[This transcript was generated automatically from audio using AI and hasn't been reviewed by a person -- it can contain mistakes, including plausible-sounding sentences that were never actually said. Treat it as a starting point, not a verbatim record.]

[10:05] Good evening.
[10:08] I enjoy that so much. I'm going to do it again.
[10:13] Welcome to the Milwaukee City Council meeting for Monday, December 8, 2025, the 368th and final day of my reign, and it's great to be here. It's great to have such a nice turnout both for our celebration of the time capsule installation and for the peaceful transition of power that is about to follow.
[10:43] We have no action out of closed session, there was no closed session.
[10:50] Can I get a motion to approve the agenda order?
[10:52] I'll make that motion.
[10:54] I'll second.
[10:55] Call in favor.
[10:56] I.
[10:58] We begin tonight with a presentation.
[11:02] A couple of weeks ago I had the opportunity to attend at Scout Hall, the Investiture of
[11:07] for Eagle Scouts this year, in Troop 1, here in Nil Valley,
[11:12] a great accomplishment.
[11:14] And tonight, one of our Eagle Scouts and Residents,
[11:18] Nate Lee, is here to be recognized.
[11:22] And I'd like to invite Nate up to the podium
[11:24] to tell us a little bit about his Eagle Scout project
[11:28] and his future plans.
[11:30] And I also want to acknowledge his parents
[11:32] who are dedicated scout leaders, his sister, who preceded him as an Eagle Scout, and his younger brother, who will soon follow.
[11:42] It's a tremendous accomplishment for the Lee family.
[11:45] So, Nate.
[11:53] Hello everyone.
[11:54] Like Mayor Burke said, my name is Nate Lee.
[11:57] I'm an Eagle Scout from Troop 1, and I'm here to be talking about my Eagle Project.
[12:02] So, for my Eagle Project, which is a requirement that all Eagle Scouts or Eagle Scout candidates must make,
[12:08] I partnered with the Mill Valley Little League to repair the third base dugout over an alto baseball field, which is behind Edna McGuire Elementary.
[12:18] And that is a field that I used to play on, so I had a deep meaning to me, and I'm really glad that I could work with the Mill Valley Little League.
[12:27] And then I also have,
[12:42] so during the actual project it took several months of planning and we had decided that we would remove completely the back wall of the dugout and the section of the roof that was rotting and replace it with brand new plywood apply a new paint layer and cover the roof with waterproofing to make the dugout safer and more appealing to play in.
[13:10] And then, unfortunately, the other three Eagle Scouts
[13:13] who I had the pleasure of participating
[13:17] in the Eagle Sairmonie with, Quingio in Ergon
[13:21] and Fin Crowley, are unable to attend,
[13:23] so I'll be talking a little bit about their projects
[13:26] on behalf of them.
[13:28] So, even in Ergon, he partnered with the University
[13:31] of San Francisco to turn reusable wood
[13:36] into sustainable owl houses for the owls to live in on campus, Fin Crowley partnered with the
[13:44] new village school for Kindergarteners to replace the original patio that had become very
[13:53] hot and apply shade structures to help the Kindergarteners during lunch and recess, and then
[14:03] shared several trails that bikers use often.
[14:09] That is all that I have to say.
[14:11] Thank you.
[14:12] Please, Nate.
[14:15] Please stay at the podium for a moment.
[14:20] You may get some questions or comments from Council members,
[14:23] starting with former Little League President Caroline Joaquin.
[14:28] I just want to say congratulations on such a great accomplishment
[14:32] and I really do appreciate that you chose also field to as your service project.
[14:37] It was desperately in need of attention and you just did an amazing job.
[14:42] So congratulations to you on this and just incredible and incredible accomplishment.
[14:46] Thank you.
[14:50] What have you been would you like to say anything?
[14:53] You love a scout.
[14:54] Yeah, I do love scouting.
[14:55] So my son is also an eagle scout and I'll say two things.
[15:00] Coming in Eagle Scout takes years and years and years of perseverance. It's really one of the truly the biggest
[15:05] accomplishments you can have. Twenty years from now, when you are applying for a job, if you put
[15:11] down that you're in Eagle Scout, people will notice, because it really is quite accomplishment
[15:16] and something that people remember. That's the first thing I want to say. The second thing is,
[15:19] there is nothing more nerve-wracking than being the parent of a potential Eagle Scout. You have to
[15:31] Okay, well, things have changed so every Eagle Scout when my son was trying to get it literally went up to within a week of their 18th birthday
[15:42] And you're just thinking about the 10 years that you've spent trying to get this far in the fact that they may not make it because they'll be a day late
[15:48] So anybody congratulations. Thank you.
[15:57] I'll just add in echoing my colleagues congratulations
[16:00] Congratulations, I think everything that you did on this project ties in with so much that
[16:05] we're about as a city, beautification, Caroline's efforts, all of our efforts as a community
[16:10] sports and getting outside, so congratulations and looking forward to what you do next.
[16:16] Thank you.
[16:18] Would you join us for a picture please?
[16:20] Could we get a picture with me?
[16:49] In
[17:02] my eagerness to get to Nate, I overlooked one important item on the agenda, which is that we are a journey in memory of local journalists and publishers Steve McNamara.
[17:13] And at this time, I'd like to invite anyone up who wishes to share a memory or a thought about Steve, so feel free.
[17:41] Hello, I'm Abby Wasserman, Homestead Valley, and former editor of the review magazine, Steve Beside's being publisher and all of the things he did for the Pacific Sun.
[17:55] He also was a freelance journalist as well and he wrote three or four articles for the review magazine or historical magazine here.
[18:08] He wrote about Janet DiJogo, long time kindergarten teacher, who now lives at the Redwoods, a beautiful insightful article about her and her accomplishments.
[18:18] He wrote an article about the journalism program at Tamil Pais High School and two other
[18:26] articles, but I also wanted to say that some of you may not know about the annual
[18:32] Millia Awards for Creative Achievement that we have, it's now 34 years old, and Steve
[18:40] was awarded for literary arts, Amelia Ward in 2010, and then after that he was one of the
[18:50] few people who after winning an award would come back and give service and attend the annual
[18:58] event, and he served as judge two times. The most recent time was this very year. He was a wonderful
[19:07] friend, he was a stalwart, honest, and supportive journalist, and we miss him very much,
[19:16] but he lived the most wonderful, eventful life with a wonderful wife, K, wonderful children.
[19:25] All grown up, whom I just had the pleasure of meeting. So, God bless him.
[19:44] Hi, and thank you. My name is very McCleain, and I'm a neighbor of Steve and K in
[19:51] Blightel Canyon, as well as the past president of the outdoor club and many other organizations
[19:56] in Marin County.
[19:58] I want to say a few words about our beloved.
[20:06] As a neighbor, he was outgoing, he was caring, he was elegant, insightful, we would
[20:14] have neighborhood parties and he would always open up the doors to their home.
[20:19] I have many fond memories of hearing his stories of his adventures.
[20:26] The life adventures around the world, and he and K have children that are global citizens.
[20:35] And it's because of that spirit and inquisitiveness of who he was.
[20:42] So I just wanted to say, I was so sorry to learn of his passing.
[20:48] And wanted to just, again, remember all the wonderful things he did from Mel Valley as a neighbor.
[20:59] Because I know he was a great journalist. I know he did wonderful things, but as a neighbor.
[21:04] That's one of the things I find most gratifying about Mel Valley is neighbor goodness.
[21:10] So, thank you. Thank you very much.
[21:20] Thank you very much.
[21:20] Now we'll come to presentation number two and it's no surprise that our final volunteer
[21:29] All-Star of 2025 has freed herself from the rock out in front and is here to receive
[21:38] the honor of volunteer All-Star Pam Keon.
[21:47] Come on up Pam and then we'll read our proclamation in your honor.
[21:55] You don't have to announce who you are, we know who you are.
[22:01] Well, I will announce where I live because one of the things that's so exciting and such an honor
[22:09] about this is that I live outside of city limits and it really says so much about what a wonderful
[22:20] community we are as Stephen coined 9494 all and so this is really symbolic and I'm so deeply appreciative
[22:32] I have a few comments, I wanted to share that in October this year, I got contacted by Urban and by Joan Murray.
[22:44] They wanted to get together with me and they wanted to talk about volunteerism.
[22:48] I was like, great.
[22:50] I love talking about volunteers.
[22:52] I was so ready for this conversation.
[22:55] Then we were going to talk about the Ebb and flow of onterism in the United States and what
[23:02] good systems were for volunteerism and motivations and everything.
[23:10] I couldn't wait to dig in to this conversation with them.
[23:15] So we sat down at the depot, of course, and we chatted a little bit, and I'm ready to jump
[23:22] this conversation and then they completely, completely pull the rug out from under me by letting
[23:30] me know that I had been nominated for this award. And I was like the fish going,
[23:41] Mal kept opening and closing. I couldn't process it. How could this be? And when it finally got
[23:49] true to me, my eyes filled with tears.
[23:52] And I thought, I cannot believe this.
[23:56] I didn't see this coming.
[23:59] And when I think of all the incredible people
[24:02] who have preceded me in this honor, the amazing things
[24:08] I've done, and I'm looking at a lot of you out there
[24:10] right now, to imagine that somehow I
[24:16] had been identified as being similar in some way
[24:20] to these people just blew me away.
[24:25] Volunteering is something that has been part of my life
[24:28] since I was seven years old.
[24:31] And I've always thought, I can't believe they let me do this.
[24:38] I love volunteering.
[24:40] I love being part of things that are bigger than I am.
[24:46] I love giving back, I love working with other people to make our world a better place, and to me this is one of the really really important things about volunteering and about this award tonight.
[25:04] volunteering is not a singular activity. You can't really do it in isolation. It's something
[25:12] that you do in community and for anyone who gets something like this is identified in some
[25:21] way. There are so many other people out there who are also worthy of that kind of accolade
[25:29] attention. And one of the things that has been so meaningful to me in my lifetime is the relationships.
[25:42] The people that I have met through volunteering, the incredible friendships that I have created
[25:49] and that I treasure. I'm just, I'm looking out here and I'm seeing, oh, look there. They're all these
[25:55] people that I've had the opportunity to work with and to get to know, and I think if I were
[26:03] to design a perfect world, it would include the ability for everyone who wanted to be able
[26:11] to volunteer, to be able to give their time and their talent to work together with other
[26:20] people to make this a better place.
[26:26] So I am deeply, deeply moved, deeply honored.
[26:32] And I want to thank everyone that I have ever worked with,
[26:39] whether it was on a bond campaign or the 125th anniversary
[26:43] or a tutoring program or the energies or whatever it is.
[26:48] You have all enriched my life so much, so thank you very much.
[26:58] That
[27:01] was beautiful but I expect no less from you.
[27:05] So we're going to read a proclamation and then I'm going to invite my council colleagues to make some comments and then invite members of the audience to come up.
[27:13] This is the Pam Key on roast.
[27:17] You can sit down.
[27:22] So, a proclamation of the City of Council of the City of Mill Valley honoring Pam Keon as a volunteer all-star.
[27:30] Whereas, Pam Keon is devoted her life to volunteerism.
[27:33] Beginning at the age of seven, Pam volunteered at her elementary school, and as a camp, fire, girl,
[27:39] blue bird, where she found profound joy and purpose in serving others.
[27:44] And whereas Pam has enriched Milvalli's historical understanding through a previous work
[27:49] a secretary of the Milvalli Historical Society, participating in the collaborative development
[27:54] of several annual walk into history guides and training dosens to help educate the public
[27:59] about local heritage.
[28:02] Whereas Pam has applied her passion for local history by volunteering in the LaCrisha Hanson
[28:08] little history room at the Milvalli Public Library, and serving as a member of the city's
[28:12] historical preservation advisory group.
[28:15] She is also supported the Planning Commission
[28:17] and preserving significant historical sites,
[28:20] including the Mill Valley Lumberyard and the Depot.
[28:23] And whereas, Pam's leadership and emergency preparedness
[28:26] contributed to the establishment of the Tamal Pious Valley
[28:29] Neighborhood Response Group network in February 2020.
[28:33] A neighborhood-based initiative supporting preparedness
[28:35] and response to wildfires, earthquakes, the COVID-19
[28:39] pandemic and see level rise for approximately 2,500 homes in Mil Valley.
[28:45] Whereas the tap Pam strengthen the city's emergency preparedness efforts by becoming a member of the community emergency response team,
[28:53] cert, chairing the Southern Marin cert, steering committee and serving on the Southern Marin disaster council.
[29:00] And whereas in 2023.
[29:03] PAM became a commissioner and vice chair of the Tamil quiet community services district parks and recreation commission
[29:10] further contributing to her community through service and.
[29:15] Whereas as a dedicated volunteer with the threshold choir, PAM generously gives her time each week to sing at the bedside of hospice patients.
[29:25] Offering comfort and compassion, and whereas, in her current role as community service director
[29:31] for the outdoor art club, Pam manages service initiatives, working alongside other board members
[29:37] to support local projects and community engagement, and...
[29:42] Where as?
[29:42] Over the past three years, Pam has served as the chair of Mill Valley's 125th Anniversary
[29:47] steering committee, providing thoughtful stewardship and planning a highly successful three-day
[29:52] celebration, complete with a community parade that brought residents together to honor
[29:57] Mil Valley's past and strengthen community.
[30:01] Now, therefore, be it proclaimed on the 8th of December 2025, the City Council of the City of Mill Valley, hereby recognizes the remarkable contributions of Pam Keon as a Mill Valley volunteer all-star. We honor her service to our library, neighborhoods, and community, and extend our heartfelt gratitude to Pam, who is always willing to lend a hand.
[30:52] I believe that sets the record for applause.
[30:57] I'm just going to kick it off with a brief comment that Pam Keon could run anything.
[31:03] She could run the UN. She could run general motors.
[31:07] She's chosen to apply her talents to our community and we are deeply grateful.
[31:12] One of the joys of working on the 125th was getting to know Pam and how she operates and how effective she is.
[31:20] So, without your leadership and energy and ability to build coalitions, it would not have happened, so thank you very much.
[31:37] I had the pleasure of meeting Pam in 2020 when we both served on the disaster council for Southern Marin.
[31:44] Doing all sorts of COVID activities and thinking about how we respond to wildfires, how we work across energies and certs and emergency preparedness commissions.
[31:54] And what you did with the 125th and all of these amazing volunteer leadership roles you've had are just absolutely incredible and so inspiring it inspires me to want to volunteer even more hearing everything that you've done.
[32:08] So I don't know if we can add on to the 26 work plan, annexing Pam's home so she can run into our council in the future into the city limits, but thank you for everything you do for us.
[32:22] I would just note that her childhood friend and our current supervisor, Stephanie Moulton
[32:29] Peters, could make that happen.
[32:39] Pam, before I thank you, I wrote down some notes because I just think you're incredible.
[32:47] But I also wanted to thank you for leading off with such beautiful sentiment about volunteering.
[32:53] and you really did speak from the heart and given everything that you have done for our community.
[32:59] This is really a well-deserved recognition.
[33:02] So I want to thank you for all the countless hours behind the scenes for bringing people together and our community together.
[33:10] And that's really what is at the heart of No Valley.
[33:13] And you've shown so much what can be accomplished when one person steps up and says,
[33:17] How can I be of help? And I'm so glad you asked who's planning the one twenty-fifth.
[33:25] You certainly know the right questions to ask.
[33:29] But I also want to say that your dedication has helped create celebrations and initiatives that
[33:36] not only mark milestones for a mobile and a history, but also deepen our connections to one another.
[33:42] And for that, I think that a lot of us are very grateful for everything that you do.
[33:48] So thank you very much, and I look forward to working with you over the next years.
[33:59] I want to start by saying I'm so happy that we have this traditional and city council that we acknowledge people like Pam and our community.
[34:06] So we've done this now eight times, and every one of the people has been somebody that's been remarkable.
[34:11] Somebody who's made a tremendous contribution, and you can honestly say,
[34:15] Mill Valley would not be the same city without them, and Pam, that's certainly the case for you.
[34:20] The point of doing these are one to thank people and to provide acknowledgement.
[34:25] And also, secondly, referring to something that Pam said, to provide leadership for the next generation of volunteers in our city.
[34:33] Because this city really runs on its volunteers.
[34:35] The special sauce that makes Mill Valley the special place that it is.
[34:39] So Pam, I met you in March, 2022, the first time we were going to have a meeting to talk
[34:46] about the 125th and to tell you how long ago that feels like three, three, fifths
[34:53] of the City Council was not on the City Council at that time.
[34:57] Todd Kusumana was the City Manager of Quartamadera and John McColley was the mayor.
[35:02] So that was the long time ago.
[35:04] I came out of that meeting thinking you have enormously ambitious to do what you're trying
[35:11] to do because it wasn't just a celebration of the 125th.
[35:14] It was an enormous fundraising effort.
[35:16] It was a gift to the city.
[35:18] It was a year-long celebration, not just a day or a few days.
[35:25] And I'm walking out of this like they're never going to pull this off.
[35:27] This is impossible.
[35:29] But the one twenty-fifth year was remarkable in so many ways, and the three-day weekend in particular was just, it was just so well done.
[35:39] I couldn't believe how well it all came off. And that's all really thanks to you and the team that you pulled together, and the enormous love and care that you put into making it happen.
[35:50] You are enormously worthy of becoming a volunteer all-star, and you have truly enriched all of our lives, and for that we're just very grateful.
[36:02] Thank you very much.
[36:12] I'm one of those three fifths that was not on the City Council, and I had the pleasure meeting you right after I joined the City Council, so early 2026 when you're planning for the 125th was already underway.
[36:26] And my experience of the 125th is something that, you know, for those of you who were there,
[36:35] it was something you can't quite put your finger on, but you just know that it's created by someone
[36:41] and a group of people who have such a love, a deep love for Mel Valley, a respect for its history,
[36:49] and also for the future of our community.
[36:54] And so it's so clear that the work you've done,
[36:58] the work you've done with the Outdoor Art Club
[37:01] and establishing and for our history in Mil Valley.
[37:08] It's such a beautiful thing and I'm so in awe
[37:12] of all of the work that you've done
[37:14] and so appreciative of the 125th.
[37:17] So thank you.
[37:22] It's like to invite members of the public up to say a few words if they wish.
[37:28] Feel free, uh-huh, here comes Joe.
[37:36] What's your own memory?
[37:37] I know there is a much more that I can say that hasn't been said, but I want to give you
[37:42] an example of her dedication.
[37:45] So Pam got what, COVID, COVID, just as we're about to begin this celebration, she wasn't able
[37:55] come to the dedication of the new roof on the old nil. She didn't test clear until the following
[38:01] day, but she worked all through her illness on all kinds of things. It's just amazing her level
[38:11] of dedication. And I remember getting in front of a parks and rec commissioned meeting and saying
[38:17] something like, oh, well, you know, I may be co-chair, but she's doing 60, maybe I'm doing 40.
[38:26] Well, I think that got up to quite a bit, but people pale in comparison to the work that she does.
[38:34] And she truly does have her heart in it.
[38:37] And we should be very grateful.
[38:40] So thank you for honoring her.
[38:41] Thank you.
[38:42] Thank you, Joan.
[38:54] So Pam, would you come up for a photo?
[38:57] Oh, oh, here she comes.
[38:58] All right, I wish we had a portable microphone for you.
[39:03] Would you like to, we have a portable, Stephanie, we have a portable
[39:06] mic if you wish, all right,
[39:14] don't be shy.
[39:15] No, because I was going to wait until the last two, okay, so, thank you,
[39:21] Council for honoring Pam Keon, who is a dear friend, a childhood friend.
[39:28] We were backyard neighbors before you learned that you loved volunteer.
[39:37] And I just want to say, it's funny how fate brings you together, whether it's where
[39:42] you grow up, people you know, or whether you meet them later in your life.
[39:47] But Pam and I grew up in, went to the same elementary and high school and then went to college
[39:53] when our own ways.
[39:55] And while I'm being whole, we both end up in Mel Valley,
[39:58] you can sleep, it's like kind of that happened.
[40:01] She's in Homestead at the time, and I'm here.
[40:05] And she's busy with her life, and I'm busy with mine.
[40:08] And then, low and behold, she gets involved civically.
[40:11] And I get involved civically.
[40:13] So I do want to say, Pam has been a generous heart
[40:18] in a very powerful leader in worker for many, many years.
[40:22] We started with our tribe of eight or nine kids in our neighborhood, and we were the leaders of the tribe.
[40:31] But I can tell you that what you see in her now has been there her whole life.
[40:36] A big heart, a huge mind, and a real desire to serve and make the world a better place.
[40:42] Thank you, Pam, for landing in Mil Valley and for being my friend.
[41:05] Hi, good evening. I'm Gary Oates, down here with my wife Cindy, all the way down from North
[41:12] Marin, and happy to be here tonight. I've known Pam as a neighbor, my wife and I for 40
[41:22] plus years, we lived next to each other in Luxper, my wife and I are God parents to her
[41:30] children. And I knew some of what Pam was up to with all of her free time, but I have to say I'm
[41:38] stunned by what I've heard here. The most whereas, as I think I've ever heard in a city council
[41:45] resolution, and I've been to a few city council meetings in my professional career as a dressing
[41:53] in the council, not on any councils, but anyhow, I'm just so impressed by what she has done
[42:01] with her life. And I'm going to look at her even more fondly than I might have imagined
[42:10] before I came and listened to this tonight. Pam, wonderful, wonderful.
[42:14] It
[42:25] could even be in Council, more important,
[42:28] Pamela Kian, names have meaning.
[42:34] Pamela means, quote, all honey, all sweetness, and comes from the Greek roots, pan,
[42:43] meaning all, and melli, meaning honey, Kian from Irish or Gaelic means ancient, enduring,
[42:52] strong Irish gaelic from Cion. Pam is a doer when Pam calls you to recruit you to the
[43:04] next big thing she's doing. She uses that honey and sweetness to bring you in and
[43:12] then she powers on that you're saying yes before you actually even know what she's
[43:18] to do. Pam is a treasure trove of vision, big ideas, like really big, and the skill and know
[43:29] how to execute the big vision. She certainly was the right person, along with Joan Murray,
[43:40] I call her St. Joan. She was the right woman and the right person for the moment.
[43:45] A 125th Anniversary is a giant of a project, large in scope and imbued with deep, lasting
[43:55] meeting.
[43:57] As we all know, honey is known for its medicinal properties.
[44:03] Pam Keon is that strong medicine we needed to pull this off and meet the moment.
[44:12] Pam Sweet talked many residents into the 125th committee. I was kind of a late edition, I have to say.
[44:20] I guess that just about every city department and their staff members had a big hand in bringing this celebration together.
[44:30] From parks and recreation, police and fire, the department of public works, finance, the city manager, city council,
[44:37] and all of the residents who stepped up to serve on her 125th committee.
[44:45] So let's remember this was not just a fabulous and memorable coming together,
[45:00] That made this particular celebration deeply meaningful. City staff really rock and bravo to Pam and Joan and the entire committee of which I was very proud to be asked to serve. Thank you so much.
[45:26] Hello, Paul Mel. Thank you, City Council, for doing this. It's important to recognize the volunteers.
[45:26] Hello, Paul Mel. Thank you City Council for doing this. It's important to recognize the volunteers.
[45:36] I'm a chronic volunteer and don't ever expect to be thanked, but this is meaningful and
[45:36] I'm a chronic volunteer and don't ever expect to be thanked, but this is meaningful and
[45:43] Pam, congratulations.
[45:43] Pam, congratulations.
[45:48] Urban, you made a comment about, well, that sounds great.
[45:48] Urban, you made a comment about, well, that sounds great.
[45:53] I'm rooting for you, and that's the luck, and I sat through one of the first meetings I
[45:53] I'm rooting for you and that's the luck, and I sat through one of the first meetings I
[45:58] So that is a Herkulean lift and good luck.
[45:58] So that is a herkilying lift and good luck.
[46:02] I'll help anyway I can.
[46:02] I'll help anyway I can and you pulled it off.
[46:04] And you pulled it off.
[46:06] It took a lot of courage and congratulations.
[46:06] It took a lot of courage and congratulations.
[46:10] It was a memory that you gave the whole town.
[46:10] It was a memory that you gave the whole town.
[46:14] It was the best weekend of the whole year.
[46:14] It was the best weekend of the whole year and thank you very much.
[46:16] And thank you very much.
[46:20] I had, I do parades.
[46:20] I had, I do parades and that's how I got involved in this event and it was a great
[46:23] And that's how I got involved in this event.
[46:25] And it was a great parade.
[46:28] I kept wanting to put in my, my parade experience into this and I go, well, what's, what about this?
[46:28] I kept wanting to put in my parade experience
[46:32] into this, and I got, well, what about this?
[46:35] What about, she was, I got this, I got this.
[46:36] So she was, I got this, I got this.
[46:38] What, what, what, what will be fine?
[46:40] It was a fantastic parade.
[46:40] And it was a fantastic parade.
[46:44] Fantastic weekend, something memorable.
[46:44] Fantastic weekend, something memorable.
[46:49] I was thinking early on, it's like, you know, it's not like anybody's not going to notice.
[46:49] I was thinking early on, it's like, you know,
[46:52] it's not like anybody's not going to notice.
[46:54] If this thing doesn't work out and you did a great job, thank you very much.
[46:54] If this thing doesn't work out and you did a great job, thank you very much.
[47:09] Pam, would you like to come up for a photo opportunity with us, please?
[47:09] Pam, would you like to come up for a photo opportunity with us please?
[48:02] We do have some seats available.
[48:02] We do have some seats available, still if people want to sit down and rest their legs.
[48:05] Still, if people want to sit down and rest their legs, we've got about 10 or 12 seats that are available.
[48:09] We've got about 10 or 12 seats that are available, people want to make some room.
[48:12] People want to make some room.
[48:13] That's a fitting introduction to our next presentation by Arts and Recreation Director Ashley
[48:13] That's a fitting introduction to our next presentation by Arts and Recreation Director Ashley
[48:22] Howe, recapping the City of Mil Valley's 125th Anniversary Celebration Program.
[48:22] Howe, recapping the City of Milvallies 125th Anniversary Celebration Program.
[48:44] Good evening.
[48:44] Good evening.
[48:46] Good evening.
[48:46] Good evening.
[48:47] Good evening.
[48:47] Good evening.
[48:47] I'm Ashley Howe.
[48:47] I'm Ashley Howe.
[48:48] I'm your Arts and Recreation Director and it is my honor to present a summary in case anybody
[48:48] I'm your Arts and Recreation Director and it is my honor to present a summary in case anybody
[48:54] missed a single detail of the efforts of the 125th Celebration and Committee. It was a volunteers
[48:54] missed a single detail of the efforts of the 125th celebration committee. It was a volunteers
[49:01] steering committee, our two co-steering committee chairs. We're a Pam Keyon and Joan Murray,
[49:01] steering committee, our two co-steering committee chairs. We're a Pam Kian and Joan Murray,
[49:07] you know, very well deserving volunteer all stars. And it was a pleasure to work with both of them
[49:07] you know, very well deserving volunteer all stars. It was a pleasure to work with both of them
[49:13] throughout this process. So since this is a really an evening of culmination of 125th and recognizing
[49:13] throughout this process. So since this is a really an evening of culmination of 125th and recognizing
[49:18] people, I'm going to keep it really basic on our presentation, but I have a very extensive staff report
[49:18] people, I'm going to keep it really basic on our presentation, but I have a very extensive staff report
[49:23] with lots of attachments if you'd like to read it.
[49:23] with lots of attachments if you'd like to read it.
[49:27] And there's images, and there's contents of time capsules
[49:27] And there's images, and there's contents of time capsules,
[49:29] both the 1953 and the 2025,
[49:30] both the 1953 and the 2025.
[49:34] so.
[49:34] So first of all, the inception of a celebration
[49:34] So first of all, the inception of a celebration
[49:36] of the 125th of the incorporation was in March 2022.
[49:36] of the 125th of the incorporation was in March 2022.
[49:41] And that was again, Pam asking, who's planning this?
[49:41] And that was again, Pam asking, who's planning this?
[49:45] And Joan, I don't know, and then it's them.
[49:45] And Joan, I don't know, and then it's them.
[49:51] When you turn around and no one's there,
[49:51] When you turn around and no one's there,
[49:53] it's those two that can make it happen.
[49:53] it's those two that can make it happen.
[49:54] and they know everybody, they know the history of everything
[49:54] They know everybody, they know the history of everything and they can make anything happen.
[49:57] and they can make anything happen.
[50:00] There is the formation of the volunteer steering committee.
[50:00] There is the formation of the volunteer steering committee again, a little bit of that honey getting people in.
[50:02] Again, a little bit of that honey getting people in,
[50:05] That definitely works for both of them.
[50:05] that definitely works for both of them.
[50:07] Then the city adopted the anniversary celebration
[50:07] Then the city adopted the anniversary celebration as a program in October of 2024,
[50:09] as a program in October of 2024
[50:11] to really help the steering committee narrow down
[50:12] to really help the steering committee narrow down what the concepts of all the elements and celebration we're going to be.
[50:15] what the concepts of all the elements
[50:16] and celebration we're going to be.
[50:18] Make sure that we had all of the city processes completed,
[50:18] Make sure that we had all of the city processes completed, all of the insurance, all of the contracts.
[50:22] all of the insurance, all of the contracts,
[50:24] All of the things that we could as staff take off of the creativity of the steering committee and really handled those behind the scenes logistics.
[50:24] All of the things that we could as staff take off of the creativity of the steering committee and really handled those behind the scenes logistics.
[50:32] We were there to support.
[50:32] We were there to support.
[50:34] Then there was an 1853 time capsule opening in March 31st.
[50:34] Then there was a 1953 time capsule opening in March 31st.
[50:39] That was the soft opening because again Pam mentioned earlier today.
[50:39] That was the soft opening because again Pam mentioned earlier today.
[50:43] She didn't know and there was no documentation of what was in it.
[50:43] She didn't know and there was no documentation of what was in it.
[50:46] How was preserved when it was supposed to be opened.
[50:46] How was preserved when it was supposed to be opened.
[50:49] And she made a happen.
[50:49] And she made a happen.
[50:51] And we were all very pleased to see how well everything was preserved in there.
[50:51] And we were all very pleased to see how well everything was preserved in there.
[50:56] There was 27 items.
[50:56] There was 27 items.
[50:59] And then moving into some of the promotions and planning for the specific elements.
[50:59] And then moving into some of the promotions and planning for the specific elements.
[51:02] So again, the 1953 time pass also is an image of both Pam and Joan.
[51:02] So again, the 1953 time pass also is an image of both Pam and Joan.
[51:07] And that was up in upstairs here with the Mill Valley record.
[51:07] And that was up in upstairs here with the Mill Valley record.
[51:11] Informal opening, the digitization by the Mill Valley public libraries.
[51:11] Informal opening, the digitization by the Mill Valley public libraries.
[51:16] a little history room that was on display all the contents of September of 2025 as well as online.
[51:16] a little history realm that was on display all the contents of September of 2025 as well as online.
[51:23] So we have a link and I also have all the information in the staff report.
[51:23] So we have a link and I also have all the information in the staff report.
[51:27] Touch me too.
[51:27] Touchment too.
[51:29] Here's a couple of highlights just to show because the visuals always make it work.
[51:29] Here's a couple of highlights just to show because the visuals always make it work.
[51:33] So we have the VFW baseball team, the dedication of the post-colors.
[51:33] So we have the VFW baseball team, the dedication of the post-colors.
[51:38] We have the contributions to the War Memorial as well as the War Memorial dedication.
[51:38] We have the contributions to the warm memorial as well as the warm memorial dedication.
[51:47] elements of the celebration. This is where the list begins to get very extensive.
[51:47] elements of the celebration. This is where the list begins to get very
[51:50] extensive. There was the legacy gift, the restoration of the old
[51:51] There was the legacy gift, the restoration of the old mill, including the dedication on Saturday of Labor Day Weekend.
[51:54] mill, including the dedication on Saturday of Liberty Weekend,
[51:58] The historical publications and book signing, the Mill Valley Historical Society review and walk into history,
[51:58] the historical publications and book signing, the Mill Valley Historical Society
[52:02] review and walk into history, promotion and engagement, and the Mill Valley
[52:04] promotion and engagement, and the Mill Valley City Council Proclamation and October on August 18.
[52:06] City Council Proclamation and October on August 18th. Just to note about
[52:09] Just to note about the legacy gift, this again came from a former resident of Mill Valley
[52:10] the legacy gift, this again came from a former
[52:14] a former resident of Nile Valley, but also a retired city employee Rick Miseraca. He first introduced it
[52:16] but also a retired city employee, Rick Miseraca.
[52:21] He first introduced it by coming to the Parks and Rural of the Friends of Mill Valley Parks and Recreation,
[52:22] by coming to the Parks and Rural of the Friends of Nile Valley Parks and Recreation, then to Parks and Recreation
[52:26] then to Parks and Recreation Commission and then to City Council.
[52:27] Commission and then to City Council. And he really shopped his concept around. He had done all of the
[52:29] And he really shocked his concept around. He had done all of the research on how to get
[52:32] research on how to get replacement shingles. I can't remember the right term. But there was very
[52:33] replacement shingles. I can't remember the right term. But there was very detailed in the
[52:39] detailed in the procurement that he got for the materials to make sure that the historical relevance
[52:40] procurement that he got for the materials to make sure that the historical relevance was still intact.
[52:43] with still intact. So again, all the behind-the-scenes effort that really engaged the community
[52:45] So again, all the behind-the-scenes effort that really engaged the community members that had
[52:49] members that had passions. So whether it be a parade and turning into a historical parade
[52:50] passions, so whether it be a parade and turning into a historical parade or dedicating
[52:54] or dedicating an old mill roof and coming up with all of the historical details of the function
[52:55] an old mill roof and coming up with all of the historical details of the function and structure
[52:59] and structure of that, we're really considered during this entire process. And then promotion engagement,
[53:00] of that, we're really considered during this entire process.
[53:06] And then promotion engagement, that was a very big collective effort starting with a memorial
[53:07] that was a very big collective effort starting with a memorial day parade, a float entry,
[53:11] they parade a float entry and people walking with the save the date signs and the posters
[53:12] and people walking with the save the date signs and the posters that were up all year round,
[53:17] that were up all year round sporadically around the community as well as the historic posters
[53:18] sporadically around the community as well as the historic posters with the historic photos
[53:22] with the historic photos that were up and down Miller and on the light posts as well as
[53:23] that were up and down, Miller and on the light posts as well as in displays and in publications
[53:29] in displays and in publications that were mailed out there was also a lot of engagement
[53:31] that were mailed out. There was also a lot of engagement through our MD Connects and then special
[53:36] through our MV Connects and then special ones that were also dedicated.
[53:37] ones that are also dedicated.
[53:40] Again, so historical publications and book signings,
[53:41] And again, so historical publications and book signings,
[53:44] Mill Valley Historical Society Review and Walk
[53:44] Mill Valley Historical Society Review,
[53:46] and Walk into History, Promotion Engagement,
[53:46] in History, Promotion Engagement, Mill Valley
[53:48] Mill Valley City Council,
[53:48] City Council, Look Labor Day Weekend, Heritage Home
[53:49] Look, Labor Day Weekend,
[53:50] Heritage Home Pack Program,
[53:51] Pack Program, that was initiated during this process.
[53:52] that was initiated during this process.
[53:54] Mill Valley City Hall and Fire Station,
[53:54] Mill Valley City Hall and Fire Station,
[53:56] the California Register of Historical Resources,
[53:56] California Register of Historical Resources,
[53:59] and then the culmination being the 2025 time capsule.
[53:59] and then the culmination being the 2025 time capsule.
[54:03] Labor Day Weekend to break it down Saturday,
[54:03] Labor Day Weekend to break it down Saturday,
[54:05] The old mill roof dedication, Sunday with Arts Commission's concerts in the Plaza, Monday
[54:05] Old Mill Roof, Dedication, Sunday,
[54:07] was Arts Commission's concerts in the Plaza.
[54:09] Monday, overall, was a historical parade
[54:10] overall was his historical parade and community celebration downtown, which there's a
[54:11] and community celebration downtown,
[54:13] which there's a lot of details
[54:14] lot of details into that first bullet there, historical walking tours, mill valley festival
[54:15] into that first bullet there.
[54:17] Historical walking tours,
[54:18] mill valley festival of shorts at the Sequoia,
[54:19] of shorts at the Sequoia, old mill dozens, and then the Curtain Theatre performances all
[54:21] Old Mill Dozens,
[54:22] and then the Curtain Theatre performances all weekend.
[54:23] weekend. And this was also the Curtain Theatre's 25th anniversary because they were born
[54:25] And this was also the Curtain Theatre's 25th anniversary
[54:27] because they were born out of the 2000 celebration,
[54:28] out of the 2000 celebration, and they also received a separate proclamation that's included in
[54:30] and they also received a separate
[54:31] proclamation that's included in the attachments.
[54:33] attachments. So here's a overview of some of our marketing done by David Dubin and the Arts and
[54:34] So here's the overview of some of our marketing,
[54:36] done by David Dubin and the Arts and Recreation Department, the features of what to look
[54:39] Recreation Department, the features of what to look for the highlights of each of those days,
[54:43] for the highlights of each of those days, as well as a map that showed different locations.
[54:45] as well as a math to show different locations. We really tried to spread things out through the
[54:47] We really tried to spread things out through the downtown, but keep it concentrated, so
[54:49] downtown, but keep it concentrated so there was a lot of walkability in between. And again, encouraging
[54:51] there was a lot of walkability in between, and again encouraging everybody that everybody
[54:55] everybody that everybody is welcomed and wanted at the celebration. So everything was to be free,
[54:56] is welcomed and wanted at the celebration, so everything was to be free and engaging and accessible.
[55:01] and engaging in accessible.
[55:07] I'll just leave this right here so you can enjoy some photos for a second.
[55:07] I'll just leave this right here so you can enjoy some photos for a second.
[55:10] So this is of Labor Day, most of them of Labor Day,
[55:10] So this is of Labor Day, most of them of Labor Day, and then we of course we have the
[55:14] and then we of course we have the Mill and the Mill dedication from Saturday.
[55:15] mill and the mill dedication from Saturday.
[55:19] It was really hard to narrow down some images.
[55:19] And it was really hard to narrow down some of the images we do have a slideshow and a lot
[55:21] We do have a slide show and a lot of photos online.
[55:23] of photos online.
[55:24] We still have the dedicated program page as well.
[55:24] We still have the dedicated program page as well.
[55:34] So in conclusion we have the 2025 time capsule dedication this evening.
[55:34] So in conclusion, we had the 2025 timecastle dedication this evening.
[55:38] The contents are all listed in the staff report and they will be functionally installed into the actual time capsule.
[55:38] The contents are all listed in the staff report and they will be functionally installed into the actual time capsule.
[55:48] At a later date we have the time capsule plaque being percured as well as the final documents to be included in the list.
[55:48] At a later date we have the time capsule plaque being percured as well as the final documents to be included in the list.
[55:58] The volunteer steering committee dedicated more than three years towards this planning.
[55:58] The volunteer steering committee dedicated more than three years towards this planning.
[56:02] And no idea was too big, and no person was left out.
[56:02] And no idea was too big, and no person was left out.
[56:08] That was really a Pam's philosophy and the entire steering committee.
[56:08] That was really a Pam's philosophy and the entire Syrian committee.
[56:11] Everybody had a voice.
[56:11] Everybody had a voice.
[56:13] They did such a great job balancing.
[56:13] They did such a great job balancing.
[56:15] Sometimes longer meetings than others.
[56:15] Sometimes longer meetings than others.
[56:18] And enthusiastic once in a lifetime experience
[56:18] And enthusiastic once in a lifetime experience
[56:20] was definitely achieved through this.
[56:20] was definitely achieved through this.
[56:23] And I just want to ask the audience if you participated
[56:23] And I just want to ask the audience if you participated
[56:26] on the steering committee.
[56:26] on the steering committee, if you could please stand.
[56:28] If you could please stand.
[56:30] There's a very extensive list online
[56:30] There's a very extensive list online,
[56:31] as well as in the staff report just recognizing everybody
[56:31] as well as in the staff report just recognizing everybody from volunteers.
[56:34] from volunteers.
[56:46] Jim, welcome to.
[56:46] Jim, welcome to Jim, it's okay, Jim, it's okay, it'll be shy.
[56:48] Jim, welcome to stand up.
[56:49] It's OK, Jim.
[56:50] It's OK.
[56:50] It'll be shy.
[56:52] So it's broken out online.
[56:52] So it's broken out online, but there's volunteers, there's the businesses that contributed.
[56:54] But there's volunteers.
[56:55] There's the businesses that contributed.
[56:57] There's all of our nonprofit groups locally that contributed.
[56:57] There's all of our nonprofit groups locally that contributed.
[57:00] There was tabling on the Plaza.
[57:00] There was tabling on the Plaza, I really felt like it was amazing snapshot of who our
[57:02] I really felt like it was amazing snapshot of who
[57:05] our community is.
[57:05] community is.
[57:05] Like it was said earlier.
[57:06] It was set earlier.
[57:06] It's a small town with a huge heart, and it really brought everybody together.
[57:06] It's a small town with a huge heart.
[57:09] And it really brought everybody together,
[57:11] our intergenerational engagement and celebration for our community.
[57:12] intergenerational engagement and celebration for our community.
[57:17] Please raise your hand if you attended any of the festivities
[57:17] Please raise your hand if you attended any of the festivities over Labor Day weekend.
[57:19] over Labor Day weekend.
[57:22] I think that tells a lot right here.
[57:22] I think that tells a lot right here.
[57:28] So that's my conclusion for our 1.5th,
[57:28] So that's my conclusion for our 1.5-3 years
[57:30] 3 years wrapped up in the one presentation.
[57:31] wrapped up into one presentation.
[57:40] It's a brilliant staff report, by the way,
[57:40] It's a brilliant staff report, by the way,
[57:42] and we're three to get a sense of all that was accomplished
[57:42] in worth reading to get a sense of all that was accomplished
[57:45] and how much was done and I'll talk a little bit about that later in my comments.
[57:45] and how much was done and I'll talk a little bit about that later in my comments.
[57:51] Any questions or deliberative comments from our council members?
[57:51] Any questions or deliberative comments from our council members?
[57:56] Okay, Max, go ahead.
[57:56] Max, go ahead.
[57:58] As someone said, this was a herculean effort and just deep gratitude to you, Ashley, and
[57:58] As someone said, this was a herculean effort and just deep gratitude to you, Ashley,
[58:04] and to Jay and the team for embracing the volunteer and the steering committee's very ambitious vision
[58:04] to Jay and the team for embracing the volunteer and the steering committee's very ambitious vision
[58:10] and for helping support it and make it a reality.
[58:10] and for helping support it and making it a reality.
[58:13] I think it was one of the best weekends we've ever had as a community.
[58:14] I think it was one of the best weekends we've ever had as a community.
[58:17] it was awesome to be a part of it and it had so many different parts from history to celebrations
[58:17] It was awesome to be a part of it and it had so many different parts from history,
[58:21] to celebrations, to bringing in businesses to the keys to the city,
[58:21] to bringing in businesses to the keys to the city, so just the appreciation to you and the team.
[58:25] so just the appreciation to you and the team.
[58:29] I echo those sentiments. The 125th was nothing short of awe-inspiring of everything that was involved
[58:29] I echo those sentiments.
[58:30] The 125th was nothing short of awe-inspiring of everything that was involved in the lead-up to it and the events.
[58:36] and the lead up to it and the events. It's a celebrations whose legacy will endure in many forms
[58:39] It's a celebrations whose legacy will endure in many forms through the Old Mill Roof Heritage Home Plac Program, City Hall, the Fire Station, joining the California Register of Historical Resources, and then the Time capsule, but it also I think gave the community a renewed sense of community spirit and pride and volunteerism and for that I'm very grateful.
[58:43] through the Old Mill Roof Heritage Home Plac Program, City Hall and the Fire Station
[58:50] joining the California Register of Historical Resources and in the Time capsule.
[58:56] But it also, I think, gave the community a renewed sense of community spirit and pride
[59:02] and volunteerism and for that, I'm very grateful.
[59:05] So, heartful, thank you to Pam and Joan for their vision, persistence and execution, to the steering committee, city staff from every department, because guys did it so much, to the many nonprofits, businesses, sponsors and volunteers who gave time, talent and resources, and to all of you, the community members who showed up and to part and brought our community together. It was really special weekend, and I was glad to be a part of it. So, thank you to everybody who was involved.
[59:06] So heartful, thank you to Pam and Joan for their vision, persistence and execution to
[59:13] steering committee, city staff from every department, because guys did it so much, to the
[59:19] many nonprofits, businesses, sponsors and volunteers who gave time, talent and resources,
[59:24] and to all of you, the community members who showed up and to part and brought our community
[59:29] together.
[59:29] It was a really special weekend and I was glad to be a part of it, so thank you to everybody
[59:33] who was involved.
[59:35] You know, just like those comments of my fellow council members, and also I had that several
[59:35] I'll just let go of those comments of my fellow council members and also add that several
[59:41] people came up to me at the end of the three-day celebration, which included the Cal Marching
[59:41] people came up to me at the end of the three-day celebration, which included the
[59:46] Cal Marching Band and music and a bunch of great great events and said,
[59:46] Band and music and a bunch of great, great events and said, this was so much fun, we should
[59:51] this was so much fun, we should do this every year.
[59:52] do this every year.
[59:58] So there's that.
[59:58] So there's that.
[1:15:00] Check and balance and some recommendations. Make sure we're approaching this next five year plan the right way.
[1:15:07] Specific to rents road, 2027. They are planned. We have to redo that road completely, that stretch.
[1:15:14] So it's a pretty big project. It's about $2,300,000. It's set for 2027.
[1:15:19] As a reminder, when we do the draft plan, we program our paving over five years.
[1:15:26] And so we do treatments one year, so in 2026,
[1:15:30] we're going to treat over 100 streets.
[1:15:32] And when you do that, there's a plan of those are difficult.
[1:15:35] When you're paving or treating those streets up
[1:15:37] on the hillsides for eight hours at a time
[1:15:39] of how we plan that, how we program it,
[1:15:42] being thoughtful and how we impact those neighborhoods.
[1:15:44] And as you know, we can always be better.
[1:15:46] And that's been one of the major concerns
[1:15:47] moving forward of being having a strategy
[1:15:50] to how we approach it.
[1:15:53] So 100 streets are going to be slowly sealed.
[1:15:55] That's treatment, right?
[1:15:56] to treat those streets in 2026, 2027, rents road is one of those that is recommended.
[1:16:02] In the meantime, we will work with that neighborhood and those neighbors on any
[1:16:06] pod holes or anything we can maintain to get them to 2027 and so staff has been very
[1:16:13] communicative which I appreciate.
[1:16:15] The second one is, this is the second public comment now.
[1:16:17] We've had an LPR readers.
[1:16:19] As a reminder, we had a pretty robust discussion with Council and a public publicly noticed
[1:16:24] meeting earlier this year. It is part of the entire Marin County infrastructure, every jurisdiction of how we think about public safety and in the use of this LPR cameras, which I respect we do not agree with the comments tonight. But nevertheless, we had that meeting from it to remind council in the community was, hey, let's make sure that we come back with quarterly updates. How is it being used? Is it being used the right way? What are we seeing? With some of those public comments we heard tonight and before, their security concerns.
[1:16:54] how it's being used and so staff the city manager and the police chief will work together in the
[1:17:00] incoming mayor and we'll bring an item in the first quarter as that first quarterly update and we'll
[1:17:05] answer some of these questions and bring it back to the community for a discussion of necessary and
[1:17:10] again use that policy we'll follow it. The other one is we have two items that I'm asking for authorization
[1:17:19] and I just need a head none, if you're unanimous with it.
[1:17:23] But the first is to authorize the Mayor to submit a comment letter for the draft plan
[1:17:28] Bay Area 2020-2050 in the draft environmental impact report.
[1:17:34] This is a report from the Metropolitan Transportation Commission in the Association of
[1:17:40] Bay Area Governments that released the draft plan area for 2050 and on.
[1:17:45] The region's long range plan related to population growth, housing transportation, economy, and environment.
[1:17:53] The draft ERI, EIR, the environmental impact report, accompanying the plan, evaluates the potential environmental impacts for this plan.
[1:18:03] The deadline is December 18th. I want to thank personally Susan Kirsch who also gave public comment for this item.
[1:18:09] reminding staff the importance of having an voice on this issue, so thank you Susan.
[1:18:15] We would like to ask for authorization for staff to write that letter and have the
[1:18:20] mayor sign it. Along those lines in council has been tracking this as well. We're also asking
[1:18:25] that you authorized the mayor to submit a comment letter for the Bay Area Air District on zero missions
[1:18:31] supply and standard rules, 9.4 or 9-4 and 9-6.
[1:18:36] And I know the council has individually supported this.
[1:18:39] We would send a similar letter, but it would be on behalf of the city council and the mayor's signature.
[1:18:44] And with that, I'm happy to answer any questions.
[1:18:46] I'm fine with the recommendation.
[1:18:47] What else?
[1:18:48] I would just welcome the incoming Vice-Mayors.
[1:18:52] Look at those letters as well.
[1:18:54] Yep.
[1:18:55] I will.
[1:18:56] And I support it both waters.
[1:18:59] Yes, support both.
[1:19:00] Thanks.
[1:19:02] All right, thank you very much.
[1:19:04] Now we get to the fun part, the mayoral transition,
[1:19:10] and then we can party.
[1:19:13] So I get to kick things off with a bit of a year in review.
[1:19:18] And as John McColley knows, I limited my comments early
[1:19:23] in my tenure and sort of banked some time
[1:19:26] that I'm going to use tonight, but I really want to use this comment and review to highlight
[1:19:37] how our city government functions and the essential role that our staff plays in ensuring
[1:19:44] Mel Valley success.
[1:19:45] So tonight is less about council accomplishments and more about staff accomplishments.
[1:19:51] We're kind of the tip of the iceberg and I want to talk a little bit about the iceberg
[1:19:55] underneath us.
[1:19:57] But first and fun facts.
[1:20:00] Tonight is my 90th city council meeting.
[1:20:03] Since I went on in September of 2021,
[1:20:07] we've had 93 since then.
[1:20:09] I've missed three during that period.
[1:20:11] This year we held 20 meetings.
[1:20:14] Lasting over 50 hours,
[1:20:16] not including closed sessions,
[1:20:19] which take a little bit more time.
[1:20:20] Our longest meeting was five and a half hours.
[1:20:23] Our shortest meeting was an hour and ten.
[1:20:25] We had six emergency prep presentations, which were the core of our work plan this year, and I'll talk a little bit more about that
[1:20:33] to part mentally.
[1:20:36] We have an absolute proclamation machine in the city clerks office, Sophie, Risa, and Kelsey.
[1:20:45] We did 17 formal proclamations this year, including pounds, just now.
[1:20:53] We did five adjournments in memory, the last one tonight, for Steve, and as I said at the
[1:21:00] beginning, I've had the pleasure to serve for 368 days as mayor.
[1:21:05] Another interesting development this year that really is important to our city is the return
[1:21:12] of quality journalism to civic affairs, and I want to acknowledge Stephen Rosenfeld from
[1:21:18] the R&IJ, who started an April of this year.
[1:21:25] He has attended meetings since that time.
[1:21:29] He has sat through everything.
[1:21:31] He has great stamina.
[1:21:33] And he turns it into balanced and well-informed reportage.
[1:21:39] And those who got to see the benefits of that in his four-part series
[1:21:44] on Marine Clean Energy are also grateful for his effort,
[1:21:48] not just within our city, but all that he covers in Marin.
[1:21:52] So thank you, Stephen.
[1:22:00] The Mill Valley Way of Governance works, and it's worked for a long time.
[1:22:05] We didn't invent anything here.
[1:22:06] We're the beneficiaries of a way of conducting governance that I think is very important
[1:22:11] to recognize.
[1:22:15] We gradually assume responsibility when we come on council and you start at that end and
[1:22:20] work your way to this end.
[1:22:22] And as you do, you learn more and more about how
[1:22:26] the city operates and how staff functions.
[1:22:30] And we also learn a lot from our former mayor's,
[1:22:33] a number of whom are in the room, representing the city
[1:22:37] today and also the city they helped create.
[1:22:39] And I want to thank them and acknowledge them.
[1:22:49] People ask me what's it like being married
[1:22:51] is different from being a council member.
[1:22:56] But you get three years to prepare for it, so that's good.
[1:22:59] There's really three things in my perspective that Ameridas,
[1:23:04] one is you get a first peek at the agenda,
[1:23:06] so you can have some influence on what's agendized and when.
[1:23:11] The second is you can set a tone in council meetings and in the community
[1:23:15] and in how you work with the various stakeholders like our school districts,
[1:23:21] Our fire service providers and others who were no longer not directly part of city governance.
[1:23:27] And then the third and really the biggest part for me this year was being the first to get a call when PG&E shows up to cut down a tree.
[1:23:38] That occupied a fair amount of time.
[1:23:44] Next I want to salute my council colleagues who achieved so much on behalf of our constituents.
[1:23:50] Our theme this year was above and beyond, and it was based on the feeling that things are running very well in our city.
[1:23:58] We can still attend to things within our city borders, but we can also work outside our city borders.
[1:24:04] Urban exemplifies that in the work he does on transportation authority of Marin, which is a heavy, heavy lift.
[1:24:11] And he's brought a lot of benefits to the city mill valley through his stamina and efforts, and I want to thank him.
[1:24:17] Cat put in a lot of hours on MWPA together with City Manager Kusimano to review and balance
[1:24:24] our approach there and really appreciate that I knew when you came on council that that
[1:24:29] would be a great spot and it paid off, so thank you very much.
[1:24:35] Caroline does so much within our city and outside of our city, it's hard to list them all,
[1:24:41] but she's our alternate and legal California city, she's our legislative liaison with
[1:24:45] Marine County mayors and council members, and also represents us on the homeless committee that MCCMC operates.
[1:24:54] She took the time to fly to Texas this fall to take a look at how they're addressing things in San Antonio and Austin.
[1:25:01] And she also just decided that she'd go on the board of the Redwoods why not.
[1:25:05] There was an extra hour in the day.
[1:25:08] So really want to acknowledge that and thank her.
[1:25:10] And then incoming mayor, peray, serves on the Marine Clean Energy Executive Committee as the chair.
[1:25:19] And also in the League of California cities as Vice Chair of the Environmental Quality Policy Committee,
[1:25:25] MCE alone is a full-time job.
[1:25:29] And he happens to work a full-time job as well as being a council member.
[1:25:32] So I really want to salute him for his effort and aligning his passion with the policies that are important
[1:25:40] for our community. So thank you.
[1:25:44] 2024 was a great year.
[1:25:47] When I did the initial state of the city presentations,
[1:25:51] looking back at what was accomplished,
[1:25:53] it was a highly active year,
[1:25:55] capped by our elections and the measure L passage.
[1:26:00] But when in the last year there was a lot of pent-up demand
[1:26:02] and that work plan and a lot got done.
[1:26:05] And this year took a slightly different approach to doing a two-year work plan as opposed
[1:26:13] to a one-year work plan to give staff a little bit breathing room for some of the unexpected things
[1:26:18] that come up during the year. But we hit our targets. You heard about the 125th. I'll talk a little bit
[1:26:28] more about the hours that went into that, I think 782 might be the number.
[1:26:36] The city departments all pitched in to make it happen.
[1:26:39] Everyone contributed led by Ashley and her team at Arts and Recreation.
[1:26:46] We also had a number of city-wide special events that took about 5,000 hours of staff
[1:26:52] time to pull off.
[1:26:54] when you look at the work plan summary
[1:26:56] and you look at the number of events
[1:26:57] that our staff conducts mainly for free
[1:27:02] on behalf of the community.
[1:27:03] There were 142 of them at last count,
[1:27:07] but we still have time for a couple more, I think,
[1:27:11] like the staff holiday party.
[1:27:15] We had record revenues of $65 million this year.
[1:27:19] We have near record capital improvement spending
[1:27:22] of almost $16 million with measure L beginning to kick in.
[1:27:27] We have record reserves this year.
[1:27:32] As I said emergency prep was our top priority, and we received presentations from Southern
[1:27:37] Marin Fire, PG&E, Marin Water, the Office of Emergency Management, Marin Wildfire Prevention
[1:27:45] Authority, and our EPC and our Police Department.
[1:27:50] Our police department led not only the evacuation drill that we conducted in April, but also a county-wide tabletop exercise with FEMA, Calfire, numerous other agencies to take a look at how to improve our preparedness and it's a wonderful accomplishment.
[1:28:11] We revisit and revised ordinances and policies from the Reagan era and I'll talk a little
[1:28:17] bit more about that when we highlight what planning accomplished this year.
[1:28:21] And we kicked off the renewal process for our municipal services tax, which will come
[1:28:25] before the voters next November.
[1:28:29] So it wasn't a very glamorous year, we did a lot of no-seams, but things that are fundamental
[1:28:34] to our community vitality and our business vitality.
[1:28:40] So, in addition, I wanted to really invite our directors to provide what they thought were their highlights and so each submitted their top three or five and I just want to go through them and before I do that I want to note that in 2025 we also held our first annual all-hand city employee appreciation luncheon.
[1:29:01] and for that, Seth Allingham provided me with some really interesting statistics.
[1:29:07] Over 25% of our city staff have more than 10 years experience working for the city of Mill Valley.
[1:29:16] There are nine staff who together have over 200 years experience working for our city.
[1:29:22] The average service time is 7.5 years.
[1:29:25] So there's a depth of knowledge and a depth of understanding that goes into the policies and recommendations that our staff make to council and bring before the public.
[1:29:38] And without that depth of knowledge, we would not have the success we have.
[1:29:42] And also, the longevity of our staff is a testimony to our prior councils and prior city managers as well, who helped put this into place.
[1:29:53] So, in terms of departmental achievements, I'm going to go from our newer directors to our longer serving director.
[1:30:00] So, starting with Ashley Howe, in Arts and Recreation, N.J. in Room, 125th Anniversary, the Boyle Park Master Plan, which will
[1:30:10] be coming before Council and Parks and Rec, 1st quarter, has been conducted with extensive public engagement
[1:30:18] and a great deal of thought and is a great lift on top of the 125th. The Beach volleyball courts
[1:30:27] We're completed down at Bayfront.
[1:30:28] If you haven't been there, go play, wonderful.
[1:30:32] Two new sculptures, one on Miller, Lumisphere,
[1:30:36] and mum the bear at the depot, one of our more beloved
[1:30:39] installations in recent memory.
[1:30:42] porch 1919, the food truck at the golf course opened.
[1:30:47] It took about as long as it took to build the Golden Gate
[1:30:49] bridge and involved about as many stakeholders and staff
[1:30:53] everybody got involved, but it's open now.
[1:30:55] And more importantly, the golf course has set a record for starts and revenues, almost a million dollars this year.
[1:31:03] It'll break a million next year, and it'll make money.
[1:31:07] It's a great accomplishment, and I appreciate what staff and Touchstone Golf have done.
[1:31:13] In addition, Arts and REC spearheaded 20 plus events, ranging from Spring Fair, Pride Mill Valley, Juneteenth,
[1:31:22] great closet cleanup. I wish I'd gotten there. First Tuesday, Art Walks, exhibitions,
[1:31:29] Halloween at the center, the click-off photography contest, and numerous other events.
[1:31:33] So thank you very much, Arts and Recreation.
[1:31:42] John McColley's favorite liaison assignment,
[1:31:44] which he handed to me, which is the sewerage agency of Southern Marin, Sasm.
[1:31:52] Mark Newman
[1:31:54] was installed as a general manager, and I'll talk a little bit more about that.
[1:31:58] But one of the great highlights of that team is they've now gone 4,600 and eight days without
[1:32:05] a lost time accidents.
[1:32:08] Let's hear it from,
[1:32:12] right now Urban and John are racing to do math in their head.
[1:32:17] I'll just salt the problem.
[1:32:18] It's 12.6 years without an accident at Sasm.
[1:32:23] Right now, Sasmann undergoing a major capital review to look at how to address new nitrogen
[1:32:30] output requirements from the state.
[1:32:33] It's a big project, and it's being led by the new GM Mark Newman, who was part of
[1:32:39] a seamless internal transition conducted by City Manager Todd Kusumano.
[1:32:45] Mark Krushiav had served 12 years as the GM, did a wonderful job, the accident record tracks
[1:32:52] exactly to his arrival at Sousam, as Andy Berman knows, thank you, Andy Berman.
[1:33:01] Todd was able to look at our bench and find someone who is extremely capable of taking
[1:33:08] on the role as GM of Sasm and found that person in Mark Newman who moved in smoothly, didn't
[1:33:15] miss a beat, has developed great rapport with the staff and the community around the agency
[1:33:21] and I just wanted to acknowledge him and his team at Sasm.
[1:33:31] Planning and building.
[1:33:33] So actually police department, because Rick joined us in 2021, I mentioned the tabletop exercise
[1:33:40] conducted up at the county, brilliant event, the evacuation drill, part of an ongoing process
[1:33:48] of educating our residents and participation in the planning and security of the 125th
[1:33:54] anniversary, which was very well done. So thank you, PD.
[1:34:02] Patrick Kelly joined us in 2018
[1:34:04] as director of planning and building and has dealt with and endless array of regulations coming
[1:34:12] down from above. Above is actually sitting in the room here tonight. I want to acknowledge
[1:34:18] Damon Connelly.
[1:34:24] He's on the side of the gods on this one and I just want to acknowledge
[1:34:29] Patrick and his team. In addition to the bread and butter of a planning and building department
[1:34:34] and the stats are 88 planning projects filed this year, 66 planning approvals, 13 new housing units,
[1:34:44] Subdivision proposal for a new proposed single family.
[1:34:48] 1,522 building permits issued over $63 million in projects valuation and almost $2 million
[1:34:56] in permit fees and $3,049 inspections conducted in one year.
[1:35:06] That's the bread and butter.
[1:35:08] What they really took on were some really deep and complex projects.
[1:35:11] the safety element update, pursuant to our general plan, the parking study and the parking
[1:35:17] ordinance revisions that emerge from the parking study, endless hours on that huge lift.
[1:35:24] SB land lots of split ordinance, the inclusionary housing review and proposal to the planning
[1:35:30] commission in the city council. Commercial code update, which led to our longest meeting of the year
[1:35:41] our station designation as a historic landmark.
[1:35:46] All of which he and his team took on willingly,
[1:35:49] I wouldn't say eagerly, but with discipline and teamwork
[1:35:54] and great effort, and I just want to acknowledge them.
[1:35:57] But when we did the work plan, we left a little bit of room.
[1:36:02] Governor Newsom helped fill that in July and August
[1:36:04] when we had to hurry to comply with changes in green codes
[1:36:08] under his budget.
[1:36:11] And Patrick Danielle and the entire team pulled that together.
[1:36:13] We had two special meetings in August,
[1:36:15] held by Vice Mayor Peret, and we got the job done in time
[1:36:19] to ensure local control over these things.
[1:36:22] And I want to really acknowledge what planning staff did there.
[1:36:26] Finally, staff supported two initiatives
[1:36:28] that are really important to Mil Valley in terms of trying
[1:36:32] to affirmatively further fair housing.
[1:36:35] They supported a memorandum of understanding
[1:36:38] with the Mount Ham Community Land Trust to help support the acquisition and preservation
[1:36:42] of multi-family properties that are deemed worthy.
[1:36:46] And I also launched a pilot with placemate to see if we can place people in working families,
[1:36:54] not just individuals, in homes.
[1:36:56] So if you've gotten your placemate postcard, if you don't have a residence that you can
[1:37:01] put into the program and receive the generous subsidy provided by the Community Housing Foundation,
[1:37:06] Please give it to a friend who can. We really want to see if this can work. So planning and building department
[1:37:11] Director Patrick Kelly. Thank you very much
[1:37:19] Andrew poster joined us in 2016 and when I asked him actually my list tonight was sort of stimulated by a list he generated
[1:37:27] I had a community meeting last month and I asked for some updates on public works and I got a list of 88 projects
[1:37:34] That were done this year
[1:37:35] So when I went back to Andrew saying hey give me your top three or five I thought I'd get you know
[1:37:39] slurry ceiling or something like that.
[1:37:42] And I didn't.
[1:37:43] What I got was a surprise in a very gratifying way.
[1:37:48] What Andrew highlighted was that he and his team
[1:37:52] conducted their first ever all hands meeting last spring
[1:37:57] to read the team into every activity that DPW faces
[1:38:02] and needs to organize around and do.
[1:38:05] So instead of having silos within DPW,
[1:38:07] he's now building a team.
[1:38:09] It's really going to be performing as we execute on measure L and other investments over the coming years at a much higher level than perhaps they have in the past.
[1:38:19] Higher intensity, I would say, given the range of things that need to happen.
[1:38:24] So I'm really proud of Andrew for highlighting that as an initiative that he thinks really marks a significant development for his department.
[1:38:32] So thank you very much.
[1:38:39] Angie Brenner from our wonderful library, 23 years of service with the City of Mill Valley and a great team and her highlights made me smile.
[1:38:54] So the Mill Valley community talent show, the good old fashion community talent show was revived this year.
[1:39:01] I started in 1976 by Rita Abrams, Dave Fromer and friends and was staged until 1995 and now it's back.
[1:39:08] Thank you for doing that.
[1:39:10] The winner this year out of 20 contestants was a Tam High student, Lucas Siddoland, who won the award playing original songs in guitar.
[1:39:19] Wonderful.
[1:39:20] The Mill Valley Community Cookbook, Publication and Celebration.
[1:39:24] Well done.
[1:39:26] I mean that.
[1:39:27] Recognition in the SF Chronicle, sorry.
[1:39:30] For one of the quickest post-pandemic recoveries in the Bay Area,
[1:39:33] based on highest daily visitors per capita in the Bay Area,
[1:39:36] and 9th highest in the state of California.
[1:39:40] Think of that.
[1:39:41] Great recovery.
[1:39:42] Thank you, Angie.
[1:39:43] And then summer reading for all ages.
[1:39:45] And why just do it in the summer?
[1:39:47] Why can't we have winter reading, too?
[1:39:49] Anyway, thank you very much, Angie.
[1:39:51] And library's here.
[1:39:56] Oh, there was one more, which was the upgraded
[1:39:59] The Creek side room for the hearing impaired,
[1:40:02] which is going to set a standard for what we do in the rest
[1:40:04] of the city in years to come.
[1:40:06] So new equipment and assisted listening capabilities were installed to make that room more compatible for those with hearing difficulties.
[1:40:14] We're very proud of that accomplishment, and thank you for your initiative on that.
[1:40:20] Then someone who vies with Angie for longevity, Eric Erickson 23.25 years, according to our stats,
[1:40:30] who is responsible for HR finance IT and administrative services.
[1:40:35] I met him in 2010 on my first round on the Parks and Rec Commission when we interviewed
[1:40:41] and hired Doug Acton to become the operator of the Mill Valley Golf Course and I was impressed
[1:40:47] with him then and I'm impressed with him now.
[1:40:51] He leads human resources this year we developed and launched a paid parental leave policy which
[1:40:56] puts us at the forefront of agencies in our region and establish new all hands and play
[1:41:03] recognition luncheon.
[1:41:05] He developed a financial management report, actually
[1:41:07] Trevor did the work in urban help do it.
[1:41:10] But he's taking credit for it.
[1:41:12] And that's OK.
[1:41:12] Directors can do that.
[1:41:16] And did a lot of work on measure L, both in the run up
[1:41:21] to it and now in the implementation.
[1:41:25] And they engaged and worked with Harvard Business School
[1:41:28] together with Hannah Pulitzer to help look at modernizing
[1:41:32] some of our administrative functions and duplications and things like that. But more to the
[1:41:37] point, we sit here and celebrate Milvalli's position and stability and in great part it's
[1:41:48] through steady financial stewardship for decades. Led by a man who always seems to be here.
[1:41:56] His green truck is parked in the back corner, but don't ever park in that spot. I didn't want
[1:42:01] didn't go well. But he's here and he's attending the city's finances and he's training
[1:42:08] the people around him and he has given us the foundation we enjoy today to be able to do
[1:42:13] the things that we do. I have two more people to recognize. One is our esteemed city clerk
[1:42:21] Recytti Ferrari, sitting right here.
[1:42:29] She received and responded to over 125 public request act,
[1:42:34] request for information.
[1:42:37] One individual alone submitted 70, so it's not really 125 requests.
[1:42:45] The proclamations I talked about earlier,
[1:42:49] 16 letters of support on behalf of the city manager
[1:42:51] in the mayor, completion of the elections of council members, and you said a peaceful transition
[1:42:57] of power, I like that.
[1:42:59] And really, I have a lift, re-establishing or in-person orientations for our boards and commissions,
[1:43:06] and getting everybody on the same page as to how the city runs and what their role in doing
[1:43:10] that is.
[1:43:11] And if you see the materials she put together for that and the way she walks people through
[1:43:15] it, it's extremely impressive.
[1:43:16] This is stuff that nobody sees, and that's important to know, this is stuff that nobody sees.
[1:43:26] So finally, the man sitting next to me here, Todd Kusimano, the best idea Jim Wickham ever had,
[1:43:38] who has in three years helped provide the framework that has enabled our departments to function the way they are.
[1:43:46] Nothing is perfect yet, that will be happening in the next year or two.
[1:43:51] But working with Todd has been a joy and a learning experience, his commitment to customer
[1:43:56] service is unmatched.
[1:43:59] And he defines customer service across many, many parameters.
[1:44:05] And my final accomplishment of the year in conjunction with my council colleagues, who
[1:44:11] unanimously agreed with me, was to extend Todd's contract.
[1:44:17] So he has two more years remaining on his first deal is rookie deal.
[1:44:22] And now he's going for an additional five years, so God willing we'll have his services
[1:44:28] for 10 years.
[1:44:36] He has complete grasp of the tools, the money, the functions he can operate at the county
[1:44:42] level, he can operate at the local level, he can walk down your street and talk to you
[1:44:47] straight.
[1:44:47] And I saw that in Sikomor Park, this winter, after the flood, the way you leaned into that challenge and took responsibility, and that's not the only example.
[1:44:59] So thank you.
[1:45:00] Great year working with you.
[1:45:09] Recent tell me what to do next.
[1:45:13] All right. Work to you. Yeah. Thank you. All right. Now we're going to do the nominations.
[1:45:24] I can start us off just by saying, I didn't know Stephen prior to coming on council. And in the last three and a half years I've gotten into know you. I've got into appreciate the way in which you conduct business.
[1:45:41] treat others with respect, whether they have the most insightful things, or a rude,
[1:45:48] you treat them with the respect that they deserve, and you model how to get things done
[1:45:53] in a quiet, deliberate way to have a real impact on our community.
[1:45:58] And this year we've had the pleasure of getting to work together much more closely, and I
[1:46:03] couldn't have asked for a better mayor to serve under, and just really appreciate your
[1:46:07] leadership and your mentorship to me personally, and I hope to continue to work together for
[1:46:13] years to come.
[1:46:26] Well, to say that.
[1:46:27] Oh, no.
[1:46:29] I won't come as a surprise to you that I've prepared some notes.
[1:46:35] But it's been quite a year.
[1:46:37] A lot has been accomplished, and a lot has happened.
[1:46:40] And when I reflected back on Steven Burke as our mayor, there are a couple things that
[1:46:47] came to mind, study, forward looking leadership, calm, thoughtful presence, a long involvement
[1:46:58] with Mul Valley, which reflected a deep familiarity with our needs and a genuine commitment
[1:47:06] to practical, collaborative decision making, which I sincerely appreciate.
[1:47:12] And when I first joined the council, we didn't know one another.
[1:47:17] But serving alongside you has been a true highlight for me.
[1:47:20] And I very much enjoy our conversations.
[1:47:24] And your preference for hot chocolate, over coffee,
[1:47:29] and your enthusiasm for it.
[1:47:32] And you've accomplished a lot this year.
[1:47:33] As you said, there's a lot that happened behind the scenes.
[1:47:36] I like the no-scenes phrase.
[1:47:38] We use that again.
[1:47:41] But in front of everybody, it was advancing the workforce housing efforts, which I think is really something we should continue to do.
[1:47:49] Strengthening my valley is emergency preparedness, championing preparedness as an ongoing commitment.
[1:47:57] And then what makes our community so special and what makes it unique.
[1:48:01] But I will say you've listed out all of the accomplishments and what stood out for me as much
[1:48:08] as all that is the care you take with your relationships.
[1:48:14] So you're always seeking what someone hopes to achieve and putting people together that
[1:48:20] can work together and collaborate and make something happen.
[1:48:24] And that's a real skill.
[1:48:28] Your thoughtfulness also shows up in countless ways,
[1:48:32] including the way you want to realize history
[1:48:33] and gifting all of your council members,
[1:48:36] Joyce Kleiner's book about Mill Valley.
[1:48:39] That was very touching, and I very much appreciate it.
[1:48:43] And then also, as you did tonight,
[1:48:45] like almost wrote this phrase for you,
[1:48:47] recognizing the work of city staff and volunteers before yourself.
[1:48:51] I think that's just who you are and just really important and then also grounding your decisions in a deep understanding of where we've been and then what we can become.
[1:49:02] So I want to thank you for all the work you did behind the scenes and out in front and then thank you as a colleague and as a friend.
[1:49:11] For leaving the city better prepared for us to be more resilient, more welcoming, and also more connected.
[1:49:24] So congratulations on a fantastic year and in the same spirit.
[1:49:30] You gave us,
[1:49:35] passing along, a serial, we have to go to the serial.
[1:49:50] I'm going to read it in my hot tub, but I don't have a hot tub,
[1:49:58] so maybe it'll just be
[1:49:58] a hot tub.
[1:50:00] Thank you very much.
[1:50:02] Don't forget the peacock feathers,
[1:50:06] so it's great going after Caroline who types out everything
[1:50:09] and is very thoughtful and very deliberate, so I am not typing out anything before I speak.
[1:50:16] So I knew Stephen before he joined City Council.
[1:50:19] So when I ran for City Council in 2019, 2020, Stephen came to not one but two different
[1:50:28] coming out parties that people threw for me and Stephen sat in front and he had a notebook
[1:50:34] and he took notes, and he asked me very pointed questions, and had me answer them for him,
[1:50:41] and then he came back another time, and asked me more questions so early drilling to me.
[1:50:46] So, I was very happy when Trisho decided to move to the state of Washington, and we had to do an
[1:50:54] appointment that Stephen said to raise his hand. And of course, it was not a big surprise that he
[1:51:04] 2021. Stephen has got a long history of working in Mil Valley as a volunteer. It's one of the great things about the city Mil Valley.
[1:51:12] We have tremendous people who have got a long history of volunteerism and they bring that to the city council. Nobody walks onto the city council without having spent many many many years working in the community beforehand.
[1:51:25] And Steven, you're somebody that had a pretty deep resume
[1:51:28] before coming out to the city council,
[1:51:30] and that really made a difference.
[1:51:32] You and I got a chance to work together
[1:51:33] when I was the mayor for 15 months.
[1:51:36] You were my vice mayor.
[1:51:37] We went to all the meetings together.
[1:51:39] This is one of the great things about the city of Milvalli.
[1:51:41] Unlike many other cities around us,
[1:51:45] one city near us calls December the month of surprises
[1:51:48] because they don't know who the next mayor is gonna be.
[1:51:51] That's not the way it works at the city of Milvalli.
[1:51:52] We literally sit in the order in which we do the transition to the next leader and that's a really great strength
[1:51:58] So Stephen and I had a long time to work together
[1:52:01] Just as Max has had a long time to work together with Stephen and now Caroline will have a long time to work together with with Max and that's really a great strength
[1:52:09] So Stephen you brought
[1:52:10] As Caroline I think I really said a very thoughtful calm approach to city governance and I really appreciate that
[1:52:18] And I'll say beyond that, I think you are perhaps the most empathetic person who is in the
[1:52:25] seat of the mayor in Mobile.
[1:52:27] You are very empathetic person, I think.
[1:52:29] You have a difficult time when somebody needs to not get exactly what they want, and you
[1:52:36] really go out of your way to make sure that you try to satisfy as many people in the community
[1:52:41] as you can, and that's really a great strength of yours, I think.
[1:52:45] And the city is better for it.
[1:52:47] As another mayor has pointed out, I think very awkwardly, this is a relay race.
[1:52:52] We basically hand the baton from one person to the next.
[1:52:54] Things that started in one term, carry on to the next term and then carry on to the term after that.
[1:53:01] And you mentioned a couple of great skills that you require to do a good job in mayor.
[1:53:07] I think the number one skill is to not drop the baton baton.
[1:53:10] And that's actually not as simple as it sounds.
[1:53:13] It's very easy to get distracted by the things that happened during the course of
[1:53:17] their leadership, because there's a lot of things going on.
[1:53:21] And the key skill really is to ensure that that the time gets carried across the finish line.
[1:53:26] And you did that, which is fantastic.
[1:53:28] So I'm very grateful for the leadership that you provided this year.
[1:53:32] I think you did a fantastic job.
[1:53:34] And I look forward to the next chapter as well.
[1:53:39] Thank you very much.
[1:53:47] I was just remembering the first time I actually met you.
[1:53:52] I was, I had applied for your seat on the Parks and Rec Commission,
[1:53:56] after you'd been appointed to the City Council,
[1:53:59] and I did not get appointed to the Parks and Rec Commission,
[1:54:03] and I was really excited about my interview.
[1:54:05] I thought I did a great job,
[1:54:06] and I was really disappointed.
[1:54:10] You reached out to me, and you took me out for coffee,
[1:54:14] And you encouraged me to try again and I did and I made it onto the Parks and Rec Commission that second time and I'm not sure I would have tried again if it weren't for you reaching out like that to someone that you didn't even know and I might have changed my life so I really appreciate that and I'm sure I'm not the only person who feels like that in some way.
[1:54:42] As you mentioned, as mayor, you get to set the tone for the year, and I want to express my gratitude to you for a year defined by, I think, I'm the third person to say, calm, connection and purpose.
[1:54:56] You've been a wonderful mentor, showing me how to exercise patients to listen and to consider my words.
[1:55:06] Your emphasis on affordable housing, partnership, and community preparedness has strengthened the fabric of our city.
[1:55:17] Thank you for leading with compassion and steadiness this year, and I truly look forward to working with you more over the coming years.
[1:55:30] All right boss, real quick. I know you hate this. Yeah, so I've been in public service for 30 years and I've had that opportunity to work and with a lot of council members and mayors and something in Mil Valley that has really and it's been spoken up tonight
[1:55:45] is the professionalism, the expertise, the thoughtfulness and the volunteerism of our former mayor group. It's an really amazing group, many in this room, and you touched on it of like make it better past the baton, don't drop it.
[1:56:00] And I got to tell you that, you know, being here for three years, I didn't think it could get better.
[1:56:05] I've just been really impressed with this council in the mayors and you stepped into the sea.
[1:56:10] And I've never met anyone that is as thoughtful and caring as you.
[1:56:14] You've taught me a lot.
[1:56:16] And in this business, you know, not thinking, what else are we going to learn at this point after 30 years?
[1:56:20] I learned a lot from you this year.
[1:56:22] And I've really enjoyed it.
[1:56:23] There's been a lot of times where I wanted to jump in and swing and go attack the problem.
[1:56:28] and you're like, hey, step back, just like Kat just said,
[1:56:31] think about it.
[1:56:32] Think on it tonight.
[1:56:32] Here's some things you might want to think about.
[1:56:34] Bring in a book to help educate me.
[1:56:36] I knew if I was in trouble, if I got a book from you.
[1:56:38] And then I hated it, I like work on it.
[1:56:41] You started the soft of tonight of talking about staff
[1:56:44] and appreciating the team and telling their story.
[1:56:47] Thank you.
[1:56:47] It means a lot to this team.
[1:56:48] And this team will walk through fire for you
[1:56:50] in this council, because you do support them
[1:56:52] and you recognize them.
[1:56:54] You know what they do.
[1:56:55] No one knows the relationship and what goes in
[1:56:57] running a city and the relationship between a mayor and a city manager. You only know it until
[1:57:02] you do it until you live it. And you approached it with openness, honesty, I have seen
[1:57:08] you mad. You are very clear in your words, when you're angry. But I appreciate it, you're honest.
[1:57:14] You're like, hey, I appreciate it. But I'll make the same mistake twice. Let's learn from it.
[1:57:17] And let's go. No one forced theirs. Let's work the problem. I learned a lot. I've really appreciated
[1:57:23] I'm a better CEO of basketball coach because of you.
[1:57:27] I'm a better father because of you
[1:57:29] and I've just really, really enjoyed the experience
[1:57:32] in journey this past year.
[1:57:34] War better for it.
[1:57:35] And again, it's the partnership that you've approached
[1:57:37] with me and my team of just working a problem.
[1:57:41] Of all of us checking our egos at the door
[1:57:43] not trying to be the smartest one in the room
[1:57:44] or winning an argument or explaining a reason
[1:57:47] why we can't do something.
[1:57:48] It was always the way to find a way to make
[1:57:51] and you taught us that you taught us that process,
[1:57:55] bringing the right people into the room to work or problem.
[1:57:59] We're going to be better for it.
[1:58:00] We're going to be better because of you.
[1:58:02] So thank you for everything.
[1:58:03] Really appreciate it.
[1:58:07] And with that, we have some gifts for you.
[1:58:11] Vanna White will be coming to the...
[1:58:13] Are they under $50?
[1:58:16] Yes.
[1:58:17] Good.
[1:58:25] Oh,
[1:58:30] holy cow.
[1:58:32] Thank you.
[1:58:33] Thank you.
[1:58:35] Thank you.
[1:58:36] Wow.
[1:58:39] A renaming level.
[1:58:43] What a great Christmas.
[1:58:45] Thank you.
[1:58:50] Thank you.
[1:58:51] I
[1:58:59] can make my way through the thickest of graft here.
[1:59:05] Now we get
[1:59:10] it's rare in life that you get to witness a boyhood dream come true and tonight
[1:59:19] we have the opportunity to do that. I'm so proud to be here for this moment. I know
[1:59:26] How much max loves public service?
[1:59:30] No, really.
[1:59:34] And, while this is not the culmination of his career,
[1:59:38] it's certainly an important step in his career.
[1:59:40] And I'm proud to be here at this moment.
[1:59:43] So with that, I'm going to accept nomination
[1:59:48] for the Office of Mayor of the City of Mill Valley.
[1:59:58] You want me to make the motion?
[1:59:58] You can make a motion, sorry.
[2:00:00] I move that vice mayor, max per a, is our next mayor. Okay, do we have a second?
[2:00:08] Second. All in favor. All right. All right.
[2:00:31] I'm done. I'm going to hit this once. All right. That was not the end of the meeting. Because I'm going to open it up for nominations for vice mayor.
[2:00:47] And I would like to move, I move, I move that Caroline Joachim, be come the vice mayor of the city of Milvalli.
[2:00:56] I'll second that.
[2:00:57] All those in favor?
[2:01:00] Aye.
[2:01:10] All right.
[2:01:11] Hurry up, let's square them in, Lisa.
[2:01:15] I believe we have the oath of office as our next order of business.
[2:01:22] You'll come on down.
[2:01:24] New mayor.
[2:01:26] Vice mayor.
[2:01:48] Okay, so we're here to swear in our newly appointed mayor and vice mayor for the City of Mill Valley.
[2:01:55] So I'm going to ask you to please raise your right hand which you're doing and repeat after me.
[2:02:01] I state your name.
[2:02:04] Do you solemnly affirm that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the State of California
[2:02:22] against all enemies foreign and domestic?
[2:02:30] That I will bear true faith and allegiance
[2:02:35] to the Constitution of the United States
[2:02:40] and the Constitution of the State of California.
[2:02:43] that
[2:02:46] I take this obligation freely
[2:02:52] and without any mental reservation
[2:02:57] or purpose of
[2:02:59] evasion and that I will faithfully discharge the duties
[2:03:07] upon which I am about to enter.
[2:03:12] Congratulations, you're now officially sworn in.
[2:04:53] Start off your mayor, I'll turn being handed booze.
[2:05:00] All right, I have a few words to share with my colleagues and with those gathered here
[2:05:05] today. And I'd like to start by saying that a professor I had in college, Ryan Coonerty at the
[2:05:14] time he was on the City Council in Santa Cruz. I went to UC Santa Cruz and he had served
[2:05:20] as mayor and later as county supervisor. But 12 years ago he told our undergrad class that
[2:05:27] if you wanted to make a difference, if you wanted to make an impact to move home and to serve
[2:05:33] your local community. He recounted staffing the 911 Commission in D.C. and members of Congress,
[2:05:40] but he realized that nothing beats going back and serving your community that you came
[2:05:45] from. That story in that lesson stuck with me over the years. And Ryan was right. The ability
[2:05:53] to serve and shape one's community has been the most incredible honor of my life. And I
[2:05:59] look forward to the opportunity and the challenge ahead this coming year as mayor.
[2:06:05] There were so many mentors and dear friends here in this room tonight, you know who you
[2:06:10] are, you are the day ones.
[2:06:13] But I would like to start my remarks by honoring the woman who brought me into this world
[2:06:18] and it has been my confidant and dearest friend and cheerleader, my mama of Robin.
[2:06:34] She probably hates the recognition.
[2:06:38] My middle valley story starts long before I was born. My mother, Robin, and her parents and
[2:06:44] siblings moved to a new home in 1960. I'm beautiful, Marlin Avenue, and Mill Valley, when
[2:06:50] my mom was aged 10. The stories I've heard of Mill Valley in the 60s were downright magical.
[2:06:58] And after living around the Bay Area and overseas in France, my mother moved back, and I was born
[2:07:04] in 1991 to the best town in America to raise a child, Mel Valley.
[2:07:11] My experience growing up here was one where my neighbors of all ages were my dearest friends.
[2:07:17] Wildlife and nature were in every day experience.
[2:07:22] The library was a place of joy and discovery.
[2:07:26] I remember going down to the Mel Valley Community Center down the water slide on the day
[2:07:31] opened when I was 11 years old. I ran for council and I serve as mayor today to build on the
[2:07:39] best of our community. Costs have risen since my grandparents moved here in 1960, but also since
[2:07:46] I grew up in town. Definitely to render by a home but also for the little things that add up.
[2:07:54] When the federal government shut down this fall, over 700
[2:07:58] Mel Valleyans went without food, because of EBT cards going unfilled.
[2:08:06] Our community rallied. The food pantry at the Methodist Church stepped up
[2:08:10] our restaurants offer discounts and free meals, and we all pulled together together.
[2:08:15] In this year, this coming year, working with our city manager and our council,
[2:08:20] I'd like to build on that effort and launch a new public private cross-sector initiative
[2:08:24] and the working title that I've worked with a few folks in this room is envy support.
[2:08:30] This initiative will seek to bring together the business community, the faith community,
[2:08:35] the nonprofit community, and our city's government all working together to ensure that
[2:08:40] everyone in town knows about the resources available. Developing a one-stop shop for engaging
[2:08:45] as a volunteer and much, much more. We also, this coming year, will continue our relentless
[2:08:52] focus on ensuring that government works for everyone.
[2:08:56] Whether you need a business permit to check out a library book or access a park and
[2:09:00] record program, it should be an efficient process with customer success as the primary objective.
[2:09:06] Something that Todd has taught all of us about what government can be.
[2:09:10] No barriers to government.
[2:09:13] Under Mayor Burke's leadership, we worked really hard this year to make real progress when
[2:09:18] we did.
[2:09:18] and we will continue in this trajectory. Every month, in 2026, I commit to hold office hours.
[2:09:26] Not just downtown, though I will be downtown, but throughout our community.
[2:09:31] Stay tuned for dates and times and locations. Come with ideas, we are all ears.
[2:09:37] One of those people that I have appreciated hearing from and that my ears have been open to is here tonight.
[2:09:43] Dr. John Maam, Edward and Health.
[2:09:47] John and I partnered on E-Bite safety over the last two years and served on the county-wide
[2:09:51] youth E-Bite safety task force.
[2:09:54] This coming year will be partnering on updating our tobacco regulations following on the
[2:09:59] county's leadership.
[2:10:01] This coming year, we will also continue our progress on addressing infrastructure and climate
[2:10:06] change.
[2:10:06] And my colleague, Urban Carmel, is my partner in both those efforts.
[2:10:09] the municipal service tax will be on the ballot in November. We must pass it. We also must continue to work to ensure our streets wherever possible are complete streets so that whether you choose to bike to walk to use a wheelchair or drive a vehicle the infrastructure you are using is safe and accessible.
[2:10:29] We will also bring to our City Council in Q1, a green, low-carbon concrete policy modeled off of the county of Marin's policy to require infrastructure and town uses climate-conscious materials.
[2:10:44] We also will be continuing, and my partner on this is Council Member Jones, on our 18-month sea level rise planning process this year.
[2:10:53] A new for Mill Valley, we will also join, and as of today, we will have joined a group
[2:10:59] called Climate Mayors, a bipartisan group of 350 mayors around the country working collectively
[2:11:05] to make progress.
[2:11:08] And last, but certainly not least, we are here for community.
[2:11:13] This will be a year of community and business vitality, led by our outstanding new Vice Mayor
[2:11:19] Caroline Joachim, and Council Member Jones as a vitality leads.
[2:11:24] Cat Jones vision of a Miller's Knights, a weekly celebration of community will become
[2:11:29] into reality at some point in 2026.
[2:11:33] My vision for the last three and a half years of a farmers market downtown Mill Valley will
[2:11:38] launch this coming spring.
[2:11:40] We will bring local produce to consumers and restaurants alike, and this year we will take
[2:11:46] up the call of many, including John McColley who's in our audience, when we update our city's logo.
[2:11:53] All of this will be done as a team. I have learned from the three mayors I've served under
[2:12:00] Council, Jim Whitham, who's in the audience, Irving Carmel, who's here at the Dias, Steven Burke,
[2:12:06] most of all since I served as Vice Mayor, Andrew U. Each of you have taught through your example.
[2:12:14] Our Council treats each other with civility.
[2:12:18] When we disagree, we model how to respect alternate views.
[2:12:22] I couldn't be more grateful to each of you that I get to serve with.
[2:12:26] And to our city manager Todd Fussimano, your service to our community is profound.
[2:12:33] The dedication you give to our city is what moves us forward.
[2:12:37] We can't do anything we do without you.
[2:12:40] And to the people who work under your leadership are who inspires us every day as elected officials.
[2:12:47] It is a joy to serve alongside, and it truly is alongside our staff.
[2:12:53] If you're a current or formal staff member of the City of Mavali, please rise.
[2:12:57] Let's give them a round of applause.
[2:13:16] Truly, thank you to each of you.
[2:13:19] And finally, our theme for 2020.
[2:13:22] The theme for our city in 2026 will be all about Mill Valley.
[2:13:28] The community, the local businesses, the people.
[2:13:31] We're all in it together, and our year ahead will be all about Mill Valley.
[2:13:35] Thank you.
[2:13:48] All right, back to business.
[2:13:50] So, we have as our final item of the agenda, Council request and ideas for instruction.
[2:13:58] For this question, any items?
[2:14:01] I'd like a glass of wine.
[2:14:03] All right, we have a request for a glass of wine, and thanks again to Lisa and Kelsey and everyone else in the City Hall team for getting us amazing cupcakes in the back.
[2:14:14] Wine, other refreshments, please stay.
[2:14:16] Help yourself, look at the beautiful art on the wall that are up and we'll be at Corner Bar after if anyone wishes to join.
[2:14:24] Thank you.