I'm not, if you can make me a co-host, and panels should not be able to start video.
And Mark, we have a quorum of the city council, so let me know we can start.
Oh, okay, let's check the web screen.
And Mark, when I.
Twenty, if you can play the COVID-19 meeting us reporting, as I don't have that readily available on this device.
We're recording in progress.
Okay, we can you can start.
Thank you.
Good evening.
I'd like to call to order the regular meeting of the Berkeley City Council.
For T state that you are 8th, 2022.
And for we call the wall, I'd like to ask the city court to play the COVID-19 meeting.
That's for court.
Pursuing to government code section 54953E and the state declared emergency, this meeting will be conducted exclusively through teleconference and zoom video conference.
The COVID-19 scene state of emergency continues to directly impact the ability of the members to meet safely in person and presents imminent risks to the health of the attendees.
Therefore, please be advised that no physical meeting location will be available.
Please be mindful that this meeting may be recorded as any public meeting may be recorded.
And all other rules of procedure and to quorum will apply for meetings conducted by teleconference or video conference.
Live caption broadcast of city council meetings are available on cable BTV Channel 33 and the internet accessible video stream on the city's website.
To access the meeting remotely using the internet.
Join from a PC, Mac, iPad, iPhone or Android device using the URL indicated on the agenda for this meeting.
If you do not wish for your name to appear on the screen then use the drop-down menu and click on rename to rename yourself to be anonymous.
To request to speak use the raise hand icon on the screen.
To join by phone dial the number indicated on the agenda for this meeting and enter the meeting ID.
If you wish to comment during the public comment portion of the agenda press star nine and wait to be recognized by the chair.
Okay, thank you. The first item of our agenda is roll call.
I'd like to ask a city quote please call.
Councilmember Kester running here.
Tap on.
Here.
Bartlett.
Here.
Harrison.
Councilmember Harrison is in the attendees list.
Let's continue to make a meeting.
Let's bring that.
Nope.
Let's see your way down.
Councilmember Hawn.
When, when, grab.
Presence.
Aubence in.
Presence.
Droughts D.
here.
Here in.
Mayor,
Presence.
Okay.
Cormous Presence.
Form of the City Council's President.
And if you do see Vice Mayor Harrison,
if you can move her over at that,
be greatly appreciated.
Okay.
Thank you.
So,
we'll not proceed to the next sort of business,
which is ceremonial matters.
And first,
I'd like to take this opportunity to,
think,
or from the Vice Mayor,
Council member of the Roy trustee,
former service to the City Council,
and the City of Berkeley,
over the past year,
as the Council member will call.
We appointed Vice Mayor,
former Vice Mayor,
Droughts D.
deserve an acquisition for the calendar year of 2021.
And,
you know,
in addition to,
to stepping in and helping facilitate.
Or city council meetings at times.
I've just greatly appreciated her,
her council and her support.
And her leadership,
working in partnership over the past year,
particularly as we've navigated.
This pandemic.
And so I just want to take this opportunity to,
to recognize and thank former Vice Mayor Droughts D.
and we have a plaque,
which we will be dropping off to you this week,
which reads,
the Berkeley City Council gives us
deepest thanks to Council member Roy Droughts D.
Vice Mayor City of Berkeley,
to send her 15,
2022,
to send her 14,
2021.
So,
thank you so much for stepping into this important role.
Thank you for your leadership.
And partnership.
And I will be dropping this up to you this weekend.
Councilor Droughts,
if you have any words,
you're more than welcome to.
And,
for sure.
Well,
I just want to thank you so much for the recognition and the opportunity to serve.
I recognize that we have.
Not so much of it,
packed the agenda in front of us,
so I don't want to take any more time.
Then I need to,
but I just want to thank you all for your,
support.
And thank you for the appointment, Mr. Mayor.
Thank you.
Okay.
So, with that, I'd like to move to the
Droughts of memory.
And sadly,
we learned this weekend of a census,
shooting which occurred on the Interstate 80 Freeway,
which took the life of a
Berkeley native in somebody who has deepened
to our community,
and I want to recognize that council of a
tabloom to see if you words.
I wrote out a Mr. Ransom.
He was a Berkeley native.
Was a.
I started athlete at Berkeley high school in the 1970s.
We played a great distinction on UC Berkeley's basketball team.
And also deep back to the community,
helping coach the Berkeley high.
Berkeley high basketball team.
And it's very actively involved in.
The member of athletic and community organizations in the Berkeley
Newspaper community.
So, I'm going to turn the floor to council for
tabloom.
Thank you for for suggesting this recognition.
See you.
Thank you very much, Mr. Mayor.
I'll just add that Mr. Ransom was also a friend of my.
My father's.
I think we'll just go together and then
and do one other for a long time.
And I just want to.
So, hi, ladies and gentlemen.
Of being a strong event here in at Berkeley high grad.
I call grad.
And.
And I just offer my condolences.
So, I want to.
Thank you.
Council member.
So, my name is consent sadly.
We will be adjourned at tonight's Berkeley City Council meeting.
And I've.
Welcome later.
June Ransom.
The Zugang시다gua.
долго to welcome you.
So, my first.
So, my second.
And my third.
And then again, my my second.
And me.
And I.
And.
So.
And I.
Council member captain for suggesting that we honor his life this evening. Okay, the fact
I'd like to proceed to the next four of our business, which is City Manager comments,
like that's City Manager. She has any council for this comments for the City Council
and the policy. Thank you, Mr. Mayor, and Council member comments this evening. Okay, thank you.
So with that, we proceed to public comment on non-agenda matters. This is an opportunity for attendees
to address anything that's not in our public city council agenda this evening. The way that
we'll conduct this public comment period is we will select the first ten ways hands and you
speak or have one minute to address the council and in addition to this initial non-agenda public
comment period, we will also have another public comment period on non-agenda matters at the conclusion
of our meeting this evening. So I will call the names like the City Clerk's Act activate the lines.
We have way more hands that we can call on at this time. So we welcome your comments and if we're
not able to get to you, we'd like to encourage you to submit your comments and writing to council at
City of Berkeley. So once again, I'll call the speakers in the City Clerk's Act and I can
go to the lines. The first ways hand is EACHS each and debate.
You do. Hi, that's me. I'm Rebecca Milliken. Sorry about this name there. I'm I'm
seating my time to my colleague, Marna Schwartz. Okay, so I'll make note of that with Marna's
two minutes. Thank you. We'll go next to Quarka Flores.
Hi, hello, Mayor and City Council members. I'm Laura Flores, Health Center Manager for Berkeley
High School and Local One President. I'm here to urge the Council of Sports City of Berkeley employees
with a Tepper Ram down. For fiscal year 2021-22, there was to be a 3% reduction following the
adoption of the contract that workers fought hard for in July 2021. The first Ram down will not be
seen until May 2022 and the second Ram down is that to occur in August September of this year.
The City has declined to offer retroactive compensation equivalent to the exact amount of each
and every prep or contribution reduction to all our employees in our bargaining units in order to
make them hold for the economic losses. Local one members have reached out to me and shared their
stories of how expensive rank and mortgage are, how much they have to pay to send their kids to school
and how the city is failing to honor the contract of our all-pepper employees. I'm asking the council
to please work with the City Management to make this right. Thank you. Thank you. Okay,
now I'll go to Marna Schwartz and Marna has two minutes. Hi, we need this Marna Schwartz and I work
in office and energy and sustainability and what about that. And I work on building notification and
our climate equity fund and leading our solar post storage for increased resilience
at our critical municipal facilities. And I remember at SEI, you've taken 21 CSU and have been with
the City for 13 years. I love my work and my division colleagues and I love that we're at the
Van Varde of the environmental movement. But within our city we're not going to pay the salaries and benefits
that are clearly laid out in our contract. The most basic principle of employment is a worker works
and an employer pays them for that work. But this is not happening. The city missed my step
increase for 2.5 years due to an its own limited payroll computational error and was now refusing
to pay me that many back. That's well over $7,000 in lost wages, which equals more than 13% of my last
year salary or performance of my household child care costs on top of that they neglected to start
the calculus ramp down from my petrocolates. I don't know why they're not paying us, but I do
know how it feels. It's heartbreaking. It makes me cry. So much so that my failure of daughter brings me
her biggest stuff to animals to comfort me. It's disheartening and demoralizing and truly misdemeying.
As I drop language for a council report or speak to community organizations about their
equitable electrification, I can currently think. How could the city treat me this way?
How is it to anyone's benefit to not pay me and my colleagues for the work that we are doing? This
contradicts the progressive values for which the Berkeley reports to stand. Now, care is leading Berkeley.
Their property taxes pay for the good work I do for the city, but when I talk them and the other
Berkeley friends and that our employees are not getting paid what's in our contract for a guest.
And since the lack of moral and legal obligations the city for the city to pay for their employees,
it was a fundamental basis of employment and the ultimate betrayal of trust. And they just
don't know how we will ever repair the hurt that this has caused.
Part of me really quickly. Manicity manager, I'd just like to refer this to your attention.
Okay, let's proceed to the next speaker.
Who is the name MX3, the Jazz Council, please hold your comments and show after the public comment group.
Hello, my name is Axel. And Kida, I do not know why I show that to that. And I'm currently a high school student
who's more and more expert in the city of Berkeley particularly in the planning department.
She's been working there for five years and she helps the city create and meet its articles through
community engagement. She loves her job and loves helping out the community.
But my mom is also a pepper member and by her contract, which is ratified by this specific
council which I'm speaking to, choose first to see a 3% reduction in her palpers retirement
contribution, no leader than this past January. But the city has not yet implemented this reduction.
So that means there's a 3% loss in her take home pay her current I see I union union has been talking
to the city for months now about this issue. And then it even provided guidance and had a quickly
implemented this after that.
Reaction with Calpers, but this city has not been able to do so, and is dragging the heels and is not being able to meet with the union so that they can fix this issue.
This is being incredibly difficult on my family, especially as my older brother, Toby is preparing to go to college, and it is incredibly important that the city will stratify this specific contract that requires for this Calpers reduction.
Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. We're going to have a Sasha Green.
Thank you. Can you hear me? Yes. Excellent. Good evening, city council members. Thank you for your time.
And thank you for your service to this community and for hearing my concerns. I'm here to express concern about the pending GTE mobile net versus city of Berkeley lawsuit.
I'm concerned because the city has not yet responded to Verizon's motion for summary judgment. There's still time, but it's February 15th.
And so, just want to remind this council that back in July of 2020, this council agreed that to not allow Verizon to place a facility that contains a large amount of diesel fuel and a 50 foot electrified structure directly on an earthquake fault in a residential neighborhood and within 25 feet of women most heavily visited parks and Berkeley.
It's a major half concerned. We know earthquakes aren't imminent risk of this community. A strong earthquake will cause critical infrastructure problems, including damaged water storage, which could put the generator and electrical supply that's proposed for this tower underwater.
Earth quakes are not a question of it. It's a question of being prepared for when. So thank you for your consideration for your time.
Okay. Thank you very much. We'll go to the next speaker.
Who is so re-alpert.
Good evening. Mayor and members of the city council. My name is Sally Albert. I'm a city worker in member of SIA U1021.
And thank you council member for your initiative. But the conditions have been brought to the city manager's attention and that's exactly the problem.
As a legislative assistant, I know those of us who work in policy sometimes isn't a thinking issue the abstract. And so I think it's important.
But we're reminded of the fact that every item that appears in the council agenda, every direction, resolution and referral represents the time work and commitment of city workers.
Those are workers at the desk requiring contracts, researching policies and alternatives and writing reports that come through agenda.
Workers providing services to our community and every conceivable realm at a library behind service desks and out in encampments amongst almost vulnerable.
Workers who are preparing for and building the infrastructure we rely on and they'll be using for decades to come.
The city of the contract with those workers, the contract that took months to negotiate and was invoked on and ratified by those sides. That contract is being broken.
The CSUP Charlie chapter alone has not one, not two, but three grievances that are already at or passed the final step before arbitration.
When taking with the failure to address or even acknowledge many COVID workplace safety concerns, workers are left with no confidence that rising raising issues to management was often any productive outcome.
That is why we are here tonight to raise these issues to counsel detention and ask that you work with us to honor the contract and try COVID safety workers in our community.
Thank you.
Thank you, sir.
Okay, we'll go now to you.
Charles Clark.
Mayor and council, this is Charles Clark from District 6.
At first, a word from our guest speaker.
I think it is clear that we can't show the increase.
Thank you.
Empty words gain meaning when you put money behind them.
By the end of the paving plan you approved last month, the general fund allocation for street repair will have been stuck at 1.95 million dollars for its 20th consecutive year.
The public works department needs 15.1 million dollars every year just to keep streets in their current crummy condition.
The finance department has told you nearly all the property transfer tax revenue the city collects from now until June 30th would be available for infrastructure needs under council city fiscal policy.
So please put your money where your mouth is.
Okay.
Thank you.
We'll go to the next speaker.
Who is Thomas?
Hello, Mr. Mayor.
Don't see first of all paying staff who are working on the economy.
Emergency is probably one of the most important expenditures you could make.
We send updates on the severity of the emergency.
In about three to five years, we'll cross the threshold that absolutely guarantees global heating exceeds 1.5 degrees Celsius.
And we send the findings of earlier calculations show that that means alcohol will become extinct.
And it will take about 25% of our marine life.
And therefore the livelihoods of a half a billion people, which is to say 15% of the global workforce would be disrupted as well the food supply that they provide.
That's one small place of how bad things are getting.
Don't get worse until you treat it by an emergency and act like it's an emergency.
Okay.
Thank you.
We're going to the next speaker.
Who is see or where's going.
See or where's go.
You should be able to speak.
Does it meet yourself?
Can you hear me?
No, we can.
Thank you for.
Thank you, Mayor.
And see council members for listening.
I'm calling about the ramp down.
That has not happened for city employees.
I want to echo one of.
That see employee earlier, who had mentioned out of the environmental sustainability unit.
How she was not paid.
You know, retropaid for two years.
For first step increase that was that did not happen.
I too that that too happened to me as well.
So I wasn't aware that this is.
Not something that other people who are experiencing as well.
So.
I'm glad that she mentioned that.
But I also want to say that.
I was present in a lot of the negotiation meetings.
Along with my colleagues.
To speak.
To to negotiate for the rent.
Pepper ramp down.
And it took a lot of our energy.
A lot of our private personal time.
You know, on our breaks during work.
Or after work like right now speaking at the city council hours.
And during that time.
I heard a lot about.
What other employees are experiencing this city of Berkeley.
And there was staffing issues amongst the many of concerns.
That was commonplace.
And people sounded like they were burned out like they were overworked and underpaid.
And right now with inflation at an all time high.
With gas prices.
Certainly.
And there's another question we have.
And I guess I'm not saying.
I think we can really be a big decision.
We can really be really worried about our territory and everything else,
especially here in California.
It's urgent.
That we received the pay.
That we're that we fought for that we fought so tirelessly for.
Thank you.
It's a great response to be appreciate.
And that's it.
Okay.
Thank you.
That was the ninth speaker.
Okay, so this next speaker is the last speaker for this run,
an original call of common.
Allison?
I have Tom Scepton, that's the top of the raised hand solic.
I, John, I have Allison for some reason.
Allison, Remer?
Yes.
Okay.
Hi.
This is Allison Remer.
I'm a member of Bessia U21, FCU unit.
I'm in the work in the planning department.
And I'm caught on the phone talking with you today,
because the city is not honoring our contract.
I'm particularly concerned about the pepper ramp down.
We've thought so hard to enact the long overdue.
And equities, a pepper cost sharing.
And but the city has been dragging our feet for months.
And the changes they agreed to have not been put in place.
According to how occurs, only thing needed is a letter from the city,
stating the change of the percentages.
Most new employees are pepper members.
And a failure to address the pepper ramp down will have a negative impact on the city's authority
to retain new and old employees.
The city has been made by the way that the terms of the contract for months
and has no intention of quickly cracking this issue.
The column in the mail and counsel that fix this now.
Thank you.
So that is our tense speaker.
And so.
What I think everyone for attending tonight and for your comments.
And so once again, a lot of another non agenda public comment period of inclusion of tonight's city council meeting.
And if you wish to speak, I don't want to consent calendar.
Please raise your hand at this time.
Welcome your comments before receiving a consent calendar.
I just want to take an opportunity to just make some comments and I know the city manager would like to as well.
First and foremost, I want to thank the many city employees who have attended tonight who've spoken.
I share the concerns that you have expressed.
And one way to my commitment to working with the city manager and the city council to make sure that we address these issues and we implement.
The terms of the contract that we work hard to negotiate and good faith with you.
That we value deeply your service to the city of Berkeley.
And.
I also want to emphasize my commitment to working to continue to improve.
What place city particularly now.
You know, as workers are coming back to work.
You know, while we are still in the city of emergency.
I think the.
But the bargaining is raised a lot of the good good suggestions around ways in which we can't continue to work to grow workplace city.
I also want to acknowledge the steps that we've already taken to respond to some of the some of the.
The issues that SIA was brought to our attention.
And so I just want to emphasize I take this issue very seriously.
I think the entire city council take this issue seriously while we are well.
This is not a close session so we can't really get into the details around what is the personal matter confidential matter.
I just want to reiterate.
The importance of working expedently to resolve these issues.
And to ensure that we are implementing the the terms of these contracts and also that we are demonstrating our commitment to our workers and our appreciation of their service to our sake.
So thank you.
If it's okay.
I'd like to go down to the city manager.
I believe that some comments that I'll go to the other members of the council.
I wish to address this issue.
Thank you.
I certainly want to thank our employees for.
And because we think that concerns as I've stated before.
We did provide opportunity for employees to wait and that it's.
You know always important that we are listening and trying to make sure that we can address their concerns.
And that's very quickly as quickly as possible.
And I want to turn the floor up to you.
I believe you said the manager.
The time to bellow.
I need her to provide just an update on where we are.
What we've done so far is some of the questions that we're presenting on this policy.
And sometimes it's better to use visuals.
So I want to make sure if she needs to use the floor to kind of put a visual up pretty well.
But I think it's important for us to take the time to talk about what has happened.
What has occurred.
This is an important for our employees.
We know that.
And we believe that.
And I think they are a little team.
All of us have been working very hard to ensure that there's only contacts are zero.
And if not, which then I can let you all end our employees that we will honor.
The contact.
The contact again instead of or us.
So I want to turn this over to the kind of bellow to take us to.
And just to update on where we are because these issues are very important.
So I want to take some time here.
Thank you.
So I thank you so much.
Madam City manager.
Good afternoon.
Mayor city council members of the public.
My name is Latanya Balol.
The interim deputy city manager for the city of Berkeley.
And.
Mr. City clerk do you have that document that we could share.
Kind of the spreadsheet on on everything that we've done.
I think that over to you.
Don't know if you can share screen for me right now.
Yes.
Yeah.
Thank you so much.
So I do want to.
You know, thank you all for the time this evening.
And providing us the opportunity to be responsive.
To just a few of the things for our.
The staff, the council.
The city staff and.
And the workers we certainly thank you.
For your service, especially during this pandemic.
And please do know that the human resources department have been working.
Extremely hard to ensure that all of these.
And more you provisions are acknowledged.
What you will see here.
Is a spreadsheet.
That will go through very quickly.
what is going to share with you Mayor Council and members of the public and I'm
pleased. This was the first time for human resources that we had all eight contracts
both seven including the unwrap that were due at the same time. And so we negotiated all of
those contracts in July 2021 and finally got those resolved by the last one came over July 31st.
Where it was adopted by Council and that certainly took us right into our winter some of
great. But what you'll see here is out of these eight contracts.
You'll just scroll down just a little bit, Mark, I would appreciate that. With each of these contracts, eight are eight of them. We had some anywhere between about 10 to maybe 13, 14 MOU provisions that needed to be implemented. The green will show you all of those contract provisions that have been implemented by the Human Resources Department.
It's about 75 MOU provisions between all of the contract that needed to be implemented. Those things that are in yellow are those things are in progress.
So, of the 75, we have nine that are in progress and still three that have not been completed, but in total, across all of the labor groups, we have implemented about 65 of the MOU provisions.
And a lot of them do have to deal with wages and ad-pays and things of that nature of lump sums and you'll notice that all of these things of which council approve.
And that is some of the work that the Human Resources Department has been going through over the last six months.
Certainly, while all of this was in progress, we were implementing the mandatory vaccine that became effective November 15.
So in the middle of implementing all of these provisions within the MOU, we then turn our attention to continue making it through this pandemic.
And it was the decision of the organization to mandate vaccine by November 15 that required a meeting confer and so the same team that was implementing these 65 provisions here in these nine that are in progress is also the team that is now sending out letters to the labor groups to do the mandatory meeting confer over the decision.
But the impacts of the mandatory vaccine.
And so they started meeting with them in September having regular meetings.
We had about 20 meetings with just our CSU group alone.
S-E-I-U-C-S-U, S-E-I-U maintenance in clerical.
We had about three or four with police, 11 with I-B-I-B-E-W, but you get the point.
So we're implementing these, we're taking care of the COVID stuff for the organization.
And then we're dealing with the exemption requests, right? We've got a lot of religious and medical exemption requests that we're also managing through updating the COVID rules, going through all of that.
Still working through that.
But I wanted to share at least this spreadsheet with you so that council has an idea of the totality of the work that's being performed out of the human resources department.
Because I certainly hear and understand some of the concern around those things that are not implemented.
But I do want to also highlight the workload and the work of the human resources department for those things that have been completed.
Those are approximately 62-63 things that have been completed.
Those nine things that are in progress.
Now we fast forward to the cow purrs, which is the pepper ramp down.
That is a very complex thing that we have had to work through, working under the guise of cow purrs and all of the rules that go along with that.
So most of these, the language says in here and you can hold right there mark that would be great.
That is effective, has soon as it administratively possible follow the adoption of the successor contract by the city council.
And the administratively possible portion is to provide the space that the organization needs to work with purrs and do everything in compliance with the purrs law.
But please know, the employees that are working on this out of human resources, they will also benefit from this.
So they're working quite hard to make certain that this pepper contribution does occur.
And so we've been working with the labor groups in the labor management meeting and sharing the specific dates in terms of when we can expect.
We do on the emergency things as we need and there's something on tonight to be able to support the movement of that is quickly as possible.
We are in the middle of a pandemic and certainly perrs and everybody's been affected by this latest variant and what staffing issues, but it is by no means.
They lack of commitment by your executive staff, your city manager or myself, and certainly not by the staff and human resources, which in that employee relations staff right now, we're only talking two to three people.
And I do want to just think of the leash applied and a money manning who have been working regularly daily, even though they're times they could tell a commute, they've been coming in to ensure all of these provisions within the MOU get addressed.
And again, as a relates to our COVID-19 hours that that were mentioned as well, our city manager approved for all of our employees who had COVID-19 hours still on the books.
At the end of December 31, 2021 that that could roll over and then here recently with the last two weeks council has approved an additional 40 hours of leave for our employees to have available to them.
So the city has certainly provided leave hours to our employees to ensure that they have the necessary sick leave hours specifically related to this pandemic, thereby not having to use their own leave hours.
So I just wanted to make certain that we communicated to you all and certainly to the public and to the labor groups, but more importantly to council, that there are a lot of provisions in here and a lot of them are tied to wages that absolutely happen implemented.
Only one that we're working with is purrs is because we are indeed internally in human resources, they're continually to walk with purrs under the purrs guidance.
That's why we say it as as administered as administratively possible, again all of this under the umbrella of this pandemic that we are facing.
So much Madam City manager for giving me the space to at least explain that to the council and to our employees and thank our employees for their service.
We certainly appreciate and I'll turn it back over to you Madam City manager. Thank you.
Thank you very much and thank you to the HR team and our employees on the pictures that they endured through this process.
She should be commendable. I know it's hard for them and they are waiting and we can hard to implement all of the provisions of the contract but I want to add is that there are there isn't least one contract that has very different language.
The language that was presented to you on the slide we will honor that contract language for the provisions for everybody to see it we will honor that as a city.
We will honor all of the contracts with the explicit leadership that is provided for them.
So I the last thing I want to share I'm there in council is that as we have worked with our labor groups.
As I as our partners have worked with them as our HR team our leaders in this organization.
The one thing that we are certain that they have heard from you as a city manager is that we are to be fair.
In our approach and resolve and concerns especially the concerns that will share I'm on squat towards.
We have to be fair when we go back to looking for issues far and close.
That was just brought to my attention I would say in the last.
So absolutely we're going to figure out what is the best course of action to honor the contract language for collecting the space within our city we are certainly going to do that.
But their provisions are going to contract for the city and we have to adhere to those provisions so we will certainly work with.
And we are going to work with this labor representatives and this works to address those issues and as quickly as we possibly can't.
Our table time to battle for her work.
She's been champion moving forward all of these.
In review of the grievance with Don Ellison and that they tried to partner the entire team and this council for supporting us in doing this work.
And all of the work that's come with it.
We probably would have been a very better place today when it comes to responding and addressing these things and we would have been.
They probably faster with the exception of pepper ramp down as I stipend on things that are somewhat out of our control.
But I want to share all of you that we are doing our absolute best and we will continue doing so.
Thank you for allowing us this time to present and to share what we are doing and how we are addressing the contract.
Thank you.
Good next to Vice Mayor Harrison.
Thank you Mr. Mayor.
Thank you to all of the employees who spoke into city management.
The I appreciate our work or sharing their concerns on listening very closely.
I'm concerned that certain provisions have in the up and implemented.
Even though we have administrative delays which are understandable.
I think the money is time and that we have employees that have been waiting a long time for this pepper ramp down to take place.
And we know time is money.
And we know that that's something that we spoke about for a long time.
You know, this has been not something we just adopted a new policy to do this ramp down.
So what I'm hopeful is that we not do just was exactly building the contract.
But what's in the spirit of the contract as long as it doesn't violate the contract.
So I'm looking for what I appreciate mentioning.
I'm not going to share the shorts.
Melon City manager.
That would be the kind of thing where you know you're under stress from COVID, so our employees.
They're not going to notice necessarily that they're not getting the correct pay.
Because I don't even get my pay checks anymore.
Frankly, they're in my box at city hall, but I'm not allowed to go to.
So I hope we take that into account only do this.
I also want to just invite you to ask the resources you need to get through this process.
I agree you're understaffed.
But I think there are ways that we can help with additional assistance, maybe with contractors or law firms, etc.
So that I think is when this kind of thing happens and you see something snowballing and it's hard to get to what we said we do in the contract.
I would hope that you come to us and say, this is what I need for more resource perspective.
And then the last thing I want to say is I also appreciate your outreach.
I think a concern has been the meetings with the unit itself who are the representatives of our employees.
So in a represented environment, that's who you need to communicate with most.
And I'm looking forward to again you asking for resources if you need them so we can get these sessions back on on track.
And again, thank you to all the employees you came.
I'm committed to making sure that this happens as quickly as possible and our actual active payments are made well appropriate within the contracts.
Thank you.
I'm Vice Mayor Harrison. I do want to show you that we have already begun.
We've already begun a process for a foreign additional help.
We started that process back in November.
I was very much proactive in trying to approach our needs in HR from recruitment to employee relations.
And as well as to some of the CEO issues that we face and we've had a little process supporting us in this effort as well.
So I just want to share the way not saying thinking about we don't have an opportunity to update help.
I've already authorized that help.
I've already done so.
And so we'll continue to move those contracts soon to get people on board.
We've already secured two of them and we've been working through specific issues around this.
Around this contracts and around the world that is happening in HR.
So again, we're doing this as fast as we can.
We're still responding to a pandemic and there's a lot of work that we have.
So I can give you and I want you to know that we're already doing those things.
Thank you.
Okay.
Councilor Han and you know, I just want to caution the city council from discussing this extensively as it's not noticed on the agenda.
And you know, if there is a desire for additional discussion, it would be appropriate to.
To do that questions the city manager individually alternatively we can.
Genize this for a close session as this really relates to personal matters.
But so we're going to count to number on next.
I'll I'll second the comments of the mayor and vice mayor.
I wanted to say that as I was listening intently to the speakers during public comment.
It just reminded me of how much I'm missing our staff in person.
At the office in the field and also a council meetings.
And I really want to thank those who spoke for sharing their personal and their workplace stories and despite not being literally able to be face to face.
I think the emotion.
Really came through and I I just want to say I really received that deeply.
I do hear the distress and I you know, I am concerned that when we all don't have the opportunity to be a face to face there's more opportunity for.
This understanding.
And and we just aren't as human to each other when we don't have the opportunity to see each other.
And I think that does where we are away and it can really negatively impact good will.
And so even though everybody is tired and everybody has been doing more than 10 extra miles.
And that includes our staff in HR.
But every staff member has I think it's still is incumbent on us to work extra hard to bridge the misunderstandings and to make sure that.
If there is a source spot or there is an area that is causing particular distress that we work extra hard to meet it.
I think the pepper issue has been an area of particular concern for our staff for many years now long before to.
And I think it's unfortunate that that is ending up being one of the last things that we're able to fully implement.
I do appreciate the better and fuller understanding of all that's been done, but I also know that this is a one area of particular concern.
So I just want to thank everybody for all the work they're doing and encourage us to, as council member, as Vice Mayor Harris and said, to, you know, gather all the resources that we can.
To finish this implementation in particular to address the concerns that we're raised today by our speakers. Thank you very much.
Okay, thank you. Once again, would encourage members of council. If you have any additional questions or comments to direct them individually sitting manager and roll up, there's a more additional discussion.
That could be provided in the form of everything in close session. So thank you. That completes public comment on non agenda matters.
We're seeing to the consent calendar and we received two urgent items there being submitted pursuant to government.
Consection five or nine five or point to the two, which is the provision of brown act that allows a low government agency to take action if an immediate action is needed and the need for action can be attention.
At the local agency, self-sequent to the agenda for this meeting being posted.
Firstly, we received an item under that particular provision of the brown act from council member tap on entitled Malcolm X elementary read a thought.
The link was shown in council office budget funds and my assumption is that this came to the attention of council member tap on after the published meeting agenda and the event as noted in the item is actually next week prior to our next city council meeting.
So council would entertain this meeting to take action.
This statement. Secondly, we received an item of council member hon on behalf of the commission on status of women entitled grant application on behalf of the commission on status of women to support the commission city book.
Please, and this item provides authority for the city manager to submit a grant application on behalf of the commission.
There is an upcoming grant deadline.
And the words require that any grants being submitted on behalf of a commission must be must be authorized by the city council through council action.
The commission actually received an extension until February 24 to submit a grant application.
And as our next meeting is on February 22nd.
That would not afford sufficient time for the application to be submitted to me at the timeline.
And so.
Council has a question of the advocacy agenda pursuit government code section by for nine five four point two.
These two as there's a need to take immediate action.
Sorry to move to add these items to the agenda pursuit to government conception five for nine five four point two need to.
And.
This is a two third vote in order to add these items to the agenda.
And this is a procedural motion.
So I'd ask the court to please call the roll on.
I'm excited to see the agenda second second in my home.
Thank you.
Okay. Council member.
Mr. wanting.
Yes.
Taplin.
Yes.
Martin.
Yes.
Harrison.
Yes.
On.
Yes.
When graph.
Yes.
Robinson.
Yes.
And.
Miner.
Yes.
Okay.
Motion carries.
Okay.
Thank you very much.
Okay.
So those items have been accepted.
And they are being submitted as consent items.
And so those items will be out of the consent calendar.
So on the consent calendar.
Any comments from members of the city council.
Council.
Council member.
Thank you.
I looked at.
Council member.
The motion.
Okay.
Thank you so much.
So noted.
Vice Mayor Harrison.
Yes.
I'm going to ask the out into the Malcolm X school item as well.
I could.
And.
Thank you.
I do want to say a couple things about items.
It's seen even though it's on consent.
This is a budget for all in a resolution.
A city process for working with East Bay community energy to site and develop public electric vehicle DC fast charging hubs.
I'm really glad is the appointed EBC that we are at this point.
With EBC for this significant new climate initiative.
If a proposed public public partnership between EBC and the city.
To develop up to three electric vehicle charging hubs and areas of the city with high concentrations of multi family housing.
Many of our residents don't have dryways or garages.
And you know what to do like access to fast charging.
My niece and leave takes at a 36 hours to charge on a regular plug and fast charge would allow that to take place within a mere 45 minutes.
Since about 50% of our emissions are from greenhouse gas emissions are from transportation.
We have to really focus on this sector infrastructure for transportation.
a lot in terms of biking, walking infrastructure, we're looking at some amendments and improvements
in transit. This is an area where we need to improve to allow people who have to have cars
to commute to buy green vehicles. One of the biggest impediments to people acquiring a green
vehicle in addition to cost is that of managing anxiety. I can tell you one day coming back from my
staff with my staffers from Sacramento, from the EMG Commission meeting, we nearly went out of power
on the road, and I am in fact at one point I had to drop somebody off the side of the freeway,
who had offered a ride home to. So it's not an experience that our folks at Louisiana should be
having to go through just to get to work. We're not improving the details of this initiative tonight.
This is a non-biting term sheet outlining the proposed responsibilities for the city and the
EBCE and the staff will be working on a possible binding service agreement. So a lot of details
have been worked out where will these charging stations be, what will be their hours, and there's going to be
a lot of room for negotiation and change. We've been meeting meeting meetings in my office with EBCE,
the mayor, the city manager's office, OESD, and the city manager's office. Let's talk about some of these issues.
The item also includes a $600,000 budget referral for the June process and under this
proposal, EBCE would own operating finance stations. But once we hit $100,000 per year, more than $100,000 per
year per hub in revenues, we would share in the revenues. So the extent we have a high usage of these stations,
we are going to actually benefit financially. We're also going to get more utility user tax out of using
these electric stations. We're just in the mail, we've already gotten by, I'm going to do 1% green energy.
Yeah, this is just one of those situations that I think is a triple win, I want to thank EBCE.
I also want to thank my co-sponsors, council members, I think I'm sorry, mayor, out of game,
council members, Bartlett, and Wendgraft. And I'm looking forward to further considering the
site of one of more defined term sheets before us. This draft term sheet proposed term sheet will allow
us staff to start on the one of the negotiations with EBCE. So thank you for your consideration.
Awesome, remember Bartlett?
You're muted. Thank you, Ms. Mayor. I just wanted to give $250 to the Malcolm X reading reading event
and also join myself to the comments made by council member, vice mayor.
Sorry, vice mayor, Harrison, this is a really exciting program. Some of we've been talking about
for years and it's exciting to see a potential framework moving forward. Thank you.
Thank you, council member, Dr. Austie.
Thank you. I actually have a few questions about number 16 that I'm not sure would fit in the consent
calendar or discussion. So I'd like to discuss that. I'm not sure if there are two other members.
So I'll just put that out there. And thank you so much. I believe that's all I have.
Are we going to do? Yes, we'll do expertly discussions later on.
That was good. Okay, I just want to make sure that we're doing that at the top. Thanks.
Okay, councilor Hong.
You're muted. Please unmute yourself. Sorry. When you do things, my I jump. I kept clicking on
myself and then I wasn't there. Okay, thank you. So a couple of things. Item seven, which is
formal virtual institutions. The only request proposal that is described in there is for resident
canned food services. And it's about four and a half million dollars worth of food being purchased by the city.
I'm guessing this is one of our largest food purchases that we make as an organization.
And I just want to make sure that we are doing everything we can to integrate the good food purchasing policy
and other sustainable food policies that have been passed by the city council that those are being
reflected in the RFPs that we're putting out. I did not have a chance to ask to see the RFP,
but I'm wondering if the city manager might just be able to comment briefly on that.
I'm hoping that maybe this year is the year that we were able to bring that in.
Thank you. And because we're behind, I'm happy to go to Dr. Lucifer, who's over the Department of Health
and key services. Dr. Barton, are you available to speak to the decision this evening? Thank you.
Actually, I can jump into this is all deputy signature. And I think actually that item is Scott Ferris,
my apologies for that. I was thinking that was Lisa, Dr. Barton's, but it is Scott Ferris. And you know,
definitely aware of those provisions that you mentioned, Council Member Han. And if it's okay with you,
we can, we haven't released that yet. So if we can, and it's for the next six years. So we can look at the
little more closely and get back to you. That'd be helpful. That would be wonderful. Thank you so much. And
I'm happy to discuss that. Can glad to know it hasn't gone out yet. Maybe we can find a way to integrate
those policies into the RFP. So then item eight, which is the contract for public safety wellness programming
for our fire and I believe the police as well. I just want to say that I did read the report.
And it's pretty alarming when you understand the extra risk that our first responders take when they
enter these professions, the substance use and stress that they are exposed to these situations that
they're exposed to. And I really wholeheartedly endorse efforts to support all our employees. But in
particular, these people who are on the front lines who see an experience trauma, who put themselves in
harms way in ways that the rest of us probably would be too scared to. Or might not have the training.
But I'm really excited about that and glad that that is moving forward. I also want to thank you for
item nine. We need to be working on our wildfire protection in every way possible and that moves it
forward. And then last but not least, I just wanted to say that if folks have any questions about the
urgent item, I'm happy to answer them. It is on consent and should be pretty self-explanatory.
Thank you. Good next account. So I have a white wrap.
Thank you. Yes, I want to just express how happy I am to see a moving forward with the wellness program
for our first responders. I think it's really wonderful that we're doing this and I know the need is really
great. And then the community wildfire protection plan is something that we've talked about needing to do for a long
time. The contract is with two wonderful women who are really experts on wildfire management in the
East Bay. They're very familiar with Berkeley and so I'm very excited to see that move forward.
I just want to point out one I believe typo in item an item number nine where it says fiscal impacts.
I think that there was an error made and it says funding for the employee wellness program is budgeted
from measure FF. That is not true and I think it was a cut-and-paste mistake but it should be removed
from this item number nine and maybe the city manager wants to speak to that. It was a typo graphical error
for the record. Exactly. And I also want to thank the peace and justice commission for bringing
forward their items, all of which are extremely important. That's item 12 which is supporting immigration
reform, 13 supporting justice for Haitian refugees, 13 for normalizing diplomatic and economic
regulations with Cuba which I feel is very important right now.
In terms of the conflict in Russia and the Ukraine and how that's going to act Cuba. And Japanese American day of remembrance. So thank you to peace and justice commission. That's it for me.
Thank you, Councillor Robinson. Good catch on the financial piece on item nine. I was just looking at that in the idea. Thank you.
I just raised my hand off for $150 from my discretionary count for that read on an up next. Thank you. Thank you. Councilmember Kessa wanting.
Thank you very much, Mr. Mayor. Given that Councilmember Drossie is requested to pull item number 16. I also have some questions I'd like to ask. So I will also make that request.
Okay. Councilor Tatlin.
I would also like to discuss item 16.
All right. So that's going to go to the action calendar. Councilmember Han.
I'm sorry. I forgot to make a donation for Councilmember Taplin's item. I'd like to donate $200.
Okay. Thank you. Councilmember Wangra. Yes. I also neglected to mention that I'd like to donate $200.
Okay. Thank you. So noted.
Any other council members on the consent calendar?
Okay. If not, I'd like to ask the city manager if she has any comments on the consent calendar.
Thank you. Thank you.
So I would like to pull item number 10.
I would like to pull it in definitely.
Okay.
As this came from the city manager.
The item is being removed by the offer. So noted.
Okay. Thank you. So to summarize, change the consent calendar.
The consent calendar includes the two or items that were added.
Item 10 has been removed by the offer.
And item 16 has been pulled.
We're soon for our rules.
Three members can pull an item.
And that will be moved to the action calendar.
Otherwise, the consent calendar is as published.
So if any attendee would like to speak on the consent calendar, please raise your hand.
And then we'll go to the first speaker.
Jowel Salsa.
Jowel, you should be able to speak. Please introduce yourself.
You're Mayor and City Council.
My name is Dora Salsa. I'm a city employee with the IT department.
I appreciate your opportunity to speak here.
And again, along with my colleagues.
I'm here to ask that the city owner, their contract was more so hard to negotiate last year.
We appreciate the words from the city manager.
I understand that HR is working diligently.
But again, here to remind that.
This has had times work on this.
You'll be nice to get at least a date.
And when it's going to be done and get a contract that worked out.
I appreciate the time to speak here.
Thank you.
As that is not on tonight's agenda.
I'm assuming you're speaking about item 10.
So any comments related to any labor management issues.
I will soon for purposes of the consent calendar public comment here.
You are dressing item 10.
We'll go down to gladial.
Hi there.
Thank you for listening at my apologies.
I'm in the same boat as the last person.
If there are any questions.
I'm assuming you're addressing item 10.
Good.
Thank you.
Why don't you difficult to hear me?
Yes.
Thank you.
Did you wish to speak?
We can't hear you for some reason.
I'm gladial.
I'm sorry.
We can't hear you.
I'll come back to you.
Check.
Hello.
I'm.
Check.
I would like to.
Seeing my time to.
Sorry.
Elper.
Okay.
We'll go next.
We'll go next at Thomas Lord.
Thomas Lord, if you wish to speak, please unmute yourself.
Yeah, I took a second for the unmute dialect to pop up.
So first of all, let me acknowledge that when.
The full council was commenting on the issues that staff brought up today.
I sensed in council.
Um, strikingly.
Uh, genuine distress and care for others.
And also a certain level of exhaustion.
Which I think is understandable.
Uh, in present circumstances.
Um, a great teacher once helped me.
Uh, by saying.
Keep in mind the distinction.
Between.
We.
And work.
Um, it's one thing to worry about big problems in other to.
To get going on them.
Um, and get going on them is a great way to release stress.
Ultimately.
I want to speak to item five, which is a.
Uh, procedure.
When you are emergency declaration.
Recovid.
And it's striking to me because while this council has said.
In the past that they believe there was a crime in emergency.
They've never said that it's a local emergency as well as a global one.
And they've never felt any need to.
When you that declaration in order to exercise emergency powers.
That means that when you said there was an emergency.
You didn't really believe it.
And that's not truth telling.
And that you're not acting as if it is an emergency.
You're not acting as if the truth is an emergency.
So I don't five each time that comes out.
You should think in the back of your mind.
Why are we doing this with regard to.
The.
Bridget upon us.
Kind of emergency.
It's only going to be a worse gear over your record.
Breaking year after record.
Breaking year for the West of our lives right now.
Okay.
Thank you.
We'll go next to Tara.
Tara, you should be able to speak.
Hi.
This is.
I'm Tara.
I'm going to.
I will come today.
I'm going to come.
Thank you.
I'm.
I'm a.
I'm a young.
Say.
I'm.
I'm a young.
I'm.
The.
Been.
management.
Murder.
abad.
The.
Foot.
For.
on my account has taught me about injustice and about community and over now individual can use
no longer need to stand alone to survive we need to stand together and out together to get through
the struggles and a couple of times and to heal and so I wanted to thank you all for your time
frustration for this resolution. Thank you so very much. We'll go next to Chris Nassau.
There are more in concert list of Christmas, so remember that's how you attend to one
speaking in my unique capacity tonight and I'm speaking in item five. As you know, I was a
member of the bargaining team for the very tense 2021 contract negotiations between the union
and the city and this was also during the COVID-19 pandemic and I'm planning in tonight to
bring attention to the fact that the cities and breach of contract across a number of key areas
with respect to its workers will continue to keep this city running during the pandemic. I'm looking
to city leadership to address these outstanding issues immediately by providing retroactive pay to
the effective workers including interest. As you know, in an air of high inflation and the city's
delay in paying its workers the money that they're owed is not only wrong but it has the effective
and poverty in them. This includes the pepper rantown, the community benefits, the hazard pay assessment
study and the failure to pay their stock increases among other things. I'm also very concerned that
the city is not paid all of the eligible recreation workers they're here okay. These are some of
the lowest paid and most precarious workers in the city. Federal the money was earmarked specifically
for these workers and to make them whole. Thank you very much for your attention, these matters.
Okay, thank you so much. Our next speaker is George Litman.
Yes, thank you. I'm George Litman and the chair for these peace and justice commission.
I want to thank you for your support for the four peace and justice items of 12 through 15 and
particularly to council member Wendraff for her insightful comments. The theme of all of these items is the
same Wirky Cares. Wirky Cares about immigrant rights. Wirky Cares about our Haitian neighbors. Wirky Cares
about our Japanese American and Japanese Latino American neighbors and all ARAPI community members
who are subject to the ongoing hate and oppression that goes back to the annexation of California
and has never stopped. Wirky Cares about our Cuban neighbors regardless of their politics,
whose relative suffer under Trump's renewed embargo that the current administration has not overturned.
We and peace and justice are so happy that our job is to speak to the best of Wirky Cares social
conscience. Thanks again for your support. Thank you, Mr. Litman. Okay, we're going to have a
silly offer. He was seated two minutes. So, speaker has a maximum time of moments. Good evening again,
mayor and member of the city council. I still say I've worked still a member of 1021 in a city worker.
I had a whole thing written out to say to you, but I am so offended by what we heard from the city manager
and deputy city manager. I just don't even know where to begin. First of all, I don't know if she simply
forgot, but it did not true that the city manager did wasn't aware of the issue with Montenegro's pay
until just now. She was seated on the grievance. So, I'm sorry. I'm sorry to interrupt.
Quick pause. Could you just state which item you're speaking to? Sure. I'm happy to speak to any
of the items on the agenda that were written by workers who are currently being underpaid. And I'm happy
to speak to any item on the agenda about COVID safety impacting. I just want to say for the record,
as you already spoke about some of this on non-gen events. I just want to establish that for the record.
So, I'm sorry to appreciate that, Mr. Mayor. No problem. But apart from the email,
there were two separate increase in meetings. We're not directly spoke to the city manager
on her specific issue. And I remember very distinctly, one of them, because after Montenegro,
I reminded the city manager that whether intentional or not initially, if you don't pay or work
or their fair wages and then become aware of it, if you don't fix the problem, it is wage theft.
And she replied by specifically denying that it was wage theft. So I want to read for you now,
a part of California state law that reads the intentional theft of wages in an amount
greater than $950 from any employee or $2,350 from an aggregate from two or more employees
by an employer in a consecutive 12-month period being punished as grand theft. For the purpose of
this exception, theft of wages is the intentional deprivation of wages as defined. We treat it as defined,
benefits, or other compensation by unlawful means with the knowledge of the wages for two
of these benefits or other compensation, it's due to the employee under the law. I appreciate that
it is not easy to do the work that it takes to make all of these, but there we are under staff. We know that
and we know this is not easy work. But why is it that we only get transparency from management when we come
and talk about these things in public? We don't get presentations like what you just got when we're
meeting and conferring when we're meeting behind closed doors. Our requests go like,
nor our meetings are canceled. And finally, when we bring it to the public, when we bring it to the
council, then these year are these things. First of all, and other people who will comment, well,
we're luck on this. There were a number of inaccuracies in that chart. They went through it too quickly
for me to look through, but I know at least one of them, which they said that they were completed,
it has not been completed. But I want to understand why we're congratulating ourselves,
or most of the time, meeting our legal and contractual obligations. Most of the time,
following the law and following the contract, that is not sufficient. And it is also not sufficient.
I just understand, because it's just not acceptable. And if they knew that they were going to be missing,
you said, why? They're always to address that. If you know that you have an agreement with someone,
and you're going to feel to uphold the contract, you reach out to them affirmatively,
talk about how you're going to fix it, and come to a common understanding. That's what you could do when
you have a contract that you know that you're going to violate. That's what you do. That is not what it
happens in our case. On PEPA, not only did they not tell us in advance that we're going to miss the deadline,
we realized that and we had to bring it to their attention. We filed the grievance. It went to its third step,
and then they canceled the third step yearning. And they never tried to reschedule. It's now it's going to
go to our finding arbitration. So it's not just that the contract is not being followed,
but there is no transparency, no accountability, no follow-through, on addressing how they're going to fix it.
On Mars issue, it's not just one. It's a number of employees we haven't identified throughout the
city who have not been given this.
We raise that to the city manager's attention, raise that to HR's attention, and response they are failing, refusing to provide more and not for a retroactive pay, which she's due, thousands of dollars, that's one instance by itself, announced to a grand theft wage theft claim.
But they're also refusing to show how they're going to systematically go through, and identify which workers have not been paid.
Okay, sorry.
And I've made that issue with the city manager.
When I told her that the only here time is up, they might have a bit of asmatic issue.
Thank you.
We'll go now to be beatman.
Hi, play, beatman here.
Thank you for the meeting tonight.
I guess to go over a few of the consent count items that are interested in myself.
Thank you for your many piece and justice items that are on tonight's agenda.
With the events that are going on in the Ukraine and with Russia.
I hope, you know, after 10 years of just battling Russia, this can be a time to really lay down the important,
negotiate of future peace plan and how Russian works on international level that's actually fairly impressive.
And I just hope we start taking that seriously now, and we don't have these backlight and media reports that are just going to loopy.
I want to talk about the issues that are important and necessary and they completely cloud the issue, but that's beside the point.
The measures today by the peace and justice.
You know, work the code pink is also involved with these are incredible good ideas towards peace and thank you for that.
There is an item of the.
Charging stations that was a very important that the future charging stations can be placed in low income neighborhoods.
I don't know how much that issue addresses that I hope it can.
And I hope it can address come as large ideas of single occupancy vehicle.
That is a very important issue down in sound as they want from.
You know, those sort of projects would come up and how to build the future housing with single occupancy vehicles.
They've been shot down, they've been ended and it's that same good spirit.
I hope that Berkeley can be addressing their vehicle issues and what we can do about that situation.
And to conclude about the COVID.
You know, issues.
You know, we developed a good science for the COVID vaccine process.
Can we learn to talk more about the nanotechnology involved?
Can that learn to become more open conversation?
Thank you.
We'll go next and meet them.
Good evening, and I should be having time seated by Kronzi.
Okay.
So note it.
And I'm speaking to items number four and number 10.
And I'll start by saying that, you know, even though this is my last week as the city of Berkeley's labor standards and enforcement administrator for the community.
I will always stand in solidarity with my brother and sisters in labor.
And it's so sad today that, you know, we have heard from so many about the problems going on with our contract and workers not being compensated as their dip.
But first to be to the vaccination and infrastructure improvements.
I'm really happy to see this agreement go forward.
The bike station and all the improvements being made to the roadways for biking safety or so crucial to our fight for climate justice.
And with that said, so all of the commute benefits that were made in our agreement.
And it's supposed to take place in August of 2021 that I see that it in terms of deputy city manager had as resolved in her spreadsheet, which I hope that spreadsheet becomes public record because we'd like to look at that.
But that it is not good bits.
Members are still not getting their commute benefits.
We want to be partners in taking alternative transportation and finding other means of transportation with gas prices mean so high, but when we don't get our due commute benefits, that makes it challenging.
Members like myself are living further further away from the city and having the city is not meet that obligation is really sad and it's also sad that not being honest about implementing these provisions or saying that they have been implemented.
In regards to number 10 and I see my times running down, but I think I have another two minutes you have another two minutes.
Okay, so in regards to number 10, yeah higher, higher more staff, higher as many staff as we need to meet the contract obligations.
Many of you are aware that we took a lot of time and effort as employees bargaining for I would say a mediocre contract that has pretty much already lost it's it's it's inflation rates.
In the near time since we we've agreed to it and yet the paper ramp down which by the way under the SCIU 10 to one MOU section 51.103 says that the 3% ramp down should be made.
Effective as soon as it administratively possible following adoption of the successor contract by the city council and in the accordance with calipers requirements or.
The first full pay period of the calendar year 2022 whichever comes first.
That period is coming up and the paper ramp down is not a current so it is not accurate to say that as soon as administratively possible is happening and in fact we're arguing.
Through the grievance process, which if this does go to arbitration is embarrassing for the city and embarrassing to take time for employees to have to fight for contract provisions to be implemented that we already fought for negotiations.
It's it's just it's just unbelievable that we were at this place and that the city is not being transparent honest about what has what has occurred.
And that we believe that the paper ramp down could have been and should have been implemented actually November would have been as soon as it's been a shape impossible because if the language from the contracts would have been shared and that process started.
And then the paper ramp down could have happened that and I'll remind the city council that we have a strategic plan and one of those strategic plan goals is to attract and retain a talented and diverse workforce.
Well, you're not attracting talent and you're certainly not retaining talent when you can't meet your contractual obligations with employees.
So in closing on to say, you know, I've worked with SCIU.
In official capacity I've been essay number my entire career and that ends this week.
But I'll always stand with members and I'll always stand with workers and I have to say that as city industry share for SCIU I've worked with a lot of other cities union city else arena rich man other cities with severe budget impacts and that don't have money.
And even in those places, they honor the contract. So we need to do better. We need to hire whoever need to hire to honor the contract to implement these provisions. Thank you.
Go next to Isaac Man Kita.
Yes, thank you. I'd like to actually see my time to my friend and drive a lucky. Okay.
We'll go next to Matthew Kojima.
Hi, my name is Matthew Kojima and I'm a student at UC Berkeley and I'm also the president of Berkeley in the case student union, which is a Japanese American cultural group on the UC Berkeley campus.
I'm speaking in support of the resolution to recognize Japanese American day of remembrance which I believe is item 15.
I hope that this resolution will pass on the state of anniversary of Japanese American internment because of honor the 120,000 Japanese Americans who are incarcerated in World War II, including my own grandmother who is interned in post and into the lake.
Furthermore, I hope that passing this resolution will raise awareness for the Japanese Latin Americans who are deployed from their home countries to be as impressive exchanges by the United States.
I also hope that passing this resolution will raise awareness for the rise in anti-Asian state crimes that have been occurring in communities across the United States.
As the survivors of this terrible tragedy, Dwindle is important, now I will never to ensure that the lessons from this dark period are not forgotten.
And finally, I'd like to add that David Emeritus more than just an event to honor Japanese Americans and Japanese Latin Americans.
This is also an opportunity to start dialogue with other marginalized groups across the country or community holds the performances, which raises awareness for things such as HR40, which will explore reparations for African Americans.
As well as as an opportunity for us to stand against as well as non-phobia and also against any main conditions at the United States, Mexico border.
With that I'd like to thank the Council for their time.
Thank you. We're going to still wander.
Wanda, you should be able to speak.
Yes, we can.
Good evening, cast members and mayors.
My name is Wanda. I am a CSU, P2RA number and part of the bargaining team when we have reached this place.
I'm speaking upon item number 5 and 10.
So I spoke a couple weeks ago upon the COVID safety for the city employees.
I believe I might have hurt some people's feelings in mind when I spoke them with not to hurt anyone's feelings, but merely to speak this truth.
And as we know, the truth will set you free.
We have the staff that has been required to be vaccinated. We are the staff that has been required to be in the office every day once the shelter in place was removed.
We are the staff that assisted the public that work in encampments. We are the front facing staff of the public, but no safety for us, no protection for us.
But we are required to have explanations, but they are not the public.
In our context, we negotiated for hazardous pay for our workers who have duty of learning to art in the encampments.
They still have not that down and have the meeting conferred with us, and our employees are still working using encampments.
Other union members receive hazardous pay, but they have received this compensation, but our employees are members for us.
This is not okay. Our line staff has worked tirelessly with all the recent challenges, but can't get staff to uphold the context, city staff to uphold the contract to agreement.
To the staff ourselves to uphold the context that we felt so hard for our members in good faith.
Please help us get a fair working condition for what we have negotiated. Thank you.
Good next to Charles Clark.
Mayor and Council concerning item 15, I speak in 100% support of the Japanese American Day of Remembrance, but only 50% in support of the peace and justice commission resolution you've been asked to adopt.
The resolution is all about person, the darkness, which is fine as far as it goes. Darkness should be cursed.
The points of light also deserve this council's notice and recognition.
The one I'll mention is Ronald Sugio Sukamoto, who would have been born in Berkeley if his parents hadn't been interned in the truly like internment camp near the California Argon border, where he was actually born.
His family returned with him to Berkeley after World War II. He graduated from Berkeley High in 1960 and became the first Japanese American officer of the Berkeley Police Department in 1970.
Sad to say, in his rookie year, he became the first BPD officer to be killed in the line of duty, which is why the public safety building bears his name.
My point is the moral mistakes of this country, not just the incarceration of World War II, but also the current episodes of anti-Asian hate should not blind us to the good people who have persevered through those mistakes.
I'm sure the late Tom Fujimoto who founded the Monterey Market or Diane and the late Glenn Yasuda, who founded Berkeley Bar, would have been equally good stories to relate.
The one I told about Officer Tsukamoto was only one notable example, and I think he and many others should be lifted up in council resolution, such as in item 15.
Seeing the light helps conquer the darkness.
Thank you.
We'll go next to Andrea, who had time yielded to her as well. Thank you.
Mr. Man, council members.
I want to say that you have a lot of good work on your agenda tonight, and I am moved to take away from the important work you're doing with the day of remembrance and so forth because it is really important.
And it is not what I want to do to come here and complain to you about the systemic problem you have with an anti labor management team.
But I'm afraid that's what this has come to.
Because we came as a group on the 2015 meeting to talk about the way that we were being dismissed and undermined in our COVID meeting confer with the city manager.
And what we got back from that expression of our concern was the cancellation of our meeting.
A meeting which we have three times requested demanded be rescheduled and only today was it rescheduled for a joint meeting with a whole another meeting confer.
They are as responses to all of the things that we have demanded.
We are workers that as you've heard from others were on the front lines we're getting COVID in our workplaces there are outbreaks.
We're doing this in an environment where the state is talking about rolling back masking mandates and making us less safe every day.
And what the city has answered us with is silence and it's unacceptable.
And it's a pattern that goes beyond simply what's happening on our day to day health and well being as workers and protecting the community because you've heard from others tonight about the recreation workers who have been denied their hero pay.
So the hazard pay assessment that is not happening in the encampments.
That's a dangerous job that got more dangerous with COVID.
And the city has failed to even begin the assessment.
In the six months, the paper ran down.
Yes, this is an issue that is of a special.
And so, this is my last concern and has been for many years. I appreciate you saying that council member hon, that is not the last thing to be implemented. We've got to list of five things from our contract that have yet to be implemented.
And as others have told you, the city's response to that to our demand that they actually come and talk to us about their failures has been silence.
meetings I have never, never in my time at the city of Berkeley. Had an issue come first to arbitration
because the city refused, flat out refused to engage at step one step two or step three. And that's
where we are today. That is the city management team you have. Yes, they're under staff. Guess what?
So am I. So it's the library. The whole city is struggling. But if I decided that I was too
overworked to actually do my job, there would be consequences. And there need to be consequences
for the disrespect. We're not talking about people while we're gagging around complaining about
non-sensical things. These are people who are not getting their wages. These are recreational workers
when not getting email addresses. These are recreational workers not getting their email pay. This is
this is not small stuff. And yes, we're fighting all of these fights because when we found them the
first time the city didn't do it. Do we want to have these meetings? No, we don't want to have these meetings.
We want to get back to serving the community. That's why we came to Berkeley. I want to be a librarian.
I don't want to have meeting confer after meeting confer. But we have to do these meetings because
the city is not holding up there under the bargain. So that's what I'm here to tell you. You're going to
get a lot of details about what's not happening, but that's the bottom line. The city management refuses
to engage with the workers, which is the responsibility of the obligation, and they're going to need to be
consequences. We'll go next to Kelly Hammepin. The common I plan to make sounds so small and
comparison to what's happening with the city employees. And of course, I wanted to do all those
raises that we gave to the director in the city manager, did those sales through with a kind of
smoothness that the employees haven't seen. But what I wanted to comment on was a number of seven
the formal bid solicitations. And I really appreciate what council member Hans said about following
the sustainability standards from the city. And I was hoping that when the formal bid solicitations
went out, that when this contract is finally determined, that we are going to have a contract with
a minority owned business, a black owned business, or a Hispanic owned business, from here locally,
and that we won't be sitting through another filming report about how minority businesses are
not receiving city contracts. Thank you. Thank you. We'll go back to ELOC plans.
Hey, council, this is Ken Chants. I am on my EOC computer here. City workers here from this council
and city management that it's hard for HR department and for other workers during this pandemic.
And city workers also here from this council and the city management that they are essential workers
and that their work is appreciated and critical to our community. These are great things to hear and
these are true things to hear. What workers have not heard is that their paychecks have been paid
in accordance with the city's contract with workers. And what workers have not heard is also that city has
not taken has taken seriously COVID safety in the workplace during this pandemic, which indeed
is all of our community. The interest of city workers being voice tonight is aligned with the
interest of our community. Workers safety is community safety. When workers don't get notification of
positive COVID cases at a workplace in a timely manner for management, that means that they don't
know when to quarantine or isolate to not pass COVID to community members that we serve. The city is in
violation of their obligation to meet and conferring good faith for COVID safety. Workers negotiated in
our 2021 contract to allocate part of our pay to computer benefits. Workers are aligned with our community
goals and fighting climate change. The city is in violation of our contract to pay our
computer benefits since August 2021. And workers are serving our most vulnerable members in
homelessness and shelters. Workers are doing this very important work to our community, day in and
day out, all throughout the pandemic, getting assaulted, getting chased by angry dogs, working in
hazardous condition. The city is in violation of our contract in addressing hazardous work for workers
on the front lines of this work. Our communities align with the interests of the city workers
who do to work that our community values. It's good to hear the words of support from this council and
city management for essential workers but it would be better to hear that our contract obligations
are being met and that workers are being paid what is owed and that COVID community safety is being taken
seriously. Thank you. We're going out to Jen. Hi, can you hear me? Yes. Hi, good evening, Mr. Mayor and
council. My name is Jen and I am a community services specialist and I am a member of SLAU 1021. I'm
speaking on items 5 and 10. And I just want to add my voice to the course of other city workers who have
secured tonight about the failure to implement our contract, which we've rather than been
good faith, which the city signed off on, which this council signed off on. I'm also a pepper member and
I have to say that quite frankly I'm just exhausted by this whole thing at this point and I can't
help it wonder if that's maybe not the point of all of this dragging out delaying and I just want to
emphasize, you know, what Nate does said he read from our contract and it says as soon as it
administratively possible or the first pay period in January, whichever comes first. That is literally
the language of our contract and the first pay period in January has come and gone. We've been told this
is probably not going to be implemented to the April. I would expect that a city management that
vows to honor a contract would be very upfront about if we're not going to meet that obligation.
That you will indeed get back paid as not what we're hearing. So I have really no idea what to
expect about all of this and it's really disheartening. You know, there's there's been a lot of issues that
have been ways tonight, including the issue around that's not getting their separate cases, COVID-19 safety,
our workers who are out in camps who have bargained for has it as pay study, which hasn't
happened yet, our recorders who can't even get email addresses and I just want to just say for the record
that, you know, I'm disappointed I support whatever the city does to hire more folks so that they can
get staffed up and get some of these things implemented. But as a as a separately booker, I'm
really feeling the strain of all of this. Thank you very much for listening.
We're going to add a flat cap one.
Why are you there?
That flat cap one you are needed. How's it going now? Can we have it? You're great.
Okay awesome. I'm glad I'm an SCIU member how worked for the library. I was on the bargaining team
when we pushed for the proper acceleration. I listened to latanius presentation and I appreciate that
you guys to care of 65 of the provisions and I want to thank you for that work. I want to talk about
the proper provision which I understand is a challenging one and I appreciate that much like the rest of
the divisions in the city and departments in the city that HRs are worked, that you're dealing with an
unusual amount of contracts and that pepper is challenging but nonetheless the city isn't
reach of our contracts and city workers are hurting as a result. As someone who bargained for the
pepper ramp down I want to point out that our entire membership paid for the Pemper ramp down by sacrifice
being a 1% cost of living adjustment. Other employees have been getting that additional cost of living
adjustment for the last six months and as you know COVID related supply chain issues are causing
higher than normal inflation so our codes are particularly important right now. Workers have less
standing power than they've had in years and given the proper provision implementation delays
given that we traded our call at a pay for them and given the relative ease with which the city seems to
be able to implement call as I would ask Council to authorize paying for a temporary 1% cost of living
adjustment for our membership. From the date our contract was signed to the time that the pepper
ramp down is actually implemented but I'll help make our members whole the mayor repeatedly caution that
Council members should direct their concern for city workers directly to the city manager or to
agenda is it for future discussion or to take it to close session. I would ask that the city council
keep in mind what I remember should give up and what they're going through when they go into these discussions.
Thank you. Thank you. We're going to exit district 7, COB. I think this in G-Chen.
Hi, I'm Anne Campbell. This is in G-Chen and I just want to echo the comments made by my fellow
city employees tonight. I'm a member of SCIU-21 and a pepper employee and I also striped on the
bargaining team that negotiated our current contract. As you know we had a very intense contract site that
took a lot of energy and time for my members. It was very stressful. There was also a lot of work on the part
of the city including this council and your close sessions. So after all that work went into this contract
it's an extremely frustrating as the city is in violation of multiple contract provisions, including the
purpose that down increase in community benefits. This is money that has taken out of the pocket of workers
during pandemic and the city needs to make this right. Members can be made close, need to be made
full with retroactive payments including interest that impacts the high inflation rate that we're
all struggling with. And I just also want to say that I've been very disappointed with the general state
of the relations of the city with multiple meetings with our union being cancelled and a full
lot of transparency and meeting conference. I understand that I understand that there are staffing issues
that affect, you know, contract implementation but I think this unknownness to meaningful in G-Chen
but then the bigger issue within the culture and the Department of Service will need to change. Thank you.
Thank you very much. I see we have one, two, three, four, five raised hands. I'd like to do one
mask call for public comment on consent items. Generalty spoke. Thank you for your comments.
Anyone who has not spoken on the consent calendar that wishes to speak, please raise your head at this time.
Okay, we're going to add a care of mastic.
I'm going in favor of the wireless resources for our first founders. Our first responders face trauma,
they're exposed to trauma on a regular basis of the daily basis and they're expected to not show
their vulnerability. There is stigma attached to them needing, needing services and it's
really great to see that there are going to be resources available for these wireless purposes.
It's also pleasant to hear commissions being praised and acknowledged for their work to
often the commissions are traded as if their parasitic nuisances sucking up staff resources
and instead of recognizing them for the citizens' consultants that they are,
citizen consultants that are working free of charge or for various small stipends.
Thank you for allowing me to make these comments.
I appreciate your service, Carol. You're my appointee and the homeless services panel experts.
So, really appreciate you stepping up and providing your years of expertise and your commitment to
that particular commission. Okay, we'll go to Tom Setton.
Thank you, Mayor. Thank you, City Council. I appreciate you giving us an opportunity to speak on this.
It's relevant to item 10 but also relevant to what you've been hearing all night. I'm a city
Berkeley employee. We're for the IT department and a member of the CIU 1021 and was on the bargaining team
that went late into the night on time for myself at least many times to get to a good reasonable
contract and the city council did the right thing about six months ago when you wanted to approve
the contract and as we've heard tonight, it is not unfortunately being honored.
There was to be 3% step down of that effective as soon as administratively possible
or towards full day period of calendar 2022 which ever comes first. Well,
January 2022 has come and gone and the city is currently in reach of contract.
When we anticipated this a couple of months ago, I asked the
lawsuit manager if the city were to be unable to make this pepper ramp down happen at the time
agreed with what she make staff hold by paying enough to make it even. The city managers
response to that and I quote was, we don't do retro. So I would ask the city management to
reconsider that statement and consider doing retroactive payments to those staff members who have been
essentially cheated.
And in honoring the contract and the failure of the city to honor this contract. Thank you.
Thank you.
Good next to former Councillor DAVILO.
Thank you, my computer, my diany second.
So I just wanted to state that the marketing and advertising for BPD.
I hope it's not going to be like the militarized propaganda that I've seen in the past and moved to a new type of marketing approach.
Also, the 2.7 million for wellness.
It seems like it's excessive and why isn't that why can't the utilizing medical coverage to create that wellness.
And then the city managers recently got 86 million.
The director has got 80s that got another $1,000 per month, 12,000 a year.
The city employees aren't happy, but everybody else in the upper management seems to be getting what they need.
Please, honor the first, you know, these essential workers first.
You know, honor their contracts, you know, give them the COVID notifications timely.
This is the second meeting where I've heard them complaining and it's really concerning.
And the paper was initially back when I was on the council.
I mean, that's kind of pathetic.
And recently at the farmers market, I was talking to a city employee.
And he was stunned that in the last meeting, the city, he said, and I quote,
the city manager said, and I quote, a bold face lie.
She was just shocked because he was not in agreement with what she said about how to how to labor and the management we're getting along.
So, you know, apparently, the 86,000 isn't doing enough for the city employees with the city managers raised.
So, please, and take redistricting off the information calendar and needs to be talked about in the meeting.
Thank you.
I had asked that anyone who wishes to speak, please raise their hand.
This is the last call for public comment on consent items.
We'll go next to Kelsey Oakerts.
Please forgive my pronunciation.
Oh, no.
Thank you.
You actually got it right.
All right.
So, hi there.
Thank you everyone for being part of the meeting.
And thank you for all that you're doing to move the MOU provisions forward.
Just to note, please make the S-E-I-U contract positions.
Applications happen.
The library is really understaffed.
And right now, we are trying to hire and retain 10 plus librarian positions.
People talk, and it hurts the city's reputation.
It folks think they cannot trust the city to pay them their full wages owed on time.
It seriously is really weird to have these conversations with friends, a friend's asking me what they've heard,
who are interested in applying for these jobs.
Also, please make sure, since it's being discussed on a statewide level, please make sure to keep the indoor mask mandate going in Berkeley.
Mask wearing is essential when health and library users, especially when they are using computers.
Masked health library users and staff feel comfortable in the library.
So, it's tax season.
People need to be able to go to the library for ARP tax appointments and use computers to access common related benefits and or respond to government inquiries.
It is a crucial time for the library right now.
Your support is so, so much appreciated by myself and many others in the community.
Thank you so much.
Thank you.
Are you going to stick a tree now?
Hi there.
Can you hear me?
Yes.
Hi.
Good evening council.
Thank you so much for taking all of our comments today.
And all the work that you do.
I'm glad to comment on consent items five and ten.
And so back on on myself.
I work in the planning department.
We're going to use the vision.
I work on all the annual reports for the highly elements.
I work on it is which will hopefully be the second rating tonight.
Could us to the team.
Yeah.
I've been here for the last two and a half years.
Plus in this issue regarding Peppa and honoring like our contract.
It's just so disheartening.
Like being here and having this battle throughout COVID times.
During these times when, you know, we really need to feel supported as workers.
It's just, it's a struggle.
Like I've had a lot of new staff in the land use division for reasons because, you know,
thing that because of Peppa or for other personal reasons.
But right now like I'm walking new staff through like their pay text and I'm like, yeah,
that's how much it's taken out a month because of this inequity that still exists.
For me it boils down to about $300,000 per paycheck.
And if you add that a lot, it's almost $7,000 a year.
And for me, like I have a ton of student loans.
And I'm so hoping that Biden's going to, you know, cancel that child out to him for that hopefully.
But it's, it's a lot.
And it's, it's really wild up.
I'm here again in front of you all.
And it's, I just, I'm just so frustrated.
And I want people, I want people to understand that frustration that we're experiencing as workers.
So please, please encourage management to enforce our contract.
Thank you.
Okay, we'll go to Felix.
Hey, I'm Felix Thompson.
I'm a public sector worker here in the East Bay.
And I just want to say when the city of Berkeley doesn't honor its contract obligations to the workers here in Berkeley.
You are setting a terrible precedent for other employers around the Bay Area.
Berkeley has a reputation as progressive, but when the city of Berkeley's government.
It doesn't follow based on contract obligations.
It's not progressive.
It's, it's harming your workers and it's setting a bad example for all the other municipalities around you.
So I hope you'll quickly follow the contract that you've already agreed to.
Okay, we'll go to the next speaker.
Nifer.
Hello.
Yes.
Oh, thank you.
I just want to thank the peace and justice commission.
And I would like to comment on item 14 to normalize the diplomatic and economic relations with Cuba.
Cuba Cubans and I have family there in France.
And they are experiencing the worst, the worst economic and humanitarian crisis.
This humanitarian crisis continues to grow with COVID pandemic.
So I think it's wonderful that we can put a little bit of work to be able to lead the normalization of US and Cuba relations.
Thank you.
We've got a Diane about.
I got it.
Hi, I just wanted to thank you for putting that for the for items for the peace and justice commission on consent.
And I'm I'm glad that other people are appreciating too.
I'm glad that we have the chance to do this work.
And I George Littman spoke quite eloquently about each item.
So I want to add any more just to appreciate having the opportunity to do these kind of resolutions.
Thank you.
Bye.
Thank you.
Thank you so much for all your service and the commission for bringing for these resolutions.
I see no further ways to answer.
Thank you.
I'm sending this evening in for your comments.
Bring it back to the city council and I'll make a motion to approve the consent.
Second.
Vice Mayor.
Thank you.
Any further discussion?
Signo.
Yes.
Kaplan.
Yes.
Bartlett.
Yes.
Harrison.
Yes.
On.
Yes.
Good afternoon, Robert.
And yes.
Dr. Rosset.
You.
Yes.
And Mayor.
Yes.
Alarian.
Motion care.
Thank you.
So I like to suggest to reorder the agenda and move down to these advocate for 29.
56.
Kilias Avenue just to ensure the party's and not the way we take a private business.
And then we could proceed to.
Item 17 and then the item you just pulled in six.
So.
So, well, so I have a bucket by my recommend taking a real break.
Start with that appeal.
All right.
So we're going to take a ten minute recess.
As we are required to, as we have a look captioner.
And then we will be back actually upon further consideration.
Let's, when we come back, we'll take a pesabapiel then then 16 of then 17.
Okay.
We'll be back.
Thank you.
That's a seven or seven.
Recording stopped.
Thank you.
Aiga i ydraeth i pam y naed, ygrad eu ffachupcryd o'namation gyda-draeth ydacer porraud Cyndmeth.
o cactolio, deen ni'n cyflwy yr'n cynraith.
O'n cyflwydd ydyl'i gwneud o'n cyflwydd.
dyn.
Ok.
Ok, once again, I'm going to ask the council for these rejoins us, so we can reconbe.
од medyd.endsaufelau. Niuall o campad Intro nhw.
Dul x BRinaadrew a'id wedi ynaweín 12'32' Beginty from Teich Enlightral,
Idem 18ths antiprifydd a' priferwyn y Phaedia yn 2017-1858.
Swy con yn laos bod Whitedd un prif pedwch ar funfel am si Hίνes Mae'ch
Degol do'n Rw Iím Storef iron hebftenu o'nod borefledd
ynftos modellig Eud Tym syrup n Graham i'n Cymill O'n Mae'ncylmwyd
sc yn poblia o ca'n nhw'n y carem nhw, ydf�ingu.
y fenn, y nhw brood gwalwaind a gwidddo
eith Schw Tudoau y wd enchu.
I ff.
Ya ag austriwed y rgarionol, walau'i.
Ca'au ora decidu, y fadingiggoeddwdych washerWelcomeornyeth sw assimcyd mild fo'n
y Operation
Su-wosd.
I wdich dwi'n ei, dich Mae kmb yn o Masch i'n gaw家.
Eiffos doethau maeswchreadre summarig.
Bethau, eithosau i'w Ogyweril Scotland
au.
yn yna diolioしま.
yddMKdd сложio dda'u di'n ganesall yn dda'n anywhere.
economia yn datang, aides a'w o dde storio annoyio ni'neud
draws uodan â'n g hoe g pstwyds a'l beth.
â'r syr'dd wrth'imdd d�ol a'r llelr o'r ddaus freakosd,
o'r hyn y cyd orch Pfoyio â'r Iwn yn y dayt!
neu dys Habenixddio Bom Ben R asegda, whichios Ng'n fel Sangynaol aniraai deweithol roeth dewi Mae'n
empezach yn fel feggwne, pfeod lle ydim yn y mッiol deweithio E renewd hwns a'n
yn reis'n� neu llrweithu'n eddych'n eddy yr Hawdyl con fyst.
Robeber i yma, peоном, dî Can eisiau'nema.
neu ymchwagnau сwem a'n sredd o e gleich c מס i'n Einsονhire ard knows o rwybyddio
fwyddio andru arengithol Rach yn y dfwayddio fyddio mai hercynnyfgoedd 170,
eich i'r fi wna need, fel皆자 carbohydratech Fireyanlin.
yw ddyngym yn chylsa'n fynd yn ysa'n'n gwneud.
Pefyt cref ymdefyrdau gwneud.
Pencawnt ywyd ydynt o'r gaelw yn ydynt ywyd.
Seawng a'r gwell'n gwneud fyfyd.
LI SO amount un ni'n store model.
O'l eithechan.
Ang amgymau yn fwys i'n sy'n Autorewn estimation.
Mae'r tidd ychedwfyd Elyl?
La'nydur fel companion.
Mae'n todayd i'n amgymau yn doedig.
刘rewn din y n presum phifwanau
mae'n i yn yma hyn na'r am'r ma hyn ni'n acc ese o regdfinunueri.
Pys yma, 기au ymaini'n pa'n gwydw, mynnau, o'n maenw.
Ad lym un ar ymaid yn fel yrmat yna'n weixwfiaflu, ym Framewrza'l gwneud a'hu'n bladd eind i'n
fl yna'r i'r i fidd ynesd eind pwy o'n yna'r iedadw.
Yna'r iid yma, yna'r ymaid pwy o'r iedadw, yma.
A'r iedadw iind dda'r iedadw iid yna enfesu yna'r iedadw iedadw.
hynnyd yn ydym'n'nstart'n masf ard ei gyfrwyddliesu'n smwynyn'n
rhimmel dwerg deithau, highly edders i'n rhoi un dependenio deithau,
wdoch bilenia, mas cymhenau, dysd i feraeingloeth dysdająed yn aids Hiwau stod.
Daud y thecheron
1900 sa' iaid yn yp yn rwyffyddo fel
Tourn nhw'n yng Nghylw'n i'n yng Nghylw'n ac trech fwllagd o'n gwndael yw.
Dwarf o'r i'n ymthawog yr hafer o'n gyfer eithel.
Dwarf o'r Gwyff, a'ng Nghylw'n yn gweirfyllad ar eithel y rhan.
Dwarf o'r i aithel ar gwm yn yw'r ygychwl o'r gwrthagas orfgwyff,
Mae'r gwnaud fynd yn y deoprod yn peolwys'n gwnaud.
Mes'n o'r gwnaud yma'n i'r aios anw'n i'r yn fymf yn gwneud ar mewn o'r gymson.
Mae'n y nawn i met yn fymfwys'n i cyfymfwys'n i'r mawnyw cyfmethau,
mae'n gwnaud ar whiffnid yn y gyferr ywffys.
Mae'n ydn ywnaud ar wthys eu cyfymfwys'n i'n gwnaud ar y'n cyfymfwys'n i'ρ local.
dwi rewd o'r gweld a'r gwndeeth wsirstrawe, fel gbearoli nawneeth cy'rgodch yn mynd i'r gwnden fel i'r gwnden fel,
i'r gwnden fel ein cy'n mynded dwi rewd, y mae seetaiddol ei wnafan.
Mae mewn yn yw, oedd y tämä, yn y llhydrawench, yn y XY wedi, i'r gwnden fel wnafan.
Rwyd e'r gwnden fel yg yddaeth.
Dwe�� dweug ei dweugallad, yddaeth a'r gwnden fel gallu, ymvarichw.
Yddaeth, yw yda'r gwnden fel.
O'rfluid a f gynaed i ddweithun.
Y fi tune o'r i undadd, ddweithunitely tyhol 높 yda gwtyn ghtd evin ponsim ar mhthalddu
rhywun gan ar yn tefeur i wedi dr hetio yn gy
i ddweithun.
Onchflolyn i eniffelys fyd fyydemarth Fromμοol
i'r ddoith, mae'n lma yma yw'r C mae'n yn'r cymneud, o fydd, mae'n hyp ddodd, o fydd, mae'n hyp fydd.
Mae'n yr gyda'n hodd oedd yna fashion.
Mae'n gyda'n gyda'n fydd yn gallu Salaf.
Nysch yna'ni merging, atwlated o yna'n yna'n broodz i'n zirgol.
Fel gwondol, mae'n cychmneud yn gallu'n yna'n gwawn hyp sydd.
Lydyd ddodd dodd'd â'n frequentig sydd, a yn yna'n wwyd yna'n gwyd yn gwyd yn cael,
dysdyn yng Nghyl Cymru wedi gwy hi yn Pyshylher o'n mael ni'n fi'n iawn.
Un a'l fwyl y fwyl o'n gyju'n fi'n fwyl, y pyrigol, o'n i ddo ni'n ni'n fwyl y cymwyl rwy'n
yn gall i'n lleib ddwydwyd fwyl, y chael, fydd y llyddwyd na'i yn ni'n unol.
Fwylg bron, fwyl, mwyyr wthymd y cymi'n maelau a gyda, eu wedi'n fwyl y frif alais,
y wngddw ymgniaeth ddim, rauedd ymwaith yw time yn gael yw'rín ar i'r iawn ynw.
Dhebu i'rgood mae'n mynd mewn, baffynion i'r yw i'r gael eu'r ydr.
Dhebu i'r yw i'r gael yw i'r gael wedd, yw i'r gael uw i'r gael wedd i'r i'r gael w ydraegu'r yw i'r gael wedd.
i 2025' tri, i' veizw'r 2025'r's ddud a laus'rfestafau'r a glwy'n i' llunau am cydd yw'r
mewn i'w ddim'n amdw fel i'n amdw i'n hollod yn yma, awn a ddim ystyfr gadw ddwythu.
yn yw ddim o ddim deudol, a ddim ydych'n mae'n ddim ystyfr gadw ddim yn yma, a ddim yma, a ddim yma
au yddim yn yma, a ddim ymdddim yma.
syswichyddioolwr d psychiatrist i'rauo'r yr lafor mas thank-au'r i'n'r lle'n'l fel'r ďw.
Mbkam dynwatau, b mae am y Paul'm i'���ddioau, feonch ond,
Rhymsin gwneud ac mae'n ddequiaudau, o ddequiaudau a ddecste wit gynol Trifktu'n, y ffdr'n i'n llun.
E 67'n ych underwyrs, yn yr'n ddecste mae'n i'n styn, i'n ddecste mae'n ddecste,
y cych Tesla'n eddorāchu'n i'n ddecste byd mwlg pfer i'n ddecste.
That'sall a'r ddecste mae'n ddecste bwyffd o'n ddecste e'n ddecste,
ydy'n ddecste bwyd ddim yn ddecste bwyffud o'n ffdr'n ddecste bwydolau,
fan dysmaid yn llwmes ypping, si'r synfysig, und o sdyd mwythmi, dig ywme o miw cosolib yapıyorsun?
M MOD EBIT decisionsau i wsflot yn ydrefer i gymstgen, Woche bod ar yma'n mis…
ca' explicad.
G organizer i gs gwrin ar y rimelig syd ânt Puksi sydd.
Yth med� partially yn ysaod yn opthineeth, fydd gym ryaat fel gykoeddol
offen rell, gyfysig yn rhyks gyda, chi hun rhyps eich,
am o eithol messingyr sy'n teferedodd joyw yn'n acuriall mae'n botherfysb law proliferciwn
au twyllair ffyn oedd mourchmoedd sy'n gwneifio r eitholio sirdibeiau fullfried년
syint â cyda yn elwychwn sy'net a yn ddi fyfyrd CarmwarkB800.
Dw bydd argyllog dau at cribeithio r eitholio amdau hyn eu llu â'r ro site i
bwy�ад a fo frifboedd ei hewdaol yn Fraethawma Pydau.
Mae'n cynkwiil y Cresden Hysllybleth usingdd y Barthek y vaol eitholio
Deld bod ydio ddegu ddegu drwy'r dw fel sy'n i'n fyfys drwy'r warthiau.
Wrthornu, oedd ei fel gyda hefysad gyd y g Eiffeleth i'n un sy'n ddegu,
eiffeleth yn ddidod yn hyfer al ddegu dau yd offig oair,
yd g fel ddegu drwy'r warthiau ddegu ddegu.
We're not, we're not a wits, and Tamiya Kajita, please forgive my recommendation. You'll have one block of time to use to present on your appeal.
So I see Barbara present. I'm going to promote Barbara to panelists.
And let's see, do I see the other power here?
Let's see, Kajita might be the other power.
I move down, I'm not well, so let's see.
Now, not quietly.
Then to panelists.
But Mr. Clerk, I'm having difficulty promoting sea, Kajita, to panelists.
Believe that's the second of power.
I'll give it a shot.
There's some technical wish.
What I'll be able to see, Kajita, talk.
And so Barbara can kick things off, and the other panel can also add if they wish during the five minute time.
If the person is joining by phone, then we wouldn't be able to.
I, I see, Kajita, I enable you to speak.
You're currently needed, but if you are part of the presentation on behalf of the panelists, you should be able to meet yourself and to participate.
Okay, thank you.
I'm using the phone.
No problem.
Okay, so we can.
We can, yes.
Great.
So one point out, turn over to the panelists and we'll have five minutes.
Okay.
Good evening.
Councilman.
Thank you.
Not to the opportunity to comment.
The purpose.
We, I don't know if it's just me.
I can see the way back of the.
I, I haven't been able to hear most of it.
What she said.
This, where monowets, we're having to hear you might want to turn off your camera.
That usually.
If you're having internet connectivity issues, it makes it easier for people to hear you.
I'm trying.
Okay.
We can hear you now.
Excellent.
Can you hear me now?
Can I start the leader then?
Yes, please.
Okay.
So good evening.
Thank you for the opportunity to comment.
Please, I'm going to say first all the effects of three adjacent properties on the rear side of the house.
It doesn't affect anybody else that lives on the other side of filigas or beyond.
And that is an important point for people who want to support this project.
They are.
Can do it, but they're not affected.
It is a large balcony as we've heard.
It seems very high above our backyards because it's in a small narrow.
A lot with an oversized house on it.
It is a close to my home office and one of our bedrooms and also to a studio on the.
In the back on two five to five works.
In preparation for the balcony.
The applicants notified.
No.
The city depended on the move that was right under the back windows.
In order to.
For the.
Floor to ceiling sliding.
French doors that they installed.
Program is that was not.
In the construction plan that really members had been.
I asked to sign off in November 2019, which showed an unidentified.
And in the part of the house.
Modified since then, but to and.
Before.
Bones before filing for the bottom of the permit.
Here's the chronology.
July 13, 2020.
They put down a beautiful mature tree that was providing a shield of privacy.
To the neighboring properties.
The.
Plenty the view from the upstairs bedroom to the southwest side.
Then on February in 2021 installation of the French law and after cutting.
cutting the green roof and note that the bay windows package already delivered in July 2020.
So, wave of the application for the balcony was submitted in May 2021.
So, I view the project as described is, will result in privacy and noise nuisance for the three
affected adjacent properties in the back of 2056. There is only applicants expressed in tension
to use the large balcony for the creation, considerate a track recorder, and considerate
behavior throughout the prolonged construction and beyond. In addition to the impact of this project,
to a project specifically questionable taxes that have been used by the applicants,
does the city and Berkeley condense such factors? So, thank you, and I let my crew
speak now. Hello, thank you for allowing me to speak today. I'm just going to address three main
points, so we're just earlier. This is an uninclorious balcony. There are mill walls. The adjacent
property located at 25, 25 has a similar front porch, but it's an enclosed balcony. The two other
properties that were adjacent properties, they're further and deeper back on the property,
and do not have the sound impact. This balcony is 120, 170 square feet,
it's large enough for tables, chairs, and recreational use, including music, with close
neighboring properties that could be used at night that will increase the noise. The mentioned
mature tree was fully cut without the knowledge of the neighbors. It was provided a full canopy
and was healthy for over 20 years fast growing, had no treatisees and provided coverage and
enjoyment and privacy to adjacent properties. The proposed balcony is on the third floor
and provides direct view into neighboring properties without any type of screening. The neighbor has
not installed any new screening with coverage that would provide any type of privacy or noise and
buffer. This application is only beneficial for the applicant, as opposed to the adjacent neighbors,
that will lose privacy, screening, and having increased noise as a result. We, the applicant,
recommend, as a compromise and enclosed sun porch, similar to the existing enclosed sun porch,
located on the adjacent property located at that 25, 25, web surgery, in size and design
to address sound, privacy, and screening issues to adjacent neighbors. Thank you very much.
Thank you very much. So we're now going to get the applicant five minutes to present and we will
keep the appellate on at the panel side in case there are questions from members of the City Council
to ask if you please meet your ones, as we proceed with the hearing. And if there's a question from
the Council member, we'll go back to you. Okay. So Molly and Adam start the lead or the property owners,
and I move them over. I believe Edby Cannon is presenting for them tonight as well. Okay.
The architect. Yes. Edby Cannon, here we go. Thank you, Mayor.
Okay. They should all be on the other side. And so as, as summarized, the applicant will have five minutes to
present. And whoever would like to present on behalf of the applicant, you can proceed. Thank you. The
ash on my screen. You should be able to. Okay. Great. Let's see. I think it's this.
Okay. Great. Okay. Good. Thank you very much. And good evening, everybody. I'm Edward Buchan in the
architect for 2956 elegance for Molly and Adam Star, the homeowners there. Thank you for staying up so late.
This, as you know, is a project that was unanimously approved by the Zab in September.
It's been a difficult process for many involved, but especially for my clients who found themselves
in the middle of a construction project when the quarantine hit with children that couldn't go to school in
person. Everybody was cooped up in the house and there was nowhere to go practically to get outside and play
or get a moment of peace and quiet. And so this proposal, which came out of that experience, is to add
an upper floor roof deck of about 170 square feet. Again, off the master bedroom at the rear of the house.
The proposed deck will provide very much needed sunny outdoor space.
Useable outdoor space on a very small size lot of approximately 2750 square feet, which you may know is about
half the size of a standard lot. And on that very little usable outdoor space that they do have,
a portion of it is required in the backyard for an off-street parking space. So they're very, very limited in
where they can get outside on this property. And at the, located at the rear of the house, the deck is primary
directed to the west and is only accessed through the master bedroom, which simply means that this is a
place for the owners to quietly enjoy a cup of coffee or glass of wine or take a break from the kids,
but is not an intense use kind of space. There are no views to impact with this project,
it is an dense urban neighborhood. And because the deck will be built on top of an existing roof,
the only real addition is that of the guardrail and it's an open designed guardrail. So the
window impacts to neighbors access to air. Additionally, because of the distance between structures,
the only added shadows cast are from the open guardrail and privacy plantings, which were required in the
ZAB approval. And those shadows would be cast onto the driveway between the properties,
between the two side properties. Privacy, of course, is always, of concern and projects like this.
It's always a mutual desire to preserve it. And you can see in this era of view,
the pattern, the already existing neighborhood pattern of of the adjacent neighbors that have their
upper floor roof decks. This is the neighborhood to the north at 2954 Heligus. This is the neighborhood at 2523
Webster. They all have their existing decks. And that's simply the way of saying that this is a pattern
that has been a precedent in the neighborhood for this kind of privacy already. So in that regard,
upholding the ZAB approval of this deck would simply allow my clients to enjoy the very same rights
as their neighbors. The proposed deck, as I mentioned, is oriented to the west across other
backyards, out towards this parking lot, and away from the neighborhood to the north. So the
neighborhood to the north is approximately 17 feet from the proposed deck. It's separated by a driveway
and to ensure privacy, my clients have been required by the ZAB, hearing as a condition of approval
to provide planting planters with planted screening to provide that privacy between the properties,
which, by the way, they're more than happy to install. And in fact, with the screening on the
upper deck, there will actually be more privacy than there would have been or has been with either windows
or the existing sliding doors that simply overlook a roof. And so to conclude, I simply want to say
that just kind of a view of what the proposed design would would be to look like. This is a proposal
that is very reasonable in its minimal impact to surrounding neighbors. It offers my clients the same
opportunity that the appealing parties already have and provides much needed usable outdoor space
on a very small size lot. All improvements so far have been properly permitted gone through
proper per process and have been signed off. The project meets all relevant codes, requires no
variances, no special permission, no conditional use permits. It was thoroughly researched and fully
supported by planning staff and unanimously approved by the ZAB. And I want to say it again,
unanimously, which is a very rare vote of approvals. I'm sure you already know. This project enjoys
strong nativehood support overall with the only exception being the appealing neighbors that already
have similar upper floor roof decks. And that's all I have. Thank you so very much. Once again,
there may be questions, the conclusion of the public comment period. So thank you very much for
your presentation. Now I'd like to open the public comment period on the ZAB appeal. For 2956
hill of this avenue, if any attendee wishes to speak on the ZAB appeal for 2956 hill of this avenue, please raise
your hand at this time. And you'll be at work with us. So once again, is there any public testimony on the
ZAB appeal, or 2956 hill of this app? Okay. Andrea and Chris Carroll, you all patch minutes.
Thank you very much. This is Chris Kell. I'll keep my remarks brief. I want to re-highlight something that was said just a moment ago. This was a unanimous decision by the Zab for a reasonable and routine addition to the home across the street from us, which is a very challenging thing to do.
And I also want to state that I would like for it to be part of the record that although I am a neighbor across the street and not on a surrounding property line, I do take on-bridge to the comment from a previous appellant with regards to not being affected by the actions of our neighbors. In fact, the extreme amount of financial effort, time, and going through the process.
Of Berkeley's finest permit applications and approvals is leading to the beautification and improvement of an availiode and slightly dilapidated home, which is now an amazing increased value home that can only increase the value of the home, which I currently live.
I am benefiting significantly from the actions of my neighbors greatly appreciative of the work that they have done thus far.
And I'm in hopes that you will support and reaffirm the unanimous decision by the Zab to allow this to continue. Thank you very much.
Thank you. Okay, I like that. So there are any other attendees that we should speak on the Zab appeal for 29.56.
Hillicus Avenue. If so, please raise your hand if you're on the Zoom platform or press star nine if you are building in tour meat.
Last call for public testimony on the Zab appeal for 29.56. Hillicus Avenue.
Okay, can we have a good. Yes, I know we don't do a back and forth, but I thought I heard it said that what was approved by Zab was not deciding last doors and then those sliding glass doors went in and then after that came.
The application for the depth, so kind of seems like project by creep.
So that was it, and maybe in your question and answer of the Appellants and staff and the architects, you can get that straight out. Thank you.
That was it.
Thank you. Once again, are there any attendees that we should speak on the Zab appeal for 29.56.
So please raise your hand or press star.
Okay, I do not see any other raised hands, so I will right now to the city council and answer.
Are there any questions, any of the parties before we close the public hearing?
We can ask questions of staff and close the public hearing, but are there questions of the parties before we close the public hearing?
Okay, I would like to make a motion to close Councillor Robinson.
Yeah, just a question for the applicants.
Excuse me, and I think this may come up a little bit presentation.
Could describe the extent to which there may be balconies of similar size or proportion in the ass or ending neighborhood on other properties or residences.
Yes, can you hear me? Yeah, I can. Okay, good.
Yeah, I mean, one of those slides I showed had an aerial view that showed both the Appellants having relatively similar size.
I don't know the exact size, but just looking visually.
It seemed like the size of the deck at 29.54, the neighbor to the north.
I have a very similar size roof deck. I think the roof at 2523 Webster is slightly smaller.
Those are two very close. Obviously adjacent immediate neighbor.
The Appellants, the Appellants, yes. I thought I'd heard that correctly. Thank you.
Appreciate it.
Any questions to this?
No, man, the question wasn't directed to you.
Are there any other questions for members of the Council of the parties?
The Appellants are the applicant.
Councilor Han, I'd say you raise your hand.
And the second in your motion to close it up.
Oh, I didn't make a motion, but I just want to make sure before we close the public hearing that we were able to ask questions in the parties.
Council Member Whitegrape.
You're muted.
Thank you. Yes, Mr. McKinnon.
If you could could have spent the double doors on being installed prior to the resolution of this issue.
Sure.
The double doors were installed during the course of the previous scope of work, which were some foundation developing space underneath the house.
The kitchen remodel, some bathrooms remodel, things like that.
Also, some remodeling upstairs.
The doors were installed to increase the amount of light.
And went through the permitting process with a guardrail put across them for safety.
In sort of like a Juliet balcony, except it's a big one.
And it was basically the width of those doors was the width of the original windows that were there.
And then the idea was if if in approval was not going to be if if the Zab would not approve a roof deck, then they would still have a Juliet balcony, you know, with a lot of light coming in on the sunny side of the house.
And if Zab were to approve the roof deck, then they would have the opportunity to take that guardrail off and then extend it out to the actual edge of the deck.
Okay, thank you very much.
Okay, once again, any questions, the partners.
Not like to make a motion to close public care.
Second.
Seconded by Councilman.
The window.
I spoke to please call the roll.
Can't remember.
Yes.
Bartlett.
Yes.
Harrison.
Yes.
On.
Yes.
One graph.
Yes.
Robinson.
Trustee.
Yes.
And Mayor.
Yes.
Okay.
Motion.
Okay.
Thank you.
So thank you to the parties.
We're going to move you back to the attendee side as the healthcare is closed.
And it's now in order for the City Council to discuss the appeal.
And we would like to begin the discussion.
Council number one.
Thank you so much.
I understand that it's frustrating, especially when everyone is home during COVID and.
In our homes a lot.
If a project is going on and an element of it changes and maybe it takes you by surprise.
That that could be a little.
You know, a nerve.
But.
I don't think that that.
That doesn't.
Really shed a new light on the question of whether.
A project before us.
Has impacts that rise the level of detriment.
So I just wanted knowledge that I think it's you know unfortunate that.
That this maybe came as a surprise to the neighbors, but for me that is not.
I don't know if it's relevant to my evaluation of the impacts here.
I also understand that the changes are changes are and and.
I think sometimes people can over estimate.
The interest that.
We have any others lives.
I live in kind of a peaceful situation myself where a lot of.
We have a lot of neighbors can see into my home and on to the the terrace that we have.
And I have to say that when we catch each other's eye.
The few times that.
We are happened to be on our test and they happen to be looking out there window or vice versa.
Everyone is very polite and usually turns away quite quickly.
And I think neighbors are able to navigate these kinds of privacy impacts.
I will say that I think the least private place is going to be that that roof deck itself.
And I guess I just feel that the level of impacts here for this kind of neighborhood.
And I I come supportive of upholding.
Zab decision.
So I don't know if it's too early for motion.
Where are you ready for motions and would you prefer that we wait.
I think emotions in order.
Okay.
Well, I would like I move to uphold Zab's decision.
And I approve the permit.
Second.
Okay.
Thank you.
Council member.
Yes.
The first of all.
I wanted to thank staff for the work and I also want to thank the applicants and the parents for being here this evening.
I just have a few questions just a double triple check and confirm my understanding.
And since I think we've more or less gone over this.
Just the yes or no is totally fine.
So for staff.
In this case, my understanding is that one of the reasons this is before us is that the existing structure is non conforming.
But the proposed balcony would be entirely within the built envelope that zoning would allow.
In other words, the balcony itself will not create any new non conformities or exacerbate any existing non conformities.
Correct.
That's correct.
And the current says over a lot coverage, which is literally like how much building is on a lot relative to the lot size.
And so since the balcony is over an existing portion of the building.
It's already that area has already been included in the lot coverage.
So it is not creating additional non conformity and it's located outside of all of the required setbacks.
Okay, great.
Thank you.
Next, it's also my understanding that this balcony as I think was previously highlighted is substantially similar to one or more that already exists.
And at least one of the adjacent houses and that the applicant has agreed to some measures, including some vegetative screening and portions of the balcony to enhance privacy.
That's correct.
Okay.
So thank you so much for hearing me.
I just wanted to make sure it was in the record that I was leveling, typically checking these questions.
You know, I know we all tend to like our neighbor's houses the way we know them and I understand that whenever folks propose a change of concerns about how it might impact light or privacy or views.
I can totally understand why neighbors might be concerned that conversations that might previously have taken place inside or behind a fence will now maybe be outdoors and maybe easier to hear.
Maybe it's just because I'm originally from the Midwest, but I really believe that everyone involved will continue to be neighborly to one another and that the applicants will be consider it if any neighbors share any concerns about noise with them down the line.
So given my understanding, which is that the proposal meets all the applicable codes that's that is recommending approval and that's a basically.
Nancy voted in favor.
I plan to reaffirm this abs decision. So thank you so much.
Thank you. Council member.
Well, we're first to want to thank the neighbors and the applicant.
For coming tonight.
I have the house I move in has a very similar roof deck actually and my house is a similar vintage to this one and I think that.
Many of the houses that were designed at that tone and took advantage of the flat roof.
Over the first or second floor and did have a dexal.
This is particularly dense.
Era.
The loss of set size and the houses are very close together.
And I think adding this little bit of open space to this house.
You know, it would be a great amenity for the people who live there.
We feel about noise increase. We do have a noise ordinance.
And if the noise, you know, goes beyond a certain level.
We do do enforcement on on noise, but we live in a city and there's a lot of noise in the city.
And there's a lot of ambient noise and you can hear neighbors, you know, battling around and you hear your garbage cans getting picked up.
That's just the way it is living in a city.
So I'm on a compliment the architect, I think the design of the deck railing is very handsome.
And so I'm happy to second council member Hans motion to affirm this ab decision and dismiss the appeal.
Okay.
I will go to the remaining council members. You know, this is a pretty straightforward case.
Frankly, there is no detriment.
This is an outcome for me property.
I don't think we need to have an extensive debate as we have other business.
Council member Robinson.
You might as it is a very straightforward case.
I'll be brief.
But if you could entertain me. I'll also perhaps be a little bit.
I want to thank our staff and all the relevant parties for their presentations today. And Samantha, it's very good to meet you. I'm not sure we've had the chance to meet directly. Could you remind me when the application for this month's first one in?
So for the current projects for the balcony, the application was submitted May 4, 2021.
Yeah.
That's.
I'm glad you don't have the approval. So I need a few minutes, but that makes me deeply sad.
I, um, I think every once in a while, we get on a appeal that's to me feels a little fabulous and perhaps not like the best use of our incredible planning staff's very precious time.
I think this may be with with little question, perhaps the most ludicrous one I've seen on my short time on this city council, which is, which is challenging to me because I know how important the appeals process is.
It can make projects better. It can bring more affordable units to a property, protectable, honorable tenants address traffic and congestion issues make a project more beautiful.
But I think we're struggling with some challenges with use and abuse of this process. So that's that's the lesson I'm taking away from this note. I want to thank you for your work on it.
And hope that hopefully we can think about how to address some of these process issues and see if there's a wiggle room to maybe save a little your time. And one point later, perhaps the time of applicants just trying to make modest common sense improvements to our neighborhoods. Thank you.
Okay, thank you. Councilman here. Some of us might hear us and raise your hand.
I was going to say something similar with Councilman Robinson said, but only to add about the noise ordinance. First of all, amplify the music is not allowed in the city of Berkeley without a program and I live in a really dense area.
And the place do come environmental services do come when there's noise. So I just want to encourage neighbors to turn to know there are avenues reach out to your council person out with those are there's an issue.
But we have processes to deal with us. So I just want to reassure you that it, yeah, I can see overwhelming, but it will probably be okay. And so thank you all for your time.
Okay, thank you. I'll just say in closing. Any neighbor.
Or the applicant as a right to appeal a zoning decision that's a right through a quarter to two.
Now under city law that's state law on our job and staff job is to independently evaluate this appeals and present the backs and make a decision on the basis of law.
And clearly in this case, this use is allowed. It's not detrimental.
And we are required to have to prove it. But I just would like to really call on those neighbors who do to appeal this to the council.
To, you know, this is I think the end of this process, but you know, you will be living with your neighbors for years to come and I hope that the neighborhood can come together.
And move forward. And thank you for joining us tonight for your testimony with that.
I'd like to ask a quick please cover on the staff recommendation, which is to approve the resolution, affirming the decision.
The Zab and denying me.
Okay, council member. Yes.
Yes.
Bartlett. Yes.
Harrison.
Yes.
On.
Yes.
Langra.
Yes.
Robinson.
Yes.
Droughts.
Yes.
And Mayor Erie.
Yes.
Okay. Motion carries.
Okay. Once again.
Thank you everyone for coming tonight and for your presentation.
And that completes the sign.
So we'll now proceed to the items pulled out in 16.
Vudger reform resolution establishing a city process for the signing and developing.
Public electric vehicle DC best charging hubs.
I'd like to recognize Vice Mayor Harrison.
Vice Mayor Harrison.
We have some of you from BBC here.
Yes.
We did.
J.P. Ross is here to address this.
J.P. over as a panelist.
As well as.
I'm playing right decline.
It's here.
Okay.
Great.
I'm going to take a few more minutes because I didn't speak it length.
I know some of these.
Consums can be quite dense for those not engaged in the length of discussions.
We have it.
Let me say first of all that.
This is really about equity.
We have over 50% of of people in Berkeley are tenants.
And they have very little chance to charge any vehicle.
I'm in favor of the housing that we're building without parking.
But that means that that person without parking doesn't have a place to charge their car.
And we can say, well, people in the cars, but people too.
In fact, sometimes need cars.
They need to be able to drive their kids places.
They need to get to work.
Not really lives and works within the range of birth.
And they need to be able to have access to their automobile for medical points and other things.
So if we accept that there are going to be cars.
I think we have to then think about how we're going to do the best we can.
To enhance equity in this program.
And we've heard this frequently from tenants that they don't have anywhere to charge their car.
They do not want to leave it in a slow charger blocks from home.
This will allow people to charge their car in under half an hour and depending on the car up to about 45 minutes.
The places will be in parking garages in business districts, which will enhance business.
People will get a chance to go out and get a cup of coffee, do some shopping.
I have to say that I actually choose where I go for dinner based on is there an electric charging station nearby.
So I think that this is actually going to bring business to our downtown or wherever else these parking garages are.
These stations are added to parking garages.
I think it's also really important to recognize what is this really about tonight.
It's a very straightforward thing.
Resolution not an ordinance that allows the city manager to begin to negotiate a service.
It doesn't establish the service agreement.
If she can go out and start talking about it.
She and EBC need that sure it will make sure it's worth the time for them to be in these negotiations.
The initial financial analysis shows that it will be if there's low usage of the station.
You will find that the city worker will actually start to make money on this deal.
And there's high utilization, which all signs are that EV adoption is growing by leaps and bales.
There's just an article on this in the New York Times yesterday that we will start to make money on this in your three.
This is an upfront expenditure proposed for the budget process.
Again, not defining not nailing that at this exact moment.
Seniors of budget process.
And it is an expenditure that will reap huge climate and financial benefits both for the city itself.
And for individuals who right now cannot be part of this revolution in electric vehicles.
I also just think that it's important to know that we typically send budget referrals onto the budget process, which is where this would go.
And I think it's also perhaps not not clear in here how the internal range will work.
So I just want to say one more about this and then we have JP Ross from EBC described this further based on questions from council members who pulled the item.
This is worth by us paying a hundred thousand dollars a year for each fast hug to EBC.
Until the point where they start to recruit their costs at which point we would share in the revenues.
Why have, this was my decision question, why have EBC E do this? Why don't we just do it? Why don't we pay the money and set up our own stations?
And there are few reasons technical capacity and once our staff or as you know, stretch very thin ability to sign up for the low carbon fuel standards, which is one of the major revenue sources for the charging stations.
EBC E has the technical expertise to do that.
And to start to recruit these important state funds.
The ability to get this done quickly as they have the expertise and the ability to take advantage of our already existing garages.
As you know, the Senate Billage is at best right now a third fall.
And as I said before, I make a decision that where I go based on other charging.
I want people to come down town. I want them to go to neighborhoods and west Berkeley where they're shopping.
And I want renters to be able to enjoy the same advantages that those at own homes and plugs enjoy it.
So those are my opening comments. I wanted to know if JPE wanted to make some introductory comments.
If I might Mr. Mayor, is that okay?
Sure, I have some comments too.
Oh, then when should go first and then we'll.
Well, I'm also happy to provide some context on this.
As I began to discuss this with Nick Chassett, CEO of East Bay Community Energy.
Think of the beginning of 2021 when I went off as the.
Product representative on the EBC board, which I served on from the beginning of the agency.
And I'm actually very excited by this.
This item and this opportunity to partner with EBC to expand our electric vehicle infrastructure.
I think this details with the item where we discussing actually right after this.
On our 2019 greenhouse gas emissions inventory, which you notice once again, that transportation emissions account for 60% of our greenhouse gas emissions and the city.
We're working to address it in a number of ways, not just through encouraging dense intel housing close to transit to reduce vehicle miles travel.
Looking at how we can expand access to transit, but he also to our ability to meet our climate action goals and to achieve our goal of becoming a fossil fuel free city.
Is to decarbonize our transportation sector and that includes passenger vehicles, transit vehicles and microability.
And one of the biggest concerns I hear from residents.
Who on what your vehicles is the lack of infrastructure in the public right away, particularly fast charging.
And if we, and this also, I think speaks to our electric mobility roadmap, which the city council adopted last fall, which is not only how we as a city government.
Contrinsition are like duty vehicles to electric, but also how we create the supportive infrastructure.
That we can encourage more residents in the city of Berkeley to adopt the electric vehicles to decarbonize our transportation sector.
This is really key just as critical as it is to go out gas into electric fire buildings.
And I acknowledge that our journey general wants to join many other journey generals just today signing an amicus brief in support of our appeal to the federal courts to defend our gas fam.
Just like we took courageous leadership to adopt our ban on natural gas, the first city in the country to do so, which set off a.
I think a movement of cities to account on United States to adopt similar legislation.
I think this is critical too for us to achieve our GSU reduction goals and to be a possible for city.
So I want emphasize that there are two actions that I've been requested of this item.
One is to authorize the city manager to begin discussions and negotiations with EEC on this and to express support for a non binding term.
The key words there are non binding.
And while there are some specific terms that have been articulated in that term sheet, many of these details can be worked on the subsequent negotiations with EEC.
Secondarily, this is a budget referral and we were for many budget referrals to the budget process.
Oftentimes without a whole lot of scrutiny.
And so I hope that certainly at the very least will work for the budget referral.
To the budget process for this to be considered that in the day as summarized in item.
You know, we are able to implement this.
We're going to make a button off of this, which will offset the ongoing investment in the city as to make to do this.
And so we are limited in considering our our city's resources to be able to install this type of infrastructure.
The ability to partner with our community choice aggregator to leverage private and grant funding to be able to fund this infrastructure.
I think is going to be critical and I think it's going to help our community.
Be able to transition our vehicles to electric and to help accelerate our efforts to get off of gas and to reduce the climate impacts that are being created by all these cars that are circulating on our streets.
So I think this is one part of a much broader strategy to be able to achieve our common action goals.
And at the end of the location, the sighting of these hubs, although there are suggested locations.
I think it's got to be evaluated on the basis of population density, particularly.
And we'll have them as impacts.
And I'm excited about this.
You know, just for example, I got a letter from Alice Waters who said, why doesn't Berkeley have more electric vehicle charging infrastructure.
And that's a good question. And I think it's going to be things like this public private partnerships.
Although EDC is a public agency, but public private partnerships that we can maximize the but leverage grants and private resources capital to be able to accelerate the implementation of this type of infrastructure in our public.
So I call on my colleagues and I certainly questions or warrant and report a discussion, but I think we should move this forward and begin the negotiations with EDC.
I very strongly support this. I watch this effort.
And I think this is something, this, this is something that we can be proud of when we do implement this and something we can highlight.
For example, are they partnership between a city and EDC to actually help use the money that we that we are providing and that they have.
Through public investment to be able to do more to accelerate our efforts to reduce fossil goods.
So thank you for indulging me and I'll go next to Council Member trust.
Thank you so much and I appreciate you allowing me to ask questions.
I have just some questions on the logistics and Council Member Harrison.
So it mentions the fights committee on the cover page.
I'm wondering, I was trying to figure out exactly what they'll be discussing on page 7. I think it mentions that the resolution requests a non-binding term sheet be, I think it's referred to the fights committee. So I was just trying to get clear is it that we're asking the city manager to work on the non-binding term sheet prior to the fights committee and prior to a budget allocation or after or
would fight to be working on that in conjunction. I was just curious about the logistics of how this would all go.
Let me just say when this first one to agenda, we have suggested that this go to the fights committee.
But the agenda committee decided to send it directly here for the budget. So that is from an old version of how we were going to move ahead.
The latest rule with the head is that our staff and the EBC staff will meet together and come back to this council with a binding term sheet if they find that's appropriate.
At which point the council would decide to send that to fights. So I'm sorry we left that reference in there. That was before the agenda committee.
Okay, thank you. That actually clears up a lot of my questions. Thank you.
And so the budget referral and I agree with the mayor we send budget referrals on all the time. I just want to make sure I'm clear. So this would be an annual commitment of 300,000, 300,000 dollars.
600,000 for the first two years and then the agreement would be over 10 years. So we'd have to come back and approve the 600 K a few more times in my understanding that correctly.
If in fact the revenue start to exceed that amount. So what we're looking at is the first couple is going to take a little bit of time to get people used this to use these stations.
We believe we're going to need this 600,000 if in fact the staff recommend three hubs. They may not. They may come and say we only have two locations. The 600,000 is the maximum.
And after the first few years of experience, EBC and will evaluate how the revenues are coming in and it might be we don't read.
We don't read the 1000 dollars for free hubs. Maybe we only we need less or none because as I mentioned if we have a high utilization this will start to pay us back in your three.
So we have to see how it goes and we need to put the money up front for these first two years and then understand what what is it looking like.
I'm pretty confident we really reasonably successful with all of the housing that we're building in these neighborhoods.
The item indicated the city could potentially net 51,000 to 851 dollars over 10 10 years of the program and I'm just wondering I didn't see documentation for that.
That's how I was curious how those populations were derived right and the assumption is that there's a 1% in the low utilization case.
That the social stations will be used 1% of their time of hours that they're open.
And that amount will grow by 1% per year.
The high utilization case assumes starting out at 5% of the time the stations being utilized with growth of 1% per year.
So it depends on how we do in year one, one is a less optimistic one is a more optimistic assumption about the initial take of the program.
Okay, but thank you and and I really do I these are really genuine questions I have a whole program and you're much more well versed in this I appreciate you taking the time.
So I guess I I don't know if this is a question for you council member has and you know I needed the utilization rate, but I'm still curious what the hourly rates would be to achieve that and how that's offset by energy costs and maintenance etc.
Yeah, I'm going to let GP address I just to say that their rates are lower than the race charge in the market for electric charging the JP might have more details on that.
Okay, thank you very much.
Yeah, happy to answer that question and just a couple of weeks in the option.
As I hope you are aware EBC is your electricity procurement JPA and we are out kind of extending and expanding the services that we are trying to offer to our public agency partners and providing publicly available competitive price.
I like the vehicle charging infrastructure is one area that we are expanding into we also are working on program with the city of local around critical facilities and providing solar and storage to those facilities.
We also are looking at helping provide charging infrastructure for municipal fleet vehicles so this is one of a.
I did a variety of types of programs that we're bringing to our city agencies and as council member Harrison you know and and then identified this is really an opportunity as a public public.
Partnership to develop public services there and public good so we are very much focused on providing charging infrastructure for renters and people who don't have easy access to charging.
And really sighting those in very convenient locations that can help accelerate workplace plans right now is about 4,000 electric vehicles registered in Berkeley and the climate action plan.
But though that his past is trying to get to 15% or 25% registered vehicle so that's 15,000 electric vehicles in Berkeley by 2025 that's a huge increase.
And really doing it to provide the charging infrastructure to enable residents whether renters or homeowners have gorges or access to home charging or not to really be able to transition to electric vehicles.
So there's a lot of us vicious goals with the city is is focused on and we want to be a partner with you to do that.
And as a public agency we have no profit making ability.
So anything we do goes back into local development program and and sorry that's an idea on the vice president of local development for East Bay community energy so.
Yeah, money that we make either gets put into local programs both to the city and our profit sharing proposed agreement or those to lower rates for your residents and businesses right so it's very public big kind of partnership here that we're we're promoting promoting.
And to answer questions specifically as as vice mayor Harrison identified we were looking at different scenarios of use of these stations and the growth rates associated with those and.
And taking very conservative approach and more than normal case, which is what you discussed the charging weights for.
That charging is about is based on a 10% discount to what the currently available public charging rates are for other charging stations that are available in the county so we want to provide discounted.
charging that is powered with 100% renewable energy.
Because low fuel costs will enable more people to drive electric vehicles in an affordable way and so that's how we've been kind of modeling our expected customer rates.
And there's a lot that goes into the revenue and costs assumptions that that we're working on, but.
The composer for us that we provide to the city, Berkeley city, Berkeley really just has that $100,000 per charging hub.
A green it which could be up to three hubs so that's how you get the $300,000 a year.
There's no other cost is associated with it all the cost by the electricity to maintain the stations to develop the stations finance own an operate that assets with East Bay community energy and so.
The, you know, that the development and operation of those facilities would be with us we would work with the city to.
Can market those stations to Berkeley and other residents to make sure we can drive the utilization the usage of those stations for electric vehicle drivers will be able to.
And those are trying to buy vehicles in the near term.
I think they're in much for your comments I appreciate it.
I'll I'll save sort of my my more substantial comments I guess for the the budget and finance just my back of the envelope.
When one for question to council member Harrison is the item says it was targeted at people who moving multi-family housing and don't have access to EV charging.
And I'm just wondering how this is envisioned to work is the idea that people who live in apartments would rent these out on the monthly basis and be entitled to park there.
I think they would use them in public parking lots and be able to go there frequently but they would not have special rights to the charging station.
And, you know, I just want to say one thing about that we tried and experiment of setting aside parking spaces on the street.
There's a pilot from the city staff and that was not very successful because people that were paying the permit costs across in front of their own the residences.
And so they were paying a lot of money at front and not getting a reserve spot in this case you're just paying through the charging like you would anywhere else you went.
And then the other business thing I wanted to mention I failed to mention for is that this has also been official to people who drive for a living.
We have a large number of people that are over and lift drivers delivery people at center and they need places to charge as well so it's also beneficial to that business community.
The idea of somebody lives in an apartment uses these is the idea that they would then have to come move a car after charging here and then go park it elsewhere or yes.
Thank you.
I think while there was a reference to people living in apartments it's really the map which was an attachment to the source agreement page 16 of report.
Just shows that looking at population density as a metric in terms of where the site these particular stations.
But that anyone who has an electric vehicle on a first come first or basis would be able to charge.
If it's available and they pay the appropriate amount so charged to the charging.
Okay thank you so much for entertaining my questions and I'm really curious about the.
The EV in parking habits of people in the downtown and I really appreciate you feeling these questions.
Given that this is.
You've spent a lot of time on this and thank you all.
I could just add the these are fast charging stations so this is very much like a gas station model so it's not plug it overnight and leave it there for five six hours it's 30 minutes 25 40 minutes depending on.
I mean for charging and the ability for the vehicle to accept so it looks more like a standard gas station and the reason to do high density is for to create throughput.
So it's not one charger where you line up and there's one person, how do you weigh an hour and a half.
It's 10 charges that can do 20 vehicles at a time each charger has two ports and that way there's throughput so that you're not waiting very long and you get a lot of charge in a shorter amount of time.
Thank you. Councilor Tappa.
Thank you.
I sort of five questions.
So please, there would be this the first for Mr. Ross.
What phases of product in how far away are we going to roll out and how soon do these go up.
So the phase is that we have been doing quite a lot of work on the kind of the financial analysis we are currently developing.
We're developing two fast charging hubs that are actually a little bigger than this in Oakland and Livermore and those are using EBC's capital as full project development capital so.
We're about to issue solicitations for those so we're in our first stages of development on our first EBC charging.
This is the first time that we are bringing a proposal to a city to do this public public partnership will work together to really scale the opportunity.
And based on the decision here then we'll accelerate the conversations for continuing the development work in the city of Berkeley on these charging stations.
Thank you. And are there data on how many kind of to hide its areas drive EB's versus those who like or write transit specifically.
So I have we have some of the data the data that we have a comes from the Department of Motor Vehicles so we know where are the electric vehicles and other vehicles 61,000 total vehicles that are registered in in Berkeley.
We also have mapped all of our multi family housing across the county across our service territory.
What we do know is that the overlap between electric vehicle registrations and multi family housing units is incredibly low.
Which proves the point that when tourism people who live in multi family housing are not adopting electric vehicles if the same rate is people who own single family residents.
So that's not entirely answering your question, which is.
So I apologize that's the data we have as we know that that you these are not being adopted by people who live in multi family housing.
Thank you for that.
And I will say I do think that programs like this will help increase those numbers.
And are there any preliminary maps or list of potential station locations.
For example, where in West Berkeley would one go and how close the shops across rocks would go.
So it would be.
Can I end up being here just for a second and say that this is something that Mr. Garland and Mr. Klein asked that we let them do the work to determine locations they've identified.
Some parking lots for example there's city parking lots but also a UC lot this near fifth street but they have to evaluate.
News case for each of these. So I don't know if they're prepared to tell us exactly where these would be. The idea is to take these concentric maps of multi-unit housing and overlay that with parking lodges and see where that matches up.
Awesome. Thank you.
Well, the stations accommodate bikes for just cars. And is there a commitment to ensure that the sighting of stations? Well, and key to our ability to add bike and pedestrian facilities?
Yeah, but the root of charging that we are currently planning is for cars like duty and like duty vehicles.
We're not planning. Those would just be using parking places that are currently at lots and garages and so shouldn't impede any ability to do other types of e-mobility in the workplace.
I think I'll hold the rest of my questions for later in the year. Thank you very much.
Have some of the leg wrap.
Well, thank you. Well, I've been an EV owner for nine years. I was an early doctor and I'm very excited to see this proposal and I've always thought that Berkeley was way behind other places in terms of the EV infrastructure and it's true because
when I drove from the LA to Berkeley and an EV and I had to figure out where I was going to stop to charge and give you the number of charges in every jurisdiction.
And places like San Ramon have 38 charges.
And with a more actually had many charges, you know, and Berkeley didn't have that many.
So I'm very excited about this couple of things I would urge you to look at to explore places where you do not have to pay for parking while you charge.
Currently, although I haven't been out in two years, but pre COVID, if you're going to charge your car in the city parking lot, you have to pay for parking while you charged and it was very, very expensive.
So I think, you know, even explore not having to pay for parking if you're charging or look for it, look for places for locations where you don't have to pay to park.
Because there'll be a minimum, and if you're going to charge for 40 minutes, you're going to end up paying.
More to park your car.
The other thing I would suggest is that you look for at least one location to place a closer to the freeway.
To accommodate travelers.
People who are driving from place to place.
They need to get off the freeway to charge.
And the closer it is to the freeway, the better.
And I could see maybe putting a hub in the Marina putting a hub at the animal shelter.
Maybe putting a hub at a quiet park.
You know, those areas which are close in closer the freeway, then.
Then where we may see very, very dense housing development and that and although, historically, there's plenty of dense development going on in West Berkeley.
So those are my suggestions, just based on my own personal experience.
And I look forward, I look forward to this.
Thank you.
Yeah, those that very much aligns with our existing planning and and our existing projects in Oakland and Livermore, which.
Do require for one hour of free parking for for charging and then any additional parking gets charged at the at the rate.
We see this as creating additional parking and additional people coming in as opposed to taking parking away because these are even drivers who wouldn't be parking in that lot for that period of time.
So as Westerners and mentioned, like we also see this as a business creation opportunity, where people are going to come travel vehicles use local businesses and potentially create that.
But yeah, parking revenue after that hours done and certainly take your point on locations certainly, you know, central Berkeley, but also locations that to store affairs.
Our areas we're looking looking at as as mentioned with that for street.
How a lot, but again, there's a collaboration there.
It's easier to potentially use city of Berkeley owned lots, but we're open to anywhere that will that will facilitate this.
This type of project from food for.
Thank you.
Now, so we're kiss or wine.
Thank you very much, Mr. Mayor, and thank you.
I'm very happy to be here for the person for the item and for giving us an opportunity to ask some questions.
I do want to say I actually heard from a tenant in my district just this past week who is asking about.
You know, this issue of being able to charge her electric vehicles.
So I know this is.
An issue that affects a lot of our residents, particularly residents of multi unit housing.
I had a couple of questions by main questions were just around the revenue sharing agreement.
And I don't know if this is better for Mr. Boss or vice mayor Harrison.
I will admit at the outset, I am not an expert on energy policy.
So I think I had a little bit of trouble following how this works.
So page five of the report talks about.
Site license fees that are expected to meet and then see the service agreement fees, which I understand is 100,000 per hub.
And that the city of Berlin will receive 40% of net proceeds from the projects.
And that the city will also receive additional utility users tax revenue.
And now we understand the references sales tax because I think you're talking about.
People, you know, charging a car for a period of time and then doing shopping.
But could you explain Mr. Boss.
How do you accrue greater utility user tax revenue by somebody charging at one of these spots.
Yeah.
So there's, there's two items.
The first I will speak to is utility users tax.
And that that tax burst of city of Berkeley.
And so as we sell electricity that is registered within the city of Berkeley.
We will, we, any city who will now be our own.
Customer buying electricity from us.
We will pay that utility users tax and it will go to the city of Berkeley based on any usage from these meters.
So and that's part of the standard utility users tax process.
That's a different revenue item than the site license agreement.
The site license agreement is specifically and limited to the revenues and the profits created by the project.
So the decent fast charging house will generate revenues by charging users.
People who are fueling their vehicles at the sites and we have.
So there's that's one source of revenue for the charging stations.
The others low carbon fuel standards credits.
So that's a state program to help incentivize electric vehicles.
So those are the two sources of revenue that we are fact doing for when those sources of revenue are larger than our cost of running the project.
So vying all the electricity paying for maintenance, paying to our project financing paths.
That creates net operating income.
And so essentially the profit think of it as the annual profit of the project.
Once that net annual once we have net annual profits from the project from each project, that's shared 40% to the city at Berkeley 60% to EDCE.
And so what we expect is that those.
Those net operating income will meet and then exceed the service be paid by the city.
So you would start paying the money and then once the site license fees are about that, then you don't pay that anymore because now you're the cities receiving money that it's paying in annual service.
Okay, okay, thank you for that.
And my next question was about.
I think on page eight, there's a discussion of.
existing city policies that that would yield an additional 400 to 600,000 tax proceeds.
Yeah, let me let me tackle that.
Yeah, thank you.
We have we know we're working to upgrade all of our customers to 100% clean energy in much for residential and in the fall for commercial.
That brings in rural revenue and it brings in more utility tax because the tax is based on a higher revenue stream.
So we're already seeing an increase is not.
We're connected to this, but we're only going to see an increase.
Or we have two periods between forward and 600,000 dollars a year estimated.
In utility users tax, what this is pointing out is if we have a reasonable utilization of the EV stations that amount will not be in extra.
Four to six hundred thousand dollars a year but as much as an extra.
$4 million a year.
So the possible gain in the to the he's your taxes seven hundred thousand dollars.
Okay, thank you vice mayor Harrison and I just wanted to.
I think this is probably just a detail,
but this is something I learned a lot about
when I was doing the parking benefits district item,
just the nature of our 2016 installment sale agreement,
related to the parking revenue bonds
for the Center Street Garage.
And I don't see our finance director on this call.
So I don't know if anyone on this call is prepared to talk
about whether we could do this at the Center Street Garage
given the bond obligations there.
And then maybe something that the policy committee
could talk about in greater detail,
if nobody is available.
I can't see anyone from there.
Go ahead, maybe we take the site conversation
and the details associated with that later as Vice Mayor Harris
and it had an engine,
because we don't have real no-witch sites.
So we don't know if that's worth.
Why is Vice Mayor Harris, maybe allocate the money,
so it's kind of premature.
We're assuming that we're implementing this
when the money hasn't even been approved.
Okay, well, I just thought I would just,
yeah, just know that.
I know we can consider other sites.
Well, and actually that leads to my other question,
if we do use private sites,
like a privately owned parking garage or parking lot,
does that have any impact in this revenue sharing
that's contemplated,
because it's a private entity that we're partnering with?
It would be an increased cost to EVCE to rent those spaces
and therefore it would increase their cost
and reduce the delta between revenues and costs.
And we would get less,
our 40% would be of less.
So yes, because we don't have to charge them
if we're using our lots, that is not a factor.
And potentially a public agency,
like you see would not do that either.
So that's some of the considerations.
But if the project works, the project works.
So I think, again, let's,
I think the early focus will be on city lots and garages
because those are the ones that are to agencies
have the most control over.
And to work towards.
OK, but I appreciate knowing that, obviously,
if you're going to this privately operated
or own lots, you have that financial implication there.
OK, I'm almost done.
I just wanted to ask EVCE, Mr. West,
how do you assess demand?
Because I know bystanders in this proposing three hubs,
do you have a mechanism to have an understanding of how many
charging stations should be provided?
And maybe I don't know if you can speak to how you
approach it in the other two cities that you mentioned.
So we are looking very closely at the electric vehicle sales
and growth rates, as well as the information
that we can go in from other charging infrastructure
that's available in the county and across the state.
And so we have an understanding of what
those utilization rates are, and that's
some of what we're basing our modeling on,
as well as the various from growth rate that
we're seeing across the county and across the state of electric vehicles.
So that's what we're basing our assumptions on.
OK, great to know.
And then finally, my final thought, I think
in somewhat in response to Council Member Wendorf's suggestion
about considering some stations close to the freeway,
I do want us to make sure we keep in mind the bipartisan
infrastructure, bill, funding, the EV network.
I don't know if you know where those will be.
But obviously, I don't want to duplicate where those might end up.
And so I'm sure you'll keep that in mind, as well, as part of this.
Very much so.
And we work with our city agencies to help identify sources
of funding that we can go after together.
The type of public partnership that we are envisioning
is a great opportunity to kind of go after state federal dollars.
That's something that we will evaluate as it comes.
And certainly we're keeping an eye on where EV infrastructure is going in.
And now we part of our calculus as well.
Okay, thank you very much. That's all I have.
Okay, we're going to have to count some of our Bartlett.
Thank you, Mr. Mayor. It's wonderful to see you again, JP. You know, a little context here might be helpful.
And Councilor Wingraff would tell you as well, back in the day, even before I was in council, we were working on this issue.
And we're a Councilor Wingraff spearheaded the this easement issue for the earnings basis.
Because I can tell you this all over my district, people running electric cords out of windows.
You're safe. I'm not going to say who you are.
And the evolution of this kind of corresponds with the EBC as well.
So these community choice irrigation networks, these localized,
sold renewable energy hubs that we're a part of.
They're kind of mushrooming and taking over the utility market in the country.
And the vision for them is to be energy centers.
So that includes onsite generation with panels over airport lots and connected the rooftops and neighborhoods.
Also plugged into cars, right? So the electricity is is a market moving among communities and includes cars.
And you know, we Volkswagen cheated the stage to the country by lying about its emissions and they paid a $2 billion fine.
And there was all this talk years ago when I still nice to be help more involved about marshalling these resources to blanket California in the country with charging stations ubiquitous charging.
And it just has not come to pass.
And it's really surprising and disappointing.
But meanwhile, the fleet is converting the global car fleet is converting to electric Lamborghini just announced it is done making gas cars.
So, you know, one by state by state country by country, the going electric and so are we and Berkeley was always one of the highest purchasers of hybrid vehicles.
And this is the next step.
So it's we want people to be able to have electric car of the living apartment because let's see it unless you are able to own a nice house with a garage or a driveway that's close to your house.
You know, you can't participate.
So you can imagine two cities where you have people driving Tesla's in brand new the new 4 GM models coming out.
And then people driving, you know, smokey gas.
And you'll know that they are not of the land of the lead.
So it's it's not a good in a social level to condemn this and it's also this is the movement that we're in.
And the next phase is well beyond these these group.
These group, high speed charging networks with near entertainment centers, we can do things there and then near stuff they drive economic benefit.
They're also going to be wiring them into street lights street poles.
So they'll be street pole near you when you can plug your car into and also now in the road chargers in the road itself.
The drive you car as you drive it.
So the transition is underway and this is just part of the transition.
Thank you.
Councilor Robinson.
Good evening.
I am something of a conscientious objector to debating budget referrals.
I imagine we'll have much more robust discussion on this program should be funded.
But this class I want to thank you for being here since we're here just wanted to reinforce one point on the site and conversation, which I know we'll get.
Real error later and ask one question.
I found the the chart of favorable locations from EDC on the last page of the report really interesting and helpful.
And the variables that we sort of lay onto that make a lot of sense to me at this point came up a little bit in the stress you alluded to it that I felt it wasn't presented as explicitly in the.
I just urge us is we consider the viability of different sites to consider very highly the commercial environment of the surrounding neighborhood.
For example, I can imagine citing a habit be a Channing telegraph garage.
Where EV drivers from across the city or the East Bay could spend 20 or 30 minutes walking that commercial district would make particular sense.
Now I think that's pretty organically that happens pretty organically just based off of the other favorable sites that we have wind up already between the downtown south side and not far from the other part street district that to me that would almost seem to be perhaps the most relevant detail.
And just one related question, you know, it's something that came up to is we're thinking about allocating.
You know, streets parking spaces to outdoor dining installations and curious if the analysis that's happened so far accounts for our lost revenue from existing parking spaces.
And how we would figure out sort of how much that changes, again, that's in delta we're talking about.
Yeah, so that came up with agenda setting committee, it's something that we could certainly.
Look at you that.
That kind of last revenue as soon as those EVs are going to park there today and that they're could not be then paying parking fees for that time at our.
Yeah, the alternative view of that is that we're actually driving new parking to these garages and lots for the express purpose of charging.
And that, you know, once they stay there for an hour and to your point commercial areas are one of the main things that we're looking at as well as multi camera and other attributes.
And that, you know, if you're wants to longer than an hour, then we're actually creating additional new parking revenue as opposed to cannibalizing revenue.
So it's I think it's something to discuss is this new parking is a cannibalizing parking is at a hybrid of the two and how do we get to the actual number I think, you know, we've.
That's own evidence from other lots and garages where there is the EV parking and we're talking to some of our peers in other parts of the state to try to kind of get to an answer on is this new or or is there lost revenue.
So that's something I'm sure we'll continue to talk through get staff and and you all as we bring this back.
That makes a lot of sense really appreciate that. Yeah, I can imagine that it'll be really interesting to compare sites on a very case by case faces just looking at the two lots.
I listed there that I feel like I know most well, you know, one of them is virtually always completely full and maybe cannibalizing parking will be the the equation there and the other, you know, it could be a real opportunity to have an additional use there when it's it's sold them for there, even sometimes it's a terrible.
I think it's a lot more is that I could have a new dedicated use, you know, interesting. Thank you for working on this.
Yeah, currently surgery is something that will be necessary for that.
Council member Han.
Well, thank you very much. This, this is so much different from how I expected.
I think it's great that decided was pulled because it seems that people are so enthusiastic about it that they're ready to debate the fine details and and understand it and you know.
Pitch for citing and get them.
So I'm really glad that the purpose of all this was to really express our enthusiasm.
I'm going to start by making a motion that I have wanted to other short comments.
I'd like to move approval of these yesterday approval adoption of item 16 as presented.
Second.
Okay, great.
So.
Thinking about this and listening to conversation, having looked at this item carefully before the meet what comes to my mind is equitable.
Climate action.
Terrific innovation and partnerships.
That's what we have here before us, but not the slogan.
We have the real detailed.
Fine grain hardwood and heavy lifts that go into making our aspirations into realities.
And, you know, it's it's technical, it's complicated.
It's got many facets and many elements, but this is actually what real policy looks like.
As opposed to.
Ideals and in every different and I just want to thank Vice Mayor Harrison.
For once again.
Bringing us the real work to make our aspirations into realities.
And I want to say that if if you've wrapped her over the time that she's been on the city council.
You see a pattern there is an arc to the work that she brings to us.
She brings a series of smart detailed policies real world policies and actually work.
She finds the resources and a partnership with EBE CE is a resource.
Because this allows us to achieve a goal we already have faster and for less money than it would if we were going this alone.
She then seeks to accelerate implementation.
And last but not least, and I don't think this is last for her, but this is endemic of the item she brings us.
She builds in equity.
So I'm this is yet another technical walking.
Both launched real world item that brings us equitable climate action through innovation and partnership.
And I am so proud to serve with Vice Mayor Harrison.
I am so grateful for her work across the board to help us go from slogans.
And you know campaign promises and an aspirational.
Thinking and talking to the real work that moves this community forward.
So thank you, thank you, Vice Mayor Harrison.
And I am.
Excuse me.
And there's the asked at least supporting this item.
And thank you to Mr. Ross from EBC for and to the EBC for your partnership and helping us make our dreams of climate action.
Okay, we'll go to public comment on the side of item 16 if you wish to comment please raise your hand.
I'll comment on this item, not on labor management issues.
So we'll go now to Andrea.
Good evening, are you able to hear me.
Yes.
Excellent.
My name is Andrea Mallarki.
I am an SAU 10 to one member.
And I am just thrilled as all of you all are to see this step being taken as you've heard me say in many meetings before.
The climate is a priority issue for SAU 10 to one and it's because it's an existential issue for workers.
It's one of the reasons we brought proposals to the bargaining table.
You know about trying to achieve net zero by 2030 and even though the city refused to bargain with us about that issue.
We do continue to have our focus on climate and delighted to see this going forward.
I want to see that this is the kind of thing that workers would be able to take advantage of.
I live enrichment very much.
Would like to have an electric vehicle.
I live in a development where there is not a good plan for that.
And where I live and having more access near work could make that real for me.
So looking forward to one day having these options as a worker in Berkeley maybe even using my community benefits for it.
One seconds implemented as well so delighted to see this move forward and thank you for your support.
Thank you.
Thomas.
Thank you Mr. Mayor.
I'll just say I would hope that you think twice about the wisdom of paying such money to sign the city up to be early alpha testers of a very interested program.
But more importantly, your discussions and I was promised on this idea that influencing the markets of the market forces will electrify the existing fleet.
Everything will once and three.
Which is out of the wish.
But let's remember some basic climate science.
We all know that fossil fuel use has to follow by much more than half by just a year from now.
And I think we probably all make our best guess that in that same short amount of time there's no way we need enough time to electrify the fleet.
Even if it was fully subsidized by government or whatever.
The production problem is too hard not to even say that it would be ecologically wise to do that.
So what we really hope for is a situation in which we have a big crisis and a big crisis is a tremendous loss of capacity for transit in transport due to a sudden shock supply shock of the energy supply to transport in transit.
That emergency is not just immediate it's upon us and that should be the fundamental.
Starting according to if you're analysis for anything like what you're discussing tonight, not which
neighbourhoods to serve these fancy extension courts. So, best of luck.
Kelly, have a good?
Yes, and thank you councilmember Han for saying all those wonderful things about my councilmember Kate
Harrison, there are all two and I second them. I'm really appreciated the discussion on this item tonight.
And I hope it's enthusiastic and this route to move this forward. It's really important that we move in this direction.
So, I would like to thank all of you for joining us.
Thank you.
On to install EV charging stations.
Kansas City, Missouri has 117 charging stations.
We need to get on board with this.
And I think, you know, the more we can do in the faster we can do it, the better. So, thank you.
Thank you very much.
Okay. Thank you.
We'll go to flat cap one.
Making hear me?
Yes.
So, I look for the library. I just came to talk about labor stuff initially, but whenever I stay, I find all this fascinating city council stuff.
So, I'll admit, I did not read the EV report, but I'm from what I heard.
I'll say that the West Branch Library, which is on University of Evans and Pablo, is a net zero building, which I guess means it shouldn't be using any electricity.
But actually, we found that it creates more electricity than it uses.
And as a result, we set up EV charging station adjacent to the library, which may be one of the four that
Councilman Harrison held up offenders for.
So, I wonder if we're setting up some kind of charging station if it wouldn't be worthwhile to put it in that parking lot that's adjacent to the West Branch Library,
which I think would be within what Councilman Wayne Grappler saying is like the in the corridor of the highway of the freeway,
because the 80s like maybe four blocks from there, and I don't know if we're making, you know, how much energy we're making, but we may be making more than one space is worth of energy.
I just I don't know the answer to that, but I think that there's an opportunity in that particular space to set something up.
I know there would be some additional cost probably because it's not a city on parking lot,
but I thought I wouldn't mention that. Thank you.
Go now to Daniel to Har.
Thank you, Mayor.
I am a member of the Energy Commission.
Now, I'm here today speaking in my capacity as a resident of District 8, as well as some of the works at Tesla on their charging products.
I am very, very, very enthusiastic about this item.
It seems like a win-win, especially if the city is going to be making money back.
Just kind of a few observations and notes.
I think it is absolutely true, and we've seen this with the Tesla's GoF DC fast charging sales cars.
Sales EVs.
Like that is.
Lansing's idea is one of the major barriers to buying EVs, knowing where you're going to charge is one of the major barriers to buying EVs.
And when you have a way in a local community where you can charge your car 200 miles of range in like 30 minutes.
That sort of breaks open a lot of barriers.
And as a rental, I've done the game of, you know, if I own the EV where the heck would I charge it.
And there are not many places that I could live in the city if I wanted to own an EV.
And so this would go a long way in doing that and make that possible.
When we're thinking about the revenue, I think the conservative estimate was 1% of the lockdown estimate was 5% utilization.
Just a bit of that in perspective, 5% utilization is about 1 hour of charge every 24 hours.
Which is really low.
1% is, you know, 1.5 hours a week.
So those, you know, and we see Tesla charging stations that are just way of the subscribe and have weights and things like that.
And so there's this fuel fill there again.
So yeah, I'm really excited about this.
I hope you didn't do this.
Yes, I couldn't move it forward.
I'm looking forward to more.
Thank you.
Could have been.
Pollows.
Hi.
Thank you Mr. Mayor.
I'm Ben Pollows.
I'm the air of the energy commission.
And I'm, I'm, it's great to hear some support for this.
Because I will say that the, the business model for charging is kind of a chicken the egg.
The chicken the egg problem.
We have a lot of cars still coming.
As car makers scale up and as policy gets more aggressive.
I will remind you that the governor would like to see no more fossil fuel cars, so as of 2035.
So the industry is definitely moving the direction.
But as I say, the cars are still coming.
And there are, as you've pointed out, very few chargers in Berkeley more neighboring communities.
I'd say that one business model that has proven to be successful is the Tesla fast charger model.
There are a couple in Richmond, as Rita Emeryville.
And as my fellow commissioner Daniel Tardis mentioned, that is has been very successful for Tesla to help some cell cars.
To know that the buyers can know where they can charge.
So I think that that that business model is a good place to start here in Berkeley.
I think it will kind of bridge the psychological gap for people who are used to going to a gas station to charge up.
I don't think it's going to be the only model.
I think they're going to be more emerging.
And frankly, most people now charge at home if they have a place to charge.
They'll be a nice compliment to what we have and where things are headed.
And also accommodate for a lot of growth.
So thank you so much for your support.
Thank you.
Okay.
I don't see any other attendees with their hands raised.
We have a motion.
We buy hot and seconded by myself to prove the item is proposed.
Say no further debate.
Oscar Coral.
Council member.
Yes.
Tatlin.
Yes.
Bartlett.
Yes.
Harrison.
Yes.
On.
Yes.
One graph.
Yes.
Robinson.
Yes.
Drought.
Yes.
And there.
Yes.
All right.
Motion carries.
Thank you.
So.
So last item.
17.
Which is Berkeley's 2019 committee.
Why greenhouse gas emissions inventory.
This originally appeared on the information calendar for November 30.
And there was a request that we calendar this for presentation.
And so.
Mr. Klein.
We'll stop you getting a presentation on the side of.
We will.
Thank you.
Excellent.
Thank you.
Yeah.
We appreciate this opportunity.
Present.
I'm in 2019 greenhouse gas inventory.
Presenting for staff will be building remain.
The manager of the Office of Energy and Sustainable Development.
And.
Thank you.
Thank you so much for the opportunity to present.
On a climate action progress.
And I'm joined tonight by my colleague.
And then Reagan.
And who sustainability program coordinator.
And he's going to present.
The 2021 climate action plan reports.
With the 2019 greenhouse gas emissions inventory.
So this is the most recent data.
Available.
So as far as.
In addition to managing.
The data is well managing with the commission.
State and ordinance and it spends a lot of his time.
Collecting and analyzing.
Validating and interpreting.
Data from a variety of sources to measure.
Work with emissions reductions.
This work is a team effort.
And I want to acknowledge the excellent staff and the office of energy.
Sustainable Development as well as the dedication and collaboration of our hardworking staff colleagues throughout the city.
Including those in building safety, ladies, cleaning transportation.
Zero waste housing and many others.
So now I want to turn it over to.
And then to report on our 2019 inventory.
And after that, I know it's late, but I'll share a little bit more about our climate action.
If there's interest.
Thank you, Amon.
I don't know how to turn my screen for the presentation.
One second.
Can we count on everyone to the screen?
Yes.
Okay.
I'm good evening.
May I count on?
I don't even know.
I need to count, I know.
I don't even know.
And then I'm going to measure our expense and that's going to be a result.
I don't say that.
I know that.
So, what you see on the screen here shows by the screen has gotten the emissions over time.
This resulted in a 23% decrease in a citywide electricity emissions.
This drop in electricity emissions is seen as a one-handed bet.
The transportation sector also saw reduction in emissions in 2019, increasing 5% for 2018 levels.
So, these trends talk part of the story with a quantitative lens, but we also need to address
the equity and qualitative impacts on our trends and in our metrics, we're working to give
this and we're more about this and the idea of having a equity fund pilot, I'll be discussed later.
So, this slide shows the breakdown of our 2019 greenhouse gas emissions with the total of
540,000, 569 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent.
The inventory does not include a national allowable or UC Berkeley.
In some of the similar to previous years, the transportation sector account for the bulk of our emissions
around 60% and buildings accounting for 36%.
We're building electricity only account for about 5% of our total citywide emissions.
National gas continues to be a majority of our building sector emissions.
One kind of new thing for 2019 inventories that we now have access to new data source to calculate
at a semi-wide transportation sector emissions. In 2019 is the first year we're able to use this data.
It's now able to obtain year-old miles travel, the estimated to attack
high-rooted and anonymized location history data for longness to track transportation emissions
at a significant level of detail, and it's also reactive to changes to annual community patterns,
for significant events like the COVID-19 pandemic. So, this data breaks down miles travel through
automotive and various sustainable modes of transportation such as cycling, walking,
and public transit, which we had difficulty at gaining consistent data in the past.
And so sustainable trips and we still said there's no ecological, but it's also what you can
expand that in the future. And in 2019, 16% of our total miles travel in Berkeley
worked through sustainable loads of transportation. And this was a, this is 2% higher than in 2018,
so we did increase our miles through sustainable loads. And then now we're trying to back over the
rest of the presentation. Thanks so much, Anna. And, you know, while we've been making
staying progress, we acknowledge that we need to do more. In general, we track our missions
and an annual basis, and that's one way to measure our progress, but it doesn't tell the whole story.
We're also looking to track progress on the actions that we're taking to make sure that they're
benefiting everyone and that they're being effective. And this is important because, you know,
that community has been most disadvantaged by inequitable and racist policies or those that are
now being impacted by the impacts, most of the impact of climate change. So, given transportation and
building are the largest sources of emissions, we've been working for the past few years on two plans,
but they'll be existing, the Berkeley existing, the organization's electrification strategy
that you adopted in November, this last November, and the electric mobility roadmap that you adopted
in July of 2020. These two plans provide strategies and actions for equitable emissions reductions
and developing climate resilience in the community. So, these were both the year planning efforts
that combined technical expertise as well as feedback from commissions and a lot of work with equity
partners in the community. So, the strategies they provide strategies, policies, and programs needed
to equitably transition, hopefully to a de-carbonized future in both buildings and transportation.
So, moving forward, we plan to track implementation of these plans by looking at performance measures.
So, in the next year, we want to start developing the best ways to track that progress. So,
for example, what measure of progress on electric mobility is the electric vehicle adoption rate.
So, next slide. So, this is data from D&D, and it provides annual vehicle registration in Berkeley based
on Zidco. So, it doesn't map exactly to Berkeley, but extends a little bit beyond the borders.
So what we can see is of 2020, 6.3% of vehicles registered in Berkeley, electric. And that's
about, that's all for twice the California average. And this data, combined with the 16% of sustainable
load presented by Yemen, tells us that what we need to do to continue to reduce transportation
emissions. So for building emissions, we can look at the next slide.
We don't need to increase energy efficiency, which is the level of improvements, and elective.
So change our existing gas appliances and heating systems for electric heat pumps.
So we can get data from the dairy, regional energy network, relay programs. That tells us
what kind of work is being done in Berkeley. And what we can see is over the past since 2019.
Over the past three years, we've had over 692 measures completed in Berkeley homes.
That have resulted in a quarter million dollars in rebate funds coming into the community and energy savings,
needing bill savings for the community and annual emissions savings of 90 metric tons, which is the equivalent
of the annual emissions from 20 gasoline powered cars on the road.
So if we want to look at multi-family buildings, they run also provide rebate to programs.
We can see steady increase in buildings receiving these energy retrofits, beginning in 2014,
and there was a really steep acceleration in the beginning of the program. And we're hoping to increase
participation in the program, especially that some of our climate equity funding.
But we've retrofitted over a thousand units and brought in three quarters of a million dollars in rebates
with associated energy, cost savings, and the emissions reduction equivalent to the annual emissions of 50 gasoline powered cars.
So these are two ways we can measure progress in the built environment.
And another part of the BADES report, the electrification strategy, involved recommendations around private programs,
and fortunately council established a $600,000 climate equity fund, which is providing decarbonization funds for the community.
And so this is going to be a great opportunity for us to develop metrics and case studies to really look at successful strategies for equitable decarbonization.
So really the goal of the equity fund is to provide climate and resilience benefits to low-income communities,
and understanding that they're the ones that don't necessarily contribute most of the greenhouse gases, gas emissions,
but they're hit first and worse by the impacts of climate change.
So we're in the process of evaluating proposals and hoping to bring a recommendation to council and spring.
So next slide.
So in terms of what actions are coming up, you know, the need priorities that we're going to be working on is merely administering this equity climate equity fund.
Just going to provide the opportunity to do pilot programs that will be very instructive for us and for other communities.
We've got upcoming actions will require resources in staffing and support for community partners.
He wanted to be able to co-create these solutions with our community partners.
So additional climate actions will be in the building electrification, the area that include developing building performance requirements for the building.
In addition, saving ordinance that requires double require some kind of upgrade at the time of sale and for large buildings.
And this is based on the most recent amendments to the base of ordinance.
I'll provide that provide council last year and increasing e-turning infrastructure and micro mobility opportunities on the transportation side.
Next slide.
So this is just a reminder of the equity guard rails that inform or work and these were developed.
Part of the electrification strategy that these reports and we've been using them to inform.
The artwork since then, including the climate equity pilot programs and the ideas to really maximize access to benefits from electrification.
It's mobility, health and safety.
Making sure that people that we get the economic benefits which means we want to bring funds into the community to support high road jobs and leverage all existing available financing and incentive funds.
We want to make sure that whatever programs we do are easy for all members of the community to participate in.
There have been a lot of studies showing how the traditional mandate programs really benefit affluent white homeowners because they're not easy to access.
And then we also want to make sure that whatever programs we do don't exacerbate displacement so we want to make sure that there are tenant protections and anti displacement policies.
So that's for work, you know, a little bit of what we've done, a little bit of where we're going and I really just want to take a moment to express our gratitude to the support and leadership of this council.
And to really thank you and the Berkeley community for the steadfast commitment to climate action and in the inspiration that you've provided both locally and abroad.
Thank you.
Thank you so very much for the excellent presentation and report and just want to open on this item and say that.
You know, while we are making progress, we have sets of ambitious goals, I think has noted in the staff report.
We actually adopted the the sort of race to zero policy to achieve zero emissions by 2045 and we said an interim goal.
We're using our version of 50% global emissions by the year 2030 and so you know while we are definitely making progress as evidence by the graphs and I'll just note that I think emissions will probably go down further since we did adopt.
We opted out all of our.
Our customers and Berkeley to renewable and hundred so when we will that out this year, we are going to see the more mission reductions.
And that was actually one of the specific recommendations on just from the energy commission but also something that's been noted in other previous inventories that we adopted that.
That goal of opting up over accounts we will see even more more mission reductions that on top of the electrification policy that that we've adopted in the work that we're going to be doing in terms of the electrification.
Existing building certain incentives that we've never talking about.
I think we'll make a big they get back and continue to reduce building emissions but once again, you know building emissions.
So we're 36% of the the green asset inventory.
Transportation is so counts for 60% which is why I think literally what we just talked about around how we how we expand electric vehicle infrastructure.
How we are transitioning people off of.
You know single combustion gas power vehicles.
Either through you know transitioning to electric micro mobility biking walking, you know expanding investments in public transportation.
And then reducing the Oklahoma's travel through more compact urban.
Footprint.
I think all that's going to make a difference and I think that's the underpinning of our climate action plan.
So I appreciate all the work that's been done and I particularly want to acknowledge the attachment one which highlights some of the.
Upgrades that we've made to public facilities, a lot of it through measure T one.
To.
Either transition all electric or reduce reduce emissions.
And I know that that's one sort of key some policy girl as we implement measure T one projects.
That we you know can change a look at how we can reduce the carbon footprint of our of our city facilities.
So I you know 26% decrease from.
From our 2000 baselines great.
We need to obviously still do even more if we're going to achieve our goals that we've set out climate action plan and also.
If we're going to address this emergency.
As you know.
Clive it is worsening we're seeing the catastrophic impacts of climate change.
It's impacting us through.
While our threats were sitting air quality sea level rise.
And so you know while the focus whether we have a focus on reducing emissions.
We also need to you know.
Focus on how we are adapting to the impacts of climate change.
And I know that that that's also focus of your division as well as fire department and many other departments in the city of Berkeley.
So thank you so much.
You know it's what acknowledge the work that's been done the very exciting initiatives with equity lens.
But just reiterate that we have.
There's a lot more that we have to do and we frankly we're going to have to be bolder.
And even more aggressive.
With our strategies if we're going to reach these these goals that we set.
And if we're actually if we're going to be able to help.
Medigate the very catastrophic impacts that we're already seeing from our climate emergency.
So thank you.
We'll go to Councilor Hong.
Thank you very much and I want to thank staff on the one who pulled us from information.
And I thought was really important for us to get this and report form.
Um, partly because I think we we do have positive trends and it's good to acknowledge that.
But also because I think these reports give us a really clear map of what we need to do going forward.
And I think it's important for us to be reminded of that.
Every time we have data in front of us and the opportunity to review our progress in meeting our climate action goals.
I just wanted to confirm the numbers that you're showing here in the trends.
These are absolute right they're not her capital.
So I want to remind everybody that we had a 10% increase in population in Berkeley.
Between 2010 and 2020 and for Berkeley that that's a lot that's about 11,000 more people living here.
So the reductions if they were done on a per capita basis would be actually more substantial than what we're seeing in this report.
Now that doesn't mean that I think we should become a place in any way.
But I do think it's important for us to acknowledge that we've achieved these results at the same time that the number of people in Berkeley has grown quite substantially.
And I think we should be proud of that extra success that is embedded in the numbers that we have before us.
I think there's also an interesting information for us to draw on a variety of topics but I think more than anything this just helps me re center on on the focus of the work before us.
EBCE which is something that I had worked on as an advocate before I was on council and was really excited to be part of the launch of that.
Once I was on council continue to be excited about about the opportunities that was one big move but we were able to kind of move a lever.
And once whole over and reduce GHG emissions took a lot of work to get there but kind of overnight and we're going to have another overnight event with EBCE when when everyone gets opted up to the greenest 100% renewable energy mix.
But I think it's been elusive for us to find that sort of one big thing that can make a huge impact on our our transportation related emissions and I challenge all of us.
It may be that this is an area where we have to do 20 or 30 things including things like bring in electric vehicle charging infrastructure there might not be that big moment.
But obviously that is where we need to take small and large strides if we're going to reach our goals and then on the electrification as well I really think that.
I'm interested in seeing how we can innovate really push and support the people of Berkeley educate them provide necessary economic support for people who need it and really try.
Incentivize people and encourage them to go all electric. So thank you very much for your work, your ongoing work, and I look forward to continuing to partner with you.
Thank you. Vice Mayor Wilson.
Yeah, thank you very much Mr. Mayor. I want to thank Directors for main and client and their whole team, including Sarah and then Rebecca and Marna and I'm sure I'm forgetting so I'm sorry if that's true.
I'm your work on climate issues in Berkeley and regionally, much more importantly than valuable.
I also I think council member Han and the agenda committee for elevating the visibility of this issue.
I think it's really critical that in a time when our public have identified climate as one of the top priorities that we continue to make available to the data about what we're doing and how we're doing.
So thank you, thank you for bringing this forward.
We also have all this work going on, municipal buildings, as I think the mayor mentioned.
And I think that's important for two reasons. It may not be a big share of what the jishis are that are being produced in Berkeley, but it's very important that we leave the way.
We can show that buildings can and must be carbonized. I think our leadership is just so critical here.
And we have to keep advertising how we're doing I get a lot of questions every single week really.
What are you done in your buildings and I'm able to use this report to say here are the things we're doing so I really complete really appreciate that.
And of course, with respect to our mission reductions, I'm pleased to see reductions of 4% since 2018, but I am half a Sam really concerned with our overall progress.
Given scientific realities, we designed our climate action plan.
We were more optimistic, I think, about the trajectory of global and local emissions than we can possibly be now.
And I think we were more optimistic about the willingness of international state and federal agencies and entities to act that I think we can be now.
So we have to be honest with ourselves, we don't live in that area anymore.
We can't also, we can't think on the add that of some technological fix.
I think there's a kind of a, and I'm not, this is not the staff report, but I think in the community there's sort of a wishful thinking that there will be a silver bullet that will find something that will solve this entire problem.
And we just, there's not going to be a sequestration technique that solves this problem for us.
We have to cut these emissions ourselves.
And I think our step is in a great job getting a limited resources and it's now incumbent on us, the council to do what we can to change course and seek more aggressive targets.
We've blown past all the targets as a species.
We've blown past 150 parts per million of GHC gases.
We've passed 400 and part per million in 2013, 418 last year and we're well on the path to 500 parts per million, which that alone will result in a two to five degree increase in temperatures.
So we have seen this much come back side in millions of years and you know I also think it's important to recognize that we are a wealthy part of the world.
I'm going to have to do even more than our share.
If we want to say below these numbers we need to really rethink our target.
I'm asking for two things really, one that we expand our existing climate staffing this year to continue investing in equitable climate mitigation measures.
And we also need to start exploring other areas of our emissions impact such as consumption and I've spoken a lot with director remain about this very hard to do these consumption studies.
But when we see that chart and we say, experts at are from buildings, the 60% transportation, the 60% that doesn't reflect the 162% higher amount of GHC production from the things we buy that we then throw out in blame on China.
We're consuming they're getting tagged with the emissions but we're causing this so I think we have to really start thinking more about because we import and what we eat and how we travel.
I do have a draft of the ordinance right now at fights that would embrace this sort of precautionary principle that we've already adopted the council set emergency greenhouse gas limits for more significant target reductions.
From the 2030 2000 sorry you're baseline and there would update the goals of the plan with legislative and budgetary timelines as appropriate.
I think we need to really say how are we going to get there and we have all these techniques happening and we're doing all these things but how do those translate into reductions each of these different approaches that we're taking.
And you know whether we continue on the path that we already adopted of 60% reduction from 2018 in 2030 or call for more dramatic and I think necessary decline, which I'd like to see as net zero and 2030.
We still have to tackle this idea of making sure we tie our budgetary and administrative resources to this goal.
We have to really think seriously what do we need to get this done.
I want to ask really a couple of questions on my notice that you're interested in transitioning the annual greenhouse gas inventory to the regional agency or a state agency.
Do you know if those regional or state agencies do anything with consumption indices or are they they're mainly sector based like transportation buildings.
Yeah, mainly they're looking at energy usage data and transportation data.
I think the difficulty with most of the work that's been done around consumption there was an inventory done in 2014 that we provided council a few years ago in the update.
And that essentially took income and translated that into consumption based on assumptions that were regional so we couldn't really measure changes in behavior by Berkeley residents because it just sort of takes gross.
Numbers and says, you know, of money spent on food X amount is on me or X amount of money is on air travel, but it doesn't really look at individual behaviors.
Yeah, it's an econometric model that assumes a certain household income is going to translate into a certain consumption.
So let's say we did a fantastic job and we ate less meat and we consume less junk and we bought less fewer things that came in boxes and plastic.
We wouldn't know that through the econometric model.
I know there's some other models where people are looking at things like what's in our waste stream.
What's in our sewage frankly and you know, what are some of the other, you know, ways we can measure that consumption.
But it's a really hard night. I get that. I'm just wondering if you've seen any other regional or state models that include that.
I haven't seen any models.
Yeah, I don't think a bottle can. I think it's sort of the nature of a model.
I think this is one where we have to really talk to the public about that 2014 inventory and talk about consumption as a prime problem.
We have to just be really honest with people.
You know, be great on an electric vehicle, but it'd be even better if you stopped.
I think that's a tough message for Americans.
You know, we're very addicted to shopping and consumption.
But that's, that's the truth of it really.
And my other question is about, and I'm really going to have to express this except to use transportation as an example where we're down 5% in emissions and transportation.
But we haven't really been able to disaggregate what did that.
You know, which of these techniques are having this impact? Is that right?
Yeah, we don't have a causal connection between X produces 5.
Is there any way to do more of that?
Either regionally or, you know what I'm saying.
We're going to put my name into a lot of different efforts.
How do we judge their relative value and registration?
And I think that's where the performance metrics come in.
And so, you know, like the data that we just presented today, percentage of sustainable trips or percentage of EV adoption.
Those are sort of proxies that we can look at.
That we can create performance targets and measure our progress towards those targets on things that we know are going to get us reductions in transportation.
And you translate those targets into GHGs.
I do have that great statistic about the number of vehicles, gas vehicles that we'll be driven with.
We've avoided driving by what we've been doing on buildings.
I feel like that's what it's kind of needed is to know for each of these techniques.
Kind of, yeah, we have this much more EV adoption.
This goes to what Councillor Tapham has asked me before.
How much is that getting us in GHG reductions?
I'm just going to, you don't have to answer this right now, but I'm hoping that when we do this, we are looking at outputs, not just inputs that we're going to have some kind of way of measuring.
We've done these things and we'll do a great job on these things, but what did it mean in the end.
And I hope it's not just huge sector, but by type of thing.
If that makes, I don't know if that question made sense, but, you know, that's what I'm interested in because we have to know where to put our resources and everything is equally valuable.
And things are going to have more effect than others.
So, thank you, thank you again so much.
I really appreciate all the work that you've done and this is an excellent presentation.
That'll be in the public record and really appreciate your ongoing.
Thank you.
Thank you, Councillor Tapham.
Thank you.
Thank you, Director Klein, and it's for me.
My unit cut out for the presentation, so I apologize if I, if I missed this.
Could you elaborate on on the subsequent taking to increase my probability.
Well, in addition to the Biden pedestrian improvements, some of the climate equity funding was dedicated towards improving my probability access.
So, you know, that's one of the things that's a little bit harder to measure and that we're hoping that we can measure that as we move with the climate.
With the climate equity pilot programs, we don't only want to see how those program works programs work, but we want to be able to come up with some equity metrics.
And things like my formability is something that is a measure that is equity based.
I think it's something that everybody can get access to is opposed to an electric vehicle, which some people might have barriers to getting.
Thank you very much.
You have related to that couple things and appreciate Councillor Tapham bringing this up.
You know, we, I think we authorized several months ago.
A program to issue permits for scooter and e-bike companies.
And I don't know if anyone's applied or because we're going to be coming to us at some point, but my hope is that there will be.
Or more companies that will be advancing.
Electric micro mobility in a public right way.
I think another issue is something I talked to MTC about, and also.
When I took a tour of the web, our bikes show them down some Pablo and encourage everyone to do that.
Apparently Oakland is is created a program where they have kind of a.
A lending library for electric bikes and other.
Micro mobility.
And that's something that I think the equity funds could be a good, a good investment partner with.
With the company.
That that provides electric vehicles, electric bikes to have.
Access through some city program.
For youth or for low-income residents to be able to get access to electric bikes.
And one thing is I've talked to you to be community energy about was we had this conversation around the.
The charging infrastructure, but with what pull out of having electric bikes in the East Bay.
I think there's an opportunity for the public sector to also create a program too.
So.
I think that's a name.
I mean, you know, the infrastructure is important.
But how we create access, equitable access.
To my electric micro mobility, I think is important.
And I'm particularly interested in the model that Oakland's looking at doing and whether we can invest some of those resources.
To doing that.
Then there are probably regional grants or state grants and we can leverage as well.
And then I think this feeds into the whole concept of mobility hubs that.
I think for reason here, but that NTC is is more than prioritizing some regional dollars for which is actually locating everything at one location.
So.
Car share transit.
Scooters and bikes everything so that all the first and last mile connectivity options.
Our co-located or concentrated one particular location.
I think that's the kind of model that we're going to have to advance.
And Berkeley's a great candidate and in a great position to be able to seek and leverage some of those regional and federal dollars to be able to be a mobility hub.
And to really make sure that we are have a variety of options for people.
To kid me whether it's first or last mile trips or other types of trips.
So.
I think that's that's an area is we're sort of moving the electric mobility road map for I think there could be some opportunities to partnership with.
Whether it's EVCE or whether it's trying to seek out you know regional state grants.
So I kind of I wanted council chaplain talk about something I've been thinking a lot about actually.
And I think I think is an area where I think we can demonstrate some leadership and have a particular equity focus about about those types of programs.
Okay.
Thank you for.
We'll go now to public comment on the side of it. Any member of public, would like to speak on the side of please raise your hand. Okay, Andrea.
Yes, Andrea, I'm a work ETA, you tend to one. I want to also echo your excitement for things like public shared e-biking programs.
I'm not a big fan of lift and Uber and their ilk and the labor consequences of their choices. And so looking at public options is fantastic and I'm delighted to hear it. Also wanted to double down on the pride of in the work that our members do.
It's I lots of members get to see me at my job because my job is super public but I don't often get to see I'm in doing his job. It is a delight and a pleasure to see that on display.
You know, SNU tend to one, we'll reiterate climate is a huge priority of ours and it is because this is the work we do we understand it.
Not just as people who live in the world and are facing an essential climate crisis, but as people who make their whole work their whole professional life about it.
There was a priority for us at the bargaining table to set greenhouse gas emissions to make really ambitious goals to be real partners with the with the city in doing this.
We were soundly ignored and denied and silenced and we hope that that will be a trend that does not continue because we intend to continue to bring these issues forward as they are deeply important to us as workers.
And the one piece that we did walk away from the table winning was increased commuter benefits and I just really wanted to uplift the effort that the city workers are trying to do to be partners in improving the greenhouse gas emissions in this crucial transit and transportation sector.
The city continues to botch that and to not implement it. In fact, I was taxed on benefits I didn't receive in my paycheck last last day period.
We are six months down the road not understanding why that's not happening yet.
Really just want to doubly triply quadruply underscore the importance that's for us as workers as a as a as a union of labor union and organization of workers who really do believe that we can be partners with you.
In making some of these like essential existential changes. So thank you.
Thank you.
Okay, the clock's back and forth a clock so we can just keep track of time.
Thanks. Okay, we're going to Tom's there.
Thank you. I want to express some.
Joining gratitude.
Staff tonight for showing us that so many of you are really engaged in this issue and care very deeply about it.
That's so encouraging.
Let's let's staff in the public keep trying to raise council on this issue.
Council.
Some critiques of this thing.
The biggest reduction in emissions.
But please have a claim.
Is this what you BCE.
I'll try not to dwell on it.
Basically we pay EBC that less that being somebody else paid PGening.
Or it's the same like tristening a matter who we buy from our shifting round whether we sign up for low cost or high cost programs.
Has no real tight connection whatsoever to the mix of generation between green energy generation and dirty energy generation.
It's a legislative fiction that that was an emissions reduction or really wasn't.
The 18 2018 to 2019 reduction in vehicle emissions.
You have a large change in methodology.
Very sort of things are all getting to.
Within easily within the realm of statistical noise.
It's not clear anything actually changed on the ground there.
If this is all right, that means the Berkeley has never done anything to reduce emissions and further discussion.
But they can't really do anything to reduce emissions.
It's not within its jurisdictional powers.
What it can do is act aggressively to prepare as if emissions were going to be reduced as quickly as needed.
And that conversely will make it easier for higher jurisdictions to compel the reduction of emissions because more of society would be prepared for the difficulties that causes very different approach from where we're up to.
Thank you for listening.
We'll go next to JP Ross.
Hi, thanks for thanks for this item.
I just wanted to briefly touch on a few other programs that EBC is offering in addition to the transportation electrification program that we just talked about earlier.
Really glad to see the city of Berkeley has used some of our kitchen induction electrification grant funds for some of your projects.
We are also just about to launch an induction lending program that will be distributed throughout EBC esteratory to slow allow residents to to borrow for free induction.
We have a lot of information.
Click tops if they can plug into a wall outlet along with a pan and some recipes.
We'll be doing that with a nonprofit partner who we're engaged with now and we'll probably come in to you and seeing if we can use some of your libraries or other folks for distribution centers because we want to make sure that those are widely available throughout the territory.
We're also you're really progressing quickly now on our municipal critical facility solar and storage program.
I've been working with your staff on that and they're excited to put solar and storage on your critical facilities to provide critical services during power outages.
Yes, yes, events, earthquakes, other things like that and those will also reduce the emissions of your buildings.
The building electrification work is tough.
We've been in the trenches trying to get folks to electrify kitchens and homes and businesses.
It's not easy. We do have a municipal electrification assistance program for helping our municipal partners work on electrification projects with both technical assistance and grants.
We're working with staff on that as well, but there's a there's a ton of work to do and we're your partner in trying to help you achieve your climate action plans and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Thank you.
Okay, so Tom Setton.
Thank you, I just want to make this short comment that it was very good to see the new analysis done by city staff and the good that the.
So the council is taking climate change seriously and while it is difficult for a small city to have a large impact on a worldwide problem.
If every city around the world, small or large, we're to make a substantial effort.
We're working with indeed change the great problem that all of the world faces and I particularly want to recognize the outstanding work of am and Reagan who has done nothing but outstanding work in the short time he's been working for the city.
Thank you.
I will connect to Ben Powell's.
Hi, thank you.
Again, the chair of the energy commission and I'll say that I just wanted to point out that the great progress we've seen over the years has largely been due to the drop in power sector emissions.
I'd say the city of Berkeley's best idea in this area was to create EBC and so we can take advantage of the falling costs of solar and wind power and batteries.
And then using EEC as a vehicle to deliver these local programs that has all been going greatly according to plan.
But emissions and the other sectors are not falling gasoline and cars natural gas and buildings.
The increase in ED sales that we saw on that one chart is frankly due to the kind of people who live here in Berkeley is not due to anything that city has done.
The new data that we found on trips pound of this validated what we know what we see in front of us 84% of travel is in cars.
That's a big red flag and it shows where we should focus.
With transportation really two strategies you can use you can either get gasoline out of cars or you can get people out of cars.
That second world is entirely up to the city it depends on what we build we need to build a non car infrastructure.
Make it safe and easy for people to walk and bike convenient to take transit.
So I'm really hoping that the revenue bond that we're talking about for this fall is really direct serious money toward building that infrastructure not just fixing potholes but actually building the city of the future.
On buildings we spent some time reviewing the existing building electrification strategy.
And my biggest takeaway was that it costs too much to electrify buildings currently and we need to find ways to make it cheaper.
Whether that's through some coordinated procurement, some market transformations, some contractor training programs I'm not sure but we really need to explore that.
And finally, as Council member Harris pointed out, there are a lot of things we don't measure that we really should start paying attention to what what are called scope to emissions or indirect emissions.
I think it's interesting to talk to you see Berkeley researchers who have done quite a bit of research on this topic.
The sea of faking help us find some more accurate ways to measure it.
Thank you very much.
Thank you Mr. Mayor.
Thank you Council and thank you staff.
This is really great work.
I'm consistently impressed with what you're able to produce and how much you're able to punch about your own weight.
So the plants that you have laid out are really comprehensive and detailed.
And I think what's pretty clear is that's an opportunity to say the fact of the matter is the money for this completely gone.
So we really need to focus on using all which was of the added art disposal.
But that's regulation budget.
Our creativity to kind of drastically reduce emissions at the base that we need.
So kind of there's a sample of some of those things.
A bunch of staff, we're all praising staff.
And it should be praise.
We should hire more and give them great benefits.
We should fund the auction mobility for an acquisition that is called for.
We should extend funding for the Green Village program manager and we should extend expand funding for all facets of.
On the building side, I'm really excited about the idea of a time of sale execution requirement.
I think about 200 buildings transfer each year, which is over 2% of the building stock.
And that's that's huge.
And if we can capture this buildings.
The mayor reference incentives.
We should be supporting and lifting up our low income communities and our venture communities by helping them launch your client head of the curve.
And getting the benefits of all electric homes now, lower pollution and proof comfort and proof.
You've totally costs.
And if the city puts in money.
We can leverage up to $10,000 per home available to stay in the low incentives.
I mentioned money in regulation.
So what about creativity, the third element.
Council member Hanette said that we need to get aggressive and we need to do 40 different small things.
Particularly on transportation side.
We're going to curb those stubborn emissions.
And that means it's using climate.
Everything we do, even if it's something like a rotating bond.
And when we get that in repeat, our streets.
That could be an excellent opportunity to lay electric conduit.
They'll have to publicly level to charging infrastructure.
Particularly focused in the low income and rents or communities that are going to be a focus of our future.
And by the way, we're changing the physical shape of the roads from a walking biking and riding transit.
Because our roads are just as important in public spaces and parks and all the other spaces of being joined together.
So I just want to thank everyone.
And I'm really looking forward to what we can do.
I'm coming back to cycle on it.
Next is Vlad Kaplan.
Can you hear me?
Yes.
So I just wanted to respond to PJ was talking about some grant for induction ranges.
And we do have a culinary program with the tool in the library where we might be able to use that.
So please get in touch with us about that.
And then the other thing I just wanted to.
At some point probably not today.
Get an update on what's going on with that pilot program about the micro mobility stuff.
I feel like we haven't heard about that in a while.
And I would love to know about it.
Thank you.
Any other attendees which to speak on this item.
So please raise your hand.
Okay.
Signal additional resistance.
Thank you for your comments.
Bring back to the council.
Any additional questions or comments from city council members.
Okay.
Well, thank you.
Once again for the great presentation and our work and.
You know, I think Berkeley has consistently been kind of at the cutting edge.
It should of work around climate action.
Going back to Intimity Bros was the climate action coordinator.
We board our climate action plan.
And it's actually providing regional leadership.
And I know this because I'm present in May back.
We run our Bay Run program.
Walk a lot of regional conversations on climate adaptation and resiliency.
And I hear a lot of praise or Berkeley in the work that we're doing.
I do agree that we need to be bolder in our targets.
And more aggressive in our strategies.
And that's in many, many ways.
It's transportation and it's.
It's.
You know.
Transituated development and electrifying our build things.
It's.
You know, reducing waste and.
And then also how we're creating make our streets safer for bicycles and pedestrians and gridding transit options. So I think these are all outlined in our climate action plan. I think it's all responsibility is the council to align our budget with those priorities into make sure that we are, you know,
and our able to move ahead with the bold strategies that we are, that we've outlined and that we need to implement in order to reduce the catastrophic impacts of our climate emergency.
So thank you so much for all your work. It's deeply appreciated.
And unless there's any further questions or comments, that completes a side up.
So that completes our agenda for tonight. Is there any public comment from anyone who is not already spoken on non agenda matters.
Mr. Clerk did enjoy a Milwaukee speak during the first non agenda period.
This one is just don't check.
No, okay, great. So once again, this public comment on non agenda matters from anyone who is not already spoken, so we'll go first to Andrea.
Thank you. Oh, it's asking me to join us a panelists.
That was a mistake. I'm sorry.
Okay, you can hear me though, right?
Okay, pretty. Yes, I apologize. I did not speak during the first section. It was already full.
But I did want to speak to one particular item, which is not on your agenda, which is the pepper ramp down.
I saw that it was on the agenda committee today, which is good.
I would like to see that actually moving forward in a much greater pace.
Because the fact of the matter is, is that this is a completely was a completely foreseeable thing.
It was bargained after many years of trying to bargain it.
And we are now six months into people not seeing that three percent differential. That was a hard one.
Hard fought, hard negotiated, hard sacrificed win for us as workers.
And I just want to sort of like highlight a piece of this that maybe, you know, isn't super obvious, but it's really clear to me.
It's that as a city, you authorized and then spent half a million dollars to bargain a contract that you're not actually enforcing, which is pretty shocking to me because it was extensive to do.
And the idea that it was not administered with feasible to make workers whole.
We put in as soon as possible, or the first paper in January, because that was such a ludicrously long time out.
And here we are, we've blown past it.
And members are looking at months more before then.
So, you know, you got to get this fits.
We need a written commitment to back pay to making workers whole for this long time that they've been going without the hard fought benefit that they, you know.
Like, so Council member Hans said, this is something we've been working on for years, absolute years, and workers deserve to be made whole.
You've got the money.
So let's do it.
Okay.
We're going to our next speaker.
Hi.
Thank you so much.
My name is Sarah Moore.
I'm a resident of Berkeley, and I'm a member of the Planning Department's Awesome Office of Energy and Sustainable Development.
I suspect like me that you have many of the statements from staff during public comment today.
And I just also want to express how this happening, distracting and destructive.
It's been to work for an employer that isn't honoring it's little bit contracts, particularly about pet perceptions.
The steps are needed to attract and retain employees.
They are needed to create equal pay for equal work among staff.
And in accordance with the labor contracts, they should have already been in place for a couple of months.
We all understand and have felt the impacts of understanding and the extra tasks required by COVID response.
But the delays associated with implementing these contracts is inexcusable.
Particularly when it's been done in a way that's made staff feel disrespected, misled, and unsupported.
You got to hear a little from Amin Regan this evening.
He's fantastic.
I have a share of good luck and supervising him.
But everyone who knows with him, who works with him, is that he is helpful, knowledgeable, thoughtful and responsive.
And I want to do everything I can to retain him.
He's a pepper employee who's been with the city for two and a half years.
Based on his labor contract, he was understandably expecting an increase in his take on paid due to the prepress step down months ago.
I want him to have that.
And I'm speaking tonight to add my voice to the others to just ask you to do anything you can to hold those responsible and implementing it accountable for it.
Because there are a lot of amazing staff members like Amin and implementing and good faith and in a respectful, collaborative manner.
The labor contracts that we adopted over the summer is best.
Thank you.
We're going to execute event date.
Hi, Mayor Council.
Thank you for your timing.
Listening to the wonderful presentation.
Our staff as well as to all of the concerns staff who have been calling in.
My name is Katie Gonzalez.
I also work in the office of energy and sustainable development with as you saw this wonderful team dedicated to advancing climate action and equity and Berkeley.
And it's so proud of the work we do.
And we really appreciate council support and leadership and addressing climate change and resilience.
I'm also a local one pepper.
And I supervise.
I see I use 10, 21 members that I see in its solidarity with including Marna and Rebecca.
And when I took this job at the city, you know, I was really excited to be working for a city known throughout the world as the beacon of hope for its embracement of activism and diversity.
Equity, climate action and its inclusivity of all races, gender, sexuality and religious beliefs.
And in addition, I thought I could be proud to work for a city whose values were aligned with the ones that my parents and still didn't need to do the right thing.
Fight for the underserved and to treat others fairly with respect, honesty, compassion and humanity.
However, lately, I found it very challenging to work at an organization that I feel has not treated its employees with the same values of respect, dignity and compassion.
We're not being paid with the city a great to pay us for doing the work that we have been doing under challenging conditions.
And while it's understandable that mistakes around pay can be made, they are not being corrected, which is unacceptable.
The process for trying to resolve these issues has been very challenging as may of my fellow colleagues spoke to.
And all of this is impacting our daily lives and our families and it's taken a toll on our morale as you can hear.
I heard increasing voices from staff doing disheartening, disillusioned, demoralized and disappointed by city leadership's treatment towards staff and they share the sentiments.
We're not unreasonable people asking for unreasonable things.
We're working hard to serve the community and many are putting their principles at risk.
We're exhausted from fighting for what's been agreed upon is actually go to us and we're just asking to be treated fairly with respect and dignity.
So I'm asking you as as only others, but you please take action to resolve these issues immediately.
Thank you.
Coach, I'm in Reagan.
Yes, and I'm also getting time to see you by James Chang as well.
Okay.
That's one of the most important things in Reagan.
I just visited to you on the greenhouse gas emissions inventory for the city of Berkeley.
Speaking to you now as a CIA member and a Patre member.
And so as usually I have to go for this for the meeting.
But I think seeing the city manager kind of gave the overview of the items in the long list and then acknowledging that things like that,
which have been kind of inequities for the past five plus years still are the last on this list to be addressed.
Well, they should be one of the first because it does affect the majority of the city city workers.
And for the past few months, we've been trying to work with the city across all of these different items and we're met with various along the way.
You know, they cancelled multiple meetings.
And this is the first time that we did takes us coming to council, you know, for us to get kind of alert.
To two of the scene kind of behind the scenes of what's going on and why these are taking so long.
It would be great if we were to head along the way just to understand that every department is.
Understaffed and it takes you know, there's a lot of time that is to go on to implementing a lot of these changes.
But I think this communication would be helpful along the way.
And that's the committing to the back pay.
Like when the city costs it on our contracts, were they intending not to pay us until this April.
But they should budgeted this past six months of our pepper will act.
And so I've been now they're saying that they're not planning to get us any back pay for.
You know, for the last six months of, you know, how long it's taken.
I just want to note a few months ago when I broke count whenever there was an item that was sent to you about the peppers step down.
And it did include talking from CalPos that noted that in order to change a cost share agreement.
It does not, it does not require a contract amendment.
So note that the places on the CalPos website states that in order to make a change to an existing.
It really costs your agreement.
All it takes is a letter and the NAU that states kind of the new step down.
And 90 days after that is submitted.
The step down would be an effect your peppers.
And so effectively we we have a very long drawn out.
In the first time I was very active in participating in all of this.
and then seeing it take another six to eight months to implement what we found so out for
or now still fighting and I'm still speaking at council meetings, trying to get this fixed and
dressed whenever the city could have had it fixed in November and the soonest. And so I'm hoping that
all of you will kind of look at this case and see what can be done to give us kind of retroactive
every month you've missed six months waiting for this contract to be implemented and now with that
I'll end my comment. Thank you for the time. Thank you. Okay, we're good at kitchen.
Hey man, council. I can't really say things any better than all the workers that you've already
heard from. I just want to say that I hope you're hearing it because you know these are
these are the workers delivering to programs so the things that you're seeing and talking
about and praising and the community members recognizing that these are the the missions that we
put for our city, our community, these are the workers executing those programs and they're here
telling you that you know they're becoming disillusioned with what they believe, how they are
viewed by the city that is their employer and you know the community that we work for
if they feel that they are not being heard, not being valued and you know that's clearly demonstrated
by a lack of commitment from the city to execute these contracts in a timely manner the way that they
should be to make workers care for what they've bargained for in the contract. I hope you guys are
hearing that and that's all I really want to add. Thank you. Okay, thank you. Any other public comments
are not a gentleman? Anyone who is not very spoken? Okay, thank you. Appreciate all the public comments
today. I I have already expressed my interest to the city attorney and city
clerk that we calendar a discussion in close session. Because this is this is important which you know
why this is operational implementation of existing contracts that have been that have been approved
by the council but we want to make sure that we understand that the progress of this and that we can
you know continue to move this forward so I just wanted to announce that hopefully we'll be meeting
close session soon to get more information about this and to have a discussion with the city manager.
Okay, seeing no additional ways to hands that completes our agenda. I'll make a we are adjourned. We didn't
accept the meeting for the meeting. Okay, have any of you want to take care of.
Recording stopped.