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

[14:05] All
[14:09] right, we'll call this meeting to order. Good evening. Thank you for joining us. Not call the regular City Council
[14:17] meeting February 3rd, 2026 to order. The next item on the agenda is the Pledge of Allegiance. So if you can join me with that.
[14:27] What do we do to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation unto God in the visible with liberty and justice for all?
[14:42] Okay moving down to item two of the agenda we have our land acknowledgement.
[14:47] Before we begin we would like to acknowledge the alony people who are the traditional custodians of this land.
[14:53] We pay our respects to the Eloni Elders, past, present, and future who call this place Eloni Land.
[15:00] The land that panels sits upon their home. We are proud to continue their tradition of coming together and growing as a community. We thank the alony community for their stewardship and support. And we look forward to strengthening our ties as we continue our relationship of mutual respect and understanding.
[15:18] Thank you everyone. We are now on the item three of the agenda roll call and the city clerk's report. Madam city clerk, if you will.
[15:24] Good evening, Mayor TAVE.
[15:27] Mayor Pro Tem Murphy.
[15:29] Councilmember Sessai.
[15:31] Councilmember Martinez Ruben.
[15:33] Councilmember Tom.
[15:35] Acting City Manager Chief Cluhoon.
[15:37] City Attorney Cacher.
[15:39] Mayor the agenda was posted on Thursday, January 29th,
[15:43] at 340 PM with all legally required notices.
[15:46] Written comments were received in advance of the meeting.
[15:49] They have been distributed to Council posted on the website
[15:52] in our available for the public to view in the back of the chambers. Does the council have any
[15:56] conflicts to report on our agenda items tonight? Seeing none, that concludes my report.
[16:01] Thank you.
[16:09] Sorry. Next on the agenda is close session. Do we have public comment for any items
[16:15] close session? Just one second.
[16:20] No. Mayor, there are no public comments. Okay. We will be
[16:24] The meeting in close session talked about item A conference with real property negotiators,
[16:30] government code 54956.8, that's the property assessor's parcel for 1123016.
[16:42] Negotiators are a community development director, Lily Whalen, and city attorney Eric
[16:49] We'll also be convening is that item B, conference with labor negotiators, agency, designator
[16:58] representative, city attorney, Eric Kassher, and Human Resources Director, Stacey Shell.
[17:03] And then item C, conference with legal counsel, anticipated litigation, government code 54956.9,
[17:10] initiation of litigation.
[17:12] Okay, so we'll be resuming the meeting at approximately 6 p.m.
[17:16] and welcome me in the closed session. Thank you.
[1:18:33] So we'll go ahead and reconvene back to open session. So on items A and B, there was no reportable action. However, on item C, direction was given to initiate litigation has been given to council. So that direction has been given to initiate legal action.
[1:18:59] The name of the defendants and other particulars will be disclosed to anyone who inquires
[1:19:05] once the action is formally commenced so that takes us through our closed session items.
[1:19:13] So moving on to, oh, I'm sorry, then I have to reconvene open session or is that, I don't
[1:19:18] okay, got it.
[1:19:20] Okay, so we'll move on to item six citizens to be heard.
[1:19:24] Citizens may speak under any item not listed on the agenda, time limit is three minutes, and the subject to modification by the mayor.
[1:19:34] We've got to read that whole thing.
[1:19:37] City Clerk, read the whole thing.
[1:19:39] Individuals may not share or offer time to another speaker pursuant to provisions of the Brown Act.
[1:19:44] No action may be taken on matters unless it is listed on the agenda or unless certain emergency or special circumstances exist.
[1:19:51] The City Council made direct staff to investigate and or schedule certain matters for consideration at a future council meeting.
[1:19:59] Please see, please see the cover sheet of the agenda for instructions on how to submit public comment.
[1:20:05] Okay, so we'll take public comment for our citizens to be here.
[1:20:10] Ann Moriarty.
[1:20:16] I'm sorry.
[1:20:16] And Jody Ingles.
[1:20:27] Can we see it?
[1:20:28] There we go.
[1:20:29] All right.
[1:20:29] So, the Penal Polynator Pathway is a collaboration between friends of Penal Creek Watershed,
[1:20:38] who I represent, and the Penal Garden Club, who Jody represents, and the City of Penal,
[1:20:45] via community services.
[1:20:48] We are linking together a pathway of gardens in Penal that are planted with majority,
[1:20:54] California natives and that commit to being pesticide-free. These gardens, both public and private,
[1:21:02] welcome pollinators such as birds, butterflies, bumblebees, and other native bees and other insects.
[1:21:09] Public gardens that already exist include the garden in Bayfront Park at the base of the Bay
[1:21:16] Trail Pedestrian Bridge, our model garden in Fernandez Park, which we will introduce you to,
[1:21:23] The Penal Library Native Garden, the Blue Star Garden at I-80, and the Palinator Garden in the Upper Watershed.
[1:21:33] So this Saturday morning at 10 a.m., we will celebrate the installation of the Native Palinator Garden Plot in Fernandez Park.
[1:21:41] This is a public garden that is sponsored by the City of Penal and is being planted with
[1:21:50] Keystone Species and with native plants. This will be right by the children's place
[1:21:57] structure and there will be a seedling giveaway, a raffle for larger California natives and
[1:22:03] an introduction to how citizens can participate. You will be encouraged to sign up to discuss
[1:22:10] how your garden can become pollinator-friendly.
[1:22:13] And the medallions that we have like this,
[1:22:17] we have them in this size and also in six-inch size.
[1:22:23] And we'll be offering those for sale
[1:22:26] to those gardens that can participate.
[1:22:29] 8.
[1:22:30] So, we welcome you and we're really glad to be sharing this with you and hopefully we'll be seeing you on Saturday morning. Thanks.
[1:22:41] Great. Thank you for public comment. City Clerk, do we have any other public comment?
[1:22:46] No, we're citizens to be here.
[1:22:48] There are no more public comments.
[1:22:50] Okay. Okay. The next item on the agenda is reports and communications. First we have the Mayor's report.
[1:22:56] So, I have no announcements, so we'll move on to Mayor and Council appointments,
[1:23:06] doesn't look like we have any of those in the city council committee reports and communications. So we'll start to my left.
[1:23:14] Council member, Tom.
[1:23:16] Sure, thank you.
[1:23:17] I have a number of events that I attended and one was two weeks ago I attended the East Bay
[1:23:26] Leadership Council wastewater testing webinar and that's where East Bay leadership kicked off
[1:23:34] the 2026 with a special joint task force meeting co-hosted by the health and water energy and
[1:23:41] environment, task forces, the group welcomed Stephanie Birch with the California Department
[1:23:49] of Public Health to share how the state uses wastewater surveillance to track disease outbreaks
[1:23:56] and guide public health decisions. I did ask because we had a member of the public that
[1:24:02] asked how component doesn't participate. And at this point, they feel like they have a good
[1:24:07] sampling throughout Contra Costa County of participants, they have three wastewater facilities
[1:24:13] that participate in the program and they don't know where funding is coming from but if
[1:24:19] or they don't know if they'll have enough funding to continue let alone expand but in the event
[1:24:27] I told them that you know we would be happy to talk to them about participating if the opportunity
[1:24:34] came up. The next thing I attended the road maintenance town hall and I want to thank our mayor
[1:24:42] and staff for doing a great job in presenting the issues and then on the East Bay wildfire
[1:24:52] government coalition we have not met we don't have a meeting set and that's mainly because
[1:24:58] the meeting place is undergoing renovation and that's El Serito City Hall. However, we did
[1:25:05] get notification that a report called spur report on Bay Area Fire Mitigation Strategies
[1:25:14] has been posted. It was posted a couple of weeks ago on the website and the report identifies
[1:25:24] how communities can come together to both prepare for wildfire and also recover.
[1:25:34] And they did use our government coalition as a good example, and also the Marine example,
[1:25:42] as a good example.
[1:25:45] They discuss statewide issues, including the LA fires.
[1:25:49] So I also attended the Policy Committee for Housing, there was a presentation from the City of Humboldt and I think it was Arcadia if those two were adjacent to each other on their seventh cycle housing element and their rena numbers are much higher than they were in the sixth cycle.
[1:26:17] so the numbers keep going up and up and up and there's some new legislation that will make it
[1:26:22] challenging but we'll be able to see how the North northern part of California is working on
[1:26:29] their seventh cycle so that our staff can prepare for when it's our turn and that's the end of my
[1:26:35] report. Thank you Councillor Member Tombs. Councillor Member Sassai. Thank you Mayor. I'll start with
[1:26:43] Committee items, currently served on the West Country
[1:26:46] Cossets Transportation Commission, where
[1:26:49] it had the honor of serving as chair.
[1:26:51] At our last meeting, I nominated Vice Chair, Rebecca Saltsman,
[1:26:54] who's a council member from El Serito, as chair.
[1:26:57] And Cisters Epita, who is a council member
[1:26:58] from Richmond, as a Vice Chair, and the motion passing
[1:27:00] unanimously.
[1:27:02] So wishing that the best of luck in this next year,
[1:27:04] they're both really excellent knowledgeable leaders
[1:27:06] in transportation.
[1:27:08] Also on the agenda, we re-pointed Chris Kelly
[1:27:10] of the Hercules City Council to serve
[1:27:12] Another term on the counter-costage transit authority board, and we'll be voting in our next
[1:27:17] meeting to prove some by-law changes for WICTAC that allow for two alternate seats.
[1:27:25] Currently we have two delegates from WICTAC to CCTA, and we discuss it and makes a lot
[1:27:30] of sense to have two alternate ones for each delegate spot.
[1:27:34] So with that, we'll also be appointing an extra alternate to CCTA in our next meeting.
[1:27:41] Lastly, we are a commission receiving overview of the Hercules Hub project, and for those
[1:27:46] who don't know that is a regional transit development on the waterfront of Hercules by
[1:27:52] all the new housing that's built there. It will provide a train station for a terminal,
[1:27:57] a pedestrian pathways and bus service residents who live around the area, and that includes
[1:28:01] all of us in Penal as well. So the bottom line is that it's a pretty huge project, but Hercules
[1:28:06] has been able to secure some funding for it, but it's going to take quite a while some years
[1:28:11] to complete each phase of that project. So, as someone who takes capital quarter to work,
[1:28:16] I can't wait to have another Amtrax station that's closer to Dippinol. So, looking forward to seeing
[1:28:21] progress on that. Other than that committee, I wanted to announce that I've been recently appointed
[1:28:27] to the Cal City's Policy Committee on Environmental Quality. So, really excited to learn
[1:28:32] about the state legislation and that affects that issue area.
[1:28:36] But also to ensure the great initiatives
[1:28:37] that we've been championing here in Penole
[1:28:38] with the rest of our colleagues and the policy committee,
[1:28:42] including our gas station ban and all the things
[1:28:45] that we've been doing here, and ensuring
[1:28:47] that would other leaders across California who are in that committee.
[1:28:52] I attended the Contracost Immigrant Rights Alliance
[1:28:55] convening here in our county last week.
[1:28:57] It was in Concord.
[1:28:58] It was great to see all the good folks who were part of that
[1:29:00] work in our county to protect immigrant families.
[1:29:03] There are some folks from stand together to contrast the, a lot of us know Ali Saidi, who
[1:29:07] is a resident of Penal, but also works at the contrasts of public defenders office and helps
[1:29:11] lead that initiative.
[1:29:13] So, Nibus Tmante, who I think we all kind of work with, who previously serve as Chief of
[1:29:18] Staff to Supervisor Joya and now leads to safe center.
[1:29:22] So, really great developments there.
[1:29:23] I think one really significant update that was mentioned in that convening was a fact that
[1:29:28] There's going to be a closure of the immigration courts in San Francisco, so we're going to see a lot of influx of people who go to the nearest immigration court, which is encountered here in contrast to county. So a lot of great things that we discussed there, and I think this is a really big shift that we should all be aware of.
[1:29:45] With that being said, I wanted to thank City Attorney Casher, Chief Clivoon, and the entire
[1:29:49] council for supporting Rice Free's own policy, or in its back in December, since then
[1:29:55] I've been made aware that several cities in California have actually used the language.
[1:30:00] We developed here and proposed our own similar ordinance that includes a city of Culver City in southern California, city of Delano, and a lot of interest from cities in Santa Clara County, on that same exact ordinance. So it was really important that we were, I think not only the first to adopt a kind of ordinance and a municipality, but the fact that it actually goes above and beyond what other jurisdictions have done. So a lot of jurisdictions that I've seen have implemented a ice-free zone policy that prohibits staging,
[1:30:31] operating on on vacant properties, but I think ours goes a lot further in the fact that we
[1:30:36] really restrict immigration enforcement on all public property unless there is a court order
[1:30:42] or judicial warrant. Lastly, I want to thank Chief for help on this issue, but over time we've
[1:30:49] gotten some complaints about, excuse me, the traffic signals on Penal Value Road in I-80.
[1:30:58] If you're
[1:30:59] The Kaiser Clinic is Starbucks on Penal Value Road right before the overpass there, but the traffic signals there.
[1:31:10] A lot of folks have noticed that there is quite a, it's not a lot of delay between when when one signal turns red and other turns green.
[1:31:18] And the result of that is a lot of close misses.
[1:31:23] So, I got into some folks who are reaching out and saying, you know, once that Travis
[1:31:27] will turn his green, some folks who are trying to beat their bed light.
[1:31:31] So some folks have been almost been tea-bone at that intersection and happened to, if I
[1:31:35] remember, very recently.
[1:31:37] And so, thank you for checking on them that, so confirm that college trans actually operates
[1:31:42] those traffic signals.
[1:31:43] But also, the county has a real big part in that as well.
[1:31:45] So, once we able to get word back in the county, we can hopefully send notice to college
[1:31:49] make sure we actually adjust the timing for those lights.
[1:31:53] So that's my report. Thanks, Mayor.
[1:31:55] Thank you. Council member, Susiah, beer pro tip Murphy.
[1:31:59] Yes, good evening everybody and happy Black History Month.
[1:32:02] This year marks 100 years of Black History Month observance.
[1:32:05] I'm excited about our proclamation today.
[1:32:07] But I do want us all to take a moment of reflection.
[1:32:10] It's important to remember that Black History Month is not just something
[1:32:14] to think about of the future, but also to consider how might we
[1:32:17] develop a brighter future, excuse me, a brighter current state. Of course, as we reflect,
[1:32:24] it's also important to remember that on this day, February 3, 1870, black man for the first
[1:32:29] time were granted the right to vote through the ratification of the 15th Amendment. So you are
[1:32:34] truly a part of history today, and it is a great moment to reflect. The history in the present
[1:32:39] state of our country reminds us that systemic barriers did not end there, 156 years later, the fight
[1:32:46] for voting rights continues. Black History Month is both a celebration of resilience and achievement
[1:32:51] and a call to remain vigilant in protecting civil rights and democratic participation for all.
[1:32:57] I want to remind folks that the library is anticipated to close and will be closing on March 1st
[1:33:03] to accommodate important construction improvements. They are already starting closing out and they will,
[1:33:10] of course, you are more than welcome to go to other libraries outside of Penol.
[1:33:15] But they will continue to provide updates and of course I will continue to share updates to ensure our residents can plan accordingly and stay informed about alternative library services during this period so
[1:33:27] That'll be in my next report. I also wanted to thank City staff and Mayor TAVE for the town hall wasn't able to attend but it's seen we got a great report back from our interim city manager.
[1:33:38] The meeting did provide residents with an important opportunity to share direct feedback about local
[1:33:43] road conditions, safety concerns, and of course our infrastructure priorities.
[1:33:47] Again, thank you to our community partners and how much participation we had.
[1:33:52] It was really strong, and our public input remains really a critical part of how we shape responsive and equitable
[1:33:58] transportation improvements.
[1:34:00] And I heard that we had a great host and Mayor Tave as well.
[1:34:02] So thank you again for doing that in for your leadership on the road's town hall.
[1:34:06] I think it was a great opportunity.
[1:34:10] I additionally have received emails from residents
[1:34:13] about some of our sidewalk vendors,
[1:34:15] and there has been greater interest about whether or not
[1:34:19] it is legal to have sidewalk vendors.
[1:34:21] The truth is that it is, but I did want to encourage residents
[1:34:25] to reach out to the city's community development department
[1:34:27] and walk-in city hall.
[1:34:29] The department has developed and distributed
[1:34:30] informational resources for sidewalk vendors.
[1:34:33] The materials help clarify permitting requirements,
[1:34:36] operational guidelines and available resources supporting compliance while promoting small business
[1:34:42] success and economic inclusion. So just wanted to encourage residents to if you have any questions
[1:34:47] reach out to our community development staff or come walk into City Hall. Again, they provide
[1:34:53] some amazing resources and actually from this question that I received from a few residents. I was
[1:34:58] largely more informed about our current procedures and permitting. So I just wanted to note that
[1:35:05] In terms of local community schools,
[1:35:09] wanted to give just a brief update about our West Country
[1:35:12] Costa Unified School District Systems Change Collaborative
[1:35:15] on January 29th community partners, educators,
[1:35:18] and local leaders, both city staff and elected leaders
[1:35:22] from West County came together for a joint meeting
[1:35:24] of the West Country Costa Unified School District Community
[1:35:27] Schools Support Collaborative and the West Country
[1:35:30] Costa Systems Change Collaborative.
[1:35:32] The meeting focused on strengthening partnerships and elevating youth leadership, including
[1:35:37] learning from the city of Richmond's collaboration with West County schools through the
[1:35:41] wide plan. Participants affirm that that community schools are central to supporting the
[1:35:47] whole child in serving as hubs of connection for families and neighborhoods. The discussion highlighted
[1:35:52] strong alignment across city district and county efforts with youth voice identified as a key
[1:35:59] a positive change.
[1:36:01] Insights from this meeting will continue to help us guide on next steps and inform future updates
[1:36:05] to the West Contra Costa Board of Trustees as partners continue working together to better
[1:36:10] serve our students and of course our broader community.
[1:36:13] If folks are interested, the first meeting of the first meeting of March, there will be
[1:36:18] a larger report back at the West Contra Costa Unified Board of Trustees meeting.
[1:36:22] If you are interested in learning a little bit more outside of my communication reports on
[1:36:26] the system's change collaborative has done over the past year.
[1:36:30] Last but not least, I just wanted to note that as a member, as the city of Pano as a member
[1:36:37] of the National League of Cities, I'm proud to be appointed to serve on the Finance Administration
[1:36:42] and Intergovernmental Relations Committee of the National League of Cities for 2026.
[1:36:48] This committee plays a critical role in protecting how cities fund essential services and infrastructure,
[1:36:53] and I'm proud to be appointed by the president of the National League of Cities.
[1:36:57] So serving on this committee places penol on the front line of National Advocacy to safeguard
[1:37:01] federal funding, streams, and preserve key tool cities rely on.
[1:37:06] Most importantly, tax exempt municipal bonds, which I've spoken about on this dias before.
[1:37:11] These bonds help keep the cost of building and maintaining roads, public safety facilities,
[1:37:16] and infrastructure affordable for all of our residents and federal proposals that weaken and
[1:37:21] eliminate tax exempt municipal bonds would directly increase borrow and cost for cities like ours
[1:37:27] shifting greater financial burdens on to local.
[1:37:30] So, through this appointment, Penol has a direct voice in these national discussions, and this allows us to advocate for policies that protect local investment, fiscal stability, and of course, long-term community needs.
[1:37:43] This role also ensures that decisions made in Washington, D.C., consider the real world impact on communities like Penol.
[1:37:49] And, of course, we are really committed to securing resources for our safe streets, reliable infrastructure and essential public services.
[1:37:56] So, very honored to represent Pinot on this way and looking forward to bringing all of the issues around roads and for structure and community safety back to the National League of Cities.
[1:38:07] And that concludes my report, Mayor. Thank you.
[1:38:10] Thank you, Mayor.
[1:38:10] Thank you, Mayor.
[1:38:10] Pro Tem Murphy, Council Member Martinez Rubin.
[1:38:14] No, very important.
[1:38:15] Okay.
[1:38:17] So, we'll be moving on to item D. Council requests for future agenda items.
[1:38:22] Okay, looks like we have a few Council Member Tombs.
[1:38:25] Council members, thanks Mayor.
[1:38:30] I've been speaking with city attorney casher about this issue since last year and I know we had
[1:38:36] representative from the Northern California Carpenter's Union come here to a council meeting
[1:38:41] on an issue of wage theft and some violations there if you're in our city.
[1:38:47] So I wanted to move that city council direct staff to add to a future agenda, a new business item
[1:38:52] to provide an overview of a wage theft ordinance and discuss
[1:38:55] options, simple amount, such an ordinance here for a
[1:38:58] panel. And just a quick comment on the motion as well for
[1:39:03] those who don't know what that ordinance means, it would
[1:39:05] basically empower our city to enforce labor standards by
[1:39:09] withholding building permits or certificates of
[1:39:11] occupancy from contractors with unresolved wage
[1:39:14] debt judgments. Okay, second that mayor. All right, we have a
[1:39:19] Can't say the clerk?
[1:39:23] Just a question.
[1:39:25] Okay, Councilmember Tom's go ahead.
[1:39:28] Yeah, do we need an ordinance or is there a state law that we can just rely on and not spend money on an ordinance?
[1:39:37] Through the chair if I may.
[1:39:39] There are some state laws, but this would be somewhat unique because this would be the city with holding or refusing to issue a building permit.
[1:39:47] a certificate of occupancy or final close out of a project a local project based on prevailing
[1:39:53] wage violations or certain, you know, if the contractor on a project, for example, didn't comply
[1:39:58] with certain labor laws. This would be a local enforcement. So I'm not aware of anything that
[1:40:02] exists at the state level. We'll certainly look into that if we are directed to come back with a
[1:40:07] presentation and if there's something that we can rely on, we'll obviously do that. Some cities have
[1:40:12] adopted ordinances though for that reason.
[1:40:14] Thank you.
[1:40:17] City Clerk.
[1:40:18] Mayor TAVE.
[1:40:20] Aye.
[1:40:20] Mayor Pro Tem Murphy.
[1:40:22] Council Member Sessai.
[1:40:24] Yes.
[1:40:24] Council Member Martinez Ruben.
[1:40:26] Yes.
[1:40:26] Council Member Tom.
[1:40:27] Yes.
[1:40:27] Motion carries.
[1:40:28] Thank you.
[1:40:29] Okay.
[1:40:31] Council Member Sessai.
[1:40:32] Are there any other items?
[1:40:35] Mayor Pro Tem Murphy.
[1:40:36] Yes.
[1:40:37] Mayor.
[1:40:37] Thank you so much.
[1:40:38] As you probably know, fire chief Louis Prashard has announced his retirement from the
[1:40:42] Contra Costa County Fire Protection District after more than 18 years of service.
[1:40:47] I know that we worked very well with him to open fire station reopen fire station 74.
[1:40:54] So, of course, this announcement marks the conclusion of a very distinguished career.
[1:40:58] I was hoping that we can present a proclamation to him recognizing and honoring his retirement.
[1:41:06] Okay, I'll second that.
[1:41:07] Okay. Motion by Mayor Protem, second by Tom's.
[1:41:13] City Clerk.
[1:41:14] Mayor TAVE.
[1:41:16] Mayor Protem Murphy.
[1:41:17] Council Member Sessai.
[1:41:19] Yes. Council Member Martinez Rubin. Yes. Council Member Tom.
[1:41:22] Yes. Motion carries. Thank you.
[1:41:23] Wonderful. Okay.
[1:41:24] And my last item for future agenda is to, as folks know, we've received a great, we've had a great partnership with MCE over the last couple of years and we also have funding that we receive from them.
[1:41:37] as well. So I am working with the MCE staff and our staff, but I would like to bring this
[1:41:41] to Council to receive a presentation from MCE and provide direction as appropriate.
[1:41:48] I'll second.
[1:41:50] Okay.
[1:41:51] So do you clerk?
[1:41:56] Through the chair, it sounds like we have an item already scheduled for June for MCE to come.
[1:42:02] This is the same item. I just want to get sure on the diet. I was actually supposed to mention
[1:42:06] this last council meeting, so just for formality, I think it's probably just appropriate
[1:42:10] that we that we have this. Sure. There was a second. There was a council
[1:42:15] months. Okay. Mayor TAVE. Aye. Mayor Protein Murphy. Aye. Council
[1:42:20] members the size. Yes. Council member Martinez Ruben. Yes. Council member Tom. Yes.
[1:42:24] Motion carry. Thank you. Okay. No agenda items. Great. Okay. So we'll move on to item E
[1:42:32] city manager report. Jepal. Thank you. I have just a couple items to report.
[1:42:39] First of all, Bob Hall and Associates has been selected by the city to conduct the nationwide
[1:42:48] executive search for Pinnon's next city manager.
[1:42:51] So we're moving forward with that contract now.
[1:42:55] Secondly, a consultant named Probolski Research has been selected to pull for public sentiment
[1:43:02] around ballot measures and community priorities, and we're anticipating not moving forward
[1:43:07] in the next several weeks.
[1:43:10] The public work department has been very busy submitting applications for grants and funding opportunities.
[1:43:16] A request was submitted for the TDA3 Funding request for traffic control improvements on
[1:43:22] San Pablo Avenue that Council saw on January 20th.
[1:43:27] An application to the Office of Traffic Safety OTS was submitted for traffic data analytics
[1:43:33] and community outreach and engagement.
[1:43:36] And lastly, Public Works recently submitted a grant application to the Federal Railroad Administration's Federal State Partnership for Intercity passenger rail program to assist with the right away and construction of the tenant avenue at grade railroad crossing improvements project.
[1:43:56] So they're working very hard on these grants and funding opportunities.
[1:44:00] And then lastly, the Penal Police Department was invited to the Special Olympics Luncheon on February 12th in Pleasant Hill.
[1:44:08] And this invitation came about as from Penal being one of the top revenue collectors for the special Olympics,
[1:44:15] from the Bikes to Bridges events and the Torture on Event.
[1:44:18] So, officers, Lewis and Officer Witchy will be representing the Department at that luncheon.
[1:44:24] Thank you.
[1:44:25] Awesome.
[1:44:26] Thank you, City Manager.
[1:44:29] We'll move on to item F city attorney report, attorney casher.
[1:44:34] Thank you, Mayor.
[1:44:35] Nothing to report.
[1:44:38] So that takes us to item number eight.
[1:44:43] Presentations, community events.
[1:44:44] We have proclamations as item A.
[1:44:47] So first up is our proclamation for Black History Month.
[1:44:51] So we'll go ahead and read the proclamation.
[1:44:56] Like it should be my February 2026.
[1:45:00] Whereas Black History Month, also known as African American History Month, is an annual celebration and recognition of achievements by Black Americans, and a time for acknowledging their important role in U.S. history.
[1:45:13] And whereas Carter Goodwin will send a Black historian, recognized the accomplishments of Black American citizens and a February 7th, on February 7th, 1926, created one of the cultural landmarks
[1:45:29] of contemporary America. Negro history, Negro history week, and whereas the second week of
[1:45:35] February was chosen for the event because it coincided with the birthday of Abraham Lincoln
[1:45:42] and on February 12th and Frederick Douglass on February 14th. In the 1960s during the height
[1:45:48] of the civil rights movement, Negro history week was changed the black history week and
[1:45:54] Whereas as part of the national bicentennial celebration, President Gerald Ford officially recognized,
[1:46:00] Black History Month in 1976, calling upon the public to seize the opportunity to honor the two
[1:46:07] often neglected accomplishments of Black Americans and every area of endeavor throughout our history.
[1:46:14] And whereas the theme of Black History Month for 2026 is a century of Black History commemorations,
[1:46:20] Celebrating a hundred years of organized observances of black history, and whereas in
[1:46:27] new marble black residents of Penal have contributed to the advancement of the city, state, and country
[1:46:33] throughout this city's history, such as the late James Andrew Harris, who was a Penal resident
[1:46:38] and groundbreaking nuclear chemist who helped discover to previously unknown elements while working
[1:46:46] at Lawrence Berkeley National Lab.
[1:46:49] And whereas Black leaders representing Penal have broken many barriers,
[1:46:54] including Dina Bechtin, who is the first black individual to serve as
[1:47:00] Contracostic County District Attorney, a century of black history commemoration,
[1:47:07] celebrating 100 years of organized observances of black history,
[1:47:12] The late federal governor, who was the first black individual to serve on the Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors,
[1:47:21] and Jamila Smith Folds, who is the first black individual to represent district 1 of the West Contra Costa Unified School District Board of Trustees.
[1:47:31] and whereas in the fall of 2003, Michelle Layman's referred, assumed sponsorship of Penal
[1:47:39] Valley High School's African-American Student Union, AASU, an organization where students
[1:47:45] are able to better their knowledge of African-American history, culture, community, and pride.
[1:47:52] And whereas in June 2017, Eric Casher was appointed by the Penal City Council, becoming the
[1:48:00] First Black City Attorney since the City of Penal was founded in 1903 and we're as in
[1:48:07] November 2018, Anthony T. was elected to serve on the Penal City Council becoming the
[1:48:12] first Black Council member since the city's founding and we're as in November 2021, Roxanne
[1:48:17] Stone, who served as a management analyst since 2018, was promoted becoming the first Black
[1:48:24] deputy city clerk of record. And we're as in December 2022,
[1:48:28] Deventy Murphy was appointed by the Pino City Council,
[1:48:31] becoming the first black mayor since the city of Pinole was founded in 1903.
[1:48:35] And we're as the city of Pinole is proud to honor the contributions of black residents
[1:48:39] who have enriched our community to the leadership, service, and cultural contributions.
[1:48:43] Now, therefore, I, Anthony Tafe, mayor of the city of Pinole,
[1:48:47] county of Contra Costa, state of California. On behalf of the city council and the entire city of Pinole,
[1:48:53] do here by proclaim the month of February, 2026 as Black History Month in the city of Panoa
[1:48:58] and encourage all citizens to observe, observe this month with relevant programs and activities.
[1:49:10] All right, and I believe we have the President and Vice President of the African-American
[1:49:14] Student Union at Panoa Valley High to say a few words.
[1:49:32] Good evening, everyone. My name is Sinai McCockeren.
[1:49:35] I am the President of Panoa Valley's African-American Student Union.
[1:49:40] I am my co-member, Gerald Davis, I'm here on behalf of Ms. Lamus, to show our appreciation and
[1:49:47] thank all of you for the proclamation.
[1:49:49] Thank you.
[1:49:51] That's awesome.
[1:49:54] Did you want to speak?
[1:49:55] No.
[1:49:56] Okay.
[1:49:56] All right.
[1:49:57] So we have a picture in the proclamation.
[1:50:49] Yeah, so we'll take it to you any comments from Council members.
[1:50:54] Council members to the side please go ahead.
[1:50:56] Thanks Mayor and it's one of our student leaders for being here.
[1:50:59] Thank you for taking the time and your patience and family as well.
[1:51:04] thank you so much for your time. I just want to quickly acknowledge that there's
[1:51:08] so much profound black history to be celebrating our city. A lot of here listed, but we also
[1:51:15] have nuclear chemist James Harris, who was a resident of Pinole and helped discover elements
[1:51:21] of 104 and 105 on the periodic table. He's also the grandfather of Pinole artist, I am Sue,
[1:51:29] who was out here making waves as well.
[1:51:32] And I also just want to say it's an honor to serve with all those who are mentioned in this
[1:51:36] population as city officials.
[1:51:40] And so I just want to end with an invited a public.
[1:51:44] So I'm going to be there at the Pinal Valley High School, Black History Month, Jubilee
[1:51:48] this month, our educators, students, put in so much work into the program.
[1:51:52] And so I look for you all to join me on Saturday, February 28th, from 1 to 230 PM at the
[1:51:59] school, Ms. Layman's rate of food is usually in charge of the tickets, but if you need
[1:52:03] her a contact info, feel free to email me at ccssai.ca.i.i. at penold.gov for more information
[1:52:10] and hope to see you there.
[1:52:12] Thanks.
[1:52:13] Any other words from council members?
[1:52:19] Okay.
[1:52:19] Okay.
[1:52:20] All right.
[1:52:20] Thank you.
[1:52:21] Everybody for coming out and for the, just being here in the presence, you know, a blackish
[1:52:28] this hundred years
[1:52:30] I think it's something to be celebrated. So everyone's excited and the jublies fantastic. I went last year. I recommended it's full of entertainment from start to finish, just celebrating African and diaspora. And yeah, no, I would say come out if you can. All right. So we'll move on to presentations item B, eight B, the state of artificial intelligence in the city.
[1:53:00] I'm sorry, do we have any public comment?
[1:53:04] I don't know, public comment on that item?
[1:53:06] No. All right. So we'll move on to item 8B,
[1:53:10] presentation, state of Artificial Intelligence in the City of Penal,
[1:53:14] a communications director, Fiona Feeffs.
[1:53:16] If you are, please.
[1:53:27] Hi, good evening, mayor, council members, staff and neighbors.
[1:53:31] My name is Fiona Feeffs, and I am the communications director.
[1:53:34] I'll be presenting the State of Artificial Intelligence
[1:53:37] in the City of Penal.
[1:53:39] And give me one moment while I share my screen.
[1:54:08] OK, Doki.
[1:54:09] Thank you for your patience.
[1:54:11] The State of Artificial Intelligence,
[1:54:13] otherwise known as AI in the City of Penal.
[1:54:18] So today I'm going to be doing a overview
[1:54:21] of the background ethics, policy, communication,
[1:54:24] and the current state and future of AI in the city of Penel.
[1:54:34] So what is AI? Artificial intelligence is a software system,
[1:54:43] capable of performing tasks that typically require human intelligence,
[1:54:47] such as pattern recognition, decision-making or language understanding,
[1:54:52] and it often uses algorithms and neural networks to compute them.
[1:54:57] There's three main types of AI.
[1:55:01] You may have heard of some of these.
[1:55:04] Machine learning, this is a subset of AI
[1:55:07] where systems learn from data sets
[1:55:09] and they predict, you know, they make patterns
[1:55:11] and they predict outcomes and can make decisions.
[1:55:16] A common example that you might know of this is,
[1:55:20] or, you know, in the city,
[1:55:22] we are email system and outlook.
[1:55:24] We use a program that's attached to the email system
[1:55:26] that will detect spam emails, and it quarantines them into a place where we can then review
[1:55:33] them safely.
[1:55:34] So that's an example of a machine learning type of AI.
[1:55:38] Generative AI, this is a very fast trending type of AI.
[1:55:44] It creates new content such as text images, videos, or sounds, common types of generative
[1:55:51] AI are chatGPT and Bing AI.
[1:55:54] And then we have artificial general intelligence or AGI.
[1:55:59] And this is the concept of an AI system that has the capability to perform any task that a human can do.
[1:56:08] So a good example of that would be our self-driving cars or chatbots.
[1:56:17] So basically AI is like a smart computer helper.
[1:56:21] It can help us look at information, learn from it,
[1:56:24] then make predictions or give advice to help people make decisions. AI uses things that
[1:56:31] seize or hears and other data to understand the world create patterns from that information
[1:56:37] and then make suggestions.
[1:56:46] So there are federal and state AI frameworks in place.
[1:56:52] The US and California are actively developing policies for safe and responsible AI use
[1:56:58] and along with many other states across the country.
[1:57:04] Governor Newsom's September 2023 order focuses on ethical, economic and policy impacts within state operations,
[1:57:12] and President Trump's recent December 2025 executive order directs federal agencies to preempt or challenge state AI laws that conflict with the federal standard.
[1:57:23] The California AI Accountability Act, also known as SP-896, this requires state agencies to assess
[1:57:32] generative AI risks and benefits, disclosed its use in communication, so it's big
[1:57:39] untransparency and evaluate automated decision-making systems for potential harm.
[1:57:51] So, the City of Penels approach involves, you know, we do two the evolving regulations
[1:57:59] that are happening rather quickly, and the municipal complexity of it all.
[1:58:05] We monitor federal and state efforts before the implementation of detailed AI policies.
[1:58:12] And that is the phase of where we've completed that phase to produce this policy draft.
[1:58:20] There are many generative AI opportunities and risks, tools like chatGPT have
[1:58:28] served to mass adoption in under a year, offering efficiency games, but also
[1:58:33] posing risks such as bias, privacy breaches, and cybersecurity threats, such as
[1:58:39] fishing or fake news, and the city's approach really aims for a controlled and
[1:58:45] possible adoption to both safeguard risks and to leverage the opportunities that AI brings.
[1:58:57] So there are many ethical considerations for AI for the use of AI.
[1:59:04] So there are general ethics such as algorithmic bias.
[1:59:09] What that is is that is ensures that AI systems don't perpetuate the biases that they were trained on.
[1:59:18] Fairness, which addresses the potential for AI systems to discriminate based on certain
[1:59:23] groups' characteristics, accountability, transparency, privacy and data protection, and
[1:59:31] regulation, which is like what we are doing now, which is developing a governance framework
[1:59:36] for how to safely use AI.
[1:59:39] So the City of Penal has come up with guiding principles.
[1:59:44] Many of these were adapted from the Gavei Coalition's recommendations.
[1:59:49] This is a group of cities who have essentially shared a lot of information and helping develop frameworks and templates and tools to use for AI.
[2:00:00] Our first guiding principle, and these can also be considered our values when using AI.
[2:00:06] So the first principle is human-centered design, and this is people reviewing AI-powered services
[2:00:14] and products for their impact on the public. Privacy and security, this means protecting
[2:00:20] data. Accuracy and transparency helps us maintain trust and promote fact checking. Equity
[2:00:28] is being aware of biases in generative and predictive AI output.
[2:00:36] Accountability and responsibility means that the person using AI is responsible for the
[2:00:41] content that is created and should use caution and risk assessment in every case.
[2:00:47] Workforce empowerment means to see AI as a powerful efficiency tool, not a substitute for
[2:00:55] public purpose. All efforts staff put forward are for the overall benefit of the community
[2:01:02] in the City of Penal as a public entity. We also acknowledge that AI generated output falls
[2:01:08] under the Public Records Act.
[2:01:14] So the City has developed an AI usage policy draft. The purpose
[2:01:20] of this policy is to establish a comprehensive yet flexible governance structure for AI systems used
[2:01:28] by or on behalf of the City of Penel.
[2:01:31] And this policy enables the City of Penel to use AI systems
[2:01:34] responsibly for the benefit of the community
[2:01:37] while safeguarding against potential harms.
[2:01:45] So when we first set out to write this policy,
[2:01:48] it was like 20 pages long.
[2:01:51] It was really long.
[2:01:52] And so what we decided to do is to break it down
[2:01:55] into a set of documents that can be more swiftly applied,
[2:02:00] depending on the, you know, the use that was needed.
[2:02:05] So these documents, this is kind of like the package of our AI policy.
[2:02:09] So we have the City of Penal AI usage policy.
[2:02:13] We have an addendum to that, which is AI terms and definitions.
[2:02:18] There's many more of them that you would think.
[2:02:20] We have a quick reference guide developed, which contains user rules for generative AI.
[2:02:27] So that's intended to be used as kind of like a quick desk tool, you know, it's a one
[2:02:33] pageer that staff can reference if they have, you know, they're ever in a kind of an unknown
[2:02:37] territory when faced with an AI tool.
[2:02:42] Vendor AI requirements, that's for vendors, of course, an AI fact sheet is kind of a, it's
[2:02:49] a questionnaire that we would present to vendors to document, it has a series of questions
[2:02:54] we can help evaluate the risks, document that, and have that as part of our procurement practices.
[2:03:01] And then we also have an AI incident response plan on that is housed in the IT Department.
[2:03:16] So the City of Penal has established a comprehensive yet flexible, oops, did I read this already?
[2:03:23] Sorry.
[2:03:26] I'm sorry. So the key objectives of our policy is to provide clear guidance
[2:03:32] to ensure adherence to guiding principles.
[2:03:37] And that is our values.
[2:03:39] It aims to define roles and responsibilities.
[2:03:42] Establish risk assessment procedures.
[2:03:46] Align data privacy and security standards.
[2:03:49] And it lists prohibited uses of AI systems.
[2:03:54] And it also defines how we can use AI systems in the city of Penel.
[2:03:58] And so our policy document, it really combines the best practices from other cities and recommendations from the GoVAI Coalition and the Municipal Information System Association of California.
[2:04:15] These departments were also given the opportunity to review the policy and weigh in and the IT division manages the IT, I'm sorry, the AI policy and it's related protocols.
[2:04:27] So,
[2:04:32] our policy basically states that when purchasing,
[2:04:35] configuring, developing, operating, or maintaining AI systems,
[2:04:41] the city of Penal will uphold the guiding principles,
[2:04:45] conduct an AI review to assess potential risk,
[2:04:49] a technical documentation about AI systems,
[2:04:53] require vendors to comply with the city's AI policy,
[2:04:57] follow an incident response plan in the event
[2:04:59] of a security incident involving AI systems and do not use AI for the prohibited uses in the policy.
[2:05:10] So this applies to all staff in terms and volunteers with the City of Penal and compared
[2:05:16] to other organizations I just wanted to point out is that cities actually face higher exposure
[2:05:22] for privacy violations, bias and public trust failures.
[2:05:26] and we believe that this policy safely addresses this while balancing the need to allow
[2:05:33] you know employees to explore AI to use it and use it to enhance productivity.
[2:05:45] So we've included a set of user-specific rules and reminders,
[2:05:50] and these are found in the quick reference guide that I had mentioned earlier.
[2:05:54] So these are usage of generative AI, maybe subject to the public records act.
[2:05:59] Do not use personal accounts for generative AI usage, read and understand the terms and conditions, opt out of data collection when possible.
[2:06:13] Verify the copyright of AI-generated content, be mindful of content ownership, cite the use of generative AI for substantial content, review, revise, and fact check AI-generated content.
[2:06:30] So, at a baseline, our employees should follow these rules when using generative AI.
[2:06:42] So, when engaging in high risk generative AI use cases, we ask employees to review
[2:06:48] tone and language in their AI output, confirm verifiable sources for facts and figures
[2:06:55] in the output, and do not input private and sensitive data into generative AI systems.
[2:07:03] And some examples of high-risk generative AI use cases include writing an official document
[2:07:13] or using public ready information for communications.
[2:07:24] And the prohibited uses that we have outlined in the policy are.
[2:07:30] Things that we cannot use AI for. Real-time and covert biometric identification. Emotion analysis or the use of computer vision techniques to classify human facial and body movements into certain emotions or sentiment.
[2:07:46] fully automated decisions that do not require any meaningful human oversight but substantially impact individuals.
[2:07:55] Social scoring or the use of AI systems to track and classify individuals based on their behaviors,
[2:08:01] socioeconomic status or personal characteristics, and cognitive behavioral manipulation of people or specific vulnerable groups.
[2:08:16] So, I'm going to go over what our departments currently use AI4.
[2:08:23] We surveyed across the departments to ask what they're using it for and we are using
[2:08:29] it for, marketing and program ideas, report writing and presentations, survey question
[2:08:36] development, research and note taking, social media captions, report summaries, data analysis,
[2:08:45] such as identifying themes and data, graphic design, camera systems.
[2:08:52] And this doesn't mean that we always use AI for all of these things.
[2:08:58] This just means that we use some AI doing these actions in our work.
[2:09:06] And this list is really ever-changing and ever-growing,
[2:09:09] You know, on a almost a weekly basis, sometimes it's just the technology of AI is changing so rapidly.
[2:09:18] But, you know, we are exploring new ways of using AI to improve efficiency and work quality to better serve the community.
[2:09:28] And here you see a list of approved AI applications.
[2:09:31] The City of Penal, we have chosen applications with an established government reputation and
[2:09:38] we lean into recommendations from the Gov AI coalition on vendors that have already been
[2:09:43] vetted.
[2:09:45] So additionally, many existing applications are coming out with new AI features built in.
[2:09:51] So like for example, Microsoft Co-Pilot is really mainly generative AI.
[2:09:57] Ring Central is our phone system, it's not only an AI program, but it has some AI features built
[2:10:04] into it. And, for example, like DocuSign, that's an electronic signature software program
[2:10:12] that we use. We just got a notice from them that they have now added a new AI feature they
[2:10:17] want us to explore. And so that's just an example of how these things are kind of popping up
[2:10:23] every day.
[2:10:27] So what is next with AI?
[2:10:37] So training and communication. We will be training our
[2:10:41] employees on the foundations of AI. We'd like to do a bioannual staff training and review.
[2:10:50] There will be internal communication about the AI policy and distribute the quick reference guide to all users.
[2:10:56] We will notify vendors, AI vendors, through RFPs and contracts about our AI guidelines and the requirements we have for vendors and we will publish information on the IT webpage and create mechanisms for public feedback around AI.
[2:11:16] So public transparency, this is really important for us to foster trust in our decisions to use AI tools in the city.
[2:11:28] And this is why we'll be posting the city's AI inventory on the IT website.
[2:11:33] And we'll implement the mechanisms for the public to provide feedback probably in the IT website.
[2:11:39] We haven't decided on the perfect place for that but it'll probably go there.
[2:11:43] And then we're also in the process of developing notices for affected individuals who may be encountering AI when they're interacting with us and both internally and externally.
[2:12:03] So AI and the information technology or IT plan, so AI is considered to really be enabling capability in the IT plan.
[2:12:14] It's not a standalone project, but it's because it cuts across all areas of the IT plan.
[2:12:23] So it cuts across areas like governance, security, service delivery, workforce capacity, and data management.
[2:12:32] It can be found in any one of those areas or more, right?
[2:12:35] And so we recognize that effective AI really depends on the reliability of other systems.
[2:12:41] So for example, AI relies on data.
[2:12:45] It relies on good quality data to work properly.
[2:12:49] And so, you know, we are looking at how to address a lot of our siloed databases
[2:12:55] and systems first so that any AI systems that we do introduce will work better for us
[2:13:02] with reliable data so that they can work properly.
[2:13:06] And when the IT division assesses AI systems for risk, we prioritize low-risk, high-return
[2:13:14] administrative uses of AI.
[2:13:17] These are systems that will make our employees' lives easier without exposing internal
[2:13:22] data or automating decision-making without human oversight.
[2:13:28] We are actively working on budget forecasting to include AI systems and related projects and
[2:13:34] Council will see this in the upcoming IT 2026 to 2031 IT plan.
[2:13:45] So next step.
[2:13:46] So we are going to be doing a final review and approval of the AI policy collection.
[2:13:53] This will require us to send the draft to the unions for review because they're given
[2:14:00] the opportunity to weigh in, to comment, to provide their feedback and make recommendations
[2:14:05] for us to consider.
[2:14:06] After that, and we have a final draft of the policy, then that is presented to the city manager for approval, because it's an administrative policy.
[2:14:19] Then after that comes implementation, so that's where the training and internal and external communication come into play.
[2:14:26] And then we will monitor, so we'll start with a quarterly revision of the AI policy again because this technology is changing very rapidly.
[2:14:36] We want to make sure we stay on top of it and that our policy reflects the current outlook of AI.
[2:14:45] Monitoring state and federal policies continuing to do that and continuing to participate in the AI activities and meetings.
[2:14:55] So that's the end of my presentation. Thank you.
[2:15:00] And I'll take questions now.
[2:15:02] Okay, so council members, questions, council members, aside.
[2:15:08] Thanks, Mayor, and thank you, Director Abs, for your presentation.
[2:15:11] Just want to acknowledge that this is such a huge issue area.
[2:15:15] Technology is advancing so quickly that it's hard to even wrap our brains around with this all means.
[2:15:21] I'm still taking time to educate myself, but I don't think I'll ever get to the point where I fully comprehend it.
[2:15:26] So thank you for your work on this in developing this policy.
[2:15:29] Thank you to Mayor Tafe for, I think you requested this last year.
[2:15:33] And you kept it kind of open-ended, but I think that was good,
[2:15:36] because I think this is a policy that covers all departments here in the end of the year.
[2:15:41] So I just want to start off with a question on, I think, the development of these policies so far.
[2:15:46] Are there any particular stakeholders or policy experts that you've,
[2:15:51] you that they've met with in preparation for this or had there been any particular cities or
[2:15:57] counties that have existing AA policies that you've looked to for a model as model for this.
[2:16:02] Yes, we so we've used quite a few bless you. We've we've looked towards quite a few policy resources
[2:16:09] in the development of it. So we have looked at examples from other cities, Walnut Creek,
[2:16:17] city of Concord, Lafayette, a number of Bay Area policies.
[2:16:27] We have a group that we communicate with.
[2:16:30] We have the Public Management Association.
[2:16:31] We share policies and send examples to each other.
[2:16:35] And so we have a collection of those that we have referenced.
[2:16:38] In addition to that, we, you know, I attended the Gov AI Coalition Conference and learned quite a bit over there and connected with a lot of other cities and communications and IT folks, just like me who are also facing the same things and some who have already, you know, approved policies and have put those policies in place.
[2:17:04] So getting ideas and networking, collaborating with those folks in that forum.
[2:17:12] We also have referenced templates that have been vetted both by the Gavei Coalition, which
[2:17:18] is an excellent resource for AI governance frameworks in a municipal setting.
[2:17:25] And we also have, we use the municipal information, it's myzac, it's I'm sorry it's a long acronym municipal information system association of California.
[2:17:41] We have used their, we reference their template. So what we did was we really laid all of these things out and then we took bits and pieces that could be applied in our specific situation to come up with a policy that worked for us.
[2:17:55] Thank you so much for that. I'd love to ask about existing policies on AI that we have right now.
[2:18:07] That's been already administratively approved before the drafting of this policy.
[2:18:11] Can you outline what those are, what it sort of gives guidelines about?
[2:18:18] To my knowledge, we do not have any approved AI policies within the city of Penel.
[2:18:25] I don't know if the police department could speak to their department.
[2:18:32] Yes, so the police department does have an AI policy that's specific to the department.
[2:18:38] And there was recent legislation that was passed that speaks specifically to reports,
[2:18:46] criminal reports that are generated by law enforcement that went into effect in January,
[2:18:50] January 1st of this year. So the company that we use for our policies,
[2:18:56] Luxipol, rules out updates, legislative updates, to make sure that we're
[2:19:01] complying with those new laws. So our policy that we have right now, we are
[2:19:06] working to make sure that it is in compliance with the new law. There's a
[2:19:11] couple of small items that are specific to the new law that we do have in
[2:19:17] place, but we need to add to our policy as well.
[2:19:20] Actually, the majority on the PDS sign has been state and federal mandated.
[2:19:24] Correct.
[2:19:25] That's right.
[2:19:25] And then very, very little policy that's been crafted without state and federal mandates.
[2:19:33] That's correct.
[2:19:34] Thank you.
[2:19:37] One of that is about policies for AI generation that address
[2:19:42] cultural competency in appropriateness.
[2:19:44] Is there any, do you foresee any policies within this big,
[2:19:49] over comprehensive policy that has guidelines around those things?
[2:19:57] You know what, we have addressed the issue of bias, equity, and human-centered approach
[2:20:05] in our guiding principles of the AI policy, that is where it can be applied.
[2:20:13] There are a lot of, well, we know that there's a lot of predictive analytics out there.
[2:20:19] That can produce erroneous results.
[2:20:22] AI, it doesn't always, it's not always correct.
[2:20:27] There's a lot of AI failure out there.
[2:20:31] And, you know, this is because these machine learning algorithms.
[2:20:34] They rely on protected information such as race, gender, and disability status.
[2:20:39] and can lead to adverse outcomes because of this societal and structural inequities kind of built
[2:20:45] into that system. The city does not have any machine learning technologies that rely on this type
[2:20:51] of data, but the key themes in our policy have really been human oversight and data safeguards.
[2:20:59] And I believe that these, these guiding principles in our policy can help us to prevent any adverse outcomes.
[2:21:12] And it also comes with bias awareness training for staff that's going to be really important.
[2:21:18] In this, it can help prevent misrepresentation and AI-generated imagery.
[2:21:24] And we recommend using, so with our branding guidelines, we recommend using stock images.
[2:21:30] Well, first we like using authentic PCTV photos for our communications, but after that stock images,
[2:21:38] you know, but where we I am exploring the possibility of revising the branding guidelines
[2:21:44] or adding an addendum to it that restricts the use of AI generated imagery in our communications.
[2:21:51] And so that's another area where we could potentially, you know, prevent that from happening.
[2:21:56] Thank you for that. And what it sounds like is that we're really depending on staff to review all AI output,
[2:22:01] and then depending on separate policies around biases and all different factors.
[2:22:08] I know on, because one of the pages here says on user-specific rules.
[2:22:14] It says usage of a generative AI may be subject to public records act.
[2:22:18] So I wanted a display of education from you,
[2:22:20] maybe city attorney as well,
[2:22:23] what are some examples of AI usage
[2:22:25] that would be subject to PRA and not be subject to PRA.
[2:22:29] And...
[2:22:30] What this re-challenges around data retention and access to data, as well?
[2:22:36] Yes, so this is still something that we have yet to define better. In our current records retention
[2:22:47] guidelines or policies, it doesn't have AI clearly defined in there. However, what we put in AI
[2:22:55] can be categorized according to the record's retention schedule.
[2:22:58] So this could be correspondence, you know,
[2:23:02] we might be using it for drafts, it could be data,
[2:23:06] could be reports that we're dropping into generative AI.
[2:23:10] But mostly, it would apply to the output.
[2:23:14] So, you know, when we're put dropping in information
[2:23:19] into, you know, a copilot, for example,
[2:23:22] We want to remind users that what they're writing in there, what prompts, what data they're
[2:23:28] putting in there, that could be requested by the public to see that workflow.
[2:23:37] I don't know if the exact content that would be able to apply to our records retention
[2:23:47] policies, but it's just kind of like generative AI is a catch all.
[2:23:52] There are many things in our records retention policies that we might put in there that could apply.
[2:23:57] But it's just a safe approach to tell people that whatever you put in generative AI,
[2:24:04] this could be subject to the public.
[2:24:06] And what it sounds like too is that there are going to be some requirements here around folks not using personal logins for AI.
[2:24:16] So, when AI is used, are we requiring city email accounts to be used for those different programs?
[2:24:23] Yes, we prefer and strongly encourage, and this is outline in the policy, we want people to use city-approved AI applications.
[2:24:33] It's safer, they've been vetted, AIT has assessed those applications for risk, but we do understand that AI is everywhere,
[2:24:43] and you could just open up Google and search something and right there next to Google is an AI button that somebody could use.
[2:24:50] So we're asking that they use their city email addresses, city accounts for that.
[2:24:58] But when they do, if they do choose to go into a generative AI territory like that,
[2:25:03] that they need to review the terms and conditions, and they are required to comply with or to understand those terms and conditions.
[2:25:12] Thanks,
[2:25:15] there is one bill mentioned in a presentation that was Senate Bill 86, the Accountability Act, and also just a question to Chief as well.
[2:25:23] What have been the significant legislation at the state level that has required policy changes?
[2:25:33] Has it been around PRA or has it been around any other regulations?
[2:25:41] around SBA-96?
[2:25:43] E96 or any other relevant AI bills?
[2:25:48] SBA-96, I'm not aware, there's no recent changes in the regulation.
[2:25:54] There was the federal executive order that came out in December of 2025.
[2:25:59] You know, that has to do with the White House's their filings.
[2:26:06] they emphasize like in consistent state, if there's in consistent state regulations that
[2:26:14] can create, you know, costly compliance burdens for economic growth, that slow or hinder
[2:26:22] economic growth is more of what that executive order is focused on. And so because S. B.
[2:26:29] 96 is really more of, it focuses on government transparency, not so much on private entity regulation.
[2:26:39] So that's, that's what I know to, of recent policy.
[2:26:43] I could, you know, impact California's regulations.
[2:26:47] And then, just last question here, I want to talk about next up.
[2:26:51] I'm sorry, did you have to?
[2:26:52] Sure.
[2:26:53] If you don't mind, I can, I can speak to the legislation that relates specifically to law enforcement.
[2:26:59] So, Senate Bill 524, and that is specific for law enforcement reports.
[2:27:06] One of the items that's mentioned in that legislation is regarding draft retention to the
[2:27:14] question that you had earlier, that in law enforcement reports that are drafted through
[2:27:20] AI, the first draft must also be retained with the final draft of that crime report.
[2:27:26] So it will be subject to our retention period of our crime reports and subjected to the same
[2:27:33] PRA requirements of those crime reports as well.
[2:27:37] So that's primarily what that legislation was.
[2:27:40] There was also some additional requirements to that there is a disclaimer that the report
[2:27:46] was generated through AI that it had been reviewed by an officer as well.
[2:27:50] So there's a couple other things, but one of the main things is to your point about retention
[2:27:55] up the initial draft.
[2:27:58] Last question I have here is on the next steps in the presentation, meeting confer and
[2:28:03] city manager approval.
[2:28:05] So we'll be seeing the final policy come back to council for feedback or approval of any
[2:28:13] part of that policy or this will be the last time we'll be able to chime in about the
[2:28:19] drafting of this policy.
[2:28:20] Well, today is a presentation on the current state of AI in the City of Penal.
[2:28:26] It is an administrative policy, so the typical process for that would be to, and it's
[2:28:33] an administrative policy that impacts employees, so typical process would be to run it through
[2:28:38] the unions, let them provide comment, and then move it to the City Manager for approval.
[2:28:44] And then we do our own internal review.
[2:28:46] However, if Council would like us to bring it back as, you know, on the consent calendar or as a discussion item where you have the ability to weigh in, you can do that.
[2:29:00] That's it. Thank you.
[2:29:02] Okay. Any other questions from council members? Okay, so we'll go Mayor Proto Murphy and then council member Martin's room.
[2:29:10] Absolutely. Thank you so much Mayor.
[2:29:12] And thank you Director Abs for the wonderful presentation. I really appreciate it. Also the one of my biggest questions.
[2:29:19] Also questions that come up from members of the public is really about the AI use in compliance with state and federal law.
[2:29:25] So I think we nailed that down.
[2:29:27] So I appreciate also the additional question
[2:29:29] from Councilmember Versusai about that.
[2:29:32] I do want to ask about how AI, at this point,
[2:29:37] given some of the use cases you've identified,
[2:29:41] have improved services for residents.
[2:29:44] I'm also, I guess I'm throwing you one in a good way
[2:29:46] because I've heard some good news about public input
[2:29:48] in our roads town hall.
[2:29:50] But I wanted to just ask a broader question
[2:29:52] about how my AI has, how has it improved services for our residents, and specifically what metrics
[2:29:58] it, what metrics will be used to it.
[2:30:00] Valueate the effectiveness of those tools. Moving forward.
[2:30:05] That's a good question. Right now, we're really in the beginning stages of exploring and using
[2:30:11] AI. Recent example I can think of is the Rhodes Town Hall. So we used public input as kind
[2:30:21] of a hybrid meeting. We were testing it out to test out the transcription capabilities
[2:30:27] of it, which helped us to produce a report on it, you know, took all everyone's comments
[2:30:35] and listed it out very accurately into a report. We then use Microsoft Co-Pilot to take
[2:30:43] that data and organize that into a report that City Manager, or Acting City Manager,
[2:30:50] Clavoon sent to you on Friday.
[2:30:54] And so that's a recent example.
[2:30:56] Another example where AI is of a great benefit
[2:30:59] to the public.
[2:31:01] Also used in that Rhodes town hall meeting was that we
[2:31:06] are able to, so the streaming is able to be transcribed
[2:31:10] in live time.
[2:31:12] But public input has AI built into it.
[2:31:16] We're a user can, a member of the public,
[2:31:18] can have that translated in their language in any Google
[2:31:22] language live while they're watching the Rhodes Town Hall.
[2:31:27] So that's, I would call that a really impactful benefit
[2:31:31] to the public of AI that we have in our toolbox
[2:31:35] to use.
[2:31:37] And to the second question about metrics,
[2:31:38] how are we going to measure success moving forward?
[2:31:42] I mean, I acknowledged that from a conversation
[2:31:44] at the city manager that that could have, well,
[2:31:47] But for me, it was very beneficial as a council member who did not attend the Road Town Hall to learn
[2:31:51] what was said, how those decisions were made and kind of, again, it was generative, right.
[2:31:58] My metric was not being there.
[2:32:00] I wanted to hear how it went, for staff moving forward, essentially, because you identified
[2:32:06] use cases that staff has used AI tools.
[2:32:10] How are we measuring the effectiveness in equity of these tools and programs moving forward?
[2:32:16] or how would you envision it if we're not?
[2:32:18] Well, we have not established specific KPIs
[2:32:22] for the use of RAI tools in how they impact the public.
[2:32:27] As part of this policy, we do wish to implement a way
[2:32:33] for people to give us feedback and suggestions
[2:32:36] and comments around AI because we're still learning how the public,
[2:32:44] How, you know, what services can we use in apply AI to provide better services to the public?
[2:32:50] We have already discovered applications of AI internally that help staff tremendously saving
[2:32:57] time, you know, and it improves productivity, and it makes, you know, you know, you can
[2:33:03] really, this was a common thing of the Gov AI coalition, as you can do more with less.
[2:33:08] But when it comes to measuring success with our AI applications in the public, I think that will really depend upon specific projects or applications that we're using AI with.
[2:33:21] And we can compare, for example, if we want to see the level of engagement of our non-English speakers versus what we had before, we're able to measure that after using the AI translation tool for that.
[2:33:38] So that's one way, but we're still really defining and exploring those frameworks for measuring outcomes.
[2:33:49] Okay, so I would say I do have more questions, but I would say if we are going to adopt a plan,
[2:33:54] we need to identify the KPIs before the plan is adopted, whether it's happening by the city manager or the council.
[2:33:59] I think that would be important.
[2:34:01] So I would ask that, you know, to my next question, what, I guess, what is the, how to
[2:34:08] staff determine what's in a administrative policy versus a policy that the council should
[2:34:13] or should not pass?
[2:34:15] Well, this AI policy applies to employees, interns, and volunteers.
[2:34:20] So that makes it an administrative policy, because it's impacting our employees, it's the
[2:34:26] impacts our operations, so operational policies are typically an administrative policy when it comes to being applied to employees.
[2:34:35] And who determines that?
[2:34:37] The City Manager would determine that.
[2:34:40] Okay.
[2:34:40] Thank you.
[2:34:41] And so what issues to staff foresee and supporting a requirement for AI plans or IT plans to be brought back to the council for approval?
[2:34:52] Can you repeat your question please?
[2:34:53] what issues the staff for C and determining or supporting a requirement that the AI policy
[2:35:00] in this case, we brought to Council for review prior to the approval.
[2:35:06] Oh, if Council requests that we bring back the policy, we're very happy to bring back the policy.
[2:35:12] If that is what Council wishes us to do.
[2:35:14] So, and then the last question I was just going to have is, to you or to our in terms of
[2:35:21] managers. Any of the, can you all confirm whether any of the current or for or propose
[2:35:28] department, police department technologies would fall under prohibited uses outlined in the
[2:35:34] draft AI policy? Currently, none of our police department technologies fall under those prohibited
[2:35:40] uses. I can let Chief us speak to that as well. Yeah, I agree. I mean, primarily the, the system
[2:35:48] that we're using is our peach safety report writing program, which does comply with not only
[2:35:55] those policies, it's also, it's also class compliant, which is a requirement of the Department
[2:36:02] of Justice.
[2:36:03] So we've definitely vetted that program through and have spent quite a bit of time working
[2:36:08] with the District Attorney's Office to make sure that the reports that are generated through
[2:36:13] that program will stand up in court and not present any problems in that regard as well.
[2:36:18] That's great to hear. And thank you again to our staff for this presentation. It's great to see this.
[2:36:23] Okay. Thank you for that.
[2:36:26] Councilman, what you use really?
[2:36:27] Thank you. Quick question. On the slide that reads AI policy,
[2:36:34] user-specific rules, there's an item that reads opt-out of data collection when possible.
[2:36:40] So seeing that and hearing you mention it,
[2:36:43] to make me think that staff gets requests to enter data
[2:36:47] for organizations or agencies outside of the city.
[2:36:52] And then staff might feel compelled to comply and provide
[2:36:58] information.
[2:36:59] So question is, is what data is being requested typically
[2:37:05] by whom that might violate the policy?
[2:37:08] And therefore have staff particularly become alert about not about having the option to not to to not provide such data
[2:37:19] That's a good question. So our user guidelines are our user rules. So that applies to staff's usage of generative AI
[2:37:28] So when we say
[2:37:30] They opt out of data collection when possible. That means that if there's an option to opt out of data collection, they should select that before they're entering and they're dropping in data into the generative AI platform.
[2:37:46] And the reason for that is because many of these AI-generative platforms like chatGPT, their open source platforms,
[2:37:55] and our data will just go into the AI-abyss, if you will, I have my IT manager here who can explain that better than I can.
[2:38:06] But, you know, so opting out of data would just keep our data that we drop into AI in a little box,
[2:38:13] and not be shared with the whole entire world.
[2:38:17] So that's not always an option, but when there is an option to opt out of data,
[2:38:22] we would ask for them to check that box.
[2:38:25] Thank you.
[2:38:25] So thank you for the presentation.
[2:38:27] I think having thought through what to present to Council also has posed an opportunity to staff
[2:38:33] to begin asking questions about the applications of the AI for a number of different
[2:38:39] intended audiences, and in that process, I know in my work as an evaluator that it makes
[2:38:48] sense to first post questions before thinking about KPIs or key performance indicators.
[2:38:55] That's the usual route of doing something or undertaking a process that would then yield
[2:39:02] if at all any potential measures of any process or outcomes.
[2:39:08] And so thank you for thinking along those lines and I don't find it necessary to come back to council on an administrative policy.
[2:39:21] It is the role of council to develop legislative policy policies related to not to not the operations of a city, so as far as I'm concerned as a bonus if we get back the information.
[2:39:35] But not essential to have operations proceed per the knowledge and also the consultation that
[2:39:44] staff do with other peers and colleagues to perform the work that you have to do.
[2:39:50] Thank you so much.
[2:39:53] So I'll see.
[2:39:55] I have more comments than anything.
[2:39:57] So what we'll do is we'll go to public comment for this item.
[2:40:01] Is it a clerk if we have public comment?
[2:40:03] Yes.
[2:40:03] Rafael Minis.
[2:40:16] Good evening Mayor, Council, staff,
[2:40:19] there's a lot of panacea coffee on this.
[2:40:20] I'm risen up in all, and I have several comments to make on this side.
[2:40:26] I probably won't be able to make all of them in three minutes
[2:40:28] by apologies for that.
[2:40:31] First off, I would start by arguing that if the city is considering the use of AI
[2:40:37] or large language models, that it consider the substantial harms caused by the creation
[2:40:45] and ongoing renovation of those models,
[2:40:48] both in terms of the raw computational resources
[2:40:51] for our term run those models.
[2:40:53] The fiscal land that it takes up,
[2:40:54] the water that it consumes,
[2:40:56] the power that it consumes,
[2:40:57] and the carbon dioxide emissions created with that power.
[2:41:01] The colossal theft of basically all knowledge,
[2:41:07] and it's reassembly into pseudo-valid statements.
[2:41:15] The inherent and unavoidable risk of confabulations, or hallucinations, or lies, or bullshit,
[2:41:24] depending on how polite you want to be about it, where large language models fundamentally
[2:41:30] can run into issues with things as simple as how many R's are in the word strawberry,
[2:41:36] or does 2 plus 2 equal 4. Our default assumption about computers is that they'll always do
[2:41:44] the same thing in the same way, but they're deterministic. Large language models are probabilistic.
[2:41:50] They're not deterministic. They can make errors and the errors that they can make are subtle.
[2:41:56] They're designed to tell you things that you want to hear, even when they're not true,
[2:42:01] even when there's no evidence for them ever having existed and to use the things that it makes
[2:42:08] up in a matter and a style such that you don't want to question it. Even in those narrow areas
[2:42:16] where large language models or pattern matching models or generative AI can do tasks that generate
[2:42:24] benefit, it still erodes the fundamental capability of the humans that use it to undertake
[2:42:31] the tasks they are outsourcing to AI, even relative to be skill professionals like doctors
[2:42:37] as blueberg notes.
[2:42:43] There are also numerous harmful uses of AI as addressed in some of the
[2:42:57] A.I. causes just fundamentally in what it takes to exist and the output that it generates
[2:43:06] is officially a conflict with the city of Pinole's values and the climate action adaptation
[2:43:10] plan, but the city of Pinole shouldn't use A.I. for any purpose.
[2:43:15] Thank you.
[2:43:17] Thank you, Mr. Manis.
[2:43:21] I'm going to say that I think in the seven years and two months doing council, I don't
[2:43:26] Mr. Menaces ever cussed at that podium, and I was just taking back like, well, but we don't want to make that a standard, but thank you for your comment, Mr. Menaces.
[2:43:38] We'll go ahead and go to the next speaker.
[2:43:40] Mayor, there are no more public comments.
[2:43:43] Thank you, and we'll bring it back to Council for any comments.
[2:43:48] Councilmember Tom's.
[2:43:49] Yeah, I just want to mention that at the last league of California cities,
[2:43:53] conference, there was in a live demonstration of AI, and, you know, it's a great tool, but it's only a tool. It doesn't replace humans as far as editing and checking, so I think the most important policy that you had there was review and revise.
[2:44:18] That's necessary. And I also don't think that the policy being administrative needs to come back for our approval.
[2:44:25] I think we need to, you know, keep the administrative side of things with staff.
[2:44:31] So, thank you.
[2:44:34] Council member, sir, please.
[2:44:38] Thank you.
[2:44:39] I started by saying that I think there's a lot of really productive uses of AI that I've seen.
[2:44:44] and you mentioned a few of them. I think language access is a big one. I know in San Jose City Council meetings, they will actually have a live AI translations for different languages and anything that's really useful.
[2:44:59] I think AI can do.
[2:45:01] I think many of us have been reached out to different firms and different initiatives that use
[2:45:08] the I and I know one of them was around community outreach. And a lot of the community outreach can be
[2:45:15] be made more efficient with the I. I know Google has quite a few applications that can help output that that's geared more towards
[2:45:23] cities and towns, but also, I'll just say this too, I mean, I think a lot of lawmakers are
[2:45:33] really embracing the new technology, and I think personally for me, I am, I don't really want
[2:45:41] embracing AI, but I want to embrace the fact that it's going to happen and it's going to be
[2:45:45] reality for all of us. It's going to be a part of everyone's individual lives.
[2:45:50] I think it was really important that you said or alluded to the fact that AI ought to be
[2:45:54] used as a tool to assist in not a replacement for jobs.
[2:45:58] I've had the opportunity to speak with local one, the president of local one here in
[2:46:04] Penel.
[2:46:06] I have not been able to speak with local five, 12, or PPA, but I've spoken to folks from the
[2:46:11] controversial labor council and some of the things I've taken away from those conversations
[2:46:15] run AI is number one, I don't think they're even also grasping all of it as well as as this
[2:46:21] is really new technology but if you take a ways here it was that they're really concerned
[2:46:27] about any use of AI that takes a significant portion of the work away from staff and any use
[2:46:33] of AI that takes away people's jobs and I think most of us can agree on that and another thing
[2:46:40] that they're really concerned about is privacy.
[2:46:44] And I know that on page 12 you mentioned there
[2:46:49] that opt out of data collection when possible,
[2:46:53] I would suggest tightening that a bit to be a requirement.
[2:46:56] They'll be opt out of data in one reason why
[2:46:58] is because folks are concerned that as employees staff
[2:47:02] use AI more and more that data will be used by those companies
[2:47:07] to learn how to do their jobs.
[2:47:10] And it might be a reality in three, five, 10 years that jobs we have in front of house.
[2:47:17] Or that initiative coordinator positions all across different apartments, community outreach positions.
[2:47:23] That might be replaced by AI at some point.
[2:47:25] And we don't really want to contribute to that danger.
[2:47:28] So just want to put it out there.
[2:47:32] And wishing you all the best as you keep developing this.
[2:47:34] And I'll always encourage you to reach out to staff and different unions that we have here for there.
[2:47:39] and they'll feel comfortable with this policy.
[2:47:43] And that's all I have, thanks.
[2:47:44] Thank you, Kelts, members, aside, any comments?
[2:47:48] Council Member Martinez Rubin?
[2:47:52] We are pro temp.
[2:47:54] Yep, thank you so much, and again,
[2:47:55] I'm thank you so much for this presentation.
[2:47:58] I feel like this is one of those issues
[2:48:00] that so many of us are still learning about,
[2:48:02] whereas I think some of the things that I've come up
[2:48:04] have traditionally, as a council and even our staff
[2:48:07] have a deep level of experience in you.
[2:48:10] So I just want to acknowledge that director
[2:48:13] F.U. really have dug in with your team on this presentation.
[2:48:16] And I think it was incredibly informative.
[2:48:18] I also really appreciate the transparency
[2:48:21] on the process as to how staff is recommending
[2:48:25] kind of moving forward from this moment.
[2:48:27] I was on this council when we did not have an IT plan.
[2:48:31] I was on this council when we really struggle
[2:48:32] to actually have conversations about what it means
[2:48:35] to bring our city into the 21st century in terms of technology and what type of use cases when we
[2:48:42] saw other cities move forward, we could actually move forward with. So again, I know this
[2:48:47] work is not easy and I really appreciate you all moving forward with it. A couple of things
[2:48:52] that really stick out to me, the guiding principles, as you noted them as values, I really,
[2:48:57] I actually really admire and love that. I think that's what I know a lot of residents who talk
[2:49:03] to me about this issue are looking for.
[2:49:05] They're looking for, when we talk about AI as an agency
[2:49:08] and certainly when we use artificial intelligence
[2:49:11] as an agency, how are we leading with guiding principles?
[2:49:15] You know, we have wonderful values as a city
[2:49:17] in our strategic plan, but I don't think our strategic plan,
[2:49:21] which also has obviously concluded this year,
[2:49:25] has talked enough about IT and enough about artificial intelligence.
[2:49:29] And so I really just appreciate starting there.
[2:49:32] As you all have, again, also enforcing and emphasizing that AI has been used as a tool.
[2:49:40] I think there is, I think there's still questions that I have around, and you mentioned a statement that I think you heard at GoVAI,
[2:49:48] which is, I don't want to mischaracterize what you said, but you said people are improving their productivity through AI.
[2:49:55] And so of course as a council member who makes budget decisions,
[2:49:59] I wonder how much more productivity are we getting.
[2:50:04] And then also on the other side of this, right,
[2:50:06] is that we have organized labor and workers
[2:50:10] who are also fearful of losing their job due to AI.
[2:50:14] I'm not saying that you have that answer.
[2:50:16] And navigating that, I think that's what the state
[2:50:18] and federal government are also doing.
[2:50:20] We are all doing that together.
[2:50:21] but it's certainly questions that I have.
[2:50:25] I want to be honest to you and to our staff
[2:50:27] that I do that think that this process deserves a public review,
[2:50:32] not because you all are not doing the work
[2:50:34] that's needed to integrate your perspective,
[2:50:37] but because there are so many unanswered questions
[2:50:39] that I actually think, particularly with this issue,
[2:50:42] the public can be a huge advocate at giving us new ideas
[2:50:46] or even understanding while it appeared
[2:50:50] that you made a comment that said that this was more so internal to staff, everything our staff
[2:50:54] does is really going to impact the public.
[2:50:57] I'll use an example that, you know, I know, again, I remember there was a time where there
[2:51:01] was no, in 2020, there was no Facebook page for the City of Phenol.
[2:51:05] Now we're seeing wonderful posts from the City of Phenol pretty often, but I had a resident
[2:51:10] asking me one time, why is the City of Phenol using all of these emojis and who's doing
[2:51:15] all that. And to be quite frank, as somebody who uses AI a lot, I imagine that those emojis
[2:51:21] are actually AI-generated. Those are not emojis that a person is actually pushing. I use
[2:51:27] that as a kind example because I had to go back to that resident say, yeah, we are using AI
[2:51:32] to develop captions and they're not hurting anybody. But we know that artificial intelligence
[2:51:37] is actually deeper than caption making. We know that our departments, including our police
[2:51:42] department. We are trying to be ahead of the game and we're trying to really move our city forward
[2:51:48] and in order to do that we also need to bring our residents along with us. And so I will
[2:51:53] be making a motion to ask for a public review of that. Of this AI policy. I'm really doing that
[2:52:02] because I do believe that personally and I hope the council would agree to this is we do have a
[2:52:09] there's a lot of distress when it comes to AI and I know because I remember a
[2:52:15] time where there was a lot of trust in the city around our direct services as
[2:52:18] well. I really feel like this is a great opportunity for us to merge in
[2:52:23] catalyze this opportunity really to create more trust with each other. You know
[2:52:29] as a council.
[2:52:30] As a staff, and of course with the public as well, who is definitely going to be impacted by the use of
[2:52:37] staff time with AI. And again, I use the nice example of course, you know, the caption on our social media pages.
[2:52:46] But we also can think of more severe examples, including again, tech new technologies that perhaps keep more people safe.
[2:52:54] within our police department. We also have other parties that we should also consider.
[2:52:59] I'm thinking our fire department as well. I'm not sure if this policy has integrated or been
[2:53:04] on a much sure of our fire chief or fire department has been consulted on this policy.
[2:53:11] I'm assuming so because you've set the departments, but I'm just not sure about that because it wasn't
[2:53:15] set or explicitly written out. And so I just want to mention that. But I do appreciate the process
[2:53:21] that has been developed thus far.
[2:53:22] There was a lot of unanswered questions last year when
[2:53:25] mayor table, notably asked for this to be an agenda item.
[2:53:29] And I, too, is like, what is the item?
[2:53:32] But I think that we have to answer more and more questions.
[2:53:35] And I think that that's the way to do that
[2:53:36] is through public engagement and public review,
[2:53:39] especially because we have the time
[2:53:40] and we have the availability to do it right now, mostly
[2:53:43] because it seems like, at least from the council perspective,
[2:53:46] there's an appetite to discuss and engage in this item.
[2:53:50] So I didn't want to just say that, but again, I'm so grateful for this as a I'm glad that your department is really taking on this we have not had that happen in the past so thank you and I look forward to us engaging stakeholders across the city of Penal in this conversation because I know that our business owners that are residents that are seniors that people with disabilities are thinking about AI.
[2:54:20] and some fear it and I hope that we reach a point where we overcome that fear into a world of
[2:54:26] opportunity and hope I don't think we're there yet but I do appreciate the work that your team
[2:54:31] has put into this so thank you director apps. Thank you Mayor Pro Temp I'll keep my comments short
[2:54:38] I first want to say thank you I think it's important to note that when we had typewriter computers
[2:54:45] come on the scene and typewriter everybody thought we're going to lose jobs right when the email came out
[2:54:50] Postal Workers thought, oh my god, we're gonna lose jobs.
[2:54:53] Technology is always going to influence our community.
[2:54:59] The difference between email and I know that there is
[2:55:03] lawsuit after lawsuit that came out when email first came out
[2:55:07] and the things that were said, the issue was that there was
[2:55:11] an apology for email, it was just implemented.
[2:55:14] Which is why last year when we saw AI starting to come into
[2:55:17] the public sector. I called for this item and you've done great work to get to get us to this
[2:55:23] point to where we're having the conversation and it's in a public forum. I think that's important.
[2:55:29] I also want to say that you know I think that the public or the outline that you gave as far as
[2:55:34] AI policy keeps human intuition and the human element in there. The presentation I also want to thank
[2:55:41] you for putting a staff into it. I thought that was a nice touch for some of the pictures that everybody saw
[2:55:48] I think that fundamentally, these items, especially if service is changing, right, if somebody
[2:55:56] is not speaking to an actual human, they're talking to an AI bot, or I don't know how most
[2:56:02] of that works, but I think it's important for this public engagement, this public presentation,
[2:56:08] so that the public is informed of what exactly is happening and how AI is being used, and
[2:56:13] I think you did that perfectly with this presentation.
[2:56:16] And I think that as we decide how to use it, there's a term called, I think it's called
[2:56:23] Fencing, when you use AI, where you put parameters within the results that you're looking
[2:56:29] for.
[2:56:30] So I could see this policy doing that for our usage and making sure that there are some boundaries.
[2:56:36] And it sounds like you guys covered a lot of that while highlighting the human element
[2:56:40] that I think Penal Citizens expect, so I would be in favor of this coming back.
[2:56:45] to council, so that this policy is at a minimum on consent, for anyone to comment on or to participate in the discussion about.
[2:56:57] I think that it's also important that consent item is now part of public record.
[2:57:03] Meaning that if we do have an issue or something that we did miss, we can go back and try to retrace our steps from public records.
[2:57:10] So that's the most important part as to why I wanted this, you know, in our community and
[2:57:14] discussion.
[2:57:15] There may be citizens that say, hey, you know what, I don't think AI should be part of our
[2:57:20] city.
[2:57:20] That's important for us to get on record and these are the reasons why.
[2:57:24] So I think it's just good government to come back, make sure that it's on consent and and
[2:57:31] and then there if there is a discussion, there's there but most importantly that it's
[2:57:34] record and that we can move forward.
[2:57:37] So I did hear that there was a, or in your comments, Mayor
[2:57:42] Pro Temp, there was a potential for a motion to bring the
[2:57:46] side and back.
[2:57:46] I would just ask that it be on consent.
[2:57:49] Sure.
[2:57:50] I mean, I can make the motion now, or I don't know.
[2:57:52] Was there any more teams who have been to you have a comment?
[2:57:55] Oh, oh, Councillor.
[2:57:57] Definitely agree that it'd be a benefit to have this come back.
[2:58:01] at least on the consent calendar so that the public has an opportunity to weigh in on this full
[2:58:07] policy when sits in this final draft form.
[2:58:12] And I'll but I'll still want to respect the fact that this is in the administrative policy
[2:58:15] so it's approved by the city manager but I just want to make sure that the completed
[2:58:20] policy is something that's accessible to the public as well as the council if there's any
[2:58:25] comments or questions around the final product.
[2:58:27] So, and if I could also say that director, your communications director, so there is that intersection with public with the public, and because this item is so public facing, I think that that's also another reason why being on consent allows for us to say, this is how the public can expect engagement, and if there is a change to that, this is the policy that kind of fences in what we're doing and why, right?
[2:58:55] And then if there's ever a change, that could be something that we discussed later.
[2:58:59] But I think it's important that that's in the public.
[2:59:04] Mayor Pro Tem?
[2:59:05] Absolutely, thank you, Mayor.
[2:59:07] I wanted to move to direct staff to release the draft API Artificial Intelligence Policy
[2:59:12] for Public Review, return with a final policy for Council consideration and establish an annual reporting
[2:59:18] process on the city's use of artificial intelligence, including some of the things that we're
[2:59:23] I mean your presentation, which are approved applications, compliance with artificial intelligence policy, any incidents and upcoming regulatory changes.
[2:59:34] Furthermore, I want to move to direct staff to finalize and implement artificial intelligence requirements for vendors, including, as was mentioned in the presentation, disclosure, compliance with the city's artificial intelligence policy and incident reporting for inclusion and future RFPs and contracts.
[2:59:54] Okay, I'll second that, city clerk, okay.
[3:00:01] Mayor Tave, Mayor Pro Tim Murphy, council member Sessai, council member Martinez Rubin, no, council member Tom's, no, motion carries, thank you.
[3:00:15] Thank you for that direct drafts. Appreciate it. All right, so we'll move on to the second presentation, the 360 public assistance portal.
[3:00:26] Acting City Manager Chief Kalo and Communications Director Fiona, thank you.
[3:00:40] Thank you.
[3:00:43] We are going to jump into our 360 public assistance portal.
[3:00:49] Also known as the Citizen Request Portal.
[3:01:03] So we had two council priorities for fiscal year 2526 of a series of priorities, but the ones
[3:01:17] that will be addressing in this presentation and with this solution are the 360 public assistance portal.
[3:01:25] This was the request for a digital platform that enables residents to submit service requests,
[3:01:30] track issues and access city support resources in a streamline and transparent manner.
[3:01:39] And the police commendation and complaint form and that was to implement a commendation
[3:01:45] and complaint portal and multi-lingual translation would be a plus in that solution.
[3:01:52] tracking is currently limited to software-specific applications, website, or through manual
[3:02:02] process.
[3:02:03] And when I say tracking, I'm speaking of the citizen requests that are coming in, requests
[3:02:11] complaints, service requests, that type of thing.
[3:02:16] And then transparency is limited to software-specific.
[3:02:20] So, for example, Gov QA is a software that we use for public records requests.
[3:02:28] It has a portal.
[3:02:29] The user can go in and log in and see and track their requests that they made.
[3:02:34] So, some of the transparency is limited to software-specific manual processes or they
[3:02:39] might be citizen-initiated.
[3:02:41] And what I mean by that is that somebody will call or email us and say, hey, what happened
[3:02:46] to, you know, that pot hole that I reported, you know, two weeks ago, that sort of thing.
[3:02:54] So I wanted to kind of show you what the current, I'm sorry about the formatting, I must
[3:03:02] have changed when I download it this. But anyways, I wanted to show you the current state
[3:03:08] of our digital service requests. So the way that it looks right now and these are digital
[3:03:15] service requests. So the public has, they can reach us in many, many different ways.
[3:03:24] That list of E-Tracket, OpenGov, Gov QA, Citizen Rims, Tolemmy,
[3:03:30] Selectron, Rectask, Symbium, Microsoft Bookings, and the mobile app. Those are all separate
[3:03:37] software applications that we use, where they can contact us for any number of reasons.
[3:03:43] Each one of those software programs has a different reason, why they would go in there and
[3:03:49] reach us that way.
[3:03:50] Then on our website, we have 39 website forms.
[3:03:55] So these are a number of different forms.
[3:03:58] You can see here, people are contacting us for just a general inquiry to report a problem,
[3:04:03] to schedule an appointment, to make a payment, to look up crime records, request records,
[3:04:11] a lot of the number of things.
[3:04:13] So we've got almost 50 ways people can get in touch with us, digitally only.
[3:04:21] So there are different categories of web forms that we use.
[3:04:25] Some are very department specific, so this would be like submitting an event for the community
[3:04:31] services department, event vendor application, an equipment rental request through PCTV.
[3:04:38] we have the police commendation and complaint form on the website, or reporting in a band
[3:04:44] and vehicle. Those are examples of very specific web forms. It goes right to that department
[3:04:49] and they process those. Then there's, we have a general form. It's under the contact us page
[3:04:55] where they can just send us a message, any message, and it comes into the city manager's office.
[3:05:00] We triage that to the appropriate department of where it needs to go. Then there are project
[3:05:06] an event-based, we call them short-term forms that will build on the website for a short-term
[3:05:13] project. So that's like the Art and the City Hall, Earth Walk Registration, or Pal Ambassador
[3:05:19] sign up for them. So those are the three kind of categories of forms that we have right now
[3:05:23] on the website. So this is just showing you some examples of the different kinds of forms of
[3:05:32] that we receive through the website and how they come in to different, or how they are intended for different departments.
[3:05:40] So, City Manager's office, we get the general inquiries, you know, when's the next scheduled date for dumpster day.
[3:05:47] I'm trying to renew my license online, but I can't seem to get out of starting a new license.
[3:05:52] How do I renew? Thanks. You know, I'm considering having a earthquake retrofit of my house.
[3:05:58] is a permit required so those are, you know, we're kind of like the catch-all in the city manager's office and we'll
[3:06:05] triage and distribute those appropriately. And public work, some service requests types or examples are, you know,
[3:06:12] stop sign down, westbound, they'll give some details about the location,
[3:06:18] leaky ceiling, they found a puddle in the stall. Those are common ones we get tons and tons of
[3:06:23] room requests through service requests. And then there's the police. So here's some examples reporting in a abandoned vehicle.
[3:06:32] And a commendation complaint form. You know, so we will receive various requests through online for each of the departments.
[3:06:42] And so what we want to accomplish with the 360 public assistance portal, so we want to streamline the way that people getting contact us, a contact with us.
[3:06:56] And so the 360 public assistance portal slash where we're now kind of be calling it the citizen request portal.
[3:07:02] But it will give the public a way to submit through the website, and then it will, they could submit a number of requests using one form.
[3:07:14] It goes into our dashboard, if you will, where all staff, all departments have eyes on that, as, as entries, and then we can configure it on the back end to then route to the various departments.
[3:07:28] and with...
[3:07:30] Some magic from our website vendors building that platform on the back end. So like the main ones that we have that we receive the most submissions for on the website are general inquiry and report a problem.
[3:07:45] And so we'll be incorporating those into one form or merging those into one form along with the police commendation and complaint form and a number of other web forms merging into one.
[3:08:00] So if you can kind of imagine these would be all requests that are coming through one portal and then the portal will be set up to automatically route those requests to the correct department.
[3:08:17] And so that's what this diagram or illustration is trying to convey.
[3:08:29] And this is the workflow once it hits the back end, once it comes in to the portal.
[3:08:36] We've got the example of Susie 1, 2, 3, 4, and these are made up emails.
[3:08:42] I'm considering having an earthquake retrofit of my house is a permit required.
[3:08:48] It will be assigned automatically to the building department and the mark does request and progress
[3:08:54] when somebody from the building department opens up that entry and receives it and they can
[3:09:00] mark it as in progress. And that information can be automatically notified to the person who's
[3:09:08] submitted that request. Or they can log in to the portal and see that their request is in progress.
[3:09:17] So, and then one of our employees would email back Susie 1, 2, 3, 4.
[3:09:23] Once it's finished, hello Susan. Yes, you will need a permit for the earthquake retrofit.
[3:09:28] This is a seismic upgrade permit type. You can find more details on our website
[3:09:33] and they're providing the information that now that request is closed.
[3:09:38] And that would also be notified to the citizen who submitted that request.
[3:09:45] So, this is just the further illustrates how this looks.
[3:09:51] So, here's a resident, she says,
[3:09:53] hello, no one has called me back about the weeds on Maple Street.
[3:09:57] Whoever answers the phone, now what the beauty of this portal is that,
[3:10:02] any person who answers the phone can have access into this dashboard
[3:10:08] and look up this person's name
[3:10:14] and see what they called for so that they can see if there's any notes written by other employees
[3:10:20] who are working on that and can and provide that information to them in real time, you know,
[3:10:25] without having to transfer them to different voicemails or write an email or anything like that.
[3:10:33] Or if there's no complaint they will of SAF member can log the complaint in the portal.
[3:10:39] So now it's automatically being tracked and that would take the replace that would take the place of our current
[3:10:45] process.
[3:10:46] We have an administrative policy called the
[3:10:50] citizen request slash complaint procedure and that is a paper form that somebody would fill out
[3:10:58] if they had a complaint or a request and then it's routed to the different departments.
[3:11:03] So picture of that form being replaced by this process here.
[3:11:08] And so she's logging the complaint, and she gets the person's information.
[3:11:15] Now she is now that request has been routed to the correct department on the back end.
[3:11:21] Because she got Mrs. Smith's information, as that request is being updated with the
[3:11:31] or of staff wrote a response to her or if she goes in and logs in and creates decides to create an account.
[3:11:39] She can then see what the status of her request is.
[3:11:43] But here's a situation where, you know, hey, public works took a look at it.
[3:11:49] They found out that this maple street empty lot on the overgrown weeds is actually private property.
[3:11:55] Now this request would be transferred over to code enforcement.
[3:11:58] And so that's what all be tracked with timestamps with, you know, record documentation on the back end. So that we staff will be able to clearly see where this request is, what the status is, and they'll be able to provide that information to people.
[3:12:16] And so let's say the request is resolved.
[3:12:20] staff will send a message out to that resident letting them know that, you know, thank you for your concern.
[3:12:27] The case number is this, I will be at the property tomorrow and we'll follow up and then the request is closed at that point.
[3:12:33] So this is the 360 process that was requested by City Council.
[3:12:41] So, the key features of a citizen request portal, a citizen account registration and login,
[3:12:48] so it enables residents to track requests.
[3:12:51] It won't be a full custom profile system.
[3:12:53] It's kept intentionally simple.
[3:12:56] And we're looking at making it an optional option.
[3:13:02] Take its submission form, so this would include selecting a specific category.
[3:13:07] You'll be able to attach photos and enter in location fields and guided instructions.
[3:13:16] They'll be guided instructions on the ticket submission forms.
[3:13:20] They'll be automated routing to departments where the requests are automatically assigned
[3:13:24] based on category, department mapping, or predefined rules.
[3:13:29] And then they'll be email notifications.
[3:13:31] So citizens will receive alerts when their request is created, updated, or closed.
[3:13:35] If they don't, if we don't have email or the email gets bounce back or something, they'll be a field for the phone number.
[3:13:45] So, you know, as part of good customer service, we would encourage our staff to call the person and let them know.
[3:13:50] I would say our staff does that majority of the time.
[3:13:55] And then our request history dashboard is where users and that means staff can log in at any time to view the status of a request.
[3:14:04] so if it's in progress, if it's been closed, if it's sitting in the department who hasn't
[3:14:10] seen it yet, we can say, hey, there's something in your inbox, go check it. So that's what
[3:14:15] the purpose of the dashboard is.
[3:14:19] So the benefits of a citizen request portal are a streamlined
[3:14:22] request process. Public and staff have greater visibility. There's automated routing of requests,
[3:14:29] the email notification to staff. So when a resident submit something, we'll get notified.
[3:14:37] They'll be automated resident notification as these things move through the process, status updates and that sort of thing.
[3:14:44] The staff dashboard is a benefit because it can be general and department specific.
[3:14:50] They'll be a single sign on for staff so we don't need to have another log in to use the dashboard.
[3:14:57] It will enable better cross-departmental collection.
[3:15:00] Buration and centralized documentation. And this will help us to provide better services to our residents.
[3:15:08] Centralized tracking for staff and in turn, hopefully improved residents satisfaction.
[3:15:19] So this is the implementation timeline. And again, I apologize for the formatting here.
[3:15:26] But the first phase would be to build it.
[3:15:29] This thing we had a discovery call,
[3:15:31] Planetaria, who is our website vendor,
[3:15:33] is going to be building the citizen request portal for us.
[3:15:37] So we had our kickoff this morning.
[3:15:40] This is when we'll be building the work flows,
[3:15:43] starting to develop the staff dashboard,
[3:15:48] building in the automations,
[3:15:50] doing testing, wire framing, that sort of thing.
[3:15:53] And then next, we'll be training, so we'll provide staff training, user guides, and that will likely be, you know, department specific.
[3:16:04] Then we'll do a go live, we'll inform the public, and be adopted across staff.
[3:16:10] We're expecting that in about, after speaking with Planetaria this morning, it's going to be more like fall of 2026, not so much summer.
[3:16:19] Maybe late summer to fall.
[3:16:22] And then monitoring, monitoring will be important, that's when we do a lot of our bug fixing like we did with the website we had this phase as well.
[3:16:31] And evaluate will be the last phase where we get citizen feedback on how well this is going, staff feedback on how well it's going for them.
[3:16:41] Process improvement, identifying additional integrations with some of our many softwares that we use will be exploring that as well.
[3:16:49] So that will happen through winter 2027,
[3:16:57] and I will let Chief take it from here.
[3:17:00] Great, thank you, and so as Dr. F's mentioned, not only is this a council priority
[3:17:07] for the 360 portal, but also it will help meet the council priority for the police
[3:17:15] accommodation and complaint portals. So we will be going through the same process to add that
[3:17:23] portal into the the citywide portal for police, accommodations and complaints that will also
[3:17:30] be tracked in that 360 way that that director apps diagrammed for you. So citizens when they submit a
[3:17:40] or accommodation. They are able to track the progress of that. And internally, we can track and
[3:17:46] route that to in the police department to the appropriate bureau, whether it's an operations bureau
[3:17:53] or support services bureau and manage it from there. But because there is a period of time for
[3:17:59] this to roll out, we have also tried to provide better access for the public to submit complaints
[3:18:07] and accommodations now.
[3:18:10] So back in November, we were able to update our website.
[3:18:16] So our website is posted on their Penal.gov
[3:18:19] forward slash departments, forward slash police.
[3:18:21] And on that main page of the police department,
[3:18:24] there's an icon that says accommodations and complaints.
[3:18:27] And you can see the icon there on the left side of the screen.
[3:18:32] That the complaints and accommodations
[3:18:35] use to be a PDF that the public would then have to download, fill out and then either email
[3:18:41] in or bring it into the police department. Now it's an available form, so it's the same form
[3:18:46] whether somebody wants to submit a accommodation or complaint. And there's a lot of boxes of information
[3:18:54] that we ask for. However, none of it is mandatory except for there's an acknowledgement at the end,
[3:19:04] acknowledging that it is a crime to file a false complaint against officers.
[3:19:09] There is a log inside.
[3:19:10] But other than that, it is the discretion of the person filling out the form on what information
[3:19:16] they want to provide.
[3:19:18] And currently, when those commendations or complaints are submitted to the police department,
[3:19:23] then we are notified through our email system that that exists.
[3:19:27] So, it's not as seamless as what the new portal will be, but it is an improvement to what the old system was.
[3:19:36] Next slide, please.
[3:19:38] And then I also wanted to share another way for the community to provide feedback that some folks may not be aware that this exists.
[3:19:46] And this is a system called QHIT that the police department has had since 2021.
[3:19:52] And it is a satisfaction survey that is sent to community members who call dispatch or interact with our officers.
[3:20:04] Excuse me, there's a couple of conditions that apply for when that satisfaction survey is sent out, but it sent via text message.
[3:20:13] And it's only sent when a community member's phone number is collected during the interactions.
[3:20:17] So, if you, if you call into our dispatch, but do not provide a phone number, then there's no way for the system to send the surveys.
[3:20:26] So, some folks have asked, why am I getting a text survey this time, but not the other time,
[3:20:32] and it's, it's really dependent on if, if your phone number is entered in during that particular interaction.
[3:20:39] And so the surveys ask for experiences with dispatchers, so if you're calling in and you're interacting with dispatch only, you'll get a survey about the dispatchers.
[3:20:52] If you call in and officers do respond to your location, it also gives you an opportunity to provide feedback about the field officers, if that is part of your interaction.
[3:21:04] The negative feedback we track all the feedback, the negative feedback is then sent, most of
[3:21:11] the time is just sent to our supervisors who will make contact with the community member
[3:21:16] and attempt to find some satisfactory resolution.
[3:21:20] If needed, then we can escalate that and bring it to an appropriate level if it's not
[3:21:27] something that a supervisor can resolve at that time.
[3:21:32] And then next slide, please.
[3:21:35] So on RN, I just gave a quick little snapshot
[3:21:38] of some of the information that we receive from QHIT
[3:21:42] to be able to monitor the satisfaction
[3:21:45] that we receive from the community.
[3:21:49] And this was, I think I pulled this screenshot
[3:21:52] about a week ago.
[3:21:54] So, for example, in the yellow fields,
[3:21:57] it says, how many total surveys were sent
[3:22:00] Over a particular period of time and 209 surveys were sent by text message, we received 78 responses which is about 37%.
[3:22:12] So 37% response rate to those text messages is what we received.
[3:22:18] Then the blue talks about the total number of answers and how many of those answers were positive.
[3:22:25] So we received from those surveys that were returned to us.
[3:22:29] Thank you very much.
[3:22:30] We received a hundred and eight answers, and during this particular snapshot, we received a hundred positive responses, so our positive rate was 92.59%, which makes me very happy.
[3:22:44] And then in the green, it's just showing the trends over the course of the week period. And basically there was an 11% deviation over the course of a week when this particular snapshot of data was collected.
[3:22:59] So it's and we get additional detail on that, but it does give us a good, a good quick view of what the overall satisfaction is from those surveys that that we receive. So I would just encourage our residents. If you do receive a survey, we are reading them. We're looking at them. It really does mean a lot to us whether you provide a positive feedback or negative feedback.
[3:23:24] But I just want to do to take the opportunity to share this particular survey feedback that we also have with the police department.
[3:23:37] And next slide.
[3:23:42] That concludes our presentation.
[3:23:44] We'll now take questions.
[3:23:45] Awesome.
[3:23:46] Okay.
[3:23:46] So we'll take questions from council.
[3:23:49] Any questions?
[3:23:50] Okay.
[3:23:51] All right.
[3:23:52] Council members, society, and then council member, Martin is really.
[3:23:56] Thank you for the presentation.
[3:23:58] very excited about this. Thank you probably work on this and this feel like we're in
[3:24:03] 206 now and with that being said you know with us being in 206 I think we all get
[3:24:10] increased not just on our city email but we're also accessible on phone text across social media
[3:24:20] platforms even, so was that include, gosh, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, some folks are
[3:24:29] in next door, but I know that as a social community manager is part of your job, you're
[3:24:36] also facilitating that for this city, and so it's idea here that when folks do reach out
[3:24:43] to official city platforms through DM or through message that they would be referred to the 360
[3:24:51] portal, or will he slowly be taking, every time I minimize the amount of conversation
[3:24:57] and goes on in those mediums.
[3:25:00] Yes, that's going to be part of the conversation because we, you made a very good, you brought
[3:25:05] up a really good point, is that we receive requests and questions through many different channels.
[3:25:11] And so what this form, what this form will do a good job of, of doing is, you know, it'll be a central place where we can put in a request and track it.
[3:25:25] Now, there are different kinds of questions that we get, whether it be on social media, on the phone, email or anywhere else.
[3:25:32] And sometimes those questions are very simply answered with one response.
[3:25:39] That's the majority of what we might see on like social media.
[3:25:43] And then there are questions or requests that require more work from staff.
[3:25:48] It might need to go to another department.
[3:25:50] Those are the type of requests that would need to be input and would be best service to be putting into the portal.
[3:25:58] So, I don't, that probably doesn't answer your question about the social media, but, you
[3:26:03] know, we need to explore and talk across the departments about what kinds of requests
[3:26:09] are we going to want to track in here and, you know, if it is social media, because right
[3:26:15] now what I do for social media is if it's something for a department, I'll put it in an email.
[3:26:20] This citizen request portal is going to be replacing the email instead of us jotting it
[3:26:25] on a post it, or writing an email, we would enter it into this portal, even if the person
[3:26:32] didn't, is not either the citizen can enter it in themselves in the portal, or we would
[3:26:39] do it based on where that information is coming from, so we still need to talk about how
[3:26:44] that would look, but that's kind of where, that's my idea of where it's going to go, is that
[3:26:50] question easily answered in one shot or is it going to require more work between departments
[3:26:56] to resolve it?
[3:26:57] That makes sense.
[3:26:58] Thank you.
[3:27:00] Way that we're coming into this presentation out of the AI presentation, so privacy is always
[3:27:04] concerned.
[3:27:05] I know you have a screen shot here of what a service request might look like.
[3:27:11] I know that there's a part of you're asking for street address, city, state, all those
[3:27:17] different things, I also want to acknowledge to you that there might be residents or folks
[3:27:22] in a community who might feel unsafe, folks in the Messic Violence situations, for example,
[3:27:29] who might not want to make the request known, or might be folks with varying immigration
[3:27:32] statuses who might not want their information with the city.
[3:27:38] Is information on residents' address, demographics, are all those things collected or required,
[3:27:44] or is it more of an optional thing when putting in a surface request or a accommodation
[3:27:48] complaint?
[3:27:49] Any of those things?
[3:27:50] Those things are optional.
[3:27:52] We're still need to determine what required fields we need to serve that person better,
[3:27:58] so we'll probably be requiring some sort of an email, phone number, contact information, first
[3:28:04] name at the least.
[3:28:06] But then it will depend on the form.
[3:28:08] So, the beauty of this is that within each department, they can customize their workflow
[3:28:13] and some departments do require a first-in-a-last name.
[3:28:18] But our website is completely secure,
[3:28:22] and so all of this data is held in a secure place,
[3:28:26] and then on top of that we have our network security
[3:28:29] that we have within the city as well.
[3:28:32] So, you know, yeah, I hope that people feel comfortable
[3:28:36] and sharing their information.
[3:28:38] If they don't feel comfortable using the electronic form,
[3:28:41] people can always still call us and we're happy to help them in that way too.
[3:28:48] We're visiting person. Exactly. I think there is a last question here at Fiscal Impact.
[3:28:54] It's all sounds great. How much is it in cost to implement this fully?
[3:28:58] Yeah, so we looked at a few different solutions. Gathered some quotes. This is going to be built
[3:29:05] by Planetaria or existing website vendor and it's going to cost $10,000.
[3:29:11] And we have that already in the budget for this fiscal year and website improvements under professional services.
[3:29:19] Thank you.
[3:29:21] Okay.
[3:29:22] Council member Martinez Rubin.
[3:29:23] Thank you.
[3:29:24] Thanks for the presentation.
[3:29:26] Having worked in the public sector and almost expecting that we were often behind the private sector with regard to technology.
[3:29:34] it is your presentation, at least for me being on Councils in 2018, shows that it takes
[3:29:41] some time to get to this point and I'm glad to be present for this moment.
[3:29:47] Now, having said that and lived with the advances within the private sector, I'm reminded
[3:29:53] of why I appreciate Amazon's system as a consumer.
[3:30:00] Of products, and I'm going to make a request to speak to Planetaria about an added feature for the public sector as a consumer of services, and that's for the public's benefit.
[3:30:14] And that is to also include an indication of when their request or their complaint or their request for service is going to be met.
[3:30:30] So internally, as departments are acquainted and increasingly become familiar with the workflows required to address certain requests of service.
[3:30:41] with that then is information that leads to being able to indicate where the different steps are with regard to a request of service having been submitted.
[3:30:57] So I'll go back to my Amazon example and why I love to get notices that let me know how I can manage my time and the expectation that I might have
[3:31:10] that might be different from what is realistic when people are involved, and people will continually
[3:31:16] be involved in delivering services within the city, even in spite of the AI discussion that we
[3:31:21] had earlier or because of the AI discussion that earlier. So what I am envisioning is the
[3:31:27] feature that will let me know not only that my request for service is in progress, but an estimate
[3:31:33] of when that request will be met or where in the float workflow that request can be is found.
[3:31:41] And the example that I can think of is if I order something to be shipped to me,
[3:31:45] I know that it has been shipped. Most of us are acquainted with that. It has been shipped.
[3:31:50] It's in process of delivery and it has been delivered. So those key three key steps
[3:31:55] and I might be missing some in between that ordinarily are presented to us as consumers of products.
[3:31:59] I imagine there's something similar for a consumer of services that can be identified on the portal as well.
[3:32:09] I'll give an example of a personal example of when I requested a permit or needed to obtain a permit to update my windows.
[3:32:18] And I of course wanted that permit to be ready in no more than a month. I thought that was reasonable.
[3:32:25] Well, it turns out that when I would call it was still not, I was still not seeing that permit.
[3:32:32] And so I could easily have gotten anxious, frustrated, all of those negative emotions.
[3:32:39] As opposed to if I had the piece of information that gave me an estimate of how much time it would take,
[3:32:45] I knew that it could take approximately six months.
[3:32:48] In fact, it did take about six months.
[3:32:51] It helped me to be able to plan my life, had made the request for the permit.
[3:32:57] My contractor had an idea of when it would be obtained, I did too, and I could move on.
[3:33:03] I think similarly, consumers of public services would find it helpful and advantageous
[3:33:09] in their lives once a request is made or a complaint file, et cetera.
[3:33:14] The progress on that, or addressing that request is being made, per the workflow that is known.
[3:33:20] So, my request is this,
[3:33:25] for you, as our please, on with Planetaria, ask about if it's possible to have a feature that identifies as well where in workflows.
[3:33:37] And they can be general because I know we're talking about different departments, but more than just in progress.
[3:33:43] So that it'll be a means, the citizen request portal can offer a means also to manage expectations.
[3:33:52] Because part of the frustration that the public finds is not knowing that.
[3:33:58] It's going to be a delight to see that a request is in progress.
[3:34:03] Happy, good news.
[3:34:04] Now, how much more do I have to wait as a resident asking for a service?
[3:34:09] And it would be helpful, again, to manage expectations and have people manage their own time.
[3:34:16] It's either money or time.
[3:34:17] And if it costs now estimated 10,000, but it's going to cost us an additional 2,000,
[3:34:22] it's very much worth it to also benefit or to recognize that it's people's time,
[3:34:30] also that it's being consumed here.
[3:34:32] And we want to respect that.
[3:34:33] Thank you.
[3:34:35] Okay, questions, council member Tombs.
[3:34:38] Yeah, I just have a question regarding some requests that might be confidential like a code enforcement complaint.
[3:34:48] I want to make sure that if we got a public records request for this data, that kind of information could be unavailable on that public records request.
[3:35:05] So, our code enforcement cases are, will not be entered in this, because citizen complaint
[3:35:14] portal.
[3:35:15] In the case of a code, because we have a separate system, we use the track it for managing
[3:35:22] our code enforcement complaints.
[3:35:24] Where this citizen request portal would come into play there, would it be more of a way
[3:35:30] to notify the person about their request and track it internally, like, you know, if somebody's
[3:35:37] complaining about something comes in a city manager's office, we have a record that I sent
[3:35:43] this to code enforcement on a certain date and they have marked it as in progress. They've written
[3:35:49] a case number into that ticket so that if that person calls me back at some point I can let them
[3:35:55] You know, oh, it looks like code enforcement is working on it.
[3:35:58] Here's your case number.
[3:35:59] You can log in to e-track it to see the details of your request type of thing.
[3:36:04] Or code enforcement at that time would give them a call and request additional details and information.
[3:36:10] Another feature we have asked for in the portal, which there'll be building in for us,
[3:36:16] is staff will have the ability to mark a request as confidential,
[3:36:20] or that would hide information that would mark it as confidential and it would
[3:36:24] hide sensitive information that would be hidden from the rest of that.
[3:36:28] Thank you.
[3:36:29] Thank you.
[3:36:30] To the chair.
[3:36:31] Two more.
[3:36:31] Quick questions.
[3:36:33] Okay.
[3:36:33] Was there any questions, Mayor Perth, Tim?
[3:36:38] I don't like that.
[3:36:39] Okay.
[3:36:39] Thank you.
[3:36:40] I didn't see this.
[3:36:41] I just want to make sure that there is a space for the actual text about a
[3:36:47] a complaint or commendation on the police form.
[3:36:51] What appears on the slide, only shows the top section,
[3:36:54] which is the identifying section?
[3:36:57] Yes, yeah, I just took a snippet of what the top of the form
[3:37:01] looks like.
[3:37:01] It definitely extends below with some open field area
[3:37:05] to put information in.
[3:37:07] And to the question earlier about the required information
[3:37:12] on the police complaint and commendation form,
[3:37:16] as I mentioned, there's no mandatory field other than the acknowledgment at the end to check
[3:37:24] the box.
[3:37:25] So it can be an entirely anonymous complaint that we will...
[3:37:30] We will investigate without the requirements of the complaint and putting in their name, their contact information. The only thing with that is if they don't supply contact information, then we can't follow up with them after. But we will accept it.
[3:37:46] Okay. Is it necessary to have or maybe it also will be a required, be back in, on the
[3:37:58] back end of either the police accommodation, complaint formal or the citizen request portal.
[3:38:04] You are not a bot for those complaints that just might be created by someone other than
[3:38:12] something other than the human? Yeah, we can include that. When we build our forms now,
[3:38:18] we can put a little recapture option down there where we can make sure it's not a robot,
[3:38:23] yeah, entering netted. Thank you. Okay, I only had one question regarding the $10,000 you mentioned
[3:38:30] for the cost. Well, this software replace any of the other softwares in is there an opportunity for
[3:38:36] post-nutrol. You listed several other softwares. I'm just wondering if this would be replacing
[3:38:44] any of those softwares and those subscriptions be going to the 10,000.
[3:38:49] Not yet. Okay, so that analysis hasn't been.
[3:38:52] Yeah, so it's 10,000 to build it and then I forgot to mention it would be, it would add on
[3:38:57] an additional 1,500 annually in our website subscription for to maintain this portal. That
[3:39:05] is much cheaper than the quotes that we got for outside applications, which were like in the
[3:39:10] 12,000 range annual cost. And so, but we are doing a software evaluation right now where we're
[3:39:20] really scrutinizing the softwares that we're using, the renewal dates, we're really mapping that
[3:39:26] out in our five-year plan to try and phase out some softwares. And I think as we build this
[3:39:33] begin to use that. I think it's going to really, we want, we want staff to feel comfortable.
[3:39:39] And we want to make sure that this citizen request portal can do the same things that any
[3:39:45] software that we're going to be replacing it can do, right? So at this time we don't have this
[3:39:51] is not going to be replacing any software. It is going to be merging website forms so we won't
[3:39:59] have 39, maybe we'll have like, you know, 30 or hopefully
[3:40:02] less than that number, but so that's, yeah, I hope
[3:40:07] you got answers here. Question. Two more questions and one was the
[3:40:11] app, the panel app, is this going to be included in
[3:40:15] some way, because I know that we tried this effort before where we had the
[3:40:18] request coming in and it was a little bit rudimentary. This seems like a lot more
[3:40:22] advanced than where we were, so I just want to say thanks for
[3:40:25] for putting that working to modernize this.
[3:40:27] I'm just trying to understand, well, the app also have a box
[3:40:32] to click for request, you know,
[3:40:35] make a request through the app or is it something
[3:40:38] that's going to be strictly on the website?
[3:40:41] No, the app right now is basically like a remote control
[3:40:44] to our website.
[3:40:46] So if we have a link on the website,
[3:40:48] we can put that into the app as a button.
[3:40:51] So it would like replace the report.
[3:40:54] I think it's a report of problem button on the app that if when they push that, it would
[3:40:59] then send them to the portal to fill out.
[3:41:01] Great.
[3:41:01] And is there a mobile friendly format?
[3:41:03] I guess another question would be, is there going to be some type of community engagement
[3:41:09] like, you know, report a problem day or something?
[3:41:11] I don't know.
[3:41:12] I'm just making that up.
[3:41:13] But is what type of engagement would there be for the community or do you see that when
[3:41:19] we roll this out?
[3:41:20] Yeah.
[3:41:21] would we roll this out? We will be notifying the community, we'll notify them via social media,
[3:41:27] the polls, through the website. We have a featured programs section on our front page of our
[3:41:34] website where we put, you know, kind of the latest initiative. So I picture this as being there.
[3:41:39] We also want to make it super easy. So like right now on our website, we have the report a problem
[3:41:44] button, this would replace that, you know, I just mentioned that and it would go.
[3:41:50] Probably need a fresh enough how that rolls out and then maybe there could be a fun community,
[3:41:55] it activity, I'm that sure, but and I know this is just getting off the ground.
[3:42:00] We have plenty of time before roll out.
[3:42:02] So if there was some type of way, I would just, it feels better.
[3:42:07] I think you just answered the question that, yeah, there will be something we just have to figure out what that is.
[3:42:12] Yeah and if we have volunteers again because like what we did over the summer we were at the
[3:42:16] farmers market and we were it was an opportunity for us to tell you know the community about
[3:42:22] our services all different services across the city we were handing out the sidewalk vendor
[3:42:27] pamphlets and talking about PCTV and community warning system and so you know that would be a
[3:42:33] great forum for us to go and do outreach but you know that is we'll have to see if this portal is
[3:42:41] ready for the summer farmers market or maybe next summer or spring or that's another way that we can do what community outreach around the portal.
[3:42:51] Understood. Thank you, Director. So we'll go to public comment.
[3:42:56] City Clerk.
[3:42:58] There are no public comments.
[3:43:00] Okay. Back to Council for any comments.
[3:43:03] Mayor, protect Murphy.
[3:43:04] I actually don't have any motions about this. This is wonderful.
[3:43:07] And I just want to like commend you again goes back to 2020 when we were all living in a different time.
[3:43:13] And I think we had maybe just a spreadsheet to contact staff at that time.
[3:43:18] We didn't even have the report of problem.
[3:43:20] And I remember director F's when you came in and really helped bridge that.
[3:43:24] For me, that was enough. Just to be clear, that was, it's still amazing.
[3:43:28] Every time I communicate with residents, I do ask them to email me.
[3:43:31] I also say, you know, a quicker way of getting your problem solved is just going to
[3:43:36] peno.gov, which also we didn't have by the way in 2020, and asked them to just submit
[3:43:43] the report a problem, and it has been amazing just so we're clear.
[3:43:47] So I just want to thank you again for getting us to that point.
[3:43:51] I do, you know, I do think it's important just context wise for folks to know that in 2025,
[3:43:56] I've actually, excuse me, in 2025, the County City Council, this current composition had a retreat
[3:44:02] with a number of priorities. I think you said earlier that we had only two priorities. We
[3:44:07] definitely gave staff more priorities than two. I think it was about 10 to 10 to 15 on there.
[3:44:14] One of them was the 360 response portal. I remember the conversation of we do have a great
[3:44:24] website. We do have a way, but there's also, it just seemed like there was some disconnect
[3:44:28] in certain departments, as you mentioned, still needing additional support or just some
[3:44:33] coordination to solve some of the more complex problems. And again, loving the report of
[3:44:39] problem, subsection of our website, I do truly see this as an important step in credible
[3:44:46] step. So I just want to say thank you, because this is huge, and this is such a positive
[3:44:51] step for our city. I also want to think the council because we really did, this was one of those
[3:44:55] that was like, if one of those retreats that was really hard to decide on our priorities.
[3:45:00] And I feel like this is one of them that we really all said, like, this is a priority. And you've done such a great job as, you know, the communications director as our PIO of integrating our feedback. And it sounds like you've been talking to a lot of folks about making this happen. So thank you so much. I just want to say, I am so grateful for this. I know the residents that I talked to who are still, you know, people while we have done so many improvements in the city around communications.
[3:45:26] There are still folks who are challenged in navigating city government and I think you've done such a great job at ensuring that those who are challenged
[3:45:34] We call them in and we support them
[3:45:36] And so many different ways and so I just again just want to say thank you. I don't have any additions or changes or revisions
[3:45:44] I'm excited to see this through and would certainly love to be an ambassador to encourage residents to use it
[3:45:51] And then the other thing I wanted to know it sounds like
[3:45:56] Councilmember Martinez Rubin mentioned, like the Amazon kind of thing, where you know when something's coming, that is AI.
[3:46:03] So that would be great to kind of, yeah, to for us at some point to leverage the data that we're receiving in the process.
[3:46:12] I'm assuming the processing of completed service deliveries will eventually inform, at least the vendor, how things are being done in what department, time-wise.
[3:46:23] I don't know if we have that access now.
[3:46:25] I can say that certainly when I was in 2020,
[3:46:30] most of our permitting requests were being done
[3:46:33] via email and spreadsheet.
[3:46:34] I know each packet really tracked it, right?
[3:46:37] And they really created a way for folks to be able
[3:46:39] to understand the turnover of when they walk
[3:46:43] in City Hall or not walk in City Hall
[3:46:45] and submit their requests.
[3:46:46] How quickly that turns around.
[3:46:49] This is why in the last presentation,
[3:46:51] not also enforce kind of the importance of KPIs is those KPIs allow us to be able to track
[3:46:57] and reinforce how our policies and how our operations are moving with people or not moving
[3:47:03] with people, considering different departments. So I just want to reinforce that those service
[3:47:09] completion times can be a huge great opportunity to explore. I think that's kind of what was
[3:47:13] discussed, although I'm not sure fully the comment, but I do see that being kind of the future
[3:47:18] right a city government similar to how we see that in the private sector, typically you
[3:47:23] know when something is going to come back to you or be mail to you and when you when it
[3:47:27] doesn't or when something changes you get a report back about that. Hey this is actually going
[3:47:32] to take I just ordered some like hair stuff and I was supposed to get it yesterday and it actually
[3:47:37] is not going to come into the next week right but I know that and I'm communicated with about that
[3:47:41] service change and so I just I say that I'm excited to see if that's a possibility of data and
[3:47:47] And I also am excited to see how staff might consider how we meet those KPIs through the use
[3:47:55] of this 360-degree portal.
[3:47:57] So for me, that's not going to come now that would be after a couple of years of using
[3:48:02] the system, but eventually it'd be great to see if we can really identify the service delivery
[3:48:09] times of how we're delivering or solving individuals' crises, because that's how we're
[3:48:14] residents see them. So just very excited about this. Just want to say thank you again and this is excellent
[3:48:21] excellent work and I just want to thank you so much for adhering to our council priority and really
[3:48:26] making this real. Thank you for the feedback and you're welcome. We had one more comment,
[3:48:32] Council Member Sisai. Thanks, Mayor. Just quickly equating the comments here and saying thank you for
[3:48:37] work on this and I think feedback I've got from residents years ago was maybe I've been a request
[3:48:45] or sent an email and things kind of fell through to cracks but I think this is really going
[3:48:49] to strengthen the constituent case management being sure that everything is closed out and things
[3:48:55] are taking care of. So I just want to thank you and looking forward to seeing this fully implemented
[3:48:59] So folks, since I'm using this program.
[3:49:03] Thank you for that.
[3:49:04] And so we'll move on to item nine consent calendar.
[3:49:09] So we just would like to ask if any council members like to pull any items.
[3:49:16] No.
[3:49:16] 9A and 9C.
[3:49:20] Okay.
[3:49:21] We'll pull those.
[3:49:21] And then are there any public comments?
[3:49:25] City.
[3:49:27] Clerk.
[3:49:27] Yes.
[3:49:27] We have Raphael Minis on 9c.
[3:49:42] Good evening again, Raphael Minis was an opponent and I've got a relatively simple question
[3:49:46] on 9c. I noted what I was looking over a list of the codes that were being served
[3:49:51] plus. That one of them was a trailer that was made in 2018 and I was curious as to if the
[3:49:59] sake could give more detail as to why it was being scrapped since it seems like a relatively
[3:50:04] recent item and secondarily what sort of the expected usable life of a given police vehicle is
[3:50:12] just to see expected to get five years, ten years, fifteen years out of a vehicle. Thank you.
[3:50:22] Mayor, there are no more public comments on the consent calendar. Okay, we'll just like to
[3:50:26] give an opportunity for staff to call me if possible, if not, maybe get back to you.
[3:50:32] Absolutely, I can comment on the item that the trailer that is listed in the surplus vehicles
[3:50:38] is the Electronic Sign Trailer that often you see that's informing you of a road closure or something
[3:50:46] like that. I can't speak to the longevity of those trailers. I'm not, I'm not familiar with
[3:50:53] what their general lifespan is. However, we did receive grant funding for replacement of that
[3:51:00] trailer. And we are also going to be seeking grant funding for a second trailer as well.
[3:51:07] Thank you. And then we had two items pulled council members to say you mentioned A and C.
[3:51:15] Yes, for 9 A, which are the minutes for two of our meetings and discuss this with Deputy
[3:51:20] City Clerk in advance. I wanted to make a correction on the minutes for the special city council meeting
[3:51:25] from January 27th. I'm going to request that we correct the minutes to reflect that I was present and
[3:51:30] participated in that special meeting arriving at approximately 60 p.m.
[3:51:36] And that's my direction.
[3:51:39] I'm not aware of which it probably the first page of the.
[3:51:42] It would be on the first page of the special meeting minutes on January 27th,
[3:51:48] where Council Member Sassai is marked absent.
[3:51:51] Thank you.
[3:51:53] 9c and a fast forward to that and apologies I just just came up
[3:51:58] But I wanted to ask about clarification on the process of
[3:52:04] But the surplus process is like how those funds are then used to go into I think there is a replacement of vehicle fun
[3:52:11] The most vehicles go to auction some are just complete the spos or what's the processor?
[3:52:17] Yes, for for the most part with these vehicles then they will go to auction and then whatever
[3:52:23] money is generated from that auction goes into our replacement fund. So anything any time of
[3:52:30] Call is either at the end of service or the cost of the repairs outweigh the maintenance of the vehicle
[3:52:40] then we will submit these requests to council to be approved to surplus the items so that we can take that money and put it towards replacements.
[3:52:51] Yes. Got it. And how much do you anticipate for the garnering for six vehicles listed?
[3:52:59] You have a ballpark of how much do you usually go for auction?
[3:53:03] I don't have a ballpark. I can see if I can get one and get back.
[3:53:08] But it really just depends on the auction and the auction companies also take a percentage of that as well.
[3:53:16] Okay, and are there any other vehicles that we have PD, but also across all departments that might be already qualifying as beyond serviceable life or getting close to that?
[3:53:32] So I don't know the status of all the vehicle, the fleet of other departments, that's certainly something that I could find out and bring back to Council, but for the police department, this is a comprehensive list of what we have right now.
[3:53:45] We are taking a really strong look at our fleet because we have a lot of vehicles that are reaching a sort of a maximum life as a as a patrol vehicle.
[3:53:58] So these, this list is comprehensive for us at this time. Now, obviously, with vehicles, those things can change, but this is probably what you're going to see for a period of time for surplus.
[3:54:10] I think it's been a while since the department
[3:54:13] last submitted a surplus request to the council.
[3:54:17] Got it.
[3:54:18] And the six vehicles mentioned here,
[3:54:19] those are currently stored in the public parking lot
[3:54:23] by the Per Street.
[3:54:26] So most of them are being stored across the street
[3:54:31] from the police departments.
[3:54:34] But for example, the Harley Davidson and the sign trailer
[3:54:38] are within the secured parking lot of the of the police department. Those are smaller items.
[3:54:45] Gotcha. And this does not have the same parking lot that's by the same Joseph.
[3:54:50] It is good. It is. Okay. It's got it. Yes. There's all my questions. I just want to ask
[3:54:54] for public. Thank you. Mayor Pro Tem Murphy. Yeah. Mayor I just wanted to move the approval of the
[3:54:59] consent calendar with the amendments by Council Member Sessai. I'll second. Okay.
[3:55:03] city clerk. You take roll. Mayor Tave. Yes. Mayor Pro Tim Murphy. Council member
[3:55:11] Sessai. Yes. Council member Martinez Rubin. Yes. Council member Tom's. Yes.
[3:55:15] Thank you. Okay. So next is item 10A for public hearings. So we'll
[3:55:23] turn it over to city attorney casher for report.
[3:55:29] Thank you. Mayor Tave. Good evening.
[3:55:32] Mayor city council. Staff members of the public.
[3:55:34] aircatcher. I am the city attorney and I will be presenting this evening on a resolution calling
[3:55:41] for a special election in the establishment of an elected mayor ballot measure here in the
[3:55:47] city of Penal. There is a PowerPoint that hopefully Dave is uploading. Thank you. We could go to the next slide.
[3:55:58] Great. So the staff recommendation is that the city council consider adoption of the proposed
[3:56:04] resolution, calling for a special election and submitting to the voters, the question of creating
[3:56:11] the office of an elected mayor. I should add, there's just one other item that we also
[3:56:17] will need direction from the council on if there's, if the council majority votes in favor
[3:56:21] of moving forward with a special election, we'd also like some direction on the compensation for an
[3:56:28] but I'll talk more about that in later slides.
[3:56:32] Next slide.
[3:56:34] So just by way of background on December 2nd of 2025,
[3:56:39] the City Council voted to direct staff
[3:56:41] to prepare the necessary materials to submit to the voters,
[3:56:45] the question of whether the office of elected mayor
[3:56:48] shall be established in the city of Penal,
[3:56:51] pursuant to government code section 34900.
[3:56:55] As most of the members of the public know at present,
[3:56:57] the city council has comprised of five members elected at large, and the position of Mayor
[3:57:03] annually rotates annually based on a number of votes, the number of votes that the candidates
[3:57:09] received in the previous election. Next slide. So the procedural requirements for this particular
[3:57:17] ballot measure. Again, this is governed by government code section 34900, and that contains
[3:57:24] the requirements for establishing an elected mayor in any city here in California through a ballot
[3:57:30] measure process. So the statute provides that the city council may submit to the electors,
[3:57:35] the following questions, shall the electors elect a mayor and for council members? So, you know,
[3:57:41] if they answer in the affirmative, that would establish an elected mayor. And then shall the term
[3:57:45] of office be two years, or shall the term of office be four years. So the state of California
[3:57:51] under state law allows for the voters to select a two or four year term for an elected mayor.
[3:57:58] There is not the ability to select a one or three year term, the statute requires a P2 or four.
[3:58:05] If a majority of the voters cast a majority of the votes cast are in favor of an elected
[3:58:10] office, one seat on the council will be designated as the office of the mayor at the next general
[3:58:16] municipal election held in the city. So if the special election occurs on June 2nd, then
[3:58:23] the next regular election, which would be November of this year, one of the open positions
[3:58:29] would be set as a position for the elected mayor. Next slide.
[3:58:36] So the proposed resolution that's
[3:58:38] included in the staff report, it essentially calls for a special election to be held on June 2nd,
[3:58:45] 2026 and request an elected mayor ballot measure be consolidated with the statewide primary election that is also held on that same date.
[3:58:55] The resolution also includes a language of the ballot measure. Again, it's very it's identical to the language that I'd read just read.
[3:59:03] That's prescriptive and is required by the government code.
[3:59:06] The text to be added to the municipal code, so also within the staff report is an ordinance.
[3:59:12] The ordinance is essentially the chapter of the municipal code that would need to be added to establish the elected mayor.
[3:59:19] And there's language in the ordinance that describes the essentially the powers of the elected mayor and how they differ from the existing situation.
[3:59:29] And the resolution also includes deadlines for the primary and
[3:59:35] rebuttal arguments.
[3:59:38] As the members of the public and council may recall for any ballot
[3:59:41] measure, there's a city attorney impartial analysis that's
[3:59:44] included in the ballot measure.
[3:59:47] There's a statement in favor, a statement of pose.
[3:59:49] So this is a ballot measure.
[3:59:51] It would be similar to a sales tax ballot measure or any other ballot
[3:59:54] measure that appears on an election ballot.
[3:59:57] Next slide.
[4:00:00] So, the powers of the mayor. So, an elected mayor is a member of the city council and has all of the powers and duties of a member of the city council.
[4:00:10] For the most part, an elected mayor has the same powers as an appointed mayor.
[4:00:15] The ordinance that's included in the staff report describes the very specific powers of an elected mayor, which includes presiding over the city council meetings, which is the case currently for the mayor.
[4:00:28] The elected mayor can request the governor proclaim a state of emergency.
[4:00:33] The elected mayor can certify Appadavits in acknowledging documents, which are executed
[4:00:38] by the city.
[4:00:40] That's pretty much the case right now.
[4:00:42] Make appointments to committees with approval of the city council.
[4:00:47] So typically the elected mayor has the ability to make appointments, but those appointments
[4:00:51] still do need to be approved by the full city council.
[4:00:54] So if an elected mayor decides to appoint an individual to a committee or a commission and the majority of the council is not supportive, then that appointment would not occur.
[4:01:04] Next slide.
[4:01:07] Okay.
[4:01:07] Salary.
[4:01:08] So government code section 361-36516.1 provides that an elected mayor collect may collect the salary in addition to the salary established for council members.
[4:01:21] if approved by ordinance of the city council or the voters.
[4:01:26] So currently the municipal code provides for a salary for council members.
[4:01:31] It's $950 a month.
[4:01:34] There is no restriction on the salary that can be established for an elected mayor.
[4:01:39] I provide here a few examples of other cities in the region that have an elected mayor
[4:01:45] and the compensation that is set for those particular elected mayors.
[4:01:50] The staff report and the resolution includes a compensation or a salary of $100 more per month than council members.
[4:01:59] That is not a staff recommendation. It's really just a placeholder.
[4:02:03] So that's the question really for the council.
[4:02:07] If there's the interest in moving forward, staff would like some direction on what that amount should be.
[4:02:14] I should note that the city council can just set the elected mayor salary to be consistent with all the other council members.
[4:02:23] It could certainly do that.
[4:02:25] The other thing to note is that the salary set for the elected mayor is codified in the ordinance.
[4:02:32] So if the council decides three months from now or a year from now to change that salary,
[4:02:38] You can do so through the ordinance process, you wouldn't need to go out on a new ballot measure to establish a change in the compensation for the elected mayor.
[4:02:47] So the voters decide on whether or not to establish the elected mayor and then the kind of powers, if you will, the salary that's all set by ordinance and that's just first and second read, it's a public hearing and there would be a public process for that.
[4:03:01] Next slide.
[4:03:02] So, fiscal impact. So, the estimated cost to place one ballot measure on the 2026 primary
[4:03:11] election ballot is approximately 37,000 to 36. Between 37,000 and 55,000. That's information
[4:03:23] provided from the county, who administered the election. It's basically a formula based
[4:03:28] the number of voters and there's a dollar amount of sign to each voter, so that's just the
[4:03:35] cost of the ballot measure. There are also additional costs associated with staff time
[4:03:40] for preparing the actual ballot measure city attorney impartial analysis in that as well.
[4:03:49] I should note that moving forward, obviously an elected mayor, that will then be on later election
[4:03:56] ballots. Those would be consistent with the council member elections. So having a second question
[4:04:03] of, you know, the candidates for mayor and then a question for council members, that would be a kind
[4:04:09] of negligible cost, as confirmed by the county. It's not like adding a ballot measure, which is a very
[4:04:14] separate question where you have a full analysis that needs to be included. It's really just an additional
[4:04:19] question on the ballot. So the cost associated with that would be negligible moving forward.
[4:04:27] next slide. So that concludes my presentation. I'm happy to answer questions and as mentioned there's
[4:04:33] really two questions for the council should we move forward with this particular measure
[4:04:38] and then any direction on the salary to set for an elected mayor if that's the direction.
[4:04:43] Okay. Thank you. So council mayor. So I'm usually looking this way. I mean the report stands. So I'll start on
[4:04:50] this side. Council member Martinez Rubin. If you could. Sure. Thank you. Just clarification city attorney
[4:04:55] casher you mentioned, the current salary for council members at 9.50 per month. That is not all council
[4:05:03] members at this point. Yes. Is that correct? That's correct. So the ordinance went into effect.
[4:05:10] I think in August of 2024, and it went into effect for, it was, it's basically when you get in,
[4:05:18] you know, newly elected council members receive that salary. But council members who were in
[4:05:24] office of the time are not, they didn't receive the new salary adjustment.
[4:05:27] So currently two of the council members on the day is would be the ones that have that salary.
[4:05:36] I don't know that for certain, but that sounds right.
[4:05:39] Yes.
[4:05:41] That is so.
[4:05:42] Okay.
[4:05:42] Thank you.
[4:05:43] The questions I have in reading the material, which is the same that everyone received on Thursday
[4:05:51] and is your presentation today.
[4:05:53] I've got three questions.
[4:05:57] We're general lossity, so council manager, formal government, not an elected mayor in our mayor's
[4:06:02] rotate, annually.
[4:06:04] May a general lossity with an elected mayor become a charter city?
[4:06:10] Yes, so a general loss city with an elected mayor can become a charter city.
[4:06:16] The process for doing that would require kind of similar to what we've presented on this
[4:06:22] before, but it's the council would essentially need to direct staff to prepare a resolution to
[4:06:27] place a ballot measure for the city becoming a charter city. So, an elected mayor cannot
[4:06:34] unilaterally create a charter city situation. There would still need to be council direction,
[4:06:40] a resolution approving that and then a ballot measure where the voters would decide whether or not
[4:06:45] the city would become a charter city.
[4:06:47] And that could possibly happen in 2020, eight.
[4:06:53] Yeah, I believe the requirement is that a charter city ballot
[4:06:56] measure needs to be on a general election ballot.
[4:07:02] So there's, well, I think there's a general election in November
[4:07:04] in 2020, yeah.
[4:07:06] OK, thank you.
[4:07:07] Another question.
[4:07:07] Could that charter contain terms or provisions such
[4:07:12] that if we were to have the penal city,
[4:07:15] city of Pino would have to have would have an elected mayor.
[4:07:18] The mayor could become a quote strong mayor.
[4:07:21] There's language of that in your presentation.
[4:07:24] Yeah, so typically charter cities do have the ability
[4:07:28] to establish a strong...
[4:07:30] Mayer. That would, but that's the case currently, if the city council were to establish and become, you know, direct the ballot measure and the voters decided to become a charter city, even if there was a rotating mayor.
[4:07:45] The council could still establish that appointed mayor to be a strong mayor.
[4:07:50] But the same would be true for an elected mayor. So it's, it could go either way.
[4:07:55] Thank you. And compensation in the city examples that you provide. Is that compensation based on the population of the respective cities and is that population eligibility or requirement based on statute?
[4:08:12] Good question. So it was hard it was hard to know. So I part of the reason I included the
[4:08:19] $100 more than council members, so that was what I think that was San Ramone who had that which seemed like the closest comparable.
[4:08:27] But the thing that I'm not aware of is what responsibilities the elected mayor has in each of these cities.
[4:08:33] So it may be the case that it's not an apples to apples comparison.
[4:08:36] Some of those elected mayors might have greater responsibilities due to these time commitments than other cities, so they have a higher kind of compensation as a result of that.
[4:08:45] I wasn't able to drill down to know exactly the differences between each of those.
[4:08:50] Okay, but with regard to population size, is that a statute built in to California statute?
[4:08:56] As to smaller cities will have a amount of compensation for their elected larger cities,
[4:09:03] like Los Angeles, San Francisco, Oakland, have higher salaries and staff because they can't support that
[4:09:11] because of the higher population and businesses, et cetera.
[4:09:14] Yes.
[4:09:14] So under California law, council member salaries are set by statute and they're
[4:09:20] capped based on the population of a particular city.
[4:09:24] So there's a maximum amount that a city, the size of Penol, can compensate council members.
[4:09:30] Under state law, there is no restriction or limitation on the amount of salary that an elected
[4:09:35] mayor may be the side.
[4:09:38] So that same restriction for council members does not apply to compensation for an elected
[4:09:43] Mayor. Thank you. Yeah. Okay, I think we had council member, sorry. I had a question.
[4:09:50] Oh, sorry. Yeah. Okay. All right. I didn't see the question, but. Okay. Mayor,
[4:09:55] I'm going. Okay. Thank you so much, Mayor. I just had a couple of questions. First of all,
[4:09:59] City Attorney Castro. Thank you for getting us to this point. I know we directed staff around this
[4:10:03] in November. Maybe December of last year. So thank you for bringing this presentation
[4:10:06] back. I think that the same question I had around what is SB 329, I think that's the Senator
[4:10:14] Doz Bill who's retired now, is that the reference of standards that you're referring to
[4:10:19] as a really compensation for elected? For city council members? For city council members?
[4:10:27] I'm not sure the legislative bill. It's in the government code though, but yeah.
[4:10:33] So, what I'm hearing from you in terms of direction tonight is that the, I'm so sorry.
[4:10:43] So, you said for SB, you're not familiar with the bill, but the government code is integrated into that.
[4:10:50] That's what you're referring more to as opposed to the bill.
[4:10:54] So, for the compensation of the elected mayor,
[4:10:56] There really is no kind of state law restriction.
[4:11:01] It's open.
[4:11:03] In the sample, the example cities that I have here,
[4:11:06] you see there's quite a range.
[4:11:08] There's some that are as high as $3,000 a month
[4:11:12] and, or $66 or $7,000 a month, so there's a range.
[4:11:17] And then of these cities, do you know which ones have council manager
[4:11:21] forms of government?
[4:11:22] I assume rich man, for example, has the council manager
[4:11:26] for my government, but I was to my question too.
[4:11:29] Yeah, I think, I mean, I definitely know Union City
[4:11:31] and Newark and Sandley Andrew, those I know for sure,
[4:11:36] but you know for sure, our city manager council forms
[4:11:39] of government.
[4:11:40] Okay, yeah, I know Martinez has an elected mayor.
[4:11:47] I know that's not mentioned here.
[4:11:49] I'm just wondering, is that a council manager form of government?
[4:11:53] I'm not sure about marketing as yet.
[4:11:55] I could look that up though.
[4:11:56] Yeah.
[4:11:56] Would you know, it's the city of Petaluma.
[4:11:58] They're about our same size as well, do what they have council manager?
[4:12:02] I believe they do.
[4:12:03] But they have an elected mayor as well.
[4:12:06] I'm not sure.
[4:12:07] I haven't done one of my other staff reports may have had every single city that has elected
[4:12:12] mayor.
[4:12:13] Okay.
[4:12:13] Yeah.
[4:12:14] There are a couple of cities from this last staff report that was listed.
[4:12:16] So I just was wondering about that.
[4:12:18] I know these are this particular slide is talking about salary, but you know,
[4:12:22] One of the concerns that some residents have been having has been the notion that having an elected mayor might not create an environment where there is a council manager for a government.
[4:12:33] And I just was wondering whether or not the city attorney's office had looked into some of that because I wanted to close.
[4:12:39] I really want to ensure that residents understand that there are cities that could have both systems.
[4:12:45] And so I just want clarity on that.
[4:12:47] Yeah, so the vast majority of cities in the region have a council member city manager form of government.
[4:12:55] The strong mayor is a different way of referring to it and that is essentially where the mayor has more or less the authority of the city manager and access kind of the city administrator if you will.
[4:13:08] Those are pretty rare situations, but there are several cities that have elected mayors that are still council member city manager forms a government.
[4:13:16] it's not, they're not the same thing.
[4:13:19] Gotcha.
[4:13:19] And then there was a comment made that the reason why the state has standards around matching
[4:13:28] councilmember compensation to population size is the reason why we have that is because of
[4:13:36] city's capacity to handle that compensation.
[4:13:39] Is that the reason why that law was created?
[4:13:43] I'd have to dig into the legislative history of that particular, that bill, that it's been
[4:13:50] amended over the years, so it has been adjusted, obviously, for inflation and other things.
[4:13:57] I'm not exactly sure why it was set in that way.
[4:14:01] I think it's probably not the first to assume that then.
[4:14:05] I don't know.
[4:14:06] I don't know.
[4:14:06] Yeah, I don't know.
[4:14:07] Okay.
[4:14:08] I just want to make sure.
[4:14:08] Thank you.
[4:14:09] Yeah.
[4:14:10] Okay.
[4:14:11] Keeping with the rotation, council member, society, and then council member Tombs.
[4:14:16] Thank you, Mayor.
[4:14:17] And thank you, City Attorney, for their presentation.
[4:14:20] Followed question to council member Martinez Rubin's question on whether a city with an elected mayor could become a charter city.
[4:14:27] Could a city with an appointed mayor become a charter city?
[4:14:31] Yes.
[4:14:32] Okay.
[4:14:32] And is the measure in the front of us today going to turn panel into a charter city?
[4:14:37] If this were approved, the ballot measure would simply ask the question of whether or not to establish an elected mayor would not create a charter city.
[4:14:44] Okay, thank you.
[4:14:45] I want to go over some of the things I've heard over the past few weeks in the public around this issue.
[4:14:53] Most on social media, some three email, but yes, some statements in terms that have been used to describe that.
[4:15:00] I'll come to this measure and I'll just go one by one if that's okay. I've heard this measure would
[4:15:05] approve of full-time salary mayor. So city attorney, if pass, will this measure approve of full-time
[4:15:11] salary for the elected mayor? And when I say full-time salary, I'm referring to $50,000 plus or minus,
[4:15:18] or even beyond that. No, so this, the council will set the salary for the elected mayor as part of
[4:15:26] discussion, but the roles and responsibilities of the elect mayor and they're described in the
[4:15:33] ordinance and the staff report, it wouldn't be a full-time position. It's going to be very
[4:15:37] consistent with the current mayor. Okay. Thank you. And then I know Councillor Miller,
[4:15:42] please remove and ask this question as well. The current compensation for Councillor
[4:15:46] member in the mayor right now is it was the 1950? The municipal code is set at 950.
[4:15:52] $950 annually that's $11,400 and I think I think what you're referring to, you
[4:15:57] Councilmember Tennis Rubin is that, for folks who were elected, I think, before that,
[4:16:02] before 2024, I think 2022, we don't receive that updated compensation, it's a lower
[4:16:09] rate and you don't have it on hand right now.
[4:16:13] Yeah, I forgot what it was adjusted from, and the idea there is that Councilmember
[4:16:18] whose office should kind of increase their own compensation while they're there, so it's
[4:16:25] basically for newly elected council members.
[4:16:29] I've heard the term authoritarian used to describe this initiative and then an elected mayor
[4:16:34] would diminish the powers and authorities of individual members of this council.
[4:16:39] So if pass, will this measure provide the elected mayor with veto power?
[4:16:47] individual power to appoint staff or appoint commissioners,
[4:16:52] you know, laterally, without council's consensus.
[4:16:57] So this ordinance would not create a, you know, authority or power for the mayor,
[4:17:01] and it would not allow an elected mayor to unilaterally appoint a commissioner,
[4:17:07] the kind of powers, if you will, of the elected mayor are in the ordinance,
[4:17:12] and it's very similar to what we currently have.
[4:17:14] Okay, and so are there no additional authorities?
[4:17:18] No, so, yeah, what's in the ordinance is really what we are essentially
[4:17:24] designating for that role for that position.
[4:17:27] Thank you.
[4:17:28] Okay.
[4:17:29] Councilmember Tom, please.
[4:17:30] Yes.
[4:17:30] Thank you.
[4:17:31] The way this, it's currently written, if this were approved, you could have say three candidates
[4:17:41] It's running for the position of mayor three or four, but let's say you had three.
[4:17:49] You could have a mayor with less than 50% of the vote that gets that wins the election.
[4:18:00] In other words, we're not doing a primary.
[4:18:02] This doesn't anticipate doing a primary or a runoff.
[4:18:07] Is that accurate?
[4:18:08] This does not. The council can, if there's an interest in having a primary, that that
[4:18:15] can be, we could establish that. We could set that up as the process, but as it reads,
[4:18:20] no, it's just an election for the mayor position.
[4:18:24] Okay, so I know the city of Richmond just recently changed their process so that they do have
[4:18:30] primary which adds cost to the election process. So in June they're going to narrow it down
[4:18:38] to two candidates and then in November they will select because the way their previous process
[4:18:46] was the current mayor had less than 50% of the vote and one. So that's a point that I just want
[4:18:55] to bring up. I don't have any other questions. So on that note, I mean, you're bringing up a good
[4:19:02] point, Councilmember Tombs. In the event that you had two people run for three, well, I guess
[4:19:09] three people, no, yeah, would be one person and everybody else ran for mayor and there was one person
[4:19:16] in two councilmember seats. What would happen in the event that obviously one person gets selected as mayor,
[4:19:22] one person gets a council and then you have a vacancy. What happens to that scenario?
[4:19:28] Yeah, so the municipal code provides for the specific, but essentially the council would
[4:19:34] appoint to fill the vacancy. It would be an appointment at that point. So if people all decided to
[4:19:40] run for mayor, then he would still have to have a full council appear and the council would act
[4:19:46] exactly the way it's acting now and have the same powers as it is now. Okay. Thanks.
[4:19:54] Any other questions from Council? Okay. We'll open it up to public comment.
[4:20:01] I want to thank everybody for hanging with us with these two last two items.
[4:20:07] And if we could city clerk, we could start public comment.
[4:20:10] Thank you, Mayor.
[4:20:12] Ann Moriarty.
[4:20:25] Good evening, Mayor.
[4:20:27] Council, staff, citizens.
[4:20:30] So Council, let's just give you the benefit of the doubt and say that you really, really want the temperature of the room.
[4:20:41] Regarding if the voters of Penal want to elect the mayor.
[4:20:46] Fair enough,
[4:20:49] but it seems to me that there's two ways to do that right now.
[4:20:52] There's two ways for the council to understand where the citizens of Penal stand.
[4:21:01] One is you could be fiscally irresponsible and commit political suicide by voting to spend up to $58,000 plus of taxpayer funds
[4:21:21] To place the question on a ballot measure in June, or two, you could vote no on authorizing
[4:21:31] this ballot measure, and instead submit a well thought out question to the voters on
[4:21:40] the citywide poll, which is already scheduled for the spring.
[4:21:45] In speaking with the city attorney, this would not cost the city a dime.
[4:21:54] And it gets you the same information.
[4:21:56] The only thing it does is it slows the process down.
[4:22:01] However, if your thought is to understand where the citizens of Penolar,
[4:22:12] I assume you're wise enough to make the right choice.
[4:22:16] Thank you.
[4:22:18] Thank you for coming.
[4:22:20] Next speaker, please.
[4:22:22] Kent Moriarty.
[4:22:31] Good evening. I'm not clear why members of council have been pushing so hard to change by no system of government to that elected mayor.
[4:22:47] The residents have an ass for it and appear to be opposed to it. I'm opposed to it because I think they consolidate in more power in one person will create problems for the city.
[4:22:59] And I feel that the current system of rotating the mayor is more democratic because eventually
[4:23:06] the council member that a voter feels most represented by rotates into the mayor position.
[4:23:15] If there's really no agenda behind this, and the council simply wants to take the temperature
[4:23:21] of the room and know what the community wants, then add the question to the poll that's
[4:23:28] been planned for free. You'll find out how the community stands on this. Rushing right into
[4:23:34] an expensive special election is simply not justified and I seriously question why anybody
[4:23:41] would support doing so. Thank you.
[4:23:46] Thank you for a comment. Next speaker please. Richard
[4:23:50] Kaffell
[4:23:59] followed by Peter Murray.
[4:24:07] Hi, my name is Richard Kaffell. First off, I want to say thank you
[4:24:10] much for your service. I mean, you're here doing work for the city, work for the people,
[4:24:17] and we appreciate it. And you get compensation, but honestly, it'd be nice to be able to give
[4:24:24] you more. But on this, I'm kind of confused. I've heard several things, but what I haven't heard
[4:24:32] is why? What's the purpose? I mean, what's underlying? What brought this up?
[4:24:40] Well, you know, there is there a particular problem that we can't fix with the council of the
[4:24:46] way it is now. It sounds like the mayor is going to have the same tasks and authority.
[4:24:56] Nothing special about it. So why are we doing this? I don't understand. And then on top of that,
[4:25:02] Why the timing, I don't actually say why we are doing it on the special election as opposed to a general election?
[4:25:11] I don't see a reason and that's what I keep on hearing people saying things and they're all dancing around the whole thing of why?
[4:25:21] Why do this and why do it now?
[4:25:23] So, but maybe someone can answer that, I'll give you the opportunity to do that.
[4:25:30] But on top of that, 90% or more, I think if I did some research in the cities of this
[4:25:40] size, don't have an elected mayor, and again, why if everybody else doesn't have, why do
[4:25:47] need it. But on top of that, just to give you an idea what Penal doesn't like, it seems
[4:25:57] to be, is changing the way elections are done. And if you remember in, was it 2018, almost
[4:26:07] 80% of the people voted no on Proposition P. Proposition P was to change the term limits.
[4:26:17] If you remember, 80% of the people voted no.
[4:26:22] Do you think you're going to get 80% to vote for a mayor?
[4:26:27] Something tells me that 120 years history of doing the way we're doing, and you're going
[4:26:32] to get the same people who voted 80% no on terminoins to go for a mayor?
[4:26:37] I just don't see it.
[4:26:39] Again, you know, maybe you can tell us why, because the people are going to want to know
[4:26:44] why are you putting this on the ballot?
[4:26:46] No one had been able to explain that.
[4:26:49] So, okay, let's just say, we don't know why.
[4:26:55] We don't know what the good things are,
[4:26:57] or the reasons for it, but there are reasons why we went.
[4:27:00] I mean, there are, let's see,
[4:27:05] it could cause animosity.
[4:27:09] Sorry, yeah, we had three minutes.
[4:27:11] state. Sorry about that. I'll make the announcement. We do have three minutes per speaker for
[4:27:18] public comment. But thank you for your comments. Next speaker. Peter Murray.
[4:27:30] Good evening. Good evening.
[4:27:32] Good evening. Congratulations, Mr. Mayor.
[4:27:36] I know it's belated, but thank you, Mr. Mayor. Yeah.
[4:27:41] That's a former, a former, a former, yeah, once upon a time, like a fairy tale, almost.
[4:27:50] Yeah, I wanted to bring up, I saw something on next door and then I had to question it myself.
[4:28:00] And so I wrote this up.
[4:28:02] I asked myself, why do we need this now or ever?
[4:28:06] We're a small California city, we've been incorporated for a city over 100 years, and we
[4:28:12] have self-governed ourselves extremely well by all standards.
[4:28:16] And we operate under the state, and exist under the state's general law umbrella, the
[4:28:22] tenets by which we operate are steadfast and honorable.
[4:28:26] We are being told that our governance system is antiquated, that's the word I saw.
[4:28:31] And I'm asking, who's perpetrating this falsehood and why to go along with the question
[4:28:38] asked, a question for you and that you should know is that the vast majority of California
[4:28:50] cities use this methodology today fast, not one here and one there, the vast, the majority.
[4:29:00] So that's a fact check for you if you want to do it, I did.
[4:29:04] So what we have here is an opinion, and nothing more than an opinion, but it's an aggressive
[4:29:09] one.
[4:29:11] It's an attack on the proven and fair-minded system that we haven't placed today.
[4:29:15] So what's the hustle here?
[4:29:17] I'm asking because this has been heard and discussed before at the council level.
[4:29:26] We talked about a prior, what back in the fall, and I think that you understood that the people in the community were not in favor of it.
[4:29:42] But here we are again. I wrote this because I thought it was confusing.
[4:29:46] It seems like we have a dog with a proverbial bone that won't let go.
[4:29:51] And I asked the council here to see it just for that.
[4:29:54] Reject the idea and move on.
[4:30:00] I'm hoping that this evening that at least three of you or more council members will step up and nicks this idea and leap and all alone and let Penelope be Penelope.
[4:30:11] For the public please understand this council has far more serious matters to handle than this, seriously. It is almost criminal to put out taxpayers money for this proposal. The numbers could reach over $50,000.
[4:30:26] Money that could be spent on more pressing matters.
[4:30:29] We have to account for the PERS and OPEB reserve money that were siphoned off.
[4:30:34] We have contracts with the police.
[4:30:37] Please.
[4:30:40] Thank you.
[4:30:43] Thank you.
[4:30:44] Thank you.
[4:30:44] Thank you for your comment.
[4:30:46] Okay.
[4:30:46] Next speaker, please.
[4:30:49] Debbie Long.
[4:30:54] Followed by William Horton.
[4:31:03] Good evening council.
[4:31:04] I'm going to be a little bit more direct.
[4:31:06] As you know, I'm here tonight to voice my opposition to having an elected mayor
[4:31:10] in our small city of Peno.
[4:31:12] However, tonight, I would also like to respond specifically
[4:31:15] to Devin Murphy's post on next door,
[4:31:18] which likely has broken the Brown Act
[4:31:19] in the form of a serial meeting.
[4:31:22] He was clarifying the item regarding the elected mayor
[4:31:24] and his perception of misinformation,
[4:31:27] yet he isn't specific.
[4:31:29] He states that the city cannot make this choice on their own.
[4:31:32] We know that.
[4:31:33] It appears he isn't listening to us,
[4:31:36] because our arguments are that we have established
[4:31:38] that an election is not appropriate given that there has not been any public outcry.
[4:31:44] The council isn't testing the water through polling as with the other ballot measures and
[4:31:48] the cost of putting this on a ballot up to $57,000 plus staff time as well as the cost
[4:31:55] of the November ballot is not financially set on decision given the budgeting constraints of the
[4:32:00] city.
[4:32:01] He also states that this ballot does not change the form of government.
[4:32:04] Yet he continues to point out that his new structure would directly impact leadership, accountability, and stability.
[4:32:11] Currently, all council members have demonstrated that the health these qualities.
[4:32:14] Is he diminishing the current council's qualifications?
[4:32:18] Is he saying only he, because at this time he's the one to be a full-time mayor,
[4:32:22] and this is his third attempt to try and push this through, is the only one that can successfully lead the city?
[4:32:28] Sounds like he is intending to change the form of government,
[4:32:31] And if he is not elected as a strong mayor, the council majority could vote to give him more power, as well as more financial compensation.
[4:32:42] His he expresses that the opposition to this measure is due to personal grievances and political grudges, nothing could be further from the truth.
[4:32:49] I wish I had the time to state the names of the 44 plus individuals that posted on next door.
[4:32:55] All denouncing and election and need for an elected mayor.
[4:32:58] According to him, Penal has frequent turnovers and inconsistency and leadership.
[4:33:03] If he is referring to losing two city managers in his many years, then he is part of that, as well.
[4:33:09] No wherein his posting did he articulate how the city would be better served under elected mayor.
[4:33:14] Instead, he just scripts a lot of buzzwords.
[4:33:17] And lastly, he's added language as to how specifically someone should come to the podium
[4:33:21] and articulate why it's a good idea to have an elected mayor on the ballot.
[4:33:26] Something about directing language scripted by him is like telling people they can't think for the set themselves.
[4:33:33] But as you remember, I started my comments with a Brown Act and a serial meeting.
[4:33:37] Devin has made a public post for all of the council to read.
[4:33:41] Since only two members can have any discussion on the comment on the topic coming on in a June day,
[4:33:47] he is clearly in violation of the Brown Act through serial meeting.
[4:33:51] As I've stated before, no kings in Penel.
[4:33:54] And the bottom line tonight, this is not about Devon, it is about the rest of the council
[4:33:58] and hoping your vote reflects the citizens of Penal and not the alliances on the council.
[4:34:06] Thank you for your comment.
[4:34:09] I would just ask the public, you know, as part of a decorum to direct comments through the mayor
[4:34:16] and not any direct comments to any of the council members or staff.
[4:34:19] So I would just like to ask that of public comment.
[4:34:24] Thank you.
[4:34:25] Next speaker, please.
[4:34:26] Good evening, Mayor and Council.
[4:34:28] My name is William B. Horton.
[4:34:30] I am a Peno voter and I speak in opposition to item number 10A
[4:34:35] for a separately elected mayor.
[4:34:38] First, the election would cost would be unnecessary spending
[4:34:42] that takes funding away from police, fire, parks, and streets.
[4:34:47] Second, the existing mayor of Rotation works fine and gives four people one year each
[4:34:54] is mayor.
[4:34:56] Third, there has been no public outreach such as polling, communication is highly
[4:35:01] important.
[4:35:02] Therefore, I will not be voting in June to waste money on having elected mayor.
[4:35:08] Thank you.
[4:35:10] Thank you for comment next speaker, please.
[4:35:13] Mark Zimmerman, followed by Marsha Jothwick.
[4:35:30] In the city manager's report, City Attorney's report, he lists six neighboring elected
[4:35:36] mayor cities to support panels need to have an elected mayor.
[4:35:41] The cities are three to six times as large as a panel.
[4:35:44] Our small city should not really be compared to those larger cities.
[4:35:49] Further, all the cities listed pay the mayor more for their council members and some provide
[4:35:54] the same benefit package as city employees, including a pension.
[4:35:59] Richmond, our nearest city, pays $84,000, which is $73,000 or so, more than our current
[4:36:06] council receives.
[4:36:08] The assertion is that this ballot major is about democracy, let the people decide.
[4:36:12] But it seems, it was this word, there, seems, that it is a move by one or more to advance
[4:36:18] political ambitions and to satisfy a desire to have a full-time job with benefits courtesy
[4:36:24] the panel taxpayers. As we heard tonight, the Council can set that salary and benefits.
[4:36:31] Anyway, the City Attorney's report also estimates the fiscal impact of the ballot major.
[4:36:37] The estimate to place the ballot major on the June ballot has doubled from the December
[4:36:41] second council meeting to as much as $56,000 with the additional unidentified costs for
[4:36:49] half-time consultants and legal experts.
[4:36:52] Anyway, adding this to the potential salary
[4:36:55] increase of, say, if we took that 73,000,
[4:36:57] and we put a 30% benefit cost on it.
[4:37:00] So you have $25,000 there.
[4:37:02] If you put that plus the ballot major,
[4:37:04] that adds up to $154,000, not counting
[4:37:07] under-dentified costs again.
[4:37:10] The ongoing salary, we think ahead, perhaps,
[4:37:13] could start off at $100,000 a year for both the salary
[4:37:17] benefits if you think of the additional cost. And over 10 years, thinking even further out,
[4:37:22] I'd be another million dollars without inflation even. There's really absolutely no need for
[4:37:27] this ballot measure at this time, as others have said.
[4:37:30] If you must proceed, do polling before a ballot measure. City staff has already issued an RFP for polling on three upcoming proposed tax increases, so you could simply add this question to the poll at no additional cost.
[4:37:45] Thank you. Thank you for comment. We'll go to next speaker.
[4:37:50] Marcia the Josswick.
[4:37:56] So good evening. Thank you. I am Marcia Josswick and I'm a resident of
[4:38:02] Pinnon. I'm seeking tonight with regard to item 10 A of the agenda and I ask the City Council
[4:38:09] to do the right thing and vote no on this resolution. Why? Because the estimated cost to place
[4:38:16] One ballot measure on the June 2nd, 2026 ballot is estimated at being possibly more than $55,000.
[4:38:26] Additional costs will also be added such that the fiscal impact is unknown.
[4:38:33] Why would you want to spend all that tax payer's money to find out if the voters want an elected mayor when a poll would answer the same question as a fraction of the cost?
[4:38:44] There is already a poll in the planning stages, add this item to it.
[4:38:50] U.S. Council members have the duty to spend taxpayers money in ways that are
[4:38:55] fiscal irresponsible. That's why your constituents voted for you. That's why I voted for
[4:39:02] you. This measure is not fiscal, responsible. It is a waste of money, especially when so
[4:39:09] any other essential needs are not being met due to the off-to-off and repaided excuse.
[4:39:16] We don't have the money to pay for that.
[4:39:18] So again, I ask the City Council to do the right thing.
[4:39:23] The fiscal e-responsible thing and vote no on this resolution.
[4:39:27] Thank you.
[4:39:28] Thank you for coming.
[4:39:30] Next speaker, please.
[4:39:32] Jennifer Horne.
[4:39:37] Mr. Mayor, can we request that we have the next speaker's lined up?
[4:39:42] as well. I think that's probably or if we had, yeah like at two or three at a time
[4:39:50] that would be helpful. Next would be Kathy McFarland followed by Raphael
[4:39:55] Minis. Great. Thank you speaker. Go ahead. Good evening. My name is Jennifer Horne and I'm here
[4:40:01] to speak on agenda item 10A. I was prepared to urge a no vote on the resolution and issue
[4:40:07] until I became aware of and read Mayor Protem Devin Murphy's mid-December post on next door,
[4:40:13] which I've submitted along with my comments for the record. In light of this post I believe that
[4:40:18] a vote on the current resolution is premature. In his mid-December next door post Mayor Protem Murphy
[4:40:24] announced that he would soon be sworn in as Mayor Protem. In response a person posted the following
[4:40:29] question, what happened to the current mayor? Here in relevant part is Mayor Protem Murphy's response.
[4:40:36] I'm pleased to share that we are advancing a ballot measure that would establish a directly
[4:40:41] elected mayor putting the choice of leadership in the hands of Penal Residence, not the
[4:40:46] Council. This change would modernize our system and provide consistency and accountability
[4:40:52] in leadership. The measure will go before voters in June 2026. Why is this response so concerning?
[4:41:01] Because, at the time of this post, the requisite process to bring this measure to a ballot had not been followed.
[4:41:09] Staff still had to prepare all applicable documents, a public meeting still needed to be scheduled.
[4:41:15] The people of Penal still had to be heard, and the council still had to vote to place the measure on the ballot.
[4:41:22] Mayor Pro Tem Murphy did not communicate this process in his post, and the public was left with the impression that
[4:41:28] sole opportunity to speak regarding this measure was to revote on a ballot measure in June.
[4:41:36] 2026. Mayor of Protem Murphy's statement that the measure will go before voters in June,
[4:41:41] 2026 also made me wonder how he could be so definite about that. Had a majority of this council
[4:41:48] already decided to vote yes on this measure after discussing or deliberating on it outside of a public meeting?
[4:41:56] I don't know, but the post certainly raises that possibility and casts a long shadow both over this proceeding and the propriety of a vote tonight.
[4:42:06] It is therefore incumbent on this council to slow this process down and postpone tonight's vote to ensure maximum transparency and full compliance with the law.
[4:42:15] Take a poll, and or hold a town hall meeting, and listen to what the citizens of Peno really think about our current governance structure.
[4:42:24] By doing either or both before you vote, you might just unearth an actual reason for this measure and gauge public sentiment.
[4:42:32] This council would be then much better able to determine if an expenditure of $55,000 plus to place this measure on the ballot is justified.
[4:42:41] In closing, I have to say that this measure brings to mind a sticker that I saw on a co-workers
[4:42:46] office door.
[4:42:47] If something ain't broke, fix it until it is.
[4:42:50] Unless this council fully develops the need for this measure before voting to place it on
[4:42:55] the ballot, you risk fixing our current governing structure until it and the city we love are both.
[4:43:01] Thank you for coming.
[4:43:04] Next speaker, please.
[4:43:10] Good evening.
[4:43:11] I'm Kathy McFarlane.
[4:43:12] The mayor in the City Council are here to serve and protect our community and our city.
[4:43:17] It is not here to systematically destroy the city by taking out the perfect protocol for
[4:43:22] mayor that has been effective for most of the existence of our city.
[4:43:26] The Council is too busy and focused on self-serving agenda for wanting a special election
[4:43:31] and an elected mayor.
[4:43:32] This would be just another added financial hit to us residents which seem to be constantly
[4:43:38] and consistently occurring.
[4:43:43] This item has already wasted a lot of everyone's time, effort and money while the most important items on our community and our city have been totally neglected.
[4:43:53] The residents have lost confidence on who is representing us.
[4:43:57] Not another moment or even a dime should be wasted to decide about this special election or an elected mayor.
[4:44:04] we have much more prominent and pressing items that are addressing our city that you can't
[4:44:09] seem to handle and get completed. A properly functioning city needs a good city manager,
[4:44:15] a good contract for our police department, well-maintained roads, and be financially
[4:44:21] sound for all of which we are currently lacking. Remember, we have the power to vote and also recall.
[4:44:28] Thank you for coming. Next speaker, please.
[4:44:30] Raphael Minis?
[4:44:40] Good evening and Mayor Council Stabbers.
[4:44:42] Plot, my name is Raphael Minis,
[4:44:43] President of Penel. And I like most the speakers on this
[4:44:48] item tonight. I'm not going to speak for or against the
[4:44:50] resolution you're offering. I'm going to ask a series of
[4:44:53] questions instead. My first question is, and this is through
[4:44:58] the mayor to the city attorney.
[4:45:00] Would the term limits mentioned by a prior commenter in measure P apply to the position of elected mayor if was created, or would that need to be established separately by ordinance?
[4:45:14] Secondly, is the cost of the measure, based primarily on the fact that it would be on a June ballot with the cost be lesser if it was on a general election ballot in November, or is the cost just the flat cost for an item?
[4:45:31] Thirdly, why is there a range of costs for the item given the fact that the text of the ballot measure is set?
[4:45:42] I assume that's maybe more a question from the county clerk's office, but thirdly, in terms of public support for this measure.
[4:45:58] While the people in this room tonight and the people who have commented online aren't necessarily
[4:46:04] a representative sample of the population and voter-based panel as a whole, I do find it
[4:46:11] notable that the vast majority of people who have spoken on this in chambers and whose comments
[4:46:17] I have seen online are opposed to this measure.
[4:46:23] I would think that just technically speaking in terms of like we political success for the measure that you would want to see more public support for the item in chambers before voting to put it before the public as a whole entirely separately from whether or not it could go as a polling item or not.
[4:46:48] Fourthly, it was for guards to be timing of the measure.
[4:46:52] Would it be correct to say that the reason why it's being timed for the June election
[4:46:57] rather than an November election would be to allow for the first election for mayor to
[4:47:03] occur in this cycle rather than in 2028?
[4:47:09] So those are all that questions for the moment.
[4:47:11] Thank you.
[4:47:12] Thank you, Speaker.
[4:47:13] and there were some questions. We'll bring it back to Council, but I think, oh, we have another
[4:47:21] public comment. Yes, Mayor, that concludes in person comments. We do have one online, Christina
[4:47:27] Green. Thank you. Go ahead, Speaker.
[4:47:32] Absolutely. It's Christian Green. I appreciate that. I will say,
[4:47:36] I'm good evening, Mayor, Council members and community members of Panoil. Tonight as we observe
[4:47:41] Black case three month, have you Black case three month?
[4:47:44] It's the time when we honor progress representation
[4:47:46] and the ongoing expansion of democracy.
[4:47:48] I want to voice my voice and strong support
[4:47:52] of moving toward an elected mayor system.
[4:47:55] Pano has always shown as I've been living here for a long time.
[4:47:58] What progress looks like through leadership
[4:48:00] that reflects our community, including Devon Murphy,
[4:48:04] whom these women just keep attacking for some reason,
[4:48:07] who became the first city's Black elected official.
[4:48:09] that historic milestone reminds us that when we read when residents are empowered to choose their leaders,
[4:48:15] our government becomes more inclusive, more accountable, and more representative of what the people are serves.
[4:48:20] I want to understand that black history, since we're in this month, we're going to have a low lesson,
[4:48:25] teaches us that democracy grows stronger when the voice of the people grows louder.
[4:48:29] From the fight from voting rights to fear representation, progress has always come from expanding participation, not limiting it.
[4:48:36] So an elected mayor gives residents a direct say in who leads our city.
[4:48:41] Hello, it creates clearer accountability, stronger public engagement and leadership
[4:48:45] that answers directly to the voters when people know exactly who is responsible for
[4:48:52] setting the city's vision, trust increases and civic participation rises across the country's
[4:48:58] cities and elected mayors often see higher voter turnout in local elections, clear
[4:49:02] leadership during times of crisis and more transparent decision-making.
[4:49:06] As a saying go, power conceits nothing without a demand, and Scripture reminds us in
[4:49:12] power 29 and 2, when the righteous are an authority that people rejoice.
[4:49:16] Giving the people the power to choose their mayor is how we ensure leadership that reflect
[4:49:20] our shared values.
[4:49:21] A vote for an elected mayor is a vote for accountability, it is a vote for transparency,
[4:49:25] and is a vote for people having a stronger voice in the city's future.
[4:49:29] So I urge the council to please to place this message before the voters and give our community the opportunity to
[4:49:34] shape the next chapter up in those leadership. Thank you and have a great night.
[4:49:40] Okay. Thank you, Speaker. Next public comment.
[4:49:44] Mayor that concludes public comment. Okay. So we'll bring it back to council for comments.
[4:49:50] Questions of staff? So it looks like council member Sessai, Mayor Pro Temp Murphy.
[4:49:58] Okay, so we'll go in this order.
[4:50:01] Mayor Prote Murphy, Councilmember Martinez Rubin,
[4:50:04] and then Councilmember Tombs.
[4:50:07] So, yeah.
[4:50:09] First of all, I want to say that I am not the only one
[4:50:13] who is encouraging conversation.
[4:50:16] It seems like a lot of residents have come out to encourage
[4:50:18] conversations.
[4:50:18] So I want to thank residents who have come out on both sides,
[4:50:22] whatever side you may consider yourself.
[4:50:24] As folks know, I was elected to the City Council in 2020 and certainly, I'm sure made surprises for a lot of folks, including myself in terms of the turnout we received in numbers.
[4:50:41] And because of that work and because of being elected, I have committed every day in this role as a council member to ensure that I'm serving the needs of panel voters,
[4:50:50] which is why I decided to step into the second term and again reach numerous votes in the city to
[4:51:01] set a mandate for the need for increasing civic engagement.
[4:51:05] And I want to say that one of the items that I think is so important about this referendum,
[4:51:10] the consideration of it from a council perspective is that this is truly increasing civic engagement.
[4:51:15] Many folks in the audience, of course the former council members who are in audience know
[4:51:20] that this room is not usually filled,
[4:51:22] it's not that filled today, but it is filled with folks.
[4:51:25] Unusually, we do not have a lot of folks
[4:51:29] who come make public comments.
[4:51:30] So I just want to again, thank you all
[4:51:32] for making your voice heard.
[4:51:34] I also want to note that this is a conversation
[4:51:36] that has happened prior to me being here.
[4:51:39] There have been residents and elected officials
[4:51:43] who were elected before I was,
[4:51:45] who have talked about this, who have made comments,
[4:51:48] and maybe haven't put this forward as an agenda item,
[4:51:51] but perhaps there was a different system that they had.
[4:51:54] There are residents who have certainly talked in asked
[4:51:58] for this to happen.
[4:52:01] A former mayor insisted that I read his letter
[4:52:03] to the council and to the public.
[4:52:06] It says, hello Heather, who is our city clerk.
[4:52:09] He was referred, I guess he was sending this letter
[4:52:11] to our city clerk.
[4:52:12] He said, I hope you are well.
[4:52:13] I have a comment for item 10, A agenda.
[4:52:15] I'm sorry I will be in Los Angeles for work.
[4:52:18] I am writing and supportive of the Penol City Council's upcoming consideration of a resolution
[4:52:23] to place before voters, the question of whether the city of Penol should transition to an elected
[4:52:27] mayor form of government as often.
[4:52:30] The rise under California government code section 3490. This action is not about pre-determining the outcome
[4:52:37] of that question. Rather, it is about affirming transparency, civic engagement and participation
[4:52:43] and the fundamental right of residents to decide how their government, how their city is governed,
[4:52:48] not their city council. Allowing voters to weigh in strength and stress and local government
[4:52:53] and reinforces an open and democratic process. I also want to share a personal perspective
[4:52:58] as a former mayor. Under Penal's current system, a 12-month mayoral's term is simply not long enough
[4:53:05] to meaningfully set priorities, build momentum, and see complex initiatives through through to completion.
[4:53:12] Effective leadership, particularly in today's challenging municipal environment, requires
[4:53:16] continuity, accountability, and sufficient time to deliver results. In addition, the city,
[4:53:22] if the city is to expect strong leadership and effective governance, both the mayor and
[4:53:27] Council members should be equipped with the tools necessary to do the job well.
[4:53:31] This does include adequate staff support and compensation that allows elected officials
[4:53:36] to serve in a serious, professional, and full-time capacity when needed.
[4:53:41] These structural considerations are ultimately policy decisions.
[4:53:45] For the community to evaluate, which is why it precisely why it matters that the council
[4:53:50] placed this question before voters.
[4:53:52] Regardless of individual views on the merits of an elected mayor system, I strongly support
[4:53:57] giving Penal residents the opportunity to decide this question for themselves. I encourage the city council to move this item forward, so the community can have a clear voice in shaping the city's future governance.
[4:54:09] Thank you for your continued support, can you leadership and for fostering a transparent and inclusive civic process?
[4:54:16] Sign Vincent Salimi former former mayor of Penal. I wanted to share this letter because I've seen
[4:54:29] I've seen a lot of folks blame me. I want to acknowledge that this is not about me. This is about the residents of Penal.
[4:54:38] My job as a policy maker is to ensure that I am bringing new ideas to support residents.
[4:54:44] I've brought numerous ideas around the environment.
[4:54:48] I brought numerous ideas as a relates to economic development.
[4:54:51] I brought numerous ideas as a relates to housing.
[4:54:55] This is one of those areas that I have brought around governance because I do truly
[4:55:01] believe that we have to do something about our current system because it's not working.
[4:55:06] As was noted by the city attorney, there are things that this does not do.
[4:55:11] And that's okay, that's something for us to consider in the future.
[4:55:16] One of them is, you know, the, you know, changing the city into a charter city.
[4:55:21] This is not do that.
[4:55:23] I am not proposing that.
[4:55:24] One of the things that this does not do is change the city from a council manager, formal
[4:55:28] government to a different form of government.
[4:55:30] This is not do that.
[4:55:31] What this does is set a political mandate for residents to decide who they want their mayor
[4:55:36] to be.
[4:55:37] And again, whether you agree to it or not as an individual, especially if you live in
[4:55:42] Penal and you're an eligible voter, you have a right to make that decision for yourself.
[4:55:48] And as an agency, our goal is to educate you about the pros and cons if this passes, of course,
[4:55:55] educate you about the pros and cons of that decision, and we will have what we have had in America
[4:56:00] for 250 years, at least most of that time, we will have an election.
[4:56:05] I want to say that I know Mayor that there are folks who continue to perhaps want to make personal, you know, attacks against me.
[4:56:15] I'm used to that from that individual, but I also would hope that we know, and this is why I wanted to read the former Mayor's comment,
[4:56:23] is that we have a responsibility to improve the quality of life of panolians and also to engage people in discussion.
[4:56:29] Personal attacks don't bring us forward. The reason why this council is incredibly diverse is because we continue to open doors for conversations even against people who oppose us.
[4:56:40] And so I will continue to do that whether or not a former mayor is going to attack me personally. That's not the first time that former mayor has done that.
[4:56:47] But I also appreciate former mayors who have, who have engaged in this conversation whether they support the item or not,
[4:56:54] and said, and also have a right to their own personal choice when it comes to voting if their eligible voters come to them.
[4:57:02] I guess it's no surprise and I'll close out by saying this. I fully support the resolution.
[4:57:07] I think we should move forward with it. Those who are opposed, you have a right to vote. Those who want to who are for it, you have a right to vote.
[4:57:15] The reality is, with or without this, we will continue to make Panoil move forward.
[4:57:22] And so, again, I'm going to close that out by saying no matter how you feel about me, this job is very difficult and very challenging.
[4:57:31] But my responsibility is exactly to the 6,000 voters who voted for me in Panoil.
[4:57:36] I will not stop until I continue to move this city forward, and that's my exact goal and mission.
[4:57:42] So thank you, Mayor.
[4:57:44] Okay, thank you for comment, Mayor Pro Tem, Council Member Martinez Rubin.
[4:57:50] We have questions.
[4:57:51] We can ask questions of staff.
[4:57:53] I think that's in comments.
[4:57:54] This time is our deliberation over the resolution, so yeah, question and comments.
[4:58:00] If questions strike you, then.
[4:58:01] Okay, I have some questions, so that we're left with some greater clarity based on some
[4:58:08] comments that were made, if it are possible, and then I have my own comments.
[4:58:12] So, a couple of things were made, a couple of comments were made that if we can verify
[4:58:19] would be greatly helpful, I think.
[4:58:22] And that's a matter of posting on a public online social media,
[4:58:32] application, like next door.
[4:58:36] When it comes to remember, post something, is it, indeed, a violation of the Brown Act?
[4:58:43] And related to that is in making statements the tense present future.
[4:58:50] What is the past present future?
[4:58:52] Tens of something happening, which is a definitive verbiage makes it such that it is a violation.
[4:59:02] So, that's one question with regard to the Brown Act, and then the other has to do with mention of polling.
[4:59:10] And if you can clarify for me, the polling that's coming up in the spring is with regard to revenue generating strategy.
[4:59:21] to say that adding an additional question about the public's interest in an elected mayor would
[4:59:31] not be a cost or if it is costly, a negligible cost.
[4:59:37] So that involves several staff members.
[4:59:39] I understand that.
[4:59:40] So maybe we should.
[4:59:41] Councillor interjecting.
[4:59:42] are just to facilitate the questions. I think we should, the city attorney for the post and then
[4:59:48] Director Gailory for the financial aspect of that. So staff attorney cash please through the chair.
[4:59:55] So I haven't seen the post, I don't know exactly the content of the post, what I can.
[5:00:00] The Brown Act more broadly requires that any of the business of the city, the city's business be conducted in a public meeting.
[5:00:09] A lot of members of the council elected throughout the state have social media accounts and post things.
[5:00:15] I think this comment may have been on next door. I don't know the exact substance of the comments. I don't feel qualified to speak on whether or not this was a Brown Act violation or not.
[5:00:24] certainly will look into that and I could advise the council on that, but generally speaking,
[5:00:29] the Brown Act prohibits any discourse or dialogue or decisions being made by the council
[5:00:35] outside of a public meeting. So if there's multiple council members who are discussing an item
[5:00:41] and deciding on that outside of this space, that would be a Brown Act violation. That's the most
[5:00:46] obvious example, but there's nuance obviously to that. I think the second question related to
[5:00:54] what also sounded like part of the statement which was referring to like the decision had been
[5:00:59] made or that it was kind of a past as reference. Again, I don't know. I heard the comment. I haven't
[5:01:05] seen the exact language. I don't know exactly when the comment was posted. I do know that as per
[5:01:12] the staff report, the city council did direct staff to bring this forward at the December second meeting.
[5:01:18] So, there was direction by the council to staff to bring this item forward.
[5:01:24] I don't know the date of the comments, so I can't really speak to anything beyond that.
[5:01:29] Thank you.
[5:01:30] Related to City Attorney's presentation.
[5:01:33] There's a question about why the range of costs of estimated costs.
[5:01:37] You place a measure, question on the measure, and then the timing of placing the ballot on the measure.
[5:01:44] Why now?
[5:01:45] Yeah, so I could speak to the cost, so the cost is set by the county in the administer
[5:01:50] the election.
[5:01:51] So I think at the time that we did the initial presentation, those were estimates.
[5:01:56] And then we actually, you know, were able to verify because the county established and
[5:01:59] posted what the cost would be for this cycle.
[5:02:03] And I think it's three to four dollars per registered voter.
[5:02:06] 3 to 450 per registered voter.
[5:02:09] So that's, it's a formula that they use.
[5:02:12] to Mr. Menace's point, the primary elections are more expensive.
[5:02:18] If you will, there's a higher cost associated with bringing a measure.
[5:02:23] During the June primary versus the November election,
[5:02:26] again, those costs are set by the county.
[5:02:28] I'm not sure why that's the case, but that is true.
[5:02:33] Okay, and then the timing of placing the ballot.
[5:02:36] Why are the sense of, I don't know,
[5:02:40] That's just necessity or urgency to have this measure on a June ballot.
[5:02:47] I can't really speak to that.
[5:02:49] I just follow the direction of the council.
[5:02:50] So I was asked to bring this forward at this meeting.
[5:02:53] I do this that we do need to submit if we are to move forward with a primary election.
[5:02:59] This does need to go to the county by, I think, the first week or two of March.
[5:03:03] March.
[5:03:04] March six.
[5:03:05] So that's why we wanted to schedule it for this meeting.
[5:03:09] in February. So if we needed to make any changes, we had another meeting in February to bring
[5:03:16] forward a final version. That was my plan just again, going off of the direction to bring
[5:03:21] it forward for the June primary, making sure we had enough meetings for the council to
[5:03:25] deliberate discuss and finalize the documents.
[5:03:28] So perhaps in response to the wise that have been asked, it would be the council members who proposed
[5:03:33] this or support it, who could possibly answer that?
[5:03:37] It wouldn't be you.
[5:03:39] I don't.
[5:03:40] I think Council Member Parti is moving.
[5:03:43] Let's go to Director Guestley.
[5:03:45] Yes.
[5:03:46] And there is a remaining question.
[5:03:49] I think when we bring it back to Council, we can
[5:03:53] get deliberate.
[5:03:53] But I think these questions are good.
[5:03:56] Director Gillley, please.
[5:03:58] Yes.
[5:03:58] So my response is, it's in response to the question of the current polling.
[5:04:03] And that's happening now, possibly adding another question to that polling.
[5:04:10] So one, the standard is usually about two measures.
[5:04:15] We already have three to add four could really change the scope of work there, the polling
[5:04:23] firms before that we work for the last round expressed even concern at that time with three
[5:04:28] measures.
[5:04:29] the current one likes to stick with remasures like I said, that's kind of the industry standard.
[5:04:33] Because what happens is you add another one, it makes the survey much longer,
[5:04:38] and could call survey fatigue, and also skew the results of surveys.
[5:04:44] So, for would be really pushing the limit if we weren't to add that, and it would be changing the scope of work.
[5:04:49] Can I ask a quick question, Council member Martinez room, and on this one?
[5:04:53] Director Gillery, so what you're saying is, is if we were to add another question,
[5:04:57] And there's a potential for us to diminish the quality of the survey and its reliability.
[5:05:05] Understood.
[5:05:06] Sorry about that.
[5:05:07] Councilmember Martinez.
[5:05:08] Did you get your question answered?
[5:05:11] Thank you.
[5:05:11] I did.
[5:05:12] Okay.
[5:05:12] Okay.
[5:05:12] Thank you.
[5:05:17] I do not support the proposal to the resolution calling for a special election.
[5:05:22] And submitting the question regarding office of elected mayor.
[5:05:26] An elected mayor in a small diversity, like Penal, is unnecessary, developing meaningful policy,
[5:05:34] the role of a full council, is doable when council members have equal authority.
[5:05:40] We currently have that with rotating mayors.
[5:05:43] Democratic ideology centers on government by the people, where power is exercised through
[5:05:49] free, fair, and regular elections.
[5:05:51] In Penel, free speaks to voters having a choice as to who will be elected to City Council
[5:05:58] and who becomes its mayor.
[5:06:00] We have had free elections for council members in Penel every two years.
[5:06:05] These have resulted in a City Council where often a majority, rather than rather than
[5:06:10] unanimous agreement, takes ideas to reality of what the city ought to address, what's given
[5:06:16] priority and who ends up on city commissions and committees. Regardless of whether the ways to address
[5:06:23] issues are sensible, practical, or economically feasible.
[5:06:29] Council members don't always agree on what makes Penel better, especially when there are
[5:06:34] proposals where the intent appears to be self-serving or a precursor to policy that has
[5:06:40] proven to benefit the citizenry.
[5:06:43] On essential matters such as infrastructure, economic development, and safety, we generally
[5:06:48] do agree.
[5:06:50] It's how we get to that agreement that may cause tensions and differences among us.
[5:06:55] However, ignoring those tensions and differences is idealistic because as diverse as
[5:07:01] Penal is, we, council members and the city's voters, have varied opinions and values.
[5:07:08] the likely result of very social, educational, and political backgrounds.
[5:07:15] The majority of California's 482 cities employ a city manager,
[5:07:21] where the mayor is often chosen by the council
[5:07:24] or has limited direct, independent authority.
[5:07:29] The council manager...
[5:07:30] Former government separates political policy-making, elected council, from administrative operations,
[5:07:37] the appointed professional manager.
[5:07:40] He benefits include increased efficiency and expertise in city management, enhance professionalism
[5:07:47] in staffing, reduce corruption, improved non-partisan service delivery, and increased accountability.
[5:07:56] This, as the city manager, is accountable to the elected council.
[5:08:03] The council manager form of government is a local government system, combining the political
[5:08:09] leadership of an elected council with the administrative experience of an appointed professional
[5:08:15] manager.
[5:08:17] The council makes policy decisions while the manager oversees day-to-day operations and department
[5:08:23] heads.
[5:08:24] It promotes non-partisan professional management.
[5:08:30] That's all well in good, when voters are informed about the intentions of their elected representatives.
[5:08:37] In Pino, there's been a gradual transition to electing council members with charismatic eagerness to make Pino better.
[5:08:47] Now, some council members support having an elected mayor to illustrate democracy.
[5:08:57] It has been only even elected mayor who requires staff and a salary hired in other council members.
[5:09:04] How any elected mayor in Penal would make this city better, is questionable.
[5:09:08] In my opinion, it would be a precursor to proposing a charter where a strong mayor may be had,
[5:09:16] Tilting further the authority of set mayor and placing executive power on one individual, the elected mayor.
[5:09:27] That is a form of government that is not supported nor exists in most cities in California.
[5:09:34] Okay, thank you, Councilmember Martinez Rubin.
[5:09:37] We had Councilmembers to say, and then Councilmember Thompson.
[5:09:42] All right, thank you, Mayor Tave, and, you know,
[5:09:47] I was just ninth to the 6 p.m.
[5:09:48] I want to thank everybody for coming out and sticking around.
[5:09:53] I start work at 7 a.m. today.
[5:09:55] Got the five, we're here in so 10.
[5:09:56] And I think there's all of us, many of us in the audience too,
[5:10:00] and definitely our staff, so I want to thank you for sticking
[5:10:02] there.
[5:10:04] You know, these seats are usually empty. So please to see what are your support
[5:10:09] opposition, please to see you here today. We as a council make appropriations of this
[5:10:15] sort of price range every time of a council meeting, I want to invite you to keep coming back,
[5:10:20] especially in budget season where I think you should all have a voice in those expenditures too.
[5:10:27] I don't think we'll all see full agreement on this issue, by any means, but I do hope that
[5:10:35] we can achieve mutual understanding about what this measure is and have that based on fact.
[5:10:42] And that's the reason why I asked those questions of city attorney and staff to start out
[5:10:47] with, I think, definitely during this time, like we live in a world where we don't, we're
[5:10:52] facts on matter, and I think a lot of times he build narratives to build echo chambers for ourselves.
[5:10:59] And so it's important that we certainly start from a foundation of facts and thankful for everybody who is listening as well.
[5:11:09] So I know that there were some members of the public who were sort of picking up part.
[5:11:15] One of the council members comments around how they would characterize the current council
[5:11:21] mere rotational system, I think the words are archaic, and I personally wouldn't use that
[5:11:29] term to characterize our current rotational system. I would definitely say though that it's
[5:11:34] a long-standing policy. That's been in place for quite some time. And this is not personal to
[5:11:42] the person who said it, I think I've just heard this phrase not just in this conversation,
[5:11:45] But I think many conversations around policy and if it ain't broke don't fix it and I personally think that's a really
[5:11:58] terrible way to look at policy and law
[5:12:00] Someone who's a public policy professional there's always room to refine policy and I think that
[5:12:09] that statement, that concept, it assumes a few things.
[5:12:13] I think it assumes that the system is working for everybody.
[5:12:16] And I think it assumes that the harm is obvious and immediate.
[5:12:21] And I think we have to go beyond, if they don't fix it into,
[5:12:26] let's really peel and be investigated better policies,
[5:12:29] and how we can refine them to make sure it works for everybody.
[5:12:32] I think the main question for me, and I think my question for the public,
[5:12:36] is what we're all expecting out of the person who serves as mayor for the city.
[5:12:42] I didn't quite understand it when I had my first two years in council, but I definitely
[5:12:48] did understand it when I became mayor last year and thank you for the honor of a community
[5:12:54] that experience, tired council, thank you for that.
[5:12:59] There's a public want a mayor who just shows up for the two council meetings a month and
[5:13:05] to ask about, or they've looking for somebody who is more deeply engaged in the community.
[5:13:10] When I say that I mean things like, do you want to mayor who goes to community events?
[5:13:14] All of the community events, do you want to mayor who visits her high schools and middle schools
[5:13:18] and talks with parents and student leaders and educators and families?
[5:13:22] Do you want to mayor who shows up at the Picket Line for our educators?
[5:13:28] Like last year I was doing a few of our council members out there in Picket Line to support
[5:13:33] or educators at another high school, all these things take time and I want to think of
[5:13:39] a computer who acknowledged that this rule is something that is really a passion for folks,
[5:13:45] right? It doesn't compensate a lot, but it does take time and that's time away from family.
[5:13:51] Those are weakens that you miss with family and other things that you could be doing,
[5:13:58] But it's a responsibility and I think I think that I think this is a good question to
[5:14:03] post to all of this is what are you expecting out of the mirror.
[5:14:06] And one thing that I think about too is that all of us in the council have different
[5:14:13] amounts of resources and time to commit to this role.
[5:14:17] We also have different levels of privilege as well.
[5:14:20] And so as we think about the mayors and the council members who served this city since 100 years, 100 years ago, plus,
[5:14:29] at the very start it was mostly land-owning wealthy white men, and that's just a fact.
[5:14:36] If you don't believe me, look at the staircase, it has the portraits of all the armors here.
[5:14:41] But at a certain point that the kind of changed, it wasn't until recently where we had young people getting involved
[5:14:47] in Penal and Community Service, and that changed especially with what we've been being elected, right?
[5:14:54] But I think, and the reason why I really appreciate this conversation, this item, is that it actually highlights...
[5:15:00] of the inequities of this former government. I think for this is the reason why we're not seeing
[5:15:06] a lot of low-income people, be representatives of the city and because of that remissing
[5:15:11] representation of a large part of the panel. And for a long time we haven't had people who have
[5:15:17] been historically excluded from this process in these seats. And so when we think about the mayor's
[5:15:22] Israel, again, is not just extra authority, it's not extra authority, but definitely is extra
[5:15:30] responsibility.
[5:15:31] And so I just want to keep that in mind in terms of when we think about the rotation system
[5:15:36] that we have currently passing around the mayor's seat, like it's something to be sure,
[5:15:42] like a toy.
[5:15:43] It really is not that.
[5:15:46] There is definitely an amount of regional power that comes to this, definitely being
[5:15:50] Dr. Cossamir's conference and making these several appointments to these agencies, but also
[5:15:56] how the mayor shifts culture within the city and beyond.
[5:16:02] So that's really what I wanted to post to you all is what he wanted the mayor's position,
[5:16:07] and I think that electing a mayor first off, it's giving more choice to the voters.
[5:16:14] So, other than the price tag of it, I can't see anything that is wrong with that.
[5:16:19] I think it's to benefit of all of us.
[5:16:22] In terms of not having formal polling on the issue,
[5:16:25] from the ballot measures I've seen in California
[5:16:28] in the past that have transitioned from a pointed mayor
[5:16:34] to an elected mayor overwhelmingly those measures have passed
[5:16:38] more than 70% plus.
[5:16:41] And so I know that those days aren't penal,
[5:16:43] but I do know that it's track record
[5:16:44] for those measures in California have ended up that way.
[5:16:48] So, these are my comments, and I'll pass it back to you, Mayor.
[5:16:52] Council Member Tombs.
[5:16:54] Yes, thank you.
[5:16:55] And I want to thank the folks that came to speak on this issue.
[5:17:00] There were 12 speakers.
[5:17:02] Only one was in support.
[5:17:04] I also want to recognize the people that sent in comments earlier.
[5:17:10] I received a PDF of 45 pages.
[5:17:13] We all did, and only one of those letters was in support, and that's the one from former Mayor
[5:17:21] Selimi. In his letter, he did say that 12 months is not long enough to set an implement
[5:17:30] a priority of the mayor. Well, the mayor doesn't set the priorities. The council does.
[5:17:42] That's
[5:17:43] priorities.
[5:17:46] I am opposed to this resolution because the existing rotation practice really works well.
[5:17:53] There's four people, you know, not everybody gets a turn during their term, but the mayor always has at least two years experience.
[5:18:06] If you go to a directly elected mayor, you could have somebody who has never served as mayor,
[5:18:13] getting, if you have three people that run, somebody could be getting 34% of the vote,
[5:18:19] and they are the mayor, without any experience.
[5:18:26] So the staff report says that an elected mayor can collect a larger stipend or salary,
[5:18:34] and that would just take the majority of the council to approve if a mid-term council member runs
[5:18:41] and wins, a vacancy would be created on the council seat that they would leave behind,
[5:18:48] which would require a costly special election to fill a vacancy, or the vacancy would be filled
[5:18:54] by the council appointment. So the argument of, you know, democracy, that goes out the window
[5:19:01] for filling that vacancy, if there was a direct appointment.
[5:19:09] If a council member, at the end of their term, decides to run for mayor and doesn't
[5:19:14] win, the city will have lost an experienced council member.
[5:19:19] I am aware of a council member with a lot of experience in a nearby city where that happened.
[5:19:29] and, you know, she has since, you know, is investing her time into non-profits, but it was
[5:19:36] a loss for her city.
[5:19:41] Residents of Penal supported an additional sales tax measure in 2024, and one, a member of
[5:19:49] the public told me that they failed betrayed by the council for tripling their travel
[5:19:55] budget, increasing the monthly stipend, and now this proposal for an unnecessary
[5:20:01] election issue. These actions are making residents feel used. We need to show the
[5:20:08] citizens that we are responsible with the extra funding that they're voting for,
[5:20:14] you know, to support the city. We need to focus on what we told the taxpayers we
[5:20:20] would be using those funds for. We need to focus on hiring a city manager, getting a
[5:20:27] contract, maintaining our roads. We need to focus on that, not something that nobody's
[5:20:35] asking for. The public has not weighed in on this. They're not asking for it. There's
[5:20:41] been no petition asking for this to be on the council. In fact, there's been no polling.
[5:20:48] We go to great extents to poll, use a budgeting tool for our residents when we work on the budget.
[5:20:58] You know, it's important for us to have their input on expenditures for a whole fiscal year budget.
[5:21:05] But somehow, $57,000 isn't, you know, we don't need a poll on that.
[5:21:12] You know, I really have trouble with that.
[5:21:15] That really is difficult.
[5:21:20] And I want to state that the mayor position is largely ceremonial.
[5:21:25] The mayor acts as the presiding officer for council meetings
[5:21:28] and the city's official representation at public events
[5:21:32] and holds no more executive power than other council members.
[5:21:38] So, you know, council member society asked what do you want.
[5:21:43] The each council member has, you know, their issues, whether it's going and visiting schools
[5:21:49] or participating in youth sports programs or, you know, the friends of Penal Creek,
[5:21:56] we all have our sort of our interests and that's not going to change.
[5:22:02] Any council member can continue doing that.
[5:22:05] And you can do that as mayor,
[5:22:12] let's see, a couple of other, I also wanted to note, I think
[5:22:17] it was mentioned, that rotating the mayor promotes equity and representation on the council.
[5:22:22] And thereby, the community, rotating the role ensures that no single special interest group.
[5:22:30] Can monopolize, you know, the bully pulpit. By limiting the mayor's individual authority and duration of service, the system diffuses political power across the entire council, making it harder for special interests to exert influence.
[5:22:51] and let's see rotating the mayor. Rotating the mayor, system promotes clear
[5:23:00] separation of powers. The council members can focus on the big-picture policy
[5:23:05] planning without the distraction of administrative tasks or personal
[5:23:09] management, which is handled by a professional city manager.
[5:23:18] The current
[5:23:18] system works. It works really well. Each of us have had a rotation on the mayor as the mayor.
[5:23:28] I was able to, you know, set aside some of my own personal obligations for one year,
[5:23:35] so that I could devote a lot of attention to when I was serving as mayor.
[5:23:42] Not everybody is going to be able to do that for four years.
[5:23:45] You're going to have a limited number of people.
[5:23:49] So I just wanted to conclude that the proposal and the expense is a prime example of
[5:23:56] misplaced priorities by the Council if this were to pass.
[5:24:02] There are higher priorities for city funds and staff resources such as roads and public safety.
[5:24:09] I think that our citizens deserve better than us, you know, approving this resolution without
[5:24:17] them, without really their input other than coming to a council meeting.
[5:24:23] We have not pulled them.
[5:24:25] I would suggest that I would ask the council members to vote no on this resolution.
[5:24:30] And if there is an outcry to bring it back, let's hear from the citizens that they want
[5:24:37] to spend our time and our funds, our limited funds, on bringing it back.
[5:24:43] So, thank you.
[5:24:44] Thank you, Council Member Tombs.
[5:24:47] I think, so I don't have a prepared statement.
[5:24:53] I didn't write anything out.
[5:24:55] I wanted to give a perspective because I think there was some public comment as to why.
[5:24:59] Right, I think that in my opinion, having five council members, especially five very qualified, very well-seasoned, council members is a good thing for, for Penel.
[5:25:14] One of the things that I've seen in my experience that's informing my decision is that
[5:25:19] With the five and the rotating council member, you have a slightly different leadership every time you rotate.
[5:25:28] The question becomes, I can bring back to a comment that was made earlier.
[5:25:34] When we had our strategic planning session, I've been through two.
[5:25:38] We've had almost 50 things that were very clearly outlined in that panel needs,
[5:25:49] right?
[5:25:49] I mean, there was a list that list was published in a memo from our previous city manager that was shared with everybody in the public.
[5:25:59] When you have five individuals, we have had an end, my opinion, moving forward, a very hard time prioritizing, okay, we're obviously not going to get all 50 done.
[5:26:12] My thing was, how do you prioritize those?
[5:26:15] What comes first?
[5:26:16] I've been saying roads since I got on council.
[5:26:20] We're finally getting to a point where we can perform that work.
[5:26:25] For me, I feel like during an election,
[5:26:30] the governance portion of this is what matters.
[5:26:33] The most powerful thing in the city and believe it or not,
[5:26:37] it's not the council, it's not the mayor,
[5:26:40] it's your voice and your vote, right? Key element, your vote, meaning you elected all of us.
[5:26:50] I feel like this mayorship for me is to get the meetings through, have an agenda setting
[5:26:59] and make sure we're moving forward. But you're going to get another mayor, the next rotation, right?
[5:27:05] And with this going to the voters, there will be a decision made, whether you want to choose
[5:27:13] for a mayor to help set priorities and that you elect citizens elected.
[5:27:21] Very clearly, this is what they had wanted to see.
[5:27:26] I believe in that kind of governance.
[5:27:29] I believe in the public making the decision.
[5:27:32] We're at a position now where that decision can be made on whether or not you believe you
[5:27:39] want the city to keep rotating or whether you'd like to see some type of consistent leadership
[5:27:45] over a two year or four year period.
[5:27:48] We still haven't talked about the parameters of this.
[5:27:51] What compensation looks like, what terms looks like, whether there's going to be term limits
[5:28:01] on a mayor. All of these things are still things that this council needs to talk about.
[5:28:08] In my opinion, I feel like those are the things we have to establish as part of this item.
[5:28:15] And then we when we vote. But ultimately we're empowering our citizenry to make that decision.
[5:28:21] At least in my opinion, that's what I feel is the right thing. But again, there are terms we
[5:28:29] have to figure this out and then move forward accordingly.
[5:28:32] So if it whether it passes or not,
[5:28:34] I think that's up to this council to decide
[5:28:37] whether or not it's even a decision to put up there.
[5:28:41] And then ultimately make a decision,
[5:28:43] our voters would choose.
[5:28:46] So that's my why I think the consistent leadership.
[5:28:50] I think us having a mayor move forward,
[5:28:53] mayor slow down, mayor move forward,
[5:28:56] Mayor Slowdown keeps this government reactive to state federal legislation.
[5:29:03] I think that having consistent, consistent leadership sets a tone for for the citizens.
[5:29:09] That's my wife and why I'm in support.
[5:29:14] But again, we have to have this discussion as to whether the term and compensation and actual
[5:29:19] what does it to councilmember size point, what does a mayor do?
[5:29:24] is it the same role?
[5:29:26] Does it deserve extra compensation?
[5:29:29] Those are conversations we have to talk about.
[5:29:32] So I'll bring it back to Council and try to establish whether there's an interest
[5:29:38] at all to move this forward.
[5:29:41] There's a motion.
[5:29:44] Second.
[5:29:45] I'm happy to make a motion mayor.
[5:29:46] And I also want to acknowledge that some of these things, as I mentioned in my previous comments,
[5:29:50] We, as many folks think that you have the answers, many of us don't have the answers,
[5:29:57] but we do have to keep moving the city forward and we...
[5:30:00] We are certainly as policy makers. I would say our mandate, our responsibility is to suggest ideas, particularly when we have an availability for residents to decide which of those ideas is codified, we should do that.
[5:30:15] So I wanted to make a motion. And really, again, thank you so much to our staff and thank you to all the residents tonight's discussion.
[5:30:24] excuse me, tonight's discussion, so based on the staff report in tonight's discussion, I
[5:30:32] moved that the City Council would adopt the resolution calling for a special election
[5:30:36] and submitting to the voters, the question regarding the office of an elected mayor.
[5:30:43] And I further moved that the Council direct staff to work in coordination with the mayor
[5:30:47] and mayor pretend to develop and implement a public education and communications plan as we've
[5:30:53] the past, so residents have clear, accessible, and factual information well before ballots
[5:30:58] are cast.
[5:30:59] The plan should include at minimum a dedicated page on the city website with a full
[5:31:04] text of the measure and impartial explanation of what changes and what does not change
[5:31:09] including the council manager form of government, key dates and how to participate.
[5:31:14] It should also, this plan should also include a plain language FAQ addressing common questions
[5:31:20] about authority, accountability, and impacts, and also multiple outreach channels, including
[5:31:26] mailers, if appropriate, social media, PCTV, email list, and community partners with
[5:31:32] translations and accessibility accommodations consistent with city practices.
[5:31:36] That's my motion.
[5:31:39] Okay, so I'll second the motion, but I do have some amendments, I'd like to keep compensation
[5:31:50] the same as our ordinance. The term I'd like to offer a two-year term to this. I mean,
[5:32:02] is that something I could offer a amendment to? I'm just pleased. Well, I know that wouldn't
[5:32:09] be included in the language, but we're discussing up here, but I'm proposing that there are
[5:32:15] a two and four year I believe in the presentation because you couldn't have one or three,
[5:32:21] but your motion didn't have that, particularly in there.
[5:32:26] Please.
[5:32:27] Well, first and foremost, I just want to say it's completely disrespectful for members of the public
[5:32:31] to make comments during our session.
[5:32:34] So let's hopefully clear that out.
[5:32:37] Secondly, I'm happy for the, as you suggested, the friendly amendment around
[5:32:42] change what I hear from that is changing the resolution as is
[5:32:47] included with staff to zero for the extra $100 per month. Is that what you're
[5:32:52] right? It would be zero or what it would be is just a council. Yeah, consistent with
[5:32:57] the council. And then I guess the city to the question of the city attorney the
[5:33:03] way I met the way I've seen this report is that the residents again are the
[5:33:09] who get to decide whether or not we get to do two or four years, not the council. So I would, I would,
[5:33:14] how, I guess, how was that written in to the city attorney, how, how does that written in?
[5:33:19] Yes, so the, the voters will decide the term for the elected mayor. So two or four years.
[5:33:28] The municipal code has term limits, which in it provides the council members cannot serve once you serve three terms.
[5:33:35] So, if the voters elect a two term elected mayor, they could essentially serve if the council decides
[5:33:43] three consecutive terms, which would be six years, and then you have to sit out.
[5:33:47] You can't run again, and so you sit out a cycle.
[5:33:50] So that's consistent.
[5:33:52] That's how it's currently set up for the council members.
[5:33:55] So if this city council would like, we could have that same term limit for the elected mayor position.
[5:34:02] Okay.
[5:34:03] And I could incorporate that language into the ordinance.
[5:34:05] I'm just interested in. I'm misinterpreted.
[5:34:07] The presentation. May I just a quick question?
[5:34:10] Yeah, please.
[5:34:11] Just a quick question.
[5:34:12] What I'm seeing is there are going to be three questions
[5:34:14] that voters, if this pass is today,
[5:34:16] voters have a choice to vote on.
[5:34:18] Of course, the choice, because they don't have to answer
[5:34:20] a question either.
[5:34:22] This is democracy at work.
[5:34:24] My question to you is,
[5:34:26] if there are, because the questions are asked,
[5:34:30] there's two questions that are technically asked
[5:34:31] that could come conflict.
[5:34:33] How would that be decided?
[5:34:34] So if there are more voters who say they want two-year versus four-year, for example, I'm sorry, if there are
[5:34:42] What is my question?
[5:34:43] Basically, yeah, so basically yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, they'll be three questions on the ballot. Sure.
[5:34:50] And as it relates to the term, you know, assuming that it's not literally the same vote count,
[5:34:57] whichever one has the highest vote count two years or four years that is what will will adopt.
[5:35:04] as the term for the elected mayor.
[5:35:07] Now, the issue of term limits, the state law does not
[5:35:10] have a term limit that is set for elected mayors.
[5:35:14] So the council through ordinance can determine whatever
[5:35:19] that term is, and you can change that later on.
[5:35:21] So it'd be good to know that.
[5:35:23] We could incorporate that into the language of this ordinance
[5:35:26] if I'm final approval, but you
[5:35:28] could also change that after the ballot measure is, in effect, at any point.
[5:35:38] Okay.
[5:35:38] So there's a motion in second, any comment?
[5:35:42] Council Member Sassai.
[5:35:43] It was just a quick comment here.
[5:35:46] And I also want to acknowledge to that
[5:35:49] reform takes money and resources.
[5:35:56] For my first term here in Council, I propose
[5:35:59] ordinances around things like environment,
[5:36:03] gun violence prevention,
[5:36:08] even things like
[5:36:09] prison public safety.
[5:36:11] Tonight proposed an ordinance on on-wage
[5:36:13] theft and protecting workers, being sure we
[5:36:16] able to enforce labor standards.
[5:36:18] And I remember the public also last meeting had proposed and awareness as well.
[5:36:25] And I spoke with City Attorney about this, but every time that we proposed reforms like that,
[5:36:30] the range of the cost is usually between $2 to $20,000.
[5:36:33] Is that correct, City Attorney?
[5:36:36] So I believe that was a question on the cost associated with bringing ordinance forward.
[5:36:41] And so my comment, it depends on the complexity of the ordinance.
[5:36:43] If it's a very simple straightforward, we're changing the meeting time.
[5:36:46] like we have coming up. That's a very straightforward if we're doing a commercial cannabis ordinance.
[5:36:50] That's very involved. It's very complex. So it's a lot more time. But the range can be, yeah, between
[5:36:55] 20,000 to 20,000 depending. Thank you. And so I think my point is reform reform takes money and resources.
[5:37:02] And I encourage the public to also pick that apart. Any time the member of the council
[5:37:08] proposed new ordinance or any new program initiative, that's an expenditure, and so I hope you can try
[5:37:14] many of that process too.
[5:37:16] Thank you for comment, city attorney, and a customer of the talk.
[5:37:21] Okay, this is just a recommendation.
[5:37:24] I'm changing the language that I've proposed on this ordinance, but there's a section seven.
[5:37:30] Page 102, it provides that the mayor shall sign and it's the kind of categories of documents the mayor would sign. I was kind of using this to illustrate the types of things that other cities have done, but it does provide that the mayor will sign all written contracts and conveyance is made or entered into by the city.
[5:37:48] I would recommend that we strike that language. We don't currently have the mayor sign all of the contracts. The contracts are already signed by the city manager, the city clerk and approved as to form by the city attorney.
[5:37:58] So I would recommend just removing that language, but that's for the council's approval.
[5:38:05] Okay.
[5:38:07] Will we need to include that in the motion?
[5:38:09] If you can, please.
[5:38:10] So friendly amendment to strike that language about signing contracts to the current motion.
[5:38:19] Sure.
[5:38:19] I mean, yeah, that's fine.
[5:38:22] Okay.
[5:38:23] Councilmember Thompson?
[5:38:25] Yeah.
[5:38:25] I just want to note the second part of the motion that had to do with
[5:38:30] public information and, you know, getting information out, I wanted just to put it out there
[5:38:38] that staff already has a work program and this isn't on their priority, so that's going
[5:38:44] to move some of the other priorities that we have further back because of the timing. I just
[5:38:50] want to acknowledge that. I think. Mayor. Mayor. Yeah, I think councilmember
[5:38:58] Sometimes, you're right about that, I mean, again, we've approved items in the past, including
[5:39:04] your item from last meeting where staff said that they didn't have time or the work plan
[5:39:08] to do something, but we still move that forward.
[5:39:10] So I guess this would be consistent with what we've done in the past.
[5:39:15] But I would say also that that's why my motion has included a subcommittee, where we can
[5:39:20] also support staff as I have noted.
[5:39:24] And so I just want to make sure that's clear that we have a subcommittee that would support
[5:39:27] The development and implementation of that education plan, but as I said before it seems very consistent with what we've done in the past.
[5:39:36] Yep.
[5:39:36] Okay.
[5:39:37] Is there any other comment?
[5:39:43] Tell to member Martinez Rubin?
[5:39:45] I am.
[5:39:46] Doesn't strike by some of the comments made on the days.
[5:39:50] It's incredible, incredible how actions by the Council can be made to appear that they favor
[5:40:02] current situations when the context is different for situations in which we have to vote.
[5:40:12] Okay, thank you for comment. Is there any other comment?
[5:40:18] Okay, see none.
[5:40:19] Secret.
[5:40:20] Okay, Mayor Tafe.
[5:40:21] Yes.
[5:40:22] Mayor Protem Murphy.
[5:40:24] Councilmember Sassai.
[5:40:26] Councilmember Martinez Rubin.
[5:40:28] No.
[5:40:29] Councilmember Tombs.
[5:40:30] No.
[5:40:30] motion carries. Thank you. Thank you.
[5:40:36] Okay, moving on to old business item 11.
[5:40:43] Seeing
[5:40:44] nine will move on to new business. We have nine seen on 13 citizens to be heard. Our second
[5:40:51] third citizens to be heard. City clerk do we have any public comment or citizens of
[5:40:59] Yes, we have Raphael Minis and Mark Zimmerman, oh, I'm sorry, Mayor.
[5:41:05] Through the chair.
[5:41:06] So for item 10B, because we are continuing the public hearing, we technically need to
[5:41:14] call the item, open the public meeting, and then of the public hearing, and then continue
[5:41:19] it to a date certain, which is February 17th, so if we could just call that item, open
[5:41:22] the public hearing, and then we could take a motion to continue it to February 17th.
[5:41:26] I think, absolutely, hold on.
[5:41:29] So for citizens to be heard, we took an item out of order.
[5:41:32] We're going to be going back to 10B.
[5:41:34] So we'll conduct the public hearing and endop resolution
[5:41:38] confirming the community service master fee schedule.
[5:41:42] And so we'll open that up and then have a quick discussion
[5:41:47] about continuing.
[5:41:49] Yeah, so the staff would like to continue that item
[5:41:51] to February 17.
[5:41:53] So staff would welcome a motion by the council
[5:41:54] to continue the item.
[5:41:56] I move, we continue that item.
[5:41:58] A second.
[5:42:00] Okay.
[5:42:00] Motion by Tom's, second by Murphy.
[5:42:03] City Clerk.
[5:42:05] May you take.
[5:42:06] Aye.
[5:42:06] Mayor Pro Tem Murphy.
[5:42:08] Councilmember Sassai.
[5:42:09] Yes.
[5:42:10] Councilmember Martinez Rubin.
[5:42:11] Yes.
[5:42:12] Councilmember Tom's.
[5:42:13] Yes.
[5:42:13] Motion carries.
[5:42:14] Thank you.
[5:42:15] Okay.
[5:42:16] All right.
[5:42:16] So moving on to the second citizens to be heard.
[5:42:20] Apologize for that.
[5:42:22] Taking that out of order.
[5:42:23] Rafael Minis, and Mark Zimmerman.
[5:42:34] Good evening, Mayor, Council staff.
[5:42:36] I was full of acquaintance, Rafael Mass, President of Penel.
[5:42:38] And I have two topics I'd like to address tonight.
[5:42:41] First off, COVID-19 rates, the University of Penel, or at least in the region of Contracost
[5:42:47] is surrounding the city of Penel, so as we don't have direct assessment of wastewater data
[5:42:52] as Council of Autosnoted earlier.
[5:42:54] It's still at a very low level, there's still some moderate high and very high data
[5:43:00] results in Alameda County, but they don't seem to have spread from Alameda County into
[5:43:06] Contra Costa County at this time, and the overall trends still seem to indicate the
[5:43:12] virulence level in Contra Costa County in California as a whole as relatively flat compared
[5:43:18] to some other parts of the country where it's much higher.
[5:43:23] So I would continue to urge people
[5:43:24] to get vaccinated with the booster shot if they haven't or their original vaccines certainly
[5:43:29] if they haven't by this point and to wear masks and credit indoor areas even with the current
[5:43:36] very low transmission rate, because COVID's still not a pleasant illness to get and you
[5:43:42] want to avoid it that if you possibly can. And secondly, I'd like to ask the Council to
[5:43:48] adjourn tonight's meeting in the memory of Alex Prady, who, as I think we all know, is another
[5:43:55] American citizen who was killed by Department of Homeland Security agents. I'm not sure whether it's
[5:44:02] immigration's a custom enforcement or customs and border patrol in particular, but
[5:44:08] the fact remains that she died and she didn't need to and to assess the tragedy.
[5:44:14] So I'd appreciate his memory being recognized this evening. Thank you. Thank you, Speaker.
[5:44:20] next public comment. Mark Zimmerman.
[5:44:25] Hi, good evening again. I appreciate the time to speak to
[5:44:29] an honor, but just like you know, I only have three minutes, but I do have a question for the city
[5:44:34] attorney. I wanted to know if I had the ability to submit comments through a council member,
[5:44:40] thereby giving myself, for potentially if they read my comments, they could potentially be read,
[5:44:47] if they were longer than three minutes, they could be read such that I could give a five minute
[5:44:54] There's no limit on council member statements or discussion, so the council members can...
[5:45:00] Could read comments for they can take as long as they like. Okay. Okay. I can sit in my comments to them.
[5:45:07] Okay. Very good. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you for comment. Next public comment.
[5:45:14] That concludes public comment. Okay. We are now ready to adjourn. I'd like to adjourn the meeting to the next regular city council meeting of February 17.
[5:45:23] in remembrance of Alex Pretty and Amber Swartz. Thank you very much.