[1:50] >> hello, ladies and gentlemen. Let's get started.

[1:56] we have a few minutes behind but I appreciate your patience.

[2:00] we just have a mountain of recognitions that we're going to do tonight.

[2:04] so much it's tuesday, august 25th and let's go ahead and call roll.

[2:08] >> councilmember adams >> here sdemrchlt councilmember guidice.

[2:11] >> present. >> councilmember rodriguez. >> here.

[2:14] >> vice mayor elward >> here. >> mayor sanborn

[2:18] >> here. >> all present. Thank you.

[2:23] >> we'll move on to the reading of the land acknowledgment.

[2:29] if you would please rise. Thank you. The city of rohnert park

[2:39] acknowledges indigenous peoples as the traditional stewards

[2:41] of the land. Let it be acknowledged that

[2:44] the city of rohnert park is located

[2:46] within the traditional homelands of the federated indians of

[2:48] graton rancheria, comprised of coast miwok and

[2:52] southern pomo peoples. And then we have our pledge of allegiance.

[3:03] if gerard guidice, you would do the honors. >> thank you.

[3:22] all right. So we have a few presentations to get

[3:26] ourselves started his evening. Our first is going to be for

[3:29] our amazing front row here, our public works department. So I think we have here with

[3:41] us oe hanson, john bretzk, brandon and charles, bobby and patrick and nicholas and

[3:56] all of our public works staff and I would go ahead and read this proclamation

[4:00] and then if you're up for it, you're welcome to speak or not.

[4:04] and we'd love to get a quick photo if that's okay. The city of rohnert park

[4:07] proudly recognizes the public works parks maintenance staff for

[4:12] their outstanding teamwork, dedication, and commitment to improving

[4:15] the magnolia park tennis courts and

[4:17] surrounding area. As a dedicated and collaborative

[4:22] parks team, these employees work together to get the job done

[4:24] and take pride in maintaining and

[4:28] improving the spaces our community enjoys. Their teamwork

[4:32] and willingness to contribute in different ways were evident

[4:35] throughout this project. Staff contributed their

[4:39] time, skills, and teamwork by building

[4:42] and installing benches, trimming trees overhanging the tennis

[4:44] courts, spreading wood chips, beautifying the surrounding

[4:47] area, and installing a new trash receptacle. Each member of

[4:50] the team played an important role in creating a

[4:55] cleaner, safer, and more welcoming space for tennis players and the entire

[4:57] community. The city extends its sincere appreciation to the parks

[5:04] maintenance team for the pride they take in their work,

[5:06] their dedication to our parks, and their commitment

[5:09] to working together in service to

[5:11] our community. I just want too thank you personally for your hard

[5:22] work and teamwork and your commitment to making rohnert park a great place to live,

[5:28] work, and play, presented this day, august 25, 2026. Knowing that you are a

[5:36] behind the scenes team I'm going to guess you don't have a lot of words that

[5:43] you'd like to share. It was really important to me in walking the

[5:47] progression of this beautiful project and we'll share more about the tennis

[5:53] club's part in this too, you didn't just make something good enough, it really is

[5:59] beautiful. You can see down the road those gorgeous benches that

[6:07] you handcrafted from the trees that were from our town and it's just

[6:10] exceptional and I really appreciate the work you do and I know the council does

[6:15] at well so we wanted to make sure we called that out widely and broadly.

[6:20] so thank you. We will have you do a quick family photo, though, real

[6:27] quick.

[8:18] okay. Staying on the theme of our beautiful magnolia tennis

[8:22] courts, I have a second recognition I'd like to do this evening for the rohnert

[8:26] park tennis club for their generous investment toward the renovation of the

[8:32] magnolia parks tennis court. Do we have rich, barbara and anthony here this evening?

[8:39] marvelous. Okay. The city of rohnert park

[8:41] proudly recognizes the rohnert park tennis club for more than 50

[8:44] years of service to our community and. For its extraordinary

[8:47] commitment to improving the tennis courts

[8:49] at magnolia park. Established in 1975, the rohnert

[8:53] park tennis club has played an important role in making

[8:57] tennis accessible and enjoyable for residents of all ages.

[9:01] through lessons, programs, and opportunities to learn and

[9:04] play, the club promotes recreation,

[9:07] connection, and a love of tennis. The club has demonstrated

[9:12] exceptional dedication to the magnolia park courts by

[9:14] securing grant funding, leading fundraising efforts,

[9:17] and investing club funds to support improvements to these

[9:22] valued public facilities. Their generosity, hard work, and

[9:26] civic spirit have helped preserve and enhance

[9:28] an important recreational resource

[9:31] for rohnert park residents. The city extends its sincere appreciation to the rohnert

[9:37] park tennis club for its longstanding

[9:39] service, generous investment, and

[9:41] strong partnership in helping make rohnert park an even

[9:44] better place to live, play, and connect.

[9:51] presented this day, august 25th, 2026.

[9:54] [ applause ] >> all right, folks. I mean, on the court for a

[10:04] group photo. And if you would like to speak, maybe you're more

[10:09] inclined to speak, would you like to share any words about all of the effort you

[10:14] went through -- so he stood up and sat down, perfect. Wonderful.

[10:20] okay. The arly bird gets the worm.

[10:23] we would love to hear from you about that amazing effort.

[10:27] >> my name is is rich hu hutchinson and I would like to thank my board who pushed

[10:37] me and get this project forward. I'd like to acknowledge

[10:43] amanda, who was our right hand person through this project, nd I'd like to

[10:50] thank the city of rohnert park having trust in four individuals to bring

[11:01] $140,000 project to the city and those courts are outstanding.

[11:06] they're be well received by the tennis community, and we look to do it again

[11:14] sometime. >> well, you're in luck, we've got lots f courts.

[11:19] did you have something you'd like to add, councilmember guidice?

[11:23] >> thank you, mayor. So these are the kind of partnerships that we so

[11:28] desperately need now in these challenging economic times.

[11:30] it's really important that individual organizations and groups step up and I am

[11:35] truly grateful and appreciative, rohnert park has a lot of parks, has a

[11:39] lot of public amenities and it could be challenging at times to maintain all of

[11:45] those facilities ain tournament-ready condition, and we went through this

[11:53] with pickle ball a little while ago and now with tennis, orso to the pickle

[12:01] ball folks out there we appreciate you, and now to the tennis folks we really

[12:05] appreciate you and we thank you for stepping up and just being model citizens nd

[12:09] hechg the city maintain all of of its assets. So thank you.

[12:12] >> will you join us now on thelping the city maintain all of of its assets.

[12:16] so thank you. >> will you join us now on the court?

[13:35] and then we have a third proclamation and I do believe that there is not

[13:39] someone here to receive it. Is jenny here to receive it? I appreciate her requesting

[13:47] this because it's important. A representative for the commission on women and she

[13:58] represents for the county board. So she sent this information

[14:02] and I have used it to write a proclamation. The city council of the city

[14:06] of rohnert park. Proclaims

[14:09] august 26, 2026 as women's equality day in the city of rohnert park

[14:15] . Tomorrow. Whereas, august 26, 2026,

[14:17] marks the 106th anniversary of the ratification of the 19th

[14:22] amendment to the united states constitution,

[14:25] recognizing and protecting women's constitutional right to

[14:29] vote; and whereas, achieving this milestone required

[14:32] generations of women to organize, advocate,

[14:35] and persevere through hundreds of campaigns at

[14:39] the local, state, and national levels, ultimately securing

[14:41] the support of 36 states; and

[14:45] whereas, women today are nearly half of the nation's

[14:48] workforce, comprise the majority of students in

[14:53] colleges and graduate schools, and are increasingly primary

[14:55] or co-breadwinners for their families; and

[14:59] whereas, despite significant progress, women continue to face

[15:01] barriers to full equality, including disparities in pay and

[15:06] access to affordable childcare, housing,

[15:09] health care, and mental health care; and

[15:12] whereas, women's fundamental rights continue to be challenged, underscoring the

[15:16] importance of protecting the right to vote,

[15:20] access to health care, freedom from violence, and equal

[15:23] opportunity; and whereas, women's equality day

[15:28] honors the courage and perseverance of generations of

[15:29] women, celebrates the contributions of

[15:35] women today, and calls us to continue advancing equality for

[15:36] women and girls. Now, therefore, be it

[15:40] proclaimed that I, emily sanborn, as mayor

[15:42] and on behalf of the city council, do hereby proclaim august

[15:46] 26, 2026, as women's equality day in

[15:48] the city of rohnert park, honoring the 106th anniversary of the

[15:52] 19th amendment and reaffirming our commitment to equality

[15:54] and the fundamental rights of all

[15:57] women. Thank you. [ applause ]

[16:08] >> we will make sure that gets to them. Without further ado we shall

[16:20] move to item 5 department head briefings. There are none so we will

[16:25] continue to item 6 which is public comment. Oh, yes.

[16:31] and this is where I give the disclaimer. I will stick to the script

[16:41] so I don't miss anything. Before we start I'm going to recap the rules because they

[16:46] changed a little bit in the last couple months for some of you who haven't been here

[16:50] before. So it's public meetings like this that the rules that

[16:55] apply for commenting t these meetings are that comments from the n

[17:02] non-agendaized items can occur only during those designated public comment

[17:07] periods which we're about to have and they have to stay within the subject matter of

[17:10] the jurisdiction of the city. Comments on the agendaized

[17:14] items have to stick with the script. And then all of the comments

[17:17] that are non-agendaized have to occur during that designated comment period.

[17:23] if they don't fall into that subject matter, I'll remind you and then my city

[17:30] attorney -- yes, can also if they don't follow the city rules I do an initial

[17:38] warning to stay within the subject matter jurisdiction and if it's not followed

[17:43] then the chair, myself, will direct the city clerk to cut the microphone and

[17:50] throughout this warning system I will just look to the city attorney to help

[17:54] identify whether or not comments are within the subject matter jurisdiction

[17:56] of the city or not. So anyone who is attending in-person you are welcome to

[17:59] fill out one of these beautiful pink comment cards.

[18:03] if you're participating virtually on zoom, just remember that you need to

[18:08] use the raised hand feature so that we know that you would like to speak and then

[18:13] if you change your mind, you can lower it. And then if you are on phone

[18:17] you need to do star 9 to raise your hand. And then same to lower your

[18:23] hand and star 6 to mute or unmute yourself. The clerk it looking through

[18:31] zoom for anybody with their hand raised and you need just to raise your hand when

[18:38] the public comment period opens within a minute of it opening.

[18:42] otherwise we will have no ability to call on you. Everybody gets three minutes

[18:45] and you're welcome to use that whole time if you'd like but I will cut you off

[18:50] when three minutes is up. Okay. Without further ado.

[18:57] so formal. We have our first comment for public comment period is

[19:02] from mr. John ordway and then mr. Steve keith and then kevin arnold.

[19:13] not all at once. John. John is here.

[19:18] john is not here. Hmm. Okay.

[19:21] well, we'll skip him for now. Mr. Keith, you're up next.

[19:31] >> good afternoon, madam mayor, vice mayor and staff. I appreciate that I'm

[19:38] actually right after that disclaimer. Because I think we do at

[19:45] least certainly for public more be recently, becoming acquainted with these

[19:53] proceedings, and with the events of last meeting which I'll touch on here briefly,

[20:00] obviously sb 707 made some changes towards how the public can engage with these

[20:09] proceedings. However, it would appear in my observation that the

[20:15] opportunity for public to give a comment has been reduced.

[20:22] notably, the opportunity to speak at the end of the meeting is now vanished.

[20:29] and based on he scldisclaimer you just gave the agendaized items have an opportunity

[20:39] for public comment, and I interpret that as every item that's on the agenda, not

[20:47] just regular items but every item. Which would include all the

[20:54] way to the very end. Community liaison and other reports, communications,

[20:59] adding agenda items to future city council meeting agenda.

[21:04] all of those items would require an opportunity for the public to speak.

[21:10] however, last meeting a gentleman came in and attempted to offer ublic

[21:16] comments. We had not been given the opportunity to learn whether

[21:19] or not, despite historical evidence, that it would have nothing to do with that item

[21:28] or anything that the council is has under their control. Should have had the

[21:34] opportunity. It's important that the oath that we've all given to

[21:42] protect the constitution, the first amendment, super important.

[21:46] and that protects uncomfortable speech. It protects speech that some

[21:52] people may not want to hear, but it's important that everybody have is that

[21:57] opportunity to speak. Thank you. >> thank you for your

[22:03] public comment, mr. Keith. Mr. Arnold? Good evening, kevin arnold, I'm a field

[22:18] rep for seiu10 to one. First welcome to the new chief.

[22:23] we really look forward to working with you. Welcome home.

[22:28] I know on behalf of seiu welcome to the city of rohnert park, we have lots

[22:34] of things to partner with and accomplish. And so like I said, wlcome.

[22:38] we did also just receive our first letter for a preliminary bargaining

[22:44] meeting which we're very much looking forward to. We will be scheduling out

[22:49] exactly when to meet with the full staff and I hope we can continue to have a good

[22:55] back and forth on that. The last thing I wanted to mention was just that this

[22:58] was of a eally great opportunity today to recognize the incredibly

[23:03] hard work that these folks do in public works but in the entire seiu bargaining

[23:08] unit every single day. And we ll about a week from a ear since the gallagher

[23:17] report was published, correct? So here we are, the way to recognize the

[23:22] hard work of these folks, do there are or more substantive ways to

[23:27] recognize the incredibly hard work they do. And we need to be able to

[23:33] solve this issue as far as competitive wages, compensation, retention, as

[23:40] we move forward into this next era. Hopefully with having some

[23:46] more revenue to be able to jet as well. So thank you.

[23:52] >> thank you, mr. Arnold, and mrs. Carol sherman, come on down, you're the next

[24:01] contestant on public comment. >> well, it's good o see

[24:03] you all. The most wonderful people, and I'm very appreciative

[24:10] that I come up here. I don't normally speak but I'm very thrilled to say you

[24:15] just finished my six-month commitment to the rohnert park animal shelter, and I'm

[24:23] thrilled to fall in love with so many animals, but more importantly, the people

[24:28] who work there. What a great group of folks. The people on staff, but

[24:35] that place, honestly, runs by volunteers. And I'm continuing on in a

[24:42] different capacity there, but I adopted a cat, yes, it happens.

[24:50] everybody that works there goes home with a few animals.

[24:54] and we're kind of towards the end of kitty world. We had so many kitties.

[25:01] but I would encourage anybody who's looking for a way to build community for

[25:09] them themselves, make a big difference, please come and

[25:13] join us and volunteer, anything you like to do, whatever your specialty is,

[25:19] and there's a lot of cool things to do. Please, don't be timid, jump

[25:27] right in, and we're going to have public works right next door.

[25:33] that's a plus. And I just want to thank you all for your encouragement,

[25:39] your willingness to let me serve in this community. I have done so many

[25:45] different service-driven things for the last 15 years, and I'm going to

[25:51] continue, and I feel very ble blessed, especially when you

[25:55] get a little older, don't sit home and watch tv all day, okay? Get out there

[26:00] and help your community. And I hope more people here and people at home do that,

[26:08] and we'll welcome you, I promise you, you will be welcomed.

[26:12] okay? Especially if you love animals and people. It's a good place.

[26:18] thank you. >> thank yu, ms. Sherman. And then we have lisa

[26:22] orla -- actually, ucy dean and then lisa orla. Welcome, lucy.

[26:31] >> hi, everybody. Thanks for having me. My name is lucy dean the

[26:35] representative from sonoma state university the new vice president of external

[26:39] affairs. I've met a couple of you briefly s welcome.

[26:44] lovely to see you again. I just came to give you all a brief report on sonoma

[26:49] state. We're back in session as of yesterday.

[26:51] we had our first day of class yesterday. And the associated students

[26:56] are back in session making sure that everybody is well fed and got our basic needs

[27:01] program back up and running our associate students event planning program and had a

[27:06] big night the other insight and making sure our students are taken care of.

[27:10] we're planning to have a couple hygiene drives throughout the semester if

[27:14] anyone in the community wants to help invest in that, we always love your

[27:19] support. Any information about that will be on our went and our

[27:23] social media as well as our loveless pantry is open for four days a week,

[27:29] information about that is also on our website. Yeah.

[27:35] but we're just back in session. We love having our community

[27:39] involved and we're happy to have you all here. Thank you.

[27:43] >> thank you very much. Lisa orloff. >> I just want to invite

[27:56] everyone in the audience and everyone listening that we're doing a ribbon cutting

[28:01] to celebrate hot works a new fitness center here in rohnert park.

[28:05] a grand opening tomorrow from 5:30 to 7. I'm sure samantha is

[28:12] probably going to share this again I wanted to let you know we're excited to get

[28:16] into business in rohnert park and I want to congratulate the staff, I

[28:20] shared this with marcela already. Dustin shaffer is the owner

[28:28] and he was talking about opening this site in rohnert park, the staff, it's the

[28:35] best, he's opened different businesses in different towns across california and

[28:40] the united states and he was just so excited to share how great it was to work with

[28:45] rohnert park and how easy you made it so I wanted to invite everybody to hot

[28:52] works. Hope to see you there. >> thank you.

[28:59] and then we have barbara mackenzie and then go to zoom.

[29:06] >> good evening everyone. Just wanted to come down and remind everyone our library

[29:12] will be closed starting september the first for four months plus, it's going to

[29:17] be beautiful when it's finished and then we realize that it's an inconvenient to

[29:21] a lot of people and we'll have some services available at the headquarters bg and

[29:26] also wanted to thank you or city manager for her call earlier today inquiring as

[29:31] to whether I would be interested in continuing to serve as the library

[29:36] commissioner and I appreciate that call and yes, am of, thanks very

[29:39] much. >> thank you. Then we're going to go to

[29:45] zoom. Do we have any participants on zoom with their hands

[29:48] raised >> no, mayor, we do not. >> then that's it for

[29:51] public comment. I'm closing it up. We are going to move on to

[29:57] item 7 which is the consent calendar. So I would be ooking for a

[30:04] motion to approve the consent calendar as is -- approve the calendar as is

[30:14] but I actually need it pull one item. So on friday, I learned that

[30:21] my -- >> which item are you pulling?

[30:24] >> 7c. On the consent calendar because on friday I learned

[30:30] that the nominee that I had put out for the library commission role has

[30:38] withdrawn his application which was what miss mackenzie was referring to

[30:44] in her public comment. I believe per protocol I could appoint somebody

[30:52] without moifgving it to a future agenda but I would like to request we do still

[30:57] move it it a future agenda and that is because I need more time.

[31:05] go ahead. >> I was gonna say if it's possible to make comment on

[31:11] that item, I'm amenable to have it open for further review.

[31:15] >> I'd like to make a >> we can comment on the item that's pulled --

[31:22] >> and can I continue to speak on it or no? Use your mic.

[31:30] >> we should remove it from consent calendar and then come back and discuss this

[31:35] item separately >> beautiful. Thank you for clarifying

[31:38] >> I'll motion to pull 7c, correct? Or was it h. Hold on, let me make sure

[31:44] I'm pulling the right item. Yeah. >> motion to approve the be

[31:49] consent calendar pulling 7c. >> second. >> okay.

[32:00] so the adoption of the consent calendar with the exception of 7c.

[32:05] are all those in favor. Anyone opposed. Motion passes 5-0.

[32:13] >> I realize my first time getting to a point someone to an at large position but

[32:19] this is kind of a big deal and it's kind of a hard decision to -- or

[32:24] challenging hing because that's all of these people -- I know at the end

[32:29] you see them on thursday on the agenda packet comes out but it's not an easy thing.

[32:36] what I actually would like to do is also look at the possibility of making this

[32:45] like some of our committee appointments with where we go through the applications

[32:47] together and -- bmake it a council decision versus a - mayor chooses someone

[33:00] second. >> I'll support that >> and then I guess my only

[33:03] other question would be if we were to do that, what other committee roles would

[33:07] it apply to because we would want to keep standard across all

[33:11] >> thank you mayor for the question. We would have to bring that

[33:15] back to council so we can indicate to you which other appointments would be

[33:20] revisited if we want to change the selection process for these at-large

[33:26] appointments so we can work with our city clerk to bring that back to you.

[33:29] >> okay. Fantastic. So with that as the regular

[33:32] item n a future agenda? >> is yes, we would bring back the item for discussion

[33:38] and if necessary, then at that point we would get direction, we would have to

[33:43] also change the city council protocols to reflect whatever new process the

[33:46] council would like to follow. We can do that.

[33:49] >> okay. Perfect. I appreciate that.

[33:52] thanks for humoring me on this suggestion. It's appreciated.

[34:03] any other questions? Go to public comment >> to we want to do public

[34:08] comment first? >> council discussion? >> would anybody from the

[34:13] public in the room or on zoom like to speak on this item specifically 7e?

[34:23] seeing and hearing no one is interested, clerk, anyone on zoom?

[34:30] >> we have to wait a full minute. Because they need to raise

[34:34] their hand. But there isn't anyone so far with a raised hand.

[34:38] >> okay. >> there's nobody on the raised hand we don't have to

[34:42] wait -- if there's nobody on zoom >> there is a person on

[34:46] zoom. >> there is. Okay.

[34:48] >> we have about 30 seconds. Process.eciate the new -

[35:06] public comment, no one in the room has a burning desire to speak on this

[35:15] item? >> one minute has passed. >> okay.

[35:20] if no one else would like to speak on this item I'll go ahead and close the public

[35:24] comment period and come back to our council for any remaining thoughts,

[35:33] questions. >> I wanted to pull this to be honest, just because I'm

[35:38] really feel a bit uneasy on the timeline of events of the email I received and

[35:44] hearing somebody rescinded their application. So I have asked our city

[35:49] manager and I'm going to ask here we also look at a code of conduct of folks that we

[35:54] appoint to committees and commissions. I don't want to assume

[35:57] things but also feel when folks are interested and it's not an easy process,

[36:02] folks are pouring in and taking time to put in an application and wanting to

[36:07] participate in thirsty. I just have some doubts and concerns as to why somebody

[36:13] would rescind so suddenly just given the timeline of what I've experienced of

[36:20] communications received. And so I would like to either extend or have the

[36:24] opportunity a bit more time, to be able to ask the applicants those questions

[36:30] if possible, and also figure out whether it's us or who we appoint, what is our code

[36:37] of conduct on those seats and within the community as well because there's -- some

[36:46] things we also get feedback in different ways and I want to make sure if we're going

[36:50] to be updating things we just update fully across the board for fairness and

[36:59] equa equability. And I know -- and so that's

[37:03] my hesitancy. It's not necessarily the candidates or past, present,

[37:09] future, it's more of the timeline of events has caused me a lot of pause to

[37:14] be able to confidently move forward with the item. >> I was going to suggest

[37:25] if we can ask the city manager that possibility to reopen the process so that

[37:35] other people can have the opportunity to apply and that will be based on our

[37:47] five here and to give the guidance to madam city manager.

[37:52] >> and I would assume that that has to happen if we're gonna change the process or

[37:59] propose changing the process >> I think all of these questions will be

[38:04] deliberated and answered when we bring back the item. >> okay.

[38:09] perfect. Thank you, then. >> does that -- and that

[38:13] leaves the current person in that seat until then, correct

[38:16] >> yes, I'm sorry, I didn't want to give the impression that there's been a decision

[38:20] made. There hasn't been. So we need a motion and t

[38:26] then. I'd be -- >> I'd like to have an

[38:28] opportunity to make a comment. >> go for it.

[38:30] >> mayor, you received a call from the gentleman on friday?

[38:35] >> I did >> id you give you some reasons why he rescinded?

[38:40] >> he said he felt like -- can I ask a question? >> she's asked a question,

[38:49] I think it's on the table and -- >> you're asking a

[38:52] question, right now it's your question, correct? >> I was just wondering --

[38:59] for the privacy of the -- >> the privacy of the.candidate --

[39:05] >> interested in serving our community and really any capacity.

[39:09] this was one area where he applied and I really appre

[39:15] appreciated, you know, him stepping up and considering doing it and his decision

[39:19] was to not do it after all, and I mean, I'm sure he will serve in some other way

[39:28] somewhere. >> I guess my concern here is we have someone who

[39:34] served well and faithful for 12 years and that communication that was sent

[39:41] to her last week, the city talked about her dedicated service, her contributions

[39:46] to help strengthen library services, representation he have the community with

[39:51] integrity and care, outstanding service and dedication, generous

[39:55] volunteering of her time, her passion for preserving and sharing history, her

[40:00] unwaving commitment to public service, her countless hours of dedicated

[40:04] time making rohnert park a better community, contributions to make

[40:09] meaningful and lasting impact, appreciation for her support of and her many

[40:15] capacities and her interest service and I just feel like we're not forwarding barbara

[40:21] mackenzie the dignity here through this process that she's earned and she's

[40:26] entitled to. With that I have absolutely no problem relooking at this

[40:30] process. You made a comment when you were speaking about the

[40:33] mayor appoint. In my understanding, it's the mayor nominates and

[40:38] brings to the council but I fully support your desire to say let's take a look at

[40:42] this, bring the names forward to maybe have the mayor narrow it down to two

[40:46] or three and then have the council decided. But I see no reason to leave

[40:50] ms. Mackenzie or tenterhooks for another two weeks to a month.

[40:57] I may be out of town the second meeting in september and 'd like for here if

[41:02] that happens. I don't see any reason why we need to prolong the agony

[41:06] for ms. Mackenzie. >> can I make a comment? >> yes.

[41:13] >> so to be honest, I got concerned when I get a -- when I just got today saying

[41:21] that the nominee pulled out the nomination. And I do respect our current

[41:30] representative, so has nothing to do with her personality nd I do not

[41:34] want eople to start judging people for their personality or what is pg had a.

[41:42] there's a situation hat happened that we need to address, and that has

[41:46] nothing to do with her or any other candidate. The last thing that we

[41:52] wanted to do is to scare off people to apply to any of our committees.

[42:00] because that is going to become a pattern when someone wanted to come and

[42:06] apply to serve, then they get scared off and then leave.

[42:11] it's not oing to be a pretty image of rohnert park.

[42:15] we talk about fairness, we talk about opening up to the public, and I think it is

[42:22] fair to say that since that process didn't go through, it's fair to see it open.

[42:31] and I will be, you know, cautioning us to -- I mean, we know personally, I do

[42:40] respect the work that ms. Mackenzie has done and I do not want to put it on the

[42:46] line because of the situation happening. It's unfortunate.

[42:51] I didn't know. I just found out today. And I was a little bit

[42:57] unease to talk about a private conversation that the mayor had with someone

[43:02] that applied on a public setting. That sounded very

[43:09] inappropriate because it's going to scare off future candidates for any other

[43:14] committee that we're going to open in the future, and out of respect of

[43:21] mrs. Mackenzie, I don't think it's fair for her to be put in that position.

[43:25] we should have just, you know, made it clear and simple.

[43:29] it didn't work out, we have someone here, how about we continue the process.

[43:34] I think that would also show that we do respect the work that she has done.

[43:39] >> I think one of the ways to show the respect for the work she's done is to

[43:44] appoint her to continue to serve and I'd like to make a motion to do that at this

[43:48] time and ask for a second >> is unfortunately right now that process isn't

[43:52] allowed under our protocols because the mayor has to nominate first and the mayor

[43:59] has not nominated anybody >> the mayor nominated someone, he withdrew so --

[44:05] >> another person that applied. So -- in theory if the mayor

[44:10] wanted to appoint someone other -- >> what I was gonna ask is

[44:17] can the commissioner continue to serve if I extend this out -- as a

[44:27] matter of law the commissioner will erve until a replacement is

[44:33] sele selected. >> mayor, may I?

[44:35] >> yes. >> I support reinitiating process and I'd like to call

[44:38] for the question. In that case I will revisit this.

[44:49] I would like to make a motion that we continue the process for the library

[44:53] commissioner selection and, of course, ms. Mackenzie will be included in that

[44:56] process if she so chooses >> I'll second. >> just to clarify that you

[45:03] want staff to bring back an agenda item at a future agenda to discuss this

[45:13] process. >> keeping in mind that councilmember adams would

[45:16] like to definitely be here. So we can schedule around that.

[45:21] >> okay. Did -- did we do everything we needed to do there

[45:30] >> there was a motion -- >> I got a motion, I got a second.

[45:34] all those in favor. Those opposed? Okay. Thank you.

[45:42] >> motion to bring back a discussion regarding city council protocols

[45:47] surrounding mayor nominations for outside agency appointments and code

[45:51] of conduct for all appointees is passed by a 4

[45:59] 4-1-0 with councilmember adams dissenting. Thank you.

[46:01] >> thank you. Next we will move to our regular items starting with

[46:06] l 8a. And our presenter is I believe going to be m

[46:14] ms. Rankin or would that be you? >> good afternoon, and it's

[46:19] going to be a joint presentation here with our director of human resources,

[46:24] tracy rankin, and, of course, me. And so as you know, in

[46:29] december, chief mattos indicated that he was retiring even though he's

[46:34] still with us he's serving in an interim capacity o we started a recruitment

[46:39] process in february, and it's been six months that we've gone through this

[46:42] process, which is very common and typical for a law enforcement professional.

[46:47] and it gives me great joy to be able to present the item before you today, which is

[46:52] the resolution to consider the employment contract for ignacio richard navarro

[46:58] better known as rick navarro in the community law enforcement community.

[47:02] and we're extremely pleased after a nationwide recruitment and a strong

[47:08] candidate pool to bring forward mr. Rick navarro to have the position f the

[47:14] director of public safety. We're extremely fortunate that he has decided to join

[47:19] our city and join our public safety department. He actually is a resident of

[47:23] here for many years and for him to be able to serve his community in the capacity of

[47:30] director of public safety is extremely important for us and valuable.

[47:35] and so I'm very excited that he's joining the team. He has more than 35 years of

[47:40] law enforcement experience, 30 years with the marin county

[47:48] sheriffs office and currently serving as chief of police in the city of

[47:51] mill valley so we're very pleased that he's decided to join the team.

[47:55] for us as a community, we value community, we value accountability, nd also

[48:00] value the relationship that our public safety department has with members of our

[48:05] community and so he brings that and he will continue with that, and he knows the

[48:09] importance of those values for us. And just really making sure

[48:13] that we have the public safety relationship with our community.

[48:17] and so I'm very, very pleased that he's joining. He's here with us today and

[48:22] he'll be hopefully addressing you with a couple of comments.

[48:25] but again, just having an individual with his distinguished and extensive

[48:29] career in law enforcement join the city of rohnert park is important for us and

[48:35] so I'm glad, again, that he's here. Now, I will turn it over to

[48:39] our director of human resources, tracy rankin, we have to whenever we're

[48:44] bringing forward an employment contract for a department head director, we

[48:49] do have and we're required by law to read a statement that satisfy the

[48:54] requirements of a government code so now I will give the opportunity for ms. Rankin

[49:00] to be able to state that. Thank you. >> thank yu, madam city

[49:03] manager. Good evening, council. In accordance with

[49:10] government code section 54953 a the city council is to receive an oral summary

[49:16] report of the salary and compensation including fringe benefits paid to any

[49:20] local agency executive prior to taking final action. Under the terms of this

[49:26] agreement, are the director of public safety is entitled to receive the following

[49:31] compensation and benefits. An annual base salary of $255,661.05 per year, which

[49:42] is step 5 of salary range 78m. A peace officer's standards

[49:48] and training post executive certificate stipend in the amount of nine percent of

[49:54] base salary, a uniform allowance of $,080 per calendar year to be paid

[50:00] monthly. A city cell phone, city vehicle for his use at city

[50:05] expense, and other equipment deemed appropriate by the city manager.

[50:10] a credit of 80 hours of annual leave on date of hire and accrual of annual leave

[50:15] at a rate of 240 hours per year. 100 hours of administrative

[50:21] leave per fiscal year. Participation in calpers in the three percent at 55

[50:28] program and fringe benefits including health insurance, disability benefits, retiree

[50:34] health savings contributions, and employer retirement contribution in

[50:39] accordance with the council's adopted outline of certain conditions of

[50:42] employment, fringe benefits, and salary for the management unit.

[50:48] >> I forgot to mention that the employment agreement is before you this evening,

[50:54] however, chief navarro will be start sptember 22nd and we will be working with the

[51:00] department to do a welcome ceremony for him, give him an opportunity to interact

[51:03] with members of the public. So I just wanted to make sure I clarified that.

[51:07] thank you. >> good evening, mayor, vice mayor, city council

[51:15] members and city manager. Thank you nor hose kind words.

[51:19] much appreciated. I have prepared a statement and I promise you that city

[51:23] manager did not discuss my comments prior to this evening with you they're

[51:28] going to be very similar. I am deeply honored and humbled to be here with you

[51:34] tonight I come before you as a proud resident of rohnert park with deep roots in this

[51:39] community. I was not seeking another career opportunity when I

[51:42] saw the recruitment for rohnert park's director of public safety.

[51:45] however, this position immediately spoke to me. I've always held our public

[51:50] safety department in a highest regards, and it's members are true heros n

[51:56] our community as a resident I personally called upon them for assistance and have

[52:03] consistently been I am pred by their knowledge, compassion and

[52:06] professionalism. Through the the recruitment process I was equally

[52:11] impressed by the city's commitment to including regional partners, community

[52:14] members, department heads and members of the public safety department.

[52:17] that approach resonates teteep deeply with me because I

[52:23] believe collaboration and inclusion are essential to building trust and achieving

[52:27] long-term success, the warmth and support I've received from the entire

[52:31] city team has been incredible and I am truly grateful for the welcome.

[52:34] I know there's a great deal of work ahead of us but with this outstanding team, I am

[52:40] confident that we're ready for the challenges and opportunities before us.

[52:43] I value partnership, collaboration, accountability, and hard

[52:49] work. What you can expect from me is authentic, transparent,

[52:53] and engaged leadership from someone who cares deeply about this city, our

[52:59] employees, and the essential public safety services our community deserves.

[53:04] thank you for the trust you have placed in me and for the opportunity to lead this

[53:08] it is an incredible onor to serve the community that y family and I have proudly

[53:15] called home for 34 years. Thank you. [ applause ]

[53:26] >> where do we begin? This is a really big deal. >> you need to take --

[53:32] >> I'd like to make a motion -- >> thank you

[53:35] >> I will second -- >> let's do public comment, let's do public comment.

[53:38] I'm sure somebody in this room has something they would like to say on this

[53:42] item although I do not have any cards in front of me. I put you on the spot

[53:48] >> we do not have any speaker cards and -- >> clark is currently

[53:53] running -- >> we could do council -- >> should we adopt the

[54:06] resolution first? >> we have to wait. Okay.

[54:12] >> so moved. [laughter], >> mr. Keith, taking one

[54:17] for the team. Wha what

[54:23] what are your thoughts? >> I just met this guy and he seems really good.

[54:28] [laughter] >> seems like a really nice guy.

[54:33] he introduced himself to me. I mean, look at me. [laughter]

[54:39] >> shook my hand and everything. Great job.

[54:43] I think you found a good person. How we doing? [laughter]

[54:48] >> all good? >> thank you, as you know, council is not allowed to

[54:53] comment on public comments so e'll just say that was a good ne there.

[54:58] okay. Anything else? P do we have a motion?

[55:01] >> yeah. >> let's get a motion on this.

[55:03] >> I'd like to make a motion to adopt the resolution authorizing and

[55:10] approving the director of public safety employment agreement between the city

[55:13] of rohnert park and ignacio richard navarro >> and I'll happily second

[55:16] that one. >> all those in favor? >> there are people that

[55:22] would like to make comments. Can we go backward and hold that.

[55:29] let's pass it and then comment. All those in favor? Anyone

[55:35] opposed? Motion passes by 5-0.

[55:41] let's talk more about this. >> sure. And I said this before.

[55:44] so welcome. Very excited. Not only from the things

[55:49] that I've been told by either present law enforcement here in rohnert

[55:54] park but people down in mill valley, people in the county of marin and then your

[55:59] neighbors and residents here in rohnert park as well. I think it is so important

[56:03] that you have been deeply embedded in this community for many years, decades, and

[56:09] I'm very excited to welcome you and build on the great foundation that tim has

[56:15] created here. And move forward. So welcome, neighbor, and

[56:20] welcome back home. >> thank you. >> I'm so excited to have

[56:24] you on board, chief. I know chief mattos, because he's still our chief right

[56:30] now, has some big shoes to fill. He undertook quite a bit of

[56:37] the department these last five years and has really if anything answered all of my

[56:42] many, many questions so you will now be the new chief I'll be calling with my

[56:47] many, many questions and this community, you know it, I know it, I think people

[56:50] will be hard pressed to not know chief navarro or his family, but I'd really like

[56:55] to thank mrs. Navarro because I don't think law enforcement can happen

[56:59] without their steadfast family and support and the worry.

[57:04] and your involvement in community as well. So I'm going to save the

[57:09] tears for later in september but I'm so excited to have you on board and echo

[57:16] councilmember guidice even myself working in probation marin, without people

[57:20] knowing, right, how highly they spoke of you, friends of my own who have been

[57:26] taught by you and mentored by you the impact is.quite literally throughout the

[57:33] whole north bay and possibly the state. What an incredible way to

[57:37] now represent the friendly city in an official way. So welcome.

[57:42] >> thank you, councilmember, and thank you for recognizing my true

[57:45] foundation, my bride, jennifer. >> well, welcome to rohnert

[57:50] park chief in waiting. We're excited to have you. This has been just the

[57:54] leadup time. I was talking to your wife about the anticipation

[57:58] period of since you knew this was going to be your responsibility going through

[58:01] all the process, that tests person sometimes just the waiting.

[58:07] I met tim mattos for the first time after I was elected in 2018.

[58:11] you have big shoes to fill here in rohnert park. I think you also have a

[58:16] little bit of a leg up on most other candidates since you know the community so

[58:19] well. I'm very excited for the women and the men who serve

[58:24] safety in rohnert park from - the dispatcher to everybody who works in that building,

[58:30] the sergeants, lieutenants, line folks, they're excited to have your leadership to

[58:35] build on what's been done by chief mattos and I look forward to many years of

[58:39] working with you. Thank you. >> thank you,

[58:44] councilmember. >> your true foundation is our true foundation.

[58:50] you gotta share. I'm really excited and thank you, mrs. Navarro.

[58:57] I'm incredibly excited, leadership is very important, and leadership

[59:04] can either break or elevate the community, and having the right person into

[59:12] leadership is really important, especially now with everything that's, you

[59:16] know, every community is going through. However, the mayor of mill

[59:22] valley is not too thrilled, he grilled me. So he said we stole him, we

[59:28] stole you from him, but I say, no, we took back our own person.

[59:34] so he's coming home. Sorry, max. But it shows how effective

[59:41] your work has been in marin and mill alley and how you have transformed that city.

[59:49] chief mattos has been our pillar here for the many years he has served and it

[1:00:01] aches to see him going but at the same time you guys have made sure along with

[1:00:05] all the public safety leaders to bring you on board.

[1:00:07] and it's very exciting to see that your leadership will be now here at home,

[1:00:15] representing the values and the people that, you know, you live and create memories

[1:00:25] every single day, and I'm so excited because I know that what you have done in mill

[1:00:34] valley as n employee and an outsider, you would take that baton and that

[1:00:42] different level now that you're here at home, and I'm so excited and welcome home.

[1:00:48] >> thank you so very much, it's great to be home. >> and all the things that

[1:00:54] my colleagues have said and more. I am very grateful that you

[1:00:58] are interested in the position and to all of our staff, it was a very

[1:01:02] collaborative hiring process. I think everyone got to give

[1:01:05] their $0.02 what they were looking for so I think we've got it.

[1:01:08] and I really look forward to the good work you're gonna continue here in our city.

[1:01:16] >> thank you so much, mayor. >> we do -- since you're

[1:01:21] here we're going to do a family photo together. This will be the before

[1:01:58] photo.

[1:05:30] >> we're gonna go to the next item, which is 8b >> good evening.

[1:05:43] mark henderson public works director with scott sanders our sustainability manager,

[1:05:49] we're here to discuss the reentry into the russian this is a local entity that -

[1:05:57] focuses on storm water compliance and outreach. So I will turn it over to

[1:06:02] scott. Scott oversees our storm water compliance and

[1:06:05] outreach program. Thank you. >> hello.

[1:06:09] great to be here. So let's just dig right in. So I'm gonna present on the

[1:06:15] russian river watershed association, hard to say. But tonight I'm gonna walk

[1:06:20] you through kind of what it is, our steps, I'm going to call it the rrwa because

[1:06:28] it's hard to keep saying over and over again. We're going to go through

[1:06:31] what is the rrwa. Our history, how it operates day to day, the miles per

[1:06:40] hour membership costs and programs and what what are we here for.

[1:06:45] what is the rrwa, a coalition of 11 public agencies and all

[1:06:50] coordinating storm water compliance, outreach, grant funding across the russian

[1:06:55] river watershed. So ur member agencies are a iks many of cities, we have

[1:07:04] the sonoma water, two counties, mend mend and sonoma the city of ukiah

[1:07:12] serves as the administrative agency and fiscal agent and handle financial

[1:07:19] administration on behalf of all the members. The core rrwa operating

[1:07:24] budget does come entirely from member agency so our dues cover the cost of

[1:07:29] running the organization itself. Individual programs

[1:07:32] sometimes bring grant money into the program as well. It was formed in 2023 to

[1:07:41] facilitate this partnership across political boundaries to member agencies could

[1:07:45] work cooperatively to protect this watershed and efforts at no single agency

[1:07:50] could take on effectively alone. So what is the watershed?

[1:07:56] it consists of 1,484 square miles across mendocino and sonoma counties.

[1:08:10] what's in that watershed, there are 238 treams and creeks, two major

[1:08:17] reservoirs, ten tribal land organizations home to 63 different fish species, as

[1:08:21] well as 360,000 people. And how are we connected to it? I'll add some extra

[1:08:29] here. Everything that goes to our storm drains heads to a

[1:08:32] creek. From that creek our creeks will ended laguna which goes

[1:08:37] to mark west creek which then drops into the russian river.

[1:08:43] also we get water directly from the russian river. Sonoma water pulls it right

[1:08:48] from the russian river filters and brings it to rohnert park residents.

[1:08:54] our history with the rrwa is not new. Of we were one offist

[1:09:00] founding members in 2004. We stepped away in 2020 by council vote the reason

[1:09:08] being cost effectiveness and as well as we had internal capacity to handle the items

[1:09:14] on our own. But then this year we have now rejoined and we signed

[1:09:20] the amendment 1, the same mou that's been running since 2004.

[1:09:25] so all member agencies are signing the same mou. Next we're going to go with

[1:09:34] how it operates. It's day to day governance. Each member -- it's

[1:09:43] governored by a board of directors made up of elected officials.

[1:09:47] every member agency appoints one representative and one alternate to sit on that

[1:09:52] board below the board there's an executive program, an initiatives

[1:09:55] committee and a technical working grouping and those bodies support the board

[1:09:58] with staff level expertise on the technical and programatic side of things.

[1:10:03] the rrwa facilitates more than 24 regional meetings a year between the board,

[1:10:09] committees, and advocacy meetings. During the september and

[1:10:19] february time, the board adopts a work plan and budget that was created

[1:10:23] throughout the year. And then now we're going to move over to our costs.

[1:10:33] membership costs and hat it provides. So there we go.

[1:10:39] year 1 it's a little modest starting with a 5,000 flat rate in our cost, the first

[1:10:44] year is kind of getting used to it. But hen over time it's

[1:10:50] gonna start going to a formula where half the cost is split among the member

[1:10:57] agencies and then the other half is weighted based on each agency's operational

[1:11:01] budget. Last time rohnert park was in it it was about five to

[1:11:04] seven percent of that total budget. Recently the budget is now

[1:11:10] 719,000 so roughly rohnert park would be on 36 to $50,000 a yar, of course,

[1:11:15] today's item is not a fiscal impact. It will just bring in your

[1:11:21] representative to the board. So what do these costs do for us? Well, first,

[1:11:28] regional collaboration. Rrwa facilitates board meetings, committee

[1:11:32] meetings, operators, forums and maintains a shared website for all member

[1:11:36] agencies. Second, they do regulatory advocacy, they attend water

[1:11:41] board hearings, they prepare comment letters, represent local interests at

[1:11:47] sacr sacramento. Third, or fourth, they do

[1:11:49] grant support as well, third is regulatory compliance, they help us with our

[1:11:55] municipal storm water permits, they help us with lid trainings, russian river

[1:12:00] regional onitoring program is also under this. And then they also help with

[1:12:05] grant support. And hat we're here today is to pick a member for the

[1:12:14] board of directors. Let's see what we got here. We're required to have an

[1:12:23] appointed representative which is a city councilmember, to this

[1:12:27] organization and then we'll have an alternate. Just like zero waste.

[1:12:34] >> you're saying you would have picked one of us anyway, but because we have

[1:12:38] to have one we're here to nominate somebody today >> that's what we're going

[1:12:41] to do. We're just going to need to complete those two items

[1:12:46] tonight, yeah, that's kind of my whole presentation right there.

[1:12:50] >> beautiful. Okay. What we'll do is we can take

[1:12:52] questions from our council and then want to go to public comment and then back

[1:12:57] to our comments. So -- >> I have no questions.

[1:13:02] >> any questions on that item itself? >> I do.

[1:13:06] thank you very much. Can you go back to the slide that tells how much money

[1:13:09] this is going to cost? >> uh-huh. >> it starts out at 5000

[1:13:16] entryway and then we're going to get up to somewhere between 35,050,000, but my

[1:13:22] understanding from reading the report and especially listening to you talk it's

[1:13:25] actually going to be a net savings for us for the services they're going to

[1:13:29] provide, and I think too maybe explain o mr. And mrs. Rohnert park maybe when

[1:13:35] we can explain that this is -- we're spending so much more doing some of hese

[1:13:39] things that they're now going to help us do including the legislative

[1:13:45] interaction and all those sorts of things, right? So can you peak to that a

[1:13:48] little bit? >> yes. So we decided to bring back

[1:13:52] rrwa because we do not have the internal capacity to do everything that we need to

[1:13:57] do to fulfill our permit compliance with the water board and all those our

[1:14:02] items. So spending the 36 to $50,000 a year actually does

[1:14:06] safe us money without having to hire extra people to perform this compliance work

[1:14:10] and not only that they're doing grant support and they're in sacramento

[1:14:15] lobbying for us. And multiple other items like that that do save us

[1:14:18] money. >> that's definitely the advantage of having that

[1:14:21] unified front for grant support, meeting as an organization rather than us

[1:14:26] doing it individually. And also we're currently using consultants to help us

[1:14:30] manage our storm water compliance. So this will lessen the

[1:14:35] burden. >> by what -- can you give us some ballpark --

[1:14:40] >> I mean, probably saving over 25,000 a year -- I mean, if I had to throw a

[1:14:49] number off >> I think -- I really appreciate your the way you

[1:14:53] presented it here because it does show the net benefit to the citizens of rohnert park

[1:14:57] top get back and joining this organization >> and the outreach that

[1:15:02] they do now, they will do locally, a lot of these pilot programs that they

[1:15:06] were doing in other jurisdictions we weren't part of it so now they're

[1:15:09] going to be bringing these programs to rohnert park. >> other council questions?

[1:15:16] open it you up for public comment. Ladies and gentlemen, public

[1:15:20] comment item 8b, if anybody would like to speak on this item, now is your chance.

[1:15:27] I have no cards. He's not getting up. Is there anyone on zoom?

[1:15:34] >> there's one person present. The erson hasn't raised

[1:15:38] their hand. >> okay. It's been more than a

[1:15:40] minute. True? We're good to proceed? We don't need to

[1:15:46] wait a full manipulate for this person? We do. Okay.

[1:16:00] what other questions do I have? I think my question would be about what do you

[1:16:12] think the best intint going to be for us. What's your favorite thing

[1:16:17] that rrwa is benefit is going to be for us. What's your favorite thing

[1:16:21] that rrwa is offering? >> well currently they are bridging this gap between

[1:16:25] ssu so right now ssu us and rrwa with getting together and trying to work on

[1:16:30] copeland creek. It's just another added seat at the table of bringing

[1:16:35] resources to places in our communities is my biggest excitement.

[1:16:46] >> we just learned about this, that's kind of exciting.

[1:16:49] they're looking at enhancing copeland creek. I think it's a regulatory

[1:16:55] compliance, we have some really tall hills to climb. One is trash capture and

[1:17:02] things that they assist with. So I think it's better to be

[1:17:06] regionally on a unified front than stand alone. So that's just one of them

[1:17:12] off the -- that is -- we're going to have to comply with.

[1:17:21] what I'm referring to is trash entering the creeks, that we have to -- yeah,

[1:17:26] yeah, sorry, we know we have to stop basically all trash from entering the creeks.

[1:17:35] >> all right. Now we may proceed. Wonderful.

[1:17:38] back to the comments from the council. >> thank you.

[1:17:42] so first of all, thanks for the report. And udos to the council for

[1:17:48] rejoining the agency. Certainly the benefits greatly outweigh the osts

[1:17:53] and s we move forward with our hydrology study and with modeling as to how we ould

[1:18:03] relocate a retention basin over in k section and taking a look at what that modeling

[1:18:09] looks like and the russian river watershed association will be an indispensable

[1:18:14] resource or us not only department the development services but department of

[1:18:20] public works moving forward so I'm very excited that we're rejoining and also the

[1:18:23] collaboration with sonoma state, we're already working together with them, with

[1:18:30] mr. Rogers, and the center for environmental inquiry with regards to the copeland

[1:18:36] creeks in common and some of the other initiatives that we have.

[1:18:39] so this is a great fit, and if I am nominated I would be more than happy to serve and

[1:18:45] make sure that rohnert park gets its pound of flesh out of joining this

[1:18:56] organization. >> I have no comments but I'll second councilmember

[1:18:59] guidice nomination. Happy to support. >> I think it would be

[1:19:04] great if gerard wants to do this. [laughter]

[1:19:09] >> sigh of relief coming from everyone elevation on the dais.

[1:19:14] if no other board comments let's proceed with this wonderful nomination and

[1:19:18] second. >> do we need to have a nomination to rejoin the

[1:19:21] russian river watershed association? >> okay.

[1:19:29] >> my question will be that what o you guys have like meetings, when the meetings

[1:19:36] will be, so that people can know and see the schedule since life not that busy for

[1:19:43] all of us. >> I will share that I went to the meeting two months

[1:19:49] ago. They were very excited to see us, I feel like I guess

[1:19:53] the game is getting the band back together because we didn't know we were the

[1:20:01] missing poise. So everybody that meeting was very enthusiastic about

[1:20:04] the rejoining. I do I do believe they meeting

[1:20:11] once monthly and there's advisory committees so if you wanted to go above and

[1:20:16] beyond you could in addition to the board member. >> that will be great to

[1:20:21] know what we're going to get ourself into before -- >> if you were interested

[1:20:26] in serving, you mean? >> I'm not. >> okay.

[1:20:32] I can share with you when I look that up, but it's pretty much at least once a

[1:20:39] month -- >> sorry, mayor, are you asking about the alternate

[1:20:46] representative? >> I'm kind of lost -- >> you just have a

[1:20:50] representative there. I went just to say hello and remember us, and now that we

[1:20:59] are officially back in, we're needing to nominate someone to serve and

[1:21:04] actually, that brings up up a good point. Does the alternate have to

[1:21:08] be on the council could it be like with zero waste where you're my alternate if

[1:21:13] I can't attend >> there's a councilmember, there's a nominated and then

[1:21:18] the staff member would be acts an alternate. And there's 24 scheduled

[1:21:25] meetings throughout the year. >> and how long is the

[1:21:35] term? >> until someone else would be nominated.

[1:21:38] there's not a defined term to this. >> so madam city attorney,

[1:21:44] does that mean if for some reason I get really, really mad add ouncilmember

[1:21:50] guidice and I say I wanted to do it, would it be similar to something else

[1:21:54] that we would bring back to the agenda to discuss -- >> there's no term. The

[1:21:59] appointment is totally within the discretion of the council.

[1:22:02] so the council can remove, appoint whenever they want. >> okay.

[1:22:10] I think we got all our questions answered. We got a motion, we got a

[1:22:15] second. All those in favor. >> aye

[1:22:17] >> aye >> aye >> aye.

[1:22:19] >> any opposed? Okay. >> thank you. >> thank you for the

[1:22:26] presentation. >> thank you. >> okay.

[1:22:37] next we are moving on to item 9, which is committee liaison and other reports.

[1:22:45] council, who would like to share what they've been doing this month?

[1:22:54] >> chambers. I was able to give them pp bit of an update on what

[1:22:59] we've got going on in the city tomorrow as we heard there's a ribbon cutting for

[1:23:07] hot works, cost, you can find information on the chamber's website and on

[1:23:12] september 2nd, it is the noontime luncheon and the speaker will be senator

[1:23:21] balden. Please register by august 28th so make sure

[1:23:24] there's enough food for everybody. The next day, september 3rd

[1:23:29] is the grind and grow collective for young professionals focused on 45

[1:23:35] and younger entrepreneurs but it is open. And the speaker will be our

[1:23:38] very own kevin king to talk about how to support businesses and updates on

[1:23:43] downtown so hopefully we can get businesses into downtown.

[1:23:48] we've got two more weeks of the farmers market if I count correctly.

[1:23:52] it's been great. And we also have the african soul festival, I believe the

[1:23:59] third annual this year, happening on saturday, and in honor of mrs. Dolly p

[1:24:09] parton who passed today, there are still tickets available through the

[1:24:12] community foundation to support her imagination library and their gala is on

[1:24:17] saturday, august 29th. I want to congratulate old cas for seven years, our

[1:24:24] very own home brewed, a great weekend long event this past weekend, and then

[1:24:30] we have our third annual car show happening next sunday, september 6th, at the site

[1:24:38] of the downtown. I believe you can still register your car, take a

[1:24:41] look for it if you have a classic that you'd like to showcase.

[1:24:45] but it's just a great community event put on by our very own franky levin so

[1:24:52] lots going on in the city. >> I have a library advisory board meeting last

[1:24:57] week, and I just want to confirm what was satisfied earlier.

[1:25:02] the library is about to be closed and there's going to be some sort of mini

[1:25:06] libraries, some activities at the burton avenue rec center thank you for working

[1:25:10] that out and then the sonoma county library offices are on state farm, about a third

[1:25:16] of the mile down the street from the library. There will be some places

[1:25:19] where you can go there, there will be no services at the current library location

[1:25:23] so that box where people can pick up books, closed. It will be down the street

[1:25:28] at the main library place, you can go pick up books and if you have any questions

[1:25:33] you can go there and also go to petaluma library, I know it seems like a long time

[1:25:42] but it's going to go by like that, I promise. >> vice mayor?

[1:25:50] >> we have had sonoma lean power, t was a short one. For the most part, sonoma

[1:25:58] clean power renewed our engagement with the ceo, that's going to be there for

[1:26:07] another three years and counting. And so, yeah.

[1:26:10] and on -- and the next month we will have a recess for a month and we're going to

[1:26:20] resume in october. >> marvelous. I'll give an update on

[1:26:28] si zoef waste. We went over the outine

[1:26:30] items including the 24, 25 audits. Which showed a strong

[1:26:36] financial decision nd some continuing investment happening in our local waste

[1:26:42] reduction program. Cascadeia compliance outreach program.

[1:26:50] that supported 122 different food businesses including a few here in ohnert park.

[1:26:56] most are compliant or near compliant. So they're helping business

[1:27:01] owners address the things that need to be not -- when you go get take out that's

[1:27:10] not a thing anymore. People can't have styrofoam and they've been consulting

[1:27:15] on straws, utensils, finding best suppliers for these different things that meet

[1:27:21] all the requirements and the program is going to continue for six more months but it's

[1:27:26] already exceeded its goals around education and outreach.

[1:27:31] the board received a final update on usda compost food waste reduction grant

[1:27:40] program highlighting ajor wins in compost education, food recovery and some

[1:27:43] climate smart farming practices that resulted in over 50,000 pounds of local

[1:27:50] food rescued and thousands of residents that have been reached through the compost

[1:27:57] education efforts and it's been delivered to over 3600 acres of local farm land.

[1:28:03] the sb54 implementation is coming right along, producers are going to have

[1:28:09] to start funding statewide recycling improvements in 2027 so zero waste is

[1:28:16] helping with each jurisdiction and also with the county including rohnert

[1:28:19] park in making sure we understand what materials are covered any possible

[1:28:27] exemptions, infrastructure needed and the way of recycling and any potential

[1:28:31] reimbursements that might be out there because some of those reimbursements will be

[1:28:37] retroactive. So that is a really big deal.

[1:28:40] and the last thing would be that the board voted to move all our future meetings for

[1:28:45] zero waste sonoma to their new facility the head squares at 195 concourse

[1:28:51] drive in in santa rosa that's instead of the city hall building in santa rosa.

[1:28:56] so this is going to improve public access, if any of you have been there you have to

[1:29:01] go upstairs to go downstairs. And help facilitate better

[1:29:07] collaboration too. So on the 17th of september that's when we're going to

[1:29:10] start meeting the new staff. That's my update for zero waste.

[1:29:16] >> just wanted to take moment to thank and acknowledge our incredible

[1:29:26] city manager and congratulate you on a full permanent leadership team

[1:29:30] again. I know it's been a rocky time and we're so lucky to

[1:29:36] have your leadership and then for the folks who have stepped up and joined the

[1:29:41] city, again, I would say you guys are the experts. I did not go to school for

[1:29:47] each of your departments, but I just really wanted to appreciate that and

[1:29:51] appreciate everyone's undertaking of their departments as well.

[1:29:56] congrats. >> and on the nerdy moment I'd like to thank the city

[1:30:01] manager nd the staff for the upgrade on our sewer bond rating.

[1:30:06] and perhaps ust a quick explanation of what that means.

[1:30:11] I know we went from double a minus to double a and exactly if you could kind of

[1:30:19] provide a little narrative on that, that would be great.

[1:30:21] >> yes, thank you. And perhaps what I'm going to have is maybe bring up

[1:30:26] our director of finance and our public works director because really the

[1:30:30] celebration is for them. They have been doing a tremendous job in planning

[1:30:34] really our sewer improvements as you know, we have over 200 million in

[1:30:40] deferred maintenance. And what a credit rating increase does for us is s

[1:30:46] not that we are pursuing this but if p we were to go pursuing external financing

[1:30:53] it would give as you better credit rate. And that's huge.

[1:30:56] not only it a reflection of the really the management of the sewer funds that we

[1:31:04] have, but also it is showing the community and really us that we're planning for the

[1:31:09] future. And I know that's been one of our major goals and

[1:31:14] really just desire is to be able to address the needs of this community so. I'm

[1:31:17] very, very happy and I just want to thank you really our director of finance and her

[1:31:23] team and our public works team for the great work that they're doing and just

[1:31:26] making sure that we are addressing the needs f this community.

[1:31:29] so thank you, thank you to the team for doing that, well deserved recognition in

[1:31:34] terms of that upgrade. So thank you, councilmember guidice for pointing that

[1:31:38] out, appreciate it. >> I thought I felt different.

[1:31:46] it was our rating. Very encouraging. If there's no other updates

[1:31:50] on that we'll move on to -- did anybody have a public comment on the liaison

[1:31:56] reports? Anything spark inspiration for you? Double checking? Then on to

[1:32:05] communications. Item 10. Anything that the council

[1:32:08] would like to share there? >> councilmember adams >> two things, I received

[1:32:15] multiple communications from multiple members of the community asking if we can

[1:32:22] leave the farmers market out at the community center. Process is for saying to -

[1:32:28] people we're gonna look at that and give it serious consideration because it's

[1:32:32] obviously so much more well received. I've had a friend of mine

[1:32:36] out there doing drone footage with infrared o see the number of people there.

[1:32:41] it's incredible the number of people that are there. So I just wanted to report

[1:32:45] that people are really anxious to have us talk about that.

[1:32:49] the second thing is vice mayor elward and I have been receiving a lot of

[1:32:57] communication from lap swimmer's in town. And we've been working with

[1:33:03] the director of community services about finding other places where they can swim

[1:33:08] from november, december and january and we'll be turning that research over to

[1:33:14] director bagley for her to share that with the swim community.

[1:33:19] it will cost about the same as the costs for them to swim right now either going

[1:33:23] up to the university or going to one of the health clubs in cotati.

[1:33:28] actually have some other benefits I think that will helpful to them as well.

[1:33:31] so I just wanted everyone to know we're looking at that and we're working together

[1:33:35] and we'll give all that information to cindy to send to the lap swimmer's.

[1:33:40] so thank you. >> I can add I want to also the constituents to know

[1:33:49] that if they want to connect with us, we have a room here where we can meet in person.

[1:33:56] so come. We're open. We want to meet with you.

[1:34:01] and the door is open at the city hall. >> marvelous.

[1:34:07] anything else for communications before we move on to item 11? Okay.

[1:34:12] then that would be adding agenda items to future city council meetings.

[1:34:20] no? Okay. Any public comment on that one?

[1:34:26] >> I don't know if we consider this an agenda item or not, but I was hoping we

[1:34:30] could recognize the norkel cal ripken12 team. They came in second be in

[1:34:40] their world series and really gave everyone a run for their money out there so

[1:34:45] they were the only one of two teams from nor cal representing so I was hoping

[1:34:52] we could give them a little recognition >> absolutely, I agree to

[1:34:54] that. Okay. Then we have adjournment.

[1:34:59] it's official. Don't go far because there is a foundation meeting.

[1:35:07] [ adjourned, 7:05 p.m. ]

Rohnert Park City Council, Rohnert Park Financing Authority (RPFA), Successor Agency to the Community Development Commission

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