Call to order the January 12th, 2026
meeting of the PaloAlto City Council.
Would you kindly call the role?
>> Of course. Council member Lithnes.
» Of course. Council member Lithnes.
>> Yes.
» Yes.
>> Mayor Vinker
» Mayor Vinker
>> here. [laughter] Council member Rectal
» here. [laughter] Council member Rectal
>> here.
» here.
>> Council member Bert
» Council member Bert
>> here.
» here.
>> Council member Lowing
» Council member Lowing
>> here.
» here.
>> Vice Mayor Stone
» Vice Mayor Stone
>> here. Council member Lou
» here. Council member Lou
>> here
» here
>> for the record. All present.
» for the record. All present.
>> Thank you very much.
» Thank you very much.
The first item on our agenda is a closed
session item uh conference with the city
attorney potential litigation. Um so may
I have a motion to Well, no. So is there
any public comment on our close session
item one? [snorts]
>> There are no requests to speak and no
» There are no requests to speak and no
hands are raised on Zoom.
>> Okay, great. So it's a closed session
» Okay, great. So it's a closed session
item. Do I have a motion to go into
close session?
>> So move
» So move
>> second.
» second.
>> All right. I think that was allowing on
» All right. I think that was allowing on
the motion and Lou on the second.
>> All right. Taking the vote. Council
» All right. Taking the vote. Council
member Rectal.
>> Yes.
» Yes.
>> Council member Lifod Hayes here. Vice
» Council member Lifod Hayes here. Vice
Mayor Stone Stone.
>> Yes. [laughter]
» Yes. [laughter]
>> Mayor Vinker.
» Mayor Vinker.
>> Yes.
» Yes.
>> Council member Lou.
» Council member Lou.
>> Yes.
» Yes.
>> Council member Lowing.
» Council member Lowing.
>> Yes.
» Yes.
>> And council member Burton.
» And council member Burton.
>> Yes.
» Yes.
>> Motion carries. All right. Thank you. So
» Motion carries. All right. Thank you. So
we will adjourn into close session and
by our agenda it's estimated that we
will be back by 6:20. With any luck
we'll be back earlier, we might be back
later. Um but we will look forward to
reconvening in open session then.
order and uh open session. Now,
I do have a report out to make from our
closed session. Council did meet in
close session and we have one reportable
action. Council authorized the city
attorney to initiate litigation in one
case. And with that, we will move on to
agenda changes, additions, and
deletions. City manager.
>> Thank you, mayor. Uh, no changes to your
» Thank you, mayor. Uh, no changes to your
agenda this evening, but did want to
note uh for both uh public and council
awareness that the order of the agenda
is a little unusual uh in the sequence
of action or discussion items. As such,
uh in particular, item number 15, which
is listed at the end of your agenda, is
largely an internal city uh topic. and
as such uh would be conducive to either
um continuing if you're not able to get
all the way through it or deferring it
if heaven forbid it's later and uh you
don't get to it this evening. But just
wanted to note that for your awareness.
>> Yeah, thank you for that uh note. Um you
» Yeah, thank you for that uh note. Um you
know, hopefully we'll be a little
earlier. I know we don't like to
agendaize things that late. When we
moved the agenda into this particular
order, we didn't have times associated
with it yet. And uh seeing that we will
assess how we're doing uh when we reach
item 15.
Okay. Uh and with that, we'll move on to
public comment on matters not on the
agenda. Madame clerk, do we have
speakers?
>> Yes, we have 11 requests to speak.
» All right. Well, if we could invite them
up for two minutes each.
>> Great. Our first speaker is Sven T. And
» Great. Our first speaker is Sven T. And
just to as a reminder for our members of
the public, two minutes, there is a
timer on the uh screen as well as on the
podium.
Oops, we just saw it. So at Stanford
they study everything and they study
hope as well. And so this is the results
of this professor. Next slide please.
And he says hope is comprised of three
things
either collectively or individually to
envision a better future than what we
have right now. Two, the willpower and
the motivation to get there. Three, the
actual road map to where we're going to
this vision of something better. Hope.
That's what hope is. You need three
things. The vision, the willpower to do
it, and the path to get there. Next
slide, please. Sorry. So, what do I
have? I have a vision of an all electric
utility.
My motivation,
I love you guys. We're all parents here
and I've decided as I drift into
spirituality
that I don't know the difference between
my child and somebody else's child.
They're innocent
and they're not responsible for our
actions or inactions. So I am highly
motivated cuz every kid is my kid and
the path that's the hard part. That's
where we work together to make this
happen [clears throat]
because it's going to require some
sacrifice and some time and some energy
and some money to get there. But it
needs like that road map and it needs a
date to say, "Hey,
our utility used to supply natural gas
to the residences, the commercial
buildings, and the industrial sites, but
we don't anymore because we love our
children." Thank you.
» Our next speaker is Sarah S.
» [clears throat]
>> Hi, I'm Sarah and I'm an eighth grader
» Hi, I'm Sarah and I'm an eighth grader
at Ellen Fletcher Middle School. Um, you
might remember me from a few weeks ago
when I talked about how using an
induction stove has helped me and my
family, including my two cats. So, I'm
sure everyone in this room knows that
smoking is bad for you. This image is a
page on the city of PaloAlto website
explaining the effects of smoking and
the city's numerous e efforts to prevent
it. If you scroll down, we you can't um
we can see that the city has done a
great job getting this information out
to people and has made a huge effort to
keep Palo Alto cleaner and safe from
these harmful substances.
Below the image, it says tobacco use
kills nearly 40,000 Californians every
year. Well, what if I told you that
using a natural gas burner is the same,
if not more harmful, than breathing in
secondhand smoke? In fact, researchers
at um Stanford's Door School of
Sustainability measured benzene
emissions from stoves in 87 homes in
California and Colorado and found that
natural gas and propane stoves emitted
benzene that frequently reached indoor
concentrations above benchmarks set by
the World Health Organization.
These benzene levels were above the
upper range of indoor concentrations
seen in secondhand tobacco smoke. You
might be thinking that since you're not
using the stove all the time, you're not
emitting these harmful chemicals all the
time. But actually, these stoves leak
methane even when they're turned off.
It's so important that we spread
awareness about this topic. Using a
natural gas stove is not just an
environmental issue, but it's bad for
our lungs.
Do we really want to be breathing in
human carcinogens and polluting the air
when there's a better solution?
If the city can put in an effort to
reduce smoking, then I think we can
definitely put in an effort to spread
awareness about natural gas stoves.
Thank you. Our next speaker is Zara H.
Hi everyone. My name is Zara Harwell and
I'm a junior at Palato High School and
I'm going to be talking about this
pamphlet that the city provides and it's
supposed to have like sort of everything
you need to know about gas safety and
gas appliances. Um, and while I do want
to acknowledge that I'm very grateful
that the city offers this cuz it has a
lot of good information especially
regarding gas leaks, I think there needs
to be a lot more added in the health
section right here. That's all we have
about health and all it covers is what
happens when there's a gas leak. But it
doesn't mention what my fellow intern
Sarah just mentioned how just being
around a gas stove. There doesn't have
to be a leak that there's other really
harmful gases that are emitted on the
daily and just being exposed to them can
be really harmful. Um it also doesn't
mention certain age groups. Little
children are way more susceptible to
these gases as well as senior citizens.
Um on a personal level, I live with my
grandmother, so she's 85. So if there's
just being around gas appliances, even
if there's not a leak, um benzene,
methane, nitrogen dioxide, they're
emitted every time you use it. and
that's really harmful for her to be
around because she's older, her immune
system is weaker. Um, so having a lot
more information regarding these things
would I think be really helpful since
this pamphlet is supposed to be like
everything and anything you need to know
regarding gas safety. Thank you.
>> Our next speaker is Avo S.
Good evening, council. My name is Aros
Sha and I hope you're all doing well.
I'm a junior at Paul Alto High School.
Um, and I would like to share my
appreciation with you all for passing
the dark sky ordinance last month. Um, I
walked outside a couple nights ago and I
could see more stars than usual, which
just going to hope is something more
than coincidence. Um, I thought that it
was a nice gesture in passing it that we
upheld our values of public wellness and
belonging as well as climate action and
protecting the environment. Um, and I
hope that council this year extends um
its dedication to those priorities by
committing to public health and climate
action in the household residential
sector. um by urging residents to
electrify and helping residents
electrify their gas stoves. I think this
aligns very well with public health and
you've seen the science Zara very
eloquently explained that you know the
gas safety busher should be something
that says everything about gas and it
doesn't. It's missing something that's
quite frankly very easy to include and
the science is very clear. It's very
harmful. Children in homes with gas
stoves are 42% more likely to develop
asthma. Um, I've experienced respiratory
symptoms myself and I know that probably
a lot of people in this room have the
there are easy solutions that we could
be taking and currently we are not. Um,
and I am very very willing to work with
council and staff to develop solutions.
Um, I if we could get a referral to a
staff member who would be willing to
meet and talk um to help us devise a
solution, I would be very gratefully um
in appreciation of that. Um, and if
there are other ways that we can work
together to solve this, I think that
will make a very big impact. Thank you.
>> Our next speaker is Peter D.
» I'm so impressed by those previous
speakers. Um, I'll associate myself with
their comments and great to see students
out and educating us and motivating us.
Uh, Peter Dremar Palto resident Uh,
Mayor Vinker, congratulations. Vice
Mayor Stone, congratulations. All
council members, thank you so much for
serving us. Um, I just wanted to comment
briefly on the leadership changes at uh,
Third Thursday, which is an event I've
been going to since the beginning and
really enjoy it, and I know I've seen a
lot of you there as well. So, it's been
a a wonderful community treasure.
And I know that there's a lot of things
that happen behind the scenes that I'm
not aware of. I'm no expert on on what
happened, but uh the story in the papers
was that there was a petition that
gathered 30 signatures from supposedly
um business owners on Calav that wanted
to see leadership change, but no one
seemed to have seen the petition or if
they had, they didn't have access to it.
And so out of curiosity, I filed a
public records act request. And I've
always had great experiences with City
of Palto staff. They do a wonderful job
at providing information and being
transparent. And I did receive the
petition. Um it did have 30 names on it
but no affiliations.
And in a summary it explained that they
started collecting they being anonymous
people or someone I don't know um
started collecting signatures from
business owners and managers and then
employees and then the general public.
So, it's very unclear of the 30
signatures gathered over an 8-month
period, how many were actual uh business
owners. And my understanding is that
Carol Garen went out and collected quite
a few few more signatures supporting
keeping her um over just a two-year
period. So, again, you know, I don't
know all the details, but Palo Alto
sometimes gets criticized for the
Powalto process that we just
um I hope we'll do better next time.
Thank you.
>> Our next speaker is Alice S.
» Okay. Hi, my name is Alice Snider and
I'm a senior in high school. I go to
Notre Dame, San Jose and I live in Baron
Park. Uh I wanted to express uh the
importance and impact of switching to
induction stoves. To me, the most
important things are uh limiting indoor
air pollution and creating a healthy
environment indoor and outdoors. Thank
you. Our next speaker is Walter C.
» Good evening, madame mayor and city
council members. My comments are tonight
in regard to the recently cancelled
third Thursday event. As a longtime Los
Altos resident, I had witnessed how its
first Friday event changed the dynamics
of my city. So when Miss Garson asked if
I would help out on the new event she
was starting in PaloAlto called Third
Thursday, I did not hesitate. I watched
firsthand the joy that the event brought
to Cal A.
Um I as well as many others were shocked
to hear the event was cancelled. I was
even more shocked at how the news was
divulged and the reasoning behind it
because there wasn't a reason, not a
solid one. It was claimed that there was
petition addressing it to the chamber
foundation asking for Miss Garson's
removal. However, when she asked to see
it so she could address people's
concerns, she was told not to get
involved. There was no official
agreement between the chamber and Miss
Garsten. And when she requested a fiscal
sponsorship agreement, the chamber
cancelled its support instead.
When she went to the city manager to
seek support while obtaining a new
sponsor, she was told the city decide to
cancel the event. Miss Garen was
shocked. The city council had just 3
months earlier allocated $40,000 to fund
Third Thursday and now the city was
cancelling it. This made no sense. When
asked why, it was once again the
fictitious petition that no one could
produce.
So a petition a petition did finally
materialize, but as stated earlier, it
did not have any valid information on
it. My question to the city council is
who is running the city? On one hand,
the council is allocating funds while
the city manager is cancelling the event
you just funded. Canceling it based on
whose recommendation? The chambers
foundation, a single council member, a
directive from the city council. There's
no transparency. The only truth that
remains is that third Thursday was a
very successful event and Mrs. Garen's
reputation has been tarnished by false
accusations. Accusations were then used
to justify by the city for removing
quote firing her. The city owes Miss
Garson a public apology for how she was
treated.
>> I also beg the question based on how she
» I also beg the question based on how she
was treated, why would anyone waste
their time and energy as a volunteer in
this community?
>> Our next speaker is Claudia B.
» Hello, it's Claudia Bloom. Thank you for
the time and thank you for making this a
a platform. I'm going to follow up with
the Carol Gerston support. I've been a
PaloAlto resident for 33 years and I'm
currently the director of director of
the PaloAlto School of Chamber Music now
in its 11th year of operation. Our
musicians were featured this past
October 16th at the 3rd Thursday Cal A
Festival thanks to Carl Garen who
invited us to participate. As you may or
may not know, Carol started this
festival in May of two 2023
23 and it's been going ever since. And
hallelu hallelua for that. I'm a
professional musician and this has been
a vital part of uh PaloAlto for many
years and something that people have
greatly appreciated.
I experienced a a a positive experience
the whole time that she was helping us
with chairs that were provided for
audience members to enjoy classical
music which is underappreciated and
under supported. Our musicians range
from very young to very old. that it's
an intergenerational program and our
students couldn't have been more excited
about this and the audience was
extremely enthusiastic.
Without Carol, this would not be
happening in our community and without
Carol
um we wouldn't have things like this
happening. Carol is is a lifechanging
person who has changed PaloAlto.
She has uh she has made enormous strides
and is going to continue doing this and
it would be a real shame not to be
continuing to support her [snorts]
because she makes a difference in
everyone's lives. I have only positive
things to say about Carl Garen. Thank
you. Our next speaker is Hillary G.
Hi, good evening. Um I am Hillary Glenn.
I'm the co-leader of the Palato 350
Silicon Valley team and shockingly I'm
not here to talk about switching to
electric. Um instead I'm here to speak
on support in support of Carol Garen and
the work she did on third Thursday. Uh
we really took advantage of it as the
Thrifty Silicon Valley team. We had
great experiences. We were at three
different events last um year. At all of
them we talked to renters and family
with children who are, as we all know,
are kind of our sweet spot to uh get
electrification happening. Um, I will
say that Carol is a very talented
organizer. She's very good at event
promotion. She, even though she nagged
me a lot to do it, it was very
effective. Um, her logistical skills and
ability to balance conflicting needs are
very, very good. Um, I would really
encourage the city to figure out a way
to sit down with the uh the restaurants
and other tenants on Calab and figure
out a way that they can work together
because I do think we're missing a very
strong organizer who made a big
difference in the city. Um, and I think
there are a number of nonprofits who had
they known that this was happening
tonight to speak to on Carol's behalf,
they would have shown up too. So, I I
urge you to do that. But since I'm up
here, I'm going to take what How many
seconds do I have left? Ha. A few
seconds left to just say totally excited
about more talking about induction
cooktop. Uh the 350 Silicon Valley Palto
team. We have a professional project
manager on our team who's ready to step
in if you guys want to give us a grant
to buy some induction loaner units. We'd
be very happy to do that and run that
for the city. Thank you.
>> Our next speaker is Herb B.
Uh, Mayor Rink, Vice Mayor Stone, and
council members, I attended the utility
advisory commission uh meeting last
Wednesday on the fiber uh project update
uh in which it's still uh the plan to
have the city be an internet service
provider. And uh I think that that was a
key part of the decision to not do uh
bond bond funding. Uh the city uh h has
no uh [gasps]
expertise or training in in a
competitive environment. Uh as an
internet service provider or the pro or
connecting the last mile or
customer premises equipment or an
incident of property ownership. And
despite the uh flexible rates that you
have approved essentially you would need
uh the customers to change uh prices. Uh
and also what you would want to have are
someone running the network and uh being
an internet service provider uh who has
a you demonstrated you know competence
of already what they've done and also
who has a uh commitment and demonstrated
uh commitment to privacy
uh including uh guarding against using
customer information for targeted
advertising. ing and tracking purposes.
What I've objected is an as an
alternative which is the city extend the
dark fiber network and that the fiber
[snorts] project be set up as a separate
fund which is a customer of the dark
fiber network and the dark fiber network
has reserves to do that and it would be
uh the stream of income from the fiber
promises project uh which would pay off
any uh loans against the dark fiber
network. Uh the advantage of that uh is
that you can have set a separate price.
>> Time is up
» Time is up
>> for fiber. Thank you.
» for fiber. Thank you.
>> Our next speaker is Deborah G.
» This is the flyer that's gone up over
town um advertising the uh city
sponsored event uh Martin Luther King
Junior Day. And the first thing I
noticed about this flyer from a distance
I saw, oh my gosh, what's red, black,
green, and white? You all know what red,
black, black, a green or white is. Um,
yeah. And there it is. City of Palo Alto
logo on it. It's double-sided. Probably
came out of your print shop. Um, and
maybe this was an oversight. Uh, but um,
you know, the city should know better.
This is an incredibly provocative thing
to do. Um, you know, how about red,
white, and blue instead of green? I mean
you even if it was unintentional
um it's unacceptable. Thank you.
>> Oh
» Oh
our next speaker is Valen V.
Hello all. This is my first time doing
this. My name is Vilen Varnasi and I'm a
10th grader at Los Altos High School
though I live in Palo Alto. Back in
seventh grade, I vividly remember
playing a soccer game at the Cberly
Turfield. During the game, the skies
were orange and smoke filled. I was
struggling to breathe and so are a lot
of my teammates. Gas stoves are one of
the root causes of polluted environments
and increase in emissions.
Gas stoves also release toxic fumes such
as methane, which are detrimental to
young children's health and are
carcinogenic. I strongly believe and
support the idea that Palo Alto City
Council should move to an allect
electric utility. Thank you.
>> And that concludes public comment on
» And that concludes public comment on
items not on the agenda.
>> All right. Well, thank you, Madame
» All right. Well, thank you, Madame
Clerk, and thank you to our speakers. Uh
particularly thanks to our students. We
appreciate you being here. Um, and just
as a a point of process, so we can't
engage on subjects not on the agenda
ourselves, but in terms of process, um,
city manager, we have a youth climate
advisory board, which could be a way of
giving input. So, I don't know, uh, if
you all know about that or want to apply
for that next time around or have
friends who are on it who could talk
directly to staff, but that's a process
option.
I'm getting nods. So anyway, and
obviously to any of us directly. Um,
okay. So we will
ask
>> Sure. Council member Bert.
» Sure. Council member Bert.
>> Thanks. And because I'm afraid we're
» Thanks. And because I'm afraid we're
going to lose uh those speakers before
we have council comments, I just want to
know the speakers who had spoken on the
on the methane health issues that at our
sustainability and climate action
committee uh we had received uh similar
u uh uh recommendations from community
advisors and that the committee itself
has really embraced that our messaging
on uh electrification should focus far
more on the health impacts than it has
to date. So, we're with you on that.
Thanks.
>> All right. So, moving on to uh council
» All right. So, moving on to uh council
member questions, comments, and
announcements. Um I'm I'm going to start
just given what's going on right now.
Um, it's been an exciting first week as
may mayor with a groundbreaking and an
international visit. And I uh want to
issue a huge congratulations to our
sibling city, Bloomington, Indiana, and
Indiana University on going from a
program with a football program with the
most losses in the history of major
college football to playing in the
national championship next Monday night.
And I mention that because we are hoping
to get together a watch party with our
sibling city. And so that's something
that should be a lot of fun for any of
you who are interested in watching
national championship football. Um,
but the the real reason I wanted to to
go first is I wanted to uh mention
something on a more serious note, which
is the ICE shooting in Minneapolis last
week, which has put cities back on the
front lines. Um what we saw there and
the reaction out of Washington has
shaken many in this community.
Approximately 400 people showed up last
night at a vigil in front of city hall
um including council member Lithcott HS
and me. This tragic and heartbreaking
killing must be addressed headon to
ensure the safety on the streets of all
American cities including PaloAlto.
So to keep Palo Alto safe, I hope my
colleagues will stand with me in calling
for three things. First, a full and
independent investigation of the
incident so that those who should be
held accountable are held accountable
and an investigation of the policies and
training or lack of training in things
such as deescalation that led to the
shooting. Um, such policies could
include the provision of medical care.
We had an incident right here at
Stanford Hospital whereas decisions as
to when the patient was ready for
release, family access to the patients,
presence of ICE in a private hospital
were all called into question. And last
week, ICE denied a physician access to
the shooting victim, meaning that these
policies are still problematic, deeply
troubling, and in need of review.
Second, PaloAlto will continue its
policy of police independence from ICE.
Our police chief has said, and I quote,
"Let me be clear, our department policy
expressly forbids officers from
inquiring about an individual's
immigration status for purposes of
immigration enforcement. Moreover, our
policy and state law prohibit
cooperation with federal authorities for
the purpose of immigration enforcement.
Third, we will continue our pursuit of
legal actions that prevent the federal
government from withholding grant
funding absent cooperation with ICE. The
resolution that council adopted last
year uh resulted in the city joining
three federal lawsuits and those suits
have successfully procured preliminary
injunctions that protect us from
executive orders that would otherwise
threaten PaloAlto's federal funding
based on our policy not to take a
direction from ICE.
Finally, I want to follow the lead of
the Minneapolis mayor and ask our
community to rise to the occasion and
show our best selves. While we may be
angry, I was proud that our community
showed up with peace and responded with
love last night. So, ICE, if you come
back to Palo Alto, please know that in
this town, we respect the law and will
not disrupt lawful operations.
But please also know that if the
operations are unlawful, we will demand
accountability and pursue every avenue
to keep our residents safe. I have sworn
an oath to uphold the constitution as
have my colleagues, our police officers,
and every one of our staff members, and
we intend to honor it. In Palo Alto, we
may speak with different voices and hit
different notes, but let's work together
to speak in harmony and to keep each
other safe. Council
member Bertney.
Okay, we'll turn off that light. Anyone
else?
» Council member
Lowing.
>> Okay. Thanks. So I just wanted to report
» Okay. Thanks. So I just wanted to report
briefly that uh last week we met with
the we meaning the mayor and myself uh
met with the incoming council general of
uh Deutseland uh Germany. Uh I had a
previous interface with his predecessor
who's been reassigned in the diplomatic
corps back to Germany. Uh so he was here
and I did a handoff uh to our mayor and
we had a I thought pretty fruitful
conversation for almost almost an hour.
Um, and then pictures appeared on his
Facebook from right over here. So, the
the torch has been handed uh for the
German relationship.
>> Oh, sorry. His name is Theo Kittis.
» Oh, sorry. His name is Theo Kittis.
>> Thank you, Council Member Lowing.
» Thank you, Council Member Lowing.
Council member Liths.
>> Thank you, Mayor Vinker. Uh, I
» Thank you, Mayor Vinker. Uh, I
appreciate you're mentioning um
the shooting in Minneapolis of Renee
Nicole Good and
um the various things you mentioned
about our city's response to the
presence of that kind of law enforcement
activity in our nation, in our cities.
Um
the vigil last night right here at city
hall as the mayor mentioned was really
extraordinary. I think actually the
Palito weekly said over 500 uh which is
amazing. I figured they would undercount
you know the media that was underount
the number the crowd size but I think
they got it right. Um and I just want to
express my gratitude to Indivisible
PaloAlto Plus and the other
organizations that helped uh to really
scramble and put something together so
quickly. I um also attended a um
uh gathering at Town and Country on
Friday um at noon or over the lunch hour
which was a protest at Embaradero and El
Camino um all related to uh the
activities in Minneapolis and the
killing of Renee Nicole Good and I
believe there was an event on Saturday
as well. So our community has really
mobilized quite quickly. Uh people are
hungry to do something, yearning to
gather with others, um to stand up for
what we know is right and necessary. And
anybody listening who didn't know about
these events and wants to be involved,
uh there are plenty of ways to to find
out about such things, follow the right
groups. Uh but you can definitely go to
my website, julieforpow.com,
where I uh sent out uh a flyer promoting
these events before they happened. Um
um with respect to mental health, I want
to acknowledge uh that we've been
informed that uh there was a life that
ended at the train tracks this weekend,
a middle-aged adult. Um
um this is an ongoing concern for all of
us I know and we are trying to address
issues of mental health from many angles
including partnering with the nation's
leading organization on youth mental
health uh the Jed Foundation um and
making changes at the tracks as well.
And um I want to acknowledge that a
community member, Mayor Lucas, pulled
together an event called Candles and
Hugs, which happened right before our
reorganization. So it was last Sunday,
the 4th. It was a gathering um a
candlelight gathering here at city hall
um to acknowledge and commemorate and
and offer support for those affected by
um youth suicide.
And uh I'm saying this because I know
it's hard to talk about these things,
but I think we're learning as a
community that more conversation is
better than less. Uh so I do this
deliberately and to acknowledge that
we're all um struggling in our in our
own way as a city with with an
underlying grief related to uh the fact
of of suicide. Um
on a more upbeat note, uh the Cubberly
ad hoc continues to be hard at work. my
colleagues, uh, Council Member Bert and
Council Member Rectal, and I along with
our, uh, city staff, um, continue at
this effort, uh, to prepare a ballot
measure, uh, to put before our residents
this fall. And just this week, our third
poll went out to the community um, to
gauge further appetite for the project
and um, so on. And so, to the extent you
receive the poll, please don't hang up.
uh please participate. We want to know
your thoughts. And um I also want to
acknowledge that fire station 4 uh had
its groundbreaking uh a few days ago. A
number of us were there. Uh it's very
exciting to see uh not only the fire
station um getting rebuilt, but to see
that it is in this gorgeous Iller style,
very fitting of the neighborhood, and um
I know it's going to be something we're
all extremely proud of when it is
completed. The one surprise at the
groundbreaking, at least for me, was
that uh our fire chief revealed that
there was a um time capsule buried in uh
an element of the old um fire house and
he opened up the time capsule and read
the note that was in there. And it's
really cool when the past is in dialogue
with the present. And that's what I
think uh opening up time capsules can
do. So, here's to planting more time
capsules as we continue to lay
foundations uh for what's next. Um, one
day people will wonder what were the
people in in our era thinking and a time
capsule is a wonderful way to give them
a hint. That's it for me. Thank you.
>> Thank you. And uh seeing no more lights,
» Thank you. And uh seeing no more lights,
we'll move on to our second item, which
is a study session. Review and discuss a
2025 Q4 council priorities and
objectives and format of the 2026
council annual retreat.
I'll turn it to staff. Is that going to
be
>> Yep. Uh let's see. We will have an
» Yep. Uh let's see. We will have an
ensemble cast as you might expect with a
topic uh this broad. So I'll ask our
assistant city manager Lupita Holamos to
lead off uh and then we'll have uh
others uh chime in as the case may be. I
think I I would like to just give a
little bit of context for the council
and and in particular in the context of
your meetings over the next few weeks.
Uh tonight we will review the status of
calendar year 2025
uh priority objectives as we've referred
to them and uh this really uh sets the
stage uh for the uh city council's
retreat on January 24th. So two weeks
really uh from today. Uh so again at
this point you'll get a a report on last
year and then in two weeks you'll be
discussing the current year. So we
really uh hope that this sequence is
helpful for you uh so we're not cramming
everything into the retreat uh day
itself and also uh we can take your
feedback on the 25 uh objectives uh as
we are preparing additional information
for your consideration on January 24th.
So with that, Miss Alamos.
>> Thank you Mr. Shada. Good evening Mayor
» Thank you Mr. Shada. Good evening Mayor
and Council. Lupita Alamos, assistant to
the city manager. Um and uh next slide.
For tonight, as Mr. Shakata has already
covered, we'll be discussing those um
2025 priority objectives uh outcomes and
then moving on to the 26 retreat for the
second part of the presentation.
Next slide. Wonderful. Um so tonight
we'll be just very briefly covering each
of the uh four priorities um that were
adopted in 2025. This includes climate
action, adaptation, and natural
environment protection, um, economic
development and retail vibrancy,
implementing housing strategies for
social and economic balance, and public
safety, wellness, and belonging.
So, supporting the implementation of
these four priorities were 70 objectives
or projects. And of those um at the end
of the fourth quarter of 2025, 66% of
those were marked as completed. Um 23%
were marked as behind. Uh seven 7%
continue to be on track with a change in
scope with from either council or
council committee. And uh 4% of those uh
were placed on hold. And you'll briefly
hear um just some highlights on a few of
these uh different um categories from
our staff. Um and first we will have our
um um section our priority on climate
action and adaptation natural
environment. And with that we have Mr.
Egleston.
» Good evening Mayor Vinker and city
council. uh Brad Igson, director of
public works.
So uh next slide please.
Okay, so for the climate action and
natural environment uh protection
priority, 79% of the 24 objectives were
completed in 2025.
Uh want to note this really reflects
very significant progress in a number of
different SCAP uh sustainability climate
action plan areas.
and that the climate action and
sustainability committee as well as our
working group of community members were
uh an important factor in in advancing
much of this work and making sure we
could get through it. So just briefly
the completed highlights on this slide
cover 12 of those 24 completed
objectives. Uh some of the ones uh shown
here include construction projects like
the grid modernization pilot project uh
as well as the new road bridge
replacement and Hamilton Avenue storm
drain uh improvement projects. There are
mobility related plans uh including the
safe streets for all action plan
adoption and uh council's initial review
of the draft bicycle and pedestrian
transportation plan. the adoption of the
reach codes. Um that turned out to be
quite a project this year that had to be
fasttracked because of uh new state
legislation AB130.
Uh several SAP plans. Uh I won't name
them all, but they include the uh 2026
and 2027 work plan, which is scheduled
to come to council for approval on
February 9th. So you'll be hearing about
that soon. And just noting the photos on
this slide are from our very successful
climate action workshop that was held in
December uh and helped to finalize some
of the input that went into the work
plan that you'll be hearing about and
then as well several approvals that were
for programs on uh build different types
of building electrification
and uh multifamily EV charging in
particular. Next slide.
Okay, so this is the list of the five
objectives
uh that are shown either as on track or
behind but were were not completed
according to whatever uh criteria we had
described for the year. So on these I'm
not going to speak to them individually.
Um we'll be happy to take questions if
you have them at the end of the
presentation. I do want to note that
none of these are on hold. They're all
moving. Uh really important progress has
been made on all five of these and
several of them are expected to be
completed in the first quarter of this
year. Thank you.
>> Thank you. Next, um we have the economic
» Thank you. Next, um we have the economic
development and retail vibrancy section
priority
and here to present is Mr. Andrade.
Actually, before he jumps in, let me, as
I typically would do, introduce our new
staff member. Uh, Alex Andrade is our
new economic development manager and
assistant to the city manager. Uh, I
know many of you have had the
opportunity to meet him individually,
but this is, I believe, his first uh,
appearance with city council. So, Mr.
Andrad, please proceed. Good evening,
mayor, vice mayor, and city council. As
our city managers mentioned, my name is
Alex Andrade. I think I'm in my fourth
week and I'm with the city manager's
office and focusing on on economic
development. So, it's a real pleasure to
be in front of you here today. The
economic development and retail vibrancy
priority is made up of interventions and
investments that enhance Palo Alto's
business climate and ensure that the
local economy is healthy. I want to give
you a little bit of data just to kind of
give you a sense of where we are. While
the Q3 2025 University Avenue retail
vacancy rate is approximately 13% and
essentially the same as a year ago, the
Q3 2025 vacancy rate retail vacancy rate
on Calav is 6.4%.
Which is down from approximately 12% a
year ago.
Last year there were roughly 38 retail
and commercial businesses that opened in
Palo Alto. And I think that's really
important because what that tells me is
that business operators are invested in
Palo Alto because there are economic
opportunities here. There's talent here
and they want to add vibrancy and
character to our business districts. I'm
really excited about having the
opportunity to be in front of you at
your council retreat on January 24th and
expanding the
um conversation and appropriate economic
development solutions for Palo Alto's
economy. So, I'm going to get into this
what's on the screen now in terms of
several city council priorities that
have been completed. Examples include
the city council approving staff to
proceed with the preliminary design and
environmental review of a 274 space
parking garage. The next step is for
staff to engage the historical review
review board followed by the
architectural review board to explore
options for long-term improvements. On
December 1, 2025, the city council
approved an amendment to the downtown
and Calav steam cleaning contract for
sidewalk and garage pressure washing. In
terms of the wireless communication
facility regulations, the city council
held a public hearing on a draft
ordinance on May 19th followed by a
second reading uh which took place on
June 9th, 2025.
I'm going to now move to the next slide,
please. And I'm going to focus on
several projects. And you'll see on the
slide there that there are four projects
that are in bold. And so I'm just going
to give you uh an update on that. And
you'll also notice that in your report,
it indicates that these project projects
are behind. However, I want to say that
uh there actually is work being done and
it's in progress. So objective 211
outdoor activation of Cal Avenue.
Through this objective, the
architectural review board was formed to
provide feedback on permitting options,
parklet standards, and pre-approved
parklet design modifications for Calav.
Parklet and sidewalk dining options and
illustrations have been developed for
year-round weather based on merchant
feedback.
Next steps for this project consist of
an architectural re review board meeting
followed by a recommendation by city
council consider for city council
consideration by the close of the
current fiscal year. Objective 212 which
is the signed plan for Calav. This
project has been bifurcated into two
separate projects with one moving
forward and the other one on hold. The
project in progress is led by public
works and consists of two signs
including a monument sign that's located
at the El Camino Rial Calav intersection
and a welcome banner on Oregon
Expressway.
These are anticipated to be complete in
late quarter 3 or early Q4 2026. The
project on hold is the wayfinding
signage plan to ensure there is
additional business engagement and to
identify additional resources and m
maintenance needs.
Objective 215. This is the street design
for Ramona Street. The project is led by
public works. The spherical bowlards and
meridian barriers will be installed on
Ramona Street for pedestrian safety by
the end of this month which will result
in the removal of the orange water
barriers. Objective 222 which is the
retail vibrancy ordinance. This project
is led by planning and development
services. The proposed options and
recommendations will reduce regulatory
barriers for businesses applying for
permits and will result in a more robust
retail environment. So the next steps
for us will be to get in front of the
retail committee on January 22nd and
thereafter the process requires
returning to the planning and
transportation commission followed by
the city council's consideration for the
retail revitalization strategy in Q2 of
2026.
That concludes the uh this priority
project update and I'll be available for
questions after the presentation. Thank
you.
Okay, our next priority is implementing
housing strategies for social and
economic balance. And to uh provide a
summary of that is Mr. Lee.
>> Good evening, mayor and city council.
» Good evening, mayor and city council.
About uh let's see, 70% of our um
housing strategies for social and
economic balance are either completed or
um on track. Uh many of these are
reflected on the um accomplishments to
the right. We have uh introduced a
number of uh housing production related
ordinances that are increasing uh
housing production on our commercial
areas and in multif family areas. We
have uh updated our accessory dwelling
unit ordinance and uh last year had our
highest uh number of ADU applications
filed with the city which was 244.
Every year we continue to see more of
those applications filed.
As a whole, we have over 3,000 units in
our pipeline uh for housing units that
are slated to be going through the
entitlement process and the building
permit process.
We begun have begun work on the uh San
Antonio Road area plan. Uh this is
moving quickly and there's a number of
meetings that are taking place this
quarter and the city council will have
an opportunity to weigh in on this
project again uh in early April and
again on June to provide a um direction
on a preferred um alternative.
Uh late last year the city council
considered a number of uh uh housing
options for the um 1acre parcel that we
are uh going to get as a part of the
subra uh development agreement. Um
and we also entered into and made a lot
of uh progress on um lot t uh engaging
with alta housing and we anticipate an
application to be filed uh very shortly
for that project. Uh work was uh
presented to the city council and uh
staff received direction on the fair
chance ordinance. We have updated our
development impact fees and more
recently have embarked on a much larger
project to update all of our development
impact fees and to do a housing uh
feasibility study as a part of that
effort. [sighs] And we've also initiated
um phase one to address oversized
vehicle impacts. If we can go to the
next slide, please.
Uh there are some projects that are uh
either uh behind or on hold. Um starting
with project home key which will provide
transitional housing and services for
unhoused residents. This is a project
that met some initial uh project delays
uh in the construction uh process but a
revised schedule uh midyear last year.
Uh remains on track with that project
anticipated to um be completed in
spring. Um the next priority or
objective to identify uh funding sources
for affordable uh housing development is
currently on hold. Uh much of the staff
that would be working on this is
currently working on project home key
and also our oversized vehicle uh
program. So there's a resource challenge
there. The next two items related to the
retail uh excuse me the rental registry
program and anti- rent gouging um are
expected to go to policy and services I
believe in March uh with updates. We
have some good data from the rental
registry program. Uh we've just been a
little bit delayed in getting it to uh
to the council to share that information
with you. And uh the second to last one
is the downtown housing plan. This one
is actually mostly on track. Um you'll
recall uh last year SB79 became um was
adopted or signed into law. It becomes
effective in July. Uh we look forward to
meeting with the city council appointed
ad hoc from late last year to uh have
some discussions to decide to what
extent if at all we want to incorporate
SB79 into that uh planning initiative.
And the last item on this list is um
looking at ways to um further
incentivize um housing development over
commercial development by possibly
adjusting um commercial floor area in
our commercial zones. And with that, I
will turn it over back to Lepita.
» Okay. Up next is our last priority on
public safety, wellness, and belonging.
And here to present that is Miss Cotton
Gaines. Good evening, mayor and city
council. Chantel Cotton Gains, deputy
city manager. Uh really excited to give
a very brief overview of the last
priority section, particularly because
most of the objectives are completed.
And so just wanted to uh visually show
some of the progress made over the
course of this year. You should see
yourself and some photos on the screen.
Uh so see your work also reflected in
what's happening. So we were able to
open the public safety building. Uh, a
lot of work went into that by a lot of
folks. So, um, tons of gratitude there.
Also, fire station 4 groundbreaking was
referenced earlier this evening. Uh,
being able to award that contract was
one of the items on the list. And so,
last uh, week is a great time for us to
show that visually to the community. Uh
you also see there one of the items that
is on the equity action plan or wellness
and belonging action plan was being able
to have a dashboard that is having all
of our workforce demographic information
available to the public so that um that
information is able to be seen,
understood, people can analyze it. It
was a static PDF the year before and
we've been able to make that into a
interactive dashboard. And so that's one
of many items in the action plan but one
that we're really proud of completing.
The other item on here is coverly master
plan. So also referenced earlier this
evening. Lots of work going into that
through the ad hoc committee and staff
um and continuing to progress that very
important initiative forward. The last
image that's reflected on the screen is
enhance and expand inclusive programs
and services. And so you see a great
event there that was put on by our
community services department. It's just
one example of the work they're doing.
We have a new staff member that came on
board in December. Uh and so we're
really looking forward to enhancing that
work throughout the year. So next slide,
please. The few items that are remaining
for us to continue to work on are the
three that are on the screen. So the
first is implementing the wellness and
belonging action plan. There are 26
items that are on that action plan and
we also added the training related to
Islamophobia,
anti-semitism, and anti-Palestinian hate
as one of those items. And so we have
been advancing along the way, but not
all of the 26 items are completed. And
so we have that still here as um still
moving along, but it is behind schedule.
The other item on here is open 445 Brian
Street Community Center and it's
actually uh soft open right now. So
between the time of the printing of this
report and today, uh we can mark this
one as completed as well. And the last
item uh which is related to Gatsby or
sorry not Gatsby sorry GBAZ which is the
groundbased augmentation system project
uh our staff has done quite a bit of
work with that along with uh vice mayor
stone in terms of engaging with SFO
staff to review complete and appeal um
the SFO's draft EIR and recommended
airport plan. So, there has been a lot
of work done on this item, but because
the item specifically says to um call
out and I believe related to a
consultant help, we still mark that as
um ongoing as opposed to marking it as
complete. But a lot of work has been
done throughout the year related to
that. And that concludes this section.
Thank you.
>> Thank you. Um, and before we conclude
» Thank you. Um, and before we conclude
this section, um, and turn it back to,
uh, the council for questions or
feedback, I did also want to point out
that we have launched our, um, council
priorities dashboard. These are now uh,
available on the city council priorities
web page, and it's just an improvement
of how the community can um, engage a
little better with the um, objectives
and and the priorities set by this
council.
And with that, I'll turn it back to um
Oh, I was going to do this.
Okay. All right. Okay. Next, we will um
present also on the um 26 city council
retreat process.
On uh December 9th, the policy and
services committee met to provide
feedback on the retreat process as is
called in the council handbook. Um at
the at its meeting, the U policy and
services committee recommended that the
council continue its 2025 priorities
into 2026.
as well. Uh then discussed that the uh
focus of the retreat would um best be
served by focusing on maybe the
development and prioritization
prioritization of mid-level goals. And
this idea of middle level goals is a um
way to bridge our existing framework of
council priorities which is very high
level um areas um to very to our council
objectives which are very um specific um
and um smarty uh projects. So the idea
of mid-level goals is a desire to bridge
those um two and create uh more
mid-level um goals to um identify what
should be achieved in that year.
So the proposed agenda um if this is
what the council should uh desire would
then focus on orienting um the focus of
the retreat. Uh opening up with a
question on on retreat focus followed by
a discussion on any suggested mid-level
goals and a pri prioritization of those.
And then following um that would be a
discussion on ad hoc committees and the
strategies um to achieve our goals and
then followed by next steps.
So in conclusion what we are asking um
the the council tonight is then to
provide provide us with um any questions
or feedback on the outcomes of the 2025
priorities. Um and with that looking
into 2026
um as well as provide um feedback on the
um recommended process uh as as
described by policy and services
committee for the 2026 retreat.
So, if I could just close um to
reiterate this last point, we've we've
certainly heard uh from the committee
specifically and the council more
generally or PNS committee as I'm
referring to that uh for your retreat on
January 24th, the desire to kind of
level up the u priorities as they're
described. We've got a recommendation to
proceed with the basic four priorities.
It has been uh u adopted by the council
for 2025. And so the real question for
2026 is how much detail and in what
areas you want to uh focus any
supplement. Uh again gotten the
impression that 70 objectives was a bit
much. So an interest in reducing that uh
to a more manageable set. So I think
that that's the plan going into our uh
retreat for the 24th and would uh uh
certainly look forward to any feedback
you have uh this evening.
All right. Well, thank you uh thank you
Miss Alamos for coordinating all of
this. Uh thank you to all the staff for
their presentations and for being here
tonight. So many of you and honestly for
all the work by all the staff that went
into that 2025 report and uh achieving
all those objectives. Um, just as um,
PNS chair, I want to add just a couple
of comments on the go forward retreat
process because I'm I think all of us on
the committee are eager to hear what our
colleagues think would be a productive
way to conduct that, but I wanted to
give just a little more background on on
what you've described. Um, so first of
all, the the PNS recommendation to
continue those four priorities for a
second year, I believe, was affirming
council's prior recommendation that we
do this on a two-year cycle. We didn't
just come up with that as a new idea. We
were presented with, you know, the
council having thought about that before
and we looked at those priorities and
thought that was a good idea in this
instance given the priorities and how
they seem to continue to be such. Um
but yes uh you know following up on what
staff has said we we did notice of
course that those priorities are so
broad uh and high level that it really
didn't give staff a lot of direction.
So, we have four priorities and we had
70 objectives that were kind of a
laundry list or a to-do list of of of
how how to, you know, within those
priorities, but it really didn't have
council weighing in on timing or
importance of those. Um so the mid-level
goals that we're asking you know our
colleagues to propose discuss and
priorities prioritize
are really designed to give staff
greater direction without micromanaging
how they're accomplished. So we are
recommending discussing at the retreat
what is really missionritical and what
is somewhat more flexible recognizing
that it's all important work. And so,
um, and interestingly, I did notice that
you whereas we've kind of backed
ourselves backed into these, um,
mid-level goals, it's really consistent
with what the policies and procedures
uh, manual originally said about
objectives because it recommended that
uh, we have three to four priorities
with two to three objectives each. So,
even if you take the max of that, that
would be 12 objectives and we have 70.
So I think we're kind of going back to
that, you know, can we get a manageable
number that we can really sort of
compare and contrast uh in terms of the
advice we would give to staff. Um and
you know just to give you an like an
example um because sometimes that makes
it more real without really advocating
for any particular thing. Um you notice
like in the 2025 report we just went
through um on the uh economic
development and retail vibrancy um
priority there were a whole lot of
things about Ramona about Calav that
were individual objectives but perhaps a
mid-level goal is advanced car-free
streets. So, it's kind of, you know, do
we care about that versus maybe under
public safety, wellness, and belonging,
there's a whole lot of items about what
to do about Cberly, but maybe Cubberly
is in at a high level. Then how would we
how would we rank those in terms of uh
prioritization and and what needs to
happen fast, what needs to happen in
2026. So, that's kind of the feel for
why you have this recommendation in
front of you. Um, and the other why is
that last year we didn't get the 70
objectives set until May 5th, I think it
was. So, the year was literally like a
third gone by the time we even, you
know, signed off on the 70. So, we're
hoping we can do this more quickly. We
have the same group that had the
discussion last year. if we start with
those basic priorities or you know tweak
them a little but can really get at you
know spend our time together chewing
through what do we really care about for
2026. Um so and and can we get that to
staff you know in the next month or so
as opposed to 3 or four months later. So
that was the why. But I'm really you
know interested in everyone's thoughts
on on the how. Um, and I before I go uh
to others, I want to see if either of my
colleagues on the policy and services
committee would like to comment further
on that.
» I'm not getting a lot of enthusiasm. So,
apparently I got it close to right.
>> Okay, I guess I got it close to right.
» Okay, I guess I got it close to right.
Okay. Um, let's do uh one round of
comment and then we'll go to public
comment. Is that a legacy light or is
that a new light?
>> Oh, okay. Council member Beal.
» Oh, okay. Council member Beal.
Yeah, I agree with the policy and
services that I think the organization
last year ended up being a little
unfocused and having 70 we really spread
our attention and I'd really like to I
think trim that down we'd have better uh
production I think uh you know in the
past we've had or we still do have these
enduring values then we also have
priorities and the priorities were meant
to be uh narrow categories that where we
were going to make exceptional progress
over a shortterm period. And now if you
look at our past 10 years, nine of the
past 10 years we've had housing on it.
And that doesn't smell like a short-term
priority. That smells like an enduring
value. And same with climate. Last seven
years we've had climate on. And so that
also would be another enduring value.
And those are both really important
things. But I'm not sure if it makes
sense if you're going with a model that
the priorities are short-term where you
really want to catch up. you really want
to make extraordinary progress on these
narrow items, then housing and climate
should be an enduring value. But the way
it's set up right now, we don't tie any
objectives to enduring values. And so
I'm not sure how exactly how to work
that if you have climate tasks that you
think are really important. How would
you wrap that? Because right now all our
objectives are tied to priority. Well,
that's the other thing is that not every
good idea has to be a priority. We have
70 items on here. Some of them are I
mean all of them are pretty good ideas.
I looked through the last night and say,
"Well, would I throw any of these out?"
And they all No, they're all really
good. Uh but I think we really want to
say no, not every good idea goes on the
priority list. I think we really want to
reserve that for great ideas. And the
other good ideas we're going to do
anyway, but this is really where are we
going to concentrate? Where can like for
example home key really important for
the city? I'm not sure how much leverage
we had to accelerate home key. Uh and so
should have that been on that list
because even if it was important to us,
even if we wanted to accelerated, I
don't think we had the ability to. So I
question whether that should be on
there. Okay. Thank you.
>> Thank you. And I guess one thing I
» Thank you. And I guess one thing I
forgot to mention is that um for the
objectives themselves down at the more
granular level just out of the committee
uh we were also uh recommending that
those be prioritized into the tier one
and two as described in the staff report
and I personally um was under the
impression coming out of the committee
meeting I didn't it didn't get captured
in the staff report so I don't know what
my colleagues think uh was that we could
still it's It's not like we couldn't
suggest um objectives or things to do
that we would like to see on the staff
list. It was more just aimed at that
higher level prioritization as in terms
of spending our time. So I would still
like to see in there an ability to name
things that we thought were urgent for
this year. Um
so I just wanted to add that
uh Council Member Bert.
>> Thank you. Um so first I'd like to say
» Thank you. Um so first I'd like to say
that I think that um as much as this is
70 may be too many having them there
seems to have had a real impact on the
organization having clear focus and
deadlines that they are attempting to
hit. And even if they don't hit it on
all of them everybody is being
accountable for what were the reasons we
couldn't quite make it or what happened
or whatever. and and it it gives a real
ability to uh focus on what's important
um both internally in the organization
and as it gets reported to us and the
public and then um
uh so I I think there's real value there
that we want to continue to embrace and
that I guess the other part is even
though it's this real long list the city
manager has come back uh multiple times
during a year to give us updates is it
quarterly
Yeah. And it just has kept a focus and a
public awareness of all those things
that are being done. So I like the idea
of these mid-level way some of this may
be um uh uh nomenclature because I think
what we have in the procedures and
protocols talks about objectives and
these are really projects
um uh that would fulfill maybe certain
higher level objectives is how it might
be organized. So I I think we we can
still have both things and whether we
refine it um uh I'm open to that. Um
I I also like what PNS had talked about
on the um having these tiers of our most
important ones that we are going to try
to uh hell or high water accomplish and
the others are very important. Uh they
aren't maybe we'll do it but they just
aren't of the same highest importance.
And then um
uh one of the things that I as much as
I've valued this I thought that by
trying to take all these important
projects that are being done in the city
and it's a lot uh and shoehorn them in
to saying well they have to fit within a
council priority a council priority and
what I see is some of them actually help
fulfill more than one priority and
others don't really fit and yet we've
created this structure where it's there.
So I think from the way to format it
going forward I I would uh maybe have
another category that is all the others
and maybe look at how they align to core
values. I mean, we aren't replacing the
new bridge because we adopted climate ch
action as a priority. And even within uh
the great set of accomplishments on the
climate action area, about half of them
are things that we really didn't
initiate because we prioritize the
climate plan, which we have done in the
last four years or so. um we've really
elevated that uh prioritization and seen
real progress, but that didn't drive
these projects, some of these projects
being here. So, I think we should reook
at that. Um,
and then, um,
and then lastly, uh, I wanted to, um,
follow up on Council Member Rectal's
kind of
saying we we really have had a a number
of our council priorities that really, I
think, more are our enduring values and
that we may need to update those to make
them more clear to embrace those. But
once again, uh the the priorities can
change. I would say that this year we
should be considering um our our are
really our uh organizational uh
efficiency and innovation to be able to
accomplish what we're hoping to
accomplish with a tighter budget. I mean
this is going to drive a lot of things
and um and that may be a much more
focused area of one or two years. Um and
by no means do I as it's you all know
would I say oh I want to dep prioritize
our climate action plan for instance or
some of these others. Um but but that
can be in strengthening our our council
value statement for things that
our climate plan is not going to end in
two or three years and the climate issue
isn't going to end in that time frame.
So anyway, those are my initial
thoughts.
>> Thank you, Council Member Liths.
» Thank you, Council Member Liths.
>> Thank you, Mayor. Um
» Thank you, Mayor. Um
I think a challenge for me um going into
my fourth year of this is I think
everybody has maybe a slightly different
definition of value, priority,
objective, project, etc. And it's been
articulated a bit here tonight. Does
something belong at this level or this
level? um something enduring like
climate, housing, does that belong as an
enduring value instead of showing up
repeatedly on a priorities list which
our handbook until recently I think said
priorities do not repeat or priorities
only last for three years. Well, that's
clearly not been the case. So, we've
been trying to align our practice um
with our language. The question I want
to ask is
I feel like sometimes um the menu, what
do we call it? The placemat. What is it?
Placemat.
>> Placemat. the placemat as it's called
» Placemat. the placemat as it's called
this lengthy list of 70 objectives under
the four priorities which is updated for
us quarterly which we really appreciate.
I feel like sometimes the impression I
get from staff or maybe it's it's stated
outright is these are council's
objectives. There are too many. You
know, there's a lot. It's an exhaustive
list. We're busy with other things and
we got your 70 things. And it begs the
question, you know, wait a minute. These
aren't just council's pet projects that
we want to add to your workload. These
are actual in many cases things that
would be at top the staff list if you
guys were the ones creating the list and
telling us what matters most.
Put differently,
it might be helpful to know of the, you
know, there are 70 things that we're
paying attention to. Is that 1% of what
staff is doing, 10% of what staff is
doing, 50% of what staff is doing, most
of what more than 50% of what staff is
doing? I'm I'm trying to get clear on
what's
what are we adding to your plate in the
name of a council priority supported by
objectives that y'all would not
prioritize if council wasn't coming in
saying hey this matters to us and if
there aren't that many things on that
list and perhaps there are um I would
love to feel as we discuss this that we
are more aligned that this isn't council
yanken staff chain with these 70
placemat items, but rather this is a
joint articulation of, you know what,
these are the most, you know, urgent
important
um high high focus areas. And I I I
honestly don't know how many super
important things are not on this list,
uh, for example. Um, and why is that?
Why are those things not council
objectives? Um, so I know I'm, you know,
I'm sort of asking a big perhaps unclear
question, but you're nodding your head
and taking notes, so maybe you have some
idea of what I'm getting at.
» Thank you, Council Member Lowing.
» Okay. I thought the city manager was
going to respond to that question.
That's my pause, but it's okay.
>> Well, I I I could I to be honest, I'm
» Well, I I I could I to be honest, I'm
struggling a bit with it. I I would just
offer the reflection that we certainly
don't want to leave the impression that
things are only on the list because
they're important to you. To your point,
there is a shared ownership on uh I'd
say at least many if not all of the
items. Uh that said, we do look to the
council to tell us what you feel is the
most important and that reflects itself
not only in the list of what's on on our
priorities
as we've referred to as objectives, but
also what we bring forward as a part of
your budget, what we set in terms of the
the the policy options in front of you.
So uh I I would simply note that it's a
it's a shared u responsibility both for
development and uh the the
identification of what's on the list
>> and and just because we we come back to
» and and just because we we come back to
this and and I think that's what we were
trying to do with PNS was not have it
just be generated by council but have us
at this higher level of directionality
and prioritization and let the
professionals you
identify objectives. We can also pitch
in on that, but we don't necessarily
have to do that, all of those. So,
that's why it wouldn't be just ours.
Council
>> member Lowi.
» member Lowi.
>> Okay. Um, just a few things. One is
» Okay. Um, just a few things. One is
that, you know, the the 70 objectives um
even last year that felt a bit too big
for me. Not that they weren't object um
essential, but we don't need to know
that level of detail in some cases. So,
um I'm I'm in support of getting that
one way or the other uh down this year.
Also, the fact that most of these
objectives now that we're in January are
70ish 75% complete suggest that maybe at
least with the resources allocated, they
weren't achievable. Um not not I mean
that's discounting a couple that were
intentionally postponed that we all
understand.
>> [clears throat]
» [clears throat]
>> So, um, uh, secondly, I'm just strongly
» So, um, uh, secondly, I'm just strongly
in favor of the idea of waiting the
objectives. Um, I believe we talked
about that last year and decided not to
do it, but I really think that's an
important thing to do cuz even if it's
70 or if it's 50 or if it's 40, um, some
things are going to have to get, you
know, a lot of pedal to the metal and a
lot of financing and others not so much.
And we kind of know what those are. or
if we don't, that's also a way to sort
out um if staff doesn't really agree
with the urgency of a particular
priority. Uh we can upgrade that so that
we're all on the same page.
There's another discussion in there
about um
in terms of the prioritization that
might be based on if it was skipped
there's not an immediate risk to the
process which I don't think is
full enough because that's sort of the
downside of well nothing's going to die
you know nobody's going to die or
something but what I think we want to
optimize is those things that we think
are really important benefits for our
citizens so um if we drop that if we
drop
I can't come up with an idea right now
but if we drop one of those that it's
not going to be a disaster if we don't
get that benefit done and we think
that's an important priority for the
citizens in the next you know 12 to 18
months that should be included so I
don't think it should just be risk
oriented and I don't know if that was
your intent but that's how the words
came out so that's why I wanted to to
raise that one
[clears throat] um
I'm going to need some tutoring on what
mid-level objectives are because I'm not
sure in the scheme of things what we're
trying to define there. Uh if we're
going to combine them and that sort of
bridging idea from the priorities,
it seems to me like that overlaps with
our um some issues are more important
than others and and mid-level. So I
think we are going to have a almost like
a a contract where you go in and the
definitions from an attorney are right
up front of all these things.
priorities, objectives, mid-level
objectives, and so on. So, we don't get
confused in the six or seven hours that
we're doing this retreat. Just seeing if
people are paying attention to that
comment. Um, and you know, the last
thing just in the first round of
comments is um I'm not sure we should be
making a decision before we walk into
that um um retreat that we don't want to
make any changes to the four priorities.
It might be that some should be
combined. It might be that just saying
with the theme of council rectal for a
minute that one of them becomes, you
know, more of an enduring value. Uh, and
we might say something is so crucial
that we really really want to pump it up
to being one of the four. Um, that said,
I don't want to get four or six or
eight. Um, so the the the brevity is
going to be an important discipline for
us. Thank you.
>> Thank you, Council Member Lou.
» Thank you, Council Member Lou.
>> Thank you.
» Thank you.
Um just a few comments and reactions.
Firstly, I like the idea of having a
priority focused around internal
capability and efficiency. I think that
is timely and I think there are a lot of
opportunities.
I agree that we can have a lot of
priorities, but I also agree that 70 is
probably too many. We can certainly be
in the dozens. There are things in our
current list like um uh executing on
work plans that are already approved
that are frankly quite vague and maybe
not that informative to staff or
council. You know, they're just a few
examples like that. But we should be
really disciplined about what we think
of as a priority because that means
we're going to trade off against it. Uh
trade off other work to get that done.
Um and continuing that I think these
goals should be hard. I think it is okay
to miss goals and it is okay for us to
be ambitious
and to also set some norm uh which of
course we'll figure out over time but
getting twothirds of our objectives done
I think is actually a good number. We
want to stretch ourselves so that in
some years we can do a little bit better
or in some years we might do less but we
can sort of break down and understand
why that happened. Um
so having fewer goals but also notably
having harder goals is important.
Uh, one thing that I noticed is that in
a couple of cases,
present an ordinance uh actually
referred to passing an ordinance and
that was what meant it was uh uh
complete. But there's another example
like present a renter protection fair
chance ordinance to council where it's
considered complete because council
heard it I guess in a study session or
something in April. And so we really
need to make our goals harder and less
squishy because if present means
different things in different contexts
and present just means someone on
council or some committee or council
heard it uh at least once like that's
not um how we actually want to set goals
and motivate ourselves. Um just one more
thought about mid-level goals. I think
of that as what do we actually want to
get done? Why do we even have these
objectives? So, uh there are many
objectives around climate, but to
council member Bert's point as well,
some of them are just things we would do
anyways. But having an objective like
reduce our greenhouse gas emissions by
X% so that we are on track for uh
whatever 80 by30 or you know goals that
we might tweak or sub goals. um that is
very clear to staff uh what metrics we
want to hit. Um it is very clear why we
are doing those four projects that
ladder into uh or those four objectives
that m that ladder into that mid-level
goal. And it's also clear to staff,
okay, between these four work items on
climate, I should trade off one or the
other because the real goal is to get on
a path to reduce uh greenhouse gas
emissions. Um, and we could structure
our housing goals in a similar way where
the mid-level goal might be to uh get X
units of affordable housing in the
pipeline. And we could think of some of
those as 100% affordable. We could think
about some of those as inclusionary
housing. We can, uh, uh, try to really
sort of optimize for a goal. Um,
uh, we can think about similar things
for vision zero. uh um
uh mental health, a variety of other uh
mid-level goals. So, those were just
some more examples I want to chime in.
Thanks.
>> Thank you, Council Me uh Vice Mayor
» Thank you, Council Me uh Vice Mayor
Stone.
>> Thank you, Madame Mayor. I just first
» Thank you, Madame Mayor. I just first
want to really appreciate staff for how
much we have been able to get
accomplished last year. you make us look
so good. And so we just just appreciate
all the work that has gone into this. I
really always like this exercise of
being able to reflect back and just be
reminded of how much really has been
accomplished and I I it's been
beneficial here in the discussion
tonight. seems like I'm I'm kind of I'm
glad having been on policy and services.
Seems like our recommendation is is
generally being supported, but getting a
lot of really great ideas of how we can
continue to tweak this process moving
forward. Just following up on on Council
Member Lou's point there, I really liked
the idea of kind of creating harder,
more concrete goals. I I've often found
I think a lot of times kind of goals are
put into place almost as a way to be
able to just kind of check them off even
though it's kind of ongoing work that
staff and our and our organization would
do anyways. And so if we can be more
intentional so we can really look back
and and say, "Wow, we actually
accomplished this meaningful measure, I
I think that would be far more
beneficial for for us, for the
community, and give staff a a better
sense of what we're trying to achieve."
So I think anything anytime we're seeing
a an objective that is just kind of
worded as continue this I don't know how
beneficial that that is unless it really
is moving towards achieving a goal. So I
really like liked that point
overall for for this retreat. love the
idea that we are sticking with the idea
of our our four primary objectives and
diving deeper into that during that
actual retreat. I agree. I think we all
agree 70 objectives is a bit overly
ambitious and I think we all recognize
that at the at the time, but I'm not
quite sure where that healthy medium is.
I I also agree with Council Member Lou.
I think we did a pretty good job at
achieving especially the more more
meaningful objectives and where we fell
short generally makes a lot of sense.
Some out of our control uh others not.
But I think staff's uh staff's
discretion in prioritizing in real time
is discretion that we should provide you
as the professionals to make those to
make those judgments. loved the idea of
of council member rectal how you kind of
kept describing our I guess enduring
values. Um thought that was I I I really
like that. I've always struggled with
that as as well. Housing climate have
been objectives ever since I've been on
this council. I am curious and maybe
tonight is not the place to to have this
discussion because this isn't for this
year's retreat, but but looking forward,
I'd just kind of be curious getting
staff's feedback on how how does that
make then your work more challenging if
we're saying we're not going to have
housing and climate as a annual kind of
priority. We give you of course we're
going to give you others to fill in
those. How then do you achieve these
enduring
um values that we have of housing,
climate, etc. while taking on additional
ones? And so I think that's something
for us all to to think about cuz you
know we we might be left with having to
keep these as objectives as various
things like the affordable affordable
housing crisis and others um that we
that we continue to wrestle with. And
then just final thought, I think we've
talked about this a a little bit and
again more long-term, so maybe 2027
is rethinking about these um objectives
is not really one-year objectives, but
more on that two-year cycle. So, if
we're really going to stick with this
idea that our council priorities last
for two years, then maybe our objectives
should as well. Maybe that comes down to
the tiering that we're going to do that
there's going to be some more immediate
ones that we can get done in a year.
Others that we recognize might be more
of a 2-year objective. I think that
would obviously kind of depend on on on
what it is. So glad we are
I think being just being more um
intentional with this with this process
in a way that's going to be able to make
it more meaningful. And I I'm excited at
what the mayor mentioned that we're
going to be able to actually come up
with objectives early on in the year
rather than adopting them in in May and
then expecting greater than 70%
completion come January. So given that's
the reality we're we're working with,
I'd say well done and looking forward to
the retreat. Well, I was going to to lay
down the challenge here that I sus I I
would say success for all of us would be
to come out of the retreat on the 24th
with the statements, whatever the
statements will be. Uh and and so that
tall order, but uh uh staff is uh
prepping and and would look forward to
trying to reach that immediate
objective.
>> All right. Well, thank you colleagues. a
» All right. Well, thank you colleagues. a
lot of good thoughtprovoking feedback,
but I'm going to hold that thought uh to
see if we have any public comment on
this item.
» Yes, we Yes, we do. We have one request
to speak.
>> Okay.
Our first speaker is Hamilton.
Okay, I'll assume that's a yes. Um, I
have three comments on three different
areas. The first is that I like the
current structure of goals and specific
projects. What concerns me about
mid-level goals is that they're not
smart. Specifically, they're not
specific, measurable, achievable,
relevant, and time bound. And I think it
just adds a layer that may not be that
helpful. Uh,
for example, this thing about make
progress on Ramona, it's not specific,
achievable, time bound. It's not doesn't
really have any accountability built in.
And that leads into the second point,
keep a one-year cycle. Um, I think
because we want to remain adaptable. We
want to measure our progress every year
and we have a lot of upcoming changes.
So, I don't want us to become
complacent.
In a way, I feel like we're becoming
overly complacent. We have the Fed who's
going to who's in the process of cutting
local funding. We have Fed overreach,
which we're going to have to continue to
grapple with. international instability
and we could have rapid changes in the
economy. So I just want to make sure we
maintain our ability to respond rapidly
just as we had to when co arrived. And
the third is uh the utility budget and
revenue is larger than the general fund
yet they really seem to ignore our city
priorities. In my recent foray into the
natural gas rates, I found an
organization that was very compliance
focused and opaque at at the exclusion
of all other city priorities.
I we we struggled to uh get them to
consider climate and they basically said
we're not considering climate because um
we don't want we don't want to expose
ourselves to any liability. and they
took a hyperconservative stance that was
beyond what was legally required. So as
we look at these priorities, ignoring
half of the income to the city that goes
through the utility I think would be a
mistake. And so I'd like an increased
focus on the utilities and getting them
aligned with with our goals and
priorities. Thank you.
>> And that concludes public comment for
» And that concludes public comment for
study session item two.
All right. Thank you. Um, so
I want to reflect on what I've heard so
far so that we can get to um, sort of an
outline for this retreat that we feel
comfortable enough with knowing that
between now and then we're all going to,
you know, digest a lot of this and
cogitate and probably come there with
some even more
uh, evolved, I'll say, ideas. Um, you
know,
it's it's a tricky thing to do and I
think a lot of it is uh nomenclature as
council member Liths uh suggested
um
when PNS considered uh whether or not we
should um have the the same priorities
as part of the two-year cycle that we
had posited previously. Um, it wasn't
the idea that it wasn't so much making a
rule that we would always have two-year
priorities. It was looking specifically
at these four and saying, you know, is
housing, climate, economic development,
public safety still the sort of the top
four categorical priorities that we have
and and I and at least the three of us
unanimously said yes. But that doesn't
mean we can't change them. We certainly
can discuss them. Um, there's some
interesting ideas tonight around that. I
also think that again getting back to
this nomenclature idea um
you know when you talk about uh council
rectal the enduring values so I'm
looking at the council values that are
in the um PNP handbook right before the
annual council priorities and um
they're kind of different in nature um
although overlapping we we're talking
about values would guide decisions that,
and I'll just give you a couple
examples, balance revenues and expenses,
are environmentally sustainable. So,
kind of baked in there are some of the
ideas we've talked about. Um,
I I think that, you know, our our
question is
no one's I don't think anyone's
suggesting we not do climate or not do
housing or any of that. It's more what
is the structure of a conversation where
we can give staff more direction on
prioritization
and
talking through each of 70 ideas may not
be the most efficient way to do that.
Although I do agree that I think I think
we were still suggesting both staff and
the committee that the objective still
be created and written and identified
and reported on and that a timeline be
attached and all of that. It's just that
a lot of that would be done by staff
pursuant to the recommendations which
were fewer. Um and so that's the idea
and those objectives would still be
smarty objectives, right? and and so we
aren't trying to get away from that. The
question is how do we how do we uh in
some kind of efficient way
get this give some feedback on these
areas and I quite like the idea of
saying well hey you know what what are
the things that are special this year
what are the things that must do this
year um and and that I think we we need
to talk about and this was an effort to
try to um craft a structure to do that
but I I'm certainly open to whatever
works. Um, but I I think that
giving sort of the the the the critical
musthaves this year um whether it's uh
because they're time bound or um
be because we just uh we think it's a a
oneshot deal um is important. Um, and I
think the the to-do list, um, sort of
the objectives could be
generated by staff with our input, be
referred to committees in some
instances. You know, the climate, um,
ESCAP work plan is very much like the
objectives here. Um, and so I I I think
there may be other ways to do that, but
I I just want at the retreat to have a
discussion that isn't just, hey, here's
high level categories and here's a to-do
list. I think we need something in
between because y'all are really smart
about strategy. Um, so that's my general
thoughts. Are there additional comments
on
our structure going forward?
Council member Bert.
Yeah, I'd just like to follow up um that
uh uh I think that the the council
values one that uh when we throughout
the year we put up our priorities, but
when we created those values, it really
was for this intention to uh live up to
what's in our procedures and protocols
around what our annual priorities are
supposed to be and not lose sight of
things that remain very important to the
city, the staff, uh the council, and
they are going to stay important. And so
I they were composed at one time and a
little bit on the fly. And I think that
uh we could spend uh a little bit of our
retreat time to um see how we want to
improve them uh and just have them
capture more accurately what we are um
thinking of as those enduring values.
And then just a reminder that um in that
same uh page 35 on our uh council
protocols uh booklet um it's that the
goal of no more than three or four
priorities a year
um and have a two to threeyear time
limit which for the mo we've tweaked
them a little bit in a word or two but
as council member rectal said and
council member lithgods
um they they've really um uh been
enduring uh as what are supposed to be
uh a more narrow time frame set of
priorities. And lastly, that they will
receive particular unusual and
significant attention during that year.
And that doesn't say that um these other
projects and uh goals actually that the
city has uh will not continue to have
priorities and and have uh fulfillment
of those projects. It's just that it's
an an additional particular emphasis. So
I think we want to return to kind of
thinking about that. Um and um so for
that reason I'm I I one I look forward
to actually the the um uh priority
setting discussion to see what we might
change and at the same time um uh
integrate that with an update to the
core values and then doing these other
things that PNS had recommended um
around the tiers and and other aspects
that we've already discussed. So, um I
think we'll have a good discussion on
the retreat.
>> Thank you. Um
» Thank you. Um
I might suggest at this point I I I I
agree with that and I think it's um you
know we had talked last year about the
fact that um we'd sort of run over the
two to threeyear limit and that it
wasn't so much just this you know the
goals had kind of I'm sorry the
priorities had kind of morphed away a
bit from what was set forth in the P&P.
What I'm thinking uh we might do just to
to to move this along is um
on the proposed agenda that I believe we
need to vote on um to some degree. No,
>> really your your call on whether you'd
» really your your call on whether you'd
like to uh ultimately this is setting up
a future meeting. So you can either
give us general direction or specific as
you see fit.
>> Okay. Well, then maybe it'd be simple.
» Okay. Well, then maybe it'd be simple.
Well, just looking at the proposed
agenda as it's set forth here, I I think
that we could insert and we can cogitate
it on on it between now and then. For
example, the uh retreat facilitator, I
know she's in touch with staff and and
I'll be having a conversation with her.
Um, we could have discussion of values,
priorities, and suggested mid-level
goals with the idea that we're not going
to that this is this is aimed at
streamlining and and we were what we
were trying to do was was have a more
focused discussion here, but I I think
that what we've heard tonight um
means that we really need to get on the
same page with nomenclature upfront. And
so perhaps we can can can do that and
and talk about these values. And then uh
the rest of it I think um as council
member Bert said um we can can roll
through those prioritization and other
conversations. So if if you don't need
anything more um unless somebody wants
to make a motion. H council member
rectal
>> I just want to make a couple comments.
» I just want to make a couple comments.
>> Certainly.
» Certainly.
>> I mean it all comes down to the the task
» I mean it all comes down to the the task
that we're want staff to do and how it's
organized really doesn't matter. it
comes down. But one thing I think is
really important is where do you want to
make exceptional progress here? And by
broadening out the priorities, we've
lost that and do we want to return to
that? Is that important to identify some
narrow areas where we want to make a lot
of progress? I I'm not sure about that.
The other is that right now all the
objectives have to be tied to a
priority. And do we need that? Can we
just say no, this is a really important
thing. It doesn't tie to one of the
priorities. For example, if housing was
off, we might have housing tasks that we
want to do even though housing wasn't a
priority. Uh so right now, do we want to
keep that linkage, that mandatory
linkage of having priorities linked to
objectives?
>> Great. And maybe that's something we can
» Great. And maybe that's something we can
bake in at the beginning. What I love
about this discussion is I think all of
us are on the same page that we want
this to be a meaningful exercise. And
that was exactly it. I felt it had
gotten so broad and so high level that
we'd kind of lost
the appropriate role for council input
to to do that prioritization. What do we
really really care about this year? And
so I think we're all on the same page in
that and we'll we'll try to we'll we'll
work through the specifics and the
nomenclature and all that uh in a couple
weeks. Right. [laughter]
All right. Okay. Okay. Well, uh, seeing
no further lights and and you, I guess,
have the direction you need.
>> Yes. We'll follow up and again, we
» Yes. We'll follow up and again, we
expect we'll be providing some
additional information for council in
advance of the study uh, the retreat
itself.
>> Okay. And I I just want to do one more
» Okay. And I I just want to do one more
thank you to staff. I know you're all
here and we didn't ask you a lot of
questions about your objectives and and
that you reported on, but you know, I
concur with my colleagues that were
thrilled to see the progress. I think we
can follow up uh elsewhere on specific
ones, but thank you all for your work
that went into the report we received
tonight. So, with that, yes. Oh, I'm
sorry, Council Member Lats.
>> I'm sorry. Yeah, I might have
» I'm sorry. Yeah, I might have
misunderstood the uh plan. So, I thought
we were going to ask staff some
questions, but we had just pivoted to uh
talking more about the organizational
stuff. So, we we can
>> um Well, I don't want to be the only
» um Well, I don't want to be the only
one. I know they're all here. So, um I I
just wanted to ask the question if I'm
if I'm the only one I can take it
offline, but if there were others who do
a quick round of that, but let's try to
keep it just because we have a long
agenda, but yeah, please go ahead.
>> Okay. Well, um I'll join the mayor in
» Okay. Well, um I'll join the mayor in
thanking all of you for uh all of the
work that's reflected in um the
presentations that you brought forth
tonight. And um I did want to ask
director late um it was clear in the
report and in your presentation
that um housing 3.2.6 six, which is to I
believe it's to identify funds for
affordable housing. Um, essentially says
that staff time has been cannibalized
because of work other important work
like OSV impacts. And I think there was
another item that you mentioned that
kind of prevented staff from focusing on
this one. So, could you say a little bit
more about that? I'm raising it because
I think on October 20th when we had our
big meeting on oversized vehicle impacts
and how to support RV dwellers, we
unless I missed it were not presented
with, hey, you go forward with this,
here's what we're not doing on housing
and um it I don't know that would have
changed anything, but I think it's it's
a pretty material thing. So, I was
surprised to see that sort of this was a
trade-off. Could you say more about
that, please, Miss Mcdana? Uh thank you
Melissa Mcdana, assistant to the city
manager uh and lead on both both of
those items. [laughter]
So when when we got to October 20th to
get to that date, the exact same staff
resources
were working on that policy and services
item to get it to council on the 20th.
Um then council gave us direction to
immediately work on some time bound
things um at that council meeting
which is what we we worked on. There was
no way to do that and to do the uh
priority objective on affordable housing
financing.
>> So if I could
» So if I could
>> which had a more
» which had a more
open timeline.
>> Yeah, if I could uh perhaps amplify or
» Yeah, if I could uh perhaps amplify or
clarify a little bit beyond that. So
clearly this was written from a city
manager's office perspective in terms of
the staff support that was anticipated
uh to be needed in order to work on
affordable housing funding. And so uh
that that is true. You you started your
question as as pointing to director late
and for understandable reasons. Uh but
uh I think it's as worth noting that we
had not anticipated that their staff was
going to do much more than they already
had. Uh that said, you know, on this
broader topic of of affordable uh
housing funding, uh we have been engaged
in legislative initiatives and so really
we'll continue to track that as a as a
potential resource aside from anything
developed specifically here in Palo
Alto.
» So it's gone but not forgotten.
>> Okay. Thank you. And um Director Okaine,
» Okay. Thank you. And um Director Okaine,
um with regard to 445 Bryant, um I've
been delighted to read about and hear
about the um opening, which is not far
away, the um city-owned building will
house La Coma and a new teen center. And
I see the new teen center written up as
designed by and for teens. And I'm
wondering if you could let us know which
of our teen groups did we work with and
give us some examples of uh what the
result will be. Um what will it offer?
When will it operate? How will it
interact with LAA in the same building?
Thank you, Council Member Kristen Okaine
Community Services Department. So yes,
the teen center is planning we're
planning on opening in February. We're
just putting some final touches on it.
Um the way that we engaged with teens
was a couple of ways. One was through an
online survey um where we asked specific
questions about what they might like in
the teen center. Um
>> and who received that survey?
» I would have to get back to you on that.
Um it's
>> teens in our own groups or broader
» teens in our own groups or broader
groups of teens.
>> So both. So teens in our own groups, but
» So both. So teens in our own groups, but
then we also share those links. Um we
ask our teen leadership groups to share
them broadly with their networks and
then we also share them on social media
for anybody. Um so that was one way and
then the other was um we did an
openhouse
at the teen center at Mitchell Community
Center and we did a couple of workshops
where we asked them to um do some mockup
drawings for us on what they might like
um to be to have in the teen center. And
then when we we scaled that down into a
couple of options and ask them to weigh
in on those options.
>> Okay. Thank you very much. You're
» Okay. Thank you very much. You're
welcome. Appreciate the update. And with
my time being up, I just want to welcome
uh Mr. Andrade. Uh welcome to the city.
There's a lot ahead of you and we're all
very motivated to help you succeed uh in
this important work. Thank you very
much.
» Well, I actually have a question as
well. Um, and it's on the climate action
priority that director Eglesson reported
on, but it may or may not be director
late because it's 1.2.3,
which is a stream/crete corridor setback
requirements. [laughter]
I I thought it might be um I'm just
curious about this because this this is
what I think was one of the very first
things that my cohort uh addressed on
council. Um and
it it it uh we were hoping to to have it
I think back this year and um I know at
the PTC it says roadblocks. Uh the PTC
requested further amendments to address
concerns about potential impacts to
properties. Um and then it has next
steps. The revised ordinance is
anticipated to return to PTC in 2026. So
are we not going to see it this year or
how are what how where does that stand?
>> Yes, it will be before the city council
» Yes, it will be before the city council
this year. I think the plan is to go to
the planning and transportation
commission in the first quarter and then
wrap up there and then we would be able
to come back to uh the city council.
It's um delayed but not uh forgotten as
referenced [laughter] earlier.
>> Yeah. Well, I I see that it says on
» Yeah. Well, I I see that it says on
track, but the next steps just sort of
stopped with PTC and 26. I thought, "Oh,
please tell me it's not going to be 27
before we see it." Okay.
>> No, it's just a little more complicated
» No, it's just a little more complicated
as we got more into it and it just takes
a little bit more time to go through it.
>> Okay, understood. All right. Well, I
» Okay, understood. All right. Well, I
will look forward to that one. Thank
you. Um any others?
>> No. Okay. Well, I'll reiterate my thanks
» No. Okay. Well, I'll reiterate my thanks
and uh we'll close this item. Thank you
all.
All right. So, that concludes our study
session and takes us to our consent
calendar.
Do we have any uh requests to pull uh or
other
on the consent calendar?
Do we have I guess we should probably
take public comment first, but do we
have any public comment on the consent
calendar?
>> No, mayor. There are no requests to
» No, mayor. There are no requests to
speak and no hands are raised for
consent calendar items.
>> Okay. Council member Liths,
» Okay. Council member Liths,
>> I'd like to register a no vote on items
» I'd like to register a no vote on items
10 and 11.
>> Okay.
Any others?
No. All right.
>> I would like to move the consent
» I would like to move the consent
calendar.
>> Thank you. Do I have a second?
» Thank you. Do I have a second?
>> Second.
» Second.
>> All right,
» All right,
Madame Clerk, when you're ready, would
you kindly call the role?
Vice Mayor Stone.
>> Yes.
» Yes.
>> Council member Bert.
» Council member Bert.
>> Yes.
» Yes.
>> Mayor Vinker.
» Mayor Vinker.
Yes. Council member Liths.
>> Yes.
» Yes.
>> Council member Lou.
» Council member Lou.
>> Yes.
» Yes.
>> Council member Rectal.
» Council member Rectal.
>> Yes.
» Yes.
>> Council member Lowing.
» Council member Lowing.
>> Yes.
» Yes.
>> Motion carries.
» Motion carries.
>> All right. Thank you.
» All right. Thank you.
And with that, we'll move on to city
manager.
>> I'd like to talk to my
» I'd like to talk to my
>> I'm so sorry. Thank you.
» I'm so sorry. Thank you.
>> Please go ahead.
» Please go ahead.
>> Thank you very much. Um, I voted no on
» Thank you very much. Um, I voted no on
items 10 and 11, uh, simply because I
have concern that the motion we passed
on October 20th
with regard to the impacts of RV
dwellers on businesses and residents and
our intent to dis to um,
uh, investigate more safe parking
options for RV dwellers that those two
branches of uh, you know, a very
difficult um, situation um are not
proceeding at the same pace. Um it's
frankly much harder to find safe parking
lots and I know our staff is working on
it. I'm not uh this is not a ding on
anybody. This is um an articulation of a
concern that one piece of it is
proceeding um with greater expediency
than the other which I think was
predictable and um so we find ourselves
with with uh a lot more to say on on the
front end and less on the back end. I
have confidence that um that will write
itself over time. Um but I in the
meantime, humans are being impacted by
these uh ordinances that we've passed.
Um and they're being impacted during the
holidays. We're impacted during the
holidays and so it's hard to see us with
such uh fervent effort on the one hand
um uh knowing that the the second piece
um is just going to take longer to to um
put into place. So that's the reason for
my no votes. Thank you.
Thank you, city manager.
>> Yes. Thank you, mayor, members of the
» Yes. Thank you, mayor, members of the
council. If I could ask the city clerk
for assistance with a few slides. I'll
keep this uh quick. I do want to note,
and I don't have a slide for this, uh uh
just to reiterate appreciation for
council members and community members
that joined us uh for the fire station
4, affectionately known as the Mitchell
Park Fire Station u uh groundbreaking uh
last week. and uh certainly look forward
to that construction proceeding uh
expeditiously and having the new fire
station in service along with
appreciation to the coverly community
that is uh uh bearing with the temporary
uh station on campus. Uh let's go to the
next slide please.
All right. Well, again much uh
conversation already but uh what we're
referring to actually we don't have it
on here. 429 Brian Street. There's a
change in the address. Turns out the 445
is actually the parking garage. So, for
those who are looking for the new
community center, it is at 429 Bryant
Street. And uh this just a quick teaser
on uh how uh gorgeous the uh facility
looks. Uh now that uh we've had some
interim improvements. I think it's
important to manage expectations. We
noted that uh more can and should be
done uh at this facility uh but
sufficient at this point to open our
doors and working with Lakomeda uh for
their transition and as noted here uh
that uh we have uh uh grand opening
details being finalized and more to come
but reservations are already uh being
taken. Next slide please.
Speaking of reservations and
registrations, uh the enjoy catalog uh
is now moving to the virtual enjoy
catalog because we are making the
transition to a digital uh format and so
as many of us have become accustomed to
receiving that catalog in the mail. This
will now be a postcard uh that you'll
receive and uh that uh will now refer
you to what has always been our online
registration system. So change
management in the works. Uh but again we
were this is just part of getting the
word out uh that summer camp
registration is beginning on uh February
5th as noted here. Uh we know that
that's a very important date on people
families uh calendars. So just want to
get the word out early and uh more
information to come on registration.
Next slide please.
Then also throughout the month of
January, we've got a number of community
events upcoming uh that families and and
members of our community uh would uh be
welcome to participate in ranging from
final movies at Cubberly through uh
upcoming uh Lunar New Year uh activities
at the end of the month with the
library. Uh so more detail here on the
city's calendar. Next slide, please.
Also uh ongoing activity, our artlift
grant program uh which has uh always
generated tremendous uh works uh and
certainly want to reinforce local
opportunities for local artists uh and
uh that uh program is now launched and
deadline is February 20th city uh at our
uh city's website pelto.gov/artist
opportunities.
Next slide please. Then finally, looking
forward to the upcoming city council
agendas next or or just actually this
week, Thursday, if anyone sees a city
council meeting posted, note that this
is our closed session uh only and so
will not be a regular city council
meeting. Then uh there will be no
meeting next Monday uh due to the Martin
Luther King Jr. holiday. Instead, you'll
meet on Tuesday, January 20th. a number
of items uh shown here, a study session
with your community survey results. Uh
our legislative guidelines and the long
range financial forecast. Again, that's
next week, Tuesday. Uh then next
Saturday will be the city council's
retreat that we've spoken to. Then the
following meeting will be on February
2nd. So there's also no meeting on I
guess it would be the 28th or
thereabouts. Um no, that would be the
26th. Thank you. No meeting on the 26th
of January. Next meeting is February
2nd. Then we've got a number of items uh
shown on that agenda as well as through
the remainder of February. So with that,
mayor. Um that completes my comments.
Back to you.
>> Thank you very much.
» Thank you very much.
All right. So we'll move on to our
action item uh 13.
Oh, okay. Please go ahead.
>> Thank you. Uh, city manager, could you,
» Thank you. Uh, city manager, could you,
it was alluded to tonight that the
retreat is 8 hours long or 6 hours long.
I'm not sure that we have been given the
exact start and stop. I'm wondering if
you have that.
>> Let's see. I think the start time is
» Let's see. I think the start time is
9:00 a.m. I don't think we set an end
time to it. So, we did want to,
>> but you will. [laughter]
» but you will. [laughter]
>> Well, I think that's uh
» Well, I think that's uh
at at the discretion of the council. you
know, we um we're trying to try to get
as much done as we can on that retreat
day. So, again, I don't have a specific
end time.
>> Yeah, we nor do I, but uh hoping for,
» Yeah, we nor do I, but uh hoping for,
you know, early afternoon, not hitting
not going the full day, but that
requires us to be sort of focused and
organized, but
>> Oh, we could make plans for dinner,
» Oh, we could make plans for dinner,
let's say.
>> Yes.
» Yes.
>> Okay.
» Okay.
>> Or we could arrange for dinner. No, no,
» Or we could arrange for dinner. No, no,
no. That's why I think we should talk
about
>> the happy hour. [laughter]
All right. Thank you.
>> All right. [sighs and gasps]
» All right. [sighs and gasps]
So, now we'll move on to 13. Study and
assessment of PaloAlto turf systems and
direct staff to proceed with El Camino
Park synthetic turf replacement and
natural grass pilot. Welcome, Director.
Okay. I assume I'm turning it over to
you for a staff presentation.
>> You are. Thank you very much. Good
» You are. Thank you very much. Good
evening um Mayor Vinker and council
members. I'm Kristen Okaine with um the
community services department. I'm
actually going to turn um the mic over
um straight away to Sarah Robastelli
who's our division manager of open space
parks and golf and who has really been
leading this project. And then online we
also have Anthony Stevenson with Lloyd
um sports and engineering. I think
that's the right title. So I'm going to
turn it over to you Mr. Robustelli.
Lovely. Thank you so much. Good evening,
uh, mayor, city council members. Um, as
Kristen mentioned, Sarah Robastelli,
division manager for open space, parks,
and golf. Online, you're correct. Uh, we
have Anthony Stevenson, principal for
uh, Lloyd Consulting Group. Tonight
staff is presenting the study and
assessment of PaloAlto turf systems and
the associated recommendation related to
El Camino Park um El Camino Park. This
item returns to council following your
November 17th, 2025
direction to form a city council ad hoc
committee and request additional
information and clarification on several
topics related to the turf study and the
El Camino Park project. If you go to the
next slide as background,
uh, community services manages four
synthetic turf fields across three
locations, El Camino Park, Stamford, and
Peloto community playing fields. Um,
throughout this presentation, I'm going
to be referring to that uh, complex as
Mayfield as well as Coverly.
El Camino Park was originally scheduled
for a synthetic replacement. However,
city council directed staff to pause
that project and instead redirect
funding towards a comprehensive turf
study to better inform uh future
decisions. The Mayfield project just
this last month in December was
substantially completed and Cberly is
anticipated for replacement in 2028.
Uh next slide. The turf study was
designed to provide an objective
datadriven evaluation of turf systems
used by athletic used for athletic
fields. The study focused on
environmental and health considerations,
costs, durability, usability, and the
scope was adjusted to incorporate the
Santa Clara County public health report
released in January of 2025.
El Camino Park was used as a case study
allowing staff and consultants to
combine local operational knowledge with
independent technical expertise.
The intent of the study is not to
mandate one single solution, but to
rather to establish a consistent
framework to support informed
decisionmaking for future athletic, uh,
field replacements.
Um, this next slide, um, I've titled,
you know, the turf study project, uh,
calendar. However, it really could have
been titled community engagement. Um, I
really want to underscore to council as
well as the public the robust robust
community engagement process that that
incurred throughout this process. Uh,
the project was launched in June of
2025. It included f focus groups in
July. Um, that included athletic users,
park and rex playing fields ad hoc
committee as well as the Sierra Club.
Um, a draft report was released on
August 13th and followed up by a formal
public comment period throughout uh,
September 3rd. The study was discussed
at multiple park and recreation uh,
meetings and was presented to city
council November 17th. Um following that
meeting, city council informed uh formed
an ad hoc committee which met on
November 24th as well as December 9th.
During those meetings, staff
specifically
um was specifically received further
evaluation to clarify risk mitigation me
measures. The recommendation before you
this evening reflects this follow-up
work. On the next slide um is is your
action that took place on November 17th
forming that ad hoc. And on this next
slide we I will discuss risk mitigation
measures as it's been a central focus of
both the turf study as well as
subsequent polity policy discussions.
So, uh, the parks and watershed
protection as well as storm drain work
groups met at three locations. At
Mayfield, drainage is completely
subsurface and there are no open drains
requiring filtration. Um at El Camino
Park, staff has now ordered 13 inlets,
hats, filters, as well as three exterior
sock filters for uh installation. At
Cubberly, we currently have uh filters
around the track area and staff are
evaluating whether additional filtration
is warranted.
Um, I also have a graph that may be
handy at the very back of this slide
deck if we um it it may give a better
picture and I apologize I didn't add
this earlier but um key areas of concern
that were raised by council as well as
the ad hoc committee um and uh let's see
the public include PAS infill materials
storm water protection, uh, surface heat
and ongoing GMAX, uh, performance.
Historically, PAS testing was not
conducted for synthetic turf materials.
Moving forward, staff will uh, pursue
material testing and manufacturer
verification as part of the replacement
uh, projects. This represents a change
in practice compared to our earlier uh,
installations. I also wanted to
highlight that the recommendation before
you this evening significantly reduces
plastic content uh compared to what
existed what currently exists at El
Camino Park. Previously fields use a
thermoplastic elastimemer or TPE infill.
Their proposed replacement would use
natural cork infill, which removes the
vast majority of plastic from the infill
material and has um has the added
benefit of reducing surface
temperatures.
Storm water protection has also been
strengthened.
Earlier fields did not include storm
drain filtration as a standard practice.
Today's staff coordinates closely with
the parks watershed protection and storm
drain work groups to assess site
specifics uh drainage needs. GMAX
testing has been conducted annually to
monitor surface hardness and staff will
continue to practice with increased
scrutiny as fields approach their end of
life.
Um, slide seven, if you go to
playability impacts, the study also
evaluated systemwide
playability and capacity impacts based
on current usage
and the city standard winter closure for
natural grass fields from December
through February and sometimes March.
Removing the synthetic turf at El Camino
Park would displace approximately 1,221
players annually, including about 570
PaloAlto residents. There is currently
no uh available capacity at other fields
to absorb that displaced use during
winter during the winter season. And if
you go to the next slide, based on the
findings of the turf study, community
input and direction from the city
council ad hoc committee, staff is
bringing forward before you this
evening. first uh to proceed with
replacing synthetic turf fields at El
Camino Park using improved synthetic
turf with organic infill while
implementing risk management measures
including storm water filtration,
enhanced maintenance practice and
related uh mitigation. Secondly, to
pursue a natural grass pilot project to
enhance playability and durability. Once
cost estimates are available, staff will
return to city council for review,
including any uh uh potential requests
for appropriation. This is anticipated
to occur as part of the fiscal year 202
uh7 budget. And then thirdly, to
continue exploring opportunities to
transition to synthetic turf, transition
away from synthetic turf at coverly over
time. In close, this um in closing, this
is concludes staff presentation and we
are available for any questions.
Um we'd like to turn it over to the ad
hoc.
>> All right. Thank you. Um, so, uh, I was
» All right. Thank you. Um, so, uh, I was
chair of the ad hoc, uh, serving on it
along with council member Bert and
Council Member Lowing. So, I will start
with a couple comments and then see if
they want to add anything. Um, but first
of all, thank you, Director O'Ne, Miss
Roseelli, and your team for uh, dealing
with the second toughest issue in
PaloAlto. I think the first is pickle
ball, but this is a pretty tough one. Um
uh thanks also to the PRC and the many
residents who spent a lot of time um and
effort providing comments and feedback.
We've gotten a lot of emails, but I also
know you've shown up at a lot of places
uh a lot of meetings uh on all sides of
this issue and it does matter to us and
we do appreciate it. Um I will say that
the committee really angsted over this.
Um, a year and a half ago when uh I was
serving on finance at the time and and
this issue first came up, I was ready to
just say no uh to synthetic turf
replacement field. It was really the
biochemist in the environmentalist in me
um that uh was really concerned about
it. And I think um at our last council
meeting, I think council member Bert was
the the most skeptical of synthetic
turf. And so all three of us took this
very very seriously. um in terms of the
concerns about PAS um synthetic infill,
microplastics, heat effects and more. Um
but I'm also the mother of two daughters
who played soccer for between 10 and 13
years a piece and uh also a co-founder
and former general counsel of a
professional soccer league. Um so this
is something that has been really
personally challenging for me. Um, so we
had two in-depth uh ad hoc meetings
where we really drilled down on these
issues and and uh particularly the
concerns about um the um the concerns
about synthetic fields and how we could
minimize them. And I really appreciated
that last chart that you pulled up
because that's what I wanted to add. I'd
just seen the the
first part of the deck. Uh because we
really did learn that synthetic fields
have improved a lot uh since the prior
field was installed.
That there's less shedding of blades
that we can and have plans to implement
technology to mitigate the shedding of
blades to keep them out of our storm
water drains. And also there's field
sweeping. We have the drain hats and
socks that you described. Um, also that
we'll contract for turf that doesn't
contain PAS and can do the testing to
confirm that. Um, we'll use only organic
infill that does not add to or
contribute any plastic content and that
these new fields are apparently cooler
than the old synthetic fields. So, while
I think we all still had some lingering
concerns, they're much lesser than they
were before we went into this deeper
dive. um and much lesser than prior
iterations of synthetic turf. Um but we
also drilled down on field usage um and
the results that were reported out uh a
few minutes ago by Miss Robustelli and
there was just no way to replace the El
Camino fields with grass without
displacing huge numbers of players. And
that's troubling for the reasons that
many of you have articulated. Um, so we
made the recommendation to replace the
El Camino field with synthetic turf this
year. But going forward, as was
mentioned, we are directing or we
recommend that council direct staff to
explore ways now to transition away from
future replacements with turf uh by
seeing if we can increase playing hours
on other fields. Uh so starting with
this enhanced grass pilot to see how
many additional hours playing hours we
might be able to get out of a natural
grass field that could be iterated. Um,
and then also it was mentioned as that
third item, continue to explore
opportunities to transition from
synthetic turf at Cberly because that's
the next one up and I think it's 28 uh
when that's coming up and we have a
little runway and we can look at options
uh including the hybrid turf that I've
mentioned from time to time and that's
something that is also evolving and
whereas it has much greater wearability,
playability than um grass in in in the
winter. Uh all grass, it's still largely
grass and so it has much less um content
uh that's not the natural growing grass.
Right now, most of those are synthetic
the the the hybrid part of it. So you'll
have, you know, it's it's it's depends
on the vendor and and installation
techniques, but you know, 60 80 some
percent of natural grass with um uh
right now synthetic grass blades in
there that will grow around, but they're
piloting ones that are all organic. So
even if the uh the other parts of the
hybrid aren't um growing, they are they
are organic and non-synthetic. So that's
something that uh we could also explore
between now and then and see if some
combination of that yields enough
playing hours that we can avoid doing
that in a couple years. So that's not
before us tonight, but I did want people
to know um that that's the direction is
to to explore uh a transition as we move
forward that would
if we can pull it off allow us to have
our cake and eat it too. So, um, that's
my, uh, report, but, uh, Council Member
Lowing.
>> Yeah, thank you. Uh, that was very
» Yeah, thank you. Uh, that was very
thorough and almost had these folks
sitting in our ad hoc committees. Um,
and the point of this all was that as
you know, we moved [clears throat] to
continue this item till it's called a
date uncertain, which is now uh,
tonight. Uh and the fundamental reason
for that was that we just didn't have a
uh comprehensive set of data uh from the
consultant on all these issues that
you've heard about uh to make a fully
informed decision on this really tough
issue. Uh and that's why we said let's
take a few weeks and get the answers to
that so that we're fully informed on
being responsible in these decisions.
You know, there there are a number of
big gaps and you've you've heard about
some of the ones that we've that we've
looked at. Um, so we want to take a
deeper dive and that's exactly what we
did. Um, one of our local news sources
said that the council punted on this
issue. Um, that is completely incorrect.
Um, since we're in the playoff season,
I'll stay with the football analogy. Uh,
it was more of a timeout on the field.
Uh, and in this case, you know which
field we're talking about. Um because
what we needed to do was just take that
time out and dig in and fill the gaps
and look at our playbook so to speak to
figure out even some of our own uh data
such as you know the the the pressure on
the fields particularly in the winter
months and the summer months. And so
there was just a very cooperative effort
uh at the end of the year between staff
and and the ad hoc back and forth with
as you know the first first ad hoc
meeting starting a week after we made
this this motion uh and as we're getting
ready for the holidays. So uh because of
that we didn't quite make a December
return but we're here but we're here
now. Um, and you saw the the the summary
items and particularly the items that
were um um sort of incremental to what
we were talking about the other day and
that was uh you know the mitigation
measures and a full understanding of the
cost assumptions during a life cycle. Um
the the consulting report was a little
bit um uh missing on that. uh obviously
the field usage uh and then as uh the
mayor just said these um uh
possibilities for what can we do going
forward on other kinds of of turf as
well as uh how how can we get this uh
actual natural grass field going. So
that's the comm the motion you see is
committed to all of that. And then in
the interim another sort of benefit of
the process I think for the council is
that uh we heard from a massive number
of of citizens that we hadn't heard from
before. Uh a large proportion of the
emails that we got were actually from
parents of youth that uh used El Camino
specifically. Um and they were all
asking us to retain the turf so that the
winter season didn't have to be
scrapped. Uh it was sort of
it was as simple as that and our our
field study as that you just saw on this
slide uh said the same thing. Uh we also
got uh a number of emails from from
doctors saying that the current
generation of of uh turf products is is
definitely way better. Do we have
further to go? Yeah, we do. Um but also
emphasized in those same letters that
mental health is as important as
physical health. And so these particular
doctors that wrote in uh were were
supportive of this. Um so I think
overall the ad hoc believes that the
current staff report which we
effectively helped uh get that new staff
report ready um you know represents a
balanced approach on a a controversial
item that doesn't have 100% answers but
um we know you know a lot more than we
did um you know eight weeks ago and are
comfortable with the recommendation.
Thank you.
>> Thank you, Council Member Bert.
» Thank you, Council Member Bert.
>> Yeah, thank you. Um, so just
» Yeah, thank you. Um, so just
supplementing
uh the comments of my colleagues, uh, I
I want to say that as as um, our mayor
and and the staff have noted. Uh what we
have are looking at now in the El Camino
Park artificial turf is uh a far better
product than what we have historically
had and most communities have
historically had. Uh we had already uh
changed the uh the filler materials from
uh
from uh uh uh rubberized materials to
cork uh even at the Mayfield location.
And that not only has um an
environmental impact, it has a health
impact because of volatile organics that
were uh being um emitted from those
materials. And it has a very significant
heat impact. Uh and that was one of the
things we hadn't even talked about at
the council that we ended up uh digging
deeper into the committee at the
committee level. And um it goes from
very significant heat differential for
artificial turf to something closer to
much closer to uh natural turf. Um, but
I I really came into that process
wanting to um have answers on
do we have to have artificial turf at El
Camino in order to meet the playing uh
playability me needs, the user needs and
the data that we got really proved to us
that we do. And then second, can we to a
great degree mitigate the environmental
health and safety impacts of the
artificial turf? And as been noted, the
progress in the materials is has gone
forward on the on the uh filler. Uh now
on the blades um we had real significant
concerns because a lot of uh these
earlier materials had POS materials and
in fact even today many or most of them
P do uh but we're going to have um not
only materials that the supplier is
asserting uh will be POS free but that
we are going to do testing on. Correct.
>> Great. Um and then we had a concern that
» Great. Um and then we had a concern that
we realized about runoff from
nanoplastics which is not insignificant.
And that's where uh the presentation
showed a bunch of um uh actions we're
going to take to filter the runoff
materials which we didn't even think of
as either a primary problem or that it
could have a a strong solution maybe not
a perfect one. Um, so out of this
process, we're going to have uh better
fields at El Camino than we would have
otherwise. And so I think uh it not only
has led to good decisions, but it's
actually led to better actions. Thanks.
>> All right. Thank you. Um,
» All right. Thank you. Um,
are there any other council members who
wish to comment before we go to public
comment?
All right. Seeing none, uh, Madame
Clerk, how many public commenters do we
have?
So, without the approximately 10 or so
hands that additional hands that were
raised on Zoom, we have 30. So, um I'm
assuming about 45.
>> All right.
» All right.
>> Once I add the Zoom, uh comments in.
» Once I add the Zoom, uh comments in.
>> Okay. Thank you so much. So, we're going
» Okay. Thank you so much. So, we're going
to go with a minute each. Um what I want
would encourage you to do is um if you
agree with Bob who just spoke, you can
let us know that. Um we we uh we hear
the same thing over and over. We lose a
little focus sometimes. So, you can use
up your full minute, but if you want to
add on to to others, that's fine. Uh,
one just reminder, um, if you agree with
something someone said, that's that's
great, but we don't allow any audible,
um, acknowledgement of that. We want to
keep it safe for all speakers of
differing viewpoints. If you want to let
us know, you can do the sign language
like this if you're applauding, but um,
we just encourage you no no clapping or
or or uh, vocalizations in response. Um,
that said, the clerk will uh call the
names of the speakers in the order in
which they've signed up, and she'll let
you know who's next so you can be ready
to please come on down so we can move
through this quickly because we want to
get through uh to the actual uh council
deliberations tonight. So, there we are.
All right. So, Madame Clerk, if you
would take over and and and call our
public speakers for being here.
>> Our first speaker is Manny D. As the
» Our first speaker is Manny D. As the
mayor noted, you have 1 minute to speak.
The timer is on the podium. And for
those that are speaking on Zoom, the
timer will be displayed on the screen.
Our first speaker, Manny D.
» Did you say Manny?
» Uh, good evening. My [clears throat]
name is uh Manny Diaz. I'm a consultant
for um Tikcake Grass. They're the global
artificial turf manufacturer in the
world and I have a letters here we have
previously submitted and first of all I
wanted to thank staff and the study that
you folks have done. Uh a lot of
improvements have been done on
artificial turf and right now uh Tucat
is is probably the leading researcher
dealing with artificial turf and we
actually have a product at PAS free
since 2023.
We also have the product that doesn't
have infill which is the concerns that
many had raised before. So significant
improvements have been made on this
product. So we recognize the concerns
that the community has on environmental
stuff. So, I want to thank you for for
doing the study.
I'll leave this letter here for for you
folks. Thank you.
>> Our next speaker is Angela D.
» Hi. Um I'm really pleased that your one
of your priorities um for this year is
the protection of the natural
environment and um I can hear that
you've done a lot of study on uh the
environmental impact of the um the turf
that um that is being proposed.
But I want to suggest that uh just
because it's a better product doesn't
mean that it's actually good for the
environment. And I also want to say that
I've been thinking that um uh even
though it's it's odd to me that even
though students um there are fewer
children in PaloAlto now um than there
used to be when we only had grass fields
that there's more of a demand. And I'm
not sure that maybe it's good for
students to be doing that many hours on
um of practice every um every week. Uh
maybe they could cut back on a little
bit
>> time is up
» time is up
>> of time on the field. Thanks.
» of time on the field. Thanks.
>> Speaker is Claire E.
Hi, my name is Claire Elliot and I'm a
PALA resident and a retired ecologist.
And there's plentiful evidence that
plastic is harmful to people and the
planet. Um there's the microplastics
that spall off, but and we've talked
about additives like PAS, but PAS is
only one of oh no thousands because
there are thousands of different
compounds that are PAS chemicals. Um but
there are many other additives that are
toxic that can leech out of the plastics
and then also be incorporated in the
material that breaks down in the
environment and become toxic to the to
the to the wildlife. So I am frankly
dismayed that we're still considering
plastic coating our parks with this
material. Um, it's
really not an environmentally sound
decision and I thought PaloAlto being a
city that generally makes
environmentally sound decisions. So,
it's disappointing. I think it's
extremely important that you formally
reject the flawed turfs study and remove
it from the website.
>> Your time is up.
» Your time is up.
>> Wow.
» Wow.
>> Our next speaker is Magdalena C.
» Our next speaker is Magdalena C.
Let's see. Just a reminder while you're
walking up, if if uh if you aren't able
to complete your comments and want to
send them in by email, if you haven't
previously, you're welcome to do so.
[clears throat]
» Good evening. My I'm Magdana from the
Venture neighborhood. I'm here tonight
one more time to plead with you to
reject the turf study and promise to run
a pilot study of grass turf here in
Panoalto so we can make a fair
comparison between plastic grass and the
real McCoy natural grass turf. There are
many studies that show there are more
injuries sustained by players playing on
artificial turf. Do we care? I do. Let
us not fall prey to yet another company
industry that is chasing the almighty
buck at our children's expense. History
has a long track record of corporations
telling the public either half-truths or
outright lies. Think Chevron. Think the
sugar manufacturers. Think the tobacco
industry and Monsanto with its glyph
phosphates. Let's not be conned. Please.
Lead Consulting has a serious flawed
analysis yet seems to be pushing this
product and why to sell more of it no
matter what. No matter the cost of
health to the environment or our
children. Think carefully what your
legacy is going to be before you make
your vote. Thank you.
>> Our next speaker is Andrea W.
» Good evening. I had something else to
say to try to convince you that
artificial turf is not the best product,
but you guys seem to have your mind made
up, which is a shame. I'd really rather
address all the kids and the coaches and
the parents here to say, I wish you
understood. We do not oppose soccer
fields. What we fear is that you do not
truly understand the hazards that you're
causing yourself in the environment with
the micro and nanoplastics that are in
your body in the environment in the
water you're drinking including the
chemicals. And it's only down the line
in the future that you're going to come
to realize that you've made a big
mistake by accepting all this plastic
and your health is going to be harmed
because of it. And I'm sorry about that.
I only wish you would push more for
grass and well done grass than really
worry about plastic fields. Thank you.
>> Our next speaker is Palo Alto Adult
» Our next speaker is Palo Alto Adult
Soccer League.
>> Good evening. My name is Travis Kelly.
» Good evening. My name is Travis Kelly.
I'm the current president of Palo Alto
Adult Soccer League. Uh we're a
nonprofit and one of the prides and joys
of Palo Alto since 1978. Uh serving men
and women ages 25 to 80 plus. Um, in any
given week, we rent and hold 20 soccer
games uh in the city of Palo Alto with
500 plus players, several hundred of
whom are PaloAlto residents. Uh, the
vast majority of whom are in support of
continuing with artificial fields. And
while we sincerely appreciate the board
and the committee's um consideration of
all the concerns and the issues, it's
our stance that the benefits of the
continuation of artificial fields
significantly outweighs the detriments.
Thank you.
>> Our next speaker is Jeff G.
» [clears throat]
>> Congratulations, Mayor Vinker and Vice
» Congratulations, Mayor Vinker and Vice
Mayor Stone, and good evening, city
council members. I'm here to support the
Haddock and staff recommendation.
Soccer's been a major part of my life
since I was five, and I'm I've been a
proud member of the Sierra Club for for
40 plus years. Mental, physical, and
social health benefits I personally
experienced and witnessed include
invaluable life lessons such as team
perseverance, dealing with setbacks and
winning gracefully, positive role
modeling, stress release, team building
and group interactions, lifelong kinship
and camaraderie, joy and fun. Couple
more thoughts. Adult leagues and pickup
games offer a level playing field for
for uniquely broadened social
interactions, welcoming everyone from
CEOs to bottle washers. Uh if we don't
replace the turf at El Camino, this
won't stop or significantly reduce uh
youth or adults from playing soccer. It
will increase the environmental
footprint with more lengthier car trips,
reducing bike trips, traffic congestion,
and will increase etc. Looking forward
to all the comments from all the the
kids that are here tonight and thank you
for your consideration here.
>> Our next speaker is Omar Z.
Uh hello, my name is Omar Zabi. I'm in
seventh grade at Green Middle School.
I'm here today to support keeping the
turf field at El Camino. Turf [snorts]
fields support our sport activities the
whole year, especially in winter. This
is very important to our mental health.
And I remember when Mayfield was closed
and and I had to um and El Camino was
totally booked, I was down with very bad
mood that affected me at school. Dirt
fields aren't the place where sports h
where sport happening only. It's the
place where a lot of families use when
grass fields and parks are closed.
Lastly, the injuries in grass fields
um grass fields. We totally appreciate
the work of the city and parks, but man
maintaining grass fields in Pawoto is a
big challenge. And also in Pawoto
um and all grass fields have a lot of
holes that created a lot of injuries. In
addition, grass fields for some kids
create skin allergies which never
happens in turf fields. I'm going to
need you to wrap up quickly, but go
ahead. You can finish your sentence.
>> All right.
» All right.
>> Thank you.
» Thank you.
>> Thank you very much.
» Thank you very much.
>> Our next speaker is Robert F.
» Good evening. Uh my name is Robert Fitz
William. Uh proud parent here in Palo
Alto. I have been an AYSO coach to many
kids throughout the years. uh some of
which have gone on to play in college,
my son being one of them. That would not
have been possible if they didn't have
the opportunity to play and practice
in the fall, late fall and winter
periods. The turf fields gave that
ability uh for them to do that and hone
their skills. Um, as a person who also
played in Palo Alto adult soccer leagues
in the evening times uh in the winter
periods as well, that has been helpful
for me and I encourage you to continue
to keep the turf fields. Thank you.
>> Our next speaker is Adriana F.
Dear city council, my name is Eison
Regade and I'm a soccer player. I think
that the city of PaloAlto should keep
the fields of El Camino as turf. One
main point on why the fields should say
turf compared to grass is accessibility.
If there are weather problems such as
rain, grass fields won't be usable while
turf fields would be fine. To add on to
accessibility, it'd be much harder to
take care of grass fields shown with the
example of the grass fields of Greer
Park. Another main concern is safety.
And I can assure you that as a player,
turf fields are much safer than our
grass fields. On turf fields, it is
safer due to its evenness, whereas grass
fields such as JLS can be very bumpy and
have dangerous potholes. Overall, in my
opinion, turf is better for having fun
accessibility wise, and most
importantly, safety. Thank you for your
time.
Our next speaker is an L.
Um, hello. My name is Amana and I am
currently been coaching at the Palo Alta
Soccer Club for over 10 years. Um, I
have four children that have come
through the club. Um, I have seen
firsthand how important access to
consistent safe playing surface is for
kids, families, and the wider community.
I understand there is concern regarding
the PAS plastics and surface that he
associates for turf fields. These are
all very valid topics. But in the same
hand, due to the increasing number of
grass fields that are shut down because
of weather conditions or lacking of
lighting when fields close, programs are
cancelled, seasons are shortened, and
kids lose opportunities to play, stay
active, and be part of the team. I
firsthand have seen over eight of my own
personal players that have torn ACL's on
our grass fields right now. Several
practices we have, they've rolled their
ankles just by passing a ball with zero
contact. Being on the turf fields, the
lack of um players getting injured is
better. Okay, thank you. Our next
speaker is Fernando L.
[snorts]
» [clears throat]
>> Hello. Uh, my name is Fernando. I would
» Hello. Uh, my name is Fernando. I would
like to speak in favor of keeping turf
at the El Camino fields. I have been
coaching in PaloAlto for over 10 years,
starting with AYSO, followed up by high
school and now with the Palo Alto soccer
club. In those 10 years, I have not once
had a parent come up to me and say, "We
are worried about the turf." In fact, it
is the exact opposite. The parents and
players want to be at the turf fields. I
have had more than one player confide in
me personally how important soccer is to
them and their mental health. And by
taking away a turf field at El Camino,
we would be affecting them mentally
because we are worried about their
physical health. So we are just causing
one problem and by trying to fix another
problem which does not uh make sense to
me. Also I was a player at El Camino
when it was grass and that field was not
wellkept um and we do not have good
grass fields. Thank you.
>> Our next speaker is Sarah W.
Good evening and uh thank you to
everybody for their public service. I'm
basically here in support of uh keeping
the turf field at El Camino. I do want
to I guess make it known that I do
understand that there are many other
concerns that people have. Um and again
as you on the ad hoc committee have said
you know we have to do the best research
we can and weigh the um options and I do
feel that the turf field option is the
best um and so I thank you for your time
and consideration.
>> Our next speaker is David L.
» Hi everybody. Thank you. I am also in
support of keeping the turf fields. I am
a soccer coach here in Palo Alto for the
last 10 years. I my entire livelihood
pretty much is based on coaching. So, um
for me, if we have restrictions to this,
this can affect um my unemployment. It
can affect my livelihood. Not to mention
what everyone has said um about the
players. And just a couple stats,
according to the CDC, 36% of kids
currently are obese or overweight. And I
think the last thing we need is more
kids being at home and looking outside a
rainy window and not being able to play
soccer. That was actually one of my most
hard traumatic experiences was one of
our tournaments being cancelled because
of the rain. And uh if we had turf
fields at that time that wouldn't
happen. So I think the benefits
definitely outweigh the risk and we run
a lot of tournaments here in PaloAlto
which we wouldn't be able to do without
the turf. Thank you so much. Our next
speaker is Jeff H.
» Good evening, mayor and [clears throat]
council members. Uh my name is Jeff
Herman. I've been coaching for about 20
years. I'm a coach here at Palo Alto.
I'm also director of coaching in Valo,
California. [snorts] Um I've worked in
communities with abundant resources and
I've worked in communities without them.
And I can tell you the difference shows
up in kids. Uh when there isn't quality
field space, kids lose more than
practice time. They lose joy. Coaches
are forced to cut games, cut creativity,
and cut connection.
Soccer is one of the last spaces where
kids consistently show up together after
school, away from their phones, to move,
to laugh, to struggle, and to grow side
by side. It's where friendships are
formed and confidence is built and kids
feel like they belong. Thank you.
>> Our next speaker is Nicholas CR.
Hello, my name is Nicholas Cortez and I
am a current SPSA and Palto soccer
player. I'm also a senior at Henry Gun
High School. Um, I am currently in the
process of taking my soccer level uh to
college and this would not have been
possible without having the proper
facilities and being able to play on
these turf fields we have in Palo Alto.
Uh, soccer has always been a fundamental
part of my childhood as like many kids
in this community and all over the world
and I feel taken away these turf fields
and the possibilities from future
children. I just remember over the last
few months not having that Mayfield
complex took away a huge part of who I
feel I am and didn't give me the
opportunity to let loose of stress and
soccer has always been the way I
um help myself go through different
challenges I have in life. It's always
been my output and I feel taking away
this possibility from future children is
a negativity.
>> Our next speaker is LCP.
» Hi, my name is Elsie and I'm a Palatoto
resident and I played for Palto Soccer
Club from first grade until graduating
high school. I've continued my soccer
career and I'm currently playing
division one soccer at the University of
San Francisco. Um, year-round access and
reliable highquality fields in Palo Alto
played a huge role in my development and
the ability for me to reach my goal.
When I was younger, the nearby fields in
Palto made it easy for me to bike to
practice while my parents were at work.
That accessibility was extremely
important to me. If practices required
traveling outside of Palo Alto, it would
have been much harder for me to show up
consistently. El Camino is a vital
resource used daily by hundreds of young
kids and athletes. Switching to natural
grass would likely cause frequent
closures due to wear and maintenance,
which would reduce access for many kids
in the community. Although I appreciate
the city's environmental goals and
concerns, it is important to consider
the impact on youth development and
accessibility. Thank you.
Our next speaker is James S.
Hi, I'm James. Uh, I'm a current college
soccer player, but I played on the Powto
fields for 15 years. Uh, I think that
whatever small environmental changes
might come from the grass fields do not
justify taking the opportunity to play
away from 500 to a,000 kids who really
enjoy that time playing soccer. And also
having played on both uh poorly
maintained grass fields and turf fields,
injuries are much more common on grass
fields because they're bumpy, they're
uneven, they're slippery, and turf
fields are much more like easy to play
on uh and much less likely to get
injured on a turf field. Thank you.
>> Our next speaker is Rodrigo B.
Hi, good evening. Um, my name is
Monnique Palifox and I actually took uh
Rodrigo's speaking turn. Um, thank you
for allowing us the space and the time
to come and share our thoughts. My son
Eli has played for PaloAlto SVSA club
for about 4 years now. Prior to that,
he's been playing soccer since he was 5.
He's about to be 18.
Recently, um about a year ago, while
playing on a grass field in a
tournament, he broke his ankle.
Um his ankle got caught in a hole on the
grass field as he was running up, got
caught, broke his ankle. He was out of
the sport for over 6 months. It affected
him mentally. It affected him
physically. Um, and I really don't want
anyone else to have to go through
anything like that. It was very hard as
a parent to see that, to go through it
with him.
And I feel that sometimes grass fields
tend to have less maintenance.
>> Your time is up.
» Your time is up.
>> So, I would just ask that you consider
» So, I would just ask that you consider
keeping the turf fields. Thank you.
>> Our next speaker is Cynthia F.
Plastic starts polluting the water cycle
from the moment it's manufactured. This
pollution continues throughout usage and
for many years beyond disposal. This is
part of the reason a reduction in
plastic production is being pursued as
part of the global plastics treaty that
hundreds of nations are working hard on.
Unfortunately, progress is stalled by
industry and our own federal government.
So, to help reduce pollution of the
water cycle, it is very important
communities work at the local level to
voluntarily reduce plastic consumption.
We have to normalize making do with a
lot less plastic, and we can make do
without plastic grass. The sacrifice is
relatively small. Converting El Camino's
plastic field to real grass, would per
the staff report require only 570
people, which is less than 1% of
PaloAlto residents to shift to other
activities and for only a few months
during rainy season in order to benefit
100% of residents by helping reduce the
microplastics in a shared essential
resource, drinking water. It's time to
improve the playability of Peloto's
grass fields and El Camino to real
grass. Thank you.
>> Our next speaker is Robin P.
Hello mayors and city council members.
My name is Robin. I'm 14 years old and I
live in Palato. Thank you for giving me
this chance to speak today. For students
like me who train seriously. Being able
to practice year round is extremely
important. Turf fields make this
possible. During the winter when it
rains, turf fields allow us to keep
training instead of cancing practice for
weeks at a time. Without turf, it's much
harder for players to improve and stay
motivated. By supporting turf fields,
you are supporting young athletes like
me, helping us continue to grow, learn,
and pursue what we love. Thank you very
much for listening.
>> Our next speaker is Wendy L.
» Good evening. Thank you for giving me
the opportunity to speak. I'm here today
to express my support for turf fields.
I'm a mom of two boys who play soccer
here in Palter.
The student who just spoke is my son
lobbying.
From a mom's perspective, soccer is more
than a sport. It helps my children stay
healthy, focused, and confidence. Our
family moved from Laning Seattle to
Palato three years ago because we wanted
more opportunities for our kids to be
active and grow through sports. Fields
like Camno Park are a big part of what
makes Palato such a great place for
families. Turf fields make a real
difference for families like ours. When
it rains, grass fields are often closed
and the practices are cancelled. Turf
fields allowed kids to keep playing.
>> Thank you so much.
» Thank you so much.
Our next speaker is Adam O.
» Hi, my name is Adam Olsen. I'm a
longtime resident of Palo Alto who had
two kids who played for AYSO and Palo
Alto soccer club. I'm here to advocate
um maintaining the artificial turf field
at El Camino. I my favorite speaker so
far was one of the players James S, who
pointed out that the infinite decimal
change to the environment is uh worth
paying that price for the benefit of
thousands of people. And it the idea
that you would close the field for for
months on end for such a small benefit
um strikes strikes me a as really weird.
Also the patronizing speakers who think
that we're too dumb to understand this.
I'm a professor in public health and um
look how healthy the soccer players look
versus the people who spoke against the
soccer fields.
Our next speaker is Pete C.
» Hi, Mayor and Council members. I'm Pete
Chen. I'm the current regional
commissioner for Paloto Ayso, a
volunteerrun soccer organization that
has been here in Palo Alto since the
late60s. I believe we're one of the
oldest and longest running sports
organizations here. [snorts] on behalf
of our organization and the thousands of
children who have grown up playing
soccer here, myself included. I am uh I
I grew I was raised here in Palo Alto
playing soccer and many other sports.
I'm currently a parent and a coach uh
with the organizations and we fully
support the effort to improve our turf
fields here. It's it's vitally important
that we provide these opportunities for
kids today, kids in the future. Um the
health risks that we've talked about, I
think we've we understand that most of
the complaints I get actually uh
concerning health and safety issues tend
to uh tend to uh be about the the grass
fields, about the holes that some people
mention, about bald spots, about poor
irrigation inconsistencies. We
understand we love grass when it's
consistent.
>> Thank you very much.
» Thank you very much.
>> Our next speaker is Natalie S.
Uh, hi. I'm Natalie. Thank you for the
opportunity to speak today. Um, I'm a
student at Johns Hopkins University. I
play soccer there. Um, I grew up playing
on El Camino and Mayfield for my entire
life. Um, and I'm also like a premed
student and a neuroscience major and I
think it's like very important to
maintain public health and to reduce
plastic in the environment. Um, I think
that there are just like endless other
ways to do that. And I think the ben or
the drawbacks of taking away fields from
so many players and the like physical
impact on not playing soccer for so many
months and not being able to have this
time outside would just um totally
outweigh the like benefit to the
environment and to their physical
health. Um, and yeah, I think it would
be uh devastating for the community if
um there was no field to play on for
that many months of the year. Thank you.
>> Our next speaker is Linda HK.
» Linda, you should be able to unmute
yourself and speak.
Hello, my name is Linda Hutchkins Nolles
and I'm the co-founder of Mothers
Outfront Silicon Valley. Our
organization comprised of mothers and
allies working for a livable climate for
all children supports returning the
fields at El Camino to natural grass
fields. This is because it's better for
children's health, better for their
safety, better for the environment, and
better for the climate. We ask you to
listen skeptically to the claims of the
industry similar to the cigarette
industry that this product is safe. It
is patently unsafe as has been
documented by many health professionals
who have written in requesting the Santa
Clara County to ban artificial turf. The
industry is one of the most powerful
lobbyists on the planet. This is the
prochemical industry and I would expect
more of the Palo Alto city council than
to be hoodwinkedked by the greenwashing
of this industry. You have been climate
champions. Please continue to be climate
champions. Please insist that all the
grass fields be maintained so children
can play on safe grass fields. Thank
you.
>> Our next speaker is Nicole L.
Hello, I'm Nicole and I'm a student and
throughout high school I've played on
several outdoor sports, but um more
specifically uh I'm speaking for my
friend who has played soccer all of her
life and she um she grew up playing on
natural grass fields, but going into
high school we only had artificial turf,
so she didn't have a choice. And the
first year that um she played on
artificial turf, she got three
concussions even though she didn't
change her um playing style
significantly. And the reason is because
artificial turf even though um it people
are saying that it's not really that
different. Um, she can attest, and a lot
of my friends in high school can also
attest, that artificial turf is not um
any better for athletes than natural
grasses, which I suggest you switch to.
» Our next speaker is Andrea V.
Hello, my name is Andrea Ventura. I
represent an organization called Clean
Water Action and our hundreds of members
in PaloAlto. I want to clarify two
things that have been said that are
absolutely false. One is that the
environmental impacts
um are minor. We are talking about huge
problems related to off-ging, plastic
pollution um and other problems that
affect public health. But most
importantly, my expertise is around PAS.
And there is no such thing as PAS free
artificial turf. What manufacturers will
tell you is they don't use PAS to make
the actual product. But what they're not
telling you is they cannot make that
product um without using PAS in the
machinery to extrude the blades. So that
plastic which is already problematic is
going through pre PAS and I work in a
coalition of national
>> your time is up.
» your time is up.
>> There has never been p uh artificial
» There has never been p uh artificial
turf that has tested negative for PAS.
It's a it's a lie.
>> Your time is up. Our next speaker is
» Your time is up. Our next speaker is
Laura F.
Mute.
>> Hello. My name is Laura Fay. I urge the
» Hello. My name is Laura Fay. I urge the
council to reject the installation of
plastic surfaces for health,
environmental and safety reasons. In the
staff presentation today, the level of
PAS was not actually reported, just that
it is quote tested and manufacturer
verified unquote. Respectfully, this is
a contentfree statement as trust in
industry self-reporting is incredibly
low uh and untruthful as the earlier um
speaker mentioned. With respect, I'm
stunned uh hearing from parents that are
willing to expose their children to the
health and heat hazards of artificial
turf in the face of well publicized
scientific findings linking PAT to
cancer and endocrine disruption. The
youth have little perception of the
risks they are exposed to. Let's hope
that these young people don't pay with
health complications down the line. If
the council does vote in favor of
installing artificial turf, I strongly
urge the council to mandate highly
visible safety warnings alongside the
turf fields. Much like Prop 65, labeling
these warnings should
parents and children to the human
hazards of the exposure of PAS. Thank
you.
>> Our next speaker is Leanne M.
As a soccer mom, I support real turf.
With petrochemical plastic turf, there's
one crucial orbe accidental filter
that's getting overlooked. The kids that
play on them. Our kids should not be
filters for the microplastics, other
toxins, or excessive heat from plastic
turf, especially when they have no
choice where they play. But at this
moment, [clears throat] you and only you
have the choice of what sports surface
they play on and what they're exposed
to. Sports families supporting plastic
are relying on a wholly incomplete staff
report. Kids supporting plastic don't
understand what they're supporting and
they should not have to bear the burden
of that knowledge or resulting worry.
It's our duty of care to protect them
from the worry and the risk of toxic
exposures by exercising the
precautionary principle in times of
scientific doubt. Please earnestly
pursue real grass fields. Real grass and
soccer. It's not one or the other.
>> Our next speaker is Becky S.
Good evening, council members. This is
Becky from Ventura. I do uh agree with
the previous speaker. This should not be
a zero sum game and we should not be uh
asked to choose between two really poor
options. The staff report listed all the
mitigations that will be implemented to
make sure these materials don't degrade
into our environment. Would this
enforcement be akin to other monitoring
and enforcement boondoggles legion in
this city? The city has a poor track
record of accountability and code
enforcement. I don't believe we have the
moral high ground to say that we will
follow through and hold companies and
individuals accountable to make sure
that these mitigations are carried out
to the letter. You can just say no to
the installation of additional toxic
carcinogenic forever chemicals in our
playing fields and playgrounds like
Bullwear Park for instance. and and stop
the running off into our waterways that
drain into the bay. Tonight, you can
just say no to putting adults and
children at risk. You can say no to
contamination of our watershed. And I
did happen to pull like four sheds
pieces of grass off my granddaughter
when I put her in the bathroom. Your
>> time is up. Park. Okay. Thank you.
» time is up. Park. Okay. Thank you.
>> Our next speaker is Pam B.
» Good evening. Uh please do not approve
the flawed study and assessment as it is
now given uh all the questions and
concerns expressed by the council and
community at the last meeting. I
strongly support the natural grass pilot
project and hope that staff will
carefully consider who they hire as
natural grass consultant. I'd love to
know the name of the aronomist who
consulted with staff. I don't know where
evidence of less shedding with newer
turfs comes from when current warranties
for quote newer artificial turf is
warranted to lose up to 50% of the blade
height with more limited warranty for
high high use areas. There's a field in
San Jose with infill-free plastic turf
and full chunks are shedding off of that
field over the past year since it was
installed. So newer isn't always better.
Cork infill still gets hot. Please
install heat monitors on all of these
fields for player safety and install
signs that better inform players and
parents about the artificial turf health
concerns. Your time is up.
Our next speaker is Susan H.
» Good evening. I'm Susan Hinton, chair of
the Sierra Club Loma Pria Plastic
Pollution Prevention Committee. I want
to be forthright. Today we face a
climate crisis that is also a global
health crisis. Here in California, we've
seen the impacts. Wildfires, floods,
droughts, and extreme heat. We're also
seeing more disease appear. Plastic is
an enabler of these impacts. By
installing acres of multi-layered
plastics, we are actively and knowingly
contributing to this global decline. We
should ask ourselves what kind of world
we want our children to inherit. One
where ecosystems are diminished and
public health is compromised or one
where they can run on living grass, hear
birds, and watch pollinators at work.
Biodiversity supports both mental and
physical health. The choice is clear. Do
the right thing. Install plants, not
plastic. Thank you.
Our next speaker is Courtney J.
» Good evening. My name is Courtney
Jansen. I am a soccer coach and both of
my kids play competitive soccer. They
have played on a pelto grass fields at
Levit and right now they practice on the
artificial turf field at Fair Oaks Park
in Sunnyville. That field is a Gen 4
field which means it has all of the
improvements that were discussed today
by council members and in reports. And
let me tell you, it sucks. I have a long
list of reasons for why, but I'm going
to just pick two tonight. The first is
the infill. You heard organic infill.
Organic does not mean chemical free. It
means made of plants and then modified
to adapt. My kids come home from every
practice with their cleats and socks
with infill, which they then litter
around my house. Second, I heard a lot
of concern about artificial turf fields
being closed or not being closed. Fair
Oaks is closed right now for 6 to 8
weeks for renovations. So artificial
turf fields closed too. It's not just
grass. Please go with grass, not
artificial turf. Thank you.
>> Our next speaker is Ane D.
» Hi, my name is Anne Desai and I've been
a soccer player for 10 years. I'm urging
the city of Palo Alto to install
organically managed grass sports fields
and to replace the plastic at El Camino
Park with grass. While I do appreciate
the studies conducted by the council
members about the environmental impacts,
we have all collectively failed to
address the 58% increase of injury that
artificial turf has. I too have rolled
my ankles, broken my ankles, seen my
brother break his tibia, and witnessed
my teammates literally lose their soccer
scholarships because they've torn their
ACL's on artificial turf in the
wintertime.
All of the proponents of artificial turf
today have claimed that grass fields
have not been properly maintained, and
that is the root of the problem.
Speaking with my teammates and other
athletes, the general consensus is that
we would rather play on a
well-maintained grass field rather than
an artificial turf one. I believe that
the city of Palo Alto should focus more
on better maintaining its grass fields
rather than pushing this false narrative
that artificial turf is better. Thank
you.
>> Your time is up. Our next speaker is
» Your time is up. Our next speaker is
Sue.
» Sue, you should be able to unmute
yourself and speak.
» Uh, tonight I would like to present you
with one important fact about artificial
turf fields and cancer rates among young
people in Western democracies.
The countries that are most likely to
have both relatively low youth cancer
rates and relatively few artificial turf
fields for youth sports are the
following. Greece, low childhood cancer
incidents and very limited artificial
turf infrastructure compared to Northern
Europe. Ireland, low childhood cancer
incidents and a strong preference for
natural grass in schools and clubs with
relatively few artificial fields per
capita. Sweden and Norway both have
relatively low youth cancer incidents
compared to the US and both also have
relatively few artificial turf fields
for youth sports especially compared to
the US. The most recent global data show
that youth cancer incidence is higher in
the US than in the European Union as a
whole. Certainly correlation is not
causation but it is an important
correlation to take note of. Cigarette
companies used to claim that smoking was
safe even
are using doctors and smokers
testimonies and so-called science to
reassure the public. But we all know
what happened.
>> Your time is up.
» Your time is up.
>> Okay, that's it.
» Okay, that's it.
>> Our next speaker is Shrui G.
» Good evening uh mayor and uh council
members. I'm a palata resident, a mom to
a six-year-old who plays au soccer and a
volunteer with mothers up front and I
support for natural grass grass at
Elmeino Park. I want to address the
claim that PAS free or infill-free
artificial turf is good enough even
without PAS artificial turf is still a
plastic system that heats up sheds plus
microplastics and sends runoff into our
stormwater system ultimately towards
bailance one of our most sensitive
ecosystems. I also want to respond to
some of the concerns about year- round
soccer and mental health. Soccer is not
a sport that's just played in America.
It's played around the world and at the
highest level under FIFA and in leagues
like La Liga. The best players train and
compete on natural grass. I agree with
my fellow commenter previously AI who
mentioned about uh you know playing on
natural grass even in rain because those
fields are well designed and well
drained. So if families really want to
raise athletes in PaloAlto, we should
let kids play the way elite athletes
actually play on natural grass. This is
the most responsible long-term choice
for kids health and palo's values. Thank
you.
>> Our next speaker is Nick S.
» Hi there. I'm a Palo Alto resident, uh,
father of two who, uh, frequently use
the turf fields. I'm also, uh, in the
adult soccer league that uses the turf
fields. Uh, currently there are just no
substitutes for those. The grass fields,
uh, the previous caller was saying we
should play on grass. If we had super
nice grass fields like uh, Barcelona or
Real Madrid, that would be great, but
they do not exist. Um the turf fields
are invaluable for offering playing
time, the durability and just the
overall surface. It's it's better and uh
I think fewer injuries occur. The turf
field or the the natural grass fields uh
in Palo Alto are quite holy and ready.
Uh so I think it would be a travesty if
you removed the turf fields.
Our
next speaker is Vivvec K.
Hi, my name is Nha. I am a PaloAlto
resident and I play soccer for Palo Alto
soccer Club. I'm here tonight uh in
favor of the El Camino soccer field
remaining as a synthetic turf field.
Every single day I look forward to
having soccer practice. And no matter
what, I feel great after practice.
Without the turf field at El Camino
Park, my teammates and I will not be
able to enjoy the sport that is so dear
to us due to a lack of fields and grass
field closure in the winter months. The
turf fields in Palo Alto, especially El
Camino, is are invaluable to the entire
soccer community. Thank you. Our
next speaker is Ruchi R.
» Hi, my name is Ruchi R. I'm a Girl Scout
and also a soccer player and I'm in
support of um having real grass. While
it's true that artificial turf has
improved compared to older versions,
improved doesn't mean still safe. Uh
it's still plastic, still contains
chemical additives, and still sheds
microplastic. It also still heats up far
more than natural grass. All of this
means that it's not safe for soccer
players and it can create a lot more
injuries.
We should try to support the children
and our community and help them be able
to reach their full potential and that's
without injuries. So, I support having
real grass. Thank you.
Our
next speaker is Wen Jing.
Good evening, council members. I'm a
parent who lives in Palato and I have
two and I have two kids who both play
soccer here.
Actually, my oldest kid has played the
soccer for more than 10 years. I I I
appreciate the council's concern for
community health and the effort [snorts]
that went into improving fields like
Mayfield.
For by kids, soccer is where they run,
they breathe, and connect with friends.
When fields are unavailable, they don't
just lose practice, they lose joy and
routine. During the Mayfield
construction, children were pushed onto
extremely small, crowded spaces. They
were frustrated, bumping into each other
and unable to truly play and enjoy
soccer. That experience showed us how
long construction and the field and the
field closures affect families. Grass
fields can be
>> your time is up.
» your time is up.
>> Warm and slippery
» Warm and slippery
and sometimes increase the risk of
injuries.
>> Okay, I think that's Thank you.
» Okay, I think that's Thank you.
>> Our next speaker is Roham.
» Hi, good evening. My name is Rohan
Zammanian. I'm a physician and a father
of uh two children who are active soccer
players and have used all the fields in
Palo Alto. Um, as a physician, I
understand that there are health risks
to microplast plastics, to individuals,
and also to the community and the
environment. But the reality of it is
that all the comments that have been
made to some extent in uh associating
increased risks of cancer to just purely
microp plastics is is confounded. So
association is not causation. The second
thing I want to say as a physician is
that we all take actions that are risk
that have risks and have benefits. And
so we as parents of children who may
want to continue to play on turf
understand the risk of that and we'll do
our best to mitigate. So I commend the
community coming together. I appreciate
all the viewpoints that have been
expressed. I am for retaining and
improving turf fields in PaloAlto.
And that concludes public comment on
action item 13.
>> All right. Well, thank you, Madame
» All right. Well, thank you, Madame
Clerk, and uh I want to thank all of the
42 commenters for uh taking the time to
address us tonight. And hopefully for
some of the younger ones, they can sort
of see how communities make decisions
and struggle with tough issues. And I
want to commend you. I think this was
the best behaved group of large group of
public commenters we've had. Uh there
weren't outbursts. You all took turns.
So thank you for uh following the rules.
Uh
okay. So with that I'll bring it back to
the deis uh for any additional uh
comment from my colleagues.
All right folks I know some of you have
comments.
Well, in the meantime, I can ask Ah, we
have one. All right, Council Member
Rectal.
>> Yes, I'll take a shot. Um, I mean, youth
» Yes, I'll take a shot. Um, I mean, youth
sports, I think, are very important. It
helps with mental health, helps with
reducing anxiety, reducing depression. I
think there's so many good uh benefits
to it. And then the physical activity is
good for the growing body too. So, I
think youth sports is is very very
important. uh you know the best option
would be to have some type of natural
turf field but right now I don't think
that exists for some high use field like
El Camino. So I think we really do need
to push for a a pilot program natural
turf pilot program but that's going to
take a while to learn get up the
learning curve and we don't have time to
go through that learning curve while the
kids are sitting there waiting for the
grass to grow. So, I think in the short
term, we unfortunately have no option
but to go to the the artificial turf
field. There's been a lot of talk about
plastic exposure. You know, it's a crazy
world right now. There's plastic
everywhere, right? You go to the grocery
store, everything's in plastic. Uh, you
know, every toothbrush has plastic
bristles that you put in your mouth
every night. We have just driving in a
car gets exposure to microlastics.
uh you know uh rip vegetables like
carrots absorb microplastics and when
you even if you wash them off it's still
inside the carrot and same we have
microplastics all over the ocean. You
heat your fish there's microplastics in
it and so we have this huge microplastic
exposure and a turf field will probably
have some microplastic exposure but
there's no silver bullet. Even
eliminating that turf field still means
you're going to have a huge amount of of
of microplastic exposure. And so now
there's this procon. If you reduce your
microplastic exposure a little, but you
give up the benefits of youth sports, I
think that's a bad trade. So I I support
in the in the short term going to El
Camino putting the new turf in, which is
again, as Council Member Bert mentioned,
it has organic cork infield. would be
much cooler, much safer to people, much
safer for the environment. I think it's
so much better than we had even a few
years ago. So, I think even though it's
not perfect, I think that's the best
option right now.
» Thank you, Council Member Rectal. Can I
just ask a quick question of staff if
you know um when we think about where
youth play um they play at their schools
a lot and we [clears throat] are
obviously as a city aren't responsible
for those fields but do we know how many
of the PA USD fields are turf because
I'm under the impression that most if
not all are
if we don't know it's okay I was just
curious
>> um are you asking if they're artificial
» um are you asking if they're artificial
turf or natural artificial
>> synthetic artificial
» synthetic artificial
>> I don't have an answer to that. I
» I don't have an answer to that. I
believe at the high school level is
where there are some, but I don't know
how many.
>> Yeah, that that's what I was thinking
» Yeah, that that's what I was thinking
about. So, all right. Thank you. Um,
Council Member Lithcott HS.
>> Thank you, Madam Mayor. I want to first
» Thank you, Madam Mayor. I want to first
affiliate myself with the terrific
comments of my colleague, uh, Council
Member Rectal. I also want to say that
I, like a number of people on the day,
am originally a Midwesterner. Raise your
hand. There's four of us here who grew
up in the Midwest. And for the four of
us here who grew up in the Midwest, we
had snow that fell starting in October
or November and it lasted until April.
And that is why California sports teams
are better than those sports teams
because we can practice year round here.
And I have come to appreciate I I rode
crew for Stanford my freshman year here.
Came from the great state of Wisconsin.
Back east and in the Midwest, if you're
rowing crew, you row in an inside in a
tank during the winter. And in
California, you row in the bay.
And so, you know, having had that
personal experience, having listened to
countless youth and parents and coaches
and adults who play come in and tell us,
"This is something I do year round. It's
good for my body. It's good for my
mental health." Um, I have I I really do
appreciate that this is uh the ability
to be out there 24/7, 365 is a
competitive advantage for Californians.
It is what catapults us to the
scholarship opportunities, to the
admission opportunities, to the various
uh advanced leagues. It's it's part of
who we are. And um so having affiliated
myself with the comments about the
relative um uh existence of
microplastics from playing on a soccer
field versus the microplastics that are
there in our lives in general, which we
we all understand is a uh an a concern
we are better and better understanding
all the time. I am persuaded that um
eliminating these turf fields and
returning to natural grass um without
better without better natural grass
solutions that allow for year- round
play um is a step backwards when it
comes to our health and mental health.
So that's how I'll be voting tonight.
» Vice Mayor Stone.
>> Thank you, Madame Mayor. And I I I want
» Thank you, Madame Mayor. And I I I want
to begin by uh sincerely thanking the ad
hoc committee for the time, the care,
the ser the seriousness you brought to
this work. I know this is an incredibly
difficult Simon and you listen to
competing priorities and you produced a
recommendation that I think really
reflects a real desire to meet our
community's needs. also want to
acknowledge the many parents and and
coaches and young people who have spoken
about the importance of reliable
year-round access to fields.
The need is is real. It deserves to be
taken seriously. I also especially want
to acknowledge the the [clears throat]
young speakers tonight. I was incredibly
moved and impressed by your by your
comments and your words. I also I teach
high school during the day and uh I I
was just really impressed and also just
impressed by your ability to make your
argument without belittling or bullying
others. And sometimes you might see
adults do that. Don't do that. It's not
effective. Doesn't work on us. It
doesn't work on anybody. So keep doing
what you're doing. And you are just a
testament to young people and to to
soccer players all around. So I was
really impressed. Um,
now I'm going to give my position. No
need to boo me because you could already
tell the scoreboard you've already won
on this issue. But I'm going to explain
why after careful consideration, I can't
support the recommendation before us.
And and the primary reason is the Santa
Clair County Medical Association. They
represent over 4,000 physicians in our
county and they formally recommended
against the use of artificial turf on
sports fields and playgrounds and school
grounds uh in their December 4th email
to this to this council and it's in the
public record. Invite everybody to go
read it. And I just want to pause on
that for a moment because in my six
years on this council, I don't I don't
ever recall receiving a letter from the
Santa Clair County Medical Association
on any issue. This is not an
organization that weighs in lightly or
often or casually. And when they do, I
think we have an obligation to listen
because at at the end of the day, I'm
not a doctor or a scientist. This issue
is far more complex than simple field
access. I think it's a true public
health issue. And on this issue, I'm
going to defer to the health experts at
at the medical association. I found the
recommendation to be clear that
artificial turf is potentially harmful
to human health and the environment.
Natural grass is safer. It's a more
sustainable alternative, especially for
children. And their position was not
ideological ideological. It was grounded
in peer-reviewed research, life cycle
cost analysis, and a precautionary
public health framework. I won't restate
all the findings in that letter, but
again, invite you all to to read it.
It's in the public record from December
4th, 2025. [gasps] So, ultimately, my my
vote tonight is not against youth
sports. It's not against
access. I'm committed to dedicating all
the necessary resources to be able to
invest in natural grass fields that will
increase playable hours for our
community. According to our own uh our
own report, we have over 20 we have
about 20 fields that are severely
underutilized. I think we could be
dedicating these same resources to
finding ways to better utilize those
fields and and increase um increase
access to it.
I I ultimately don't think parks I I
think ultimately I think parks should be
places that promote public health, not
introduce new risks. And when our
county's doctors are telling us that a
proposed solution may do harm and offer
a clear alternative, I believe we have a
responsibility to choose that safer path
even when it's harder. And I I think
it's a false choice to say we are uh
that we're that we're choosing synthetic
turf and then youth sports over choose
natural grass. Um we are voting against
youth sports.
Sports will continue. I think we can
find better ways to be able to uh create
um create access to it. So for those
reasons and with respect for the work
done and the needs expressed can't
support the recommendation as proposed.
But again I can I can tell I'm in the
minority. So am looking forward to
finding ways that we can at least end
synthetic turf for future uses, truly
invest in these pilot programs and other
ways so we can make sure that this is
the last time that synthetic turf is is
used in PaloAlto and we can move towards
a more green sustainable solution in the
future.
>> Council member Lou,
» Council member Lou,
>> thank you. I ultimately align myself
» thank you. I ultimately align myself
with the ad hoc and comments from uh
council member lithotes and rectal.
I think it's clear that science is still
catching up to artificial turf fields.
Uh certainly there valid reasons to warn
or caution against this. There are other
recent studies and conclusions from uh
[clears throat]
uh groups including a recent study in
from the uh this is a m office of
environmental health hazard assessment
from California that uh draw much more
ambiguity and uh look at the mechanisms
from which you could actually expose
yourself to chemicals and microplastics
whether it's through inhalation
or ingestion or through skin contact.
And uh
the point is that there are other very
empirical studies that
ultimately show that we don't have a
clear conclusion and that some uh but
that some people do believe that there
is marginal risk. I think in the case
where the science around the actual
health impact is so unclear, we're
making a reasonable and prudent approach
that people can choose on the
environmental impact. The technology for
both natural grass and artificial turf
fields is improving uh seemingly uh more
quickly than I would have expected. And
so I think our approach to uh look
carefully at Cberly and run pilots in
the meantime is uh a really considered
and thoughtful option. Um I agree that
in the long term we'd love to have
highquality natural grass fields
everywhere. Uh and uh I don't see this
vote as really uh stopping us from
achieving that long-term vision in any
way. So I'd also be happy to make a
motion. It seems like the time.
» Okay. Yeah.
>> Yeah. I'll just make a quick comment
» Yeah. I'll just make a quick comment
before I'll return to you for that. Um
since there are no other lights on. Um
it's funny, Council Member Rectal, I
think you took the words right out of my
mouth in terms of uh I I agree with you.
I mean, plastic is not ideal and it's
not even good. Um but it's everywhere.
It's, you know, honestly, plastics in
our environment are a much bigger
problem than one turf field because we
do have it in all those places you
describe, not just our water bottles,
you know, computers, pens, everywhere.
Um
so similar to what I believe it was
Natalie um the Johns Hopkins
neuroscience student said there are a
lot of ways that we can reduce plastics
and we should um but switching to
switching one field uh to natural grass
at El Camino today is not going to solve
this giant problem. We need a much
bigger solution and our goal as uh
council member Lou just uh referenced is
to start down that path. Um so you know
the ad hoc's recommendation was
three-fold. Um, it was first to proceed
with replacing the existing synthetic
turf at El Camino with improved
synthetic turf, but second to pursue
this natural grass pilot,
but third to continue to explore
opportunities to transition from
synthetic turf at Cubberly. And I know
that that can give some of the same
people that are proponents of the
synthetic turf at El Camino some
heartburn, but we're trying to do it by
really looking hard at new technology
and looking at all of the fields as a
collective. uh in the city of Palo Alto
is providing enough playing hours. Now,
I do want to note though that you know
when we talk about some of the currently
underutilized fields, a lot of those are
grass that can't be used in the winter
time. So, that's where the bottleneck
happens and that's what a lot of these
folks are talking about wanting to have
um the the the playing hours in the
winter that council member Lithcott HS
was referencing. Um, so if we're going
down a path to explore transitioning
away,
I really look at this solution as having
two benefits.
One is that we're improving the
situation at El Camino. We're going to
have a a better synthetic turf field,
both from a playability standpoint and
from a a public health standpoint
relative to the current situation. And
we're going to direct staff to start now
to craft a course to transitioning away
from set synthetic turf while
maintaining playing time if at all
possible. So
I I don't know that uh uh Becky would
agree a public commenter would agree
with me on the totality of what I'm
saying, but I do agree with her that
there should not be only the two
choices. We really right now it is. So,
we need to do this tur synthetic turf
field, but we really want to ask staff
to help us find a third way. And so,
that's, you know, with a little runway,
we can hopefully accomplish that. So,
with that, and seeing no further lights,
I would entertain a motion. Council
member,
>> I'll move the ad hoc and staff
» I'll move the ad hoc and staff
recommendation.
>> Do we have a second?
» Do we have a second?
>> Second.
» Second.
>> Thank you, Council Member Lithcott HS.
» Thank you, Council Member Lithcott HS.
Any further discussion?
Council
member or Vice Mayor Stone.
>> Thank you, Madam Mayor. I I just I know
» Thank you, Madam Mayor. I I just I know
I don't have the votes to make any
changes to this. So, I just ask if you
can separate out the motion of
separating I guess then one from the
rest of the motion.
» Yeah, I think that's fine with us. The
clerk can do that.
>> Yes.
» Yes.
>> Yeah. I mean, I I got the nod from the
» Yeah. I mean, I I got the nod from the
movement.
Oh, sorry. Sorry.
For some reason.
>> Thank you.
[clears throat]
» [clears throat]
» All
right.
>> All right. So, we can go
» All right. So, we can go
>> voting on the voting on the first
» voting on the voting on the first
motion.
» Council member Lithcott Hayes.
>> Yes.
» Yes.
>> Council member Rectal.
» Council member Rectal.
>> Yes.
» Yes.
>> Council member Lowing.
» Council member Lowing.
>> Yes.
» Yes.
>> Council member Burton.
» Council member Burton.
>> Yes. Mayor Vinker,
» Yes. Mayor Vinker,
>> yes.
» yes.
>> Council member Lou,
» Council member Lou,
>> yes.
» yes.
>> Vice Mayor Stone,
» Vice Mayor Stone,
>> no.
» no.
>> Motion carries 61.
Voting on the second motion. Mayor
Vinker,
>> yes.
» yes.
>> Council member Lowing,
» Council member Lowing,
>> yes.
» yes.
>> Council member, um, sorry, excuse me,
» Council member, um, sorry, excuse me,
Mayor Vice Mayor Stone,
>> yes.
» yes.
>> Council member Rectal,
» Council member Rectal,
>> yes. Council member Lou,
» yes. Council member Lou,
>> yes.
» yes.
>> Council member Burton,
» Council member Burton,
>> yes.
» yes.
>> Council member Lot Haynes,
» Council member Lot Haynes,
>> yes.
» yes.
>> Motion carries unanimously.
» Motion carries unanimously.
>> All right. Thank you, Madam Clerk, and
» All right. Thank you, Madam Clerk, and
we will conclude that issue. Um, it is
time for our break. It is also 5 minutes
till 10. So, I would suggest this. Um, I
would suggest that we take a a short
five minute break. um that we come back
and do the public improvement
corporation um meeting because that's um
important and we should get that done.
But at that point, we're after 10:00 and
I would suggest that we um
defer [laughter] the the last action
item.
>> Second.
» Second.
>> Okay. Well, let's go take our break and
» Okay. Well, let's go take our break and
we'll come back and talk about it. Thank
you.
really. All right. So,
if you have any objection to uh moving
forward at this hour with uh the what
what are we doing? The public
improvement corporation meeting, let me
know. Um and or any objection to
deferring action item 15, let me know
now because I that is our plan. I'm
seeing no trouble. So, we will now
briefly recess the city council meeting
and call to order a meeting of the
public improvement corporation board.
The city council serves as the board for
the public improvement corporation
pronounced or the acronym pick. Uh
tonight we meet as the pick board for
the purpose of approval of the fiscal
year 2025 PaloAlto PIC annual financial
statements. The financial statements are
audited annually and require board
approval. For the record, city clerk,
would you please note that yes, all
members of the pick are present?
>> All right. Does staff have a
» All right. Does staff have a
presentation?
>> Yes. Let me ask our assistant director
» Yes. Let me ask our assistant director
of administrative services, Christine
Paras, to report for staff.
>> All right. Thank you. Um, the PIC is a
» All right. Thank you. Um, the PIC is a
nonprofit led by the city council that
enables the city to issue certificates
of participations or COP bonds debt to
fund capital projects. And the bylaws of
the pick require that the board meet at
least annually to approve these
financial statements. Staff is seeking
council the board's approval of the 2025
financial statements. They've been
audited by our external auditors MGO and
have a clean audit opinion. Um this is a
annual process requirement that the
board receive these audited financial
statements and any new issuance of debt
would be considered separately as part
of those respective projects and or
budget development.
The pick has three outstanding debt
obligations totaling 138 million
outlined on table one on packet page
364. The three debt obligations are the
2018 refinancing cops that refinance the
20 2002b downtown parking improvement
project and funds renovations of the
golf course. the 2019 Cal a parking
garage project and the 2021 public
safety building. And that concludes my
verbal comments on this item.
» Thank you. Um do we have any public
comment on this item?
There are no requests to speak and no
hands are raised on Zoom.
>> All right. Thank you. Do we have any
» All right. Thank you. Do we have any
questions or comments from board members
on this item?
All right,
>> Council Member Rectal.
» Council Member Rectal.
>> So, for this payment, it's it's like a
» So, for this payment, it's it's like a
bond. Can we accelerate effectively? Is
it callable bond or is it a fixed
payment period
>> for these coops fixed payments? Uh, not
» for these coops fixed payments? Uh, not
callable.
>> Okay. So,
» all right. Well, then may I have a
motion to approve the FY2025 annual
financial? I asked for public comment.
Yeah, we we we did public comment.
[laughter] I know you're new at the
time.
>> So move.
» So move.
>> Okay, we have a so moved. Do I have a
» Okay, we have a so moved. Do I have a
second?
>> Second.
» Second.
>> All right. Thank you. Any further
» All right. Thank you. Any further
discussion?
Seeing none, Madame Clerk, would you
kindly call the role?
Council
member Bert,
>> yes.
» yes.
>> Vice Mayor Stone,
» Vice Mayor Stone,
>> yes.
» yes.
>> Council member Lou,
» Council member Lou,
>> yes.
» yes.
>> Council member Lithu Haynes,
» Council member Lithu Haynes,
>> yes.
» yes.
>> Council member Rectal,
» Council member Rectal,
>> yes.
» yes.
>> Council member Lowing,
» Council member Lowing,
>> yes.
» yes.
>> Mayor Binker,
» Mayor Binker,
>> yes.
» yes.
>> Motion carries unanimously.
» Motion carries unanimously.
>> All right. Well, thank you, Madame
» All right. Well, thank you, Madame
Clerk. And uh we will now adjourn the
pick board meeting and reconvene the
council meeting. And we will now adjourn
the council meeting. I think I got that
all right. Okay. [laughter] Okay. Thank
you all. Good night.