Are you guys ready?
>> You guys ready?
>> Ready.
>> All right, folks. Thank you for showing
up. 6 o'clock, we're going to uh call
the meeting to order. Please join me for
the pledge of allegiance.
I pledge allegiance to the flag of the
United States of America [clears throat]
and to the republic for which it stands.
One nation under God, indivisible, with
liberty and justice for all.
>> Thank you.
All right. Roll call. I see all council
members are present.
Any report out on close session?
>> No reportable act.
>> Okay. Thank you. Conflict of interest
declarations. Do we have any? Seeing
none. All right. Agenda reviews and
changes, deletions.
>> No changes, mayor.
>> All right. Thank you. Let's roll right
into item B1, presentation, national
night out. Recipient is Bo Gastino, one
of our sergeants.
Yep. Go ahead.
Proclamation of the city council of the
city of Cloverdale recognizing National
Night Out in Cloverdale. Whereas
National Night Out is an annual
nationwide community building campaign
traditionally held on the first Tuesday
in August that brings neighbors, law
enforcement, first responders,
businesses, and community organizations
together to strengthen relationships,
promote public safety, and foster safer,
more connected neighborhoods. And
whereas on August 4, 2026, residents
throughout Cloverdale joined the
Cloverdale Police Department in
celebrating National Night Out,
demonstrating the strong partnerships,
community spirit, and shared commitment
that helped make Cloverdale a safe and
welcoming place to live, work, and
visit. And whereas the success of
National Night Out reflects the
collaborative effort efforts of the
Cloverdale Police Department, Northern
Sonoma County Fire Protection District,
Cloverdale Ambulance, the Cloverdale
Community Emergency Response Team, SERT,
the Cloverdale Lions Club, the
Cloverdale Police Officers Association,
city staff from across the organization,
local businesses, community
organizations, sponsors, volunteers, and
residents whose collective commitment
created a welcoming event that
strengthened community relationships and
celebrated the spirit of public safety.
And whereas the city council recognizes
that strong relationships, open
communication, and meaningful
partnerships between law enforcement and
the comm community are essential to
build building trust, enhancing public
safety, and fostering a strong, more
connected Cloverdale. And whereas
National Night Out serves as a reminder
that a safe community is built not only
through public safety services, but
through neighbors who know one another,
community organizations that give back,
businesses that invest locally,
volunteers who serve, and residents who
remain engaged throughout the year. And
now therefore, be it proclaimed that the
city council of the city of Cloverdale
hereby recognizes successful observance
of National Night Out on August 4, 2026
and encourages continued community
engagement and partnership throughout
the year to help keep Cloverdale safe,
welcoming, and connected. Dated August
12th, 2026. So ordered by Mayor Brian
Wheeler.
[applause]
have any comments for the council?
>> Um, I did not make it out to national
out, but I saw the photos. It looks like
everyone had a really good time. Uh,
heard from members in the community that
uh, uh, the children had a great time
and it's just a wonderful event. So,
thank you guys for the wonderful job you
do on that.
I want to thank you all for putting this
on every year and I think our community
really enjoys it and I think it's a good
time for children to learn about the
police force and the fire department and
other things of interest that they may
look at one year to go into those kind
of careers. So, thank you.
>> Yeah, Bo, thank you for uh all that you
do for the city. Uh, National Night Outs
is is a big progressive event for, you
know, families and kids alone. And it's
great to see that you chose to raise
your family here and and be the the the
force that we want to see in raising a
family in a uh safe neighborhood. So, we
appreciate what you do for Cloverdale.
Thank you.
>> I'm going to reiterate what they said.
Thank you for everything you guys do.
Community engagement in Cloverdale is
what makes us special and knowing
generations of your family. Uh thank you
for all that you put into it. Thank you
for staying here and working hard and
showing the community what it's really
like.
» Uh Bo, thank you. Thank you to uh
Cloverdale Police. You know, um you guys
are not only the cops in town, your
neighbors. Uh you you hook people up and uh talk to them when they need to be
talked to. I'm not even going to bring
up the rib competition because I think
the the new chief of police was a little
skewed on that. But anyway, um and
obviously one of the cops won, so it was
stacked a little bit, but we'll get
>> our ex Chief Parker did not win.
[laughter]
>> As long as Chief Parker, the old chief
didn't win, we're cool with that. But
anyway, thank you guys for doing what
you do. You're always accessible. Um and you know, we transition right into
the new chief. I think he's fitting in
well, and I encourage uh the community
to get out and get to know him. get well
get to know our cops that they don't
know and al we have a lot of new ones
and also talk to the chief. I know he's
going to be up. Tomorrow's uh the first
day of school for a lot of folks and uh
he's going to be pretty visible in
there. Get to know the guy. He's going
to be huge asset and I think it's uh
great for Cloverdale. So once again,
thank not only Yubo but the entire CPD.
You guys are awesome. Now, can we get a
picture with
>> Thank you. Yeah. Can I just say a couple
thanks? Uh thank you guys for your
recognition. Um it always feels good to
give out gifts rather than speeding
tickets sometimes.
So um like council member Marjorie
Mortgen said um there were so many
people who made this thing possible and
I'm just going to she already reiterated
it but I'm going to do it again. Um our
Cloverdale Police Department, the entire
staff uh volunteered their time to make
this event possible from dispatchers to
Cso to our records to all the officers.
It's an all hands-on event. Um, and then
we talked about ex- chief Parker. Uh, it
wouldn't be possible without his
foundation. He he makes it really easy
just to kind of follow in his footsteps
and our current chief filled that role
perfectly. Um, just to go down the line,
you had mentioned all the vendors and
local businesses that support these
small events. I think they donated
upwards of uh $1,500 in gifts and gift
cards. and our POA donated another
thousand dollars to give out to the
community. Um, so it's just great to see
such a small nit community come together
for an event like this. Um, there's so
many more people I'm probably missing on
this list like ambulance and everybody
who came out, but thank you to the
community who always supports us. And
lastly, like council member Mark Laskkey
said, most of us from the Cloverdale
Police Department are actually from
Cloverdale. So, it actually feels great
to do an event like this and give back
to the community that raised us. So,
thank you guys Yeah.
Sorry. We're going to move into we do
have the student leazison report. Right
now we don't have them, but I would like
people if you know anybody, please get
on the uh city's website. There's a
guide on how to do that. We love having
our student liaison up here. The ones
we've had are awesome and they're a
great addition up here to the DIS. So,
uh, please if you know anybody, uh,
guide them in that direction. Now, we're
going to move into public comments. D1,
verbal comments. Any person wishing to
speak on an item not listed on the
agenda may do so at this time. Pursuant
to the Brown Act, the city council is
not allowed to consider issues or take
action on any item not listed on the
agenda. Three minutes are allotted to
each speaker.
Do we have any public comments?
And please, when you come up, state your
name for the record, please.
Push the little button.
>> There we go. Uh, my name is Robert Maddock. I live here in
Cloverdale. I am here actually to say
thank you to the public employees of of
Cloverdale. Um, I had a really difficult
situation at my house when my sewer line
got cut by a neighbor. We had to replace
the entire thing. So, I specifically
wanted to thank Kevin Thompson, city
manager, for um this being a community
where we can talk directly to the people
who run it. And it really made a big
difference. And I really appreciate the
cooperation of the city manager as well
as uh Derek Montani, uh Robert Bobby
Spagnol, and others in the city staff
who really worked with me. I'm on Cherry
Creek Road. The other thing I'll mention
is when we did the repaving on Cherry
Creek Road, we found that there is no
road base and it's actually buried with
uh yards and yards of river rock. Pure
Russian River rock. And if you ever are
going to work on Cherry Creek Road, try
to save that rock. It's really
beautiful. I'm rellandscaping big areas
in my yard with it. So, um it's
beautiful. probably scooped out of the
river back in the day when people just
went down there with a bucket and
scooped it. Um, but I also uh really
just uh in addition to saying thank you
for that, want to say I really
appreciate our city parks and our new
preserve. I've been hiking the trails. I
hiked the tank trail this morning uh on
that side uh north side. I I like the
brand new preserve. So, thanks for the
great job you're doing. A lot of people
come to complain. I'm just here to say
thanks.
Hello, Colleen Shields.
Council, city officials, and fellow
Cloverdaleians.
As a 30-year resident of our beloved
city, I can't sit idly by without
sharing some thoughts about the proposed
Esmeralda project. Let me preface my
comments by apprising you that I am not
anti-growth. I just want to see the
right kind of growth in our sweet little
town. Safe growth, conducive growth, that positively supports our
population and businesses. Growth that
follows mandated guidelines. As most of
you are aware, there are toxic waste
issues of the on the proposed site in
question. There are concerns about lack
of water issues and I can tell you that
I personally know two of our own
residents who witnessed toxic waste not
being disposed of properly and which was
buried on the proposed site. They
witnessed this firsthand. That alone
should be a red flag. Why then wouldn't
you demand current testing and possible
subsequent well monitoring? Why then
isn't a current EIR required? If things
go through as is, we are not doing our
due diligence and would not be comparing
apples to apples. We need to square up,
have integrity, and do the right thing.
I'm concerned that the decision five
individuals make could negatively alter
the landscape of our community and the
safety and availability of our precious
water supply. This is a huge decision
and honestly feel should be up to all of
the constituents of this district.
Therefore, I propose that this item of
business be added to the November
ballot. We all choose to live here and
don't need to marry the first suitor
that proposes. We don't have to say yes
because something is better than
nothing. We have the sacred
responsibility as stewards of this land,
this town, this lifestyle to think
things through and be wise before making
such a decision. We don't have to act
out of fear and be tempted by the lure
of money, believing that one entity is
the panacea for our financial wos.
Sometimes waiting for other options is a
viable decision. Quite often patient
patience truly does pay off. Please
listen to our legitimate concerns and
truly consider them prior to making any
permanent decision. As your constituent
constituents, we are owed at least that.
Respectfully submitted.
[applause]
Any other public comment?
Good evening. I'm Rob Kazowski. Uh live
here in Cloverdale. And uh um first of
all, I'd like to speak on an issue that
wasn't included in the uh July 22nd city
council meetings written comments. Uh
those written comments should be part of
today's record and warrant your review.
Uh they focus on the reasons for no
water rate increases at this time. The
importance of speaking up is to remind
my fellow Cloverdaleians and city
leaders that their priorities need
regular validation by members of the
public. This became evident during the
most recent 5-year period of water rate
increases. Here are a few examples. One,
solar panel to solar panels were
prioritized over public works projects.
Over inflated and projected savings were
used to justify deficit spending, yet
future operational parts replacements
and maintenance costs for this solar
system remain unaccounted for. Smart
water meters were prioritized over water
capital improvement projects. Faux
savings were projected, yet stated
benefits remain o undocumented to date.
Office air conditioning was prioritized
over wastewater capital improvement
projects. No benefits for Cloverdaleians
was ever identified. The city of
Cloverdale assumed long-term debt in
2022, but put it on the backs of
residents in the form of massive
interest payments. It was an $8 million
financial scheme prioritized over pay as
you go payments. This irresponsible
foray led to deferred water and
wastewater public works projects
promised to be completed before the
5-year double-digit rate increases
imposed on residents water bill since
2021.
Even so, some modest progress has been
made during the past fiscal year, as it
should with a $10 million war chest
accumulated during the past five years
of water wastewater bills.
However, please stop more rate increases
over the next 5 years in violation of
Proposition 218, where rate increases
should be tied to costs related to water
infrastructure projects and not for
unrelated boondoggles. At the outset, I
said city leaders priorities need
regular validation by members of the
public. However, this has become harder
with the lack of subcommittee meetings
and a consolidation of four
subcommittees into two. For example, the
public works subcommittee meetings
during 2024 were cancelled six times.
During 2025, they were suspended seven
times. These are failing grades, not
only for public meeting schedules, but
also for government transparencies
regarding to needed capital improvement
projects. Curiously, the first meeting
of the public works or infrastructure
subcommittee convened nine months later
on May 4th of this year. It was held
just one day ahead of the two-year
budget workshop, giving residents no
time to meaningfully participate in the
financial future of Cloverdale for the
next two-year budget cycle. With that in
mind, I encourage you no to higher water
bills until we consume the $10 million
war chest and look at how much more
money this will bring in without
completing a lot of the major projects.
Thank you.
» [laughter]
» Angela Cordova.
So, I have several things that I want to
talk about. First, I receive a
threatening text message because I speak
out on Esmeralda.
That's okay. In our community, that's
what Esmeralda brings. A threat against
my life. That's a joke.
Saying the number won't be traced. Devon
has the audacity to send an email to the
Dry Creek tribe basically telling them
that if they don't cooperate and and
support Esmeralda that she is going to
oppose their future projects, who is
she? She's nobody. She's nobody. But
more threats from Esmeralda people now
trying to hush the tribe. That is
comical.
Calling e anti-esalda folks a mob.
That's another joke. There's never been
a threat made from any anti-esalda
person to anybody. There's never been
aggression. There's never been violence.
There's there's always been public
presence and people with legitimate
concerns. And it will continue. It's not
going to stop. Public records requests
in our city have become a joke. It took
for me to threaten you with a lawsuit
from my attorney to threaten you with
public [snorts] complaints to the
attorney general, to the state
controller, the state auditor, and the
grand jury. because this guy thinks it's
funny to dictate what the law is. You
don't dictate the law. You adhere to the
law. So, when you have people in this
room who are sitting here today that
have requested public records, it's your
job as the city attorney to educate your
staff that they are violating the law,
which is going to cost you a big
lawsuit, as you know. And within hours I
had my public records on my email within
hours of my threat. That's
Yesterday this guy months of asking and
he thinks it's funny to go over. You
could watch the clock. I'm going over. I
don't care. He laughs at city hall and
says, "Oh, they didn't use the right
verbiage."
The verbiage was there. you're you're
not a dictionary, but that's how you'll
be treated. Now,
when I finally got my public records, I
haven't even gone through them all, but
I am looking through them, as well as
two other people and an accountant.
There's connections with the public
money that you're giving, the tax money
that you're giving to the chamber. We've
already made connections to Michael
Yarnney, Steve Cava, Resilient
Cloverdale, Rebecca Enis, JDS, DGH,
Daniel and Diana Hamzy, Esmeralda, and
Devin Zoo, Cloverdale Emergency, and the
list goes on.
And there's money that's not even
accounted for. You know what that's
called? failure to oversee our tax
dollars that you're handing out.
[applause]
» Any other public comment?
» [clears throat]
>> My name is Jennifer Sullivan
and I'm a Cloverdale resident.
So, why did the city of Cloverdale allow
consulting and legal work for Esmeralda
be done when Esmeralda didn't have the
funds in its reimbursement account to
cover that work?
On April 8th, 2026, this council amended
the city's own budget to authorize
$137,000
in Esmeralda planning expenses. Expenses
the city said would be reimbursed by
Esmeralda.
Esmeralda's reimbursement agreement
required an initial $20,000 deposit. And
whenever the balance falls below 10,000,
the city shall, not may, it shall notify
Esmeralda that additional funds are
required.
But on october 2nd, 2025, the account
fell to $8,482
and stayed below that contractual
trigger for 77 days. Then on December
18th, another $25,000 in Esmeralda
related engineering and legal costs was
posted. By December 31st, 2025,
Esmerald owed the city $16,523.75.
So, what happened? Did the city send the
required replenishment notice? If so,
why wasn't Esmeralda's reimbursement
account replenished during that 77day
period? Did the city pay any of those
costs before Esmeralda reimbured them?
If so, from what fund?
For comparison, in a recent developer
funded environmental review, San Rafll
required developers deposits before the
consultant began work. Why isn't
Esmeralda being held to the same
safeguard?
During that April 8th council meeting, I
asked whether Esmeralda had paid what it
had owed. The answer was they paid
everything. Fine, then show us. Produce
the 2026 activity statement I have been
asking for.
Show when the $16,523
was paid. Show the replenishments. Show
how forleaf West Yoast and legal
services and other Emerald costs were
paid and reimbursed.
I have sent at least eight emails with
about these outstanding records that
received no city response.
Go back and read my emails. When asked
to narrow requests, I narrowed them.
When asked to clarify them, I clarified
them. I acknowledged staff workload. I
have been respectful, and I wish this I
wish I could say that the city of
Cloverdale has treated me the same. A
resident should [clears throat] not have
to send eight unanswered emails, formal
notices, and repeated follow-ups just to
obtain records that are public under
California law. If Esmeralda paid every
penny, show us. If taxpayers never
carried a dollar, show us. If the city
followed the reimbursement agreement,
show us. Transparency is not asking
residents to trust you. Transparency is
asking is showing them the records.
[applause]
» Any other public comment?
Uh, my name is Paul Perry. Um,
I want to go back to
we've had a couple town council members
back to June June 20 June June 20
something meeting when we were here and
uh the town council uh established that
June 26 I believe is now the city of
Cloverdale
um survivor cancer day.
Am and am I correct in that you guys
have said June 26 was going to be when
we celebrate the people in Cloverdale
that have cancer and how much of a
struggle that is for everybody.
Well,
you know, it took a while to sink in,
but when I went home and I started to
think about it, it was like, "Oh my god,
I mean, you guys are ready to cart
launch
pass
a project on the super fund site where
we have no idea how much toxic chemicals
are going to be exposed during all this
10 years of construction.
and and then put thousands of people on
top of that land.
It it I mean I hope the new
uh
hospital that you're going to build in
downtown
has thinking about maybe tripling their
size of their cancer center.
I mean this is really really crazy.
Something is not right here going you're
you got a toxic piece of land that you
want to take a 2009 EIR and say we don't
have to do it again when they've buried
wells they've buried the thing no toxic
chemicals were ever removed off this
land they were spread and you're going
to geologically
rip it up spread it all over the place
to build new construction uction and
think that we're not going to have
consequences.
Where is every I I've been a structural
engineer for 45 years. Every project
I've ever developed in the planning
phase has a geotechnical report that
declares that this site is safe to build
on. Where is that report right now that
Esmerald is financed? Is it in the city
and you're not declaring it? We don't
know.
uh that geological firm, that
geotechnical firm might have just
massive uh liability insurance policy to
develop land that was a super fun site.
Drill it, rip it up, however you want to
develop it. There's only two ways to
build foundations on land, and that is
either deep D9, rip it up, and pack it
all back in or drill peers. So all that
soil has to be tested and Michael Yarn
says we'll just deal with when it comes.
That's not the right answer. The answer
is to do your diligence.
Do a new EIRI. Find out where this site
is in 2026
before you rip up the land
and expose all everybody to these
chemicals in Clodale
and figure out what the right way is to
build this land. not let Michael Yarn
and uh and and and Devon Zoo have their
Esmeralda Disneyland dream.
Okay. And then there's
uh I I just I I've in the time that's
passed this summer. Um I have multiple
friends in Cloverdale that have all two
of them died last week
and it's just it's it's shocking to see
this pain. I have one more friend Ross.
Everybody must know Ross and his dog.
He's really really sick and they can't
cure him. I mean, it's just awful. And we're it it is such an awful life
for these people to be exposed to this
cancer and end their lives this way. I
I'm my my wife and I, we drive them down
to their their their doctor's
appointments and bring them back and and we just come home and we're we're we just can't believe it.
And it's everywhere here. And we want to
expose thousands of more new clover
aliens to a super fun toxic site without
doing diligence of a new EIR
and finding out what's the right way to
build this site.
>> Thank you. [applause]
» Any other public comment?
Good evening, Lance Via. I do have some
concerns about the Esmeralda site. Like
I said before, I own the property just
to the south Esmeralda. I can see where
a couple of the sites were and there's a
reason why nothing grows on those sites.
A lot of toxins out there. the Twinkie
even. Nothing is growing out there. Had
my uh my well tested. Water's good now,
but I'm really concerned about my kids
when they start digging all that stuff
up. Is it going to run into my well? Is
the dust particles going to come up onto
my house? And who's going to who's going
to pay for my kids hospital bill? It's
going to be as Moralda. I'm really
concerned about this. Thank you for your
time.
[applause]
public. Any other public comment?
Okay, I'm seeing none. We'll move into
written comments. Written public
comments on items not on the agenda
submitted in accordance with the public
comment submission procedure below will
be listed in order received. Uh written
comments are on the Cloverdale Agenda
Center. Um you have access to all the
ones that came in. Um, so please if you
need to see the written comments that
came in for this agenda, they are on
there. Uh, moving to presentations. E1,
receive a presentation on the measure DD
street rehab program.
Thanks, Mayor. Uh, Derek is sick
tonight, so I'm going to take this one.
Um, Mike, there's Can you I think
there's a presentation. Um, so this was
a request to bring back what we've been
talking about what we're going to do
with measure DD. We've kind of committed
that we're going to use a majority of
that money to repair streets. We've been
working through what we think are the
worst streets. We have a list that we'd
like to present to the council. Um and
so we one of the our main goals out of
this is to try to get some
prioritization. We've listed them and
kind of what we think uh could be a good
priority list, but we'd like to get some
input on that. There's two things going
on here. We're going to be grinding and
repaving
um certain streets. And so the
assessment of those streets doesn't
require a full reconstruction and we'll
go through those second. But the streets
proposed for grind and repave are
Jefferson Street from 4th to School
Street. Uh it's approximately n 39,000
square ft of of new pavement. And
everyone knows Jefferson Street is in
terrible and all of these are in
terrible shape. So that's really why
they're on here. Franklin Street from
2nd to First Street, it's about 8,700
square ft². South Street, uh, from the
dead end to Cloverdale Boulevard, it's
approximately 15,000 ft² of new
pavement. And Hill View, um, from Tarman
to Cloverdale Boulevard. So those are
ones that are probably a little cheaper
because they're not a complete redo. Um,
but they're just a a grind and repave.
So that's Mike, is that you? So you have
that list up there. Yeah. So, you can
see the list and the order that we're
proposing, but we're interested in
getting some uh some input on the the
order.
We can go through all of them and you
guys can think about it and then we can
come back if that's easier.
>> Yeah, let's do that.
>> Okay. So, maybe you can advance the
slide, Mike.
The next section is the full
reconstruction.
And so this is more expensive, but
they're in the condition after our
assessment that they need um a complete um reconstruction.
So we've got uh I think that
I don't think that's the right list, but
yeah,
keep going.
So I think you keep going if you can
Mike. The first one is Mayor Way. Mayor
Way from Hillview Drive to Brookside
Drive. It's approximately 14,000.
Okay, we'll keep working on it. I'll
just read them out. Um Tarman Drive, the
dead end to dead end, that's
approximately 25,000 square ft of new
pavement. Hill View. Um did we mention
Hill View already?
>> Yeah.
Okay. So, this is the second portion of
Hill VU from Clark to Tarman.
Uh, Rosewood Drive from Clark to Tarman.
It's about 24,000 square ft. There will
be also where where needed there'll be
ADA improvements. So, when we do a
certain amount of work, we have to do
the ADA as well. Um,
hey Eric, can you come up? Maybe I can
just ask you what
one of the streets requires the the
potential tree removal and there's some
pretty big sycamore trees. We're going
to try to see if we can put root
barriers in there, but just as a
consideration that that could
potentially be Do you remember which one
that was, Eric?
>> Rosewood.
>> Yeah, I think it was Rosewood and then
perhaps a section of um Hill View as
well.
So that's what we came up with. I mean,
if you want to add more streets, that's
now's the time to do that. Or we can
just try to go through each one or try
to prioritize. If you're happy with the
prioritization, we can proceed with
that. As these move forward, we'll be
bringing um awards of bid. So you'll see
them again. You'll see the contract and
all that with the insurance. So I'll
just leave it there and maybe Mike will
start with the first. So this is the
street rib. This is the grind and
repave.
» He said a lot of technical difficulties
and Zoom is also down. It's all kind of
failing at the same time here.
» Um,
>> yeah, that that's good.
random pave treatment scope. So,
» there's four. Yeah, four of them.
So, we are going to start on Franklin
that could potentially be done this
summer. We're pretty far along on
Franklin, just as a as a note. So,
that's
>> I didn't get to see it.
>> Probably that one is already kind of in
the design. So,
that probably would just be number one
by default because we've already done
work on it.
That works, Mike. That's fine. It It
lists some.
» So, do we need to I mean, we're I know
we're waiting on slides. Do you want to
>> This is the the ones I just mentioned
for the grind and repave which is the
cheaper um fix. So again, Franklin is
already underway. So that's probably
just naturally number one because we've
already decided to design work on that
and we're hoping to get that done this
summer.
The other three, if you know, if you're
okay with the order, we can just, you
know, give this a blessing and move on.
Uh, and then we'll be we're going to be
working hard to get bids out to get
these done as as quick as possible. Um,
if there's any particular reason that
you want to change the order on these,
let me know. Or we can just go with
Franklin first and work our way down.
>> Evan, you want to finish out this
presentation or each section, go by and
see what council ask because we've got
so many different like lists here and
see what their priorities are. How do
you want to work it? Well, maybe we can
just look at this list and if we agree,
we can then move to the full
construction reconstruction.
>> I like the list.
>> Go ahead.
» I'm sure you Yeah, we'll get to the
public in one second.
>> Comments on that.
>> My whole comment is because the mayor
and I both wanted triplet done. Um, I'm
kind of wondering why triplet was left
out.
» We could put triplet in if that's what
the request is. Um,
we didn't think there was consensus for
triplet. And I mean, I'm seeing head
shaking.
>> From what I remember, triplet was not on
the top list. It was on the list, but
not one of the top.
>> We can add it though. We can add it
right now if there's consensus for that.
I think it's kind of important to add it
because um one of my neighbors was
concerned like if there's a fire and
there's 99 apartments getting everybody
out and we would need to use triplet and
have that barricade unlocked and it's
just like such
>> it's in bad shape for sure. Agreed.
» But I'd like to continue Kevin with
these. Sorry. I'll get and and I we can
add triplet. Yeah, it it is in
disrepair, but I'd like to see the list
that we we have. Are you in agreement
with the other list on the if we add
triplet on there?
>> Definitely.
>> Okay. And council member,
>> yeah, I I agree, but I have questions on
like Jefferson Street, right? It just a
grind and repave section and that
street's historically isn't there like a creek that runs under there and it
continually undermines that street. I
would wonder if we if we're going to get
geological studies to, you know, I I
hate to throw good money at bad money.
>> Yes. Um there is a creek under there
somewhere. Um
we did get kind of a ballark.
>> It needs to be done, but it just needs
to be done, right?
>> It could be more expensive when we get
>> Well, yeah, it's definitely going to be
more expensive because we just I don't I
don't agree with grinding and repave
portion of it where it's going to fail
in five or 10 years. It's I think we
should
go to the go to the base, fix it from
the bottom up.
>> Yeah, I mean certainly some of these
streets can switch over once we get we did do an initial assessment. We had
a ballpark figure on all of these um by
a local contractor who went looked at
all of them, but it it wasn't an
in-depth so there may be things
Jefferson may go down to the next
category as a complete redo. Um but if I
think we just want to get consensus that
these these streets Yeah.
>> And then a full reconstruction.
Um you're saying Tarman gets a full
reconstruction and obviously a lot of
those pipes are old underneath there for
compaction. So, are we doing just the
top or what what's our you know that needs to be vetted out as well if
we're going to do compaction and some of
those pipes are you know 40 50 years old
if they're clay asbestous laden and
they're not going to hold out that's
another thing that we need to do a
deeper dive on.
>> We have to discuss that and it's a
possibility in the Tarman area that the
pipes um when when we get that
assessment we'll be back. Maybe there's
other funds that could be used to do the pipes. Uh there's impact fees. I
don't know.
>> And just and just the overall u impact
for the community, especially on Tarman,
it's not very wide street. And when we
go to start paving that street, you're
talking probably over a hundred vehicles
that are going to be misplaced. So that
that's just going to have to be a little
bit of a community outreach on our part
to make sure that uh that's vetted out
as well.
>> I do. And we're learning on First
Street. We learned a couple lessons on
that. So we're going to continue to get
better. We're going to use the measure
DD signs and give people as much notice.
We knock on the doors, ma do mailers, do
everything to make it people as aware as
possible that what's going to happen in
front of their house.
Uh, thank you for this report. Looking
at the top four that we have for the
gran and repave. I'm glad to hear
Franklin's already started because we
were supposed to start that a while back
and I knew that Dererick was working on
it. So, I'm glad to hear that it's
moving forward. I would agree with the
Jefferson South and Hillview in that
order as you have it posted on the
agenda. Uh as for the portion of
Jefferson Street they're talking about
from Fourth Street to School Street, the
uh creek is to the south of that
portion. However, you don't know what
you're going to encounter. So, I think
that we we plan for this but or hope for
this and plan for the worst and that's
what we're going to find out. Uh when it
comes to Franklin and Jefferson South
and Hillview, these are very highly
trafficked areas. They're getting
probably a thousand cars a day each. And
so it it's pretty amazing how many cars
travel on these roads and how many
people it affects.
>> Uh when it comes to South Street, that's
your entrance into the Charmand. And so
that is terrible. That one probably has,
you know, 1 foot to 18 in uh differences
in elevation. And so I'm glad to see
that's finally getting done. And then
the Hill View from Tan to the Boulevard,
that's always been terrible since the
60s. So that's good. Uh when you go into
the full reconstruction, that area has
it's needed it for a long time as we've
discussed from day one.
I would actually switch that order
though.
>> Um I would go
uh with Hillview, Tarman, Rosewood,
Mayor if you look at the way that we are
trafficked uh and the amount of people
it uh will take per day.
So Hillview is number one. Okay. Arman
2, Rosewood 3, mayor four is the
direction I would put on those.
>> Okay. If there's
>> And as for triplet, um I don't dis I
don't disagree that it needs to be on
our list and it is on our list, just not
on the top four. And so it should stay
where it is and when it it gets in line,
it's next. And it's due to traffic
patterns and things like that. Okay.
>> Yeah. Thanks, Kevin. Um I see that, you
know, I like the Hill View. I would like
to see Hillview completed all the way
from the boulevard down. And also a
couple questions, you know, and and this
goes along with what council member
Laskkey said is is grind and and and
repave. What's the duration of that? You
know what I mean? I want to make sure
that these are being fixed for as
longterm as we can get. Um, prior to me moving to Cloverdale and
then getting to Cloverdale, these some
of these that are on our list have been
complained about by the town. You know
what I mean? Whether it's Jefferson,
whether it's I mean Hillview, these have
been whether you're on social media or
you're just talking to people in town,
these are streets that desperately need
it. And it's highly traveled streets.
And in my opinion, you know, these we're
finally getting we've got DD in there.
We've got some money and we're making
progress on it. I want to see this move
forward pretty quickly. I would love to
see some of these streets and we are
doing that. Um but um and the other
thing is is when we do Yes. It's going
to disrupt cars. It's going to disrupt
parking.
But that's where Cloverdale is going to
have to kind of partner with us and and
give us a break here. If we're doing the
roads that have been complained about so
many times and we're finally doing them,
give us a break. There may be a few days
where you're going to be put out on
parking a little bit. Work with us.
We're going to work with you on that. We
can't we're not going to be able to
accommodate every car and parking for
everybody, but we are going to have your
street done. That's our that's our goal
here. This is we've been pushing this
for a couple since I came on council,
and I'm glad to see it moving forward. I
agree with the vice mayor's uh um list
on the the complete redo on that. I
would like to see that list go Hillview
and and whatever you came up with. That
was one. I didn't have time to write it
down. But, uh, we are moving forward
and, uh, you know, we do have a we do
have a a turnaround coming up on council
and I hope they continue to push this
through because this is a priority for
the city of getting these fixed. We we
gave you our word. We're going to do it
and that's what we're working on right
now. So, bear with us. We may have you
park different. We may do different
things, but work with us. We'll work
with you.
>> Kevin, just one more thing for you or
Derek, whoever gets to this. when you're
working on Jefferson Street uh between
school and fourth
>> Mhm.
>> there's an area that doesn't have a curb
and the worry that I had a few months
back was that we're going to have to do
some type of imminent domain uh for
these driveways because there's a a
large I believe it's like a olive tree
or something out on the sidewalk where
it would be things along those lines.
And I really want want to make sure that
hopefully we don't have to do that.
Hopefully we don't have to worry about
ADA and things in that area. And as much
as I appreciate it, that's someone's
land and that's a big fight that I don't
want to have to have and I don't want to
uh have to make some community members
mad with that. So, if we can look into
that before we really start that project
that we're doing our due diligence and
preparing the the community properly
with that one.
>> I just want to add that uh the full
reconstruct list does include sewer,
water, and storm drain where necessary.
Um so that was part of what they were
Yeah. Thank you.
Thanks, Mayor. If I may, a quick
question. Uh, City Manager Thompson, uh,
what is the time frame that you'd expect
for these four projects
as proposed?
>> Well, um, I don't exactly know. I mean,
we're getting Franklin done and I know
Derek is working hard. We've got extra
help now with Eric, so we want to get as
much done this summer and just get it
all lined up. So, I I don't have a great
answer for you, but I can get back back
to you guys for
>> some of these might start this year.
>> I think it's the interruption would be
the winter and then they would pick up
in the spring.
>> Correct.
>> Um and it looks like if you know the
with these four projects, you know, if
they were to um you know, one or two
this year, the other two can get done
next year. So, um I think uh one of the
questions I would have just um
uh around a contingency amount for
unexpected circumstances if um there
were to be um I guess it's maybe like
our fourth choice could get just pushed
a little farther, but um you know, the
fact that the DD money is rolling in
consistently,
that push out's not going to be too far
out. So, um I mean it looks good that
these are lined up if if um you know I
guess uh I like them and uh u excited to
get working on the next bunch. So, looks
like it's all going to kind of happen
pretty quick.
>> We generally put a 10% contingency in
the when we award the bid um in the
contract, but what I'll do is maybe
we'll just keep this on the radar and
I'll keep you guys updated either
through my weekly or we can reagendize
this for a later
>> later. Sounds great. Yeah, it looks
like, you know, even if there was
something um you know, with some
underwater flows or, you know, some
other circumstances that we can run
into, the delay is not going to be um
that great. So, I like it. Thanks.
>> I have a question. Um two of us said
triplet, vice mayor said no to triplet.
So, where does triplet stand?
>> We're putting triplet on the list.
>> We're going to what?
>> Triplet is
>> Oh, yes.
>> Yeah. We we'll we'll put triplet on
here. We'll have Derek take have the
contractor take a look at it, start
working on getting estimates and
>> yeah, so that would be
>> Thank you.
>> triplet would likely be a next year
summer
>> endeavor.
>> Maybe the next step is we'll try to get
some time frames and I mean one of the
we we the money is rolling in but some
of these are going to be really
expensive.
>> Okay.
>> So that's what I was just going to
comment is you're you're talking 10
years worth of list. This isn't just a
next year thing unless we're going to be
going and and borrowing money
>> borrowing money against it.
>> If you try to do pay as you go, this
list is going to take us my lifetime.
>> So, we have to think about other ways to
handle this. It's just the way it is.
>> Well, we're I think we're getting we're
getting slowly there. We got streets. I
think what we keep this maybe in the
next couple agendas ahead.
We talked about the borrowing the money.
I think we kind of want to do a payo,
but let's um we did get some ballpark on
these and we were pretty encouraged by
the ballpark figures from a local
contractor. So again, there's just so
many unknowns as Council Member Alaski
said. So, um you know, maybe we come
back and say these ones are easier, they
need less in-depth work. Let's knock
those out. or well, my point is I'm I'm
glad that we've got some kind of
consensus on what we're doing and we'll
just keep the tabs on the money and come
back and report back on the progress.
>> Thank you.
>> Any other comment up here? Any comment
from the public on this item?
>> Please come down if you could.
[snorts]
First off, thank you for finally
addressing this issue. I've heard a lot of complaints from different
people over the years. Um, who are the
people who have bid and have you chosen
a a company to do it?
>> No, each project will go to formal bid
and then as we award the bids, the
council actually has to approve those
bids. So, we're just trying to get a
list together. We did have like a
[clears throat]
>> So, you're not to the bidding part?
>> No, no, no. Each each project will come
back to council with a dollar amount and
they have to award the bid ultimately.
>> Okay, great. Thank you.
» Uh Daniel Frankston, I know Derek's not
here and um I know the issue of bonding
out the double D money is something
that's going to be possibly addressed at
a future agenda. Um, I believe it was
requested back when the bonding issue
first came up in June or May that we see
a map. There were a series of maps with
a one-year bond, 5year, 10-year bond.
And what I had requested and I believe
other council members as well would be
to see what the progress would be if you
do the pay as you go because ultimately
you're looking at was it 20-year payback
period? Well, what would the streets
what would the accomplishments be if
they were done one street at a time over
period uh pay as you go? And the other
thing that I think would be really
helpful is if there were a page on the
Cloverdale net website that address
specifically doubled the the revenues
that's coming in and the proposed
expenditures. That way people could know
as they go. They could say, "Oh, I see
where I am on the list." Because I hear
people all the time saying, "How come
Mayor's on the list and San Antonio is
not on the list, etc." And there are
valid reasons for it, but I think it'd
be very helpful for the public if there
were a page where people could access.
They could just see what's going on,
where things stand both financially and
in terms of construction and future
construction plans. That's all. Thank
you.
>> And uh Mayor, if I may, just wanted to
reiterate on um Daniel Frankston's
comment. I just want to confirm that was a 10-year pay as you go option
to be considered as well.
» The longest period
Yeah, I would definitely like to see a
10-year pay as you go option as well.
>> If I if I may, I think we did discuss
the the borrowing the money and doing
the bonds, but I think once we had the
local contractor take a look at the
streets we identified, we were
encouraged at the at the cost and we
thought that maybe the payo would be
better
>> pay as you go option.
>> Um that I think that was what we did,
but we can still bring back that
discussion if we want to. I I support
the pay as you go option.
Kevin, I would definitely request that
we bring back what the advisers had
showed us for the for the bonding
because that the percentage was so low
right now that it was actually cost
effective to bond out versus pay as you
go because of the cost of construction
going up. I'll contact them and get
updated numbers and bring that back.
» Seeing none, any other comments from the
public on this item? Seeing none. Right.
Thank you. Are you done, Kevin, on that?
>> Yes. Thank you.
>> Okay. Thank you.
>> Uh consent calendar. All items under the
consent calendar will be considered
together by one action of the city
council unless any council member or
member of the public requests an item be
removed and considered separately. Do we
have anybody?
>> I'd like to pull item F4.
>> F4.
>> And I would like to pull item F1.
I would request to pull item F3 and F5.
>> So, so the entire consent calendar,
let's just work our way down from F
starting at F1.
» I mean,
>> I can actually do a motion to if you'd
like for F2 and get that one out of the
way. That would be done. That's the only
one that's not pulled.
>> Okay, let's do a motion. Get F2 approve
F2.
>> Um, sorry, I meant F5. I wrote the wrong
one down. Sorry.
>> So, then I would make the motion to move
uh to [snorts] approve F2 and F4.
>> So, not F4.
>> Second that.
>> Take it to a vote. Approving F2 or
>> Thank you, Mayor. F2 and F4.
>> F4.
>> All in favor say I.
>> I.
>> Oh, no. F2 and F4.
>> F5 was pulled.
>> No.
>> Pulled by you.
>> Yeah. I was pulled.
>> Is F4 pulled?
>> No.
Item F2 and F4.
>> Still active. That's the motion.
>> All in favor say I.
>> I.
>> All oppose say nay.
>> So So mayor, we got to move now to the
public hearing out of order. Oh um just
because it's around 7 o'clock and we're
supposed to do that exactly at 7 and
then we can come back to the um the
items from consent that were
>> we are going to move into item G and
come back to the consent calendar and
the items that are pulled. Uh we are
going to move into G1 and it is public
hearing to receive community input
regarding district boundaries for
districtbased elections.
>> Thank you, mayor. Um I'll be brief. I'm
not sure if Zoom is is back up running.
It is. Um so in a minute, our the city's
uh demographer is online and is going to
walk through the mapping software we
have. Um just a brief recap as the
council knows in response to
really check. Are they the EWWE erb?
That's the only person on there.
>> No, let me see.
>> That's why I didn't promote you yet.
>> Um,
uh, uh,
>> WWE,
>> it's not the I'll text them one sec. But
um
so as the council knows in response to
demand letter and very un sort of
unfavorable past legal decisions um the
city council uh adopted a resolution of
intent to transition to district-based
elections where individual council
members will be elected from individual
districts not citywide. Um there will be
you know this election in November will
continue to be at large. All three
members will be elected at large but in
2028 and thereafter it will be uh by
districts. So there will be a period of
time um where some members on on the
council are elected at large and some
are elected by districts. Uh but by 2030
everyone will be elected by districts.
Um,
so one one question that we want
direction from the council on on tonight
is whether or not to uh transition well
proceed with a directly elected mayor.
That's an option for a general law city
and that's something that the council
can do as part of this transition
process. Um why we ask for that
direction tonight is if you have a
directly elected mayor, you would then
have four council members elected from
districts. If you have uh no directly
elected mayor and it continues to be
just someone elected by the council,
then we need five districts. So, we want
the council and the public to know how
many districts they should be drawing.
Um
that is the main uh point I would add.
The other thing is just the the
sequencing of election. Normally when we
go through this process, people are
really focused on the districts, but we
also need to decide which districts will
get elected when. So, because there's
three atlarge council members going to
be elected in 2026,
in 2028,
um if there is no directly elected
mayor, that would mean two districts
will be up for election then and three
will be up in 2030. If you decide to
proceed with a directly elected mayor in
2028,
it would be one person elected from a uh
district, one of the four districts, and
then the mayor. Um, and then in 2028,
the other three districts. Um, one thing
I forgot to mention about the directly
elected mayor. It can be either under
state law, you can have a directly
elected mayor, um, who is elected by the
voters for either a two-year term or a
four-year term. So, you don't need to
decide that tonight. uh that is
something you can decide later on in
this process, but we really do want
direction on whether or not you want uh
to proceed with a directly elected
mayor. Um in in the staff report, I
don't have the number directly right off
hand, but you see it's a it allows the
districts to be, you know, a couple
hundred people bigger per district if
you go with a directly elected mayor
because you're dividing the city by four
rather than five. Um
so um uh the consultant is having to re
uh log back in so he should be on and
then after tonight maybe tomorrow but if
not by Monday there will be uh links to
this online tool where the public and
council members can draw maps. Um, and
there will be both an electronic tool
and good old-fashioned PDF that you can
print out. The PDF you'll see does have
population
um areas, but it can't be, you know,
it's one piece of paper, so it can't be
as granular granular. The uh online
tool, it's is much more specific, and
you'll see you're able to um uh do that
as you go. uh it will it will adjust as
you go. So our our next public hearing
is scheduled for um September 9th uh
which uh we are required to publish all
of the maps that might be considered
than 7 days ahead of time. So maps um
will be published on this website uh no
later than September 2nd. We really
encourage you to submit maps um by
August 31st because that gives the
demographer
um time to check and say, "Hey, you you
missed you drew a map of five districts
and you left out, you know, this area.
What do you want to do?" Like to make
sure you can get a proper map in. It
gives them a little bit of time to do
that. Um and uh with that I know Mike is
do you see if Justin is able to have log
back in?
>> Let's see. Are we waiting on a
presentation here?
>> Yeah.
on the EW.
» So, Alex, are we just waiting on
>> Yeah.
>> WBB to
>> or
>> I don't think that's him.
>> Okay.
>> So, one thing I mean, we can
take public comment if you'd want. One
thing I'd notice if we're not able to do
this tonight, there will also be PDF
instructions on the website of exactly
how to use this online tool. Um, and it allows you to draw the maps. it will
address, you know, it's you drop each district's a different color and it
will automatically adjust the population
as you go um and let you know when you
are above uh the target population
because
um the goal is to have equal districts.
They're allowed to be different by a
certain amount, but to have equal
districts. Um so with that, maybe I'll
see if there's any questions from the
council at this point.
>> Thank you, Mayor. Um really
[clears throat] just going to kind of
come back to um alternatives.
Um and this is a question for our city
attorney. Um can you relate to us in the
public the status of any current or
denied or past bills that would uh limit
this to a certain population?
>> Yes. So there there was a piece of
legislation proposed this year um that
would set a cap. I believe it was 50,000
or smaller um that has died so it will
not be adopted list legislative cycle.
Um there's another piece of legislation
uh that is still alive or at least it
was you know two weeks ago um that would
sort of in some ways strengthen the the
CV and make it harder for for local
agencies that more complicated process
that was alive still two weeks ago. Um,
so it doesn't mean that in the future,
um, the legislature won't create a a
carveout for small cities. They haven't
yet and they won't do it. It's clear
that won't happen this year.
>> Um, just based on how long this has been
going on and they haven't done it yet.
You know, I don't have a lot of faith
in. So my thoughts on this you know is
that u you know the direction is that we
or the recommendation let's say is that
there's not much that we can do to fight
this unless we had large large bank
account and still even then you know it
might just be burning our money so um I
think you know adopting it sends a
signal you know so I think if if that's
going to be the record it would be a
good idea to um express our feelings as
a council um I think we
express our letters uh to you know
Senator Magcguire, I would say Assembly
Member Chris Rogers and uh Damon Connley
as well. Um, I think that we should get
on the record and and express our our
dissatisfaction if if our council does
feel that way that uh, you know, maybe
that we can get some momentum with some
other cities that are sort of kind of
pushed into this and um, if the
discussion around the numbers is um, an
issue of equity, you know, that that
might be the case for a city of, you
know, uh, over 50,000 or maybe 40,000.
Uh but for a city of 9,000, I think it
causes um some some harm to the quality
of our council. So um that's my thoughts
on this before proceeding.
>> And certainly if if that's the direction
we could bring back a separate item at
the next hearing for you to approve or frankly at a sooner meeting just on
consent for you to approve a a letter to
>> and is is that something that you would
be able to assemble and
>> absolutely if that's the direction of
the council
>> send a letter opposing this. Yeah, let's
do it. Let's put that on a future
agenda.
>> Can we talk about it first? Okay. I I
think this is something we have to do
and if we had done it sooner, we
wouldn't have to pay the money to
attorney. So, why waste more staff time
on this? We're stuck doing it. So why
are we writing to uh Assemblyman Rogers
and other people, you know, just like
cut our losses and just go ahead and get
the job done because we don't have any
choice. So writing letters to people to
me is a waste of staff time.
>> Any other comments?
>> So as we move towards districts that
this is going to go through, are all
cities in Sonoma County district-based?
>> Uh not all yet. Uh they have come from
most of them. I I believe Sebastal and
Katad still are at large, but the rest
of the cities have had that transition
in the last couple years.
>> And Sebastul and Katadyat are on par
with our uh
>> about our same size,
>> same size,
>> give or take.
>> Okay. And as we move forward with this
to, you know, quote unquote avoid
litigation for the city and
[clears throat] people start, you know,
want to get involved and start drawing
maps. So I would say access to people
who don't have access is going to be a
big issue. So I I would think that uh
maybe we do some kind of presentation
with you know PDFs, people who can fill
them out manually versus online or let
the uh library have access to uh a
certain page so some people can go get
help from uh the library librarians and
go that way. So that we just need to do
public outreach to know to let people
know why this is happening and how to go
about it.
>> That's a a great comment. Um the the PDF
uh
I forgot to mention, you know, someone
can get physical copies from city hall
if they want of the PDF. Um we can look
into giving some copies to the um
library as well so they have those on
hand if people want want to get those
there.
Yeah, we also have a computer in the
city hall li uh lobby that they could
use as well and get get assistance from
uh our front desk. Uh out of out of
California, how many cities have been
successful in going against the
litigation, fighting this attorney and
winning? I
>> I'm not aware of any.
>> And at this point, how much money do you
think it's going to cost us just for
that litigation where we're at right
now? um because I think there's a
minimum on how much he has won.
>> So he if because we went through this
process and adopted the um
uh our resolution of intent, state law
caps the amount of attorneys fees that
we would have to pay this person who
submitted it. Um in the law it's $30,000
adjusted for inflation which that was
back in 2018. So it brings it to about
$40,000. And then um there's also a cost
for the demographer of I forget the
exact amount. Let's say 25,000. So it
comes out to about $65,000
or so.
>> And if we don't move forward and we push
this into the just the beginning stages
of litigation.
Um it would be costly. I mean I don't
the litigation where it becomes costly
is that the the plaintiff's fees are
going to be way higher than 40,000.
Right? They're they're going to say, "I
spent a million dollars on this." And uh
you know, they might those will get cut
down, but they'll have more attorneys
fees. They'll no longer be subject to
the cap given the very low likelihood
where it's really just paying the person
more money.
>> And that's my point that I want to make
sure the public knows that this council
doesn't want this to happen. It's
terrible for our community. We all
understand and agree that we don't want
or need districts. It's going to hurt us
in every way in my opinion. Uh but we
don't have a choice at this point and
hopefully in the future that changes,
but right now we have to go through it
because we don't have the money in
general fund to sit and fight it when
you're talking about millions within
months and that's the sad part. So, our
hands are tied and we're moving forward
with something. And I hope everybody uh
doesn't hold this one against us, but
actually kind of supports us and pushes
back against your state to do the right
things with the laws that they are
moving forward or not moving forward
with like they had the ability to do and
they didn't. So, this is where we need
our community also to reach out to Mike
Maguire and Chris Rogers and Damon
Connelly and anyone else that you can
reach out to. Uh, and I'll just add one
thing that the demographer uh told us an
example when we had a meeting with him a
few weeks ago of a small district that
got one of these letters had an open
seat on the the board and they wanted to
show, hey, don't don't come after us.
Look, we have an open seat that we'll
try to get someone here. They went
through this process, did all this uh,
you know, advertisement of trying to get
people to to fill out. No one uh
submitted a ballot. No one submitted to
be appointed. There was no interest in
being appointed. You know, sort of the
whole purpose of the the redistricting
is that you're trying to get people who
are maybe otherwise not being elected
and no one even submitted to be
appointed. Um and this same plaintiff
sued them for taking too long in
starting the process. they lost that
because there's a a deadline in state
law and they had missed it and uh you
know they end up having to pay a lot
more money because of that.
>> All right. So we do have we know there's
still a there's a glimmer of hope with
the bill. There's still one alive.
Correct.
>> It it would the one that's live does not
>> lower it down. I think if there's any
hope it's in the future that the
legislature might change it and make
allow us to switch.
>> Just wanted to make sure that was clear.
And as far as sending a letter to the
folks, I think that's a good idea. We've
got to say Cloverdale's at the table and
this is what we're thinking. We oppose
it. But is it going to go through?
Probably. I agree with the vice mayor. I
agree with this is going to this is
going to jack Cloverdale all up on this.
You know what I mean? But it's something
that Cloverdale also can't afford to
fight and burn all this money through
when ultimately it's probably going to
happen. So the option is to just go
ahead and send the letter, which I'm in
agreement on that. I think that's a good
idea. Uh have the city send a letter up
say we oppose it and then continue on
with whatever direction you not need
tonight cuz we're going to be
>> Mike. I believe he's on now. Do you see
if you can promote him and then uh
Justin will just walk through this uh
software now.
» Good evening. Um I have to apologize.
Um, I went on to the meeting and
everything just restarted and
I really have to apologize for tonight.
Um, but it's a pleasure to be here to
with you. And if I can just uh share my
screen for a second,
uh, what I'm going to do is walk you
through the uh, tools that we have for
the districtricting process.
And so I want to emphasize that we have
a lot of different tools available to
members of the community to draw their
own maps.
And a lot of the different tools are
really designed to highlight
different kinds of participation for
those of you who'd like to submit your
maps in different ways. So to start off,
we have maps that basically have
just the streets, the major roads, and
other features. So, these are really
aimed at if you want to draw your
community or your neighborhood.
You don't have to worry about
>> Justin, are you able to zoom in on your
screen a little bit?
>> Sure.
Uh, these maps are neighborhood maps, so
they show you some of the roads and
streets. And all we'd ask you to do is
use a color like a highlighter or
colored pencil or even just a Sharpie
and draw an area that you think
represents what a community of interest.
Um, this is really the most basic way
that we can understand what your
neighborhoods and communities are. We'd
ask you, you don't have to worry about
your population numbers on these maps.
You can just use them to show us what
your neighborhoods are.
On the back of this form or perhaps in
your email when you send it to us, you
can describe what your neighborhood or
communities are.
For those of you who want to go a little
bit more in detail, we do have maps that
have our total population numbers on
them as well. This tells you, for
example, that there are seven residents
living east of Redwood Highway and north
of First Street.
This is kind of the next step up. If you
want to draw not just your neighborhood,
but try to figure out whether or not
there's enough people to represent a
district or to constitute a district,
you can color this in or add your
populations together until you reach the
target population of a balanced
population district. Again, we'll take
anything. Even if you don't have a
population balanced district and you
just want to show us where your
neighborhood or community is, we can
take it on this map as well. Both of
these maps are available in English and
Spanish. And we also have a link on the
city's website to our interactive web
viewer where you can zoom in and see
more detail than a paper map allows, but
it also has these population areas on
them. So these are not quite census
blocks. They're made up of several
census blocks kind of bounded by what we
think are um major or more important
streets to the extent that we can do
that.
And then for those who want to go a
little bit further, we do also have an a
system online where you can draw your
own districts from scratch.
uh this tool which is called Dave's
redistricting.
I'll go to the main start the main page
here. This is a website that lets you go
create maps and draw um really down to
that block level detail.
On the district's website, you'll see a
link to our template. Just for the sake
of example, I'm going to start with this
template here.
And we'll zoom in a bit so we can see
more detail.
make our screen a little bit bigger.
Um, what we have on our what we have
here is our template map. The template
is basically the starting point where
everybody can change from. You'll see
here in the description, it gives you a
little bit of instructions on what to do
when you finish and a place where you
can kind of write in and describe your
map when you're done. The way you use
Dave's redistricting is you always start
by creating an account.
So basically it's really simple. You can
sign up or you can sign up here. It's
really simple. You just need your name,
email, address, and to create a
password.
Once you have that, you'll be able to
sign into your map
and you'll be able to find the link to
this web template on the city's website.
And when you click that link, the first
thing you'll do is you'll make a copy of
the map. You see our template here is
read only. That's so that everybody
starts with the same blank map. To start
your own, you can duplicate your map.
Create yes to create a copy of it.
And the copy you can then draw your
districts how you choose. The easiest
way to do that is simply start by
selecting the district you want to
modify. For example, select district
three here.
And then you can use this paintbrush
tool to color in an area.
[clears throat]
Now you see some of these areas are
quite large. So let's say we want a
little more detail.
We can select our block to shatter each
of these precincts into many different
blocks.
And then we can paint just by clicking
or holding the mouse key down the blocks
in and move them into that district.
You can see on the upper left on left
hand portion of the screen as we move
blocks into this district the population
increases and we can even see what our
deviation our difference from perfect
equality is.
So, in this case, we're over our ideal
population, but that's okay because
we're just demonstrating what this tool
can do.
If we don't like what we did, we can hit
the eraser and we can erase blocks. We
can uncolor them.
Once we're happy with our district, we
can hit we can click this little lock to
prevent people from modifying,
accidentally erasing, or adding it to a
different district.
Let me just add a couple of blocks. You
always do the paintbrush tool before you
hit the blocks. So, in order to move
them into that district. And you can see
as I go, I'm me adding people to this
district here.
In addition to coloring in individual
blocks, you can we can also turn on
using this little layers button. We can
label our precincts and our blocks with
our total population.
Just collect the total population and
close it. And now as we see, we'll we'll
add
hit apply.
And you can see as we zoom in here,
we'll see the total populations of each
block on the map as we zoom in. So, 135
people in this block bounded by
Cloverdale, Tarman, and Cloverdale
Boulevard right here.
Um, when we're thinking we're ready to
go, we want to go to this tools button
where we can use the find unassigned
precincts. These are precincts that
we've failed to assign to a district.
It's a really good check to make sure if
you missed any small or, you know, uh,
blocks that you may not have seen on the
map.
There's also a check to find
non-ontiguous districts. Non-ontiguous,
of course, being districts where all the
precincts or all the blocks are not
touching each other.
In addition, if you go into the
statistics menu, you can see all the
districts side by side with their total
population deviations. And it'll give
you that total deviation that we want to
keep under 10%.
It'll even tell you here that my
population deviation is too big. So,
this is not a map that we could adopt.
When you're ready to finally submit your
map, you can do one of two things. You
can either go to share map right here
and copy this URL
or you can get the URL from the web
browser itself up here. Either way,
it'll link to the same address.
You'll then email this map, this link to
the map to our email address
districtricting@ci.cloverdale.ca.
us.
Keep in mind that if you don't email
your map, we don't know the map exists.
And that's actually protection because
if you're working on a map and you're
not ready to submit or you're not ready
for final changes,
we don't want to take your map too
early. This by by emailing it to us,
you're letting us know the map is ready
to be viewed, ready to be drawn in.
We'll also ask you when you email your
map if you could describe what you were
trying to do and any issues or anything
that you would like the board and the
community to know.
Anything you submit as part of this
email is part of the public record so
the council and the rest of the
community will see it. Our commitment is
also to draw in all the maps that we
receive. So whether or not your map is
population balanced, whether or not your
map uh meets all the legal requirements,
we will draw it in. And that's precisely
why we also have a deadline for the
maps. That's a couple of days before the
posting deadline, August 31st.
This is to make sure that if there are
issues with the map, we have an
opportunity to reach out to you to make
sure um to address any issues or to make
sure that the map that you're submitting
is the map you want to submit to the
council.
Um and so those are the basic tools we
use um in terms of that we have
available to the community to draw. Um,
in addition on that web viewer that I
mentioned earlier, we'll post all the
maps we receive and it'll be a way to
view the different maps side by side and
I'll show you that when we look at our
maps at the third public hearing.
Um, so I I just want to there any
questions about uh the web tools? Um,
anything I can go over in more detail?
I'll just say before as we're thinking
about that, we also do have a PDF that
goes step by step through this process
as well as two YouTube videos, a five
minute overall uh like kind of
introductory video and a 20 minute video
in more detail. Uh both of those videos
provide kind of more of a stepby step. I
know I when I first started using the
tool relied a lot on that video kind of
pausing
finding the tool doing something and
then coming back. Um but this tool
especially the Dave's redistricting DRRA
tool offers a lot of power to be able to
go into that level of detail.
So thank you.
>> Hey Justin, I have one quick question.
Um, is there going to be a link to this?
Like I said, and you probably mentioned
a thousand times on this, but a link to
one the tutorials that you said for for
the public. That was kind of, you know,
it's a lot to take in right there. A
link to the tutorials or the YouTube so
when they do decide to get in and draw
their maps that um they have the they
have the tools to do it.
>> That's a great question. Our expectation
is that after tonight, we're going to be
posting um all of the tools on our
district-based election website. That
will include links to all of the
materials I mentioned, including the
YouTube videos and the PDF.
>> Perfect. Thank you, sir.
Yeah, Justin, I got I have a question
for uh did you say the maps have to be
contiguous or they can they don't have
to be?
>> So, the maps do so I'll I'll tell you
answer in two parts. For legal adoption,
the maps must be contiguous.
So, for example, if a map were to cross
this unincorporated part of the city, um
>> that's my next question. that would not
be a map the council could legally
adopt. However, for submitting draft
maps, we w we will take anything. If we
realize there's a problem like that,
we'll reach out to the submitter because
we'll have the email address from that
submission to make sure that they know
they're submitting a map the council
can't adopt or shouldn't, you know,
can't legally adopt. So once we submit
and if we know like probably that area
where you're showing is going to be
annexed into the city and those
residents would they automatically go
right into that district that's touching
them or encompassing them?
>> So that is actually a good that's a
great question. Um you'll actually
specify in the annexation um order which
district they will vote in. Um I don't
believe there's a lot of residents in
this area right now. Um, so basically
the order could put them into the
southern district or potentially
depending on the lines into the district
to the north. Um, I've, you know, um, it
just, you know, whatever makes the most
sense for the city. Um, the annexation
order would specify that.
>> Okay. So, basically, we're we're looking
to get the footprint of Cloverdale
uh, represented in that map. So, what
kind of what I'm going at is the people
that are going to be annexed in, are we
going to have to pay an additional cost
for that at a later date once that
>> we there won't be um they even though
that might upset the population
evenness, we don't have to do it yet. We
will in the future after every census
have to go back through this process.
Not all it's a little different at that
point but there there is a after each
dis you know census you got to go
through this process and the population
may or may not have changed.
Sometimes cities are just adopting the
exact same maps. Sometimes even if
there's no population change you decided
hey let's redo how we drew things.
And and for any annexation, as long as
the annexation is under 25% of the
city's population, uh it doesn't trigger
a mid decade redistricting.
So if there's no residents or very few
residents in an annexation area, then it
doesn't trigger a redistricting. It just
the order as part of the ordinance
specifying the annexation, it will say
the the new residents will vote in
district 4 or district 3 or whatever it
is.
» I have a question for attorney Alex
Moog. Um suppose somebody has like a big
house and then they decide they want to
downsize and they're on the council and
they move into another district. Does
that mean that they can't be on the
council or what?
>> Correct. So, it's it's the same thing as
if you moved out of the city. If you are
on the council representing district 1
and you move within district 1, that's
fine. If you move to district two, you
have to give up your seat
or wait until your term is over to to
move.
Do we have any questions from the public
on this?
» Could you please come down and uh
Wow, that'll teach me to leave early at
the last meeting. Um, uh, Alex, I think
your response on Prop 28 to me on Prop
218 to me was confusing as I don't see
how using water bill money for office
air conditioning is a valid use of water
infrastructure projects. And tonight,
your comments on this are even more
confusing um, on the redistricting for
which I have a few thoughts. First, Mr.
more concerned. I'd love you to not give
up. Don't give in. Send these letters.
Uh, one of the comments I heard as
growing growing up was have a spine and
fight this. This seems a bit ridiculous
to me, this whole notion. Um, I had a
little bit time this afternoon. I
noticed that uh, Antonio Gonzalez was
named president of the Southwest Voter
in September of 1994, and he has sued
over a 100 cities and school districts
using the California Voting Rights Act.
and he's been busy or that organization
I think he's gone now. They've
transformed a lot of these at large
election systems that have worked well
for places like Cloverdale into these
district areas. Um according to their
website, this organization has been
instrumental in setting up an academy to
train organizers, activists, and
candidates running for office as well as
other elected offices. And these guys
are based in Texas. So, why are we not
standing up and fighting against an
organization from um outside our state,
let alone outside our county? Um I was
wondering if there's other help besides
the local folks because in April 2026
during the same month, I believe you
received a threatening letter from the
these activists. The US Supreme Court
issued a ruling in Louisiana versus Cala
striking down Louisiana's
redrawn maps and ruling that the Voting
Right Acts did not compel the state to
create these kinds of maps. So this
ruling also obviously applies in places
like California uh not just Louisiana or
Virginia where this is happening right
now. So again, I encourage the council
to send the letters and I would ask how
does this mapmaking help us? Uh, can the
California Supreme Court help us in
fighting this? We need to take a stand,
not just roll over like um I guess Roner
Park and uh other cities in our county.
Can the bigger Supreme Court help us?
And do you need a million dollars to
fight this? What is the amount of money
you need to fight this? Don't just say,
"Oh, I'm sorry. We got no money. Uh, we
got $10 million in the water enterprise
department." So, there you go. Thank
you.
Just really quick, Alex, who was the
Southern California city that it cost
them 1.4 to fight and they settled at
that amount to lose?
>> Well, I I don't remember off the top of
my head that cities who have fought have
spent a lot of money and all lost. So,
Santa Monica went all the way to the
Supreme They won at uh they lost at the
trial court, won at the Court of Appeal,
lost at the Supreme Court, spent
millions of dollars. Um,
no one has has won fighting this. This
is your legislators need to do their
jobs.
» I just have a question. I don't
understand how this works. What if
>> Could you please state your name for the
record and step up?
>> What happens if there's no candidates or
>> the the question was what if there were
no candidates?
>> They took one or two districts. Yeah,
that that's a real possibility. Um the
council would then need to appoint
someone to serve in that seat. They
would need to appoint someone from
within the district, that particular
district.
» Good evening everyone. Regina Berry, I
realize this is like a very odd thought
and request and question. What about all
of the citizens that aren't within the
city limits? Is there any way legally
that we could create several
unincorporated Cloverdale districts?
They don't pay city taxes, you might
say. What if there were some sort of
flat fee to be registered to be able to
vote?
Is that in any way something that we
might be able to work toward because we
have so many people that are part of
this community that aren't within the
city limits. Under state law, you have
to be a resident of the city to vote in
city elections.
>> Okay. So, there's no potential for us to
create unincorporated districts that
could vote on city matters. Absolutely
not at all. Okay. The law has spoken.
It's worth a thought.
» Any other public comment on this item?
Thank you, Robert Maddock. Again,
Cloverdale. Uh, I am an attorney. Um,
and I am actually admitted to the United
States Supreme Court. Uh, so I can
comment on that. Uh, I would say it
would be economic suicide for this town,
the city to try to fight this. Um, it's
great if someone else wants to, you
know, contact uh Mr. Bezos or someone
like that and see if we can get a hund00
million fund. I think that would be
great. I will volunteer to write an
amicus brief for that. However, in the
meantime, I beg you not to waste another
penny on this because it is an absolute
waste of taxpayer dollars. I have worked
within the public uh sector as an
attorney uh for my entire attorney
career and I have negotiated contracts
in multiple counties in this area,
multiple agencies. I have discussed this
specific issue with Sonoma County cities
and it is undeniably something that can
only be changed by either the United
States state supreme court ruling on
this specific issue and the case out of
Louisiana does not address this specific
issue. um or our legislaturators
need to develop a backbone as the uh
vice mayor uh and I believe the mayor
also described and and actually stand up
for this because it isn't right. This is
a small town. We don't need this shoved
down our throats by a bunch of out of
town and out of attorney or out of uh
town and out of state of attorneys. Um,
I would like to start a group called uh
lawyers against lawsuits, but uh I will
save that for another day. Um, because I
think these kinds of things really
become tools that just are used by
people to manipulate and actually don't
accomplish what the original and I think
justified basis was for. On the actual
issue of uh redistric redistricting,
what I will say is from what I've seen
in other cities, a small city like this,
if you go with five districts, you are
going to have more problems with trying
to find council members and you also
have to redistrict more often. It only
takes one large apartment complex in a
town like this and now your numbers are
thrown off and you got to redistrict.
Uh, I also think that in a town like
this, a strong mayor who's elected for
four years and provides steady
leadership is a positive thing and I
support that. Um, I absolutely support
Cloverdale. Love this town. Wish it
could stay the same way the council is
now, but it can't and uh let's be
realistic about it. I also do support
sending a letter. I do think that's a
worthwhile use of uh my taxpayer money
uh to fight that. And if uh you want an
advocates brief support, give me a call.
» Any other public comment on this item?
Seeing none. So, Alex,
we've done a lot here. So, we want
>> we What
>> direction for tonight? What do you need?
>> Direction from the council on whether or
not to have a directly elected mayor.
Okay.
>> So we know to communicate to the public
whether they should be drawing four or
five districts.
>> Let's bring it to council. Council, go
ahead.
>> So a question for the city attorney. Uh
is that is absolutely not uh possible
that we could do two at large?
>> It is not. So the government code
establishes what forms of government are
allowed for a general law city which
Cloverdale is. And that's not one of the
options that is provided.
>> Okay. And in what type of city is that
allowed?
>> Uh you do like a hybrid.
>> Theoretically a charter city. It has
more uh authority over their form of
government. Uh but you know Cloverdale
is not a charter city. So we'd have to
become that first.
>> Um the way that I I would you know hear
the rest of the council thoughts, but I
would be open to a two-year uh at large
mayor. Definitely not a four-year. Um
but um I'm open to uh five separate
districts as well.
I would definitely be open to a two-year
mayor and I think it um the only you
know like one positive thing coming out
of this would be the voters would be
able to elect their mayor and I I think
that would be a positive thing but I
would only want that for two years
because if the mayor's not somebody
that's working out you don't want to be
stuck with them for four
Well, seeing seeing that districts might
be a uh you know a problem in the
future, I would do four districts and
one mayor.
» Did council member ask you, did you have
a preference on the two or fouryear term
for the mayor? That's what we're here.
>> Okay.
Sorry, I'm just kind of keeping track of
everything. Um, I definitely am in favor
of the atlarge mayor and knowing how the
mayorship works. I think that two years
you're just starting to actually get
your feet wet and understand the job.
So, I would be up for a four-year mayor.
» I'm the same way. I agree with uh Mr.
Mack down there. Um, I can tell you if
you've if you've sat here, one year is
not long enough. Two years is not long
enough. You need uh you need the four
years to do it. Um, and to be effective
and uh really grasp everything that you
need to do. There's a lot going on with
this uh with this chair here. So, uh I'm
in favor of the four districts and the
um at large mayor on a four-year term.
>> Thanks. So, so what I heard to recap is
I heard unanimous uh support for the
mayor position, although I think two
members or at least one member would
only support it on the basis of a
two-year, but there was a majority for a mayor plus four years. So, we'll
proceed with the four-year, excuse me,
with the directly elected mayor in the
four districts. Um, and the council can
make a final decision about the length
of term, you know, when the ordinance
comes before you'll have that number in
it and you can change it at that point.
And is that something that we could hear
from the public?
>> Absolutely. So that we can change that
in the future, too. So there's no need
for a final decision on that right now.
>> All right.
» Yeah. Is there any public comment on the
uh on the um term of the mayor? Do we
have any public comment on that?
The only comment I really have on that
is that I always felt like it was our
job if as we rotated the mayor that it
was our job when we were mayor to
engage with the newer council members
and show them exactly what it entails
and what it takes. If you elect a mayor
and you're stuck with them for four
years and you don't like them or they're
then you're stuck with them.
It's that simple. But if you rotate
mayors, then everybody coming up has an
opportunity to learn about what this is
that you guys are doing and the service
to our community. So, an elected mayor
is sort of stupid, I think, in a small
town. That's all I got to say.
>> [applause]
» Colleen Shields. I'm concerned of the
lack of experience of an elected mayor.
I too like how you're groomed, how you
learn, how you gain your experience.
You're there for each other. You have a
groove. You're working together. I I
really like how you guys have been
running things as far as that goes. So,
if it's works, don't fix it. uh is my
philosophy.
>> Thank you.
Susie Cummings. Um I think with this
small of a town that the four districts
is going to work out better that you're
more likely to get people from each
district. Um the only concern I have I
do like the idea of an elected mayor. I
the only concern I have is that four
years it may make it hard to find
somebody who can dedicate four years to
some to that difficult of a job. And
that's my only concern is that um if you
can find somebody who will do four years
I think that's great but it might be
hard to find somebody. So you might end
up with two years.
Perfect.
[snorts]
Evening. My name is Dana Star. I grew up
in a town um under 8,000 people, very
similar to this. uh my whole life living
there and it continues to this day is a
district of four sections with an
elected mayor and they are doing four
years but I am rather fond of this idea
that the shorter period allows
for um mixing it up not mixing it up
because it's just to mix it up but
because in two years somebody can go oh
I think I want to run again for another
two years because I'm getting the swing
of this. I I can see where I can go or
they can go, you know, I don't really
want to do that and let somebody else
run. Um, but I I can say also that with
even the four district
division that there were sections
particularly in the poorest section of
the town that nobody would run.
And so they they had to find a way to
find to get somebody to sit for that
neighborhood. And that would be even
worse if you had the five that I can
share. Thank you.
Any other public comment on this? Okay,
seeing none. Alex, are you good with
your direction on that? Okay.
>> Okay. Yeah.
>> Through the mayor. Could you explain the
process and timeline just a little bit
so that everybody can understand how
quickly this really is going? So, we
need your involvement here.
>> Yeah. So, um we uh initially under state
law have 90 days to do this whole
process. Uh we agreed with the
plaintiff. They gave us an extension for
an extra 45 days. Um so the schedule,
thanks Mike, is up there. The next
public hearing is September 3rd. So at
that meeting you'll look at the maps
that have been submitted. You can submit
some. The uh consultant will also submit
some to make sure we have some that are
legally okay and you can pick which ones
you like. You might find one that you
all know this is the one we want. You
may not be ready to make a decision.
Then you may um also think hey we like
this map but could you do X or Y to it
to try to change it? you know, move it
over, include that neighborhood, you
know, those extra blocks over there. Uh,
so there's then an opportunity for more
maps to be submitted before the fourth
public hearing. At the fourth public
hearing, uh, the council would make a
decision. This is the map we want. Uh,
this is the order of the districts are
going to go for election and we would,
uh, the council will conduct the first
reading of an ordinance at that meeting.
uh so vote and and you know introduce an
ordinance at that meeting and then at
the fifth public hearing um you would
then uh adopt that ordinance and it
would be done. So uh the schedule's up
there. Um we have a little bit of
flexibility in case something comes up
and we need to move a meeting, you know,
two weeks, but we don't have uh tons of
time.
>> Thank you, Alex.
>> All righty. Alex, could we ask if he
could make like six maps so that if we
don't want to make a map, we have like
six to choose from?
>> Yeah. So, he he um the uh consultant
will be making three to five maps, I
believe, is the number that are
compliant. Depending on the a city of
our size, you may sort of just run out
of compliant ways to do it. So, there
may only but he will be producing some
maps as well. So even if no one from the
public or no council members do maps,
you will have maps to look at and choose
between.
>> Thank you.
» Could you please come down?
» Regina Barry, quick question. Um, you
may you may have addressed it earlier.
the maps that as we as the public
create, they will all be accessible to
everyone else so that if they want to
click on them.
>> Yeah. So, they will all be available on
the website at least 7 days before the hearing.
>> All righty.
See no other comments. Let's move back.
And I apologize. We're going to move
back. What? Oh, you have one. Sorry. So,
Alex, what based on that comment,
[clears throat] is it just the voting
public of registered voters in
Cloverdale can only do district maps or
it's anybody?
>> Anyone can submit a map?
>> Okay.
>> Um, and the council can
take a look at it.
>> We we will we don't check if you're a
registered voter any map will be
submitted and then it's up to the
council to decide what map ultimately to choose.
back into our uh consent calendar. And
the active ones we still have left is
F1, F3, and F5. So, let's start with F1.
The one that I pulled, Kevin, could you
go ahead and just go over that right
quick?
>> Yeah, Susie is gonna give us an up.
>> Good evening, Mayor, Vice Mayor, Council
members. Um so the water and the sewer
leak adjustment policy. The water policy
that is um items one through three is
exactly what our water policy currently
is. What we have uh or what we are
proposing is that we add a commercial
sewer charge adjustment. That would be
like the two that you've seen in the
past year and a half where if the sewer
if the the businesses are charged based
on the number of units of water that's
used a single family resident it they
have a a flat fee for their sewer. So it
wouldn't affect it wouldn't affect a
single family. It wouldn't affect a
multif family. it would only affect um
one of the businesses that
their sewer is being charged based on
the number of units of water that's
being used. We're proposing that if they
can prove with pictures, uh, receipts,
um, that the water went into the ground,
did not go into the septic, um, it
didn't have to be treated, that we would
not charge them, we would charge them
their regular average rate and not
charge them the additional um,
units of it's it's a sewer rate, but
it's only water that's being they're being charged by the number of
units of water. So, um number four is um
just proposing
that we change that so that I don't have
to bring these back.
» Okay. Any questions?
>> Nope. I think it's pretty
self-explanatory and um you know, in the
past we've just kind of you know, it's
no harm, no foul situation. The sewer is
not used. We're not charging for it. So,
pretty straightforward.
Would like to make a motion.
>> Good.
>> I'm good.
>> Okay. Do I have a motion for F1?
>> Uh, yes. I'm sorry, Rob. Apologize. Yes.
I have public comment on this item.
» Rob Kazlowski. again. U first of all,
I'd like to thank uh the city for its
one-day response and stopping a water
leak next to our home um with one day
within it being reported. So, that was
pretty phenomenal. The guys came out on
a Sunday. Um then they completely fixed
it with new parts and asphalt within a
couple of days. So, kudos to the water
team. Um so, I really appreciate that.
But on to the issue at hand. I think the
city is asking for an amended water leak
policy. My fear is in order to give
money back to businesses and instead of
holding them accountable to fix the leak
right away. If it's a residence, usually
you see the leak and you you you get
help or you fix it right away. Uh
meanwhile, I've been unable to secure
through the public records requests
process the city's water loss tap
reports for 2020 through 2025. Uh the
required 10-day turnaround response time
is now approaching 65 days. Uh that was
request was submitted back on June 7th
and it's and counting. Now I just got a
quick note while I was sitting here that
it I might be getting the reports
tomorrow. Um but historically there
appears to be a huge amount of water
consistently around 5 million gallons
annually that's reported unmetered. This
is high quality potable water that could
be build. Yet residents are being asked
to subsidize this lo with proposed
higher water rate increases. And uh the
last batch of publicly available city
water audits cited outstanding leak
issues such as customer metering
inaccuracies as well as build uh build
meter accuracy. And this was an audit
done by the AWA and I'm hoping to see
what that shows in 2021 through 2026. So
if I get those tap reports over the next
couple of days, we can look at that and
see if there's been improvement. Um but
I won't belver the point about no double
digit rate increases. But, uh, I'd like
to see us fixing these things before we
keep raising rates. If we can bill for
another even a part portion of the $5
million in unbillable and it's high
quality potable water, that would be
great. Anyways, thank you very much.
» Okay. And just just a followup, the
water is capped at a $460. So even a
business that if they leak $130,000
gallons, the most that they're going to
get a break is $460. It's a one time
just like everybody else. The sewer is
the difference. They're charged
differently. And if they're not actually
using the sewer, I don't they're already
paying for the additional water. I don't
I think it's fair that we um write off
the additional sewer.
Thank you, Susan.
Okay. Uh,
>> any other public comment?
Okay, seeing none, do I have a motion
for F1?
I'd
>> like to make a motion to adopt a
resolution entitled the resolution of
the city council of the city of
Cloverdale adopting a water and
commercial sewer leak adjustment policy.
>> Have a second.
>> Second.
>> Okay. Did you get the first and second?
>> Thank you.
>> All in favor say I.
>> I. All oppose say nay. Motion passes
5-0.
>> Now
the other active one we're coming back
to is F3. Consider adoption of
resolution approving a contract with DC
Electric Group Inc. or Traffic Single
Improvements at the Cloverdale Boulevard
and Citrus Fair Drive approving a
measure DD budget amendment and
authorizing city manager to execute the
contract.
>> I can just give a brief report. Uh we
recently had trouble with the light this
the traffic signal. We had our DC
Electric come out and the components in
there are literally 40 years old. They
can't get new parts. This budget
amendment would allow us to upgrade
including um right now it's in in
pavement um signals or maybe I'm getting
that wrong. Uh sensors, sorry. It does
replace that with camera sensors so that
it knows if there's uh bicycles or
pedestrians. So, it's it's pretty
straightforward. It really needs to be
done. It's our last. All the other stop
lights have been upgraded. This is the
last one and it did fail recently for
over 24 hours. And so that's why we're
asking to approve this budget amendment
so that we can get it fixed and it's
being proposed with DD money.
And uh yeah, I did pull this item. I had
a couple questions. Um
at the time of the failure, were we able
to go to like a red flashing light
option?
It did go to a red flashing light. Um
and then um just would like to know what what is the history of the issues
pre prior to this incident with that
light.
>> I don't know that we've had a lot of
trouble with it. I don't fully know
that. I do know that when they came out
to look at it, you Oh, this also
provides a battery backup which it
doesn't have for when power outages. Um
I guess yeah, two thoughts on this. I
mean, one, um, if you know, the backup
is the red flashing lights, I think
that's still a functioning stop
>> light.
>> Um, and then the the bigger question is,
um, you know, around the cameras. Um, do
we use cameras similar to that anywhere
else in the city?
>> Let me see if I can explain this because
I'm not an expert, but there's sensors
in the pavement and that's the old way
to under identify if there's a car
there. This replaces that with a camera
and it's more sensitive and it picks up
pedestrians
and bicycles where the the older ones
that were in the pavement didn't didn't
do that. And so it's really the modern
technology. I don't think it's even that
modern. It's been used for quite a
while.
>> I mentioned this, you know, in regards
to the questions on um south of the
boulevard. Um, you know, people have
some issues with the the traffic lights
down there and um, you know, Sanelmo
does use AI and I'm wondering if this is
similar to that or do we use cameras at
all anywhere else? Currently,
>> I believe we use cameras on the south
bec that's a a new light. And we did
upgrade the one on First Street. And I'm not 100% sure that there's cameras
in there, but any modern signal does use
the cameras. And so I I will ask about
the AI because you mentioned that before
and that sounds like a really good
solution. Um, so I'll definitely bring
that up.
>> You know, with any issue of any any use
of cameras, um, you know, there's always
an effect, you know, there they could be
effective in in monitoring traffic, but
um, you know, the issue of surveillance
comes into play. And, you know, that's
something I just don't want to
necessarily just um, adopt too too
easily without fully fully understanding
um, the circumstances behind that.
My understanding of this, it is not for
surveillance at all. It's not a flock
camera system. It's really just to
replace those in pavement vehicle
detention detection loop um systems. I
don't know chief if you have anything
about this, but not to put you on the
spot.
>> Hey Kevin, I think that I think that
also the uh lights that we put in the
last four years down there on the south
end of town by 7-Eleven and and uh
Sinclair and all that are camera
operated.
>> They are. And I guess that th those
still our public is having trouble with
the camera system.
I I sense that. I mean, I'm not asking
you for an answer to that, but
>> Oh, it's it's true. We've been trying to
adjust the south interchange for over a
year now to get to get it where we need,
you know, the turn the turn was a big
help there where you can turn when it's
um yellow. So, um this one's a little
more straightforward. That's an offset
intersection. It's it's, you know, it it
functions well um in terms of the the
lights and everything, but we may have
not gotten the timing exactly correct
yet, and we're continue to to look at
that. This one's a little more
straightforward. Y
>> um I mean, we were really told by DC
Electric that they couldn't find they
couldn't get the parts to repair what we
had. So, that's the situation it is. Um,
you know, I just look at the cost of the
spending and it looks like something
that could be kicked down the road. If
it's continual problem in the future, I
could be happy to entertain bringing it
back.
>> Okay.
>> Any comments?
» Yeah.
>> Uh, to your point, Andre's the uh uh the
pricing I'm speaking as a as an
electrician now. pricing looks uh in
line with the scope of work. Uh to your
point on the cameras and modern
technology, the camera serves as a uh
basically as a contact, right? It it
opens when nobody's there. When somebody
appears, the camera sees it, just like
your uh your ring ring door camera, what
have you. Mhm.
>> And I believe it's just a closed loop
system where the camera picks somebody
up and is able to, you know, change the
>> similar change in and and and
>> Yeah.
>> green light, red light type of thing.
So, if you've ever been through Calr
oneway uh traffic control, like right
now on Highway One out at the coast,
they have that and there's no sensors.
It's a camera and it just picks you up.
It follows you all the way through and
picks you up on the other side. And if
there's no other reading, the cameras
turn, right? That's the way they're able
to do the the oneway traffic control.
>> It's like a sensor.
>> Technology is closed loop and the camera
is just like a contact.
>> Totally understand that. Yeah, I just
see that technology not really producing
the results on the south side of town.
So, I'm just doesn't seem like
>> something to jump on. If there was, you
know, that that worked on the south side
of town, I could see implementing it,
but don't want to create another traffic
jam with a system that is not working
currently.
Um, yeah, we've had we've had some
issues. We've had DC Electric out come
and look at those things uh on the south
end of town and I know we've
[clears throat] had to adjust them. They
were uh I think they got it figured out.
I couldn't believe they were affected by
rain and with El Nino coming up, God, I
hope they're not affected by rain or
we're going to have traffic jams. But as far as I don't want to create, I
don't want to kick something down the
road. I know. And if we can't have
parts, this thing completely fails on
us. And now that's one of our main
entrances into Cloverdale. And then we
also have people picking up kids. School
starts tomorrow. We've got a traffic jam
down there non-stop. So I think we
should go ahead and we we get the theory
of the cameras, the contact, the you
know, running you through and all that.
And I think that those need to be fixed
um so we don't cause issues down there.
and DC Electric also knows how to fix
has come in and adjusted the ones on the
south end of town still working on it.
So, they're going to have the knowledge
to do these and get it installed
properly. So, I'm 100% on board with
this one.
>> I mean, what what DC told us was they
could get it to work, but they couldn't
promise that it was going to work for
very long and the parts were hard to
find and so we're just trying to get
ahead of it.
>> One more comment. So based on uh
[clears throat]
DC Electric says the price assumes ex
existing conduits are accessible, free
of debris and in good working order. I
would uh I would maybe strike that and
ask them to mandrill the conduits to
justify their price.
>> Can you say that again?
>> Oh man.
And I would I would support further in
investigation into this before uh maybe
we bring it back.
>> If that's what's your suggestion, I
would support that.
>> I would for for me I would just say just
strike that one and just ask them to
mander the conduits to justify their
price. I think the price is in line with
the scope of work.
» Would that be an amendment or would we
bring that back to the council?
>> Well, with the way that it's going right
now, it would have to be amended and
brought back. And so that was going to
be my question is is this going to
create a safety hazard or an issue if
they fail before we're allowed or able
to fix these things if we don't have a
special meeting if something happens.
>> It's hard to know. I mean, I'm just
going off of what DC Electric told us,
which is, hey, we got it working, but
it's it's fragile and it's old and we
can't guarantee it's going to stay
working for very long.
>> I do want to acknowledge the concerns
from mayor and vice mayor on this. um
just that the uh the the backup was that
it was a flashing red light. So I I I
don't you know we haven't experienced a
full breakdown. I don't want to just um
think that everything is going to be a
worst case scenario necessarily.
» I agree Kevin on this real quick and I
agree with with uh Council Member
Laskkey over there. He's got some pretty
extensive knowledge on this. I am not
opposed to striking that what's in there
and redoing that contract a little bit
so it gets narrowed down the scope of
work on that and then actually bringing
it back at the next meeting if we could.
>> I would support that.
>> The amendment you suggested, Council
Member Laskkey is in the that's in the
scope of work.
>> I'm sorry.
>> The amendment you suggested is would be
to the scope of work from DC
>> just that last sentence. I do see that
he does have contingencies in there
right now for u for the cost for 6,994.
So that that might be uh his CYA if the
conduits do not mandro right there. I I
imagine he's going to pull out some of
the existing infrastructure and add his
uh his cable for the camera. So I'm
imagine what is that what's the minimum
size city standards? Inch and a half
onto it. I
>> I don't know. Yeah.
quarter
>> has not to exceed.
>> Okay. And then if it's not to exceed,
then Okay. Yeah. I'm I'm actually fine
with that.
>> And
>> you can leave it as it stands.
>> For the mayor, if you want to make that
change, too, we could do that and the
council could approve that tonight and
then assuming he agrees, Kevin would
have the authority to sign the agreement
with that change. Um is there may be a
price increase as long as it's within
the total not to exceed amount. If it
would create a large impact, then we'd
need to come back for further approval.
>> Well, and I I think that's actually
covered uh council member's concern is
covered by the not to exceed. So, I
think that it's actually uh almost a
moot point at this point. Yeah.
>> So, I have no more comments. Any more
comments?
>> Sounds good. I I support my council on
this.
>> Okay.
>> Public comments. We have Do we have any
public comments on this item? Go ahead,
Jennifer.
» Yeah,
» what is what is f
Okay.
Yeah.
Thank you.
» So, I'm going to ad Whoa, that's loud.
I'm going to admit I'm a total nerd and
I'd love to contribute to this
conversation, but I have a P request
specifically for concerns about traffic
impact and signal performance results. I
submitted this public request 125 days
ago um on April 8th. So maybe that's one
P request of my three that haven't been
addressed that maybe could be addressed.
Thank you.
» Any other public comment?
>> Okay, I'm seeing none.
>> I'd like to make a motion by title only.
uh adopt a resolution entitled
resolution of the city council of the
city of Cloverdale approving a contact
contract with DC Electric Group
Incorporated for traffic signal
improvements at Cloverdale Boulevard and
Citrus Fair Drive in the amount of
$69,940
authorizing a 10% contingency in the
amount of $6,994
for a total not to exceed amount of
$76,934
approving a measure DD budget amendment
and authorizing the city manager to
execute the contract and related
documents.
>> Second.
>> All in favor say I.
>> I. I.
>> Post say nay.
>> Motion passes 5.
>> All right. And okay folks, we're going
to take a fivem minute recess right now
before we get into F5. So bear with 5
minute recess.
Got
to feed my dogs and I want to go home.
>> Your Oh, they're your dogs now. I'm
going to tell you
All
right, guys. We call the meeting back to
order and let's move into F5, final one
on the consent calendar ordinance
amending Cloverdale Municipal Code
section 2.04.010
compensation for council members.
>> Thanks, Mayor. Uh, I'll just be very
brief. The council introduced this
ordinance at the last meeting uh to uh
decrease the council member compensation
from $950 a month uh to $300 a month. Uh
that was uh at the last council meeting
and there's a second reading tonight for
adoption.
» Yeah.
>> Um I have some arguments against the pay
cut. It creates barriers for
workingclass residents. It lowers it's
lowering the pay makes the position
virtually voluntary making it nearly
impossible for working professionals,
single parents or lowincome residents to
afford the time away from their jobs.
It's limiting the candidate pool which
is going to be really important when we
break into districts. A reduced stipen
restricts future candidates mostly to
retirees or the independently wealthy
who do not rely on a stipen to offset
living costs or lost wages. It's
ignoring the real-time commitment.
Serving on the council involves long
hours reviewing complex city agendas,
attending meetings, and managing
communications with residents that go
well beyond a casual volunteer role.
It's a undoing progress on diversity.
It's um it helps having an adequate
stipen helps level the playing field so
diverse community members can run for
office without sacrificing basic
financial stability. The reduction in
council's stipen represents a negligible
fraction of the city's budget because
the total annual savings of $39,000
amounts to roughly 0.26%.
26%
of Cloverdale's 14.9 million annual
general fund spending. Um, you know, it comes across like I think it was
introduced to be um make impactful
savings, but it really doesn't. It's um
the cut is a symbolic gesture of fiscal
responsibility rather than a meaningful
financial solution. It strips away
standard compensation while leaving the
city's structural revenue issues
completely unressed.
Um, the Sonoma City Council voted 4 to1
on August 5,
2026 to introduce an ordinance that
moves their monthly stipen to 950. The
Sebastapole City Council voted 3 to1 on
July 7, 2026 to finalize and pass the
ordinance raising their monthly stipen
from 30950.
When it was first introduced at our
budget meeting, it seemed like it had
been something that all three of the
people that were for it had already
discussed and um kind of did a daisy
chain on. So, I just think um it's kind
of like a corrupt thing and I think it
would be better if we left it the same.
>> Any other comments?
>> Um I think Council Member Morgan Stern,
you made some really good points on
this. Um you know, I've come to
understand the benefits of having the
option for a stipen. I would ask my
fellow council members to reconsider the
option to opt out. Um
and uh just want to
really go back to our last meeting that
um there was a um outburst of expletives
made by our mayor that was quoted in the
press Democrat and I would like to ask you to really explain what you meant
uh by the quote it's the white guys or
it's the guys up here that are doing
everything they can to make sure
Cloverdale makes it through. I would
absolutely love to explain that. That
was totally taken out of context and
that was not what was said. What was
said in the outburst was is and I'm
going to say it again since the age of
10 when I'm continually told up here
that [laughter] hey, you guys are the
privileged white guys up here. No,
that's not it. What we've done is busted
I've busted my ass since I was 10 years
old. And uh like I said, I'm going to do
say the exact same thing. We don't have
your crony here to re unquote stuff. So,
um, bottom line is I wish my father was
here. I've been driving a shovel since I
was 10 and I've earned absolutely
everything I got. So, when you say,
"Hey, oh, these guys with a pension, you
know how you get a pension? You earn
it." And that's exactly what I did. So,
for the misquote in the press, Democrat,
that's great. If you read that rag,
that's good. But the bottom line is I
did not say it's the white guys making
things happen up here. Totally taken out
of context and that's completely untrue
on the record. There you go.
>> Okay. And I'll just continue my comment.
Um, the quote was your actual words. You
did say it was the white guys. Um,
nobody mentioned race in this
discussion. And so that's where I'm
curious about why you brought up race.
The conversation was about diversity.
And diversity means diversity of
opinion. Uh when you certainly see a
group of three council members who don't
um delegate in public, it gives a
perception that there's a group. So um
I'm going to ask you a question about
the group that you mentioned as the
white guys. Um am I included in that
group?
» Um it was your actual words, but if you
can speak on the mic.
I'm not going to engage with you. Your
intention was to come here and stir the
pot tonight like it always is at most
council meetings. So, that's where I'm
at.
>> So, I'll I'll read my I'll read my
questions. I'll read my questions out
loud. The questions I have for the mayor
about his comment about the group of
white guys when nobody mentioned race
during the meeting is I wonder am I
included in that group?
>> Is council member excuse me?
>> Sure you are. I don't see anything else.
I see people up here and I did not say
that.
>> So, when you said it's the white guys
getting everything done, were you
excluding Council Member Morgan Stern as
a woman?
>> These are my question because race was
never mentioned. And um
do all members of your described
grouping live up to the required
responsibilities of the city council?
And I would like to see our list of
responsibilities that our city clerk put
out in our candidates handbook. And I
just want to read the responsibilities.
Um, so this isn't about pay. This is
about the work that we should all do,
whether we're getting paid $0, $5, 300,
or, you know, 950. Uh, the
responsibilities of our city council are
to review agenda materials and prepare
for meetings.
Review agenda materials and prepare.
Participation in open and transparent
decisionmaking.
open and transparent decision-making
to listen to residents, businesses, and
community stakeholders.
And I just want to call out the June
10th meeting uh during our budget
adoption at 3 hours and 45 minutes and
50 seconds. deliberation was done
not publicly but very visibly
between council members to push the
budget forward when we still had another
meeting to deliberate. So we had half
this room filled up with members of the
public that were not listened to and
deliberation was not done transparently.
Um, also the other then and and that
goes to responsibility listed here.
Number five,
follow the Brown Act and ethical
governance requirements.
And also number four, work
collaboratively with fellow council
members and staff. And
I don't see our council living up to
those responsibilities. I hope they can.
So, it's not about pay, but it's about
the work that we are appointed, elected
to do that we should live up to do that
work. And you know, if if cutting your
pay
gives you some type of credit, let's
look at the work that's being done and
that we should live up to the
responsibilities that we're here to
perform for the residents of this
community.
And the other question I would have for
the mayor is, did you vote to raise the
stipen for your time on council?
>> Yes, I did.
>> Okay. And my my final question to you
is, are you voting to lower the stipen
now that you don't seek re-election?
>> No, I was voting to lower the stipen.
And the my thought precipice behind
lowering the stipen is we had a council
member uh after that budget meeting that
I guess wasn't transparent but was
scheduled and was open to the public
went around pretty much and and talked
to most nonprofits there which I think
should be uh maybe funded uh they should
go out and it shouldn't be one of those
hey I'm going to hold out my hand and
Cloverdale's got money and and we're
going to we're going to go ahead and
fill it with Cloverdale money is is why
I was like okay no problem. So, as a
public servant, what I wanted to do was
like, okay, so if we're going to fund
some things and we've already committed
to funding those things, then let's go
as a public servant and take some of our
money and let's go ahead and lower us.
Then we have the money and we can fund
these nonprofits that were guaranteed
money.
» I'm not sure what you just said. It was
kind of a babble, but uh u you know,
when you're working on a budget, there's
no commitment there until it's passed.
The budget was passed three to two.
Deliberation was done in private on
camera and you can see that at the June
10th meeting at 3 hours 45 minutes and
50 seconds. It was a Brown Act violation
recorded. So check it out, [snorts]
you know, and and going to talk to our
community to find out what the needs are
and if there's some organizations
struggling. Is there an issue with that?
Is it is it beneficial to our community
to fund organizations that are putting
$15,000 in their reserves when people
are not being fed in this community? And
you and you you you mentioned the food
pantry at the last meeting. You haven't
stepped a foot inside the food pantry.
Uh actually I have and that was while I
was working with the city and I wondered
why when we had all the homeless folks
in town and I was actually working with
the city picking up trash and mowing
lawn mowing the parks for the city and I
actually drove over there and said why
are you guys is there any way you can
not and waste this food that you're
wasting right now because you're giving
it to folks that you know cannot or have
the ability to cook it. So what happened
was almost every Monday, Wednesday, and
Friday, I would walk down and or
whenever the food distribution was and
I'd find boxes of food in the planters
if I put my hand on them.
>> Mr. Mayor, point of order.
>> Y,
>> we're getting way off topic with this
and we need to get back in line with
what the agenda item is, please.
>> Thank you.
I think this is a good idea uh based on
size of our city and our budget that we
give more money back to the community
than to ourselves because this is not a
position to make money on if it's going
to affect elections. We currently have
five women and four men that are seeking
seats. They average from I I think late
20s into their 70s. So we have a pretty
good different demographic. Uh you can
do it age, race, and gender. And so this
is a great a group of people that are
running for election for 2026. And it is
not based on the pay. So obviously that
doesn't make a difference. And so I'm
excited for this.
So when I when I ran for office, I did I
did so under the guise that I wanted to
know where my tax dollars were going. I
had no idea what the compensation was
and and that was not a goal for me at
all. Uh, like I said, I would rather do this for free and make
an impact and not be here to uh, you
know, as they say, ride the pine and
just take the compensation. Uh, it's uh,
it's a thankless job indeed. And then
you have to have somewhat of a passion
to help your community uh, to do this
job. So, like I said, I I I didn't get
off the couch to uh
get any kind of compensation for what uh
what I can lend to the city. So, there's
that.
The last thing I'm going to say is we're
not here to be supported by the
community. We're here to support the
community and do what we can. So, I
think it's backwards thinking to think
that we should be uh getting as much pay
as possible versus uh doing a public
service like this position is created
for.
» I think this whole thing was weaponized.
You brought it up, Todd, at the budget
meeting. You got that far away from my
face when you said it and then our
attorney over there was smirking and
smiling like this was all planned out.
So, I just think let's be transparent
and let the public know exactly what
happened. Absolutely. In 2024, I voted
against this. I've never supported it.
We should have never been making $950
and I still don't support it. And so,
the second that we it was brought back
to us as a possibility, I brought it up
again. That's exactly how it worked. It
was not in your face. It was not
vindictive. It was that we do not take
this position in public service to
profit. We do it to help our community.
Well, then you should have donated your
salary this whole two years, but you
didn't. And you say that you give the
city $1,000 a month, but you have no
receipts.
>> I'm not going to go down said he spent
$140 on candy. It's all just
» All right. So,
go ahead.
>> Do we have any public comment on this?
Yeah, come on down.
All the years that I was on council, we
got 200 or 300 bucks. That was it. Um,
it didn't even cover gas to meetings.
We're in Cloverdale here, long ways from
a lot of the meetings you have to go to.
And gas is very expensive. You're
eliminating a whole class of people by
lowering this the way it is. Every town
around here is going to be 950 shortly.
So, you look at that and you think,
okay, so what is it that you get if you
go run for council? Um, I don't know the
public public really knows that, but you
get medical. You get your medical paid
for or most of it paid for. Then you get
this stipen which in my case was very
little but you also get the ability to
turn in receipts.
Have any of you ever turned a receipt in
for a hotel, for gasoline, for the big
uh group things that you guys go to?
Like when you went down to Southern
California, did anybody turn in a hotel?
Was the city did the city pay for that
hotel when you guys went down there?
>> I would I would really ask that you uh
comment on that. Michael, since you're
in charge, could you tell how many
receipts I've turned in the last six
years?
>> I don't have those records in front of
me, but I can tell you it's very
minimal, if at all.
>> Our hotels are paid ahead of time, like
Mike P.
>> So, you have paid
>> I will state for for conferences. Uh
council typically uh I mean the the city
typically through the council's budget,
which is adopted in their budget.
>> So, there you go. You did claim you did
>> I did not I have never turned in a
single receipt, not for one.
>> I'm not saying that you turned a receipt
in. What I'm saying is
>> reimbured for conference council um is
we pay for their conferences
um as far as reimbursement for travel
which means hotel, airplanes or driving.
That is what the council typically
submits their receipts for. We have a
travel and advance policy. Um but to
address uh council member Lan's
question, he has not submitted any of
those for for tra
>> but he has stayed in hotels that were
paid for at
>> travel or hotels.
>> Not I'd have to look at the record. I
can't speak to it without looking but
nothing has been.
>> Okay. So I'm not just looking at you
have any of you guys in receipt credit
card. We didn't pay for our
>> anybody.
>> Correct. It depends on the
>> run your question by me again. area.
>> Have you ever turned a receipt for
reimbursement?
>> I've turned in one reimbursement
receipt.
>> Okay. So, you did even pay for you paid
for all. Can
>> we maybe have a question? Finish the
comment and then the council can answer
so it's not so much back and forth.
>> Well, what I feel like you're doing here
is and if you guys want to give like I
chose not to turn receipts in. That was
my choice.
>> I was running a business. I had, you
know, I was comfortable. I didn't feel
like I had to. But by doing this, you're
eliminating a whole class of people. And
that bothers me because there's a lot of
people in this town that I know that are
very bright, brighter than me, brighter
than all of you guys who would not run
just purely because they can't afford
to. So I I really it really makes me
think that you're trying to just be the
three or four white guys up there
running everything. And that really
bothers me that you won't give another
group a chance. If you guys want to just
say, "No, I'm not going to take it."
Great. But don't make other people go by
what you want cuz that's not fair. And I
just find it sort of disgusting the way
the game that you guys are playing. And
the public is really about had it.
» Any other public comment? [applause]
Council,
if I can for the record, just to clarify
my statement, there is um the
opportunity for the city will often pay
for conferences and hotels. Um but it is
up to the council members for mileage
reimbursement. There's an entire travel
and advance policy and I do suggest any
members of the public or council to
submit a public records request and we
can get those records.
>> When we went to Sacramento, you put
everything on a credit card, including
our hotel and the convention and all our
food. So there you have it.
» Go ahead, Jennifer.
>> So
what I remember from the last meeting
where this this conversation came up was
that it was that like Cloverdale had
designated it disability month or
something like that. I can't remember
the exact name. And Marjorie
had had said during this meeting like at
some point that this money makes a
difference for her. Like I mean she just
came out publicly and and said this. And
I don't understand. It's really hard for
me to like grasp why three members or
people would like just right in front of
her face [laughter]
take that away from her when there is a
viable option to just give your pay back
to the city. And I don't know if
[laughter]
[applause]
>> it doesn't make sense.
>> I don't I don't know. I mean, I feel
like it's it's it's a it's an easy
solution. Um, I don't know anybody who
can live off of $900 or who's going to
be like, you know, rolling through town
in like a Porsche or like a Land Rover
like, "Woohoo! Look at my council
money." Um,
I think it it's it's and then the other
part of it too is there is this this
impression that it's devaluing what you
guys do.
It's devaluing
how important the work is that you do.
and you are very fortunate that and it
is this isn't to say that like that that
you haven't worked hard but I mean my
goodness would I love a pension um like to be in that position is a a
blessed one and it's it has nothing to
do with like you know you not working
hard and and all that like it's not
everybody's in that position for a
variety of different reasons and like if a single mom wanted to run um yeah I think it devalues what you guys do.
And I think that the solution to just
give back your your salary, it's it's
easy and we wouldn't be all here
fighting. And I just I don't know what
else to say, but it it really broke my
heart because
yeah, I mean, this is a fellow council
member and I feel like you guys all
should be taking care of each other. And
by doing that, you're looking out for
Cloverdale.
[applause]
I wasn't here to witness what happened,
but when I consider what other positions
of this city are making, why isn't why
aren't other people skimming off the top
of their salaries?
Do we have any other public comment?
Okay, I'm seeing none.
[snorts]
Any comments from the council?
>> Yes, thank you, mayor. Um, just want to
ask my fellow council members to
reconsider their vote. Um, I think this
amount of pay doesn't make us a better
council members. Um, I think this
decision doesn't make us a better
council. Um,
you know, personally, I did bring this
issue up to reduce the pay. Uh, when I
was first on council, I thought that,
uh, you know, like maybe some council
members are in this for the money. Um,
I've come to change my opinion on that.
It's not because I need the money. Uh,
but I don't want to limit somebody else
who does. Uh, I think it's the option to
opt out is great. If there's um four of
us that are opting out or give give that
money back and and and one person needs
it, it's not going to affect the budget
that much. Um, I I I could tell you even
that extra money allows me to do so much
more work in a month. um you know,
taking two weeks off to paint a mural at
Washington Gym, you know, taking two
weeks off to paint the interior of the
Graange,
you know, um I wouldn't be able to do
that without just that was enough money
I can go get a sandwich down at Eagle's
Nest and that's it. And I would work my
butt off for the next two weeks that
month to to cover my bills. So,
>> [clears throat]
>> um I I
would just ask my fellow council to
reconsider their decision.
Let's amend this to give us the option
to opt out and give the ability to
others
that might need this money to to do this
role.
And and that's my ask.
[applause]
Um, I do have another comment to make.
Um, the single raise for one staff
member completely eclipses the small
amount saved by cutting the stipens of
the entire elected council. Performative
versus impactful savings. Um, I just
feel like this whole thing's a big drama
created by the vice mayor and he was
that far away from my face. When he said
it, it was meant to hurt. And um I just
think it it's a huge drama and the
council needs to come together rather
than three people constantly deciding
what the hell's going to happen on every
issue. It's not right. and it's like
turned into a dictatorship and then they
sit there and moralize about it and say,
"Oh, I worked hard my whole life." Well,
other people have worked hard their
whole lives as well.
>> Yeah.
» I will gladly make a motion to wave the
second reading and adopt an ordinance
amending Cloverly Municipal Code section
2.04.0. 010.
>> Do I need to read the whole thing? Keep
going.
>> Just Yeah, just
>> compensation for council members to
decrease council member compensation to
the specified amount per month of $300.
» Second.
>> All in favor say I.
>> No.
>> I. In favor say I.
>> I.
>> No.
>> All oppose say nay.
>> No.
Motion fails. Three to two.
[applause]
» Thank you, mayor.
Um, there was an item that we didn't
list on tonight's agenda, introducing
our new assistant city manager, Eric
Sanders.
>> We still have other action items on my
agenda. Yeah, we're
» the
>> All right, let's get into next item is
uh H1
consider the prior say prior consider
the prioritized water resiliency
projects list and its relationship to
the FY 26 through31 capital improvement
program for proposed water [snorts]
rates. Again, ER uh Derek is out ill, so
Eric has volunteered to um to go over
this one. This was a request of the
council, I think a couple maybe last
meeting or the meeting before to review
what we've put together as a uh
potential water uh resiliency list. And
uh the list some of the projects are in
this year. I I'll let you talk about it,
Eric, but um it's it's really a list
that we want to have at the ready in
case PG& money comes along as the part
of the dam removal or other grants. We
want to just identify these projects.
And uh I'll just leave it there, Eric,
if you want to talk about them or
>> Sure. Thank you. Um first of all, I
wanted to introduce myself. I'm Eric
Sanders. I'm the assistant city manager
here. Thank you. Um, mayor and council.
Um, Mike, if you could put the
slide up on there.
>> Is there a presentation on this item?
>> It's the one that looks like this
spreadsheet.
>> One sec.
So anyway, while he's getting that
outenda, I wanted to uh just reiterate
that this item presents the updated and
prioritized water resiliency projects
list that was originally developed by
West Yos back in 2025 to identify
projects that would improve the
reliability and resiliency of our water
system, particularly given the
uncertainty surrounding the Potter
Valley project. And the intent was to
identify projects that may or may not be
on the capital improvement plan, but
projects in general that in the event
some sort of funding would become
available that we could just turn to the
list and say, "Okay, what's number one?
What's number two? What what are the
things that we want to do in order to
bolster our our um our our water
resiliency?" So, at the council's
direction, staff prioritize those
projects based primarily on the timing
in the fiscal year category in the CIP,
although I understand some of them
aren't CIP projects like I said before,
but they are prioritized by the timeline
there. You can see in that column 26 to
28, you know, and so on and so forth.
And uh that was sort of was our
the way that we prioritized these for
the council to say, okay, if and when
this funding does become available,
here's where we start. And if you look
at the list here, the ones at the top
are primarily CIP projects.
Um, and as you go work your way down the
list, uh, you'll see that the next group
is for projects that are fully budgeted
in the previous year and then finished
projects that have been completed and
then at the bottom are projects that are
on the list as uh, priorities. However,
they have not been budgeted in the CIP.
So, um, I guess what we're asking
tonight is for council to receive the
updated list, review the priorities and
funding categories, and provide
direction to staff on whether the
council agrees with the proposed
prioritization.
>> And I think we want to keep working on
this list. This is kind of a first go at
it. And um so again, I think really
as Eric said, not to repeat what you
said, but you know, as as funding comes
down, we want to we want to be ready for
that as best we can, but I think our
goal really is to have you review it,
start amending it, maybe we forgot
something, maybe something should come
off, but maybe this is like an ongoing
thing, kind of like the streets.
>> Um can I add a comment, mayor?
Thank you. Um, just want to thank you,
uh, Eric Sanders, assistant city
manager, uh, for getting this out so
quick. I mean, this was at our last
meeting. It was just very recent. So, I
appreciate the work. Um, and, uh, the
idea about this list, I think it's going
to be an evolving list. Um, my thoughts
behind it, it's an important tool to
obtain funding and clarify goals to take
full advantage of funding opportunity
windows as they can arise. Um
my my thoughts about the list also is to
uh reach out to prospective funders or
uh partners to see how we can improve
the list because I think that's uh we
need to make the list that's going to
work for people that would potentially
fund or help us find funding. Um that
would include uh North Coast Regional
Partnership, you know, potentially PG&E.
Um you know, even there's environmental
groups that want to see us
uh have some water resiliency. um within our our city. So um the thoughts
about the list that I have um you know
these are really pertaining to our
municipality. Um I think you know in the
future expanding this to um
uh include uh potential studies of
groundwater recharge and possibly that
might be um you know getting a little
far ahead but I think it's something
that we need to start working on is like
you know regional solutions uh with with
groundwater recharge since we share our
subbasins with other um jurisic ictions
and some of them are defined, some not.
Um I think that you know recharging
those subbasins would probably be a
regional effort potentially as well. So
um I appreciate your work on this.
>> Thank you. Thank you.
>> I just want to say that I'm really
excited about this list. Um I know
there's more work to be done besides
this list, but at least it's a move in
the right direction.
» Eric, welcome aboard. Thanks for the
presentation. I appreciate the the work
hitting the ground running. That's
awesome. Uh maybe we can look at to
council member Marquez's uh statement
there as we go into DD funding. We can
try to get some bioailes uh for
groundwater recharge as as an overall uh
plan for you know our our water
resiliency. But uh great first steps.
Thank you.
We could definitely add that to the list
and or at least look into uh what it
would take to get those types of studies
started.
» Yeah, welcome aboard, Eric. I'm hoping
we do a whole uh kumbaya session at our
next meeting for you. Take some pictures
for the paper. U however, this list was
a little history lesson. list was
created uh when I was working with a
group to get a department of uh what is
it fish and what was it fish and
wildlife
>> fish and wildlife department of fish and
wildlife Chuck Bonham was the head of
the state appointed by Governor Nuomo
and he was coming here and uh working
with us and debating with us regarding
the Potter Valley project uh when he saw
the predicament that we would be in
after listening to us he asked for a
list and that's what this list started
from they were in no particular order and we did that on
purpose because of cost and we didn't
know what each thing would cost or how
much money he would be willing to uh
give us in certain ways for grants. Uh
there was a lot of grant funding with
reservoir bonds that the state had that
he gave us zero dollars and nobody was
getting any bonds or bond money for
reservoirs. It was all going towards
rehabilitation of creeks. So what we did
is we created this list and worked with
the the state to uh pick out some
projects. Uh two of the projects that
we've been funded through him and
through us at the that committee uh was
uh purchasing water out of Lake Mescino
to help supplement us when we are having
our drought or curtailments or even just
low on water at the end of the summer.
And the second one is for aquafer
recharge and deeper wells and finding
the geological areas that we can
actually have those. Uh so those two
things are not on this list, but that is
what that was created for. There's some
good stuff that we can add to this, but
I really don't want us to be like 1
through 10 is all we're going to do
because we need this needs to be a fluid
document. We need to know if we have
$150,000 to spend, we can go to number
eight
>> and not say we're going to stick that in
the bank until we can do number one.
>> So thank you for your hard work on this.
I appreciate uh making a a solid list of
what we've already accomplished uh what
we look forward to doing, but there's a
couple things that we should add is
making sure that we are uh completing
the studies for the water purchase and
completing the studies for the geologic
conditions for the aquifer recharge.
>> Thank you, Vice Mayor. I also wanted to
point out there is a column on here that
is titled estimated cost. And even
though this list isn't necessarily
prioritized by cost,
it does have se several categories here.
Low, medium, and high. And I know that
the folks over at West Yos put this
together. I believe the low category of
cost are projects that cost less than
100,000. Medium would be 100,000 to 1
million. And then the high category
would be any project over 1 million. So,
it'd be relatively easy for the council
to take a look at these and say, "Okay,
well, you know, we just got a grant for
250,000.
One on here is in that price range. Oh,
this is medium. Okay, here they are."
So,
>> thank you,
>> Eric. Thanks for uh coming on board.
Awesome presentation. Uh yeah, we've this list is
uh an ever ever evolving animal here.
It's going to be continually updated.
But the frustration I have with this is when I look at number one on CIP's
Cherry Creek South Crest Reservoir as in
design and seems like I've been hearing
in design for about two years now.
So, um I know after talking to a lot of
the folks at the water plant and I know
they're they're scrambling. They're patchworking things together.
They need they need some stuff done. We
need co uh tanks coated. We need contact
tanks. We need everything to keep it
running in order. And that's my
frustration with this. I understand it's
a funding thing,
>> but I think priority-wise and and I see
some of them are high and that's
probably why they're in design. There's
a lot of money here. Um this is but like
I said this has been kicked around since
the previous uh city manager and it
seemed like we did study after study and by the time we got to
the fourth study it was just the same
one as the first study and it was kind
of kicked down the road. I don't want to
see that happen. I want to see actually
pick some of these off um and actually
get them completed and put a little more
oomph into uh West Yoast if we need to
and say, "Hey, what's going on? Let's
kick this let's keep this going. Let's
get it going faster. What how can we put
pressure on people? How can the design
go quicker? How can we get this to
approval and get it going? And that's
just uh good for Cloverdale across the
board. Whether it's pressure in zone
one, Cherry Creek, it's I mean there's,
you know, the water plan as good as
anybody, but you know what needs to be
done. So anyway, thanks for the list,
but we really need to kick some of these
down and kind of uh veer away from
studies if we don't need them, if
they're being repeated and concentrate
on the studies we need that are going to
fix Cloverdale, Menescino water
purchase. Those are the studies that are
needed. But it's more studies on these
continuing projects is just frivolous. I
mean, just wasting our time.
>> Understood. Thank you.
>> Yep.
Great work. I mean,
we're we're going to introduce our
assistant manager at maybe the next
meeting, but you know, the last three
weeks, uh, jumping into this and our
conversations around our water
resiliency, you know, we had a fire
potential fire risk a couple weeks ago
and, you know, jumping on that in the
middle of the night. Um, just excited to
seeing this and just, you
really appreciate it.
>> You're very welcome. This is my town
after I grew up here. And uh, you know,
I care very deeply about everybody that
lives here in town, all the people also
that live on the outskirts of town and
all the infrastructure here. Um, you
know, I I I'm a product of this town,
too. So, thank you for that.
>> Thanks, sir. LFG.
» You have a comment? So, we'll um
continue to look for projects, add them,
and and maybe have this as a periodic
item on the council um as we amend the
list and get better numbers and
um just keep it keep it alive and keep
it current.
>> There you go. Who have any uh comments
on from the public on this?
[clears throat]
>> I don't My name is Brian Den. I don't
think that the estimated cost should be
prioritized. I think that the way that
it affects the community should be
prioritized. That's all I have to say.
» Hi, Rob Kazlowski again. Um, the only
thing I can say is folks, please build
something. Uh Cloverdale aliens have
paid $10 million over the last five
years to build up a bank account to
build the water and sewer
infrastructure. Uh the tabular graphic
presented by the city of Cloverdale to
me is shocking by its level of project
omissions, deferrals, and cancellations
or apparent cancellations.
Uh coupled with demands for another
study regarding new wells, it's an
abdication of the plans articulated in
2021. Please use that list. look at the
2021 list and you'll see that some of
those presented tonight are on there.
Um, but anyways, that list was used to
justify these massive water rate
increases over the last 5 years and the
partial replication of those same plans
offered to demand another round of
double-digit rate increases through
2031.
The proposed plan is an unwarranted
money grab, it feels to me, since we
have the money and uh we're jacking up
fees in violation of the law abiding
Proposition 218. And I'll agree disagree
with Alex on our correspondence on that
one where water rate increases must be
tied to the cost of providing those
water services. Uh considering the
following table that was just offered
up. The Cherry Creek Reservoir 59 years
and rusting has been moved to 2028 for
completion. A six-year deferral from
what we've already paid for. A new well
at the 2023 completion has been uh been
replaced with a study slated for 2027 or
2028. A 5-year delay without a drill
even scheduled to start that well. The
Ritter reservoir 38 years in rusting
with a 2024 completion is now
unscheduled. We missed that one. The
backup chlorine tank hailed as critical
at the time in 2021 was planned for
completion last year and it has been
dropped from that list. I don't get it.
transfer pumps and a ferber tank slated
for 2025 last year has been renamed Dell
Webb Foothill it looks like and moved to
a 2030 completion a 5-year deferral in
spite of 5 years of residents paying
double digit rate increases almost no
critical capital improvement projects
have been started yet alone completed
yet the waste water and water department
surpluses have ballooned to 10 million
as I mentioned the niceto-do activities
such as installation of grant inspired
water meters and nonwater related work
on a just activated solar system and air
conditioning of city buildings took
priority. To me, this is administrative
mismanagement. Have Cloverdale residents
been misled in how their water sewer
payments have been used? Um, I say no
more to rate increases until the focus
becomes sharper and promised water sewer
projects are completed. With bills
already 62% higher than 2021, please get
on with rebuilding the city's aging and
crumbling water infrastructure as
evidenced by recent water main breaks
and ongoing leaks. And by the way, the
leak close to my home was actually on
the property of the Cherry Creek
Reservoir. So, there was a leak already
in that area. Thank you for your time.
» Any other public comment on this item?
>> Okay.
Seeing none, and once again, thank you,
uh, Assistant City Manager Sanders for
bringing it up. Great.
Any other comments from council?
Righty, let's move into item I, Council
Member Reports.
Thank you, Mayor. Um, council member
report for Wednesday, August 12th, 2026.
Um, since our last meeting on Saturday,
July 25th, uh, we had an event uh, put
together, this was cooperation with the
city of Cloverdale and Sonoma County A
and Open Space. Uh, this was called Unia
de Kempo. It was our first guided hike
in Soda Springs Ranch, which was a
bilingual English and Spanish hike. Uh,
there was neighbors of all backgrounds
and ages that participated. Um, do want
to thank uh Irma, Raquel, and Olivia of
Sonoma County
a and open space as well as council
member Morgan Stern who [snorts] is on
the citizen advisory committee and
superintendent Hector Galvan
as well as um Corey Wattles. Uh I think
everyone who participated that day
really had a great time. It was just a
gathering of community. Um, you know,
everyone learned a lot about our new
open space and I think, you know,
everyone kind of became a steward that
day that they can go around and take
their friends and family, kids, parents
up there and uh teach them about um all
the different wildlife and trees that
they they've learned and and really care
for and appreciate our open space. On
Tuesday, July 28th, I attended the
Russian River Confluence Steering
Committee. Um, we discussed our goals
for annual gathering coming up later
this year. Uh, Wednesday, July 29th, I
met with Caitlyn Vegby of Legal Aid. Uh
we're working on updating the rent
stabilization ordinance and creating a
closure and conversion ordinance to um
that Caitlyn will draft a model of the
ordinances and circle back in
midepptember. So um there's been some
predatory agencies going after our um
different mobile home parks in the
county and so this is a way that we can
uh strengthen our um ability to hold
them off. Uh on Wednesday, July 29th, I
attended a Cloverdale community meeting.
Uh this was to connect with neighbors
and share concerns about the proposed
Esmeralda development. Uh I think the
one my my biggest takeaway is uh the
repeated concern I hear uh from
residents that would like to have a say
in the decisions made regarding any
approvals of that project. Uh on Monday,
August 3rd, I attended the Heelsburg
City Council and delivered public
comment to invite the Heelsburg City
Council to consider appointing a member
of their council to participate in
regional discussions regarding water
resiliency efforts and conversations
surrounding the proposed Alexander
Valley Water District. Um that was very
successful. Council member David Hegley
proposed the item for a future agenda.
It was unanimously supported and I can
confirm that uh the item will be on
their city council meeting for this
Monday, August 17th. Uh I will be in
attendance for that meeting along with
other regional stakeholders. Uh
Wednesday, August 5th was the LA
co-hering. They are the Sonoma County um
formation commission for uh local um
the local what what is the LAFCO
breakdown? It's a local agency formation
commission. Okay. Um Sonoma County Local
Agency Formation Commission. So, uh,
they held a hearing to appeal the denial
of the proposed Alexander Valley Water
District, which was denied on May 6th,
their proposal. Um, during this appeal,
uh, I did deliver our public comment on
behalf of the city of Cloverdale. Uh,
the LAFCO commission voted to continue
the discussion with the intent that the
commission will do something other than
deny. So that does not if they were to
grant the appeal it would have been 35
days that they would have to uh submit a
modified resolution. So um this allows
uh us and the city of Helsburg to get
our comments hopefully considered in uh
that proposal. Um, so the LAFC code did
form an ad hoc committee with chair
Susan Harvey and commission commissioner
David Rabbit uh to draft a modified
resolution and as information I received
prior to this meeting, they're still
awaiting the next steps from their own
legal counsel regarding how this is
going to proceed. The staff did not
expect the decision that was made that
day. So, uh, we'll be working very hard
at any any pops up. uh we'll have to
jump on it and work together to um
uh respond to to our opportunity there.
Uh on Thursday, August 6, I met with
Karen Gaffne. She's the director of
strategic planning and communication for
the North Coast Regional Partnership. Uh
the North Coast Resource Partnerships
mission is to enhance the watersheds and
communities of the North Coast region
through collaborative multi-objective
planning and project imple
implementation led by tribes and
counties. Um so hopefully this will be
something that we can participate in uh
work find out about some funding
opportunities that might be regional
funding funding opportunities to uh uh
help us fund our water resiliency. And
that was one of the benefits of updating
our list uh is that we can shop it
around to groups like this that can help
us out. Um so they will be adding us to
their email list serve so that we are
notified of upcoming meetings and
funding opportunities. On Thursday,
August 6, uh I attended the Eel Russian
Project Authority board meeting as a
member of the public also with uh Vice
Mayor Lans. uh they gave a presentation
on the new ill Russian facility nerf the
which would be the proposed water
diversion uh there was a modeling
analysis that was presented uh you can
check that out on YouTube now in Sonoma
water uh there's a YouTube video of just
that presentation alone it's about 25
minutes and I would say that my biggest
takeaway from that meeting would be that
we need to work on creating storage
options in case of a potential de uh dam
decommissioning uh especially our
short-term storage options. So, um it
was mentioned that doing that as a
region would be an effective way that we
don't have a bunch of cars moving at
different speeds that we can all work
together on creating storage and I think
everyone at that meeting on the board is
in alignment with that statement. Uh
Monday, August 10th, uh I attended the
Russian River Property Owners
Association steering committee for the
proposed Alexander Valley Water
District. Uh we discussed availability
of members and the upcoming Heelsburg
appointment. [snorts] On Tuesday, August
11th, attended the Cloverdale leadership
committee. Uh we received an update from
CERT uh citizens emergency response team
and I did propose uh the creation of a
subcommittee
uh to work on advocating for all
Cloverdale organizations around funding
needs and staying successful. And that's
uh you know these these funding needs do
shift from time to time. So, how um you
know, maybe our city's funds are spent.
There's a lot of fundraisers in town.
Ace Hardware does uh raise a lot of
money with their roundup. The Grange has
potential funding or even just u
advocating for strengthening uh boards
of directors for some of these
organizations that will ultimately
[snorts] help those groups uh stay
successful. And so I would just say
upcoming events to
keep on your radar is the Heelsburg City
Council meeting on Monday.
Thank you.
On July 23rd, I attended a Agon Open
Space meeting. It was at Steamer Landing
and um the Pedaluma River Park and
Friends of the Pedaluma River lectured
us about long their long-term vision for
the peninsula. Eventually, they're going
to have um add more things to it,
including barbecues. And they um told us
about their free use of kayaks, canoes,
and paddle boards, which are available
for anyone at the Red Barn at Steamer
Park Landing on Sundays. So, that was
exciting. Um I also attended the
wonderful hike that um council member Marquez and Hector
Galvin put together along with a open
space. And what I really liked about
that hike was they did different things
so that we could introduce ourselves to
different people and um everybody got to
know each other and nobody was on their
phone the entire time and everybody
really enjoyed the hike and I found it
really worthwhile. And um I also
attended the discussion about Esmeralda,
the event that took place at the
veterans hall and I thought it was
really valuable to listen to different
um people in our community, their um
concerns about Esmeralda.
And I also attended the um Chief
Parker's uh surprise party which was
really a fun event and a big surprise
for him.
on uh good evening council. On August 6,
I [clears throat] attended my regularly
scheduled Sonoma Clean Power meeting
with the board of directors. And if
anybody's still looking for
uh transitioning to complete
electricity, get rid of your gas, they
uh swim power does have a rebate
program. So if you're interested in
that, look up the uh Swimclean Power
website.
On August 10th, I attended
[clears throat] the Sonoma County uh
transit authority board meeting. Um that
meeting was basically uh regional updates on their continual
projects. Uh nothing too much to report
out on that. Uh [clears throat]
tomorrow I will uh on behalf of myself
and my employer,
we will be donating 36 backpacks to the
Cloverdale Unified School District to uh
and we'll present those to uh the
Superintendent Glenn Cisnero.
» Uh besides the ones that have already
been mentioned that I attended, I
attended the Geyserville planning
committee. It was a discussion about
Smart Train uh putting in a station in
Geyserville and to see if there was
community support.
I had a meeting with Sonoma Water to
discuss different regional concerns and
ways that we can work together. That was
another good meeting. Uh let's see here.
I met with Menino County and Lake County
supervisors uh to get to discuss the
Potter Valley project and different
concerns that they have and ways for us
to be working together more to make sure
that we have a a sustainable water
supply for our domestic water here. And
then we also had a meeting with the
Citrus Fair Board in regards to
Alexander Valley Healthcare and
Cloverdale and the school district with
their building of Alexander Valley
Healthcare. There's a corner that meets
with all of our underground
infrastructure and we needed to
negotiate a few items and so we had that
meeting uh what three days ago. So
that's all that had that was different
from everything else that's been
mentioned.
>> All righty. Thank you. Um I've had uh
had about an hour and a half meeting
with proposed C or uh candidate for
supervisor uh Tom Schwendelm. Great
meeting. had uh some good discussions on the needs of Cloverdale with him. Did
uh attended the school ribbon cutting
for the new school on the north end of
town and the T through uh K uh new
buildings that were in there. Um had
numerous constituent meetings and with
conversations on everything from them
voicing their opinion on Esmeralda to
the upcoming elections to you name it.
uh those those have been very numerous
and and very uh very informative and
also attended Chief Parker's uh
retirement surprise party which turned
out very well and uh and had the the new
chief there and uh there was a lot of
support. It was sad to see him go, but
we also have a great uh new chief here.
So uh Cloverdale Police Department's
rolling right along like they should.
There's been a lot of talk of the PA RAS
tonight and I we we fully acknowledge
that we are behind. Mike, how many do we
have?
» We've reached the 100 count already for
this year. We have approximately 47 open
Pas. Many of the PAS are multi-pronged.
So, if I had to be honest with you,
200 PAS maybe. Yeah,
>> realistically from a search parameter,
but yes, 47 identified numbered PAs are
open right now.
>> So, we are we do take it seriously. I
understand people are are frustrated and
we're we've come up with a plan. It's a
little drastic, but this is what we're
going to try to do is actually close
city hall for not extended periods of
time, but maybe one day or certain hours
of the day. This will allow Mike to get
some help from the front desk staff who
he's training to work on PAS.
Secondarily, we're working on
potentially getting a U temp. We've
already contacted the temp um agency. I
forget the name of it. It's in town
here. Um so, we are that's our plan
right now. As Mike's been talking about
this and I agree with him, we are
hemorrhaging. We're trying to get it
under control and we're going to start
with those two steps.
So,
please be patient. I understand we Mike
is a oneperson department and there's a
lot of the election just everything. So,
that that's our plan. So, hopefully
things will start getting out the door.
Um, so just want to bring that up. We
mentioned we had nine qualified
candidates that we received from the
extended nomination period. So, that's
great. nine nine folks newsletter will
go out tomorrow. Um we did conduct um
police department
uh potential trainee interviews today. I
didn't hear the results but I know
chiefs uh keep going to interview the
top candidates. That person will be
sponsored to go through the academy
through the city and then ultimately
onto our PD mayors and councils dinner
is tomorrow night in Ronard Park. And
just really lastly, big shout out to
public works team who refurbished our
deis. You can see it looks great. Um the
symbol and all of it. So we did that
inhouse and really really happy with the
outcome. Thank you.
» On future agenda items.
>> Have uh two requests. Thank you, mayor.
Um the first one would be to agendaize
um and I say maybe timely manner when
we're ready uh for a discussion of a
potential LAFCO comment regarding the
conditions in the modified proclamation
for the proposed Alexander Valley Water
District. So um
timeline and their process has not even
been set yet. So uh I think when when
it's ready, you know, I can notify uh
city manager and um hopefully get that
on the agenda. And I would I would like
to uh review any comment with my fellow
council members.
» I would totally be on board with that.
The one thing I do want to make sure um
I've had some comments from some
different former county councils that
says that this isn't legal for us to be
uh being part of the conversation and
part of the decision-making process. And
so I want to make sure that our
attorneys can look into that and make
sure that we are doing it legally so we
don't have litigation come upon us.
>> Absolutely. And uh um yeah, I've been in
touch with uh you know, Vern and um also
the property owners attorneys and we
could actually have all three of our
attorneys meet and really align on that.
I I would support that.
>> Definitely. Definitely agree with it. I
just want to make sure that we're doing
the right thing.
>> Absolutely.
>> Just for the record, can you reiterate?
Hey, I think I heard consensus to bring
back
whenever we know a proposed comment
letter on the new LAFCO uh conditions of
approval for the formation of the
Alexander Valley Wine.
>> What we already did, but
>> yeah. Yeah, it's basically what we did.
We're just uh when the date that just to keep that um option that we have
it on the option to put it on the
agenda. Appreciate the support on that.
Um, second item would be to request for
our city attorney to conduct a legal
analysis regarding potential voter
consideration of legislative approvals
associated with the proposed Esmeralda
development project, including
procedural requirements,
election timeline, and costs.
» Is this to just to clarify to put the
city to put something on the ballot?
>> Um, potentially. It's really the um the
uh to conduct a legal analysis to um
find out you know I think uh you know
what is the council's affirmative
authority under California elections
code 9222
and um how does the development
agreement align with the government code
658
67.5.
Yeah, I I mean I could I could just send
the council. I mean that's a pretty
simple answer. It will not take long to
do that. I mean the council can decide
to put things on the ballot. Um if it
wants you have to complete environmental
review before you you do that. Um it's
too late to put anything on the November
uh 2026 ballot, but we can put all the
information in the email for the council
and I can
>> Yeah, that that was
>> drafted in a way that's not um attorney
client privilege because I know there's public interest take very
>> Excuse me. Sorry. Sorry for
interrupting. Um
>> yeah, I do understand that we would be
definitely out of time for the November
election. So, um, an election timeline
and cost if there were to be a special,
uh, election conducted and, um, you
know, I guess with government code
65867.5,
um,
that could be something that there's a,
um,
just if if if if that would be something
I would like to discuss uh, publicly,
you know, if we could agendaize that,
that's the request. Um, I think if we
all receive information, uh, I don't
understand how we we, you know, for
Brown Act, uh, rules that we would not
be able to deliberate.
» You certainly wouldn't be able to
deliberate. I I thought this is
justformational that you might share
with your constituents. Um, the council
can't make a decision to put something
on the ballot until environmental review
is done. So, um, you know, until SQA is
completed. So, Um, as the council knows,
the applicants in the process of
requesting that city council approve an
addendum. So, the council could approve
that addendum and put the matter on the
ballot. If the council doesn't want to
approve the addendum and then decides we
need to do a full EIR, you'd have to
wait for the full EIR to be done and
approved before you could put it on the
>> um if we do receive information from
uh yourself, city attorney, uh is that
information that we'd be able to share
or publicly
>> if it's all right with the council? I
mean, this is just citations to law.
It's nothing analysis. I think we can
prepare it in a way that is not attorney
client privileged
» because yeah that would be um you know
my my ask here would really to be put it put put it on the agenda as a
presentation um you know which proposed
Esmeralda's which proposed uh Esmeralda
approvals may constitute ordinances
um also you know would individual
approvals need to be submitted
separately or could they appropriately
be presented as a single ballot
proposition. It's a just get get a
little bit in the weeds there, but um
that would be the ask if we can
agendaize a presentation of that uh
legal analysis.
» And I'm asking my fellow council
members. Yes.
» Okay. Thank you.
So the the direction was to prepare a
presentation that will uh summarize
essentially the the council's options
for placing uh the Esmeralda project on
the ballot. Uh what the procedures are,
what what elements of the approval and
then what the costs associated with that
would be.
>> Yes.
>> For sake of lawsuit, can we say any
project? Not the Esmeralda project. any
development that comes into town because
I would hate to be sued because we're
focusing on one and trying to
>> it's up to um the council. I mean it's pretty generic language this
particular project because they're
seeking the development agreement things
like that. It's not quite the same as
someone who's just seeking a cup where
we really, you know,
>> and that that would yeah, that'd be the
request. I if you know the legal
analysis can be done that, you know, we
can do this as a specific project. I
think that's my understanding we can.
>> Yeah.
So that
>> Okay.
» You got everything, Mike? Mike,
» you got any future agenda?
I don't either.
>> All righty. We're going to call the
meeting adjournment at 9:26