? Councilmember Hoffman. |
| 00:38:30.64 | Jill Hoffman | Thank you, Director McGowan. I appreciate that. One question that we've addressed throughout this process is a calculation of 1128, Ordinance 1128, which prohibits the loss of public parking in the downtown area. We had an early calculation of that in one of the earlier iterations of the overall plan, but has there been a calculation of how 1128 would affect the current ferry landing plan, including removal of Tracy way as a public? |
| 00:39:00.05 | Kevin McGowan | Street. Mr. City Manager, do you want to? |
| 00:39:03.21 | Jill Hoffman | I'm not asking for the calculation. I'm just asking, has there been a calculation done that's public? |
| 00:39:10.41 | Kevin McGowan | and shared with the public. |
| 00:39:11.83 | Jill Hoffman | Yes. |
| 00:39:13.08 | Kevin McGowan | No, not for the recent one. Thank you. |
| 00:39:18.84 | Jill Hoffman | Thank you. OK, I think I have. That's fine. I have some more comments later, but I think that's my only question. |
| 00:39:25.11 | Steven Woodside | I think that's my only question. Thank you. Blossom, raise your hand first. Go ahead. Go ahead. I swear to God. |
| 00:39:28.34 | Jill Hoffman | Go ahead. I can go after you guys. |
| 00:39:29.86 | Steven Woodside | Thank you. you |
| 00:39:31.31 | Jill Hoffman | Thank you. |
| 00:39:31.44 | Steven Woodside | Go ahead, Councilman Hock. |
| 00:39:32.42 | Jill Hoffman | Sorry, I had more questions. I noted too in the staff report that the fiscal analysis for the closure of Tracy Way was there was no fiscal loss, there was no monetary loss, but I note that there are 12 parking meters on there and something I've asked in the past is for that calculation to be added into the reports. There is revenue from those meters. I understand there's an issue about, if there's open parking spots, does it matter that there's revenue from those? And I understand that argument, but I think it still needs to be part of the analysis. I know that information is readily available. |
| 00:40:11.82 | Kevin McGowan | I believe there are 10 spaces along Tracy way. That's what I counted at least today. And we do have our police department here as well, if they want to talk a little bit about the revenue and things that you had just mentioned. |
| 00:40:24.95 | Jill Hoffman | Yeah, okay. Do we have that number? |
| 00:40:26.88 | Chris Zapata | Actually, it's our finance department that can provide that information. Sorry about that. |
| 00:40:30.84 | Chad Hess | Hello, Mayor, Council, Council members and the public. So based upon our initial analysis, when we were looking at lot one, we looked at all of the data and we came up with a value of about $4,200 for the peak season of parking. So that would be the value that I would assign for a comparable parking spot on Tracy way based upon the count, there are 10 parking spots in that those spots are currently closed during our peak season for bike parking. So. the The lost revenue from those parking spots during non-peak season, I think is negligible. But the moving bike parking to lot one, that's where the lost revenue would come from, would be taking up additional parking spots in lot one if we choose to move bike parking there. Depending upon the number of spots that bike parking takes up, I would put in a value of about $4,200 per parking stall. |
| 00:41:30.61 | Jill Hoffman | I understand that calculation, Chad, and thank you for that analysis, but um, Sorry. But But I know that there is a value. I mean, we do actually have revenue in those. That's why I was just asking was a straight revenue report from what we got. You can, you know, average it over three or four years. I just wondered what that number was. So, and I would ask that that be provided. |
| 00:41:55.05 | Chris Zapata | That can be done, Councilmember. I think when the finance director said he termed it negligible, that was the rationale behind fiscal impact not being reported, but we can provide that information to you as a follow-up. |
| 00:42:08.06 | Steven Woodside | Oh, thank you. And then council member, vice mayor. |
| 00:42:11.67 | Councilmember Blaustein | Thank you and thank you director McGowan nice to see you again on the topic of the fairy landing I will surely miss this when we have completed tonight's item. And just on that point I wanted to review because we have certainly been here before, could you go back to the slide that shows the dates and the process for the vacation I think it was the second slide that you put up it had July 19 July 30. |
| 00:42:38.72 | Councilmember Blaustein | No, before that one, before that one, there you go. Previous process. Nope. Yep. There we go. Okay. So just to clarify as well, no, go back. Okay, no. |
| 00:42:53.92 | Councilmember Blaustein | Okay, great. Thank you. Okay. So just to be clear, and just correct me if I'm wrong at any point, but I just want to make sure that we're going through the process and taking the appropriate steps here. So we, on June 12th, the Planning Commission heard this as direct direction from the city council regarding the vacation of Tracy Way per our vote, correct? Yes. |
| 00:43:11.96 | Kevin McGowan | Yes. |
| 00:43:12.34 | Councilmember Blaustein | Okay. And that was a required process for vacation of, of Tracy way, per the California highway patrol, California highway, sorry, California highway standards. |
| 00:43:18.44 | Kevin McGowan | and Yes, per the Streets and Highways Code, I believe the Planning Commission does need to weigh in on that. |
| 00:43:27.02 | Councilmember Blaustein | And then on the 30th, we authorized the city manager to to move forward with the contract, which included the cost of the proposed vacation, the proposed improvements to Tracy way. Correct. Correct. And those improvements came in within the budget, if not under, correct? |
| 00:43:41.76 | Kevin McGowan | Yes. |
| 00:43:42.22 | Councilmember Blaustein | Okay, so there's no anticipated new cost for the vacation of Tracy way less the consideration for parking as mentioned by Councilmember Hoffman. |
| 00:43:48.87 | Kevin McGowan | No, not at this time. |
| 00:43:50.32 | Councilmember Blaustein | Okay, and on the 30th, we also that we agreed that we were going to move forward with that agreement. So this process is simply a requirement of the California highway standards, but we as the city council have already given direction to approve moving forward with Tracy way correct. |
| 00:44:05.29 | Kevin McGowan | Yes, it's part of the Streets and Highways Code. |
| 00:44:08.04 | Councilmember Blaustein | Okay, so we're just formalizing and completing our process on improving the ferry landing this evening. That's correct. Okay. Thank you very much, Director McGowan. I appreciate it. |
| 00:44:16.73 | Steven Woodside | Vice mayor. |
| 00:44:18.28 | Vice Mayor Cox | Thank you. Karen Hollweg, And I received some inquiries regarding the impact of this decision on our ordinance 1128 or vice versa, so I just wanted to ask a couple of questions in that regard ordinance 1128 was adopted. Karen Hollweg, um. in December of 1997. Is that your understanding? Yes. And at that time, Tracy Way was not a part of Lot 1. Is that your understanding? |
| 00:44:44.76 | Kevin McGowan | Is that your understanding? That's correct. |
| 00:44:46.90 | Vice Mayor Cox | And so, We didn't start collecting revenue for Tracy Way. as part of lot one until Um, a resolution adopted by the city council in 2012. Is that right? |
| 00:45:06.41 | Kevin McGowan | Yes, I think it was April 2012. |
| 00:45:11.08 | Vice Mayor Cox | I think it's April 2nd, 2013. Oh, no. The meeting date was April 2, 2012. |
| 00:45:18.86 | Unknown | Yeah. |
| 00:45:19.35 | Vice Mayor Cox | But the. Resolution says adopted April 2nd, 2013. So Regardless. That was long after 1128 and so Would it be your opinion that Tracy Way is not governed by Ordinance 1128? |
| 00:45:37.39 | Kevin McGowan | You know, it might be best to have our city attorney who has that legal background weigh in on that. |
| 00:45:43.55 | Vice Mayor Cox | Thank you. |
| 00:45:47.92 | Todd Leachlin | Mayor and Council. This is Todd Leachlin with Best Best in Krieger, the city attorney And based on our review of the documents, we don't have a definitive answer to that question at this point. We'd have to look into it further. |
| 00:46:03.55 | Vice Mayor Cox | Can I ask a follow-up question though? Can you repeat that? So you looked at the resolution, you looked at ordinance 1128 and you still are not clear that Tracy Way is not part of Um, Ordinance 1128. |
| 00:46:20.66 | Todd Leachlin | Thank you. |
| 00:46:20.68 | Unknown | Yes. |
| 00:46:20.74 | Vice Mayor Cox | Yes. Thank you. |
| 00:46:21.77 | Unknown | That sounds good. |
| 00:46:21.79 | Vice Mayor Cox | So at the time, so can you give me a little more background on that, because certainly at the time that ordinance 1128 was adopted Tracy way was still. At that time, it was actually known as Park Avenue and Park Street. And it was a parking meter zone. Would you agree with that? |
| 00:46:51.07 | Todd Leachlin | Vice Mayor, it's clear that at the time that Ordinance 1128 was adopted, the Tracy Way spaces were not part of Lot 1. |
| 00:46:58.91 | Vice Mayor Cox | That's all I'm asking you to confirm. |
| 00:47:01.06 | Todd Leachlin | Yes, it's clear that when 1128 was enacted, Tracy Way spaces were not included in Mod 1. |
| 00:47:07.03 | Councilmember Blaustein | Bye. |
| 00:47:07.78 | Vice Mayor Cox | Thank you. |
| 00:47:07.79 | Councilmember Blaustein | Okay, thank you. Can I ask a quick follow up question to that point? Just as you can see on the screen on June 12th, the planning commission adopted a resolution saying that the vacation of Tracy way was consistent with the general plan. So the ordinance 1128 was considered within the confines of the general plan correct. |
| 00:47:27.37 | Councilmember Blaustein | Someone, anyone? that a city attorney question or a director McGowan question. |
| 00:47:34.08 | Kevin McGowan | I don't think that's in my realm to to discuss. |
| 00:47:37.56 | Councilmember Blaustein | A regular city attorney is taking a well-deserved vacation. So, uh, but- |
| 00:47:42.98 | Vice Mayor Cox | I mean, Councilmember Blausin, I'll just point out that policy CP-2.2 of our general plan refers to downtown parking and makes reference to Ordinance 1128. |
| 00:47:55.06 | Councilmember Blaustein | Okay. And the Planning Commission and the City Council still concurred that it was in accordance with the general plan, as we can see above. Okay. Thank you. |
| 00:48:06.13 | Steven Woodside | Councilmember Hoffman. Oh, I wasn't quite finished. |
| 00:48:07.34 | Vice Mayor Cox | I wasn't quite finished. that's sorry i had one i was just gathering i had one more question so regarding revenue |
| 00:48:08.73 | Steven Woodside | That's right. |
| 00:48:08.96 | Bonnie McGregor | Sorry. |
| 00:48:13.49 | Vice Mayor Cox | Um, for Tracy Way. Isn't it true that we closed and maybe this is for the finance manager, we closed Tracy Way for a portion of the year tip we typically close Tracy way for a portion of the year each year. to accommodate Bicycle parking. |
| 00:48:30.43 | Chad Hess | That is correct. |
| 00:48:31.44 | Vice Mayor Cox | And so we're not reaping revenues from those parking spots during that period of closure correct |
| 00:48:42.14 | Chad Hess | That is correct. Not from leasing it to cars. |
| 00:48:45.33 | Vice Mayor Cox | And the police department does have a bicycle return program, but the revenues collected or spent on that program are variable from year to year. Would you agree? |
| 00:48:58.22 | Chad Hess | They are variable, yes. Thank you. |
| 00:49:00.41 | Vice Mayor Cox | Thank you. |
| 00:49:00.79 | Chad Hess | Thank you. |
| 00:49:00.85 | Jill Hoffman | Thank you. |
| 00:49:00.87 | Chad Hess | Thank you. |
| 00:49:01.18 | Jill Hoffman | Thank you. |
| 00:49:01.21 | Vice Mayor Cox | Thank you. |
| 00:49:01.24 | Jill Hoffman | the |
| 00:49:01.28 | Vice Mayor Cox | the, |
| 00:49:01.36 | Jill Hoffman | that |
| 00:49:01.87 | Steven Woodside | Thank you. |
| 00:49:01.97 | Jill Hoffman | who's |
| 00:49:02.19 | Steven Woodside | Thank you. |
| 00:49:02.22 | Jill Hoffman | Thank you. |
| 00:49:02.24 | Steven Woodside | questions. Thank you councilmember Hoffman you have anything else. I did. |
| 00:49:06.54 | Jill Hoffman | you Do you know Director McCowan This fan moves, just so everybody knows. It does. Do you know, was there any analysis given as part of the Planning Commission review of |
| 00:49:13.68 | Linda Fosh | it. I'm sorry. |
| 00:49:14.51 | Unknown | Thank you. Um, |
| 00:49:23.52 | Jill Hoffman | the effect of this plan, including closing Tracy way in the entire fairy landing plan on how that would affect 1128. |
| 00:49:32.78 | Kevin McGowan | So I did not present that to the Planning Commission. I'll have to review the tapes to find out if there was some discussion of that item. |
| 00:49:43.67 | Jill Hoffman | And so again, There hasn't been a report made public that includes a calculation of whether or not this plan, including the overall ferry plan, And the closure of Tracy Way violates 1128. |
| 00:50:02.50 | Kevin McGowan | It hasn't been made public. That's correct. |
| 00:50:07.46 | Jill Hoffman | And. As we go back through the chronology that's up here on this slide, and thank you so much for chronologies are always very helpful. Um, We approved the. the overall plan on July 30th, but we did not include an analysis of how that plan would be affected by 1128 or how that plan would affect 1128. Correct. |
| 00:50:34.00 | Kevin McGowan | I'm not sure I understand the question. You asked earlier if we had made a report regarding the recent plan and whether it complied with 1128. We have done some work on that but haven't made it public at this point in time because there are some ambiguities associated with Ordinance 1128, specifically associated with what is considered as downtown parking. Those those number of parking spaces have to be included into the total percentage, and it's unclear of what that area is specifically. So there's there's a lot more detail that goes into it. And so that's why we haven't necessarily filed it, because it's not terribly clear of what 1128 is referencing. Mr. Mayor, if I may, I'd like to. |
| 00:51:25.03 | Chris Zapata | interject a little bit. Yes. Because I think you're skating into an area that may be a little tricky. On February the 2nd of this year, the city attorney sent an attorney client privilege letter to the city council regarding 1128 and some analysis. And on February, July the 30th, he sent a follow-up to that. So I think that if you're going to talk about that in open session, you might run into some problems. You probably want to ask advice from your attorney about whether or not you want to delve any deeper into this. That would be my advice to you, to the city attorney, to have that review. |
| 00:51:54.80 | Steven Woodside | That would be |
| 00:52:00.07 | Chris Zapata | Okay. |
| 00:52:00.15 | Steven Woodside | Okay. |
| 00:52:00.62 | Chris Zapata | Thank you. Any further on this? |
| 00:52:00.64 | Steven Woodside | Thank you. Any further on this? From Council Member Hoffman, was that part of the report? And I think you've already answered the question that it's not part of the report. It was not. So the question has been asked and answered on the record. |
| 00:52:12.10 | Jill Hoffman | Right. Other questions? if I could have just a second. And this is the first time that the city council has specifically addressed the closure of Tracy Way in the format of the motion to under the under the state ordinances in the whatever highway streets and highways. |
| 00:52:39.69 | Kevin McGowan | Yes, this is the first time I've had to deal with vacating a public roadway. |
| 00:52:43.96 | Jill Hoffman | Okay, thank you. Okay, thank you. |
| 00:52:46.86 | Steven Woodside | All right, we'll now take public comment on this topic. |
| 00:52:50.02 | Walfred Solorzano | Should we say the words open the public hearing and then go? |
| 00:52:55.11 | Steven Woodside | Thank you. |
| 00:52:56.36 | Walfred Solorzano | Thank you. |
| 00:52:56.38 | Steven Woodside | will open the public hearing officially and we will take public comment as part of the public hearing thank you city mr city clerk |
| 00:52:58.55 | Walfred Solorzano | Thank you. Thank you. |
| 00:53:04.97 | Walfred Solorzano | Okay. First person we have is Bonnie McGregor. It's a good thing. |
| 00:53:08.97 | Steven Woodside | Thank you. |
| 00:53:09.09 | Walfred Solorzano | Thank you. |
| 00:53:09.12 | Steven Woodside | I got a good one. |
| 00:53:09.19 | Walfred Solorzano | Gregor? |
| 00:53:09.52 | Steven Woodside | Thank you. |
| 00:53:18.06 | Bonnie McGregor | Once again, Bonnie McGregor, a long-time Sausalito resident. I'm a little surprised that we're having this level of detail of questions coming up at this stage of the game. When the whole project was approved several months ago, including the vacating of Tracy Wade, And I had a bunch of funny comments to make about this, but I can't find my notes in my fancy phone. So I'll do it off the cuff. I do agree that what we currently have looks a heck of a lot better than it did in the 40s when I lived here. We have railroad tracks, kind of ratty looking docks, and some rather scuzzy people hanging around because it was a commercial boat area. But it's time to bring this area into the 21st century, which this project will do. Closing Tracy Way is a vital part of that. Thank you. |
| 00:54:12.59 | Unknown | Thank you. |
| 00:54:12.64 | Bonnie McGregor | Thank you. I currently walk Tracy Way frequently because I like the trees that are coming over the pathway. And it's less crowded than walking down Bridgeway and it keeps me out of the sun. So to see that expanded, I can certainly see that visitors, politicians, merchants, residents can enjoy that as a rest spot for reading, watching the vistas that are available, and just plain relaxing. |
| 00:54:32.47 | Unknown | and just, |
| 00:54:40.95 | Bonnie McGregor | This is something we don't really have downtown now. So I think it would add a nice way, a walkable downtown aspect to town. I've lived here on and off three times, accumulating over 40 years. When I was here in the fourth grade, which is right after World War II, downtown area was even grimmer than I just described. As a little girl with my lunch pail walking home all the way to Second Street, I saw quite a bit that I still remember. And it wasn't all that pretty. So I'm hoping that we can get through this. And the only thing left to do tonight, as far as I'm concerned, is to sign that resolution to get this project going. We're already into September. And if you recall, in the last time we got together, we were talking about having this finished before the rain's gone. Look where we are now, September 3rd already. Thank you very much. Let's get going. |
| 00:55:38.51 | Steven Woodside | Thank you, Ms. McGregor. Peter Van Meter. Mr. Van Meter. |
| 00:55:50.28 | Peter Van Meter | Good evening. This issue has been debated, discussed, gotten public comment, been ad nauseum over the last month after month after month. You approve the plan and included the closing of Tracy way. and a pedestrian promenade. This is a technical detail, according to the Highway Code. If we hadn't had an administrative glitch, this would have already been done. decided by you. Back on July 30th. So please take care of it. Now regarding 1128, even in the most adverse way of interpreting 1128, the 1000 to 1500 square feet A parking area in these spaces that you'd be taking away on Tracy way, are de minimis. compared to the hundreds of thousands of square feet that would be the denominator in that calculation. So the 5% rule with 1128, this removal of these spaces would have virtually no effect whatsoever on that computation. So you may want to get a report sometime, but that will be the answer. So, I think you can just rely on that tonight to move this forward. Thank you. |
| 00:56:59.87 | Walfred Solorzano | Gail Schell. |
| 00:57:08.76 | Gail Shell | Hello, Council. I'm Gail Shell. It's nice to see you again. I've been following this pretty much the beginning, or at least the last year, and I too thought we had moved beyond this. But I guess I'm here tonight just because I want to remind you of all the people who have showed up. at all the meetings and told you they want this. And so a little detail as a man just referenced, let's do it. Let's get it done. You've got a lot of people behind you who want it. Thank you. |
| 00:57:37.77 | Walfred Solorzano | Hank Baker. |
| 00:57:46.11 | Unknown | Hank Baker, a resident and business owner in downtown and a member of the EDAC. The no birds are at it again. attempting to derail Tracy way closure with incorrect information. If anything else, their misinformed supporters will kill Sausalito's golden goose. Tracy Way is used for bicycle parking from May through October every year and not available for vehicle parking. During the high season, Tracy way contributes no parking revenue. In the off season, Sassio has excess parking capacity with little need for the 11 spots available on Tracy way. The $60,000 in annual lost parking revenue cited by the haycitycouncil.com website emails is significantly incorrect. Their suggested $300,000 in annual loss revenue due to parklets is equally a highly suspect calculation. We are all entitled to our own opinions. We are not entitled to our own facts. With the addition of the 47 spaces in the South of Yacht Harbor lot, Downtown will have more parking capacity than in the past. The downtown parking committee is presently working with the city on parking recommendations that will include new parking equipment that will both dramatically increase downtown parking capacity and parking revenue. Pending city council approval to acquire this new equipment. We hope to have many of these recommendations in place by next summer. Finally, yes, the city is using parking revenue funds to balance an already slimmed down budget. So instead, let's all proactively spend our time and energy to support new ideas to increase city revenue that will not only fund annual operating costs but also fund the approximate 50 million dollars in unfunded pension cost and deferred public works projects that will be needed over the next 10 years. City Council members, please stay on course regarding the approval of the ferry landing project and adopt the resolution to close Tracy way makes us lead to a people place the evolved ferry landing Plaza will make this a beautiful community. |
| 00:59:50.47 | Steven Woodside | Amen. |
| 00:59:50.88 | Walfred Solorzano | Thank you. |
| 00:59:53.49 | Steven Woodside | Mr. Oman |
| 00:59:58.49 | Walfred Solorzano | And Jacques Oman is going to be followed by Adrian Britton. |
| 01:00:05.49 | Jack Ullman | I've been a Jack Ullman resident for 54 years. This summer, I was in Nene with my wife, and we were in the downtown area around the Maison Caille and the arena there, wandering the streets that had absolutely no automobiles, and we felt good and calm, and everyone seemed really happy there. My relatives there explained to me that the town for 20 years had been working on removing cars from downtown and dealing with all the various problems of parking and so on, and they resolved it, and it was absolutely beautiful. And it made us realize that in Sausalito, There's a lot of tension when you walk around Salcelito, particularly around the Vina del Mar area. The pavements are varying. You have curbs to trip over, and it's just sort of a mess. And that tension really was a concern. And so for many years, many of us have worked on the dialogue and design work to take care of this. And we now have created a plan that would create a wonderful pedestrian downtown. Vacating Tracy Way is an essential component of that. And so let's do it for heaven's sakes. |
| 01:01:27.79 | Walfred Solorzano | Okay, Adrian. |
| 01:01:30.68 | Adrian Brinton | Adrian Brinton, South Slater resident. Thank you. Yeah, I just want to reiterate kind of what everybody's been saying. This is a technical step in the process of an approved project that has been getting five to nothing votes through the entire process. So let's get this done. Let's finish it. on the parking, you know, A huge amount of effort has gone into the parking and the situation on parking on this. There's a lot of changes happening. There's a deal on the table today to lease 47 spaces in the Harbor parking lot that are massively underused. That is such a huge opportunity. And by adding that we have a net gain in parking, even taking the bike parking into account, we gained six spaces net on our peak days and even more on the non-peak days. So we can do this. You know, there's a lot of, you know, there's a lot of Looking at one parking spot and really looking at every single parking spot. We got to see the bigger picture. How are we going to fill the parking lots? We're going to fill the parking lots by making a place people want to go where they want to spend time. know think of the historical society and we've got jack tracy you know, is named after Tracy is named after Jack Tracy, the founder of the historical society. We have the ice house leading straight into Tracy way. What a great opportunity, right? Could you imagine a Historical Society event leading into Tracy Way, showing the entire history of that area from the trains dropping off, you know, to it being the Jack Tracy Memorial bike parking lot that it is today, and then becoming a beautiful pedestrian promenade. You know, what a great opportunity. I would go downtown for that. I think a lot of people would as well. So let's get this done. Thank you. |
| 01:03:04.43 | Walfred Solorzano | Kristen and Wolfslegel. |
| 01:03:08.70 | Walfred Solorzano | I probably mispronounced that. Christian Walsh Legos. |
| 01:03:15.91 | Kristen Wolfslegel | Hello, good evening. I have not been at one of these meetings in quite some time, but I decided to come this evening first to tell you all that I am, I admire all of you deeply for the detailed consideration that we've been given this topic. And certainly due diligence is critical. for something like this. And I'm not claiming to have all the details, but I trust that you and city staff do have them. So I'm here today to just chime in and offer my perspective. It was about 12 years ago when I moved to South Salido and was appointed to the sustainability Commission At that time, we were discussing revitalized ferry landing. And at that point, it was... OSBT-Karen Hollweg, $11 million of federal funding that was directed to the golden gate bridge district for a complete rebuild of the ferry landing it also included the land side improvement project that we are largely discussing today. And, um... After considerable back and forth, that funding was forfeited and the project did not go forward. And earlier this year, for the first time since I have lived in this town ferry service, had to stop for a period of time due to failed infrastructure. And I can't help but think what, if that would have happened if we had had the opportunity to rebuild the landing. Now, again, I recognize that we're talking about land side improvements today, but I just wanna bring up a theme of, just being careful not to risk losing federal, losing the grant funding that we have for this project and not to risk losing the opportunity and the momentum that's been underway, lest we repeat what happened 12 years ago. Thank you very much. |
| 01:05:09.48 | Walfred Solorzano | Linda Fosh followed by Fred Moore. |
| 01:05:17.97 | Linda Fosh | I think it's all been said, but I just want to note that in the 40 years that I've lived here, they've seen downtown Sausalito. become more and more focus on visitors as opposed to residents. And I think that turning Sausalito into more of a walking community. really helps our town. This proposal is not just about reclaiming our public spaces. It's about creating a downtown that works for us. And I encourage you to vote for it and move it along. |
| 01:05:49.46 | Walfred Solorzano | Fred Moore, followed by Alice Moore. |
| 01:05:56.38 | Fred Moore | evening again. I don't want to repeat what everybody said, but I encourage you to vote yes tonight and allow the Ferry Landing Project to move forward. I think the Traceway Promenade is an integral part of that. I think it will be a great enhancement amenity for the residents to enjoy, like most people have mentioned already. And I've sent you various emails over the last couple days expressing some other opinions. I hope you had a chance to read those. And I'll just kind of summarize with one of them that after your yes vote tonight, which hopefully occurs and the project going forward, I look forward to seeing all the holiday cards of Saucelito residents enjoying the Waterfront Plaza. pedestrian promenade with their family and friends while eating ice cream. Because I'll guarantee you, I'll be down there with my grandson, and he'll be on our holiday card. Thank you. |
| 01:06:48.50 | Alice Merrill | Hello, everybody. I'm Alice Merrill. I am all for Tracy Way, staying as it is. Um, it. Partly because it's so, you guys are struggling to justify what this is. And in the first place, I thought it was already done. I thought it was a done deal that you had taken Tracy way away and added. it as a promenade and a place for people to play their guitars, but if it's not actually the case, So now you're asking for ways to justify it. So, um, I know that people think that I don't want anything to change in Zaslito, which is not entirely true. I've seen a great deal of change in my day. Um, Uh, There is a loss of revenue. There was parking for bikes. Where's the bike parking going to go? That's going to go. in the lot one where more parking is going to go away Is it possible that that Saucyut Harbor thing, I've heard Is it eight years that it's good and then it's no longer good? Is that true or is it in perpetuity? Um, So, Okay. We have a beautiful community here. People are saying, let's make this a beautiful community. It is a beautiful community. It's a wonderful place to live. People say it constantly. Aren't we lucky? Isn't it gorgeous here? It's just a wonderful, wonderful place to be a part of. With all the odd birds and all the, you know, the hill people and the waterfront people and the boats and everything about it is really a cool place. It's different than any other community and maybe except maybe Point Reyes Station. In Miranda. So, |
| 01:08:48.80 | Bonnie McGregor | Ooh. |
| 01:08:50.96 | Walfred Solorzano | I bet what people? |
| 01:09:00.14 | Babette McDougall | Thank you. I don't disagree with anything that's been said either for or against. There are two points that I would like to make. First of all, if our July transcripts were capable of being viewed in total, you would know that even on July 15, I asked for an audible message. summary of just exactly you were talking about with regard to Tracy Way because on the one hand Early on, there was this expectation set that it was going to come up for a public... referendum. And quietly, we're sort of dedacting, adapting something, something with the budget, sort of quietly making a space for just getting on with Tracy Wade. Now, I'm not opposed to changes, however, Speaking from the point of view of a historian, someone who really loves supporting the Sauslio Historical Society, The truth of the matter is Jack Tracy's name is relevant to this town. It's the first authoritative tome to actually be written correctly. In other words, it's not a fictional account. So. That matters. The other thing that I would just like to call your attention to is what Wallace Stegner, if any of you enjoy reading about. great authors. Wallace Stegner wrote something about a sense of place. Now, Alice and I did not rehearse this, but I will tell you that it is exactly this unique sense of place that we so far enjoy. and would like to continue to enjoy. And part of that has to do with celebrating our past. We should not be selective that it's OK to make a big stink about one part of town, that that's old town, and then not make another stink about just summarily removing a reference to Jack Tracy and all that Tracy way is meant to represent. So I would suggest that the Sloss Little Historical Society be contacted. and that the record of when Tracy Way was in fact dedicated in the early 90s be revisited before we completely redesign it out of existence. Thank you. |
| 01:11:03.43 | Walfred Solorzano | I'm not sure. Sean Devitt? Oh, Sharna Brockett. There we go. |
| 01:11:11.41 | Unknown | Thank you. |
| 01:11:16.12 | Sharna Brockett | So I think this is like the fifth or sixth time that we've all showed up around this. I think it started in December. And here we are. And I'm so excited for this. Um, Thank you so much for sticking with it and I hope you, you know, go forward with adopting the resolution it's supposed to be a formality a procedural vote. This has been a really long journey I was looking through the public comments and the letters and we've had. You know, I know it's definitely probably close to 200 comments that have wanted, that have expressed support for this over the last six months. And a lot of people are showing up again today because we're very excited about this. We want this to see, see this go over the finish line. Um, I just want to say, you know, it's so much easier to tear things down to then to build something. And, um, You know, there's so many people committed here, the local professionals group that have just shown up time and time again in support of building this. So let's get this thing done. I'm super excited to enjoy Tracy way. I lived in Europe for a lot of my twenties. That was a while ago, I'll admit, but. You know, there's just a lot of beautiful streets that they've closed down that you can walk along. There's cafes, there's just community. And I think. These things are important, especially as you know, we've all been reading in the newspaper that people are suffering from loneliness. There's a loneliness epidemic. So let's create. A downtown where people can be together, where there's benches and they can come together and enjoy the space. So please get this over the finish line. Thank you so much for your diligence on this over the last six months. |
| 01:12:55.36 | Walfred Solorzano | All right, we have Senator Bushmaker. |
| 01:13:03.65 | Sandra Bushmaker | Hi everybody. Um, Let me start with saying in 1999, I believe that was the year we dedicated Tracy Way to honor Jack Tracy. Jack Tracy, as many of you know, and some of you don't, wrote moments in time. He was the founder and first director of the Historical Society. He was a leading proponent of historic preservation and was responsible for the designation of the original business area as a certified historical district, one of 12 in California. Jack attended UCSF. He lived in Sausalito for 40 years before his death in 1992. He was named Citizen of the Year in 1977, and was a leader of the restoration of the fountain at Pena del Mar. and construction of the gazebo at Dunphy Park. He was a great citizen. Let us not forget Jack Tracy. I saw nowhere in the paperwork. Any further questions? a tribute to Jack Tracy. but rather just an erasure of Tracy Way. And I think we owe it to this citizen to honor him, in this proposal. And I would like to see some sort of tribute to him. and remembrance of him as a great citizen of Sausalito. Thank you. |
| 01:14:21.43 | Walfred Solorzano | Okay, Scott Thornburg. |
| 01:14:26.78 | Scott Thornburg | Good evening, council. I hope you all enjoyed your August break. I just wanted to say that it makes me sad that some people can't see the vision of what something could be because they are just, you know, happy with the way things are. And I too think Sausalito is wonderful and I think it can be better. And I think this would make it better. I would encourage you. not to settle for what's good enough, but to believe in what's possible and move forward with the closure of Tracy Way. I really would encourage you also not to prioritize parking over pedestrians. By moving this forward tonight, we can really turn Tracy Way back over to the community. and create a space that we're all proud of. not just parking spaces. And I also want to acknowledge some of the comments that have been said While it wasn't necessarily included in the plans, I do think that as part of your council direction tonight, you could encourage that we retain Tracy way as part of the name for a new promenade. I think that would be really well received by the community. So I would just encourage you to consider that as a part of your plans this evening. Thank you. Doug Hill. |
| 01:15:37.94 | Walfred Solorzano | Thank you. |
| 01:15:44.13 | Doug Hill | Hello, Council. Thank you for your time. Sausalito has an amazing world-class beauty. It has world-class citizens. It deserves a world-class plaza. If you build it, they will come. Jack Tracy can be memorialized. And I think he would look down upon a thriving plaza with its citizens, recreating, taking their time and enjoying their beauty. Thank you very much. Please pass the bill. |
| 01:16:09.46 | Walfred Solorzano | We have Daniel Daneloff. |
| 01:16:20.19 | Daniel Daneloff | Evening. I, someone's already suggested it, but it seems to me that Jack Tracy's memory was more than a street, and perhaps the plaza should be named after him, and I think that would solve the issue with the historical society and the, the, those people that are against the project, and I, I totally approve of the project, the Ferry Plaza project. Thank you. |
| 01:16:50.11 | Walfred Solorzano | No further public comments. |
| 01:16:52.31 | Steven Woodside | Okay, we will close public comment. I'm gonna bring it back up here for discussion. Maybe just... Thank you. I think we should have a motion on the table to approve the resolution that's attached to the staff report. And if there's a second, then we can begin discussion on that. |
| 01:17:09.84 | Walfred Solorzano | One moment, do we have to, City Attorney, do we have to close the public hearing too? |
| 01:17:14.06 | Steven Woodside | We will close the public hearing, bring it back. Thank you very much, City Clerk, for dotting the I's and crossing the T's. Bring it back up to the dais for discussion and action. I'll put a motion on the floor to approve the resolution of the City of Sausalito, approving the public right-of-way vacation of Tracy Way between El Portal and Anchor Street, which is attached to the staff report. What? |
| 01:17:32.13 | Councilmember Blaustein | Thank you. |
| 01:17:32.16 | Steven Woodside | Thank you. |
| 01:17:32.25 | Councilmember Blaustein | Thank you. |
| 01:17:32.30 | Steven Woodside | you Okay, motion's made in second and it's on the floor. Is there any? Discussion and please Councilmember Boston. |
| 01:17:40.87 | Councilmember Blaustein | Thank you. I appreciate all of the public comment we received and have received consistently on this topic again and again. And I understand that this is a procedural measure to finalize our prior approval of this project. So of course I'm supportive of that. I also really want to honor the consideration of Jack Tracy. So I would welcome and would be open to an idea or discussions for how we might do that as part of the direction we provide in, in approving the resolution. I'm not sure if this is the appropriate, if it's separate direction, but that, that, that would be my comment. Obviously I'm fully supportive of the fair landing improvements, and I'm really excited to see a plaza in our downtown. |
| 01:18:21.79 | Steven Woodside | Thank you, Councilmember Blasting, Councilmember Hoffman. |
| 01:18:25.98 | Jill Hoffman | Thank you. You know, I'm happy that we're here as well. I disagree that this is a pro forma rubber stamp, especially when we're talking about closing the city street. This is another step in the process that we talked about when we approve any type of public project, Just like we did for all four of the public parks that we did, including MLK, Dumpy, Southview. and Robin Sweeney. There are edits and additions every step of the way, and this is one of those steps in the way. The other thing that I'm really very, very concerned about is that there we don't have the calculation of how this plan overall affects ordinance 1128 and especially given our current. liability issues, our current insurance issues related to lawsuits. I don't think that we should take any action until we have a public discussion of whether or not this plan violates 1128. And I am very concerned that we as a council are going to and as a staff have not made this information public. So I would ask that before we take action in order to safeguard ourselves against any type of challenge that we make sure that based on the best information that we have. publicly and privately that this plan together does not violate, um, ordinance 1128. And there's also another aspect that I don't believe this plan has addressed that also is covered by 1128 because I looked at it today. is that V and Del Mar Park is also covered by 1128. That hasn't been part of any of our discussion. And I'm disappointed that that hasn't been part of our discussion because we've all been working on this. for years and I myself worked on a subgroup for at least 18 months on this to bring it to fruition. So section two of 1128 specifically says, |
| 01:20:30.10 | Jill Hoffman | The city shall retain ownership of Gabrielson Park and being a Del Mar Park. They shall not sell, lease or otherwise dispose of the parks. They shall not be changed from their presently existing conditions And they must... be maintained in the presently existing condition without voter approval. We have not been provided with the legal analysis on that either. And I think, unfortunately, That's something that was missed up until this meeting. So I also have to take issue with the claims that no one's downtown. I go downtown every Friday night for Jazz by the Bay. And that park is packed. And that park is packed by almost everybody sitting in this room because I'm looking out over the room and I see them down there every Friday night. I also go downtown during the summer from April to November. Well, let's just call it October. through, you know, I can tell you that there are lots and lots of people downtown. So I don't disagree that we need to upgrade that area. I'm fully supportive of that. I voted for the plan. last week, but that doesn't prevent me from bringing up and addressing issues as I see them. in my responsibility as a city council member and ensuring that the actions we take are are legally defensible. Um, I do not want to have, uh, an unintended consequence with regard to this plan when we can make some minor adjustments now to safeguard us later. And I think that would be imprudent and irresponsible for this council to take that kind of action tonight. What I would suggest is that We direct our staff and our city attorney to prepare a staff report that includes this information on 1128 with an analysis of how we might adjust. the current plan if it doesn't comply with 1120 that we adjust the plan and whatever revisions we need to do it and that it come back at our next city council meeting for a closed session for that discussion and that we put it on the agenda for the September 17 city council meeting. So I would suggest that that's the prudent and responsible course of action for the city council. Thank you. |
| 01:22:44.50 | Steven Woodside | Any other comments, vice mayor? |
| 01:22:47.10 | Vice Mayor Cox | Sure. Thank you. Um, Thank you. I actually believe that we already approved the closure of Tracy way as part of our approval of the ferry land side improvement project in on July 30, 2024. No one has asked us to reconsider that decision. At that time, we asked staff to return to us with the required materials to consider vacating Tracy Way between El Portal and Anchor Street, The action needed to carry out the previously approved ferry landside improvement project. In advance of this meeting, I too was worried about the implications of ordinance 1128 on the proposed vacation of Tracy way. I asked I did the research and then asked the questions this evening to make it clear that ordinance 1128 was adopted in December 1997 at that time. Tracy Way was not a part of Lot 1. It is questionable to me today, looking at ordinance 15.20.010, which defines our municipal parking lots, whether Tracy Way is even a part of parking lot one today. In any event, it certainly was not part of lot one at the time that ordinance 1128 was adopted and 1128 specifically applies to according to section one, municipal parking lots one, two, three, and four. And that's the extent. Yes, it does address Viña del Mar, but this very landside improvement plan does not affect Viña del Mar Park. And so I think the whole 1128 challenge is a red herring. and something that does not merit further research or discussion. And so I'm prepared to Um, adopt this resolution endorsing the action taken by the Planning Commission. I, like Councilmember Blaustein, would like to In addition to adopting this resolution to give direction to staff to undertake whatever process is necessary to rename Tracy Way, to Tracy Way Promenade or Tracy Way Plaza, whichever may be appropriate. Thank you. |
| 01:25:11.98 | Steven Woodside | Thank you, Vice Mayor. So I agree with that direction about preserving the name Tracy, the Jack Tracy way, Jack Tracy, the Eastern Promenade, Jack Tracy Promenade, I hope we'll do that. And so thank you, I'd like to call the question. |
| 01:25:26.62 | Jill Hoffman | I have a follow-up question first before you call the question. And this is to... Vice Mayor Cox, are you rendering a legal opinion tonight that This plan does not violate 1128 because that seems to be what you are saying, but that information has not been made public. |
| 01:25:41.86 | Vice Mayor Cox | I am not rendering a legal opinion. I happen to be a lawyer well qualified to issue a legal opinion, but I'm speaking tonight as a council member who undertook her due diligence which happens to be backstopped, that I am a municipal lawyer well familiar with these types of issues, to satisfy myself that we are not violating Ordinance 1128 so that I could vote in favor of this action that we're taking this evening. |
| 01:26:07.31 | Jill Hoffman | May I respond to that, Mayor? I, too, am an attorney. I'm not a municipal law attorney, but I certainly understand creating legal issues that that may lead to litigation at a time where we're losing our insurance coverage because of the high litigation costs that we have. I also understand that there's some information that has not been made public that is not consistent with the conversation up here this evening. And I, do not agree that we should proceed down this path until that information is made public. |
| 01:26:35.86 | Steven Woodside | Thank you for your comments. So I will call the question. All in favor of the motion on the table, say aye. |
| 01:26:42.51 | Councilmember Blaustein | Bye. |
| 01:26:43.51 | Steven Woodside | Those opposed? No. Motion carries three to one. Thank you very much. We will now move on to the first business item of the evening. That's item five a, adopt a resolution approving an encroachment agreement for the location of 19, a 19 seat parklet and new signage, balcony walls, lights, and awnings that were projected to the public right away and authorization to serve Alcoholic beverages in the public right of way, 18, 13, 15, and 17 Bridgeway. Let's give everyone a moment. In fact, let's just take a five-minute bio break. We will reassemble at 8 to 30. |
| 01:27:16.66 | Kevin McGowan | be with. |
| 01:27:25.68 | Steven Woodside | Now we get to hear you. I'm sorry again about the other night where we made you stay all the way to the end. |
| 01:27:29.08 | Neil Toft | All the way to the end. |
| 01:27:30.48 | Steven Woodside | No problem. But welcome back if you'd kindly. begin this item item five a adopt a resolution approving an encouragement agreement for the location of a 19 seat parklet signage balcony wall lights awnings projecting the right away and authorization to serve alcohol beverages in the public right away at 13 1517 bridgeway. Please go right ahead. |
| 01:27:50.99 | Neil Toft | Okay. Good evening, Mayor Sobieski, members of City Council. I'm Neil Toft, a principal planner here with Community Development and Economic Development Department. And this past July, the Planning Commission approved an amended design review permit to a project approved last year to allow a new second story edition and exterior modifications to the restaurant, commonly known as fish and chips. The project included, among other permits, a use permit allowing expansion of the restaurant use to provide food and beverage service on the new second level. As now revised, the project would primarily lower the existing first floor level to the sidewalk. Um, and this is how it's proposed on this plan, and in doing so, This revised project would eliminate the need for an entry landing including a wheelchair ramp. and seating and steps originally approved to be located on the sidewalk in front of the building facade. This will allow more room for pedestrian passage. and the retention of the street lamp and street trees along the sidewalk and relocation replacement of the street lamp actually proved me Quite. complicated after that approval. the use would continue to utilize the three tables and six chairs for sidewalk dining along the front of the building as approved in 2006. The project does not significantly modify the approved floor layout. or the interior seating. The revised project does include some additional minor modifications to the exterior facade. And you can put up the approved plans that are proposed. uh, including tramps and windows above the doors and fixed wooden shutters above the second floor. No changes were proposed relative to the exterior finishes, colors, or lighting. And the resulting project now includes an encroachment agreement request for a new 19 seat parklet. New signage. the balcony and wall lights and awnings that would project into the public right of way. Now, in terms of the background, as we outlined in the staff report, this project has had an expansive Um, the basically the project to expand and refresh this site. has gone through an extensive review process going back to 2017. and many hearings before the Planning Commission since that time. and I'm not gonna walk you through the whole background, It is worth noting that the most recent iteration of the plan that was reviewed last year, actually composed of two different somewhat challenging issues trying to address how to get the um access to the first level, which is 18 inches above the sidewalk. And the applicant had proposed initially to put a platform on the sidewalk that would contain a ramp. outdoor seating and stairway access. to the front and in place of having a parklet would actually move the sidewalk around the platform. They also did provide the option of putting in a parklet. but that also included a small ramp and front entry landing and the sidewalk. So you had a limited, sidewalk between the parklet and the entry ramp. And I do have those plans available if you'd like to view them. But I'm trying to be careful not to confuse issues too much here. So the plan that you're looking at, which was, proved. was ultimately approved on a five zero vote. two options that were looked at. were very challenging. The commission was very split on which options. They both had pros and cons. And in fact, they voted in favor of the parklet option on a three to two vote. But now with this design, bringing the main level down to the sidewalk. the Commission did approve this design. unanimously. So the matter before the city council at this time is approval. of an encroachment agreement for the parklet the facade projections into the right of way. This is per Sausalito Municipal Code 10.56030C. and approval of the service of alcohol beverages in the right-of-way including the park light and the sidewalk. tables, and this is per Section C 10.44220C5. Now, as discussed in the staff report, we find Staff finds a revised project by lowering this floor first floor level resolves many of the problems that were proposed or presented by the two options. it really presents a superior solution to that design. in regards to the service of alcohol. And right away, we note that the use currently has a permit for sidewalk dining. and a permit for service of alcohol drinks. the Planning Commission's approval of the CUP to expand the use was inclusive of the outside dining and the park life. So included the tables and chairs and the parklet. So staff has Thank you. provided a draft encroachment agreement requiring that the sales of alcohol for outdoor consumption and at 10 o'clock That's consistent with the current approved permit for alcohol service. And as such, all required eating and drinking activities outdoors can cease by 1030 as required under the approved conditional use permit. The draft encroachment also includes operational standards where sidewalk dining and encroachment excuse me, sidewalk dining and to ensure clean and orderly condition and safe passage of the public. And those are standard that go with standard conditions that go with encroachment agreements. in the previous council meeting there was some concern raised that The plan includes the tables on the sidewalk along with the parklet. and that the service of alcohol would potentially increase crowds and queuing in the area. And as sidewalk dining and sidewalks can't be very crowded, In that area, it was suggested that the tables and chairs be removed. from the sidewalk as the parklet can provide for outdoor dining. Now staff, we recognize that Sidewalks around the downtown can become very, particularly due to the combination of tourism and good weather. We did review the project relative to the draft Parklet and outdoor dining. program. which simply states alcohol services allowable with an ABC permit and with city council approval. This is in line with our municipal code. Um, Thank you. As we've noted in the staff report, the use as enjoyed service of alcohol consumption at the tables and chairs for several years now. The applicants are not proposing any change to the number of tables and chairs currently provided on the sidewalk. Further, the draft program allows sidewalk seating in concert with parklets As long as the tables and chairs have at least five feet of clearance. to the curb. and at least a four feet clear path of travel. So that's path of travel to get around any obstacles like trees and light poles. So my brief survey, And the project certainly provides that and well more than five feet of clearance to the curb. My brief survey indicates many of the existing parklets along Caledonian Street and in the downtown also are complemented with tables and chairs. And I do have some photos of those sites. You're probably very familiar. with that. So while these tables and chairs might constrict the flow a bit more than if they were not present, The applicants have been very insistent with staff that both the retention of the sidewalk dining and the allowance consumption of alcohol service for the outdoors is critical to the financial viability of this project and the proposed use. And I certainly can't. speak to their financial pro forma, but I would say I would. venture to to Gaston. By lowering this floor, that part of the project, redoing the foundation, loaning the floor is certainly going to be a sizable expenditure for this project. And it does result in a much better presentation. to the street and the sidewalk. So, Conclusion, we recommend the council adopt the resolution that we've drafted approving the encroachment agreement for the new parklet. and related improvements. within the public right-of-way, abutting 813 through 817 Bridgeway. including permission for sale of alcoholic beverages for consumption, in the public right of way. And with that, do you have any questions? So. |
| 01:37:21.13 | Steven Woodside | Thank you. Questions, please. my spare you want to start nope i guess i just have a question uh if you if we have uh that issue with the table and chairs on the sidewalk. it's a conditional use permit, right? So we can only, in some future date, if there's some big issue with congestion or jam or whatnot, there's an ability to modify that, I presume. |
| 01:37:43.59 | Neil Toft | Yes, that's correct. There's both a conditional use permit and it is the encroachment agreement as well. So you have sort of double jeopardy of control over those issues? Thank you. That was my only question. |
| 01:37:55.01 | Steven Woodside | Thank you. If there are no other questions, we can go to public comment. Public comment, please, Mr. C. Sorry, I'm very sorry, Councilmember Hoffman, I missed your hand. |
| 01:38:05.59 | Jill Hoffman | No, thank you. |
| 01:38:05.63 | Steven Woodside | No, thank you. |
| 01:38:06.77 | Jill Hoffman | I'm just trying to find in the presentation a schematic of where how the tables against the building where they're going to because I'm looking at the schematic there's three big windows with doors all across the front I just don't I just don't see a schematic where it shows where the windows are and where the tables are do I |
| 01:38:26.48 | Neil Toft | The best, I think the best one is a ground floor diagram. |
| 01:38:27.65 | Jill Hoffman | Sure. |
| 01:38:31.85 | Neil Toft | Can you tell me what slide is? And I'm hoping to get it up. I'm getting a nod from Maria over there. |
| 01:38:32.22 | Jill Hoffman | Can you tell me what's the light? |
| 01:38:43.10 | Walfred Solorzano | I'll stop any minute. Thank you. |
| 01:38:49.92 | Neil Toft | Oh, it's a big file, by the way. |
| 01:38:52.81 | Unknown | at that. |
| 01:38:54.63 | Neil Toft | It is. |
| 01:38:55.44 | Unknown | Okay, yeah, let's take a while a little bit. |
| 01:39:00.47 | Neil Toft | It is a bit unwieldy. I've tried to compress it. |
| 01:39:04.67 | Jeffrey Chase | Yeah, I know it's hard. |
| 01:39:07.25 | Neil Toft | Thank you. |
| 01:39:08.65 | Jill Hoffman | Please don't show the tape. |
| 01:39:09.90 | Vice Mayor Cox | Well, I do think there's an excerpt in the staff report itself. |
| 01:39:19.91 | Neil Toft | But essentially. |
| 01:39:21.01 | Jill Hoffman | Oh, wait, hold on. I think I found it. |
| 01:39:23.56 | Neil Toft | Yeah. So if you go down to. |
| 01:39:25.19 | Jill Hoffman | I got it. No, I got it. It's ground floor plan and it's slide six on the presentation that we have attached to our, so. Okay, I think that's clear, I think. Okay, thank you. Unless somebody else has got a better question. |
| 01:39:39.23 | Unknown | Okay. |
| 01:39:40.85 | Neil Toft | I think you've passed it, but it's on there. And they fit between the... There's three. Thank you. There's three doors and they fit between three of the doors and ones at the end, at the north end. |
| 01:40:00.31 | Jill Hoffman | Yeah, that's what I'm looking at. Okay, thank you. For anybody watching, it's slide six of the presentations. |
| 01:40:09.81 | Steven Woodside | There are no other questions. If there are no other questions, then let's take public comment on this item. Mr. City Clerk. |
| 01:40:19.41 | Walfred Solorzano | So we have Babette McDougall. |
| 01:40:28.35 | Babette McDougall | Good evening and thank you. I just wanted to say that I appreciate all the diligent efforts that have gone into refining this particular venture, but I would still like to encourage you to move forward with it. This is one of our most popular spots along Bridgeway for locals and visitors alike. What's not to love about this? Thank you. |
| 01:40:50.24 | Steven Woodside | No further public comment? I think Ms. Merrill wants to comment. |
| 01:41:02.09 | Alice Merrill | I just have a little bit of history for you guys. That place was built when I was a teenager, And we did not have any garbage cans in Sausalito. And suddenly we had a takeout restaurant and there was garbage everywhere. And Sausalito put up garbage cans. I remember that. |
| 01:41:28.36 | Walfred Solorzano | All right, no further public comment. |
| 01:41:30.76 | Steven Woodside | Okay, well, nothing online. Then we will close public comment and any discussion here on the dais. Vice mayor? |
| 01:41:38.00 | Vice Mayor Cox | As reflected in the staff report, I did ask to pull this item. And I have spoken with Mr. Lapper, thank you for being here, and apologized. I did not realize it would not be heard in July when it was pulled. But our meeting ran late, and so we ended up moving it to today, and I apologize for that delay. My concern was primarily, you know, I was involved as a planning commissioner in initially drafting our parklet ordinance, which had this constraint that if a business has a parklet, Thank you. outdoor dining next to the building would not be allowed. And I forgot until I saw it in the staff report that the provision unless it was shown that the five foot clearance can be maintained at all times and I also had met with architect Michael Rex a couple of years ago with a prior plan and was not clear on the revisions that had been made between that prior plan and the current plan. And so with the current plan, With the work done by Mr. Toft and Mr. Toft, thank you so much for your really thorough staff report and analysis of the issues of concern. I am prepared to move that we adopt a resolution of the Sausalito City Council approving an encroachment agreement. for the location of 19-seat parklet and new signage, balcony, wall lights, and awnings that would project into the public right-of-way and authorization to serve alcoholic beverages in the public right-of-way at 813-815-817 Bridgeway, Fish and Chips. |
| 01:43:24.02 | Jill Hoffman | THE END OF THE END OF THE |
| 01:43:24.34 | Steven Woodside | Okay. The motion's made and seconded. Is there any discussion? We'll call the question all in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed motion carries unanimously 40 zero. |
| 01:43:31.19 | Jill Hoffman | Thank you. |
| 01:43:31.21 | Vice Mayor Cox | Bye. |
| 01:43:35.36 | Steven Woodside | Congratulations, Mr. Lappert. |
| 01:43:36.88 | Vice Mayor Cox | And thank you, Mr. Lappert, for everything you do for our town. |
| 01:43:40.97 | Steven Woodside | Now we'll move on to Adam here to surf. |
| 01:43:43.53 | Vice Mayor Cox | serve. |
| 01:43:43.97 | Councilmember Blaustein | Ma'am. |
| 01:43:44.44 | Steven Woodside | Item 5B, adopt a public official reimbursement policy required by California Code 53232.2. Mr. City Manager, are you giving this? The city attorney will introduce this item and speak to it, and then we'll answer questions. So acting city attorney Todd. |
| 01:44:00.93 | Todd Leachlin | Thank you, Mayor and Council. The item before you. is the adoption of A reimbursement policy. This is required by state law, AB 1234. that enacted government code section 53232.2. And it requires the city to formally adopt a policy stating what expenses are allowed as necessary And that's in quotes. in performing. their official duties. and to set standard amounts for those expenses. You have some proposed amendments before you. And With that, I leave it to you to discuss those amendments. |
| 01:44:42.14 | Steven Woodside | Okay, questions, Councilmember, Vice Mayor Cox. |
| 01:44:45.01 | Vice Mayor Cox | Thank you. Section 11 of the proposed ordinance says that use of public resources or falsifying expense reports in violation of this policy may result in any or all of the following. Is that language from some template, or is that language drafted by BBK? Because I would prefer to start that provision with the words falsifying expense reports. So can you shed light on that provision? |
| 01:45:17.86 | Todd Leachlin | I don't know the answer to your question, and I don't see a problem with starting the sentence there. Are you talking about just switching the order? |
| 01:45:23.55 | Vice Mayor Cox | No, I'm talking about removing the words use of public resources because |
| 01:45:27.95 | Todd Leachlin | No, I don't think you can do that. |
| 01:45:27.99 | Vice Mayor Cox | No. Yeah, I agree. So in other words, if someone submits a travel voucher for an expense they believe is covered, and it turns out not to be, we're gonna assess civil penalties of $1,000 per day and three times the value of the resource used. I think that's- |
| 01:45:47.60 | Todd Leachlin | No, that's not what that would necessarily lead to. |
| 01:45:49.25 | Vice Mayor Cox | Remedies. Excuse me? |
| 01:45:52.66 | Steven Woodside | Can you just speak up a little bit? We're having a little bit of trouble hearing you |
| 01:45:57.23 | Todd Leachlin | That's not necessarily the result in that scenario. |
| 01:46:03.74 | Vice Mayor Cox | That's how I read the provision. That's my concern about the way that that's drafted. So where did that language come from? |
| 01:46:10.07 | Todd Leachlin | Thank you. |
| 01:46:10.87 | Vice Mayor Cox | Okay, I'm not familiar with that being a part of the FPPC, and so... Or, or, um, |
| 01:46:22.75 | Vice Mayor Cox | uh, Government code section 5 3 2 3 2.2. So I would just like to again um you Thank you. reserve this type of remedy for someone who falsifies expense reports. I don't think... you know, prosecution, civil penalties of $1,000 per day are appropriate if someone makes a mistake in submitting a request for reimbursement. |
| 01:46:57.78 | Todd Leachlin | It sounds like the |
| 01:46:58.61 | Vice Mayor Cox | Thank you. |
| 01:46:59.67 | Todd Leachlin | concern is not with the conduct, but with the intent. you've mentioned makes a mistake. |
| 01:47:08.21 | Vice Mayor Cox | Right, that's why falsifying expense reports, obviously that entails intent. |
| 01:47:13.10 | Todd Leachlin | So do you just need the word intentionally to resolve your concern? |
| 01:47:17.37 | Vice Mayor Cox | Sure. |
| 01:47:22.21 | Vice Mayor Cox | I would say if you add the word intentionally at the beginning, that would resolve my concern. Intentionally using public resources or falsifying, that would absolutely address my concern. Thank you so much. |
| 01:47:22.53 | Sandra Bushmaker | I. |
| 01:47:41.48 | Vice Mayor Cox | That's my initial question. I might have more. |
| 01:47:43.73 | Steven Woodside | Any other questions? |
| 01:47:44.84 | Councilmember Blaustein | you I had a question on 3A, where we determine authorized activities. How did we come to decide that CalCities was the only authorized activity or was the authorized activity? |
| 01:47:58.83 | Chris Zapata | Thank you. |
| 01:47:58.88 | Unknown | Thank you. |
| 01:47:59.24 | Chris Zapata | I can respond to that. I don't believe that's an answer that Todd would be privy to because Sergio worked on that. He introduced it. He created a template for it. He brought it to the city council. City council punted it. They went to the agenda setting committee meeting. And then at that point in time, the recommendation was to have the city attorney work with Councilmember Hoffman to draft language for this particular item. And so Todd would probably not know the answer to that. It would be Sergio that may know the answer to that or Councilmember Hoffman. |
| 01:48:31.25 | Councilmember Blaustein | I just, there are two members of our city council who sit on the board of Cal cities so i'm just want to make sure that we're. You know being thoughtful about how we're deciding what we participate in or what is or isn't approved. And that the same consideration is given to any sort of professional development organization that we might be members of such as the National League of cities or the conference of mayors or others. |
| 01:48:43.69 | Unknown | All right. |
| 01:48:53.19 | Chris Zapata | Yes. What the council does on city time and city resources and the interest of furthering city interest, that's part and parcel of what you can determine. The law about how a report and all these things happen is one thing, but where you go, how often you go, when you go, all those things are council decisions. there's something that you all should determine, not city staff. You want to go to these things. You believe they're important to to go. That's one thing. If other people in the council filled it, they're not that important. That's another thing. We'll take direction from you in however way you want to do this. So I don't have any real issues with, you you know things that are happening in the state that involve you know our city league of cities and towns or you know the Marin County regional bottle bodies or the state bodies and even the conference of mayors the one question that has come to me is are people using city funds to travel exorbitantly or in into foreign countries and my answer is no That's not happening. And if it were to happen, it would have to be with city council permission. But some of the little things that involve you know can the city council go to this event or that event i would rather be not restrictive i would rather have you go to those events to learn about what is going on in other parts of the world or validate what is going on in your community but again that's a reasonableness question and i think some of these things that are being proposed that the city council does go to or wants to go to. I have not seen an unreasonable request in Sausalito yet. And at the same time, I want to say that the amount of money being spent on travel in this community, I can do an audit for you, but it's probably four or $5,000 a year total. |
| 01:50:47.72 | Councilmember Blaustein | But in fact, you did do an audit, right, of all the spending by all the members of the council for just I think that the public should be aware and should have access to that so that it's clear what what city spend funding is being spent on what. |
| 01:50:58.31 | Chris Zapata | Thank you. |
| 01:50:58.50 | Councilmember Blaustein | Thank you. Thank you. |
| 01:50:59.02 | Chris Zapata | that. |
| 01:50:59.35 | Councilmember Blaustein | Thank you. |
| 01:50:59.40 | Chris Zapata | uh, |
| 01:50:59.73 | Councilmember Blaustein | If you could pull that up, because I think you've shared it with some of us. Do you have it? |
| 01:51:02.75 | Chris Zapata | Yeah, no, I have an audit that's incomplete. One of the things that I did was I looked at it, and there are some expense categories that are assigned for certain people on the council. For instance, you know, a membership is assigned to an individual. It's not accurate. You know, if you stay in a hotel room, we pay for your registration to a conference, your airfare, your meals, that's accurate, but we don't have an accurate audit yet. I'm working on it. I have a draft one, and I'm happy to provide that to you all, and I think you'll be surprised on you know, how little bit of money people in Sausli will spend on you know, government training at an elected official level. |
| 01:51:41.63 | Councilmember Blaustein | Yeah, I mean, I think it would be important for everyone to see that. And the reason I bring that up is just because I think that there's a lot of value in organizations like Cal cities and National League of Cities, and I would welcome a conversation on each item together and have as much transparency as possible. I just didn't understand how we one-off decided Cal cities as the organization without having some sort of comprehensive conversation or opportunity for consideration for other types of conferences, especially... when, for example, you know, Some folks attend these conferences every year, others don't, that kind of thing. |
| 01:52:13.56 | Chris Zapata | THE END OF THE END OF THE But that's why it's in front of you tonight, council member. |
| 01:52:15.97 | Councilmember Blaustein | Okay, well, I guess we can discuss what that looks like in terms of how we might consider what an authorized activity is and what it isn't, That was the first time. |
| 01:52:24.26 | Todd Leachlin | COB, Dan Burke, COB OSMP COB, Dan Burke, And Council, if I may, while I was not privy to those conversations between staff and |
| 01:52:24.33 | Councilmember Blaustein | you |
| 01:52:30.98 | Todd Leachlin | counsel in Sergio. the city attorney. I do work in this space a lot and I've No. I know that often, because the city attorney originated this request or this proposal, we don't start with a long list. We start with kind of... the obvious choice, Cal cities. Maybe it's obvious. Most cities want to include that. So we start with that, with the idea that the city would then make its own policy decisions about how it might want to grow the list. So by no means did we intend to imply that it should start and stop with Cal City's only. So I apologize if if we gave that impression. This is a starting point. It's a matter of policy. You can and might want to add to that list. And it doesn't have to be comprehensive. A lot of cities will have an enumerated list and then say, and we will pay or reimburse for other events that are brought to the council and approved by a majority. so that you have that flexibility of going to that organization event that nobody thought of when you were making the list. |
| 01:53:44.55 | Councilmember Blaustein | making a lot of money. Thank you. |
| 01:53:46.05 | Todd Leachlin | Thank you. |
| 01:53:46.07 | Councilmember Blaustein | for what it's worth. |
| 01:53:46.14 | Todd Leachlin | For what it's worth. |
| 01:53:47.03 | Councilmember Blaustein | Thank you. Yeah, that's great. I just think it's important to have as much transparency as possible around this because obviously if you're traveling and you're invited and it's not paid by the city, that's a very different conversation. But if you're spending city dollars, then we should have a discussion together about it. I just, again, was curious as to how CalCities was the only organization. So I would welcome some sort of language that would allow for consideration of other professional development organizations of which we have received funding or been a member or otherwise. |
| 01:54:16.12 | Steven Woodside | Okay. During discussion, I think we can absolutely add things. This is the Q&A portion. Are there other questions? |
| 01:54:18.82 | Councilmember Blaustein | Okay. |
| 01:54:22.25 | Councilmember Blaustein | Go ahead. No, you go ahead. |
| 01:54:23.97 | Vice Mayor Cox | you first. |
| 01:54:24.46 | Councilmember Blaustein | Thank you. |
| 01:54:24.53 | Steven Woodside | Any other questions? I don't want to take the floor. Are you not done? Okay. Vice President. |
| 01:54:28.48 | Vice Mayor Cox | Again, Todd, you did not draft this, but there are two other provisions that I question why they are in here. So one is no reimbursement for city officials will occur for expenses incurred during periods where the city council approves a city budget with a deficit. What is the purpose of that? you know, if we're truly spending you know, $4,000 a year and it's advancing and enhancing the ability of Council members to perform their duties, particularly new council members who have not served before the Academy for mayors and council members is absolutely invaluable. And so what is Why do we have this provision no reimbursement if we approve a city budget with a deficit? I mean we could approve a city budget with $100 deficit and this would prevent us from encouraging our public officials to attend Training seminars. |
| 01:55:24.32 | Jill Hoffman | Thank you. So I think I can answer that because I helped. The mayor asked me to work on this. Mayor Sobieski asked me to work on this. So I think the thought was it was to mirror – I think the city city manager put a moratorium last year or year before. No, year before last on all city travel because we are in deficit. And so I thought that if if that was a policy or if that was a practice for the staff, that that should also be a policy or practice with regard to the city council as well. Um, So we can put modifying language in there, certainly. I agree, actually, with the news council members and mayors training. I think that's, if you're a new council member, that's absolutely essential that you go to that training. And so, I mean, I'm happy to modify that except for blah, blah, blah, or whatever modifying language we want to put in there, but you know, when we're in a deficit of the magnitude that we are this year, And I'm not saying to apply it this year either because we've already made some commitments to attend the Cal cities conference, or we can, or we can extend it this year. I don't really care, but, um, Anyway, I think some modifying language is fine. This was a starting point to talk about these issues. I think CalCities is in there because that's just the most obvious tight connection between what's going on in order to do that. legislatively and informationally in our state, right? And we are a city, and Cal Cities is a lobbying group that we actually pay to help us. And so that just made sense to me, and that was already in the draft when I got it. So to me, that seems like The focus right now, this is the first time we've had an ordinance. We've always sort of gone to the Cal Cs conference when we can. I mean, all of us are busy professionals. So sometimes we make it, sometimes we don't. But that was just a low-hanging fruit. There is a provision in here to other, I think other travel is authorized by the city council. So to Mayor, or sorry, Council Member Blaustein's question about why not other, you know, I think that travel is authorized by the city council so to mayor or sorry councilmember blouseen's question about why not other you know I think um that merits a discussion but the balance is always um you know we're a small city we're a small budget um we have to you know we have to look at things um in that context always so that that was the thought process |
| 01:57:49.81 | Vice Mayor Cox | Thank you. A couple other questions. Both C, both 3C and 4 at the end say that the city, you know, the public officials may use personal funds to pay for expenses that exceed reimbursable rates and the city will not reimburse public officials for expenses that exceed budget limits for the category of expense. Where are those limits enunciated? Because I'm not seeing what... |
| 01:58:18.90 | Jill Hoffman | I think those are actually an analysis set when you're looking down under four unauthorized expenses, especially transportation and what you're going to be reimbursed for. So those are... You know, you're looking at unauthorized expenses. Clearly, those aren't going to be room for you. But like meals per day, for example. |
| 01:58:39.32 | Vice Mayor Cox | But like. THE EXAMPLE. Yeah. We don't have any limit, but we're saying we won't pay if they exceed the limits. And so I think we need to. Where are you looking at? What paragraph? It's at the end of four, right above section five. The city will not reimburse public officials for expenses that exceed budget limits for the category of expense and. |
| 01:58:48.17 | Jill Hoffman | I think we know. everything else. |
| 01:59:01.55 | Vice Mayor Cox | 3C says public officials may, if they choose, use personal funds to pay for expenses that exceed reimbursable rates. Most cities have, you know, will pay mileage at this, you know, at the, US approved mileage rate. We will pay $10 for breakfast, $15 for lunch, $20 for dinner. Most cities adopt... a schedule of limits for reimbursable expenses. |
| 01:59:31.59 | Jill Hoffman | I think that's under seven, meals and incidental expenses, overnight trips, A, and then it goes into gsa.gov, which I believe gets a per diem rate, which I change annually. And then it goes into the per diem, you know, there's further discussion about per diem rates and when it's going to be reduced in that section. So that's when you were talking about per diem. I think there's reimbursable, same thing for- Reimbursable. Gas, I think there's a calculation there somewhere there was. parking, taxis, shuttles. |
| 02:00:03.55 | Vice Mayor Cox | you |
| 02:00:04.12 | Jill Hoffman | car rental. I mean, |
| 02:00:06.13 | Vice Mayor Cox | Thank you. I just think that this is difficult, not user friendly. I think it would be helpful if we just had a table |
| 02:00:12.88 | Jill Hoffman | That's fine. Yeah. But the table is going to change annually. So that's why there's not a table in there. It's just the website, the GSA website. Because it's always a difference. So I wouldn't. |
| 02:00:13.77 | Vice Mayor Cox | Yeah. |
| 02:00:21.48 | Vice Mayor Cox | So I wouldn't answer. |
| 02:00:22.36 | Jill Hoffman | Thank you. |
| 02:00:22.40 | Vice Mayor Cox | the questions. |
| 02:00:23.14 | Jill Hoffman | I wouldn't put a table in there because it'd be confusing. |
| 02:00:26.02 | Vice Mayor Cox | attention. |
| 02:00:26.26 | Jill Hoffman | you |
| 02:00:26.66 | Vice Mayor Cox | And then my last question is concerning 3B. It says expenditures incurred in connection with activities not listed in this policy, That's fine, require prior proof. But it also says, and not listed in the approved city budget. And so if the finance director makes a mistake and forgets to include in the approved city budget the travel Expense for cal cities and for the planning Commission Academy, etc. What that what this language means is that we now have to bring this item to City Council and and actually It requires prior approval by city council, which how would someone know until they submit an expense and the finance director says, oops, I forgot to include it in the budget. So I am wondering if it would be possible to just remove the words and not listed in the approved city budget. because really this is intended to govern the conduct of public officials not a gotcha if there happens to be a mistake made by city staff. |
| 02:01:24.33 | Jill Hoffman | Yeah, I see what you're saying there, but usually our travel, the city council travel is a budget item. And so it's, I think it's in there. I mean, again, most of this language, I did not, you know, I edited from what we started a few months ago, but... The, you know, we almost, we always have budget, our travel budget. And I think city manager don't, it's, is it in there this year? I forgot. I know I asked you this, but now I can't remember. |
| 02:01:48.83 | Chris Zapata | Your travel budget is as it was last year. |
| 02:01:51.51 | Jill Hoffman | Yeah, so we're already budgeted, right? That's correct. |
| 02:01:54.18 | Chris Zapata | for us. |
| 02:01:54.38 | Jill Hoffman | Thank you. you |
| 02:01:54.72 | Councilmember Blaustein | Thank you. |
| 02:01:54.75 | Jill Hoffman | Yeah. |
| 02:01:55.02 | Councilmember Blaustein | budgeted. Director Hess, can you check on that? |
| 02:01:59.14 | Jill Hoffman | Are you saying that you don't think it's in there? That's fine. And I just know you were a significant. How much is in there? Yeah, because it's probably to cover, I would guess the usual rate for the Cal cities conference. |
| 02:02:00.52 | Unknown | That's a thing. |
| 02:02:01.03 | Councilmember Blaustein | We're trying to. And I just know we were significant. How much is in there? |
| 02:02:08.74 | Steven Woodside | Just to keep some order, let's have one question at a time. Come back to you. |
| 02:02:09.03 | Vice Mayor Cox | Thank you. Those are the end of my questions. Those questions are the reason I pulled this from the consent calendar, because I thought it was important to address those issues. Thank you for clarifying that. |
| 02:02:21.99 | Steven Woodside | So Councilmember Blaustein, did you want to ask your clarifying question? |
| 02:02:22.87 | Vice Mayor Cox | Thank you. Thank you. |
| 02:02:25.72 | Councilmember Blaustein | Yeah, I just wanted to know what it was in the budget now, just because it also might be helpful to have a set cap to make sure that we don't go over it ever in the event of a deficit to be respectful of our spending. So I'd just like to know so that we're aware of that as well, not just. |
| 02:02:41.01 | Steven Woodside | Mr. Hess, do you have an answer to that question? |
| 02:02:51.52 | Steven Woodside | Director Hess. |
| 02:02:51.96 | Councilmember Blaustein | I guess while we wait for him, I just want to reiterate that at some point, whether it's on the consent or otherwise, I would like to see a published of the amount reimbursed by the city for spending generally for the council members. I would add also that. |
| 02:02:52.94 | Steven Woodside | THE END OF THE END OF THE |
| 02:03:01.49 | Steven Woodside | generally. |
| 02:03:02.49 | Jill Hoffman | THE FAMILY IS NOT ABLE TO |
| 02:03:02.56 | Steven Woodside | with the |
| 02:03:02.64 | Jill Hoffman | THE END OF THE END OF THE |
| 02:03:02.84 | Steven Woodside | I would ask also that. Just let's, one person right at a time. Let's do discussion for the discussion part. This is the Q&A part. |
| 02:03:07.99 | Jill Hoffman | All the stuff. As well as all of the requests for reimbursement. |
| 02:03:15.67 | Steven Woodside | Yeah, we can provide that. And so are we waiting for Mr. Hess? |
| 02:03:16.87 | Jill Hoffman | And so are we waiting for Mr. Hess or are we just going to keep moving? |
| 02:03:20.04 | Steven Woodside | I have a question. Can you see if... He's not online. He's not online. Okay, I'm afraid he's not online. Can we just see if he can come back? |
| 02:03:26.62 | Jill Hoffman | Thank you. |
| 02:03:26.64 | Councilmember Blaustein | Well, we can... |
| 02:03:27.40 | Steven Woodside | to answer Councilmember Blasin's question, I had a question, which is if we wanted... Oh, that's true. If we wanted to have something, and it's a question for whoever can answer it, if that's Council Member Hoffman or Vice mayor or Todd, uh, If we went and have a catch-all, like he was talking about, someone mentioned, where the city council is able to approve unexpected expense for someone. So three months from now, someone gets invited to do something from the city council and the city council wants to approve the expense. What's the mechanism within this policy to accommodate that? |
| 02:04:05.26 | Jill Hoffman | I think the city council has the authority to do that, and you would agendize it, and you would consider it. |
| 02:04:10.43 | Steven Woodside | So it would just be an agenda item on the agenda that says, authorize Jill Hoffman to go to the White House to meet the president. |
| 02:04:19.12 | Daniel Daneloff | Thank you. |
| 02:04:20.30 | Jill Hoffman | Something like that. |
| 02:04:20.35 | Steven Woodside | Something like that. And that would then be able to be done within the policy. Wouldn't require amendments. |
| 02:04:24.18 | Jill Hoffman | Yeah, does somebody have that? Does somebody have that for you for now? Because that sounds pretty cool. |
| 02:04:26.00 | Steven Woodside | Did I take the nail? |
| 02:04:28.21 | Jill Hoffman | But |
| 02:04:29.07 | Steven Woodside | Yes, no, but that would then be within the policy. It would just be an item on the agenda. You wouldn't have to modify the policy. |
| 02:04:36.40 | Jill Hoffman | Okay, you make a great statement. I think, yeah, I think that you would just agendize it, right? It would be a future agenda item and you would get it on the city council as you would any other item. But, you know, a lot of times when you have these sorts of – Bill, you know, sorts of things that you put some guardrails on it. In other words, that's to show a close connection to, you know, the actual benefit to the city. So the benefit to the city has to be articulated, the direct benefit to the city and the people of Sausalito has to be directly um, called out in the request that you fill out. But we can fix that with the form or some kind of form request, right? So, you know, you want to go here. What's the direct benefit to the people of Sausalito for the city council's, you know, consideration? How much does it cost? All that kind of stuff. |
| 02:05:25.56 | Steven Woodside | My question was a narrow legal ones, not being a lawyer. I'm at a disadvantage made for Todder. It's just the vice mayor brought up a few things in the policy that could be gotchas about whether something was budgeted, for instance, and language that requires it such. I guess I'm just asking if six months into a year, there is some desire to spend some money on a city council member doing something. Does the city council still preserve its supreme authority? to authorize that expense. Mayor and Council, if I may. |
| 02:05:52.93 | Todd Leachlin | I may, I'm in council if I may. I'm sorry. |
| 02:05:56.27 | Steven Woodside | Sorry. Does it preserve its supreme authority to authorize that expense? Could it be a consent calendar item, for instance, just approving XYZ for council member? Why? I'm Todd. |
| 02:06:12.96 | Todd Leachlin | Thank you. COB, Dan Burke, MN.: Mayor and Council. I, I thought I heard the city manager starting to answer. So I wanted to wait. I'm happy to answer that question. Mayor. It's a great question. the There's a principle of equal dignities. I assume that you're going to be adopting the policy by resolution. the council could act by resolution to either amend the policy expressly or to approve something as an exception to the policy or in addition to the policy. But it does make for good governance, just to keep for transparency and frankly for for predictability. to consider adding a line to the policy if it's not already there. that creates the possibility of that catchall. That just says, in addition to anything else in this policy, the council may authorize reimbursement for expenses. And if you want to put guardrails, this has been suggested, you could define those guardrails there. But really, it's a matter of the council acting, by the same method in the future to make changes or exception. |
| 02:07:26.58 | Steven Woodside | Thank you, sir. Are there other questions before we take public comment? |
| 02:07:30.45 | Chris Zapata | Thank you. |
| 02:07:31.09 | Steven Woodside | Thank you. |
| 02:07:31.10 | Chris Zapata | Mayor, if I could. |
| 02:07:32.02 | Steven Woodside | Thank you. |
| 02:07:32.03 | Chris Zapata | Yes, Mr. City Manager. One last thing. What I'm hearing is this is about the public's confidence in how you spend their tax dollars. And I want to assure the public that there isn't an abuse of tax dollars in terms of travel and reimbursement of that travel. I don't have – I have to get the fine-tuned numbers, but I have the aggregate number of $10,650. |
| 02:07:32.07 | Steven Woodside | Mr. City Manager. |
| 02:07:53.21 | Chris Zapata | $64 and change. What I want to say to you is that's over three years. That's over three years. And that doesn't include the vice mayor. 10,000. $650, $654.39. And you said it does not include the vice mayor. It does not include the vice mayor. That is the mayor. I don't ever say that. |
| 02:08:14.07 | Vice Mayor Cox | Yeah. I don't. expected. |
| 02:08:17.46 | Chris Zapata | That's right. |
| 02:08:17.48 | Vice Mayor Cox | Thank you. |
| 02:08:17.78 | Chris Zapata | for. |
| 02:08:17.83 | Vice Mayor Cox | Thank you. |
| 02:08:17.92 | Chris Zapata | Yeah, that is the mayor, Councilmember off from the Councilmember Blousey and Councilmember Kelman's tally over the last since 2021. So what we're talking about is something that is definitely a part of the public's trust. But in terms of financial impact, I would call $3,000 a year on a $20 million budget, something that the public should know isn't excessive. The council has been very judicious in their travel. There hasn't been trips to far-flung places that the city paid for or the taxpayers have paid for. and I think that needs to be said because I think underlying all of this is the understanding that the public know that you know they're not city paid for or the taxpayers have paid for. And I think that needs to be said, because I think underlying all of this is the understanding that the public know that, you know, they're not using city dollars to, you know, do things that aren't in the city's interest. It's not happening. |
| 02:09:03.61 | Steven Woodside | Thank you. Thank you very much, city manager. That can't be emphasized enough, and I appreciate your going out of your way to highlight that fact. So thank you. Are there any other questions before we take public comment? All right, Mr. City Clerk, will you please open public comment? Avet Manteugo. |
| 02:09:26.73 | Babette McDougall | Thank you for acknowledging me. So regarding this reimbursement policy, there's a couple of things I have to apologize because when I read the current draft, I didn't realize that was a custom-made draft that was supposed to be relevant to our town. I guess I was expecting to see something like what Council Member Kellman brought up. at the end of the last fiscal cycle that she had hoped would help catapult the current fiscal cycle, which is tie everything back to the strategic plan And those stated goals and objectives that are supposed to be the council's priorities. So it seems to me that if we're going to customize a policy as we ought to, and we should, It needs to be organically reflective of what the city is all about. And in that way, I think this is how we engender public trust That's how we know that we are. working with equal dignity, And some of these other phrases that I thought were particularly poignant for a policy such as this. The people's perspective seems to be lacking. So far. And this is something that I would like to see addressed. And I thought perhaps Kellerman's ideas about making sure it loops back to the strategic plan was one way to engender a sense of confidence that the public's trust is always at heart. Thank you. |
| 02:10:49.94 | Walfred Solorzano | No further public comments. |
| 02:10:51.98 | Steven Woodside | Thank you very much. Any discussion here on the dais? That's where we're hosting. |
| 02:10:57.84 | Councilmember Blaustein | Yeah, thank you. I would really like to see us add some language under item. First of all, I appreciate that we're having this conversation. I really appreciate the city manager's comments. I think transparency around the spending and the reimbursement requests and otherwise are really important. I know all of us sitting on the dais have used our own expenses to travel on behalf of the city, including each of us have been to our sister cities on our own dime, and that should be acknowledged. And I appreciate that we really only engage in using the public funding when it's for pure city business. But to that end, again, just to weigh item 3A around actual and necessary expenses, I would like to see some language that just said, incurred while engaging in city business activities. Generally authorized businesses include |
| 02:11:12.51 | Unknown | and I |
| 02:11:46.68 | Councilmember Blaustein | Instead of naming out specific conferences, they could say something like conferences such as Cal Cities or Nash. I just want to leave space to have a conversation from the dais about what does and doesn't engage there. And maybe Council Member Cox as a municipal attorney would have an idea of how we might do that. And I would also be supportive of your considerations around language around the budget. And I also would like to have a discussion about if we want to have a cap generally on travel, I would welcome that as well, just to consider our fiscal responsibility, given that we don't know what the budget item is right now. But I would welcome that too. I know other cities do, and other cities have no limits. So I don't know what would make us most transparent and make the public most comfortable, but would be open to those ideas. |
| 02:11:57.92 | Unknown | I'm not sure. |
| 02:12:32.36 | Steven Woodside | I, are there other comments? I'm sympathetic to your comments. I would add, I would like to add what the acting city attorney said, which is a catch all ability for a city council to simply authorize expenses at its discretion so that it is, that's transparent, it's open and it's flexible. So I would turn to him for the specific language, but I'd like that. |
| 02:13:03.00 | Councilmember Blaustein | I would also like to ask too, I don't know if this is in direction for this policy, but that we publish annually the spends of city council members so that it's transparent and everyone is aware of what municipal funding goes directly to this because it is very important. So if we want to publish annually as part of our budget or if we want to just have as part of a transparency conversation, I think that that's something we should be doing as well. |
| 02:13:23.91 | Steven Woodside | Are there other comments? |
| 02:13:25.63 | Vice Mayor Cox | I'll just reiterate the issues that I raised during questioning. So for, I would eliminate the words and not listed in the approved city budget from item 3B. I would eliminate 3D. I would include a list of per diem of the items that I would like to do. caps that can be updated periodically as, if necessary, rather than simply referring to The... GSA website. Because... It's not. easily It's not easy to look at this policy and see what you're allowed to spend. And. you know. If you make a mistake, you're subject to civil penalties of $1,000 a day and three times the value of the resources used. And so it's important that you not make a mistake when putting together your expense report. And then I would add the language to Section 11. I would just add the words intentionally using at the beginning of that sentence. to replace the word use at the beginning of that sentence. Those would be my, and I endorse the comments of, Councilmember Blaustein about expanding the Um, list of permissible activities. of authorized activities in Section 3. Thank you. Thank you. |
| 02:15:09.33 | Steven Woodside | So member Hoffman, did you have any comments? |
| 02:15:11.08 | Jill Hoffman | Yeah, I would say with regard, so item 3D, that's the deficit accepted. No reimbursements for city officials will occur during periods when we're in deficit. but, Why would you eliminate that? Do you think we should travel more deficits? Thank you. |
| 02:15:34.51 | Vice Mayor Cox | at least if I think the city manager can do just what he did two years ago which is place a moratorium on all travel by city staff or officials as appropriate. rather than Um, having a de facto portion of a policy Again, using the example, if we have a $500 deficit, that means, whoops, no travel for our new council members. no participation in the Cal City's new council members and mayor's academy. I just think including the tuition. |
| 02:16:10.60 | Jill Hoffman | Thank you. I what if what if we added no reimbursance, you know, approves the city budget with a deficit comma absent city council approval. And that way, because I don't think the city manager could say, well, The city council can't travel. You put a moratorium on it. We went along with it. |
| 02:16:28.51 | Unknown | the city council. |
| 02:16:32.67 | Jill Hoffman | But I don't think he can direct us not to travel. It's that's up to the city council. |
| 02:16:37.35 | Chris Zapata | I concur, Councilmember Hoffman. I got in trouble with my aunt, the mighty mayor, when I said I'm freezing travel for city employees. And she thought I said freezing travel for everybody. And she reminded me that the tail doesn't wag the dog. And I said that was never my intention. I don't restrict the council, but I can restrict city staff. So I would not relish that role of trying to restrict council travel. I think you should police yourselves. |
| 02:16:59.79 | Vice Mayor Cox | I just don't think it's necessary. You know, given our track record, I'm really looking to have this not be, again, If this is in here and somebody doesn't realize that we're in a deficit, we haven't, you know, earlier this year, we didn't know we were in a deficit. So someone submits an expense report and then all of a sudden in July, we're in a deficit for the year. Now that person is again subject to They have now intentionally used public resources in violation of policy, subjecting them to civil penalties of $1,000 per day and three times the value of the resource used. |
| 02:17:36.06 | Jill Hoffman | That's not how that would work. It's an intentional... violation. If you're authorized to go, you're authorized to go. And if we later find out we're in deficit, then we would have to take action as a city council. That's why I would say comma absent city council approval. I think that's, I don't think there's anything wrong with acknowledging when we're in a deficit budget. We need to look at that and see how far we're in deficit and then whether or not we want to go forward with our budget that year and authorize unnecessary travel or, you know, because we're trying to, We're trying to tighten our belts across the board. You can't just say... |
| 02:18:09.69 | Vice Mayor Cox | And again, you're saying unnecessary travel. I think going to the mayor's and council members academy is absolutely vital. |
| 02:18:16.25 | Jill Hoffman | you |
| 02:18:16.29 | Vice Mayor Cox | We agree on that. Well, we agree on that, but they're inconsistent. So 3A and 3D are internally |
| 02:18:17.40 | Jill Hoffman | Well, we agree on that. |
| 02:18:22.97 | Jill Hoffman | inconsistent. It's not. When you add comma, absent city council approval. And I would say that I agree that if you're new on the council, then yeah, you need to go to that first, the new mayors and council members. It's essential. I'm going to defer to the council. We'll see how people. |
| 02:18:36.13 | Vice Mayor Cox | but, yeah. vote. |
| 02:18:38.97 | Jill Hoffman | you |
| 02:18:39.25 | Vice Mayor Cox | So what was your question? |
| 02:18:39.66 | Jill Hoffman | What was the other one? So you had some other change too. Oh, okay. So here's the problem with the... With. publishing the table of expenses with, it should be just an annual expense chart will be published as an attachment annually. Awesome. Right? Totally agree. So I'll just put that in there. |
| 02:18:55.54 | Vice Mayor Cox | TOTALLY. |
| 02:18:59.35 | Aaron Motto | So, |
| 02:18:59.79 | Steven Woodside | I think to try to bring this to the closure, since there are a variety of, we're gonna apparently wordsmith it from the dais, which let's do it to get it done. Let's have a motion. for the, |
| 02:19:10.56 | Jill Hoffman | I'll make the motion. |
| 02:19:11.62 | Steven Woodside | Thank you. thing as is. And then. PB, David Ensign PB, David Ens |
| 02:19:23.79 | Councilmember Blaustein | Councilmember Cox, what language would you use to adjust 3A to include a variety of conferences or, you know, do you just add per council approval or? |
| 02:19:36.88 | Vice Mayor Cox | I would add a... At the end of one, I would say, and at such other conferences as may be approved annually by the city council. |
| 02:19:54.75 | Jill Hoffman | Well, I think, if I could just add, I think that 3B covers that, right? Expenditures incurred in connection with activities or events not listed in this policy. And then you wanted to take that and not list it in the city budget. um, Expenditures incurred in connection with activities or not listening to this policy require prior approval by the city council. So I think, doesn't that fix it? |
| 02:20:18.46 | Councilmember Blaustein | I don't know, because I think it's for consideration of things like the National League of Cities, which is directly in line with the California League of Cities. And if we're trying to assess the value of each directly to residents, it probably deserves the same level of consideration and should be part of 1A. |
| 02:20:33.62 | Vice Mayor Cox | Thank you. |
| 02:20:33.63 | Jill Hoffman | So you want to add that language |
| 02:20:35.03 | Vice Mayor Cox | in there. |
| 02:20:36.03 | Councilmember Blaustein | I wanna add the language as suggested by Councilmember Cox. |
| 02:20:38.93 | Vice Mayor Cox | the language is to add at the end of A, quote, and at such other conferences slash events as may be approved annually by the city council. Yeah, I agree with that. That's fine. Thank you. Thank you. |
| 02:20:53.38 | Steven Woodside | Okay. So we start the March here. There's, |
| 02:20:55.86 | Vice Mayor Cox | There's. Thank you. |
| 02:20:56.31 | Steven Woodside | Thank you. |
| 02:20:56.33 | Vice Mayor Cox | you For B, I would remove and not listed in the approved city budget. I would remove those words. |
| 02:20:58.08 | Steven Woodside | it. |
| 02:21:02.49 | Steven Woodside | So to put it on the record, |
| 02:21:03.00 | Vice Mayor Cox | all the records... |
| 02:21:04.11 | Alice Merrill | See you. |
| 02:21:04.34 | Vice Mayor Cox | Bye. |
| 02:21:04.48 | Alice Merrill | Do you? |
| 02:21:05.39 | Vice Mayor Cox | And I would remove these. |
| 02:22:49.10 | Daniel Daneloff | already did it. |
| 02:22:50.52 | Steven Woodside | Thank you. |
| 02:22:50.56 | Unknown | Thank you. |
| 02:22:50.71 | Steven Woodside | Thank you. Are we back on? Great. All right. Apologies to everyone for that interruption, but we will pick up where we left off. I believe Council Member Hoffman was about to make a motion. |
| 02:23:05.71 | Jill Hoffman | I do. And my motion is that I accept the edits from the vice mayor and add to item |
| 02:23:20.75 | Jill Hoffman | Wait, hold on. 3D, sorry. Yeah, 3D. After deficit, absent city council approval. So the sentence would read, no reimbursement for city officials will occur for expenses incurred during periods where the city council approves a city budget with a deficit, absent city council approval. So that's my motion for that. |
| 02:23:42.75 | Steven Woodside | Okay, second. Motion is made and seconded. Any discussion? |
| 02:23:50.29 | Vice Mayor Cox | I am not sure I enunciated the change to item seven. I am proposing to add item seven H city staff will annually publish an overview list of per diem rates for commonly used reimbursable expense categories. Will you accept that friendly amendment, Councilmember Hoffman? |
| 02:24:14.53 | Steven Woodside | Okay. |
| 02:24:16.70 | Vice Mayor Cox | Thank you. |
| 02:24:16.72 | Steven Woodside | OK, well, it's been called. |
| 02:24:17.16 | Vice Mayor Cox | Thank you. |
| 02:24:17.18 | Councilmember Blaustein | No, no, I think it's been called to question. |
| 02:24:19.08 | Steven Woodside | No, no, we didn't call the question. It was just a motion. It's made and seconded. Motion and seconded. |
| 02:24:21.11 | Councilmember Blaustein | We'll make a motion in a second. |
| 02:24:22.93 | Steven Woodside | but do we want to, uh, If there are any other additions? |
| 02:24:25.68 | Councilmember Blaustein | Thank you. |
| 02:24:25.70 | Kevin McGowan | Thank you. |
| 02:24:25.72 | Councilmember Blaustein | And if- |
| 02:24:27.98 | Steven Woodside | I think you wanted to list some of these particular conferences. |
| 02:24:29.46 | Kevin McGowan | in particular conferences. That's a number of conferences consideration, right? |
| 02:24:31.62 | Councilmember Blaustein | Thank you. Yeah. Okay. All right. For item 3A. You can call the question. Well, I don't think that's my job, but okay. I'll call the question. |
| 02:24:42.94 | Steven Woodside | Hang on, there's one clarifying bit of language for the city clerk. Okay. All right. The question's been called all in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed? All right. Motion carries four zero. |
| 02:24:50.59 | Unknown | Hi. |
| 02:24:51.03 | Vice Mayor Cox | Bye. |
| 02:24:55.97 | Steven Woodside | Thank you. |
| 02:24:56.09 | Vice Mayor Cox | Um, |
| 02:24:56.11 | Steven Woodside | Um, |
| 02:24:57.10 | Vice Mayor Cox | And Mayor, for the record, I'm going to hand my handwritten annotated notes to the city clerk for his ease of reference. |
| 02:25:03.67 | Steven Woodside | Okay, excellent. I think that was part of the record. So moving on to item 5C, the introduction and waiver of first reading for ordinance 05-2024, an ordinance of the city council of the city of Sausalito repealing and replacing chapter 3.30, purchase of supplies, equipment and services and procedures for public works projects. Are you taking this, Mr. Seabit? |
| 02:25:25.52 | Vice Mayor Cox | Mayor, may I? state. Of course, you know, I'm a public contracting lawyer and I've noticed a couple of |
| 02:25:31.86 | Jill Hoffman | Yes. |
| 02:25:34.68 | Vice Mayor Cox | um, Member Soody Tronson- Recommended provisions in this that I would recommend we change to comport with the public contract code and. and provisions in the public contract code previously adopted by the city, so I would like to recommend that we take public comment and then continue this item to our next meeting, so that I may confer with the city attorney who actually drafted this. |
| 02:25:58.76 | Steven Woodside | Thank you. |
| 02:25:58.78 | Vice Mayor Cox | Okay. |
| 02:25:58.81 | Steven Woodside | There's a proposal for that. Is there any objection to that course of action from my colleagues? there's consensus for that so we will follow the vice mayor's lead and open this to public comment with the idea that it will be continued to a future meeting in a modified form Thank you. It's Mr. City Clerk. |
| 02:26:14.29 | Walfred Solorzano | Abed MacDougal. This has been Google. |
| 02:26:19.27 | Steven Woodside | Okay. She's deferring her public comment. Is there anyone else making public comment? Mr. City Clerk? |
| 02:26:24.57 | Unknown | Yeah. |
| 02:26:25.19 | Steven Woodside | No one here in the room, anyone online? |
| 02:26:27.40 | Unknown | No, see you then. |
| 02:26:27.43 | Steven Woodside | No, see you then. All right, we'll close public comment, and we will take them. I move that we defer this to a future agenda item. Sir, second. |
| 02:26:36.50 | Vice Mayor Cox | While I move we continue this to our September 17, 2024 meeting. Thank you. |
| 02:26:41.05 | Steven Woodside | I second that all in favor. |
| 02:26:42.98 | Vice Mayor Cox | Aye. |
| 02:26:43.19 | Steven Woodside | Aye. Opposed? Okay. Motion carries. Item is continued to September. uh, So we will now move on to the public comment for items not on the agenda. So are there any comments from the public for items not on the agenda? |
| 02:27:02.11 | Walfred Solorzano | Babette McDougall. |
| 02:27:03.53 | Steven Woodside | It's like they're gone. |
| 02:27:10.97 | Babette McDougall | Thank you. I would like to generally express some concerns that there is still no viable democratic representation in this council chambers, according to how I and many others also feel. So for example, the month of July, there is no reliable transcript of the two council meetings in the month of July. because the video is damaged. And. It's not that it's not a bad thing to have a damaged video, but if we don't have any redundancy built into our systems, then we don't have a viable public record. And we're already a little too close to the rails in my judgment. I really liked it for a while when our city attorney was becoming a bit more conservative and mainstream in how he interpreted things. But you know, that sort of lasted a really brief period of time. I can see that none of you are particularly interested in what I have to say. Everybody is busy reading or doing something other while you are here on official business time. So I just want to close. Why shall I sit here and talk if you are not going to pay attention? That is the whole idea of public input, isn't it? Which is what you seem to be steadfastly against last year. I still have a pending public records request asking for a copy of the very policy that you say you are following. by not engaging in an open democratic debate with your own constituents. And I still have not received anything And I ask about it periodically and I'm just told, oh, we're still working on it, whatever that means, it. I don't know. But I don't know that you want to sit on the side of sitting out democracy in today's world, especially now. I wonder if you're aware that over 70% of the globe is currently under authoritarian rule, and you'd like to see the United States of America follow suit? You would like to live somewhere other than this place, for example? |
| 02:29:12.59 | Walfred Solorzano | Damien. |
| 02:29:22.51 | Damian Morgan | Bye. Thank you. Good evening again. Thank you. Before I get into the tax measure from the school district or tax proposal or whatever the proper term is, terminology. We have a new superintendent who's in her second year. No fault of yours, of course. I imagine you reached out over the last year plus. But historically, the School superintendent has come here and has presented to the community for the community to understand where we are. to ask questions, to be more informed. So that hasn't happened, but just as important, there's a tax measure on the ballot and me being a, Born and raised here, I have many friends here in town. This is my town too. Um, regardless of where I live. And we talk about education often. Education is a very important, part of life, obviously. And many people don't know who the new superintendent is, let alone they'll know that there's a tax measure on the ballot And they're asking me questions and I'm not, uh, informed enough to ask these questions. And more so, you know, you're obviously a very talented, I mean that sincerely, a very talented counsel. And you guys ask very good questions to like superintendents. And. When they come here, the questions that you ask, people learn from. And I think it's very important that the superintendent of our school comes here and presents to you, presents to the community, talk about the tax measure. and the implications. So. I'm hopeful that the superintendent will come and present so I can learn more. Thank you, Miriam. We'll learn more about what's on our ballot and who she is. I'm assuming. you're attempting to, but it's very important. Thank you. |
| 02:31:26.05 | Walfred Solorzano | No further public comments. |
| 02:31:28.55 | Steven Woodside | Okay, we'll now go to Councilmember Committee reports. Thank you. I'll just say we, Vice Mayor and I are on the risk committee and we met, we meet weekly. And as you saw, there was an item on tonight's agenda that's been pushed to the next one regarding a risk manager. That's part of the process that we are helping shepherd. In addition to that, we've taken a deep dive into the upcoming and exciting and Awesome taste of Sausalito event, but learning from last year, we want to be doubly sure that we anticipate potential liabilities to the city by that. potentially large public event. And I'm pleased to report that we believe the city staff is on the ball and is examining numerous risk reduction policies and procedures for that upcoming event. Are there other reports by Councilmember Hoffman? |
| 02:32:22.57 | Jill Hoffman | Um, yes, um, the, uh, The Cal City's executive group went to Sacramento last year, I think. Our North Bay representative started organizing lobby days for us to meet with our elected officials in Sacramento and talk to them directly about issues that we were facing in our particular town. So it's an effort and an ability for us to meet them and their staffs in their offices and talk to them about highest priorities for our town and our region. So it was a very effective day. I think we met with Assemblymember Connolly and we met with the uh our president pro tem who's also our state senator um mike mcguire and so it was a really great day we talked about legislation they were in the middle of a legislative um session and so we were able to talk about what bills were coming up what the hot issues were um and then give feedback on the highest priorities and challenges that we were facing in our cities, which is what Cal cities is there for. So it was a, I thought it was a very effective day, both myself and, um, council member Kelman were able to go. Sometimes we're not both able to go to most things, but, uh, luckily we were both able to go and it costs the city nothing because we paid our own travel up there and back. So, and we carpooled. So we got double the work done because we had conference with each other the whole way up there and the way back. And we talked about city issues the whole way. So anyway, that was, yeah, that's a report. |
| 02:34:01.73 | Vice Mayor Cox | Thank you. |
| 02:34:03.50 | Sharna Brockett | And |
| 02:34:04.06 | Jill Hoffman | Thank you. |
| 02:34:04.51 | Vice Mayor Cox | Thank you. This is not necessarily a committee, but I wanted to remind us that the delegation from our sister city, Vina del Mar, Chile, will be visiting us next week. We have scheduled a special city council meeting for September 9th. at 9am at which we will be presenting a proclamation. There has been an amazing synergy. We will not only have the delegation from Viña del Mar, but we'll also have members of Southern Marin Fire and I believe the county Office of Emergency Services, all of whom have been collaborating for over a year in terms of educating and assisting Viña del Mar in its emergency preparedness and resiliency plan, which proved particularly apropos following their disaster earlier this year. So I hope that the majority of us will be able to attend and look forward to welcoming the delegation at that time. |
| 02:35:05.61 | Jill Hoffman | Yeah, if I could just piggyback on that too. As a sister city liaison. As a sister city liaison. Yeah, but that's up. Thank you for bringing that up. Just so you know, when people see the special meeting on the agenda, that's what it is. So just, you know, there's not going to be any special votes or... |
| 02:35:09.61 | Vice Mayor Cox | AS A SOCIALIST. |
| 02:35:23.52 | Jill Hoffman | far as I know, anything other than that, we scheduled, as I understand it, and was told by the city manager, we scheduled the city, the special meeting, so that we could all go, and there would be no issue with Brown Act or anything else, so that's why. |
| 02:35:38.67 | Vice Mayor Cox | And then I will note that there is another special meeting being held Saturday, September 7th at the Spinnaker at 10 a.m. It's a sea level rise workshop. And again, that is being noticed as a special meeting because at least three city council members are intending to attend that meeting. |
| 02:35:58.79 | Steven Woodside | It's very robust. |
| 02:35:59.58 | Councilmember Blaustein | Thank you. I just wasn't aware that had been noticed as a special meeting. So good to know. |
| 02:36:03.50 | Jill Hoffman | Yeah, it has, but if we can all attend, we just can't all participate. |
| 02:36:07.02 | Vice Mayor Cox | Right. |
| 02:36:07.97 | Jill Hoffman | Thank you. |
| 02:36:08.00 | Vice Mayor Cox | Thank you. |
| 02:36:08.12 | Jill Hoffman | you |
| 02:36:08.19 | Vice Mayor Cox | True. And I think the city attorney has sort of adopted a policy that if we're all going to attend and may want to participate, we notice that it is a special meeting so that we can. And participation may be as simple as saying, thank you, great presentation. But we... In the past, when we haven't noticed such things as special meetings, only two of us are allowed to talk. |
| 02:36:29.08 | Jill Hoffman | Okay. I'm just saying. If we notice it as special meeting, don't we have to follow all the Brown Act? Like here's the agenda. This we're going to talk about and report outs and action by the city council. |
| 02:36:39.08 | Vice Mayor Cox | you I mean, essentially the agenda is, |
| 02:36:39.74 | Jill Hoffman | So. |
| 02:36:41.53 | Vice Mayor Cox | you know, sea level rise workshop, Spinnaker, 10 a.m. to noon. Okay. That's my understanding. And the agenda setting committee did have a brief conversation with the city attorney regarding this kind of. |
| 02:36:47.81 | Jill Hoffman | That's great. |
| 02:36:55.00 | Vice Mayor Cox | updated policy for ensuring transparency in the manner in which we conduct our business. |
| 02:37:02.22 | Steven Woodside | Thank you. |
| 02:37:02.24 | Chris Zapata | Any other reports? |
| 02:37:03.10 | Steven Woodside | Thank you. |
| 02:37:03.27 | Chris Zapata | Thank you. |
| 02:37:03.69 | Steven Woodside | Thank you. |
| 02:37:03.76 | Chris Zapata | City Manager. Yeah. Thank you for stealing my thunder there on that meeting, but I appreciate it. It's okay. It's good. What I want to add to it is that the pre-registration for that event is 90 right now. So that tells you there's great community interest in our C-level vulnerability. And I'll take this opportunity to, you know, talk about something on the agenda that was consent. And that's the $768,000 Economic Development Administration grant that was worked on by then-Mayor Blaustein, Councilmember Kelman, Kirito Garcia, Kevin McGowan, and our consulting team, grant consulting team, successfully. So that's a good one because gate five is a problem for our community as well as the community of Marin City to begin to get technical resources to actually start to address that is, you know, a good omen for hard money coming for real infrastructure dollars, which it looks like will take significant. And the fact that, you know, there's city ownership of property around there and private ownership of property around there, and there's significant impact to those that own property there, you know, it's long overdue that, you know, we get some real money, put some real effort behind us. So we're really happy that that item was approved by the city council tonight, because that's all part of sea level rise vulnerability and work to try to deal with what's changing in our community on our coastal coastal waters. I could report on my vacation of eight days. I don't think I will. But I thank you all for allowing me the time off to um do the things that you do as a human being so i don't have a long report tonight but i will have one next meeting uh involving um the requested information uh for you uh regarding travel expenses uh provided or um by council members, but I want to vet those with you to make sure that I don't put something in there that is wrong. So I will be sending you out a document that you all can take a look at and tell me, yep, this looks like right. I was there at that day, this time, this is the amount of money I spend, this is what I was reimbursed. I don't want to miss on that. So that's why I was hesitant today when Councilmember Blaustein asked me about it. It's almost done, but it really needs one last look by all of you that have been involved in the training and travel that has taken place for you as city council members. So I'll provide that at the next council meeting for sure. And that concludes my comments, Mayor and Councilman. |
| 02:39:28.98 | Steven Woodside | Thank you, city manager. So future agenda items, Council Member Glastine, would you like to re-articulate what you started at the beginning of the meeting? |
| 02:39:36.07 | Councilmember Blaustein | Yes, I'd like consideration of a parking policy that accounts for economic hardship, especially for those living in lower income housing and for seniors or others who might need discounts or free residential parking permits. you |
| 02:39:49.89 | Steven Woodside | you |
| 02:39:49.91 | Councilmember Blaustein | Thank you. |
| 02:39:49.94 | Steven Woodside | Thank you. Anyone else? |
| 02:39:51.59 | Vice Mayor Cox | Yes, I would like to reiterate and city clerk, I'm going to hand you a list, but I'm going to ask that you adopt a practice of adding these to our list of future agenda items whenever we enunciate these at the end of the evening. So we heard tonight from Alice Merrill regarding Caledonia Street parking permits. So I did hear from our. police department that we do have employee parking permits for uh six dollars per day i don't know if that addresses her issue so until we know the issue has been addressed i'd just like to memorialize this as caledonia street parking permits at our first meeting in july we adopted a general fund reserve policy we promised to revisit that in six months so i'd like to see that on our december agenda On page 18 of sorry on page five of our minutes for July 30th 2024. There were three items. Karen Hollweg, Including an item from Vice Mayor Cox requesting that staff invite the Sausalito Marin City School District to make a presentation, I want to make sure that those items make it on to the future agenda items list and finally i'd like to add an item to consider. Purchasing a backup hotspot. slash recording system so that if in the future we lose internet, we don't have to or lose The power for the internet, we don't have to. suspend our meetings. Thank you. |
| 02:41:34.79 | Steven Woodside | We'll go ahead. |
| 02:41:38.51 | Jill Hoffman | I don't know exactly. City manager, city clerk, I don't know if this is specifically a future gen item, but I do want to explore the idea of a written transcript. And I think with AI, it could be an unofficial written transcript, just easier to search, easier to look at. And I believe Zoom gives you the ability to do a written transcript. So that might be a really easy quick fix, an unofficial written transcript, right? So... I think that would should be and I'm just thinking about the expense on that, too. So as the unofficial part. So I don't know if that's a agenda item or if that's just a administrative thing, but I think that would make it much easier for all of us. |
| 02:42:21.97 | Steven Woodside | Okay, and Council Member of the House, Dean. |
| 02:42:23.74 | Councilmember Blaustein | Yeah, one more thing I wanted to add. I would like to, at some point, agendize naming of specific roadways or stairways or otherwise, given the conversation about Jack Tracy and the commemoration of some folks I've received correspondence about potentially, so just for the agenda setting committee to consider. Three. |
| 02:42:44.14 | Steven Woodside | naming of public rights away. You know? |
| 02:42:46.54 | Vice Mayor Cox | owner. |
| 02:42:46.81 | Steven Woodside | Thank you. |
| 02:42:47.70 | Vice Mayor Cox | naming policy for roadways and stairways slash facilities. |
| 02:42:51.23 | Councilmember Blaustein | and stairways. |
| 02:42:51.97 | Steven Woodside | Thank you. |
| 02:42:51.99 | Councilmember Blaustein | PARISAL. |
| 02:42:52.26 | Steven Woodside | I'm sorry. |
| 02:42:52.33 | Councilmember Blaustein | Thank you. |
| 02:42:54.89 | Vice Mayor Cox | public facilities. |
| 02:42:57.79 | Chris Zapata | City manager, you had something else you wanted to do. Yeah, I apologize. Mayor and council in public, I forgot one important item. The city clerk and the city intern and I are working on and city council candidate orientation for September the 18th. I'll be sending out an invite to everyone that's qualified for the ballot to ask them to come to city hall and have city staff provide information to you, answer questions in a way that is consistent for all candidates. And as a prelude to that, you know, we're going to provide information, including our municipal budget or municipal code, our city audits, our MADI list of people that are on boards and commissions, and the last survey that the city sent out that was received with Measure L as primer. That's all primer for you. So that will be the afternoon of September the 18th, following the September 17th city council meeting. So I'll make that announcement again on September 10th at the meeting that is being hosted by the Chamber of Commerce for the candidates to reiterate that. But I'll send out an invitation to everybody that's a candidate in the next two days. |
| 02:42:59.26 | Vice Mayor Cox | Yeah. |
| 02:44:04.57 | Chris Zapata | Thank you. |
| 02:44:06.00 | Steven Woodside | All right. And so is there any public comment, please, on any of these items? |
| 02:44:10.10 | Walfred Solorzano | Damien? |
| 02:44:12.48 | Steven Woodside | Mr. Morgan? |
| 02:44:17.90 | Damian Morgan | Damien here, a very important announcement regarding sea level rise. I'll read something to you briefly as a paragraph from the U.S. Army. out of D.C. Army announces civil works investments in small disadvantaged communities. One of 12 communities across the nation is Marin City, one of 12 across the US. Michael Connor, Assistant Secretary of the Army of Civil Works, announced today, which was a couple of days ago, during a visit to the I... somewhere, I can't, my eyes are going to get back, somewhere in Arizona, that 12 communities across the country will be the first to participate in a pilot program specifically designed to make federal investments in small or economically disadvantaged communities. Funding is being provided by the bipartisan infrastructure law signed into law by President Joe Biden. This is huge, big. As you know, Marin City has had zero investment into the community. I'm born and raised there. It's been absolutely almost, I can say, zero going back decades. This is a big... big thing moving in the right direction. As you know, Marin City, for whatever reason, not because of our fault, working with the county is hostile. We just want to be treated with respect and to be environmentally and a healthy community also. So this is a lot of work being done by Terry Green. Terry Green has got the application done, put it in, been very patient, working alongside Congressman Huffman. I've been in a few of those meetings. Sorry, Terry and I knocked on Huffman's door a couple years ago, and he's been very helpful. Thank you. |
| 02:46:24.82 | Steven Woodside | Thank you. Anyone? |
| 02:46:26.15 | Damian Morgan | house. |
| 02:46:26.39 | Steven Woodside | Thank you. I bet. |
| 02:46:27.18 | Unknown | Thank you. |
| 02:46:35.41 | Babette McDougall | Thank you. So if this round of public comment can be addressed to the committee reports we just heard, I just want to make sure I understood what the city manager said. Did I understand that you mentioned the upcoming city council candidates debate? |
| 02:46:54.82 | Chris Zapata | not a debate. It's an orientation by city staff on city things that people should know budgets, audits, things of that nature. All right. |
| 02:47:01.94 | Babette McDougall | Yeah. |
| 02:47:02.26 | Unknown | Thank you. |
| 02:47:03.73 | Babette McDougall | Thank you. Thank you. I just wanted to be sure of that because, of course, we do have one coming up, date to be determined, always sponsored by the Sausalito Women's Club. I understand it'll be at the Spinnaker. Alice Murrow. And the League of Women Voters runs it. Bye, the book. |
| 02:47:23.80 | Steven Woodside | So here at the end of the evening, I just want to highlight that I was |
| 02:47:28.33 | Walfred Solorzano | Oh, sorry, we have Senator Bushmaker. Thank you. |
| 02:47:34.85 | Vice Mayor Cox | Is our camera function not working this evening, Walfred, for people? |
| 02:47:38.41 | Walfred Solorzano | We use the We use the webinar version and part of the safety thing is that they don't come out on video. |
| 02:47:45.78 | Unknown | Thank you. |
| 02:47:45.80 | Unknown | Okay. |
| 02:47:46.22 | Walfred Solorzano | That's all it's great. |
| 02:47:46.86 | Unknown | Other, okay. |
| 02:47:53.93 | Walfred Solorzano | Sandra? |
| 02:48:00.62 | Unknown | and Europe. |
| 02:48:05.09 | Sandra Bushmaker | There we go, I didn't get my unmute. permission until just now. Just wanted to remind the city manager From four to six on the 18th, the Sausalito village is having their, uh, They get to know the candidates evening at the First Presbyterian Church. |
| 02:48:24.76 | Chris Zapata | Ours is at one o'clock. |
| 02:48:26.64 | Sandra Bushmaker | Okay. Thank you. How long will that last, by the way? |
| 02:48:32.75 | Chris Zapata | no more than an hour and a half. |
| 02:48:34.65 | Sandra Bushmaker | Perfect. Thank you. |
| 02:48:38.84 | Chris Zapata | you |
| 02:48:38.87 | Walfred Solorzano | Right. |
| 02:48:38.94 | Chris Zapata | No further public comment. |
| 02:48:42.47 | Steven Woodside | Okay, I went to agenda meeting in honor of a... Jean Fidler passed away on the afternoon of August the 14th, just shy of her 92nd birthday. Jean was a force of nature, a true Sausalito legend with a deep love of her adopted town. She was born in Birmingham, England, raised in Tasmania, and acquired her nursing degree in England before traveling the world as a nurse and a flight attendant. By the time she settled in Sausalito in 1972, She brought with her a vibrant and uniquely her own personality. Though she never married, she shared a decade-long relationship with her beau, David, in the 1970s. David was by her side at the hospital before she passed. Jean had a strong connections with, with the Sossated Women's Club. Christ Church, Episcopal Church, the Sausalito Historical Society, the Library, and Sausalito Village. For many decades, she always attended city council meetings, always vibrantly dressed and always with a comment or two. For those who knew and loved her, they noticed a shift as she entered her 90s. Most notably, she no longer insisted on the French pronunciation of her name, and even allowed herself to just be called Jeannie. She also declared she was finally swearing off men, except for her daily dose of cowboys on gunsmoke. In October of this year, she reluctantly gave up her keys and car, but soon embraced receiving rides from the Sausalito Village and the CARS program. She enjoyed meeting new volunteers and appreciated the attention from those she hadn't seen in a while. In accordance with her wishes, she was cremated and she will always be in our hearts and in our town. We adjourned this meeting in her honor. |