[9:59] the Friday night.
[14:19] You ready?
All right. Welcome everyone to the
[14:23] regular meeting of the Sanfell City
Council. Today is Monday, August 17th,
[14:27] 2026. The city clerk, if you could call
the role.
[14:30] » Council member Bushy,
>> present.
[14:32] » Council member Hill,
>> present.
[14:33] » Vice Mayor Curts,
>> present. Council Maria Tuli Rand Mayor
[14:37] Kate
>> present. We met in close session prior
[14:39] to this meeting and I'll ask the city
attorney to report out.
[14:43] » Thank you Mayor Kate. No reportable
action was taken in close session this
[14:46] evening.
>> Thank you. Good evening everyone and
[14:49] welcome. Thank you for joining us
whether you're here in person or online.
[14:52] We appreciate your participation and
engagement. We apologize that we're
[14:56] running a few minutes late. We did have
a ribbon cutting out in front of city
[15:00] hall. There is a new incredible
sculpture there. So, next time you're in
[15:04] the city, uh do check it out. Um it is
one of several art pieces throughout the
[15:10] throughout the city. So, if you've
attended a previous city council
[15:14] meeting, you know that we like to start
by appreciating our staff as they work
[15:17] so diligently on behalf of our residents
every day. So, it's a special highlight
[15:21] today to announce, they already know,
but to announce to the community our
[15:26] team and employee of the quarter for Q2
of 2026. The team of the quarter are in
[15:32] our community and economic development
department and they are our permit
[15:37] technicians. Sydney Dolchini, Julio
Perez, and Oscar Padilla. Sydney, Julio,
[15:43] and Oscar have earned repeated praise
for providing fast, high-quality service
[15:47] while making sure city permits are
issued accurately and efficiently.
[15:52] During the transition to open gov, which
is a platform that the city uses, they
[15:56] kept permit processing moving seamlessly
while learning new systems, improving
[16:01] processes, and continuing to provide
excellent customer service. Their
[16:05] patience, positivity, and solutions
focused approach are a great example of
[16:10] teamwork and public service. And our
employee of the quarter is Gray Melgard,
[16:16] senior civil engineer in public works.
Gray consistently steps up for
[16:20] colleagues in our community, taking on
significant additional responsibilities
[16:25] during a staffing transition while
continuing to move important projects
[16:29] forward with calm professionalism and a
collaborative spirit. Gray truly
[16:33] embodies our together Sanfell
principles. We're very fortunate to have
[16:37] them on our team. Congratulations to
Sydney, Julio, Oscar, and Gray.
[16:45] is how we uh applause in our chambers. I
also want to briefly note that we now
[16:50] accept public comment by telephone as
part of our public participation
[16:54] process. We welcome everyone's input and
ask that whether participating in person
[16:59] or remotely, we maintain a respectful
and welcoming environment even when we
[17:04] strongly disagree. We also include as
part of our opening an land
[17:09] acknowledgement that was actually
written by the tribe and it reflects our
[17:13] ongoing collaboration and work with
them. We thank the original caretakers
[17:17] of this land. Sanfell is traditionally
home to the coast Miwok people, many of
[17:20] whom today are citizens, our tribal
citizens of the federated Indians of
[17:24] great rancheria and we honor their
continuing involvement and stewardship
[17:28] practices that benefit us all. Thank you
for being here. I'll turn it over to the
[17:32] city clerk as she can explain how the
public can participate in tonight's
[17:35] meeting.
>> Thank you, Mayor Kate. Tonight's meeting
[17:37] is being recorded and streamed live on
YouTube. For members of the public
[17:40] wishing to provide public comment, you
may participate in person through Zoom
[17:44] webinar or by telephone. If you're
joining by phone, you can call
[17:47] 669-444-9171
and enter the webinar ID 860-619-5675
[17:56] pound. When you wish to provide public
comment, you can press star 9 to raise
[17:59] your hand. When it's your turn to speak,
you will hear a prompt that says to
[18:03] press star six to unmute yourself. If
you're joining through Zoom, you can use
[18:06] the raised hand feature when you wish to
speak. The host will call call on you
[18:10] and prompt you to unmute as well. If
you're commenting in person, you can
[18:12] form a line at the podium once Mayor
Kate invites public comment, and you'll
[18:16] have two minutes to provide comments.
Displayed on the podium and the
[18:19] projector is a timer to help you stay
within the two-minute time frame. At the
[18:22] conclusion of your two minutes, your
microphone will be muted, so we may hear
[18:26] to from the next speaker. You're
invited, though not required, to
[18:29] introduce yourself and say what part of
Centerfell you live in, or if you're
[18:32] joining us from outside of Centerfell.
If you're experiencing any technical
[18:35] difficulties, you can contact me at by
email at city.clerk@c cityofterfell.org.
[18:41] Thank you.
>> Thank you. We have open time for public
[18:44] expression at both the beginning and end
of the meeting. At the beginning, we'll
[18:47] just do it for about 10 minutes for
folks both in the room and online. We'll
[18:50] have more time at the end of the
meeting. Uh you are welcome but not
[18:54] required as you just heard to state your
name and what part of Sanfell you're in.
[18:57] And as I've already mentioned we do
welcome a diversity of viewpoints and
[19:01] respectful disagreement and help us
maintain a welcoming environment for
[19:05] all. So I already have received two
cards of folks in the room. So now would
[19:10] be your opportunity. So we have Oliver
Reyes and Mon Gaho. If you'd like to
[19:16] come and speak we would be interested in
what you have to say.
[19:34] Good evening, Mayor K and council
members. My name is Mona Maho and I am a
[19:39] student at Davidson Middle School. I am
also part of alcohol justice youth
[19:44] organization in the canal. Whereas thank
you for allowing us to speak again.
[19:49] We're here. We're asking for better
lighting and clear signage at Pickle
[19:53] Park. This park is very important to the
youth in our community. It's where we
[19:58] play, hang, and connect. These changes
would make a huge difference to us.
[20:02] Thank you for allowing us to speak and
thank you for your time and
[20:06] consideration.
>> Thank you.
[20:11] » Hi, my name is Oliver Reyes and I'm an
incoming freshman at Sanfile High
[20:15] School. In May, our youth ambassadors
were here to request a platform for
[20:20] local youth voices
to offer our concerns while offering
[20:24] fresh solutions. I am asking to reopen
our request for the youth platform. We
[20:29] want to work with the city, not just
speak to the city. We believe Santa Fe
[20:34] can be modeled for what youth centered
civic engagement looks like. Thank you
[20:38] for your time and commitment to making
our community safer and stronger.
[20:44] Thank you both for your comments and
because it's during public open time, we
[20:47] can't respond formally, but I will say
we're starting an East Sanrafll um
[20:52] planning effort which we would
absolutely welcome youth participation.
[20:57] So, we have your contact information.
We'll ensure that you know uh when those
[21:03] that engagement is happening because it
will include pickleweed and it will also
[21:06] include other other parts of East
Sanfell. Thank you. Thank you both.
[21:13] Is there anyone else in the ch
[21:18] Is there anyone else in the chambers
that would like to comment during public
[21:21] open time? I don't see anyone in the
chambers. Is there anyone online?
[21:26] » I see no hands raised. I'd like to
remind everyone if you're calling on by
[21:30] phone. You can press star 9 to raise
your hand.
[21:35] » I see no hands raised.
>> Thank you. We will close the public uh
[21:38] open time for public expression and
again there will be additional time at
[21:41] the end of the meeting. Uh we'll turn to
the city manager and council member
[21:44] reports. Interim city manager Navasio.
>> Okay. Thank you uh madame mayor. Uh just
[21:50] a few items I'll highlight. Um we've
already put out uh um information in
[21:56] this regard, but just note that uh we
have started the uh road construction
[22:00] work on point um uh San Pedro Road as
well as um up in Terolinda. Uh these are
[22:09] both two significant paving projects
part of our citywide uh um pavement
[22:15] efforts. Uh work is going to continue
through October. So there's going to be
[22:20] traffic impacts on um basically weekdays
from 8:00 to 5:00 with lane closures. So
[22:26] a just noting that and um asking
everybody to just be uh very mindful of
[22:30] traveling through those areas. Um
uh I'll just note that we also have um
[22:37] you mentioned the East San Rafll
specific plan. We also have several kind
[22:42] of ongoing concurrent um community
engagement efforts uh currently
[22:47] underway. The community is hopefully
aware of the uh partnership with
[22:52] change.org that is soliciting uh
feedback through uh their platform uh
[22:58] that folks can um have already started
to um submit significant uh comments. We
[23:04] encourage that. Um also there's more
information on the website. Uh council's
[23:09] also aware that the city as part of our
strategic work plan is looking to review
[23:14] and as needed update our citywide uh
parket permit uh program. There's been
[23:18] some um meetings with neighborhood
groups. There's also going to be a
[23:22] survey that's going to be going out. So
there'll be some more information on
[23:25] that. But just want to make folks aware
of those two um opportunities for uh
[23:29] feedback we're soliciting. And I'll just
highlight um see a couple of uh meetings
[23:36] later this week. Actually, tomorrow
morning, our economic development and
[23:39] housing subcommittee will be meeting um
on third floor of this building at 10:00
[23:44] a.m. Our police advisory and
accountability committee will be meeting
[23:49] on Wednesday, 6 p.m. in um in this
space. And then on Thursday, a busy day,
[23:56] we'll have our homeless subcommittee
meeting in the morning. And our newly um
[24:02] formed uh subcommittee on the 350 Midel
affordable housing project will be um
[24:07] holding its meeting um on uh Thursday
evening at 5 o'clock.
[24:13] Um
I'll leave it at that for now.
[24:16] » Okay. Thank you. I'll turn to my
colleagues to report out what they've
[24:20] been up to. Uh Vice Mayor Curts, go
ahead.
[24:23] Thank you. Um, I was a had the honor of
presenting to Marin Community Clinics a
[24:31] proclamation on n national health center
week partner appreciation day and we
[24:37] were one of the partners with um Marin
Community Clinic. So that was nice. Uh
[24:42] the I attended the MCCMC
Marin County Council mayors and council
[24:49] members legislative meeting. We did the
golf center ribbon cutting um which is
[24:57] located in North Sanfell and Mayor Kate
practiced. Uh it's quite interesting. It
[25:04] was good. Thank you to the our San
Rafale police department for hosting
[25:09] National Night Out. I was able to visit
three locations in North San Rafale and
[25:14] Contempo and two within Terolinda.
And I did a tour of the Cedars uh site
[25:23] which is in San Rafale sort of right at
the top of San Rafale and Sanelmo um
[25:28] that serves many individuals with
developmental disabilities um with an
[25:33] additional focus on older adults. So
>> that's it.
[25:36] » Thank you, Council Member Uran Scaladi.
Thank you, mayor. Um, so I have a few
[25:42] updates from back in June because, um, I
missed the meeting in July. I was
[25:46] visiting family. So, um, I'll just try
to be brief. Um, on June 5th, um, I
[25:52] attended the Cal City's June policy
committee meeting and I I'm representing
[25:57] the city on the environmental quality
policy committee update. And uh so we
[26:02] just went uh with some updates on the
priority environmental legislation
[26:06] including positions on bills related to
building standards, data center, energy
[26:12] efficiency, clean energy permitting and
energy governance. Um the committee also
[26:17] highlighted some of the cal city's
sponsor legislation on disaster
[26:21] assistance, wildfire preparedness, sea
level rise planning, um and the PFAS
[26:28] mitigation. So um I'm very happy to
represent uh the committee and I will be
[26:33] attending the cal city cities conference
in ju in September sorry um also
[26:37] attended in Brettheart the um sixth
annual bread heart in the park and that
[26:42] was a wonderful neighborhood event uh
showcased with the creativity of our
[26:47] local artists musicians makers and
artist plays so it's always a great
[26:51] opportunity just to see the community uh
there was a sea level right subcommittee
[26:56] meeting for the city of San Rafael where
uh mayor Kate is always attending as
[27:00] well. And um let's see um something
really exciting. It was the first annual
[27:07] green festival by Raises El Canal. And
um so this was like um environmental
[27:14] event for the community. And I really
want to thank everybody from the our
[27:18] staff from the city that made it
possible at Pickle uh the Picklewood
[27:23] libraries and all the other agencies um
who participated. I was actually
[27:27] volunteering with the Mar gardeners and
it was really fun to get all the
[27:31] families interested um into composting
and um different events. So, uh finally
[27:38] um on August 12th, I attended the ribbon
cutting and a new business that I'm
[27:42] super excited um in the Marina Square is
a Crunch Fitness. Uh Mayor Kate was
[27:48] doing the the ribbon cutting and council
member Hill was there as well. And it's
[27:52] really amazing to have this new business
in uh in my district. one which is the
[27:57] south of uh San Rafael and I know that
there are already so I think they've
[28:02] been open for like six weeks, seven
weeks now and it was completely packed.
[28:05] So it's so great to have a place for the
community to to get healthy. And then uh
[28:10] this morning I had a really fun time. It
was a meeting, but uh we were Mayor Kade
[28:16] and I with uh some of our um staff
members were kayaking um in the canal um
[28:22] to show the new sustainability person
from Marin County about sea level rise.
[28:28] Uh supervisor Saket was there uh many of
our staff members and also from the
[28:32] county. So it was a lovely day but it
was very important just to see it's a
[28:36] different perspective what you see from
the water. So I'm very grateful that I
[28:40] got invited to that. So that's my
report. Thank you.
[28:43] » Thank you. Uh, Council Member Bushy,
>> I have three items to, um, report on.
[28:48] I'm going to do them in reverse
chronological order so I can end with
[28:51] the best one.
I'll start with um, the meeting of the
[28:55] board of the Central Marine Sanitation
Agency. Two great things happened there.
[29:00] First, um we approved the job
descriptions for the employees coming
[29:06] over to CMSA from San Rafale Sanitation
um district which is part of our
[29:12] operational consolidation process. So
the nuts and bolts are getting turned to
[29:17] to make that happen. We also heard uh in
close session a report on the mediation.
[29:22] I can't share the details but I
personally remain optimistic about the
[29:26] resolution of on the current dispute
amongst the um JPA members. I also um
[29:33] attended national night out. I thought
we had a great turnout this year and um
[29:38] I noticed that the safe team was
particularly um popular. U people knew
[29:43] who they were and and more importantly
what they did. And finally, on August
[29:48] 2nd, I was delighted to attend the
annual achievement ceremony for
[29:54] Centerpoint Incorporated. They are a
residential and outpatient treatment
[29:58] center headquartered here in San Rafale.
23 people graduated um from the program
[30:04] um and spoke about how their their lives
are back on track. It was really a
[30:08] pleasure to hear the district attorney
who was a keynote speaker talk about the
[30:13] role that um Centerpoint plays in
turning people's lives around. So, it
[30:17] was a a very uplifting um experience at
our um B Street Community Center. Thank
[30:23] you.
>> Thank you, Council Member Hill.
[30:26] » Thank you, Mayor Kate. My report
includes all meetings going back into
[30:30] July, which includes Saturday, July
25th. I attended three events that day.
[30:35] Gristol Park cleanup. Uh my duty was
picking up all the cigarette butts going
[30:40] around. That was a self-appointed role.
Uh then went over to the touch a truck
[30:45] event at Sanfell High School, the
biggest touch a truck event yet. I was
[30:49] told because I wasn't there at opening
that there was a line of people ready to
[30:53] get run in like it was Black Friday. Um
and uh so we might need to find a larger
[30:58] venue next year. And then that evening I
did a ride along with Corporal Agger. Uh
[31:04] it was a it was a wonderful evening to
see how our uh patrol members are uh
[31:12] in our community and ensuring that uh
safety is the priority. I will recount
[31:18] um one uh anecdote that evening that a
person had called in indicating that
[31:24] they were in danger and then stopped
talking. The officers um used uh
[31:29] persistence uh intelligence and
experience uh to do to use every tool at
[31:35] their uh disposal as well as going door
to door until the person was eventually
[31:40] found. Thankfully uh it was a person who
was uh more confused and it was not uh
[31:44] more than that but but it spoke to me
about the quality of our officers and I
[31:48] was grateful for that opportunity. Uh
the next uh report is for Tuesday,
[31:54] August 4th, National Night Out. As
already mentioned, I was with Lieutenant
[31:58] Eberly uh with along with the mayor,
Vice Mayor, and uh Council Member Bushy.
[32:04] Uh we went to Crystal Park, West End
Neighborhood, and Vivivalon Healthy
[32:07] Aging Campus uh where I was able to
partake in what was being served that
[32:12] evening. And then on Wednesday, August
12th, I also joined uh Council Member
[32:17] Yuran Goladi at the uh Crunch Fitness
and Marin Squares Shopping Center. Uh
[32:22] and then this past Friday, August 14th,
I had an opportunity to visit the Marin
[32:27] Fire Station, the only uh station in our
shared service network that I had not
[32:31] previously visited. Uh it was great to
see the folks serving our community who
[32:34] had just come back from a medical call.
Um, seeing station 58 was a reminder
[32:39] that it was not one of among one of the
public safety uh sta one one of the
[32:43] stations that was included in our public
safety improvements funded by measure E
[32:49] from 2013. And I was also reminded uh
going back just a few months ago that
[32:53] the city had allocated funding um
timarinwood to support an important
[32:56] intermediate step toward uh stronger
staffing and improved compensation on
[33:00] the way to full parody. And it was a
reminder that we remain committed to the
[33:04] longer term service agreement uh at some
point in the future to bring staffing uh
[33:08] to uh full parody and compensation. And
then finally on that same day I was at
[33:13] the youth and arts uh building to
receive the Cal Arts Council who we just
[33:20] uh spoke about uh um in front of city
hall just now. uh that uh they were here
[33:26] for a day uh for their off-site meeting
and they were pivotal in ensuring that
[33:32] this city received just over $700,000
just a few years ago on the heels of in
[33:38] 2017 being designated uh as uh one of 14
uh cultural arts districts in the state
[33:44] of California. We're grateful to the
California Arts Council for coming here
[33:48] and being able to tour uh our our city
and see a lot of the results of that
[33:53] funding uh ongoing programs and of
course the public art. That's my report.
[33:58] » Thank you. I'll just add a few things. I
also participated National Night Out and
[34:03] again thank you to our first responders
who also participated and the community
[34:07] leaders that brought their neighborhood
together um so we could all connect. So
[34:11] that was a really really well attended
event.
[34:14] As you know, I'm your representative on
TAM, the transportation authority of
[34:17] Marin. TAM staff met with city staff and
with DPW and director Miller uh to
[34:24] discuss about the one Bay Area grant
program that is through MTC, the
[34:28] Metropolitan Transportation Commission.
This is funding opportunities for us to
[34:32] do projects locally. Uh it is not always
a straightforward uh way to apply for
[34:37] those grants. So, TAM is offering their
expertise and working with the city if
[34:41] we so choose to apply for any of those
grants. In addition, we had a TAM
[34:46] commission meeting. You might have read
about it in the J today. Uh, one of the
[34:50] key items was talking about throughout
Marin County the coordinated traffic
[34:54] signal modernization plan update. Uh,
the short version is many of the traffic
[35:00] signals have don't reflect um, modern
uh, technology. So, TAM is looking at
[35:05] all of the signals comprehensively and
then we'll prioritize which ones will be
[35:09] upgraded. Hopefully, all will be, but
they won't be able to be upgraded all at
[35:12] once. So, that's really looking at it
across the entire county.
[35:16] Uh, we've heard about the ribbon
cutings. We always love ribbon cutings.
[35:20] Uh, they tend to pick up a little bit in
the fall as people return back from the
[35:23] summer. And as mentioned, we had the
Marin indoor golf. If you want to work
[35:26] in your golf game, that's up in Terinda.
And then Crunch Fitness, you want to
[35:29] work on your personal fitness. Um, and
that is down in the Canal neighborhood.
[35:33] So, very appreciative of our local
businesses. And then finally, I was
[35:37] honored to speak at Drake's Terrace.
It's a retirement community here in
[35:40] Sanfal. I asked hard questions and
really wanted to know what was going on
[35:44] in Sanfell. So always appreciate all of
us all appreciate always appreciate the
[35:48] opportunity to come and speak to
community groups. So if you're
[35:51] interested, do reach out. Um and we are
happy to do so. So thank you all for
[35:55] what you've done since our last meeting
in July. And before we move on to the
[35:59] consent and calendar, I will have uh any
public comments. So if you want to
[36:03] comment on any of the items that you
just heard specifically about the
[36:06] reports, now is your opportunity to do
so. And I will look in the chambers
[36:13] if you would like to comment on the
reports.
[36:18] » Yeah. So just the reports. There will be
public comment on the other items. I
[36:22] don't see anyone in the chambers. Is
there anyone online that would like to
[36:25] comment on the reports?
>> I do see one hand raised and just want
[36:28] to remind everyone that they can use
star 9 to raise their hand. And just as
[36:32] a reminder, we are taking phone comments
and we want to maintain a welcoming
[36:37] environment by refraining from hateful
or discriminary discriminatory remarks.
[36:51] » My name My name is Gson and I support
the police. I support the police. Brutal
[36:59] I hate so much. They
beat our women in sport. They beat our
[37:05] women in county jails.
>> I hate so much.
[37:09] » If you could mute, I just would like to
>> So, we are taking public comment and
[37:14] it's a new world. So, I'm going to turn
to the city attorney to find out what
[37:18] speech is acceptable and which is not.
>> Uh, thank you, Mayor Kate. And I think
[37:22] it's important to note that um the
speaker was muted, but the speaker has
[37:26] um uh uh not been cut off the line. I
just think that the type of speech that
[37:33] was um just heard and we heard similar
speech uh prior to the close session
[37:38] this evening uh is worthy of comment
before the speech is allowed to continue
[37:42] under the first amendment.
So, we have a couple of sources to look
[37:47] at when we analyze whether uh this type
of speech is something that um we must
[37:53] endure at a public meeting like the one
that we're in. I think it's particularly
[37:58] important to make these observations
tonight because we have young people in
[38:02] the room and the kind of speech that
we're hearing and it sounds like we're
[38:06] going to continue to hear when the
speaker resumes is speech that if we had
[38:11] a choice we really likely would um make
the decision not to expose minors to
[38:17] because it's so uh inappropriate in our
view. All that said, uh I want to make
[38:23] some observations about our city's
policy and explain why my advice uh to
[38:28] you, Mayor Kate's going to be uh when
I'm done speaking, which will take a
[38:32] little while longer. So bear with me, um
to allow the speaker to continue with
[38:36] their remarks if they're in the same
vein and don't tread into what actually
[38:40] is impermissible under the first
amendment. So uh the question presented
[38:47] is whether uh the the speech violates
the city's adopted policy on disruptive
[38:54] behavior in a public meeting. What is
disruptive behavior? We actually have it
[38:59] defined here in San Rafale and it tracks
the government code. The applicable
[39:04] government code uh section is 54957.95
[39:11] which defines disrupting as behavior
that actually disrupts, disturbs,
[39:15] impedes or renders in feasible the
orderly conduct of the meeting and
[39:20] includes failure to comply with
reasonable and lawful regulations of the
[39:24] body. Except for true threats of force,
removal must be preceded by a warning
[39:29] that the behavior is disrupting the
meeting. Now, in some people's view, the
[39:32] speech that we were just hearing might
uh fall within that definition, but that
[39:37] really would be inconsistent with uh
what the first amendment would deem uh
[39:42] disruptive speech. An example I would
give would be if the speaker were here
[39:46] live and standing at the podium, the
comments that were made would be
[39:52] permissible speech under the first
amendment and our disruptive speech
[39:56] policy. What would be impermissible is
if the speaker at the conclusion of
[40:00] their aotted time refused to seed the
podium and continued to just talk and
[40:06] rail and scream and make similar
comments. If that were to occur, it
[40:11] would be uh permissible to eject the
speaker. But going back to our policy,
[40:16] uh, and similar to what I just read from
the government code, disruptive behavior
[40:21] under Sanderfell's policy 7.1 under
disruptive behavior in public meetings
[40:27] is speech or actions that prevent the
legislative body from conducting its
[40:31] business. For example, and this goes
along with what I just said, yelling
[40:35] over speakers, refusing to yield the
floor, spamming the chat.
[40:40] This isn't really chat. When we're
getting online uh oral commentary like
[40:45] this, spamming is what we've experienced
sometimes in the past when a uh person
[40:50] was able to take over the chat function
on um our uh then Zoom meetings and put
[40:56] in uh epithets and things like that.
Fortunately, uh we don't um seem to
[41:01] offer that possibility anymore because
we're able to control that from
[41:04] occurring. Um so that kind of speech
would be disruptive of our policy. I
[41:09] think also because of the uh comments
that we heard earlier this evening that
[41:13] most people present didn't hear but the
council did prior to close session. It's
[41:17] important to talk about obscenity for a
moment and the difference between
[41:21] profanity and obscenity.
Um
[41:26] using a profane word and even a profane
word directed at a public official is
[41:32] not obscenity as defined by the law. And
so, um, it would only be speech that
[41:39] would meet the, uh, the legal definition
of obscenity. That would be speech that
[41:45] would not be required to be permitted at
this public meeting and would be, um,
[41:50] speech that we'd be entitled to
prohibit. Uh, one more comment I want to
[41:54] make before we resume is about hate
speech for a moment. And this is uh
[41:59] precisely relevant to the speech that we
were just hearing because it was calling
[42:04] out um uh certain members of the
community and making uh hostile or
[42:09] adverse comments about them. Hate speech
under Sanderfeld's policy means speech
[42:14] that demeanes or targets people based on
race, ethnicity, religion, gender,
[42:20] sexual orientation, or similar protected
characteristics is often deeply
[42:25] offensive. but is generally protected
under the First Amendment if it does not
[42:32] cross into unlawful conduct. And so when
we're hearing speech like we were just
[42:38] hearing, which we interrupted, but which
um if the speaker has stayed on the
[42:43] line, my advice to you, Mayor Kate, will
be to allow the speaker to continue.
[42:47] That sort of um speech would be
permissible. As hateful as it is, as
[42:52] unpleasant as it is to hear, as much as
all the people in this room, especially
[42:57] those of you on the dism and appreciate
and respect so much, abhore, uh there's
[43:03] really um nothing we can do other to
endure it, to be thankful that we live
[43:08] in a country that has the first
amendment and gives people the right to
[43:12] free speech and an opportunity to
express themselves, to continue to do as
[43:16] mayor Kate does to encourage uh
community members to um keep their
[43:20] remarks positive and to not use speech
like that. But I think for everyone
[43:24] present, including our young people who
are having their chance to experience a
[43:30] public meeting tonight, it's important
to understand why with a lawyer in the
[43:35] room, with a police chief in the room,
with a a uniform police officer present,
[43:40] and with our elected city council
members on the dis, it might appear to
[43:44] the community and those present that
we're not doing anything about it. Well,
[43:50] that's true, but we're enduring the
speech for a reason, and I thought it
[43:55] very important to explain that tonight.
Thank you for allowing me this
[43:58] opportunity to make these comments,
Mayor Mayor Kate.
[44:02] » Thank you, city attorney. Um, we
appreciate that, and we appreciate that
[44:06] we are balancing public participation,
which we um welcome and hopefully it's
[44:12] done in a respectful, non-discriminatory
manner. So, I know we did mute the
[44:16] speaker. If the speaker has anything
that they would like to share hopefully
[44:20] with that additional guidance and this
is on the council member reports only we
[44:26] would be welcome to hear your viewpoint
as long as we I'll leave it there. So if
[44:33] you could just have your concluding
statement that would be fine.
[44:36] » Give me one moment.
[44:48] Thank you very much, city attorney, and
thank you for upholding free speech.
[44:54] Yeah,
I just hate training so much. And I want
[44:58] to roll on the streets of Beverly.
Like I said about the Warkski case and
[45:06] also Mayor Curt Mayor Danger your dump
[45:13] as we said protected speech. Thank you
for your comments. You may close the
[45:17] public comment at this point. Please
mute. Thank you.
[45:21] » I see no other hands raised.
>> Okay.
[45:25] » We'll give everyone just a moment.
>> Think we've had enough moments. Thank
[45:28] you.
>> Good public comment.
[45:29] » Okay. With that, we will move on to the
consent calendar. We have items 2 A
[45:35] through
2L. Um, I would like to discuss consent
[45:41] item I, but we will accept public
comment on all items, but I did want to
[45:45] pull consent item I, which is the fleet
replacement. Um, and specifically about
[45:51] a letter we received from sustainable
Sanfell. So, we will have staff respond
[45:55] to that. Are there any other items that
the council would like to hold?
[46:00] Not seeing any. I will open public
comment on the entire consent agenda. So
[46:05] that's items 2 A all the way through
including I through L. So if you'd like
[46:10] to comment on the consent agenda, you're
welcome to state your name and what part
[46:14] of Sanfel you live in. Maybe pull the
microphone up. There you go.
[46:19] » Good afternoon. Um, my name is Jose
Guusman and I'm here on behalf of
[46:23] Aliados Health, an organization that
represents 17 community health centers
[46:27] across six counties including Marin
County and Marine Community Clinic,
[46:34] Marin City Health and Wellness Center
and Reader Center, key um, community
[46:38] health centers in this city. So, I just
wanted to make a quick comment about
[46:42] thanking the major and members of the
city council for proclaiming National
[46:47] Health Center Week. We appreciate your
support in recognizing and the important
[46:52] role that community health centers play
in the city and across the region.
[46:57] Community health centers provide high
quality affordable primary care
[47:00] regardless of a person's ability to pay.
They provide essential services
[47:06] including primary care, dental care,
behavioral health, and preventative
[47:11] services.
As the resolution noted, community
[47:14] health centers in the across the county
provided 300,000 patient visits and more
[47:20] than uh to more than 57,000 patients.
This information is coming from 2025 and
[47:26] is across the county of Marine.
Thank you again for recognizing National
[47:31] Health Center Week and for your
continued support for the work that
[47:34] community health centers play in the
city. We look forward to continuing our
[47:38] partnership and to to improve the health
and well-being of our community. Thank
[47:43] you. And again, my name is Jose Guzman
and representing Aliad Health.
[47:47] » Thank you, Jose. And that was in
reference to the proclamation that's
[47:51] part of our consent agenda. Thank you.
Anyone else like to comment on the
[47:56] consent calendar?
Not seeing any public in the room. Is
[48:01] there any public comment online?
>> I see no hands raised. Give me one
[48:05] moment.
Thank you.
[48:08] » I see no hands raised.
>> We will close the public comment online.
[48:12] Um and
I would accept a motion on all the items
[48:16] except for I and then we'll have staff
speak to I.
[48:18] » So moved.
>> I'll second.
[48:20] » Moved and seconded. Roll call, please.
>> Council member Bushy.
[48:24] » I.
>> Council member Hill.
[48:25] » I.
>> Vice Mayor Curts.
[48:26] » I. Council Edensalotti.
>> I.
[48:28] » Mayor Kate.
>> I. That motion carries 5-0. So the item
[48:32] that was pulled was a fleet replacement.
We received an excellent letter from
[48:35] Samfell uh sustainable Sanrafell and
they had a straightforward question
[48:41] about why not all of the vehicles
specifically the motorcycles and the
[48:46] police administrative vehicles were not
within the electric vehicle pool. So I
[48:51] was hoping that chief could um clarify
that for us and respond to their
[48:56] concerns.
>> Happily. Thank you uh Mayor Kate. Good
[48:58] evening members of the council. Um we uh
staff did receive the letter uh that you
[49:04] made reference to. I hosted a personal
conversation today with the author of
[49:07] that letter, answered a few questions
and provided some clarification as it
[49:11] relates to the police motorcycles, staff
cars, those types of things. We have um
[49:17] begun our transition to some electric
vehicles. We have two electric vehicles
[49:22] in the fleet. One's operated by a police
captain. The other is assigned to a
[49:26] police lieutenant or special operations
lieutenant. The vehicles that are in the
[49:31] staff report for replacement uh include
one vehicle which is assigned I'll speak
[49:37] cryptically but it's assigned to an
undercover uh operator um who in some
[49:43] cases is on rolling surveillances and
very special uh special utility for that
[49:49] vehicle and electric vehicle would not
be conducive to that line of work.
[49:53] The other experience we've had thus far
uh with where our uh uh uh charging
[50:00] infrastructure exists today um we with
the uh electric vehicles that we do have
[50:07] in service. We originally assigned them
to detectives. Detectives who rotate
[50:11] through on call uh responsibilities. Uh
in some cases um on call
[50:17] responsibilities, the operator takes the
vehicle home in case of um an after
[50:22] hours call out. We've had cases where uh
when the detective during their work
[50:27] shift is operating the vehicle, uh it's
not charged enough for them to get home.
[50:32] Uh so we continue to evaluate the
products available. We continue to
[50:37] improve our infrastructure, but um these
vehicles, you know, we specifically met,
[50:43] including the city manager,
sustainability, and we walked through
[50:47] our options. At this point, we're we
continue to remain open uh to further
[50:52] electrifying our fleet, but at this
point, these vehicle recommendations are
[50:55] based on operational need.
>> Thank you, Chief. That very well
[51:00] explained and understanding the
operational constraints. Any questions
[51:04] by the council on this item? other than
just gratitude that you have been
[51:08] thoughtful about it and that the
transition does continue but in a way
[51:11] that enables our officers to do their
work because that is the highest
[51:14] priority. Thank you. So with that I'd
entertain a motion on this specific item
[51:18] please.
>> So I'll move to accept the completion
[51:21] and authorize the city cler to file the
notice of completion. Is that no sorry I
[51:26] missed it.
>> Adopt the resolution.
[51:27] » Adopt the resolution for
>> Yeah.
[51:30] » Do I have to?
>> Yeah.
[51:32] » Wait.
Two I
[51:35] » not I two I.
>> Yes.
[51:38] » Second.
>> Moved and seconded on two I. Roll call,
[51:41] please.
>> Council member Bushy.
[51:44] » I.
>> Council member Hill.
[51:45] » I.
>> Vice Mayor Curts.
[51:46] » I.
>> Council member Yenslotti.
[51:48] » I.
>> Mayor Kate.
[51:49] » I. That motion carries. 5-0. Thank you.
We have two uh grand jury reports that
[51:53] the council will be reviewing uh this
evening. The first one is response to
[51:57] grand jury report on MCE Marin Clean
Energy. and we will turn it over to the
[52:04] interim city manager uh to tee it up.
>> Yeah, I'll just provide a quick
[52:10] introduction. As was noted uh by the
mayor, actually the next two items uh
[52:14] represent um staff's proposed response
to um the two reference uh grant jury
[52:21] reports, one related to marine clean
energy, and then we'll touch on the
[52:25] report uh related to special districts.
Um, as I shared previously, council,
[52:30] I'll just note that, uh, these are two
of four, uh, grand jury reports that
[52:35] were issued over the last several weeks.
Um, there's a third one that I would
[52:38] argue has, um, city interest, but, the
city was not requested to provide a
[52:43] response that has to do with, um,
findings and recommendations related to
[52:48] the county measure A park and open
space. And for the purpose of this
[52:52] meeting, I'll just note that um staff is
working with the county administrator's
[52:56] office and other cities and towns to
coordinate a response uh related to that
[53:01] uh report. But without further ado, I'll
turn it over to um Pya Nixon in our
[53:06] office to uh present the first item.
>> Thank you so much. Good evening, mayor,
[53:10] members of the city council. I hope
everyone is doing well. I'm here to talk
[53:14] about item 3A, which is the response to
the grand jury for Marin Clean Energy.
[53:21] The action that we are requesting
tonight is uh that the city council
[53:26] adopt a resolution approving and
authorizing the mayor to execute the
[53:31] city of San Rafll's response to the
Marin uh county civil grand jury report
[53:37] entitled MCE Marin Clean Energy a series
of missteps highlight need for
[53:43] governance changes. And just as a
reminder, the city does have 90 days to
[53:48] respond.
Um and you'll note in your packet that
[53:52] the full response is there as an
attachment. So just a little bit of
[53:56] background. Um the report examines the
governance oversight and management
[54:01] practices of MCE Marin Clean Energy, the
uh community choice aggregator uh that
[54:08] provides electricity to most San Rafale
households and businesses as well as
[54:12] those of the other 37 uh other member
cities, towns, and counties. Um just a
[54:21] little bit of the conclusion that we
read in the report is that MCE's uh 34
[54:27] member board of directors has not
consistently exercised an active
[54:32] governance role. Um the board uh seated
significant authority to MCE's uh
[54:38] management and spending increased more
than $200 million
[54:43] uh uh more than $200 million more
compared to last year. Um, and I'll also
[54:49] just note that MCE is governed by a
joint powers agreement. The MCE board,
[54:55] not the city of San Rafael City Council,
exercises governing authority over MCE
[55:02] policies.
So, there were two findings and then two
[55:06] recommendations. Um, the first finding
is F4. Many board members have quite
[55:12] understandably limited experience
regarding a large and complex company
[55:17] such as MCE. The response is that we
agree, the city agrees. Um and then F5,
[55:24] which is all MCE board members uh are
local elected officials who face
[55:30] competing demands on their limited time
and resources. As a result, meeting
[55:36] attendance has often been poor and
insufficient for optimal optimal uh
[55:41] effective governance. And the response
is agree for that. Um and then there's
[55:46] two recommendations. Uh the first one,
R5, is by December 31st, 2026, all of
[55:53] MCE's marin jurisdictions and preferably
all 38 jurisdictions covered by MCE
[56:00] should implement a process by which its
appointed board members or in that
[56:05] person's absence, the designated
alternate member commits to attending
[56:10] each regular board meeting. And this
recommendation will not be implemented
[56:14] at this time but will be considered
further. And then the last
[56:19] recommendation which is R six by
December 31st 2026 all of MCE's marine
[56:27] jurisdictions and preferably all 38
jurisdiction covered by MCE should
[56:33] reassess their appointments uh of chosen
board members to prioritize those with
[56:39] the most ex extensive financial and
energy expertise. and the recommendation
[56:46] is uh will be implemented and interim
city manager if you have a comment.
[56:51] » Yeah, I'll just add a couple comments
and um just to clarify that uh the
[56:56] findings and the recommendations in the
report are that of the grand jury not of
[57:01] the county or MC or any of its um member
agencies. Uh with respect to the um two
[57:09] specific recommendations,
um I think we stated in the formal
[57:13] responses attached that um in many ways
city council already does both of these
[57:21] um at least the spirit of those
recommendations and all of your
[57:24] appointments, right? ensuring that folks
um both have an interest um have a
[57:29] general aptitude uh towards the subject
matter and the expectation of uh the
[57:36] council as probably the case with all
the councils that appoint the
[57:39] representatives that the folks will make
every effort to um you know attend the
[57:44] meetings and be in the best position to
serve in those roles. Uh the the grand
[57:50] jury report um just wants to underscore
the need for um
[57:58] uh a strong governance model which
includes um knowledge, expertise um and
[58:04] time needed to um serve in that role. I
will leave it at that.
[58:12] » And that concludes my report. Thank you.
Thank you, Prea. Any questions that the
[58:17] council has?
Okay, we will enable comments, but I
[58:22] don't see any questions. So, not seeing
any questions. We'll open up the public
[58:25] comment on this item. If you'd like to
comment on the grand jury proposed
[58:29] response to MCE, now's your chance. I
don't see anyone in the room. Anyone
[58:34] online like to comment on this item?
>> I see no hands raised.
[58:39] » Okay.
Thank you. I will close the public
[58:42] comment online and come back to
comments. And maybe I'll first I know
[58:47] that you want to comment. Um why don't
we first go with our representative on
[58:50] MC if you have any comments then we'll
just go to the vice mayor and then we'll
[58:53] all have additional comments.
>> Yes. Thank you. No I um I I appreciate
[58:58] the uh the work that went into this
response and I think um it really
[59:03] addresses the the grand jury's findings
and recommendations. This is again uh
[59:08] the marine grand jury for um 38
different um districts or or cities and
[59:15] and counties. So um I think um um there
I think there is value in the MC's
[59:23] governance model of having locally
elected officials at the table and uh
[59:28] bringing accountability and the
perspective of the community that we
[59:30] serve as well. I've been serving in MC
for this is my sixth year. So I won't be
[59:37] looking for to renew for the following
year but I really um I think um um
[59:42] trying to find somebody that has
knowledge around um energy and um and
[59:48] finance will be good although it is we
are not elected to have that expertise.
[59:53] So with that I definitely support moving
forward with this response. Thank you.
[59:58] » Thank you vice mayor. Any comments? I
just said I appreciate the work that was
[1:00:03] put into the whole grand jury report as
well as the work that's happening
[1:00:08] currently at MCE to address a number of
open issues and concerns. Um I think the
[1:00:14] responses to the findings and the
recommendations
[1:00:18] um work for us and align with work that
we're already doing. So I appreciate
[1:00:22] that. Thank you.
>> Thank you, Council Member Hill.
[1:00:26] » Thank you, Mayor. Yeah, I think um the
goal and vision and mission of Marine
[1:00:31] Clean Energy, formerly Marine Clean
Energy, now MCE, is noble. I do think
[1:00:35] that appropriately uh the Marine uh
civil grand jury has uh raised uh
[1:00:40] questions on governance and I'm thankful
that staff was able to respond and bring
[1:00:46] uh the recommendations to the council.
Thanks.
[1:00:48] » Thank you, Council Member Bushy. U my
comments um are those of a former civil
[1:00:55] grand jury member and they go to the um
quality of the presentation in this
[1:01:02] response and the the second response the
next one that we get to and I am very
[1:01:07] impressed that with the analysis um the
writing and the explanation of very
[1:01:13] succinctly explaining the city's role
and the city's position and bringing it
[1:01:18] all together in a clear response in um
in both of these and as a former grand
[1:01:23] juror I know that making that connection
is um the important part of um why they
[1:01:30] put out those reports. So
congratulations on two jobs well done.
[1:01:35] » Thank you and I'll just conclude. Thank
you for that presentation. Um I will
[1:01:39] note that it's an unusual board and that
there are 34 members. So thank you to
[1:01:43] council member Uransuli for being there
and a pretty un a large group. So, I'm
[1:01:48] glad grand jury also looked at it and
just for members of the public, we'd
[1:01:51] have both um our appointee and we also
have an alternate that is something that
[1:01:55] we'll continue to do in the years to
come. So, we're always at least two
[1:01:58] folks um that are will cover Sanfell
when the meetings occur. So, um thank
[1:02:04] you to staff for doing that. I would
entertain an Go ahead, Council Member
[1:02:09] Micah.
>> Thank you, mayor. Um, so I'll move um to
[1:02:13] adopt a resolution approving the
unauthor unauthorizing the mayor to
[1:02:17] execute the city of San Rafael's
response to the Marin County Civil Grant
[1:02:21] jury report titled MC Marine Clean
Energy. It's actually MC Clean Energy,
[1:02:26] but a series of missteps highlight need
for governance changes.
[1:02:32] » Second.
>> Moved and seconded. Roll call, please.
[1:02:35] » Council member Bushy.
>> Hi.
[1:02:36] » Council member Hill.
>> I.
[1:02:38] » Vice Mayor Curts.
>> Hi. Council Marina Encelad.
[1:02:40] » Hi,
>> Mayor Kate.
[1:02:41] » I That motion carries 5-0. Thank you.
The next one is another grand jury
[1:02:46] report. This is on special districts.
>> Oh, and I see PA is leaving. So, we'll
[1:02:50] have the city manager, interim city
manager. Go ahead.
[1:02:54] » Okay, I'll uh I'll cover this one. Um,
so this uh second report by uh for which
[1:03:00] the city is um required to submit a
response within the uh statutory 90day
[1:03:06] uh time frame. Uh is the report related
to the grand jury's um review of
[1:03:13] arguably like sort of the patchwork of
special districts that uh provide uh in
[1:03:20] almost all cases pretty critical
municipal services to to residents uh
[1:03:25] throughout the county. Um uh the title
of the report is better service at lower
[1:03:31] cost optimizing essential services for
the future of Marin. Um, again, there's
[1:03:38] uh our staff report and the action is
the resolution authorizing the mayor to
[1:03:45] essentially sign off on the response
which is included in your packet.
[1:03:49] There's a um number of findings F1
through F7 that I could just summarize
[1:03:55] by saying that they speak to in the
grand jury's opinion uh the fragmented
[1:04:02] structure of special districts uh that
can lead to um sometimes uh duplication
[1:04:09] particularly on administrative functions
but sometimes um spilling over into
[1:04:14] operational
um there are larger districts or smaller
[1:04:18] districts And for some of these
services, the grand jury notes that
[1:04:22] scale matters and some of the smaller
districts have more challenges in um
[1:04:27] meeting their um goals and objectives
including you know staffing challenges.
[1:04:32] There's um also disperate um pricing and
rates across for instance our sanitary
[1:04:39] districts and um water districts uh fire
districts providing services and um the
[1:04:48] sense it's in essence the report um
makes a case to uh look continue to look
[1:04:54] at ways to knock down some of the
perceived barriers to uh consolidation
[1:05:00] where it has the promise of more
efficient service, lower cost, and
[1:05:05] better service uh to our to our
community. There are um also a number of
[1:05:11] recommendations that um we're being
asked to respond to. Um uh the first
[1:05:17] recommendation is that all district
boards uh should have conducted their
[1:05:21] first uh semianual consolidation
exploration. Our answer there is again
[1:05:26] this is not directed specifically at the
um city of San Rafll although I would
[1:05:32] note and we say in the staff report that
we are actively uh pursuing uh
[1:05:37] opportunities for uh consolidation of
districts and the two that are cited I
[1:05:41] think they might have even been
mentioned earlier is our work with the
[1:05:45] Marin um Marinwood community services
district around um consolidating fire
[1:05:50] services and the aforementioned um
transition of the San Rafale sanitary
[1:05:56] district from being under sort of the
opices of the city of San Rafale and
[1:06:01] merging with the central marine
sanitation districts. Um
[1:06:07] um so I I think I'll just wrap up by
saying that um not only does San Rafll
[1:06:15] in our view support the idea of
continuing to look at opportunities for
[1:06:19] efficiencies and improvements um even if
that means the hard work of
[1:06:24] consolidation. I know that the Marin
Lafco has looked at this on numerous
[1:06:29] occasions um including the two areas
that we're currently working on and uh
[1:06:34] city staff with council uh direction
will continue to um do our part. So with
[1:06:40] that I'll uh bring it back to the mayor
and council.
[1:06:43] » Thank you. Any questions on this item?
>> Yeah, council member Hill.
[1:06:48] » Um just the the question it seemed on
face value. My question is that on face
[1:06:52] value that all the recommendations that
did not obviously pertain to the city of
[1:06:56] Sanfell. When a civil grand jury asks
questions um for us to respond to that
[1:07:01] are so obviously not for us to respond
to, are they inviting municipalities to
[1:07:06] take the bait and get involved? Or was
it just a misdirection
[1:07:11] or something else?
>> I don't know if I can speak to the grand
[1:07:16] jury's intent.
Um I will just say that uh within reason
[1:07:22] um any opportunity that the city may
have to comment um we'll look at. Thank
[1:07:30] you.
>> Thank you. Not seeing any other
[1:07:33] questions. I'll open up the public
comment on this item. If you would like
[1:07:36] to comment in the chambers, now is your
opportunity.
[1:07:40] I don't see anyone coming forward.
Anyone online that would like to comment
[1:07:43] on this item?
>> I see no hands raised, but I'll remind
[1:07:45] everyone you can press star 9 to raise
your hands.
[1:07:49] I see no hands raised.
>> Thank you. I'll close a public comment
[1:07:52] and bring it back to the council for
additional comments. Vice Mayor,
[1:07:56] additional comments.
>> I support so much of what has said been
[1:08:01] said in this report. Um, I think it's a
conversation that we've had a number of
[1:08:06] different times. And I think one of the
messages that comes out loud and clear
[1:08:10] in the report is that it takes a lot of
work to actually do the consolidation
[1:08:16] work. And I appreciate the work that San
Rafll is already doing in a number of
[1:08:20] these different situations. In terms of
our response, it's our response. It
[1:08:26] makes the most sense right now. Um, and
because it wasn't really in our purview
[1:08:31] to deal with
Thank you, Council Member Hill.
[1:08:34] Comments.
>> Thank you, Mayor Kate. Yeah, building on
[1:08:36] the vice mayor's comments, the report
called out the opportunity ahead for
[1:08:41] consolidation that there is um benefit
to it and and as the vice mayor
[1:08:46] indicated, there are uh many uh parts of
it that can be uh fraught uh to just
[1:08:53] weigh in, weighed in. And they call out
further that um often times
[1:08:59] consolidations are done under duress. um
in a moment uh when it's particularly
[1:09:04] challenging. So, I appreciated the uh
the questions and uh hopefully we can
[1:09:08] find our way towards um better
governance in our community with smaller
[1:09:11] districts.
>> Thank you, Council Member Ursali.
[1:09:13] Comments.
>> Uh yes, I concur with everything that
[1:09:16] has been said. I completely agree with
the with the report and I think it's
[1:09:20] it's very important to um look at the
different organizations that they exist
[1:09:25] and see how we can um whenever possible
bring them together um including school
[1:09:31] boards that maybe were not included in
here. I must say that thank you.
[1:09:36] » Thank you. Council member Bushy
comments.
[1:09:39] » Um um my comments are just that we're
living the dream here in San Rafal. um
[1:09:44] bringing consolidation um to the
forefront and doing the hard work um
[1:09:49] that it takes. So I think the response
is uh nicely summarizes all of our
[1:09:54] policies and our strategic plan.
>> Thank you. And I'll just add I
[1:09:57] appreciate the grand jury looking at
this. This is something again outside of
[1:10:01] the purview of the city of Sanfell as it
were but the Sanfell sanitation
[1:10:05] district. We did point to previous grand
jury reports as we started on working on
[1:10:10] consolidation um which there is a formal
process that will be starting the
[1:10:15] discussion but in the interim we are
working on an operating agreement to the
[1:10:18] vice mayor's point it takes time we've
been at it for two and a half years um
[1:10:23] for lots of reasons the mechanisms and
the systems are hard to change but
[1:10:26] appreciate the grand jury looking at
this I truly believe that it's best for
[1:10:30] our residents rateayers and taxpayers to
have additional consolidation throughout
[1:10:35] Marine county. So, look forward to
seeing how the other agencies respond
[1:10:38] where it's more applicable where they're
special districts. So, um I would
[1:10:43] entertain a motion on this item, please.
>> I'll raise a motion adopt the resolution
[1:10:48] approving and authorizing the mayor to
execute the city of San Rafale's
[1:10:52] response to the Marin County Civil Grand
Jury report titled better service at
[1:10:56] lower cost, optimizing essential
services for the future of Marin.
[1:11:01] » Second.
>> Moved and seconded. Roll call, please.
[1:11:04] Council member Bushy
>> I.
[1:11:05] » Council member Hill
>> I.
[1:11:07] » Vice Mayor Kurt
>> I.
[1:11:08] » Council Marensi.
>> Hi I.
[1:11:10] » Mayor Kate.
>> I. That motion carries 5. Thank you.
[1:11:12] Thank you to staff for preparing those
reports. The last item on our agenda
[1:11:16] this evening is the city manager
employment agreement. Paul Nazio.
[1:11:21] So is there a staff report on this?
Okay. I just realized city attorney turn
[1:11:26] it to you.
>> Thank you Mayor Kate. Members of the
[1:11:28] council. I'll be doing the report on
item 3C tonight. attached to the staff
[1:11:33] report, the written staff report is a
resolution appointing Paul Nazio as the
[1:11:38] city's permanent city manager effective
tonight and approving the attached
[1:11:43] employment agreement to identify him for
the record. Mr. Nazio is seated
[1:11:47] immediately to my left wearing a navy
suit with a navy tie and a white shirt.
[1:11:54] Mr. Nazio has served as the city's
finance director since 2023, but then
[1:12:00] became the acting city manager in
February and the interim city manager in
[1:12:04] April. Staff uh now recommends that the
council make his appointment permanent.
[1:12:10] So, I just want to review a few key
points on the agreement. They're
[1:12:14] reflected uh as well in the staff
report. The city charter uh um is
[1:12:20] respected in the agreement. He Mr. Nazio
is proposed to be appointed for an
[1:12:24] indefinite term. Uh the council does
have the full authority to remove the
[1:12:29] city manager at any time with or without
cause.
[1:12:33] The agreement does uh run for an
addition initial term through August 31,
[1:12:38] 2028 and then calls for an automatic
renewal every two years after that.
[1:12:45] Important to talk about compensation for
a moment. The base salary is not
[1:12:50] increasing beyond what the city manager
would already be entitled to based on
[1:12:55] the across the board increases that were
provided to uh the city workforce. July
[1:13:00] 1, the um unrepresentative executive
management employees received uh a cost
[1:13:07] of living increase and it's proposed
that um Mr. Nasio's uh salary would
[1:13:13] similarly increase retroactive to uh
January 1. So, it's not a new or a
[1:13:18] special raise being made. Uh,
>> July,
[1:13:22] » excuse me, July one. Uh, that was a
misstatement. July one. So, it's not a
[1:13:27] new or a special raise. It's um uh
simply um
[1:13:33] uh bringing him current with what all
the other directors received. Uh I do uh
[1:13:40] want to uh correct two points on the
staff report that were called to my
[1:13:44] attention as being inconsistent with the
agreement. We were working on the
[1:13:49] agreement up till the last moment and
there were a couple things that we
[1:13:52] failed to pick up in the staff report.
There are details, but I think uh it's
[1:13:57] important to get these on the record.
I'll also note uh that under um the now
[1:14:02] prevailing law, the reason why this is a
regular agenda item is because it's
[1:14:06] required to be under the government
code,
[1:14:10] there's a uh place in the staff report
that talks to a compreh speaks to a
[1:14:14] comprehensive review for the city
manager uh being under section 9G of the
[1:14:20] agreement with amendments to be acted on
if there are any amendments to the
[1:14:24] agreement by June 30, 2028. That's an
incorrect reference in the staff report.
[1:14:30] Uh what is correct is in the final
agreement. The provision I just
[1:14:33] referenced is in section 7D and the
deadline for the council to act on any
[1:14:38] amendments would be March 1, 2028, not
June 30th. But the meet and confer date
[1:14:45] to talk about whether to make amendments
is correctly stated both in the staff
[1:14:49] report and in the agreement is January
31, 2028. There's also a miscitation of
[1:14:56] the government code. That one hits me
really hard. And um that's because the
[1:15:02] legislature changed the Brown Act a
teeny little bit. And what used to be
[1:15:07] 54953C3
is now 54953D3.
[1:15:14] Ah, and so it's correct in the
agreement. It's not correct in the staff
[1:15:19] report. I wanted to call that to your
attention. Kudos to those who spot such
[1:15:23] sort of things. And because they were
spotted by someone else sitting in this
[1:15:27] room, I was able to correct the record
tonight.
[1:15:31] So to be clear, these are simply uh
errors that were in the staff report,
[1:15:35] not in the agreement. We stand by the
agreement that's recommended for your
[1:15:39] consideration and adoption tonight. And
my recommendation remains to adopt the
[1:15:44] resolution uh in its current form uh
adopting the agreement appointing Paul
[1:15:50] Nazio as our permanent city manager.
That concludes my staff report. I'm glad
[1:15:55] to take any questions you might have.
>> Thank you, city attorney. Thank you for
[1:15:59] those clarifications in the staff
report. We will have time for comments,
[1:16:02] but we'll start with questions as we
always do. Any questions? I don't see
[1:16:06] any questions from the council. I will
open up public comment on this item.
[1:16:10] Anyone in the chambers like to comment
on this item?
[1:16:14] I don't see anyone approaching the dis.
So is there anyone online that would
[1:16:18] like to comment specifically on this
item?
[1:16:20] » I do see one hand raised.
[1:16:31] » Hello there. Please vote this item
because uh pointing Basio is city
[1:16:37] manager because Basio is attorney being
big giddy greetable motherucker who's
[1:16:43] going to steal. I'm
>> going to go ahead and if you could mute
[1:16:46] please and I know we had a speech from
the city attorney
[1:16:51] and I do appreciate that there are
different voices being uh mimicked by
[1:16:56] the caller. So maybe you could review
where we are. Yeah, we did go into this
[1:17:00] at some length earlier in the meeting
and I'm not going to repeat all the
[1:17:04] comments I made before, but I do think
it's important to lend context for the
[1:17:07] community when uh because of the new uh
um requirement that our beloved state
[1:17:13] legislature has imposed that we take
public comment in this fashion over Zoom
[1:17:18] and because we don't have a 7-second
delay like they used to have on the
[1:17:22] call-in radio shows, uh we get speech
that is surprising, I think, to the
[1:17:27] community because um Many people would
find it offensive, abhorrent, and speech
[1:17:32] that we would prefer not to listen to.
However, uh even hate speech uh is
[1:17:38] permissible public speech and frankly
the the city can't prohibit it in a
[1:17:42] public meeting like this because of our
first amendment. And the speaker started
[1:17:47] making uh um comments about um race and
ethnicity. Uh and those are definitely
[1:17:54] hate speech. and in a different context
they would be actionable. Uh for
[1:17:59] example, you can't um you know use hate
speech in the employment context and
[1:18:03] that sort of thing. But here um uh we
really have to listen to the speech. And
[1:18:10] so I would advise that the mayor allow
the speaker to continue for their aotted
[1:18:14] time. And I hope that my comments have
helped uh anybody watching now or who
[1:18:19] later watches this uh uh meeting to
understand why this speech is being
[1:18:23] allowed.
>> Thank you for that clarification. I'll
[1:18:26] ask the speaker. You're not required,
but we would like to know uh if you're
[1:18:30] welcome to say your name and what part
of San Rafll you live in. would be
[1:18:34] appropriate. You're welcome to do that.
And we hope that while you might find
[1:18:40] this entertaining, that you have helpful
comments to the council would be
[1:18:45] appreciated.
[1:18:48] Timer start, please.
>> Yes. Oh, mayor, I'm sick and tired of
[1:18:55] corruption in this city. And believe me,
council manager in this thought now or
[1:19:01] whatever the hell his guinea name is,
he's going to start buring people's
[1:19:06] speed bumps along the 101 freeway
because we all know how those
[1:19:11] Italian back. Yeah. So them and you, Mayor Kate, your stupid
[1:19:20] » Welcome to our free country where you
are able to say whatever you want. So we
[1:19:25] will in a spirit of democracy and
upholding the things we hold dear. We
[1:19:31] recognize that we have to listen to
comments that are frankly I will say
[1:19:36] unproductive not helpful and do not
represent the values and the inclusivity
[1:19:40] of our community. So with no more public
comment
[1:19:45] » more public comment
>> and I'm very sorry that was a public
[1:19:48] comment we had. We will now have
comments from the council that will
[1:19:52] actually um really represent the solity
the solity and the seriousness and the
[1:19:58] delight of this agenda item. Vice Mayor,
>> thank you and fully support uh this
[1:20:06] recommendation and the move to formalize
the position um and to make uh Paul
[1:20:13] Deazio our formal city manager. Um, Mr.
Nazio, you have been a breath of fresh
[1:20:21] air um, in the work that we've been
doing. Can definitely see how your
[1:20:27] experience um, and support has already
put us on a trajectory of achieving so
[1:20:34] much of what we have laid out. Um, I
also appreciate your direct honesty when
[1:20:41] we're going off the rails. So, um it's
very helpful and I think in the world
[1:20:48] we're in today, um your background, your
finance background as well is incredibly
[1:20:54] invaluable to the work that we are
doing. Um and so really appreciate that
[1:20:59] and looking forward to continue working
with you in the years ahead.
[1:21:04] » Thank you. Uh Council Member Bushy,
>> I'm delighted to support this um this
[1:21:10] matter on our agenda. Um it has been a
pleasure to watch Paul become our um
[1:21:19] astute finance manager and then um
evolve into our um city manager in a way
[1:21:27] that really focuses on our strategic
objectives
[1:21:32] in a way that fully encompasses all of
the humanity that is involved in those
[1:21:38] goals. Um, so I am confident in the
future with Paul at the helm and can't
[1:21:44] wait to approve the contract.
>> Thank you, Council Member Hill.
[1:21:49] » Thank you, Mayor. I am looking forward
to uh voting for this resolution for
[1:21:54] Paul Nazio to become our permanent city
manager. Paul, you've been unswerving in
[1:21:58] bringing every bit of your uh skill and
experience uh to our city, and I look
[1:22:04] forward to that continuing. Thank you.
Thank you, Council Member Uran Guli.
[1:22:09] » Thank you, Mayor. I'm also very um
excited to support this this
[1:22:14] appointment. Um I think you started as
an acting city manager at a very
[1:22:20] complicated time of the year for us. Um
and the fact that you have your
[1:22:24] background in finance and were able to
do our budgets and everything that the
[1:22:28] city does. Um and also work with the
staff members and knowing the respect
[1:22:34] that they have for you. I'm really
excited to appoint you as our new city
[1:22:38] manager and also knowing that we have a
lot of work to do. So, um very excited.
[1:22:44] Thank you.
>> Thank you. It I am delighted that this
[1:22:49] is on our agenda this evening. I already
see that you have the support of
[1:22:52] everyone on the DAS. So, we'll make it
formal u momentarily. And I'll just echo
[1:22:57] everything that was said. your ability
to uh navigate the past couple months
[1:23:02] during the budget season with a lot of
other things coming at it uh which not a
[1:23:07] surprise in that you've had years of
experience in public service. You have
[1:23:11] been in a city manager's role before.
You have been in other roles in other
[1:23:16] cities and that wisdom is something we
are all going to benefit from here in
[1:23:20] Sanfell. you've already heard from. We
already are benefiting from that and uh
[1:23:25] we are so fortunate to have you here and
that we want you and you want to be with
[1:23:30] us. So we are uh thrilled to have this
um as I said on our agenda and I also
[1:23:35] want to thank the city attorney for
working through all the mechanics of the
[1:23:39] document that is before us. So, um, I
know it's not usual for you to say
[1:23:44] anything, but I would offer you the
floor if you wanted to say anything
[1:23:48] prior to the council making a vote.
>> Um, thank you. I think I'll just add
[1:23:54] that I um am excited to be here. I'm
excited uh to uh work with the council
[1:24:00] and the staff, the ambitious work plan,
and um
[1:24:05] um you know, honored and uh but ready to
keep at it. So, thank you very much for
[1:24:11] the trust.
>> You are welcome. Vice Mayor, would you
[1:24:16] like to make the motion?
>> I would. Thank you. I'd like to raise
[1:24:19] the motion to adopt the resolution
appointing Paul Nazio as city manager
[1:24:24] effective August 17th, 2026 for an
indefinite term as required by charter
[1:24:30] section 8 and approving and authorizing
the mayor to execute the city manager
[1:24:34] employment agreement.
>> And a second.
[1:24:37] » Moved and seconded. Uh, roll call,
please.
[1:24:40] » Council member Bushy,
>> I.
[1:24:41] » Council member Hill,
>> I.
[1:24:43] » Vice Mayor Curts,
>> I.
[1:24:44] » Council Mars Galani,
>> I.
[1:24:46] » Mayor Kate,
>> I. That motion carries 50. We had public
[1:24:50] comment at the beginning of the meeting
and it was not fully utilized. So, we
[1:24:53] will not uh have the public comment now
this evening because we've already
[1:24:58] covered it the beginning. So, not seeing
anything else on our agenda, this
[1:25:04] meeting is adjourned. Good night.