[0:15] you

[0:15] .

[0:16] I'm kevin wilk, mayor of the

[0:19] city of walnut creek and

[0:20] welcome to the regular meeting

[0:20] of the walnut creek city

[0:22] council.

[0:23] >> the city council is

[0:24] conducting this meeting from

[0:26] the city council chamber.

[0:27] This meeting is being video

[0:27] streamed and could be viewed

[0:30] live or later on the city's

[0:33] website as some attendees MAY

[0:34] be participating in their first

[0:35] walnut creek city council

[0:37] meeting.

[0:38] I wanted to welcome everyone

[0:39] and talk briefly about the

[0:42] public comment process for each

[0:45] agenda item there will be an

[0:46] opportunity for public comment

[0:49] on the item thus if you desire

[0:50] to speak to an item on the

[0:50] agenda this evening please hold

[0:53] your comments until the city

[0:53] council considers that item.

[0:57] Additionally we have a section

[0:57] on the agenda titled public

[0:57] -

[1:00] communications which is for

[1:01] public comments for items not

[1:04] on the agenda any comments

[1:05] during public communication

[1:06] should not relate to an item

[1:08] that is on the agenda this

[1:11] evening consistent with section

[1:13] 9.5 of the city council

[1:14] handbook 30 minutes will be

[1:15] initially allocated for public

[1:18] communications for items not on

[1:18] the agenda additional time for

[1:21] public communications for items

[1:22] not on the agenda will be

[1:25] provided at the end of the open

[1:25] session portion of the meeting

[1:26] if necessary.

[1:29] If you desire to provide a

[1:29] public comment please complete

[1:33] a speaker id card and line up

[1:33] behind the lectern at the

[1:36] appropriate time.

[1:37] Wait your turn and then when

[1:38] you approach the lectern please

[1:40] state your name and city of

[1:43] residence for the record you

[1:43] will have two minutes to

[1:46] address the city council to

[1:47] pursuant to california

[1:51] government code section 54953.4

[1:52] sb 707.

[1:53] Members of the public MAY also

[1:56] participate remotely via zoom

[1:57] if you are participating via

[1:57] zoom and would like to make a

[2:00] public comment please use the

[2:01] raise hand feature or press

[2:03] star 90 for calling by phone

[2:04] during the agenda item on which

[2:06] you wish to comment.

[2:07] >> again you will have two

[2:08] minutes to address the city

[2:10] council.

[2:11] Please keep in mind that this

[2:14] is a city business meeting.

[2:15] The city council has adopted

[2:18] rules of decorum to ensure that

[2:18] meetings are conducted

[2:19] efficiently and effectively and

[2:22] that all members of the public

[2:23] have a full, fair and equal

[2:26] opportunity to be heard.

[2:27] The city council handbook

[2:29] outlines decorum expected in

[2:30] the council chamber and can be

[2:31] found on our website.

[2:34] All remarks should be addressed

[2:34] to the city council.

[2:38] Please do not use threatening,

[2:38] profane or abusive language

[2:42] which disrupts disturbs or

[2:42] otherwise impedes the orderly

[2:45] conduct of the council meeting

[2:45] .

[2:48] Again each speaker will have

[2:49] two minutes to make your

[2:49] remarks.

[2:50] Written comments submitted and

[2:53] received up to wo hours before

[2:54] the meeting have been posted to

[2:56] the city's website for public

[2:56] review and are included in the

[2:59] meeting record but will not be

[3:03] separately read into the record

[3:03] .

[3:04] >> all right.

[3:04] Well good evening.

[3:08] I'm kevin wilk, mayor of the

[3:09] city of walnut creek and

[3:10] welcome to the tuesday,

[3:11] SEPTEMBER 1st, 2026 regular

[3:11] meeting of the walnut creek

[3:14] city council.

[3:15] >> and if you please join me in

[3:18] the pledge of allegiance I

[3:21] pledge allegiance to the flag

[3:22] the united states of america

[3:25] and to the republic for which

[3:26] it stands one nation under GOD.

[3:29] Indivisible with liberty and

[3:33] justice for all.

[3:34] >> and city clerk susie

[3:37] martinez.

[3:37] >> would you call the roll,

[3:38] please?

[3:39] Councilmember darling I'm here.

[3:41] Councilor devaney here.

[3:41] Councilmember silva is here.

[3:44] Mayor pro tem francois.

[3:45] Dear mayor, welcome here.

[3:48] All right, so the first item is

[3:52] a proclamation for emergency

[3:53] preparedness month.

[3:53] And I would like to invite

[3:56] recently retired cert member

[3:57] don providence to receive the

[4:03] proclamation.

[4:07] >> additionally, I would like

[4:08] to take a moment to recognize

[4:08] don with a certificate of

[4:11] recognition in honor of his

[4:12] retirement after 16 years of

[4:15] service to walnut creek state

[4:15] and our community.

[4:17] And since completing his cert

[4:18] training in 2010, don has been

[4:19] a leader in building and

[4:21] strengthening the emergency

[4:22] communications group.

[4:23] He helped establish critical

[4:26] radio infrastructure, secured

[4:26] grants to modernize our

[4:27] emergency communications

[4:29] capabilities, developed

[4:30] training and used throughout

[4:34] that use throughout contra

[4:34] costa county and led our

[4:35] volunteers in regional and

[4:37] statewide emergency

[4:37] preparedness exercises.

[4:38] Through his expertise

[4:41] leadership and generous

[4:42] commitment to mentoring others,

[4:43] don has helped ensure that

[4:46] walnut creek is better prepared

[4:47] to communicate and respond when

[4:49] disaster strikes.

[4:50] Don thank you for 16 years of

[4:53] dedicated service and for the

[4:54] lasting impact you've made on

[4:56] our community.

[5:00] >> now you have findlay.

[5:04] >> don't believe any of that.

[5:05] >> all I can say is it's been a

[5:07] privilege to serve this city

[5:08] for so long a city that has

[5:11] returned so much to my family,

[5:12] to myself and my family.

[5:15] We've lived here almost 50

[5:15] years so it's been a privilege.

[5:16] >> thank you.

[5:19] Well, thank you, don.

[5:19] >> don't go away.

[5:20] Don't go too far there.

[5:23] We are going to take a picture

[5:23] with you.

[5:26] And do we have a subpopulation

[5:26] ?

[5:37] This is this is not it.

[5:42] But look up here.

[5:42] >> let's do the picture and

[5:45] then we're going to grab the

[5:48] proclamation and we'll do our.

[6:04] Luckily we have something right

[6:04] ?

[6:04] Right.

[6:04] oh yes.

[6:06] Very conservative government

[6:07] regulations.

[6:15] So so family fairly short

[6:16] reverse.

[6:16] >> okay.

[6:17] So I look at that.

[6:17] One, two, three.

[6:17] Okay.

[6:19] The official that we need to

[6:28] face again one more word to the

[6:29] area.

[6:29] Hi there.

[6:31] How is your face?

[6:35] I think it's o pretty.

[6:35] Thank you.

[6:36] Thank you very much.

[6:38] Thank you.

[6:38] >> thank you.

[7:00] Okay.

[7:01] Next on the agenda is the

[7:04] consent calendar.

[7:05] Does any council member wish to

[7:08] pull any item for discussion?

[7:08] >> and does any member of the

[7:09] staff wish to pull an item for

[7:10] discussion?

[7:11] Ys.

[7:12] Yes.

[7:17] I have questions on item two g

[7:17] please.

[7:19] >> to g so I'll pull to g.

[7:20] And as any member of the public

[7:23] wish to provide public comment

[7:24] on the consent calendar either

[7:28] please come forward here.

[7:28] Thank ou.

[7:29] Or if you're remote please use

[7:32] the raise hand feature or press

[7:32] star nine if you're calling.

[7:33] If you'd like to provide remote

[7:36] public comment if you're

[7:36] attending in person please

[7:37] complete a speaker id card and

[7:39] come forward and line up behind

[7:43] the lectern at this time.

[7:44] >> it doesn't look like we have

[7:45] anybody in person.

[7:45] Do we have anybody and we have

[7:47] no remote comment.

[7:47] >> no remote.

[7:50] Okay then so can I have a

[7:51] motion on the remaining items

[7:54] on the consent calendar?

[7:55] >> all right.

[7:58] Well then I will make a motion

[7:59] on the remaining items.

[8:02] I move to approve items two a

[8:02] through f and h.

[8:05] Second with a motion to second

[8:06] call the roll, please, mayor

[8:09] well, I mayor pro tem francois

[8:10] councilmember darling I

[8:12] councilmember devinney

[8:13] councilmember silva I am

[8:16] curious and okay so now item

[8:16] two g.

[8:19] Thank you very much mayor.

[8:23] The item is a five year

[8:24] agreement for a contract for

[8:27] services and for software

[8:31] services for basically

[8:31] ticketing in the arts and

[8:32] recreation department.

[8:36] So my first question is does

[8:36] this is there a separate system

[8:39] that lesher center ses or will

[8:42] this be the same system?

[8:43] Chris farrow arts and rec

[8:44] director the lesher uses a

[8:46] separate system for ticketing.

[8:47] >> this is used primarily by

[8:51] our recreation and parks folks

[8:52] for facility rentals, picnic

[8:55] rentals and then program

[8:56] registrations.

[8:59] >> okay we it was in MAY that

[9:00] when we approved the first year

[9:02] of the agreement so this is now

[9:03] approving five years of the

[9:08] agreement actually for six.

[9:09] This is a replacement of the

[9:11] previous action.

[9:12] >> there was a staff error.

[9:15] So previously what was approved

[9:20] was the implementing fee, the

[9:20] technical account management

[9:23] fee and the annual subscription

[9:23] .

[9:26] >> so the 582 674 which on page

[9:30] two if you look at that table

[9:30] what was included in the

[9:33] original ask was columns one,

[9:37] two and four after the approval

[9:38] staff as we are moving forward

[9:41] with an active not realize that

[9:42] we take in transaction fees and

[9:45] it's basically a pass through.

[9:46] So we're charging those using

[9:49] the system a transaction ee

[9:50] and then we're paying that

[9:53] transaction fee back out.

[9:54] So we did not include that in

[9:58] the original ask and we need to

[9:58] because it is both a revenue

[10:02] and an expense to us and even

[10:03] though it's a net zero we still

[10:05] need council authority for

[10:05] those funds.

[10:09] So we recalculated the amount

[10:09] based on including the

[10:12] transaction fees.

[10:13] And since we were coming back

[10:16] to council we also decided to

[10:17] add some hardware just in case

[10:17] we need it.

[10:20] As of right now we've been told

[10:21] by the active net that our

[10:24] current hardware the things

[10:27] that we use to to scan for

[10:29] example or to swipe will work

[10:32] with the new system.

[10:33] >> so that's why we hadn't

[10:33] included it.

[10:36] But since we were coming back

[10:37] to council anyways we thought

[10:37] it's probably in our best

[10:40] interest to include some

[10:40] hardware costs just in case we

[10:43] run into a place where we need

[10:44] to dish to replace some

[10:47] hardware to be to work with the

[10:48] new system.

[10:48] So we did that as well.

[10:51] So the total amount when you

[10:56] include those transaction fees

[10:57] is 1,798,358.

[10:58] >> but I want to note that all

[11:00] of those transaction fees will

[11:00] net out.

[11:04] we just need to ask for council

[11:04] approval in order to pay the

[11:05] expenditures but we will see

[11:08] that on the revenue ide as

[11:09] well.

[11:09] > so let me clarify make sure

[11:12] I understand trance absolutely

[11:15] fee seems to be the fee like

[11:16] the bank charge for using a

[11:19] credit card correct card so

[11:20] these are standard fees and

[11:23] this is not a guaranteed

[11:23] amount.

[11:24] This is just an estimate based

[11:27] on certain levels of revenue, a

[11:31] certain number of transactions

[11:31] that we've experienced in the

[11:32] past and then projecting out.

[11:32] Yes.

[11:35] And does this system allow us

[11:38] to we recently at the last

[11:39] meeting approved our user fees

[11:45] that included a resident

[11:46] benefit payment discount

[11:50] discount is does this system

[11:51] allow us to do this?

[11:53] It does great.

[11:54] Thank you, mayor.

[11:54] Thank you.

[11:57] Do you have any other questions

[11:58] on this item?

[11:58] No.

[12:00] Okay.

[12:01] And councilmember silva, would

[12:03] you like to make a motion and

[12:04] move to approve item two g in

[12:07] the consent calendar which is

[12:08] the authorization of the city

[12:11] manager for a five year

[12:12] agreement?

[12:12] We're about to network four for

[12:14] recreation management software

[12:15] services in an amount not to

[12:19] exceed just about $81.8

[12:19] million.

[12:22] Second, we have a motion to

[12:23] second and a third.

[12:27] >> councilmember silva I

[12:28] councilmember darling I

[12:28] councilmember devinney to my

[12:30] right mayor pro tem francois

[12:34] mayor well I ight so next on

[12:35] the agenda is public

[12:37] communications.

[12:38] This portion of the meeting is

[12:39] reserved for comments on items

[12:41] not on the agenda.

[12:42] All remarks should be addressed

[12:42] to the city council.

[12:43] Please do not use profanity

[12:45] during your comments.

[12:46] Under the brown act the council

[12:47] cannot act on items raised in

[12:49] public communication but MAY

[12:50] respond briefly to statements

[12:53] made or questions posed request

[12:53] clarification or for the item

[12:54] to staff consistent with

[12:57] section 9.5 the city council

[12:58] handbook 30 minutes will be

[13:00] allocated at this time for

[13:01] public communications for items

[13:02] not on the agenda additional

[13:04] time for public communications

[13:05] for items not on the agenda

[13:06] will be provided at the end of

[13:08] the meeting if necessary.

[13:09] Written comments submitted have

[13:11] been posted to the city's

[13:12] website for public review and

[13:13] are included in the meeting

[13:14] record but will not be

[13:16] separately read into the record

[13:18] at this time I'll note that the

[13:19] time is 614 and we'll take

[13:22] public comments and items on

[13:23] the agenda until approximately

[13:24] 644 and then the remainder of

[13:26] any such comments at the end of

[13:27] the open session portion of the

[13:30] meeting please use the raise

[13:30] hand feature or press star 90

[13:31] for calling in if you'd like to

[13:33] make a remote public comment

[13:34] and this time if anybody would

[13:37] like to make any in-person

[13:37] -

[13:38] comments and please come

[13:41] forward fill out a speaker card

[13:41] .

[13:42] i see MRS. Warren has one in

[13:45] her hand and you'll have two

[13:46] minutes.

[13:46] Good evening jan warren from

[13:49] the woodlands.

[13:50] It's maybe technically not a

[13:53] city council question but maybe

[13:57] you can direct me a month or

[13:58] two ago on next door or

[13:58] somebody was talking about the

[14:01] we get a lot of action on

[14:02] ignacio and I live off of oak

[14:04] grove and and there was a car

[14:05] that was n fire and it was

[14:09] between an our city and like on

[14:12] the line almost the way they

[14:13] talked about it our city and

[14:14] concord and of course we're a

[14:17] consol predated fire department

[14:20] and so they were you know too

[14:24] stressed the same like you know

[14:24] no no walnut creek people are

[14:25] coming out or something and so

[14:28] I was just curious is there a

[14:29] contact for the con fire or

[14:32] whatever it's called now to ask

[14:33] how that's done you know

[14:37] somebody calls in and I guess

[14:37] it's like a dispatch that would

[14:40] go and say hey, so but would

[14:40] they pull someone possibly from

[14:44] our station and from a station

[14:45] in concord or do you have any

[14:46] idea who I could talk?

[14:47] Well, con fire me obviously you

[14:48] would call 911 if you saw that

[14:49] and they would decide where

[14:51] it's coming from.

[14:52] What I would suggest is we have

[14:53] our chief of police in the back

[14:56] of the room and he'd be happy

[14:56] to talk with you about that.

[15:00] But if anybody sees a car on

[15:00] fire on any road that you're

[15:03] on, call 911 and let dispatch

[15:04] figure out who's going to get

[15:04] there.

[15:07] Yeah.

[15:08] >> thanks jan kevin, if I if I

[15:11] could add the con fire is a

[15:12] county jan well I just can let

[15:12] you know con fire too.

[15:14] That's a county district so

[15:14] they're not they're not

[15:18] responding ased on, you know,

[15:18] city boundaries and when

[15:21] there's a fire there's often

[15:22] more than one unit deployed so

[15:25] they'll someone's responding

[15:29] and and they're not they're not

[15:30] concerned about the the city

[15:33] lines yeah I can I can I'm

[15:34] aware of that oh understanding

[15:36] the people's position oh okay

[15:37] thank thank ou.

[15:38] Jan do you have any other any

[15:40] other public comment here in

[15:44] the chamber.

[15:44] >> right.

[15:44] Seeing none.

[15:45] Do we have anybody on line?

[15:48] No one on line and nobody on

[15:48] line.

[15:50] So we will close public comment

[15:51] and we will move to council

[15:55] member and staff announcements

[15:55] reports and activities r

[15:59] requests the city attorney do

[16:02] we have any announcements?

[16:03] >> no closed session

[16:03] announcements.

[16:04] City manager any report?

[16:06] Yeah I do have one I want to

[16:07] update this evening.

[16:08] Mayor dan buckshi sure I city

[16:11] manager as many of you are I'm

[16:11] sure are aware yesterday was

[16:14] the last day of the legislative

[16:15] session in sacramento for the

[16:17] state government.

[16:18] This would be the 2026 session

[16:21] and is the the second year of a

[16:22] two year session.

[16:25] I just thought I would give a

[16:26] very high overview just to give

[16:28] a ense of scale in terms of

[16:29] what's occurred.

[16:29] So in 2026 the state

[16:35] legislature introduced 846

[16:35] bills.

[16:38] so think 846 new laws that were

[16:39] introduced.

[16:42] Of those 1103 were approved by

[16:43] the legislature and move

[16:45] through.

[16:49] So more than you know, roughly

[16:50] half or a little more than that

[16:52] of that 177 have been in signed

[16:56] into law and 926 emain with

[16:57] the governor for his review and

[17:02] he has until AUGUST 30th AUGUST

[17:03] 30th to take action on those

[17:06] bills or I'm sorry SEPTEMBER

[17:06] 30th.

[17:07] >> yeah.

[17:07] Thank you.

[17:08] It would be hard to do,

[17:09] wouldn't it?

[17:10] And I would just highlight

[17:11] there are several bills that

[17:14] are quite impactful to walnut

[17:14] creek and to other cities.

[17:17] I won't go into those details

[17:18] but I do anticipate some

[17:19] budgetary pressures as a result

[17:22] of these bills if they are

[17:22] passed and other regulatory

[17:25] changes that we will and

[17:26] challenges that we will be

[17:26] dealing with.

[17:29] Our intention is to ave our

[17:30] consultant from townsend public

[17:32] affairs provide an update

[17:33] likely in OCTOBER with more

[17:37] details about those bills once

[17:37] we know what's actually signed

[17:40] or vetoed by the governor.

[17:41] >> thank you, jim.

[17:44] And now we have city council

[17:46] member reports on ab one two,

[17:47] three four activities.

[17:47] Let's start over.

[17:50] Councilmember silva how did I

[17:51] know you were going to turn and

[17:51] look at me first?

[17:53] Thank you mayor so two items

[17:57] that I wanted to spend a little

[17:57] bit of time on the diablo

[18:00] regional arts association which

[18:01] is our partner in our

[18:02] fundraising partner and program

[18:05] support partner for the lecture

[18:05] center of the arts held its

[18:08] regular board meeting yesterday

[18:08] .

[18:09] It's one month until on

[18:12] broadway which is OCTOBER third

[18:13] which is the annual fundraiser

[18:14] where they focus on raising

[18:17] funds to support arts access

[18:20] programs and other special

[18:21] programs at the leisure center

[18:22] and the arts access program

[18:24] really brings children from

[18:28] underserved local schools into

[18:29] the lecture center to

[18:32] experience some of their very

[18:33] first theater performances such

[18:39] as a christmas carol who are

[18:43] discussion focused on the

[18:44] upcoming event and the year and

[18:48] what it's sold out.

[18:48] But you should go online to

[18:51] daria talk to see if you might

[18:52] get a single ticket if it's

[18:54] available.

[18:55] They also described that

[19:00] martinez refining company is

[19:04] basically launched a partner

[19:05] program with the local

[19:09] elementary school in martinez

[19:12] and with the dry age provide

[19:16] afterschool enrichment programs

[19:17] that are choral about choruses

[19:20] and singing and it is for

[19:21] grades k through five and they

[19:24] have 60 children signed up for

[19:25] it and this basically reflects

[19:28] the value of the partnership

[19:29] that we have with d-r, the

[19:32] bedford gallery kaleidoscope

[19:33] which is this current show will

[19:35] close on SEPTEMBER 13th.

[19:39] Kaleidoscope is a play on words

[19:39] .

[19:40] It's all sorts of images that

[19:44] are it's call of kaleidoscope

[19:46] has in kelly I just go and then

[19:50] the new show will open at the

[19:51] end of the month called

[19:54] portraits in tufte so textures

[19:58] and textiles and center reps

[19:58] opening night for glass

[19:59] menagerie is next week nd it

[20:02] should be a great show.

[20:05] Last week was the AUGUST

[20:06] meeting of recycle smart which

[20:07] is the central contra costa

[20:09] solid waste authority.

[20:13] We are in the process of

[20:13] implementation for the new

[20:14] franchise agreement which will

[20:17] start next spring and one of

[20:18] the things we learned the last

[20:21] week at our meeting and council

[20:22] member mayor pro tem fran so

[20:25] I'll sort of joins me on that

[20:26] board.

[20:26] One of the things we learned is

[20:29] that there are 68,000 single

[20:29] family households that we

[20:32] collect trash and recycling and

[20:36] organics waste from in orinda,

[20:37] morocco, lafayette, danville

[20:40] walnut creek and the

[20:40] unincorporated areas that

[20:44] surround s and about 30% of

[20:47] those single family homes will

[20:48] be having their day of pickup

[20:51] change in MARCH with the new

[20:52] routes and the new trucks.

[20:55] So there's a major campaign

[20:56] communications campaign that's

[20:59] going to be happening and all

[21:00] of us that were there said that

[21:03] our cities will be supportive

[21:04] of it with our whatever

[21:07] outreach we have, whether it's

[21:11] psa is on walnut creek tv, the

[21:11] nutshell city managers

[21:15] e-newsletter ecause it's going

[21:15] to come as a shock to people

[21:18] and there's lots of ways to

[21:19] communicate but it's also it's

[21:22] a third of the number of people

[21:23] the households that we have in

[21:26] the territory.

[21:27] Te other thing that's going to

[21:30] happen so starting NOVEMBER is

[21:31] one of the concerns that we

[21:34] have with the landfill the

[21:34] black card is that people

[21:38] overstuffed them or they leave

[21:41] extra trash in a bag next to

[21:42] the containers and these are a

[21:45] problem for a number of reason

[21:46] trash left on the ground is

[21:49] even if it's bagged can

[21:50] sometimes end up in the storm

[21:50] drains and then our public

[21:53] works people and the clean

[21:53] water people don't aren't happy

[21:57] plus it is more likely to

[22:01] damage the art when they're

[22:02] tipping it and causing trash to

[22:04] fall on the streets.

[22:05] Republic service currently in

[22:08] their ontract is allowed to

[22:09] charge $10 each time there's an

[22:12] overage like that and now they

[22:13] have the technology on the

[22:16] trucks to be able to know that

[22:16] every address that has

[22:20] overstuffed that means the lids

[22:21] not shutting tight, overstuffed

[22:25] or left with a bag at the side.

[22:26] So they're also going to be

[22:28] reaching out and letting us all

[22:29] the customers know that these

[22:31] charges will start and it's

[22:32] really important to realize

[22:35] that if you have it's every

[22:36] once in a while it's

[22:39] understandable.

[22:40] But if it's a regular

[22:41] occurrence, what you really

[22:41] need to do is rightsize your

[22:44] cart and pay for he cart that

[22:47] you need which if it's most

[22:48] people are at a 32 gallon cart

[22:50] and if you need a 64 gallon

[22:52] cart then you should get a 64

[22:53] gallon cart and you won't be

[22:56] having overage overage charges

[22:56] .

[22:57] And mayor pro tem, are you

[23:01] going to report on the schools

[23:02] or do you want me to do can

[23:04] okay I'll let I'll let the

[23:05] mayor pro tem do that and there

[23:05] have been a lot of activities

[23:08] and events and more to follow

[23:08] in the coming months.

[23:09] Great.

[23:13] Thank you very much.

[23:13] >> well actually let's go to

[23:14] mayor pro tem so we can just

[23:15] going to be of a follow up

[23:16] question on the the over stuff.

[23:17] >> I'm just curious that is

[23:20] this all the containers were

[23:21] they just just the black just

[23:24] the black okay.

[23:24] So linking the green waste in

[23:25] my mind I've always got a

[23:26] branch that's sticking out of

[23:27] the top and that's not so much

[23:28] of a problem.

[23:30] It's really that the black

[23:31] waste where they find the

[23:35] greatest level of it and one of

[23:35] our colleagues on the on the

[23:39] board suggested you make

[23:39] friends with your neighbor

[23:40] because maybe what you do is

[23:43] just take your bag down to your

[23:43] neighbors pin thank you for

[23:44] clarification.

[23:46] Yeah.

[23:47] Thank you mayor so I'll start

[23:50] with the recycle smart and

[23:51] councilmember silva, I just

[23:54] want to give a shout out to our

[23:55] great staff at that authority

[23:58] who not only put us in a good

[24:01] position to have new contracts

[24:02] for collection and post

[24:06] collection services, en year

[24:09] contracts two years in advance

[24:09] of the date that we needed them

[24:12] which is next MARCH but also

[24:13] now have prepared

[24:16] implementation plans, pretty

[24:17] detailed implementation plans

[24:21] and worked closely with all the

[24:21] providers including republic

[24:25] and mdr to make sure that we're

[24:26] going to hit the ground running

[24:29] next year which I have every

[24:32] confidence that we will.

[24:33] >> we did get our annual report

[24:36] school progress report and I'm

[24:40] pleased to announce that

[24:40] several walnut creek elementary

[24:44] schools as well as middle

[24:45] schools received waste buster

[24:48] awards which means they were

[24:51] successful in diverting 75% of

[24:55] waste from the black can or the

[24:55] garbage can.

[24:58] It went to organics or

[24:58] recycling.

[24:59] So these kids are getting the

[25:02] message and doing a great job

[25:03] and we all need to follow their

[25:05] lead.

[25:06] It was also interesting that

[25:09] los alamos high chool kind of

[25:12] clocked in at 71%.

[25:13] High schools are kind of the

[25:16] hardest demographic to get them

[25:17] to change their behavior.

[25:20] As many parents will know.

[25:21] And that's true when it comes

[25:24] to diverting trash from the

[25:25] black hand.

[25:25] But los alamos is doing a good

[25:28] job and I think north gate's

[25:31] numbers were up there as well.

[25:32] So that's recycle smart.

[25:35] I'm going to let the mayor

[25:36] mostly report on the partner

[25:40] city event with the youth

[25:40] delegation from kita city,

[25:44] japan.

[25:45] But thank you for including me

[25:45] in that.

[25:48] That was a really fun event at

[25:49] the leisure I know it was a

[25:51] week long event and there were

[25:52] a lot of behind the scene tours

[25:55] with staff but we I

[25:55] participated in the reception

[25:59] at the lesher rotunda where it

[26:03] was meaningful to hear from the

[26:06] students 15 students from kita

[26:09] city who had prepared a really

[26:09] beautiful powerpoint and spoke

[26:13] very good english in terms of

[26:14] and presenting their city.

[26:17] so look forward to welcoming

[26:17] that delegation next year you

[26:20] all will.

[26:24] Had I was able to step in for

[26:25] the mayor for an eagle scout

[26:28] court of honor a week or so ago

[26:32] and so really are just a a

[26:36] delight to to participate in

[26:36] those.

[26:37] It's quite an honor to see the

[26:40] years of accomplishment that

[26:41] have led to this pinnacle and

[26:44] the the adult leaders who are

[26:45] there every step of the way

[26:49] encouraging these young men on.

[26:49] Evan oh kinds.

[26:52] Robert peterson, william

[26:55] pickett and nathan wong and

[26:58] their projects ranged from

[26:59] constructing wooden steps to

[27:03] help the zookeepers at the

[27:04] oakland to access the lion

[27:07] exhibit more safely to creating

[27:10] windbreaks at contra costa

[27:14] sustainable farms creating owl

[27:17] boxes for endangered species at

[27:18] the lafayette reservoir and a

[27:18] backpack and school supply

[27:22] drive for monument crisis

[27:22] center.

[27:25] So well done to all of them and

[27:26] let's see I attended the

[27:29] rossmore board meeting last

[27:30] week and was able to give them

[27:33] an pdate on our JULY and

[27:33] AUGUST activities.

[27:37] They were attentive as always

[27:37] had good questions.

[27:40] They are interested in

[27:41] participating in the general

[27:44] plan update I assured them that

[27:45] they would be included in an

[27:49] outreach effort there and they

[27:52] had some questions about our dv

[27:52] strategic plan hich I was able

[27:55] to give them an update on.

[27:59] Let's see rounding things out.

[28:00] I was able to step in for the

[28:04] mayor for a ribbon cutting at a

[28:08] volunteer esthetics here on

[28:08] main street beautiful facility

[28:12] they do specialize in facial

[28:16] treatments and skin care.

[28:17] I think I will be back for a

[28:20] visit sometime soon.

[28:21] I wanted to congratulate mar

[28:23] and aisha.

[28:24] Apparently they have several

[28:27] their pakistani-americans at

[28:31] own several skin care type

[28:32] businesses in pakistan and

[28:35] other businesses here in

[28:38] california and this is their

[28:39] first location in walnut creek.

[28:40] So I was glad to see them there

[28:42] and he chamber was there

[28:43] giving them a warm welcome as

[28:46] well and then finally along

[28:49] with councilmember silva, I

[28:50] attended the moonlight on the

[28:54] mountain event on mount diablo

[28:54] a fundraiser for save mount

[28:58] diablo which is up on the

[28:59] mountain kind of going up the

[29:02] south gate and it's always a

[29:02] fun evening.

[29:05] It's beautiful location, great

[29:05] food.

[29:08] It got very cold.

[29:09] So even with the blankets

[29:13] people were kind of making a

[29:14] beeline for the busses while

[29:17] the live auction was still

[29:17] going on.

[29:18] But next year we'll all come

[29:21] prepared and that's my update.

[29:21] >> thank you mayor pro tem.

[29:24] Let's go to councilmember

[29:25] darling.

[29:25] >> thank you.

[29:29] Couple of things we all got a

[29:29] chance to I think you were

[29:30] there.

[29:32] You were there and I think you

[29:33] came with a civic crossing and

[29:36] got a tour of the new

[29:37] construction there and it's

[29:37] fascinating because the

[29:40] building is still inside and

[29:40] the inspector walked us around

[29:43] and explained all the different

[29:44] safety features that go into

[29:47] these multifamily buildings.

[29:47] So that was quite fun.

[29:52] You can tell I have been on

[29:52] vacation a lot earlier this

[29:53] year because I have traded my

[29:56] farmers market and I have been

[29:56] at the farmer's market two

[29:59] weeks in a row now which is

[30:02] always an entertaining time.

[30:03] We a number of us went to the

[30:06] chamber of commerce candidate

[30:07] forum this morning to hear from

[30:10] our there are two seats open

[30:10] and two people running so we

[30:13] had to hear from them.

[30:17] Other chamber news their 100

[30:17] year celebration will be

[30:21] OCTOBER 29th at kelly craft.

[30:25] So beer drinkers unite and head

[30:28] out to that angela ashley and

[30:29] her husband opened their house

[30:32] to a reception for the new

[30:33] chamber ceo.

[30:33] So that was really fun.

[30:34] I think most of us made it to

[30:36] that.

[30:37] >> the biggest things going on

[30:40] right now for me really are the

[30:40] emcee world.

[30:43] At our last meeting we walked

[30:44] through you know we'd had an ad

[30:47] hoc group working on the

[30:48] response to the marin civil

[30:52] grand jury and we have a draft

[30:52] that was approved at the last

[30:56] meeting that draft is being

[30:56] finalized for the chair

[30:59] signature and I should be able

[31:00] to distribute a copy of that to

[31:03] folks here in the city.

[31:06] But basically we went through

[31:07] each one of the grand juries

[31:10] discussion items and either

[31:10] agreed partially disagree,

[31:14] discuss you know, did a bunch

[31:15] of different things but

[31:17] basically we talked through in

[31:18] that report the things that

[31:19] we're doing to make the

[31:21] operations at mercy work better

[31:22] and that will be what we are

[31:25] doing between now and the end

[31:28] of the year.

[31:29] The next board meeting in

[31:29] -

[31:33] SEPTEMBER we will have the ceo

[31:37] search firm coming to us as a

[31:37] proposal as well as the first

[31:40] report we have a consultant

[31:41] that's working on governance

[31:42] because it's a very large

[31:42] board.

[31:45] The agency has grown

[31:45] tremendously.

[31:47] It's four different counties,

[31:51] 38 cities or 38 member agencies

[31:51] .

[31:52] So we're going to be hearing

[31:52] from that.

[31:54] The other thing that we are

[31:55] looking at with the california

[31:58] power grid is very complicated

[31:59] and we have been looking at how

[32:02] we are procuring ur power to

[32:03] make sure that we're maximizing

[32:06] the greenhouse gas benefits in

[32:07] our cost effective in that we

[32:10] have been holding a series of

[32:11] workshops a number of the folks

[32:14] in walnut creek and in contra

[32:15] costa county interested in

[32:17] sustainability have been coming

[32:17] .

[32:18] There is a survey in the field

[32:21] right ow that is ue by this

[32:22] friday and I've circulated that

[32:25] to the members in contra costa

[32:26] county that are interested in

[32:29] sustainability and mce.

[32:29] If anybody else would like a

[32:30] copy of it I can get that to

[32:32] them.

[32:33] But overall we have a lot of

[32:36] work to do between now and

[32:40] DECEMBER and we are looking at

[32:41] making sure that we are an

[32:44] agency that can work together

[32:44] effectively and represent our

[32:48] multitude in this multitude of

[32:49] rate payers in a way that makes

[32:49] sense.

[32:52] So that's my report for

[32:52] tonight.

[32:53] Thank you, councilmember

[32:53] darling.

[32:56] And then we have councilmember

[32:56] devinney.

[32:57] >> thank you, mayor.

[32:58] I have a brief report this

[33:01] evening I was able to attend

[33:04] two chamber events this last uh

[33:04] last go round.

[33:08] One was the business and social

[33:09] hour at the new diva workspace

[33:11] on tree boulevard.

[33:12] Very nice workspace.

[33:13] So someone's looking for

[33:16] something like that to get out

[33:16] of the house.

[33:19] Great destination and and

[33:23] want to thank dan and angela

[33:27] ashley angels our board f

[33:28] chair of the board for the

[33:28] chamber of commerce they opened

[33:31] up their home and we were there

[33:32] to celebrate katie barrows, the

[33:35] new PRESIDENT And ceo of the

[33:36] chamber and that was very nice

[33:39] of them.

[33:40] So thank you to them and that's

[33:40] all I've got to thank you.

[33:43] All right.

[33:44] Well lot's been covered but few

[33:44] of the things and I'll just

[33:46] expand a little bit upon what

[33:47] the mayor pro tem had mentioned

[33:48] about the key to the city

[33:50] students exchange which is

[33:51] really phenomenal.

[33:53] In fact I had many families

[33:54] that were northgate families

[33:55] came to me during the event

[33:58] saying how how wonderful this

[33:59] was for their own family to be

[34:01] able to have that and shared

[34:02] that experience.

[34:05] And if think about how was 3040

[34:06] years ago you'd have an

[34:10] exchange program, maybe they'd

[34:11] share a couple of letters and

[34:11] that would be it.

[34:12] But now between social media

[34:14] and emails I mean these

[34:14] students MAY be friends for

[34:17] decades and and visit each

[34:18] other in their own countries

[34:18] with their own families.

[34:21] So it's really phenomenal.

[34:22] And we already have talked

[34:25] about the 10th anniversary of

[34:26] when we had a partnership

[34:26] signing with them nine years

[34:29] ago and so next year the mayor

[34:30] will come out council members

[34:33] and leaders of the city will be

[34:36] out here next OCTOBER and we'll

[34:37] put on a show for walnut creek

[34:38] for them as well.

[34:39] So and you're not getting out

[34:41] of that well, you MAY not be

[34:42] sitting right here but you're

[34:43] going to be here as well for

[34:44] that.

[34:45] So anyway, terrific.

[34:45] We look forward to more

[34:48] exchanges with not only key to

[34:49] city but our sister cities the

[34:50] chatto and chio folk in the

[34:56] future I had the what a true

[34:56] pleasure to cut he ribbon for

[34:57] the 35th anniversary of

[35:00] springfield montessori.

[35:01] Now we cut a lot of ribbons

[35:02] here we go we go to new

[35:04] businesses.

[35:05] We don't have a lot of personal

[35:05] involvement with those

[35:06] businesses.

[35:08] We just met them and we wish

[35:09] them luck.

[35:09] We hope they're here for a long

[35:12] time my kids went to two

[35:13] montessori springfield

[35:13] montessori and they went there

[35:17] to seven and 25 years ago and

[35:21] so it was truly a leasure to

[35:21] be able to see the the

[35:25] executive is running

[35:25] springfield montessori and

[35:26] bringing back some of the

[35:29] former teachers that my own

[35:32] kids had and this is how this

[35:33] MAY be the best endorsement

[35:34] that I can actually give of of

[35:36] springfield montessori of

[35:37] course I remember the teachers

[35:41] they remembered my kids they

[35:42] remembered shane and dario when

[35:45] they were two years old and one

[35:45] year old.

[35:48] They remembered their best

[35:48] fiends.

[35:49] They remembered that the the

[35:52] grandmother of orioles named

[35:53] bobby I mean amazing and this

[35:57] is the care that they put into

[35:58] the kids that truly become part

[36:00] of their own family too.

[36:01] So it was truly a wonderful

[36:05] experience to be able to cut

[36:05] the ribbon on that and thank

[36:07] you to to mike and cassava for

[36:08] joining me on that one.

[36:09] I also had the opportunity to

[36:12] meet with you csf benioff with

[36:13] their government relations

[36:16] person and talking about

[36:16] obviously there's a lot of

[36:19] investment that's coming from

[36:20] ucsf and benioff right now so

[36:24] talk really about how we're be

[36:27] able to open those discussions

[36:28] and future opportunities and

[36:28] working with them.

[36:31] So just a nice welcoming

[36:31] meeting on that one.

[36:32] You heard about the meeting of

[36:35] the chamber ceo katie burroughs

[36:36] and the meeting of he

[36:39] candidates today.

[36:43] I will I will wrap it up by

[36:43] saying that there's going to be

[36:46] some interesting things that

[36:47] I'm hoping to see with walnut

[36:50] creek downtown over the next

[36:51] few months and into next year.

[36:53] I haven't been at one of the

[36:54] meetings now for about six

[36:54] weeks.

[36:56] We'll have another 1 in 2 weeks

[36:57] and one of the things that

[36:57] we're talking about is making

[36:59] more of a tie in between the

[37:00] lecture center and some of the

[37:03] businesses that are downtown

[37:04] and what we can do to really

[37:04] help to foment those ties and

[37:08] if you come if you're coming to

[37:08] a performance, there ould be

[37:11] an opportunity to be able to

[37:12] get a discount and save some

[37:14] money at some of the other

[37:15] restaurants or services

[37:15] downtown.

[37:16] So we're working on that and

[37:18] I'm looking forward to seeing

[37:19] how that progresses nd I'm not

[37:21] going to say much else about

[37:22] walnut creek downtown right now

[37:23] because the last time I spoke

[37:25] at the city council meeting

[37:26] that comment went viral and we

[37:29] were mentioned on people

[37:30] magazine as the viral comment

[37:32] of the of the week in the

[37:33] nation evidently.

[37:33] And so I'm not going to talk

[37:37] about nicknames just going to

[37:37] say let's close this portion of

[37:40] the agenda item and that is my

[37:44] update.

[37:45] So next on the agenda is

[37:48] consideration item for policy

[37:51] direction on regulation of

[37:52] short term rentals and I invite

[37:52] community development director

[37:55] erica vanden brand forward to

[38:02] provide the presentation.

[38:06] Thank you very much mayor mayor

[38:10] pro tem council I am erica van

[38:11] and brown the community

[38:11] development director to talk

[38:12] about the regulation of short

[38:13] term rentals.

[38:14] So the request that we have of

[38:19] council right now is to we're

[38:21] seeking a policy direction on

[38:22] the regulation of short term

[38:25] rentals.

[38:26] So what is a short term rental

[38:29] essentially it's a rental that

[38:30] occurs less than 30 days and

[38:33] it's typically a home or a

[38:34] portion of a home or a room

[38:37] during that time period.

[38:41] And the reason why that we'd

[38:41] like to consider you to

[38:44] consider some I'm looking at

[38:45] whether or not there are

[38:45] changes needed in the

[38:48] regulation is that since the

[38:49] ordinance was first adopted

[38:52] there have been several things

[38:53] that have been happening.

[38:53] So one is that there's an

[38:56] affordable housing crisis in

[38:57] the state and that whenever

[39:00] short term rentals of homes are

[39:03] you know, done or you know as a

[39:04] business it takes away the

[39:06] potential stock for longer term

[39:07] housing.

[39:10] >> other trends are that you

[39:11] know, short term rentals are an

[39:14] increasingly desirable lodging

[39:15] option that people look for to

[39:16] have a you know, a more home

[39:18] oriented environment whether

[39:19] they're on vacation, traveling

[39:22] or recovering from a medical

[39:27] procedure or an event so that

[39:27] there's technology technology

[39:31] has made great advances that

[39:31] has really reduced the friction

[39:34] and essentially the interaction

[39:37] between homeowners and visitors

[39:38] to quickly connect and then

[39:41] transact these rental agreement

[39:42] .

[39:42] -

[39:42] so we've all heard about airbnb

[39:46] and the rba etc. And so it's

[39:47] really you know you can get

[39:51] into this as a business with a

[39:53] very low bar then there's

[39:54] clarity.

[39:58] >> so the city as do many

[39:59] cities actually we currently

[40:01] regulate the short term rental

[40:02] through a bed and breakfast

[40:05] ordinance and then this

[40:05] requires a conditional use

[40:08] permit so that in rder to

[40:09] bring a business into

[40:12] compliance they have to go

[40:12] through a fairly lengthy

[40:16] process to be able to operate

[40:19] within the city's parameters.

[40:19] Then of course there's

[40:20] administration so that there's

[40:23] program administration

[40:27] enforcement and that while you

[40:27] know it's certainly possible

[40:31] and we do regulate, you know,

[40:32] the businesses this way and

[40:34] enforce it create some

[40:35] challenges for us with clarity.

[40:38] And then there's the transient

[40:38] occupancy tax that there's

[40:42] revenue collection that until

[40:42] folks come into compliance it's

[40:46] very difficult o compel

[40:47] compliance with collecting that

[40:47] tax.

[40:50] Now one of the other changes

[40:51] that's happened is that under

[40:54] state law these platforms are

[40:57] now required to provide data to

[40:58] us jurisdictions on who's

[41:02] operating where and how many

[41:02] days etc. So that there's the

[41:05] ability to more efficiently

[41:08] collect that tax revenue.

[41:12] >> so this is a snapshot of

[41:13] short term rentals in walnut

[41:16] creek you'll notice a couple of

[41:16] things.

[41:17] You'll notice that there are

[41:20] 111 properties advertised but

[41:21] certainly the map that's there

[41:23] doesn't have 111 properties on

[41:23] it.

[41:26] That's because things change on

[41:27] almost a daily basis.

[41:28] So it's essentially looking at

[41:30] inventory within the

[41:31] marketplace.

[41:31] This data these data are

[41:35] provided by our business

[41:38] license folks who are who've

[41:39] been tasked with trying to help

[41:42] us look at the different

[41:43] numbers with this.

[41:46] So while there MAY be 111

[41:46] properties advertised across

[41:49] the different multiple

[41:52] platforms, there are over 265

[41:53] listings for those 111

[41:56] properties yet of that only 13

[41:57] are registered and are playing

[42:00] on their business licenses and

[42:04] some level of the total and of

[42:04] these only three have

[42:05] conditional use permits having

[42:08] gone through the entire process

[42:11] to essentially operate

[42:12] legitimately within the city.

[42:15] Well we also found out from

[42:16] hdl, our consultant who's

[42:19] responsible for our business

[42:22] licenses is that their estimate

[42:23] based on their best guesses is

[42:27] that the amount of additional

[42:28] totty that the city ight

[42:31] realize if we were to more I

[42:35] guess make it easier to be able

[42:36] to access short term rentals

[42:39] would be just under $169,000 in

[42:43] revenue.

[42:44] So to give you some perspective

[42:47] how to nearby urisdiction

[42:48] funds regulate short term

[42:51] rentals.

[42:52] >> so the cities of brentwood

[42:55] concord in the town of danville

[42:58] each prohibit rentals under 31

[42:59] days so they essentially ban

[43:02] short term rentals.

[43:03] Others like dublin, you know,

[43:06] use the brighton bed and

[43:07] breakfast ordinance as do we

[43:10] and then still others like

[43:11] orinda and san ramon and then

[43:14] contra costa county use short

[43:18] term rental permit so you know

[43:18] a more administrative permit

[43:22] type of process and then in

[43:25] addition you know in all the

[43:26] reading test notes on the right

[43:26] hand side there are some

[43:30] nuances about you know, s it

[43:33] hosted not hosted operating,

[43:34] you know, certain number of

[43:34] days and so forth.

[43:37] Is it a onditional use permit

[43:38] ?

[43:38] But I just offer this

[43:39] information to you just as you

[43:42] know, sort of a like a start of

[43:45] what's going on.

[43:49] >> so give that information and

[43:50] what you know, you know about

[43:53] short term rentals we are

[43:56] requesting guidance about first

[43:57] short short short term rentals

[44:01] be allowed in the in the city

[44:02] or should they be disallowed.

[44:04] However, if they are allowed

[44:05] should the city continue to

[44:06] regulate them as a bed and

[44:09] breakfast or develop a more

[44:10] streamlined option for

[44:13] consideration for council's

[44:16] consideration and should

[44:17] council provide direction on

[44:20] that in that manner?

[44:21] What aspects might you be

[44:24] interested in getting eedback

[44:25] on from the planning commission

[44:28] the community so things like

[44:28] you know should a short term

[44:31] rental be hosted or not hosted

[44:35] lcation restrictions if any

[44:36] maximum rental duration

[44:40] operational require minutes and

[44:41] then permissibility of events

[44:43] and anything else.

[44:44] So I think that you know just

[44:47] to also give you a little bit

[44:48] of context, our current bed and

[44:52] breakfast ordinance, you know

[44:53] has no more than one week and

[44:56] it has you know, has a week

[44:56] duration.

[44:58] I has 500ft away in certain

[44:59] locations, you know, from

[45:02] arterials and collector

[45:02] streets.

[45:03] it does not require that a host

[45:06] be present.

[45:07] So you know, just to give you

[45:10] some you know, I guess

[45:11] information about that and so

[45:14] with that any questions?

[45:14] >> okay.

[45:17] Thank you, erika, do we have

[45:18] any I'm sure we do have

[45:21] questions.

[45:22] Let's start start with

[45:23] councilmember delaney first.

[45:24] >> all right.

[45:27] Thank you for the presentation

[45:27] .

[45:30] >> I I'm curious so we're using

[45:31] digital companies, right?

[45:38] And and we've are we right now

[45:39] in a relationship with them

[45:42] where they're helping us with

[45:42] like discovery and compliance

[45:43] of short term rentals and

[45:50] collecting of totty so we have

[45:50] them available for that action

[45:53] but we need to be able to get

[45:54] more clarity on what we're

[45:58] actually enforcing nd how and

[46:02] each effort to bring in check

[46:02] compliance.

[46:05] There's significant amount of

[46:06] work that needs to be done so

[46:09] that as I had noted earlier,

[46:10] that to regulate a short term

[46:13] rental requires a conditional

[46:14] use permit and there's a whole

[46:17] body of ork that needs to

[46:18] occur with an applicant to

[46:20] bring that forward to planning

[46:21] commission.

[46:24] So with 108 nd 11

[46:27] opportunities to do that it

[46:28] takes a little bit.

[46:31] But that was but to understand

[46:32] that that is within the scope

[46:35] of the contract that we entered

[46:36] with them was to help us with

[46:39] that collection and so yes,

[46:39] they have that capacity

[46:40] ability.

[46:42] I think that we have you know,

[46:43] we have had a lighter touch

[46:46] with them just simply because

[46:47] they you know, they've been

[46:50] collecting top tax for us and

[46:51] so forth as part of the

[46:54] business licensing process.

[46:57] But as part of the workflow one

[46:58] of the things they ask is are

[47:01] are they a legitimate business?

[47:02] Have they gone through and

[47:03] gotten the conditional use

[47:05] permit?

[47:06] And so that's where there's

[47:09] some you know are out in the

[47:10] community trying to get folks

[47:11] to actually go through the

[47:14] process to be able to have the

[47:17] conditional use permits.

[47:18] You know, I can add to that if

[47:19] you would like.

[47:21] So in terms of as eric is

[47:22] noted, they primarily do our

[47:22] business license.

[47:25] They also can do this service

[47:28] we have chosen prior to having

[47:29] this discussion to input that

[47:33] we have not asked them to

[47:36] proactively enforce and collect

[47:37] the totty and ask them to come

[47:38] into compliance for the reasons

[47:41] noted that if we had 111 come

[47:44] in to actively comply we

[47:44] couldn't handle that type of

[47:48] volume at this point because of

[47:48] the process involved.

[47:51] So what they have been doing

[47:52] those that have come in and

[47:53] have requested to pay they're

[47:57] certainly collecting and doing

[47:57] the business license but we

[48:00] also felt that we should not go

[48:03] out and actively ask a 111 to

[48:03] be paying the totty if we're

[48:06] not giving them an avenue to

[48:07] come into compliance and given

[48:10] the current regulations and how

[48:11] burdensome it is, we don't

[48:12] think we can handle that type

[48:12] of volume all at once.

[48:14] So we wanted to have this

[48:15] discussion about how to proceed

[48:18] with potential changes f the

[48:19] decision were to continue with

[48:22] the bed and breakfast ordinance

[48:23] going forward we'd have to talk

[48:26] through about how do we try to

[48:26] sequence that work so that it's

[48:29] manageable if we expect all to

[48:30] come into compliance under the

[48:31] current regulations and if we

[48:33] did create a more streamlined

[48:34] process, would we would we

[48:36] outsource that to a third party

[48:37] to handle that for us?

[48:41] So there if we created a more

[48:41] streamlined process we could

[48:45] outsource a portion of that in

[48:46] terms of communicating the you

[48:48] know, the initial requirements

[48:52] and but there would still be

[48:53] work I'm involved on by city

[48:56] staff but it wouldn't be nearly

[48:57] as labor intensive and it

[49:00] wouldn't need to have all the

[49:00] preparatory work and legal

[49:03] costs that are associated with

[49:04] a conditional use permit

[49:05] process with the planning

[49:05] commission.

[49:10] Okay I saw live 111 was the

[49:14] number I think our last meeting

[49:15] and I had looked the number up

[49:15] myself.

[49:17] I got something like 197 off of

[49:20] their hair dna which apparently

[49:25] does look for duplicates.

[49:25] So what would it do?

[49:26] We feel like this is a more

[49:29] accurate number with why the

[49:29] big difference in those two.

[49:32] >> so this is a snapshot in

[49:33] time that ur consultant gave

[49:36] to us and as I head indicated

[49:37] it changes on a daily basis how

[49:41] many are advertised out there

[49:41] in the marketplace?

[49:42] And then one of the other

[49:45] nuance pieces to this is that

[49:50] it MAY read, if you will or be

[49:50] characterized as a walnut creek

[49:53] you know, short term rental but

[49:56] it could be an unincorporated,

[49:57] you know, contra costa county

[50:00] or it could be giving a walnut

[50:04] creek address quote unquote in

[50:05] one of the you know, in a

[50:05] neighboring jurisdiction that

[50:09] bands airbnbs and short term

[50:10] rentals and so forth.

[50:13] >> so that our feeling is that

[50:14] the the 111 number is more

[50:17] accurate than the 197 or we're

[50:21] sort of like I'm trying to get

[50:22] a sense of the scope because

[50:23] when we estimate the 168,000

[50:27] when look at that number and

[50:28] think about well if we got like

[50:30] half of the properties in a

[50:35] compliance and they were

[50:35] generating say I think

[50:38] currently that the the place

[50:39] that the short term rentals are

[50:41] about 70% occupied and they're

[50:44] averaging like $175 a night

[50:45] there's the numbers that I

[50:48] looked at but you can correct

[50:49] me if there's a more accurate

[50:49] number but that would generate

[50:52] more like the 4 or 5 plus

[50:55] hundred thousand and in totty.

[50:58] So I was also looking at 168

[50:59] and wondering how we arrived at

[50:59] that.

[51:02] So I, I don't want to speak

[51:03] exactly on behalf of our

[51:06] consultant but what they've

[51:06] conveyed to us is that you

[51:09] know, again they are able to

[51:10] look at any point in time and

[51:13] so you at a different point in

[51:14] time MAY have seen more

[51:16] advertised and you know

[51:17] different parameters and so

[51:20] forth but they looked at that

[51:24] and then what they also tell us

[51:25] is that whenever there's a what

[51:25] their experience has been in

[51:28] the past is that whenever

[51:29] there's a significant effort to

[51:32] bring short term rentals into

[51:32] compliance, some people will

[51:36] drop out of the marketplace so

[51:36] that that diminishes the number

[51:39] of short term rentals and then

[51:42] of that of those the remaining

[51:43] folks decide whether or not

[51:47] they want to, you know, go

[51:47] through the effort for, you

[51:50] know, a ish how many days,

[51:51] etc. And again it depends on

[51:54] the type of regulation whether

[51:55] it's hosted, non hosted, etc..

[51:55] >> okay.

[51:59] However, like a legal question,

[52:02] my understanding is that

[52:03] there's been laws passed that

[52:03] sort of compel now these online

[52:06] platforms to remit to not

[52:10] directly to the cities does

[52:11] that is that accurate and does

[52:14] it require us say passing an

[52:15] ordinance to sort of press them

[52:19] on that or what what does that

[52:19] landscape of new laws require

[52:22] them to report that there are

[52:23] airbnb or short term rentals

[52:26] happening in your city that are

[52:27] being facilitated on their

[52:27] website?

[52:31] So airbnb vibro they don't

[52:32] actually require them to remit

[52:35] the tax to us.

[52:36] The city collects the tax.

[52:38] Okay I, I read that some cities

[52:39] are collecting the majority of

[52:42] their totty like through the

[52:42] platforms you can collect them

[52:46] through the platform the host

[52:49] needs to needs to identify the

[52:54] tax as part of the rental and

[52:57] then the the individual the

[53:01] renter if you will pays it.

[53:02] I'm not exactly sure whether

[53:02] the dollars are then remitted

[53:06] directly to the city or they're

[53:06] remitted to the to the owner

[53:09] who then remits them to the

[53:10] city because as you recall with

[53:12] toti those are remitted to the

[53:13] hotel operators and then the

[53:16] hotel operators remit them to

[53:17] the city on a on a periodic

[53:17] basis.

[53:20] I think the airbnb is operate

[53:20] the same way.

[53:20] Okay.

[53:24] And I think I read there was a

[53:27] city that had sort of passed

[53:28] some sort f legislation or

[53:31] ordinance locally that didn't

[53:31] allow these platforms to

[53:35] operate in their city unless

[53:37] they you know, helped with the

[53:40] itot like portion f it

[53:41] whatever that looks like that I

[53:44] mean that MAY have been cracked

[53:44] before but by state law they're

[53:47] now requiring help.

[53:47] Yes.

[53:47] All right.

[53:49] And with with 80 use I have a

[53:53] question about it use I believe

[53:57] in 2020 we passed an ordinance

[54:01] saying that there would be no

[54:02] short erm rentals that 80 use

[54:06] would we would no longer do

[54:07] short term rentals only to use.

[54:07] Is that is that accurate?

[54:10] That is correct.

[54:10] Okay.

[54:11] So and that was based off of

[54:14] state law.

[54:14] Okay.

[54:15] State law also allows us to

[54:19] prohibit 80 use that were built

[54:22] prior to that but that would be

[54:22] a discretionary action on the

[54:26] part of council.

[54:27] I understand that since that

[54:27] that that law was passed at the

[54:30] state level in 2020, there's

[54:33] been some some manipulations of

[54:34] it and that that might not

[54:38] necessarily apply to all to use

[54:40] at this point after the year

[54:41] 2020 from a state law

[54:43] standpoint, does our current is

[54:44] that is that a an accurate

[54:49] picture or do you believe that

[54:52] 100% unqualified all e we can

[54:52] confirm that but my my

[54:53] understanding of it right now

[54:56] is that 80 use that are built

[54:57] pursuant to the recent 82 state

[55:00] laws are prohibited from being

[55:00] used for short term rentals but

[55:03] that that might be if they only

[55:03] allowed that if they used the

[55:07] law to build it so to speak

[55:08] like I was just that's correct.

[55:09] If they if they use if they

[55:12] relied on the law for the

[55:13] purposes of getting the 80 you

[55:15] built which is the way or at

[55:15] least most of the recent ones

[55:18] have been built have been

[55:19] pursuant to the state laws

[55:21] because they are there more

[55:26] expedited and more streamlined

[55:26] in their approval process than

[55:30] what we're historically local

[55:30] zoning requirements associated

[55:31] with 80 use.

[55:34] So it's probably safe to assume

[55:35] most people are using that.

[55:35] But would we would it be wise

[55:38] for us or or should we look at

[55:39] our ordinance and see that

[55:41] maybe we should revise it to

[55:42] say something like only

[55:45] eligible short term rent or

[55:50] eligible to use MAY be eligible

[55:51] for so our current rate our

[55:54] current ordinance I'm sorry

[55:54] accordant our current ordinance

[55:58] currently prohibits 80 use that

[56:01] were constructed since that

[56:02] since 2020 to be or to be used

[56:05] as short term rentals.

[56:06] So regardless of whether it is

[56:09] following state law or whatever

[56:09] so that could you know in the

[56:13] case that you offer be

[56:14] construed as being more

[56:16] stringent merchants than maybe

[56:17] just an opportunity to look at

[56:17] eligibility for those?

[56:20] Okay.

[56:21] That's it for my my questions

[56:21] right now.

[56:24] thank you, mayor pro tem thank

[56:24] you.

[56:27] >> you asked a lot of mind but

[56:28] just to clarify on the

[56:32] collection of the total because

[56:32] I had heard information I think

[56:34] similar information to

[56:35] councilmember devinney that it

[56:38] was kind of more of an ottoman

[56:42] automatic process that airbnb

[56:43] would remit the territory to

[56:47] the city but it sounds like

[56:47] they they would inform us that

[56:51] there's a registered board

[56:51] short term rental on their

[56:54] platform and then we would

[56:55] still need to hire a consultant

[56:59] like hdl to collect the total.

[57:02] >> so maybe a different way of

[57:06] explaining it is that these

[57:06] certain platforms and certainly

[57:10] the ones that are more

[57:11] sophisticated like the rpo and

[57:13] airbnb have an ability to

[57:14] essentially do that accounting

[57:17] feature with them so that you

[57:18] as a business owner are able to

[57:21] track and then remit your you

[57:24] know, business taxes and so

[57:25] forth and keep track of your

[57:26] income too so you can pay your

[57:28] federal income taxes.

[57:29] >> okay.

[57:32] Maybe you know as we as the

[57:33] conversation goes on maybe

[57:33] that's something obviously

[57:36] there's if there's way to

[57:37] streamline the process further,

[57:39] that would be good and then you

[57:42] know, I'm curious in terms of

[57:43] you know, from both egal and

[57:47] planning perspectives, you

[57:48] know, if we were to streamline

[57:51] the process, would we still

[57:54] have the enforcement ability if

[57:55] if a business is operating once

[57:59] or more times is a nuisance if

[58:01] it was just a kind of a

[58:02] business license type permit,

[58:06] you know, to what extent could

[58:06] we revoke that?

[58:10] >> so I forgive me my

[58:11] colleagues that deal with

[58:13] outdoor dining but that closest

[58:14] analogy is that with an

[58:15] operators permit and so it's

[58:18] the it's very similar to you

[58:21] know an aup or chp having been

[58:25] required for alcohol and then

[58:26] with outdoor dining and so that

[58:29] those have you know rocesses

[58:30] associated with it.

[58:33] But whenever we went over to

[58:34] our outdoor dining there was an

[58:37] operators permit that provided

[58:38] very clear direction on here

[58:41] are the norms etc. Here are the

[58:42] things you need to comply with

[58:42] and if you're in violation of

[58:45] it this operators permit can be

[58:46] pulled.

[58:49] Same thing could be true and

[58:50] the way that it operates in

[58:53] other cities so that based off

[58:54] of that versus going through a

[58:57] more complex and lengthy and

[59:00] legally costly process to pull

[59:01] a conditional use permit.

[59:01] >> okay.

[59:04] That's helpful.

[59:07] And then in terms of the 170 or

[59:08] 190 folks that don't currently

[59:11] have a permit but want to

[59:12] continue to operate short term

[59:15] rentals, what's staff's plan to

[59:18] bring them into compliance?

[59:19] >> well, our first plan was to

[59:20] ask the question of council

[59:23] policy direction on whether or

[59:24] not you wanted to ban or

[59:27] continue to allow it.

[59:30] So with that question once that

[59:31] is answered then we can develop

[59:35] a plan to be able to, you know,

[59:35] follow policy direction so that

[59:39] if you know if council's

[59:43] choices to continue on in the

[59:44] the bed and breakfast model

[59:47] then things would remain

[59:48] largely the same for all the

[59:51] same reasons if council instead

[59:52] were to choose to go to more of

[59:55] an operators permit type of

[59:58] program then we wouldn't need

[59:59] to essentially stand up a

[1:00:00] program much the way that the

[1:00:03] outdoor dining program was

[1:00:04] stood up and you know come up

[1:00:06] with parameters and so forth

[1:00:10] and then bring that to council

[1:00:11] ,you know, for adoption along

[1:00:13] with the new ordinance.

[1:00:14] And just finally, do we have

[1:00:18] kind of any stimates of what

[1:00:18] the cost and time would be to

[1:00:23] obtain an operators permit or

[1:00:24] no?

[1:00:25] I we can certainly look into

[1:00:28] that if that is council's will

[1:00:31] to go to a different type of

[1:00:32] regulation of short term

[1:00:33] rentals but we didn't want to

[1:00:36] get too far down the road and

[1:00:39] presupposing councils will okay

[1:00:39] thank you.

[1:00:43] Thank you councilmember darling

[1:00:44] thank you and thanks for the

[1:00:44] presentation and all the

[1:00:45] -

[1:00:46] thought that's obviously gone

[1:00:47] into I know in orinda the the

[1:00:50] big impetus for their ordinance

[1:00:51] was the party that went

[1:00:55] horribly wrong up there.

[1:00:55] What's been our experience with

[1:00:59] calls for service from pd for

[1:00:59] the short term rentals?

[1:01:02] Have we had much of that here?

[1:01:03] So it was much more prevalent

[1:01:06] during covid less so now but

[1:01:11] you know pd responds for that

[1:01:14] most of he types of feedback

[1:01:15] we get about the short term

[1:01:15] rentals are from neighbors.

[1:01:19] Some of it might be you know on

[1:01:22] noise related, some of it might

[1:01:23] be people not being able to

[1:01:26] find their short term rental

[1:01:27] late at night and so that and

[1:01:30] knocking on the wrong door and

[1:01:31] talking with pd that hasn't

[1:01:34] been you know it calls for

[1:01:35] service at short term rentals

[1:01:37] hasn't been a significant you

[1:01:42] know reason for calls for

[1:01:42] service.

[1:01:45] >> okay that's good to know so

[1:01:46] I know the bed and breakfast

[1:01:49] ordinance limits it to within

[1:01:49] 500ft of an arterial or

[1:01:52] collector street does that

[1:01:53] effectively does that actually

[1:01:57] does that make no never mind

[1:01:58] when you're out there or is

[1:02:00] that a relatively difficult

[1:02:01] requirement to comply with just

[1:02:04] thinking about keeping people

[1:02:05] on the edge of neighborhoods

[1:02:06] rather than deep into a

[1:02:12] neighborhood so it I think you

[1:02:13] know, it's just it's a criteria

[1:02:15] in the someone would need to

[1:02:16] comply ith but there are

[1:02:20] numerous homes that are on that

[1:02:21] you know that meet that

[1:02:24] criteria so as to whether or

[1:02:28] not it helps or hurts and the

[1:02:28] ability to operate that

[1:02:29] business.

[1:02:31] We haven't seen any evidence

[1:02:32] one way or the other.

[1:02:32] >> okay.

[1:02:36] And then if we go through this

[1:02:36] and come up I know when we

[1:02:39] originally were working on

[1:02:42] alcohol permits there was one

[1:02:43] set of standards and if you're

[1:02:44] willing to live with that you

[1:02:46] could get the easy permit and

[1:02:47] if you really wanted to push

[1:02:49] things you could get the hard

[1:02:50] permit.

[1:02:50] Could is something like that

[1:02:52] possible here?

[1:02:54] For example, if somebody is on

[1:02:57] site limits people to you know,

[1:03:01] a certain number they could get

[1:03:04] a more easily acquired permit

[1:03:05] but if they want to have a site

[1:03:08] where hey can not be there, do

[1:03:11] different things.

[1:03:12] So that is definitely possible.

[1:03:15] There are examples of that in

[1:03:16] the information provided in

[1:03:16] your packet.

[1:03:19] Usually those you know the

[1:03:23] differences etc. You know it's

[1:03:24] like here you have a permit

[1:03:27] type of you know process and

[1:03:28] then if you want to do

[1:03:31] something different usually you

[1:03:32] know they've mentioned it in

[1:03:32] the context of having events

[1:03:35] and hosting events and so forth

[1:03:36] and that you you know, would go

[1:03:39] through a separate process

[1:03:39] getting a special event permit

[1:03:42] as an example.

[1:03:43] You know, we certainly in the

[1:03:47] example that ou offered that

[1:03:48] there's the potential to if you

[1:03:51] want to have it hosted do it

[1:03:52] one way if you want to have it

[1:03:52] on the hosted then you go

[1:03:55] through you know, presumably a

[1:03:55] conditional use on process.

[1:03:56] >> okay.

[1:03:59] I would just add if I if I MAY,

[1:04:00] you know a consideration along

[1:04:01] those lines if we were to head

[1:04:03] down that path is the

[1:04:06] complexity in terms of the

[1:04:07] application process and

[1:04:09] explaining that rocess through

[1:04:10] potential applicants and then

[1:04:11] it does make enforcement more

[1:04:14] complicated if we get a

[1:04:15] complaint what's allowed or not

[1:04:16] allowed having to know that by

[1:04:18] address as compared to knowing

[1:04:19] across the board what are the

[1:04:22] standards.

[1:04:23] So those would be some

[1:04:23] tradeoffs and considerations if

[1:04:26] we had a bifurcated approach.

[1:04:27] Yeah, it's good to good to know

[1:04:29] because it's okay.

[1:04:31] And then if we were to do an

[1:04:34] operator type permit, would

[1:04:34] there still be notice for

[1:04:37] neighbors to come and express

[1:04:40] their opinion on it?

[1:04:41] >> unclear.

[1:04:42] And the reason why I say that

[1:04:45] it's unclear because there is

[1:04:49] the in most of the examples

[1:04:52] that are out there currently

[1:04:52] it's done know through a

[1:04:56] process that doesn't require

[1:04:56] that notification.

[1:04:59] It's more administrative trying

[1:05:04] to insert that required meant

[1:05:04] and there as a condition of

[1:05:05] receiving an administrative

[1:05:08] permit creates a whole other

[1:05:11] set of things to consider which

[1:05:12] we haven't thought through yet.

[1:05:14] Okay.

[1:05:15] >> and then as far as it sounds

[1:05:18] like people kind of come and go

[1:05:21] out of the business so have we

[1:05:22] talked to any jurisdictions

[1:05:23] that have a limit on how many

[1:05:26] permits they issue in their

[1:05:27] city and how is that work if

[1:05:29] people are coming and going so

[1:05:34] there are jurisdiction ones out

[1:05:34] there typically in more you

[1:05:38] know, along shores or highly

[1:05:42] you know, tourism oriented that

[1:05:42] have programs like that.

[1:05:45] But our neighbors don't

[1:05:49] tpically and so there would

[1:05:50] need to be a justification as

[1:05:55] to why or you know you have 100

[1:05:55] groups or you're 101.

[1:05:57] You can't come in but then

[1:05:58] that's very difficult.

[1:05:58] And as you know, our city

[1:06:01] manager saying from an

[1:06:02] enforcement standpoint because

[1:06:05] you know, early discussion is

[1:06:06] at 190 or is a 111.

[1:06:08] Yeah.

[1:06:09] And then last question.

[1:06:12] You know, just thinking about

[1:06:16] how we encourage compliance,

[1:06:17] have we thought about an idea

[1:06:20] where if you apply in the first

[1:06:23] year of the program your

[1:06:26] application fee is much less

[1:06:27] but in out years have just some

[1:06:31] way to get people to want to

[1:06:34] come to see us upfront discount

[1:06:35] yeah that's it.

[1:06:38] So are you today again we were

[1:06:42] first focusing on the you know

[1:06:43] the policy question is council

[1:06:46] want to on diane or continue to

[1:06:49] allow this use and then in

[1:06:50] terms of perational kinds of

[1:06:51] things like you're talking

[1:06:54] about that would be a next step

[1:06:54] in the process if council's

[1:06:57] direction is to continue to

[1:06:58] allow or use but to do it

[1:07:00] differently than what we do

[1:07:01] now.

[1:07:01] >> okay.

[1:07:04] Thank you, councilmember silva.

[1:07:04] Thank you.

[1:07:05] Thank you very much for all of

[1:07:08] this work and for the continued

[1:07:11] patrol of some of our

[1:07:15] interesting operators.

[1:07:17] So let me start with c u p

[1:07:20] versus operator permit.

[1:07:20] I was on the planning

[1:07:24] commission but it was a ong

[1:07:24] time ago.

[1:07:25] My recollection is the c u p

[1:07:28] basically is more permanent

[1:07:31] than an operator permit which

[1:07:32] could be in fact you get it and

[1:07:38] you get a renewed etc. So I can

[1:07:42] answer this and how we're doing

[1:07:42] it more recently so I'm not

[1:07:47] going to step on our city

[1:07:47] attorney's toes I promise

[1:07:48] hassle the conditional use

[1:07:50] permit typically runs with them

[1:07:51] and however the way that we

[1:07:54] have been working through the

[1:07:55] process more recently is that

[1:07:58] once that operator ceases

[1:08:01] operations at that site then

[1:08:02] the permit sunset that's

[1:08:06] different as you had noted from

[1:08:07] the operators permit type f

[1:08:10] idea.

[1:08:10] most of the examples out there

[1:08:13] have an annual permit that gets

[1:08:14] done on a calendar year basis

[1:08:17] and that you have an incentive

[1:08:18] to come in early in the year as

[1:08:21] opposed to later and that you

[1:08:22] know everyone renews for that

[1:08:25] particular year and so and it's

[1:08:29] easier to both identify a

[1:08:33] violation with the operators

[1:08:37] permit than it is with the c, u

[1:08:38] p and to address it from a

[1:08:40] foresman standpoint because to

[1:08:44] address he c p it has to also

[1:08:45] go through a planning

[1:08:48] commission process as opposed

[1:08:49] to you know, a more

[1:08:52] administrative process that's

[1:08:53] also you know, subject to

[1:08:56] appeal etc. But it's a lot

[1:08:59] easier when they have ermits.

[1:09:03] So 111 1111 for no matter what

[1:09:05] the number is.

[1:09:06] One of the issues I think is

[1:09:09] that some of the operators that

[1:09:10] are advertising on these

[1:09:13] platforms you cannot tell where

[1:09:14] where if they're in the city

[1:09:15] limits or if they are in the

[1:09:17] unincorporated city.

[1:09:18] How can we actually figure that

[1:09:21] out?

[1:09:22] Is there gas?

[1:09:24] Is there do we have to make the

[1:09:25] elections department do it to

[1:09:26] figure out if that address is

[1:09:29] actually eligible to vote?

[1:09:32] >> so the on the platforms

[1:09:33] themselves it could be a little

[1:09:37] bit ambiguous but once the city

[1:09:38] has a specific address we have

[1:09:41] gas capability is that and we

[1:09:42] can find out you know is this

[1:09:46] advertise housing as a city of

[1:09:46] know within the city of walnut

[1:09:49] creek but they're actually in

[1:09:50] concord for example are they in

[1:09:53] the city of walnut creek or are

[1:09:54] they unincorporated contra

[1:09:54] costa county?

[1:09:55] okay.

[1:09:57] So 111 has hdl had an

[1:10:00] opportunity to consider the

[1:10:01] location related so we haven't

[1:10:04] gone down that path yet.

[1:10:05] And the reason why is because

[1:10:08] we wanted to get policy

[1:10:08] direction from council about

[1:10:12] whether or not you wanted to

[1:10:12] ban because that's one pathway

[1:10:15] and one set of enforcements or

[1:10:18] do we go a different round is

[1:10:22] the city are we allowed and I

[1:10:23] noticed in looking at or even

[1:10:23] in our bed and breakfast

[1:10:26] ordinance now and looking at a

[1:10:29] windows short term rental

[1:10:33] ordinance proximity and consent

[1:10:37] duration so 500ft from a major

[1:10:37] arterial or collector street is

[1:10:41] location specific and then

[1:10:42] there's the and you can't have

[1:10:42] more than three and within a

[1:10:45] certain distance because there

[1:10:45] is a lot of concern about

[1:10:49] oversaturation whether it's

[1:10:52] adult care facilities, alcohol

[1:10:57] sobering facility these and

[1:10:58] this as well are we able to

[1:11:04] specify that so we would look

[1:11:05] into it further as a practical

[1:11:08] matter we have many collector

[1:11:11] streets so the 500ft or more is

[1:11:15] not a huge delineate or of

[1:11:18] exclusion or inclusion in terms

[1:11:19] of looking at saturation and so

[1:11:22] forth.

[1:11:26] There are possibilities and we

[1:11:26] have gas capabilities but then

[1:11:30] the plot forms themselves and

[1:11:33] the ability to sort of cycle in

[1:11:34] and out because one day you

[1:11:36] know you have 190, another day

[1:11:40] you have a 111 and so we need

[1:11:41] to be we would need to be very

[1:11:44] vigilant and also have a lot of

[1:11:45] clarity about what the

[1:11:48] parameters are that councils

[1:11:49] are looking for in terms of

[1:11:52] what that density looks like

[1:11:52] under state law.

[1:11:56] >> are we able to limit the

[1:12:02] size or is it only specific to

[1:12:03] 80 use built after 2020 when

[1:12:04] that law went into effect with

[1:12:07] the concessions and the

[1:12:07] streamlining?

[1:12:11] So when you say size, could you

[1:12:14] mean could we say you cannot

[1:12:17] rent a home with five bedrooms

[1:12:20] as a short term rental which is

[1:12:21] more of a single family

[1:12:24] neighborhood home?

[1:12:28] I mean are you able to restrict

[1:12:29] the size to something small

[1:12:31] that would be considered larger

[1:12:32] than a hotel room but maller

[1:12:36] than a permanent home so that

[1:12:39] there are examples of that and

[1:12:40] certainly our current bed and

[1:12:43] breakfast ordinance that has a

[1:12:43] maximum number of rooms and

[1:12:44] number of people per room.

[1:12:47] So I can't see why not.

[1:12:48] >> you know the council has

[1:12:51] pretty broad authority on

[1:12:51] setting those types of

[1:12:52] requirements.

[1:12:55] You can ban them if you want to

[1:12:55] and so anything that is short

[1:12:58] of a ban is generally within

[1:12:59] the authority of the of the

[1:13:01] council.

[1:13:05] I think that answers the

[1:13:06] additional questions that

[1:13:06] have.

[1:13:06] Thank you.

[1:13:09] Thank you.

[1:13:10] Oh, thank you.

[1:13:10] And I think most of the

[1:13:11] questions I had have been

[1:13:13] answered one that I wanted to

[1:13:14] check on with you.

[1:13:16] I know that these are all

[1:13:17] snapshots in time but do you

[1:13:20] find that there are more short

[1:13:21] term rentals that are available

[1:13:22] downtown like in multifamily

[1:13:25] housing versus outskirts of

[1:13:28] neighborhoods at popcorn's

[1:13:31] around and so sometimes if

[1:13:32] there is a major event

[1:13:35] happening in downtown there

[1:13:36] will be a propensity to, you

[1:13:40] know, rent out a short term

[1:13:40] rental so that there's access

[1:13:44] to leisure centered here and of

[1:13:44] that and other times you know

[1:13:47] there are weddings or other

[1:13:47] things that are happening

[1:13:48] elsewhere and so proximity to

[1:13:51] how their farm or you know

[1:13:55] other amenities etc. Are also

[1:13:55] there.

[1:13:58] So it it depends and there's

[1:13:59] not a hard and fast rule about

[1:14:02] where okay.

[1:14:06] I would just add for context

[1:14:07] and correct me if I'm wrong on

[1:14:07] my housing units here ut

[1:14:10] roughly speaking we have about

[1:14:10] 34,000 housing units in walnut

[1:14:13] creek and we have somewhere

[1:14:14] between 100 to 200 short term

[1:14:17] rentals that we believe are

[1:14:18] operating.

[1:14:18] So on a percentage basis it's

[1:14:21] very small.

[1:14:22] We don't see a large cluster of

[1:14:24] any in one particular area or

[1:14:25] another.

[1:14:28] It's a fairly dynamic situation

[1:14:29] and given that it's a very

[1:14:30] fluid platform and it allows

[1:14:32] people that lexibility to rent

[1:14:33] or not rent so it is kind of

[1:14:34] bouncing around.

[1:14:36] I don't think we have a high

[1:14:37] concentration in any one

[1:14:39] particular area of the city.

[1:14:40] Okay.

[1:14:40] Thank you.

[1:14:41] I think that's my questions for

[1:14:43] now.

[1:14:44] >> mayor mayor, I wanted to

[1:14:45] just follow up on one issue I

[1:14:47] did check the airbnb website.

[1:14:51] They do have the technology to

[1:14:54] allow for directory maintenance

[1:14:55] remains two cities.

[1:14:55] it does require that they be

[1:14:59] required through some mechanism

[1:15:00] so we can check that further if

[1:15:02] the council would like to see

[1:15:03] what kind of mechanism is

[1:15:03] required.

[1:15:06] I am aware that many cities

[1:15:07] collect totti from short term

[1:15:10] rentals in the same way they

[1:15:14] collect totti from hotels that

[1:15:14] is the property owner.

[1:15:15] The business perator collects

[1:15:18] it and then remits it.

[1:15:19] But airbnb at least does have

[1:15:21] that technology in their system

[1:15:21] .

[1:15:25] Thank you.

[1:15:26] Great.

[1:15:26] All right.

[1:15:27] Well eric, I probably don't go

[1:15:27] too far because I have some

[1:15:30] more questions afterwards but

[1:15:30] for right now we're bringing

[1:15:33] this to the public and as any

[1:15:34] member of the public wish to

[1:15:35] provide public omment at this

[1:15:38] time, please come forward or

[1:15:38] use the raise hand feature

[1:15:40] press star nine if you're

[1:15:41] calling if you'd like to

[1:15:43] provide remote public comment

[1:15:44] if you are attending in person

[1:15:47] please complete a speaker id

[1:15:48] card line up behind the lectern

[1:15:51] at this time and written

[1:15:51] comments submitted have been

[1:15:52] posted.

[1:15:52] The city's website for public

[1:15:53] review are included in the

[1:15:56] meeting record but will not be

[1:15:56] separately read into the

[1:15:57] record.

[1:15:59] Each speaker will have two

[1:16:00] minutes to make the remarks and

[1:16:01] all remarks should be addressed

[1:16:03] to the city council and at this

[1:16:06] time we'll take public comment

[1:16:06] .

[1:16:07] Good evening everyone.

[1:16:10] Thank you.

[1:16:11] my name is lisa blanco and I

[1:16:17] live in the woodlands and oh

[1:16:20] boy this is kind of I could see

[1:16:25] the bit of the rat's nest this

[1:16:29] is because as a resident I feel

[1:16:33] that resident social zones

[1:16:34] should be for esidents

[1:16:37] mid-term long term residents

[1:16:37] and and not rent it out.

[1:16:41] On the other hand they're

[1:16:45] happening anyway and is the

[1:16:45] city benefiting from that in

[1:16:48] any way through totty or what

[1:16:51] have you?

[1:16:56] And I think I think as a

[1:17:02] resident I don't care for them

[1:17:02] .

[1:17:03] Call me lisa nimby blanco if

[1:17:07] you want and I don't think that

[1:17:10] they add to a neighborhood they

[1:17:13] take away from them.

[1:17:18] >> but I do see the ee he

[1:17:25] point of coming up with a maybe

[1:17:29] a better policy for these and I

[1:17:33] think a couple of things who

[1:17:37] are that neighbors residents

[1:17:41] actually residents should be

[1:17:45] involved for our input and then

[1:17:49] also that I know that the

[1:17:52] surrounding areas pretty much

[1:17:56] don't allow them and that at

[1:17:59] least one of them the owners

[1:18:03] have to conduct the stairs.

[1:18:07] So anyway, that's it.

[1:18:07] >> thank you ery much.

[1:18:09] Thank you.

[1:18:13] Next speaker please.

[1:18:17] My name is pamela trail.

[1:18:18] I live in the woodlands also.

[1:18:22] Oh, sorry.

[1:18:22] >> my name is pamela traill.

[1:18:25] I live in the woodlands also I

[1:18:26] agree with lisa's point the

[1:18:29] city is not benefiting

[1:18:30] financially.

[1:18:33] Tey seem reluctant to collect

[1:18:36] any fees for people who

[1:18:40] continuously violate in the

[1:18:44] face of the rules and I don't

[1:18:45] think they belong in the

[1:18:48] residence and for the last

[1:18:52] public meeting that took place

[1:18:55] very this issue there was only

[1:18:56] three days notice given to the

[1:18:59] public for their comments and

[1:19:03] that's not enough time for

[1:19:03] people to contribute their

[1:19:08] thoughts and I think the zoning

[1:19:12] should all and ermits should

[1:19:15] be done by us sites by site and

[1:19:19] in consideration it should be

[1:19:19] looked at if there is

[1:19:22] elementary schools nearby or

[1:19:23] daycares or places where young

[1:19:26] people gather in our

[1:19:27] neighborhood there's an

[1:19:30] elementary and a daycare two

[1:19:31] blocks away and that was not

[1:19:34] mentioned in the last council

[1:19:35] meeting.

[1:19:38] There needs to be some kind of

[1:19:39] a background check for the

[1:19:43] safety and community of the

[1:19:43] public and who's responsible

[1:19:46] for this background check and

[1:19:49] who do these checks include in

[1:19:50] the council decisions should be

[1:19:54] respectful of the people who

[1:19:57] elected them and permits should

[1:19:58] not be given to repeat

[1:20:01] offenders and action should be

[1:20:01] taken against their repeat

[1:20:05] offenders and my comment is

[1:20:09] specifically directed to you in

[1:20:10] the end of the last meeting

[1:20:13] regarding hector crouse giving

[1:20:17] him a lifeline maybe he could

[1:20:17] get a ermit when he continues

[1:20:20] to violate this week.

[1:20:21] >> thank you MR. Trail.

[1:20:30] Next speaker please.

[1:20:31] >> hi.

[1:20:31] Jan warren the woodlands.

[1:20:34] It's hard for me to read my

[1:20:35] notes.

[1:20:38] I do appreciate this topic

[1:20:38] being brought up.

[1:20:41] I think it was time passed time

[1:20:42] for us to look at what's

[1:20:43] happening in the world today,

[1:20:46] how things are being used that

[1:20:46] people don't use their housing

[1:20:50] or cars or anything else like

[1:20:50] they used to.

[1:20:54] So it would seem like if you

[1:20:54] had a more reasonable process

[1:20:57] more people would comply.

[1:20:58] I think it should be set up so

[1:21:04] the the remittance is included.

[1:21:05] I mean anything we do we go

[1:21:08] like you rent a car, you know,

[1:21:09] you got a whole line of things.

[1:21:12] I just got to selling things

[1:21:15] for a acation and then I'm

[1:21:16] always tell you all of them but

[1:21:19] you pay for them so my question

[1:21:23] my thought also has to do with

[1:21:24] what happens in hoa.

[1:21:27] A lot of people have hoa is I

[1:21:28] don't know if that matters or

[1:21:32] not and it seems to me that

[1:21:35] whether it's a neighborhood or

[1:21:35] ,you know, a high rise, we're

[1:21:36] building a lot more housing

[1:21:38] that's high rise.

[1:21:39] So I don't think you should

[1:21:40] discriminate from one or the

[1:21:42] other if they have something

[1:21:43] that they want to rent and

[1:21:44] they're following the rules,

[1:21:47] you know, maybe they're young

[1:21:47] and need some extra cash to

[1:21:48] meet their bills.

[1:21:50] Who knows?

[1:21:51] But at any rate, I do think we

[1:21:54] ought to continue to explore it

[1:21:57] and see how we can improve on

[1:21:57] it.

[1:22:01] Um and thanks for looking at

[1:22:01] it.

[1:22:01] Thank you.

[1:22:04] Jan?

[1:22:05] Looks like we have no more in

[1:22:08] person public comments we have

[1:22:09] any comments on the line?

[1:22:09] We have no one on two.

[1:22:11] Okay.

[1:22:12] So we will close public

[1:22:13] comment, bring it back to

[1:22:15] council for any further

[1:22:16] questions or comments and let

[1:22:22] me just ask erica it looks like

[1:22:23] you're looking for some

[1:22:23] specific policy direction

[1:22:26] requested short term rental

[1:22:30] should they be allowed at all?

[1:22:31] How how regulated and then if

[1:22:34] it should go to planning

[1:22:35] commission and community for

[1:22:36] discussions before coming back

[1:22:38] to council for a policy?

[1:22:39] Correct.

[1:22:41] So the very first question is a

[1:22:44] yes or no one and then if yes

[1:22:45] then and then if right then

[1:22:45] it's okay.

[1:22:48] So yes, there were two

[1:22:48] questions that were asked from

[1:22:50] the public could I get answers

[1:22:51] to those?

[1:22:54] And the first is how was the

[1:22:54] last hearing noticed and the

[1:22:58] hearing that was in front of

[1:22:58] the planning commission and so

[1:23:02] the hearing was noticed in

[1:23:03] multiple ways is noticed in the

[1:23:06] newspaper is notice through all

[1:23:07] the standard options and so

[1:23:09] forth we had gotten

[1:23:10] notification though from

[1:23:14] neighbors that the notification

[1:23:15] and the notice that had been

[1:23:15] posted and we have

[1:23:16] documentation of it being

[1:23:19] posted on the on the property

[1:23:23] and then also on you know,

[1:23:23] nearby lamps have been taken

[1:23:26] down as soon as we receive that

[1:23:29] notification we posted it to

[1:23:33] this did homeowners or property

[1:23:34] owners a certain distance from

[1:23:37] the property receive postcards

[1:23:38] or mailed notices?

[1:23:39] So this followed all the

[1:23:42] standard notices and so yes.

[1:23:43] So could you reiterate what

[1:23:46] those are or maybe the attorney

[1:23:46] can only because the public is

[1:23:50] wondering if they MAY not have

[1:23:51] been within the distance zone

[1:23:54] diversity of a postcard.

[1:23:55] >> did you want to take us

[1:23:57] deeper?

[1:23:57] >> okay.

[1:24:00] So essentially, you know,

[1:24:01] postcards were sent out.

[1:24:02] It was on the city's website.

[1:24:04] It was sent out in the you

[1:24:05] know, all the notifications in

[1:24:06] terms of the newspaper and so

[1:24:09] on so that all of our standard

[1:24:12] processes were put into place.

[1:24:13] And so in addition they're

[1:24:16] posted on the on the on the

[1:24:20] residents the site and then

[1:24:21] they were also posted on

[1:24:21] lampposts, you know,

[1:24:24] streetlights etc. That were

[1:24:24] there.

[1:24:27] So we were very diligent in

[1:24:28] posting that with all the

[1:24:31] required postings and how many

[1:24:32] days prior is our posting

[1:24:32] requirement?

[1:24:35] >> oh that's like a pop quiz.

[1:24:36] >> she's she's waving her

[1:24:39] fingers at you so tenders yeah

[1:24:40] thank you.

[1:24:42] I can count that high.

[1:24:46] Okay my other question is what

[1:24:49] are we doing with regard to the

[1:24:50] the one that we disallowed we

[1:24:53] upheld the we upheld the

[1:24:57] planning commission decision.

[1:24:58] Are they still operating and

[1:24:58] what is what is the enforcement

[1:25:01] mechanism that we have under

[1:25:01] the law?

[1:25:05] >> so we were notified of a

[1:25:05] potential short term use

[1:25:09] occurring most recently I

[1:25:10] myself went out and posted a

[1:25:13] notice violation at the site

[1:25:14] and there's an active code

[1:25:17] enforcement case occurring.

[1:25:18] So what does what under the law

[1:25:21] are we allowed to do to that?

[1:25:22] I mean can we lock the door?

[1:25:24] Can we what are know we would

[1:25:29] have to so we would first do as

[1:25:30] erica did you would post it and

[1:25:32] try to get voluntary

[1:25:33] compliance.

[1:25:33] >> if we don't get voluntary

[1:25:34] compliance to it then we would

[1:25:37] have to get a court order to

[1:25:37] shut it down.

[1:25:41] >> so that's going to be a

[1:25:41] multi-month process that can be

[1:25:43] faster on an expedited basis

[1:25:44] when there's a violation of a

[1:25:47] of a of a land use regulation

[1:25:48] of this sort when they're just

[1:25:51] operating without any ermits

[1:25:52] you can go in on short notice

[1:25:53] to try to get a court to issue

[1:25:55] at least an interim order

[1:25:56] stopping that type of activity

[1:25:59] which which we will do if

[1:25:59] necessary.

[1:26:00] >> so so it is an active case.

[1:26:03] It is an active code

[1:26:03] enforcement case.

[1:26:07] >> thank ou so well as long as

[1:26:08] we're with you, councilmember

[1:26:09] silva, any further comments or

[1:26:11] maybe just if we ant to be

[1:26:12] able to go down and answer the

[1:26:15] questions do you have these the

[1:26:16] questions for us of he

[1:26:17] questions right there?

[1:26:18] All right.

[1:26:19] I think we should allow short

[1:26:19] term rentals.

[1:26:22] We have they're in use in very

[1:26:26] good ways for people to be able

[1:26:29] to supplement their income to

[1:26:30] be able to rent a small room.

[1:26:33] My husband and I were in

[1:26:34] seattle last weekend.

[1:26:37] Hotels were unavailable due to

[1:26:38] a bridge being rebuilt and so

[1:26:42] in order to be within blocks of

[1:26:44] our children we rented a short

[1:26:45] term rental that was in the

[1:26:46] basement of a house.

[1:26:48] It was lovely.

[1:26:49] It was not what someone would

[1:26:50] rent for a long term basis

[1:26:53] because it had a studio style

[1:26:54] kitchen and a very tiny

[1:26:56] bathroom.

[1:26:57] It as all very nice but it was

[1:27:00] not in lieu of them renting it

[1:27:04] for permanent tenant.

[1:27:07] I think the bed and breakfast

[1:27:11] ordinance has has run its

[1:27:12] course.

[1:27:12] A bed and breakfast is a

[1:27:16] different type of commercial

[1:27:16] law.

[1:27:16] It's a more commercial

[1:27:19] operation and it's and I think

[1:27:20] we need to have a short term

[1:27:22] rental ordinance so that we can

[1:27:26] make it clearer and easier to

[1:27:27] implement and I think we should

[1:27:30] use a user permit not

[1:27:31] conditional use permit unless

[1:27:34] for some reason they're asking

[1:27:35] for things that we want to have

[1:27:37] more stringent permitting on.

[1:27:38] And finally I'll mention that I

[1:27:42] think for a variety of reasons

[1:27:45] these need to be owner occupied

[1:27:49] or host occupied because if you

[1:27:50] rent a room in a hotel there is

[1:27:53] someone there managing at 24 by

[1:27:53] seven.

[1:27:54] So for the safety of the

[1:27:55] visitor and the safety of the

[1:27:56] neighborhood and the safety of

[1:27:57] the property, there's someone

[1:28:00] monitoring it.

[1:28:01] When we were in the short term

[1:28:04] rental in seattle last weekend

[1:28:05] the family was living upstairs.

[1:28:08] I could hear them kind of

[1:28:08] walking around every once in a

[1:28:09] while.

[1:28:11] We weren't but t was good to

[1:28:12] know that because it was good

[1:28:15] to know that somebody was

[1:28:15] available to tell us if there

[1:28:19] was a plumbing problem or

[1:28:19] something like that.

[1:28:22] But I also think that without

[1:28:22] the orinda issue happened

[1:28:23] because the owner was not on

[1:28:26] property or anywhere near the

[1:28:30] property and so but how would

[1:28:30] that work if it were a

[1:28:33] multifamily housing if it were

[1:28:36] if it were something in the

[1:28:37] lyric or one of the places that

[1:28:40] it's a one bedroom or two but

[1:28:41] we want to run you want to know

[1:28:42] how the ob was doing it because

[1:28:43] there was a new apartment

[1:28:43] building that wasn't filling up

[1:28:46] fast enough about five years

[1:28:49] ago and we were finding rentals

[1:28:49] .

[1:28:50] But there's management in an

[1:28:52] apartment building not in a

[1:28:53] condo building or a townhome

[1:28:54] building so that's a different

[1:28:54] issue.

[1:29:00] But I'm just I'm just so you're

[1:29:01] saying that that would count

[1:29:04] then if it were a condo in a in

[1:29:05] a multifamily housing the fact

[1:29:08] that there's on premises

[1:29:08] management would count as owner

[1:29:13] occupied for so here's if

[1:29:16] there's on premises management

[1:29:17] there help if it's an apartment

[1:29:18] if it's the lyric it's an

[1:29:21] apartment building and so the

[1:29:21] first one you mentioned is

[1:29:24] rental apartments but I don't

[1:29:27] know about condos and townhomes

[1:29:28] because generally people don't

[1:29:29] own two in the same building

[1:29:32] although they have but we'll

[1:29:35] have to condition and I'm just

[1:29:36] kind of going through the yeah

[1:29:37] I did I wanted to ask a

[1:29:39] question about the host because

[1:29:40] we don't currently have that

[1:29:41] requirement right so what if it

[1:29:43] is a single family home and the

[1:29:47] owner would not be on premises

[1:29:48] ,it would not be hosted.

[1:29:49] >> so if they're seeking to

[1:29:52] rent out the entire home then

[1:29:54] that could present

[1:29:55] complications.

[1:29:56] However, if they're renting out

[1:30:00] rooms r if there is an ad on

[1:30:03] site and the owner is living on

[1:30:04] that and then they're you know,

[1:30:06] renting out the home itself.

[1:30:07] But that's another scenario.

[1:30:10] Yeah, you're correct.

[1:30:10] Councilmember francois if it

[1:30:14] were an owner requirement on

[1:30:14] site it would effectively

[1:30:18] preclude entire house rental

[1:30:19] for the most part with the few

[1:30:21] exceptions that eric noted.

[1:30:22] I think where we'd have to

[1:30:23] figure out is how many of them

[1:30:26] are full house are being rented

[1:30:26] because the orinda it was a

[1:30:29] full house being rented and

[1:30:30] which is a problem the one in

[1:30:31] the woodlands the guy went out

[1:30:33] he wanted to start a commercial

[1:30:34] business and basically he was

[1:30:37] intending to rent multiple

[1:30:37] single family homes around the

[1:30:41] era of this was not his and he

[1:30:44] was going to turn them into a

[1:30:45] property management agency.

[1:30:48] Do we want that to me is not

[1:30:49] what we should be allowing in

[1:30:52] single family neighborhoods.

[1:30:53] >> that's not the intent which

[1:30:53] you have in proximity then if

[1:30:56] an owner lived within 500ft of

[1:30:57] the property or how to well we

[1:30:59] have we yes, there's the

[1:31:03] proximity I mean but it was

[1:31:04] comforting for the neighbors,

[1:31:07] for the visitors and for the

[1:31:07] owner to know that their

[1:31:12] property is being you know, the

[1:31:15] I wrote down risks out of

[1:31:15] control event no.

[1:31:18] One for the city or the

[1:31:19] neighborhood to able to contact

[1:31:21] because if no one's nearby who

[1:31:25] do your contact and you know

[1:31:28] everybody needs to feel

[1:31:29] comfortable with this in their

[1:31:30] neighborhood what about the

[1:31:32] last couple of questions their

[1:31:33] maximum rental duration

[1:31:34] operational requirements

[1:31:37] permissibly pool operation

[1:31:37] requirements?

[1:31:40] Well, I hosted non host and

[1:31:41] local restrictions such as

[1:31:43] proximity saturation, maximum

[1:31:44] rental duration.

[1:31:51] I think we're I'm not into

[1:31:52] making it permissible to host

[1:31:55] events in single family homes

[1:31:56] in residential neighborhoods.

[1:31:59] That's a commercial enterprise

[1:31:59] .

[1:31:59] Yeah.

[1:32:00] All right thank you council

[1:32:02] member darling.

[1:32:06] >> okay so it's interesting

[1:32:08] after I got the list of who

[1:32:11] banned short term rentals I

[1:32:11] looked up and every one of them

[1:32:14] has short term rentals listed

[1:32:15] on airbnb so they're in the

[1:32:18] same position that we're in

[1:32:18] which is they say that you

[1:32:22] can't do it but people are

[1:32:25] doing it anyway and and given

[1:32:28] that slipperiness I think it's

[1:32:32] better to go ahead and bring

[1:32:32] people into compliance so we

[1:32:36] know who they are so we have

[1:32:36] control of the situation.

[1:32:39] So I would not favor banning it

[1:32:40] because we will be back here

[1:32:43] right away.

[1:32:44] I do think going for an

[1:32:47] operating permit makes a lot of

[1:32:51] sense something that is easier

[1:32:55] to administer than anything we

[1:32:56] could do to automate those is

[1:32:59] to the good he owner occupied.

[1:33:00] I have two minds on this.

[1:33:01] On the one hand that was the

[1:33:04] problem with orinda but on the

[1:33:07] other hand the joaquin ranch

[1:33:08] airbnb that was shut down by

[1:33:11] the planning commission a few

[1:33:12] years ago the owner lived there

[1:33:15] and they still managed to

[1:33:16] irritate the neighbors so owner

[1:33:20] occupied owner is only as good

[1:33:23] as the manager the person and

[1:33:27] how proactive they are.

[1:33:28] So I am interested in learning

[1:33:31] more about that.

[1:33:32] I don't have my heart set one

[1:33:33] way or the other.

[1:33:34] I can argue that one both ways.

[1:33:35] >> I ask you a question.

[1:33:39] Yeah but with no owner required

[1:33:42] you definitely don't have on

[1:33:43] site anagement I think it's

[1:33:46] something that we need to think

[1:33:46] about carefully because I think

[1:33:49] if we just say you have to be

[1:33:49] owner occupied that would still

[1:33:52] have let the joaquin ranch one

[1:33:53] go forward and that one ended

[1:33:56] up really being problematic for

[1:33:57] the neighborhood.

[1:33:57] I didn't I wasn't in the

[1:34:00] hearing because my house is

[1:34:01] within 500ft of it.

[1:34:03] You said yes.

[1:34:04] Let me go over to across the

[1:34:07] street for hours but it's not

[1:34:11] the panacea.

[1:34:12] It's not the cure all.

[1:34:12] It's not perfect.

[1:34:15] Okay.

[1:34:16] I think clearly no special

[1:34:16] events.

[1:34:19] I think that especially in

[1:34:19] single family neighborhoods but

[1:34:22] same is true of our multifamily

[1:34:23] housing you don't want to have

[1:34:27] and I know that you don't want

[1:34:30] to have the the bridesmaids

[1:34:31] hootenanny in the apartment

[1:34:34] next door.

[1:34:35] I would like o see standards

[1:34:36] safety requirements as far as

[1:34:42] parking occupancy, things like

[1:34:45] that as part of the permit.

[1:34:49] I o think the how you keep the

[1:34:50] neighborhood informed is going

[1:34:52] to be an important part of this

[1:34:53] .

[1:34:57] I can see with an owner with a

[1:35:01] an operating permit hat makes

[1:35:02] it more difficult and so we'll

[1:35:05] have to think through that

[1:35:06] carefully.

[1:35:06] I can think of a couple of

[1:35:07] different ways you could do it.

[1:35:09] One is frequently when we have

[1:35:12] daycares that are coming in

[1:35:13] there is a requirement for them

[1:35:16] to provide contact info to

[1:35:17] neighbors so that if pick up

[1:35:20] and drop off gets to be a

[1:35:21] problem and people are parking

[1:35:23] in front of people's driveways

[1:35:24] they know who to call.

[1:35:24] So we will have to think

[1:35:27] through how the neighbors get

[1:35:31] recourse short of calling pd on

[1:35:32] a friday night.

[1:35:34] Now I'm not sure what the

[1:35:35] answer is there but we do need

[1:35:38] to find a way so that our

[1:35:42] neighbors it doesn't spin out

[1:35:43] of control before we find out

[1:35:46] there's a problem I suppose

[1:35:49] about safety requirements.

[1:35:53] That's I think that's most of

[1:35:54] the questions for e.

[1:35:54] Okay.

[1:35:57] They approached him kay.

[1:35:57] >> but I'm generally in

[1:36:00] agreement with councilmember

[1:36:00] darling.

[1:36:04] I guess the talking about the

[1:36:07] owner occupied I'm worried

[1:36:08] about how that would be

[1:36:12] implemented from a practical

[1:36:15] matter and especially given the

[1:36:16] 111 or 179 where we don't

[1:36:19] currently have that requirement

[1:36:20] and so how would we go back and

[1:36:23] and it essentially say they

[1:36:24] can't be if they if t's a

[1:36:26] single family home then they

[1:36:30] can't do it and not the ones

[1:36:31] that don't have permits that

[1:36:34] we're trying to bring in to

[1:36:34] compliance.

[1:36:35] So I think if we imposed right

[1:36:38] now at this point in time an

[1:36:41] owner occupied requirement it's

[1:36:42] a big I think it's a big

[1:36:45] administrative enforcement

[1:36:46] issue for us and for staff to

[1:36:46] try to bring them into

[1:36:49] compliance.

[1:36:50] I so I'm sensitive to that.

[1:36:54] I think what I'd like to see

[1:36:57] and I'd be okay with an

[1:36:57] operator permit provided there

[1:37:01] were guardrails that said if

[1:37:02] it's being operated in a manner

[1:37:05] that's adverse to public

[1:37:06] health, safety and welfare as

[1:37:06] reasonably determined by city

[1:37:10] staff, the operator permit goes

[1:37:11] away and that can be done

[1:37:14] immediately and that requires

[1:37:15] enforcement as the city

[1:37:17] attorney said.

[1:37:21] I think if you're if you are or

[1:37:22] have been in violation you

[1:37:26] can't apply for a permit for 12

[1:37:26] months.

[1:37:27] You know it's similar if you've

[1:37:30] been denied a permit you have

[1:37:31] to wait at least a year to

[1:37:33] apply again, I'm okay with

[1:37:37] giving someone the discount for

[1:37:38] compliance but f they don't

[1:37:40] comply within two months

[1:37:41] they're denied and they can't

[1:37:44] apply for a year because

[1:37:44] think the goal is to try to

[1:37:47] bring people into compliance

[1:37:48] and get this regulated.

[1:37:51] You know, I hadn't thought I

[1:37:52] had I mean you brought up the

[1:37:55] the neighborhood notice to kind

[1:37:56] of see that going both ways

[1:38:00] that it's I think it will be

[1:38:00] regulated by staff as an

[1:38:03] operator permit then there's

[1:38:04] really not an opportunity for a

[1:38:07] notice public hearing you could

[1:38:08] do it a different a couple of

[1:38:10] different ways and provide

[1:38:11] notice to the neighbors and an

[1:38:15] operator permit is going to be

[1:38:16] issued unless a request for a

[1:38:19] hearing before the zoning

[1:38:19] administrator the said I don't

[1:38:20] think we want to make it

[1:38:23] necessarily appealable all the

[1:38:24] way up to the council because

[1:38:28] but there's maybe there would

[1:38:29] be an up there'd be there would

[1:38:31] be a hearing process before

[1:38:32] there could be before the

[1:38:35] sunning administrator set your

[1:38:36] eyes get big that's one way to

[1:38:36] do it.

[1:38:37] I mean it could be an

[1:38:40] administrative use permit too

[1:38:41] which is I think that's how

[1:38:43] those are run at staff level

[1:38:44] but it could be appealed zoning

[1:38:47] administrator issues and then

[1:38:48] it could be appealed to the

[1:38:48] planning commission.

[1:38:51] So let's see I like the direct

[1:38:55] remittance a lot.

[1:38:56] I think we should absolutely

[1:38:57] look and I know there are

[1:38:59] several different platforms but

[1:39:00] it sounds like one of the

[1:39:00] biggest ones has that and I

[1:39:03] think we should go forward with

[1:39:03] that.

[1:39:06] Absolutely no special events.

[1:39:10] Um, what else?

[1:39:15] I think I covered I think I

[1:39:15] covered yeah.

[1:39:17] So es sorry I didn't go

[1:39:17] through your questions.

[1:39:18] Yeah short term rentals should

[1:39:19] be allowed.

[1:39:20] What other aspects in terms of

[1:39:25] operational uh, I think maximum

[1:39:26] rental duration was the only

[1:39:26] other one that you didn't

[1:39:27] mention really.

[1:39:28] >> we have o more than a week.

[1:39:32] I'm okay with that.

[1:39:33] >> I actually missed that one

[1:39:33] when I was still my comments I

[1:39:37] would be in favor of up to 30

[1:39:37] days.

[1:39:40] One of the bigger uses is

[1:39:40] people that are relocating to

[1:39:41] the area and those those would

[1:39:45] not to be to do the problems or

[1:39:45] traveling professionals,

[1:39:48] traveling nurses traveling you

[1:39:52] know people in those and so up

[1:39:56] to 30 days could work for a

[1:39:56] situation like hat.

[1:39:59] Council member did any eah

[1:40:02] well I'm thinking about it like

[1:40:03] the 30 day idea too I think

[1:40:04] about people going on vacation

[1:40:06] to maybe they want to rent out

[1:40:07] their home they're going for 2

[1:40:07] or 3 weeks and that gives them

[1:40:09] some flexibility.

[1:40:14] Um one of the one of the things

[1:40:14] I think about is you know what

[1:40:20] I didn't like about the last

[1:40:21] round we had discussion on this

[1:40:24] was that we see this idea of

[1:40:24] residential homes being turned

[1:40:25] into commercial rentals, right?

[1:40:28] So this as someone who not

[1:40:29] only did they own home they

[1:40:31] were renting it from someone

[1:40:32] else and then turning it into a

[1:40:33] commercial space.

[1:40:35] So one suggestion I would have

[1:40:38] that we consider is you know,

[1:40:39] should the person have to live

[1:40:41] in the house for at least six

[1:40:42] months to be able to rent it

[1:40:42] out.

[1:40:45] So more than half the year that

[1:40:48] that would be I think a pretty

[1:40:52] reasonable thing to do.

[1:40:56] I think if we do that it will

[1:40:57] cut down on this residential

[1:40:57] being turned into commercial.

[1:41:00] It will be more homeowners that

[1:41:01] are choosing to rent it out for

[1:41:03] periods of the year.

[1:41:04] I don't think that we need the

[1:41:07] collector contingency.

[1:41:08] I think all residents should

[1:41:12] have the opportunity to rent

[1:41:13] their house out on a short term

[1:41:15] basis.

[1:41:16] I would recommend e only

[1:41:20] administer one short term

[1:41:21] rental per resident so we don't

[1:41:23] want to be in situations where

[1:41:23] people collect houses so they

[1:41:26] can rent them out.

[1:41:27] I don't think we need a

[1:41:28] conditional use permit.

[1:41:31] I think it should be a much

[1:41:32] easier almost you know like a

[1:41:35] we calling it a operator is I

[1:41:36] like a buy right type thing if

[1:41:38] they just they meet certain

[1:41:39] criteria.

[1:41:42] Yeah currently we have five

[1:41:43] guests I mean I'm not I'm not

[1:41:44] so sure I mean we're a family

[1:41:47] we often travel and we rent out

[1:41:49] a home and we sometimes have 6

[1:41:50] or 7 people, right?

[1:41:51] We've got like us five and like

[1:41:52] maybe our parents or something

[1:41:53] .

[1:41:53] We're trying to find a home.

[1:41:56] I don't think it's unreasonable

[1:41:57] t increase that maybe eight I

[1:41:58] don't think that's a party

[1:41:58] size.

[1:41:59] I still think that's family

[1:42:04] oriented and then and then I

[1:42:05] think that the when e issue

[1:42:08] this permit for the short term

[1:42:09] rental they should have to

[1:42:11] display that on the listing

[1:42:12] whenever they listed on one of

[1:42:13] these platforms.

[1:42:16] So it's easy for us to to pick

[1:42:17] out like who's out of

[1:42:17] compliance right your rent

[1:42:20] there's a rental it doesn't

[1:42:21] have a permit you out of

[1:42:23] compliance then you know that

[1:42:27] that would be a violation in of

[1:42:27] itself.

[1:42:30] I think we should we should

[1:42:31] look at escalating penalties so

[1:42:34] that we're not dealing with,

[1:42:35] you know, folks going long

[1:42:37] periods of time without having

[1:42:38] consequences for for being out

[1:42:41] of compliance.

[1:42:42] And I think that if someone is

[1:42:45] applied for the permit and is,

[1:42:48] you know, remitting their totty

[1:42:49] that the renewal process should

[1:42:53] be very sort of just you know,

[1:42:54] over the ounter type thing or

[1:42:57] just online like if they're if

[1:42:58] they're in compliance and and

[1:43:00] they're remitting their totty

[1:43:01] they should be able to renew.

[1:43:04] Can I ask you a question just

[1:43:05] to clarify if they are in

[1:43:09] compliance means that they have

[1:43:09] not violated the terms and

[1:43:10] conditions of their permit.

[1:43:10] Right.

[1:43:11] Right.

[1:43:12] Okay.

[1:43:16] Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[1:43:16] So yeah.

[1:43:19] So I would I wouldn't restrict

[1:43:20] I don't think we need to come

[1:43:21] up with like a density or

[1:43:24] location criteria.

[1:43:24] Yeah I don't I don't think

[1:43:27] we're at that level.

[1:43:30] I do think if you live in the

[1:43:31] home and you have a need to you

[1:43:35] that's eligible to be rented as

[1:43:36] a as a short term rental that

[1:43:39] we shouldn't put limits on that

[1:43:40] I think if you if you live in

[1:43:42] the home and you have a space

[1:43:43] that you want to rent out that

[1:43:46] that that should be allowed.

[1:43:50] I think the with these types of

[1:43:51] changes we might see an overall

[1:43:51] decrease in short term entals

[1:43:54] if we have folks need to live

[1:43:55] in them for six months which

[1:43:57] would increase our housing

[1:43:58] stock.

[1:43:59] But I also think that if we

[1:44:02] make the process easy to comply

[1:44:02] with would be increased

[1:44:03] compliance and increased tlt

[1:44:06] for the city.

[1:44:06] Good.

[1:44:10] Thank you.

[1:44:11] I mean obviously we short for

[1:44:12] rentals are something that's in

[1:44:14] existence.

[1:44:15] It's been there the cat is out

[1:44:16] of the bag on this and now

[1:44:19] we're trying to figure out ways

[1:44:21] to corral it but some and and

[1:44:22] and where to feed it and how to

[1:44:24] and and how to take it in but

[1:44:25] it's been part of the challenge

[1:44:29] that I have ust emotionally on

[1:44:30] this is that here we are

[1:44:33] approving all of these units

[1:44:34] and there was just a course at

[1:44:36] the lanning commission last

[1:44:37] week approving a eight storey

[1:44:41] development right in the heart

[1:44:44] of downtown and we're doing

[1:44:45] that of course to increase the

[1:44:46] housing stock and I have a

[1:44:48] concern that all right.

[1:44:49] Are there are there going to be

[1:44:50] investors that are going to be

[1:44:52] taking up these to be able to

[1:44:53] rent them out of short term

[1:44:56] rentals and now we're just

[1:44:56] losing housing stock along the

[1:44:57] way that we're trying to do the

[1:45:00] best we can to meet the numbers

[1:45:01] and to do what's right.

[1:45:04] So there are challenges there

[1:45:05] but I do think short term

[1:45:07] rentals should be allowed the

[1:45:08] question of a whole house

[1:45:14] versus in the multifamily units

[1:45:15] it's hard.

[1:45:16] I think it's it's hard to say

[1:45:20] owner occupied and we're like

[1:45:23] if we go somewhere and my wife

[1:45:23] and I bring our son and

[1:45:26] daughter and their significant

[1:45:27] other is that six and if we're

[1:45:30] going to rent a house for

[1:45:31] that's 2 or 3 bedrooms you know

[1:45:35] where is the owner going to

[1:45:35] stay so we don't have a lot of

[1:45:38] mansions in walnut creek and a

[1:45:39] lot of these are just 3 or 4

[1:45:40] bedroom places so not sure

[1:45:42] owner occupied is really

[1:45:46] pragmatic and certainly when

[1:45:46] we're talking about multifamily

[1:45:47] housing while there is roperty

[1:45:50] management on site I think it

[1:45:51] becomes more of a challenge and

[1:45:54] anything else and being able to

[1:45:58] try to meet that I, I like so

[1:46:01] yes so I think we do need to

[1:46:02] develop a short term rental

[1:46:03] agreement on this.

[1:46:05] I do think we need streamlined

[1:46:08] options for consideration

[1:46:09] absolutely not events I mean

[1:46:12] whatever event whatever

[1:46:12] planning commission decides

[1:46:13] what are events I don't think

[1:46:16] we should be able to have those

[1:46:17] maximum rental duration.

[1:46:19] I think 30 days makes sense and

[1:46:20] I think that the other

[1:46:24] requirements that we've heard I

[1:46:25] think in general the one thing

[1:46:28] I would say regarding adu since

[1:46:28] councilmember vinny brought

[1:46:29] this up is that was

[1:46:31] specifically related to these

[1:46:32] whole housing that is using the

[1:46:36] streamlined state mandates to

[1:46:36] be able to build an edu.

[1:46:38] I don't think they should then

[1:46:39] be able to turn that around as

[1:46:40] a short term rental.

[1:46:41] They're doing that to be able

[1:46:43] to take advantage so that we

[1:46:44] can provide more housing for

[1:46:48] people not more rentals for

[1:46:48] people.

[1:46:49] So that's a one no understood

[1:46:51] and I agree and so to be clear

[1:46:52] I understand there's state law

[1:46:54] around that and I understand

[1:46:55] that it's there to maintain our

[1:46:56] housing stock for people have

[1:46:57] taken advantage of the

[1:46:58] streamlined process so those

[1:46:59] should not be allowed to be

[1:47:00] rented out of short term

[1:47:02] rentals.

[1:47:03] But if you have an eligible to

[1:47:06] you that MAY be was preexisting

[1:47:06] or you didn't take advantage of

[1:47:10] those streamlining processes, I

[1:47:11] think those folks I would I

[1:47:11] would agree I guess just so

[1:47:12] we're on the same page there i

[1:47:16] would agree with that.

[1:47:17] Well, we're a little over the

[1:47:18] board all over the board on

[1:47:18] this.

[1:47:20] But is there enough direction

[1:47:24] we to move forward on so I

[1:47:24] think there's a good start of

[1:47:27] things to create a conversation

[1:47:28] with the community and planning

[1:47:31] commission and then circle back

[1:47:32] around.

[1:47:32] >> okay.

[1:47:32] Can I make one other?

[1:47:36] Sure as it went down so I will

[1:47:36] correct my word from owner

[1:47:40] occupied to hosted because that

[1:47:40] was the r word that was in

[1:47:43] front of us and if somebody

[1:47:44] built in to you and moved into

[1:47:47] the adu on their property which

[1:47:48] I know someone who did that

[1:47:48] then they can rent out the

[1:47:51] house whether it's for long

[1:47:51] term or short term.

[1:47:52] Right.

[1:47:55] Well I mean there's a way

[1:47:55] there's a way to do it if there

[1:47:56] was way to do it.

[1:48:00] Yes, there is a way to do it.

[1:48:00] Okay.

[1:48:01] So great.

[1:48:04] Well, thank you very much,

[1:48:05] erica.

[1:48:05] That was a much longer

[1:48:06] discussion than I thought it

[1:48:08] was going to be.

[1:48:09] How are people doing here?

[1:48:12] But you know what's it to we

[1:48:13] take a break, right?

[1:48:13] Yes.

[1:48:13] All right.

[1:48:14] Let's take a ten minute break

[1:48:14] -

[1:48:22] till 8:00

[1:48:22] tonight.

[1:48:28] >> you know, we should have in

[1:48:31] the middle of the race and and

[1:48:31] we're back next on the agenda

[1:48:35] it's a consideration item

[1:48:37] titled update on 2025 and 126

[1:48:38] city council priorities and I

[1:48:41] invite assistant to the city

[1:48:42] manager joe karas and forward

[1:48:44] to provide the presentation.

[1:48:45] >> all right.

[1:48:46] Thank you so much.

[1:48:46] Good evening.

[1:48:49] Council members.

[1:48:49] My name is joe cardoza,

[1:48:52] assistant to the city manager

[1:48:53] and thank you for your time

[1:48:56] this evening to present on yes

[1:48:57] the update on the five city

[1:49:00] council priorities for calendar

[1:49:01] years 2025 and 2026 which were

[1:49:07] identified in FEBRUARY of 2025

[1:49:08] .

[1:49:08] So tonight's presentation is

[1:49:11] going to include two things

[1:49:11] first that update that we're

[1:49:12] here for on the significant

[1:49:15] work accomplished since the

[1:49:16] last update to council which

[1:49:19] was in MAY of this year.

[1:49:20] >> and then I'm going to go

[1:49:20] ahead and close the

[1:49:23] presentation tonight with

[1:49:23] something a little bit more

[1:49:26] forward looking which is for

[1:49:29] the calendar year 2027 and 2028

[1:49:30] upcoming city council

[1:49:32] priorities.

[1:49:33] I'm oing to go ahead and

[1:49:34] provide a brief overview of in

[1:49:37] progress and plan community

[1:49:38] outreach to inform those future

[1:49:44] council priorities so as done

[1:49:44] in the past you'll be hearing

[1:49:47] directly tonight from the the

[1:49:48] leads for each of these five

[1:49:51] city council priorities and

[1:49:52] these staff leads are those

[1:49:54] that are ensuring that these

[1:49:55] priorities become implemented

[1:49:58] and turned into real projects

[1:49:59] and accomplishments.

[1:49:59] And so you'll be hearing from

[1:50:03] from them which is economic

[1:50:04] development and downtown

[1:50:04] vitality which will be mike

[1:50:07] nieman, candace rink and mumby

[1:50:08] will talk about environmental

[1:50:11] sustainability climate action

[1:50:12] general plan update you'll hear

[1:50:14] from erica vanden brand rich

[1:50:15] payne to cover park and

[1:50:18] recreation facilities and then

[1:50:19] finally chief hibbs will cover

[1:50:20] public safety and social

[1:50:22] wellness.

[1:50:23] >> so with that I'm going to go

[1:50:24] ahead and pass it to our first

[1:50:26] presenter mike newman to talk

[1:50:27] about economic development and

[1:50:30] downtown vitality.

[1:50:34] >> and good evening mayor

[1:50:34] council mike newman, your

[1:50:38] economic development manager

[1:50:39] and I will give you an update

[1:50:42] for the economic development

[1:50:43] priority updates.

[1:50:46] As you know we have four major

[1:50:49] council priorities and the

[1:50:50] first one is continue building

[1:50:50] a resilient, inclusive and

[1:50:53] diverse economy.

[1:50:54] So we're making a number we

[1:50:57] have made a number of efforts

[1:50:57] on those fronts.

[1:51:00] First and foremost we are

[1:51:01] developing a health care

[1:51:04] marketing campaign and we are

[1:51:07] getting ready for a health care

[1:51:07] conference season.

[1:51:11] We have two in NOVEMBER that

[1:51:12] are planning to roll the

[1:51:15] campaign out for we are a

[1:51:15] sponsor will have a booth.

[1:51:18] There will be marketing to the

[1:51:19] recipients there and we also

[1:51:22] have a digital presence

[1:51:25] following up on those efforts.

[1:51:26] As you know health care is one

[1:51:30] of the critical industry that

[1:51:31] we are targeting.

[1:51:33] We also continue collaborating

[1:51:34] on with educational

[1:51:34] institutions and other tech

[1:51:37] partners on various

[1:51:38] initiatives.

[1:51:41] tech is another area of focus

[1:51:42] to build a diverse economy here

[1:51:45] in walnut creek and we are

[1:51:46] sponsoring a small business

[1:51:49] development corporation start

[1:51:50] up world cup event next

[1:51:53] thursday.

[1:51:54] Actually it will be at the east

[1:51:57] bay health state campus in

[1:52:00] hayward.

[1:52:01] Te second objective s to

[1:52:04] continue creating a business

[1:52:04] friendly environment.

[1:52:08] A number of efforts on that

[1:52:09] front include assisting the

[1:52:12] shade lance property business

[1:52:15] improvement district with

[1:52:15] developing and getting an

[1:52:16] entitlement for their master

[1:52:19] signed program.

[1:52:20] Signage is one of the critical

[1:52:23] priorities there for for

[1:52:27] creating a more distinct area

[1:52:27] within the shade lands will

[1:52:31] continue process improvements,

[1:52:31] training and implementation and

[1:52:35] that's the lead effort and as a

[1:52:35] matter of fact that the next

[1:52:39] council hearing on SEPTEMBER

[1:52:40] 15th you will get a much more

[1:52:42] robust update on what various

[1:52:43] progresses and updates that

[1:52:47] staff has made in that regard

[1:52:48] to streamline the permitting

[1:52:51] process and make he customer

[1:52:54] experience more friendly.

[1:52:58] And we also continue an ongoing

[1:52:59] outreach to local businesses,

[1:53:02] property owners and other

[1:53:02] stakeholders.

[1:53:03] This of course includes

[1:53:06] business retention efforts,

[1:53:07] communications information

[1:53:10] sharing and things along that

[1:53:10] nature.

[1:53:11] The third objective is

[1:53:14] enhancing the downtown

[1:53:15] experience and tourism

[1:53:18] attraction the focus on

[1:53:19] downtown over the last year has

[1:53:22] been on the outdoor dining

[1:53:23] program which has really

[1:53:25] activated the streets with the

[1:53:26] pods.

[1:53:26] We have implemented the

[1:53:29] council's direction for

[1:53:30] implementation of these pods by

[1:53:34] deploying the $100,000 grant

[1:53:37] and thank you to this council

[1:53:38] for allocating the funding

[1:53:41] exactly a year ago.

[1:53:42] We're happy to report that over

[1:53:45] the course of a year all of the

[1:53:46] hundred thousand has been

[1:53:48] deployed and ten new pods have

[1:53:49] been delivered and we estimate

[1:53:52] that that generated about 4 to

[1:53:53] 1 private sector investment.

[1:53:56] But most of hese ods being

[1:53:59] north of $40,000 each in

[1:53:59] construction.

[1:54:02] So the 10,000 per restaurant

[1:54:03] have been leveraged really well

[1:54:06] and has transformed the

[1:54:10] landscape on many blocks across

[1:54:10] downtown to the tune where we

[1:54:13] have actually even won an

[1:54:14] economic development award for

[1:54:14] the implementation of this

[1:54:17] program.

[1:54:18] We've also implemented an

[1:54:21] entertainment zone in

[1:54:22] collaboration with walnut creek

[1:54:25] downtown and happy to report it

[1:54:26] that they have successfully

[1:54:28] hosted two events under the

[1:54:29] management plan that they had

[1:54:32] conceived under this ordinance

[1:54:36] umbrella and both events have

[1:54:37] been very successful and

[1:54:40] reported positive feedback from

[1:54:41] a lot of operators of

[1:54:41] restaurants in downtown and

[1:54:44] we've attracted about 11,000

[1:54:47] visitors through those two

[1:54:47] events alone.

[1:54:48] So there's more in the works

[1:54:51] for next season and the last

[1:54:55] objective is promotion of the

[1:54:55] city rand as a premier

[1:54:58] destination and a high quality

[1:55:01] of life community as we are so

[1:55:02] I'm excited to share that.

[1:55:05] We have just last week launched

[1:55:06] a new data dashboard and it can

[1:55:10] be found on the walnut creek

[1:55:11] connected website and you could

[1:55:13] see here it's in the

[1:55:13] interactive data dashboard that

[1:55:18] captures 20 major data points

[1:55:22] and each one of them you can

[1:55:22] click on and play around with

[1:55:25] the data going from istoric to

[1:55:26] current and we're currently in

[1:55:28] the process of sharing this

[1:55:32] with the development community

[1:55:33] with prospective businesses and

[1:55:36] also we are seeking input on

[1:55:36] it.

[1:55:37] We plan to continuously update

[1:55:40] the data but also if there MAY

[1:55:44] be other kpis that are helpful

[1:55:44] .

[1:55:45] It's something that we will

[1:55:47] continuously update as we get

[1:55:48] along and make sure that it

[1:55:52] captures the most important and

[1:55:52] robust data that's a living

[1:55:55] document.

[1:55:56] We've also continued

[1:55:59] coordinating quarterly

[1:56:00] stakeholder meetings and those

[1:56:00] are with our partners the

[1:56:06] chamber wcg leicester.

[1:56:07] We've also continued to support

[1:56:10] the general plan update through

[1:56:14] primarily through data support

[1:56:15] and working with economic sub

[1:56:18] consultant and lastly we've

[1:56:19] completed the city's economic

[1:56:19] development action plan and

[1:56:22] that was the document that we

[1:56:24] brought before you in JUNE

[1:56:29] which is a two year document

[1:56:29] and document documents the

[1:56:30] action steps for the city's

[1:56:30] economic development efforts in

[1:56:32] the next two years and grow

[1:56:36] well underway in implementing

[1:56:39] the goals of that document.

[1:56:43] and with that I will pause for

[1:56:44] questions.

[1:56:45] >> thank you.

[1:56:47] Any questions for mike?

[1:56:48] >> there's a nice, nice and

[1:56:50] thorough and glad to hear that

[1:56:51] our grant program was a success

[1:56:55] to councilmember silver.

[1:56:56] We just wanted to say thank you

[1:56:57] for the report but it was

[1:56:59] concise.

[1:56:59] It was focused on the things

[1:57:00] that have been recent and key

[1:57:03] achievements.

[1:57:04] So great job.

[1:57:04] Thank you.

[1:57:07] I got to play with the

[1:57:07] dashboard and I found out

[1:57:08] things when I was looking.

[1:57:09] >> I came across that the other

[1:57:12] day I, I didn't you know we

[1:57:12] always talk about how many

[1:57:14] health care jobs that I like.

[1:57:15] Well that is quite a few.

[1:57:18] So good job.

[1:57:19] >> what is the percentage of

[1:57:20] health care used to be 14% f

[1:57:25] the jobs but I don't have it

[1:57:25] off the top of my head.

[1:57:28] >> I have to go look at it.

[1:57:29] I would encourage you to look

[1:57:30] on the dashboard and we'll be

[1:57:31] there.

[1:57:32] All right.

[1:57:35] Thanks, mike.

[1:57:50] There was the good evening,

[1:57:50] mayor and council.

[1:57:51] I am candis ranking member

[1:57:54] sustainable city manager and

[1:57:54] I'll be providing the update on

[1:57:55] the next school environmental

[1:57:58] sustainable city and climate

[1:57:59] action which focuses on

[1:58:02] remaining a leader in reducing

[1:58:02] our pollution related to the

[1:58:03] climate and other

[1:58:06] sustainability goals focused

[1:58:06] through implementation of our

[1:58:10] sustainability action plan.

[1:58:11] >> so first we'll discuss some

[1:58:14] of the work that we've done on

[1:58:14] buildings since we last talked

[1:58:15] in MAY and a lot of this has

[1:58:18] focused on energy efficiency

[1:58:18] within buildings.

[1:58:21] So facing outward into the

[1:58:22] community we coordinated with

[1:58:25] mce to send a targeted email

[1:58:29] campaign to high users of

[1:58:29] energy between 4 to 9 P.M.

[1:58:33] Which is when energy is the

[1:58:33] most expensive and also the

[1:58:37] dirtiest and so we was able to

[1:58:38] use the data that they have to

[1:58:40] target 430 households with a

[1:58:41] specialized email that you see

[1:58:44] here on the right really trying

[1:58:44] to make sure that we're putting

[1:58:48] the message where will be most

[1:58:51] most used and then for our own

[1:58:52] facilities we completed the

[1:58:52] lighting upgrades that have

[1:58:55] come to council earlier this

[1:58:56] year at the leisure center for

[1:58:59] the arts the arts guild and the

[1:59:00] walnut creek library and we use

[1:59:03] on both financing for this

[1:59:03] program which is offered

[1:59:06] through pge and allows us to

[1:59:07] offset the upfront cost and

[1:59:10] spread it out over time through

[1:59:11] the energy savings for the that

[1:59:14] will be part of the project

[1:59:15] next we have a lot of

[1:59:19] transportation updates from

[1:59:19] this summer as well.

[1:59:22] So as you know at our last

[1:59:23] meeting we went deep on

[1:59:23] electric vehicles focusing on

[1:59:26] our fleet and implementation of

[1:59:27] our public facing chargers and

[1:59:30] so staff are working on

[1:59:30] implementing the direction that

[1:59:33] we received at that meeting and

[1:59:34] are working on preparing a

[1:59:34] procurement for a third party

[1:59:37] vendor for our ublic facing

[1:59:37] chargers.

[1:59:38] So be more updates on that in

[1:59:41] the coming months and then

[1:59:41] wanted to note that from the

[1:59:45] goal in the sustainability

[1:59:45] action plan we have we're

[1:59:48] making really great progress on

[1:59:49] expanding our bike network so

[1:59:49] we've expanded from our

[1:59:55] baseline 15% already and 3.2%

[1:59:56] or about a half a mile of that

[1:59:57] has happened in the last year

[1:59:59] and we're really targeting that

[2:00:00] on expanding the bike network

[2:00:02] and increasing access and

[2:00:03] filling in gaps and you'll get

[2:00:06] more updates on some of those

[2:00:07] specific projects later

[2:00:07] tonight.

[2:00:08] But it's really important to

[2:00:11] sustainability so I wanted to

[2:00:11] mention it here as well and

[2:00:14] then on more outreach and

[2:00:15] programatic transportation

[2:00:18] related goals we've been doing

[2:00:21] a combination of both in-person

[2:00:22] and online outreach this summer

[2:00:25] so we hosted bike to where

[2:00:26] everyday very shortly after

[2:00:28] your last update which was very

[2:00:29] successful this year we had our

[2:00:32] regular energizer station that

[2:00:33] we've done in the morning for

[2:00:34] several years and then this

[2:00:36] year we added on a bike rodeo

[2:00:37] in the afternoon focused on the

[2:00:37] younger kids and that went

[2:00:40] really well and additionally

[2:00:41] during his summer we were

[2:00:44] invited to some staff from

[2:00:45] sustainability and mayor wilk

[2:00:48] joined us to the sustainability

[2:00:48] and science summer camp which

[2:00:51] was a new summer camp that was

[2:00:51] offered this year.

[2:00:52] It was mostly recycle smart

[2:00:55] programing and hen n friday

[2:00:56] we joined to focus with the

[2:00:59] kids on transportation related

[2:01:00] initiatives and they were very

[2:01:01] enthusiastic about the topic.

[2:01:03] We are also working to support

[2:01:06] the walk and roll program which

[2:01:07] is offered throughout the

[2:01:08] county at elementary schools

[2:01:10] and for those participating

[2:01:11] schools they pick a specific

[2:01:14] day a week and really encourage

[2:01:17] the students to come on foot on

[2:01:18] a bike or in a carpool and

[2:01:19] students get incentives to

[2:01:22] participate over time.

[2:01:23] These programs are really well

[2:01:24] received and it's going to be

[2:01:26] receiving an award at the

[2:01:26] upcoming sustainability gala.

[2:01:28] And so we've been helping to

[2:01:29] promote it to more elementary

[2:01:30] schools in walnut creek and

[2:01:32] we're seeing more and more

[2:01:36] participate each year and then

[2:01:37] over the summer we supported

[2:01:39] the youth ride free program

[2:01:40] from county connection which

[2:01:44] had I believe it was in their

[2:01:44] first month about 13,000 youth

[2:01:48] take advantage of that program

[2:01:49] and it was a big increase over

[2:01:49] last year about 15%.

[2:01:52] So that was a very successful

[2:01:53] program this summer and

[2:01:53] currently we have our fall

[2:01:56] version of encouraging youth

[2:01:59] pass to class which offers free

[2:02:00] bus pass for the first two

[2:02:01] months of the ear to get

[2:02:03] students in the habit of

[2:02:04] writing the book the bus to

[2:02:07] school.

[2:02:08] And so both of those work on

[2:02:09] reducing congestion and

[2:02:11] pollution as well as creating a

[2:02:12] habit of aking transit from an

[2:02:19] early age in the area of waste.

[2:02:21] We've given a few updates on a

[2:02:22] program through recycle smart

[2:02:25] called rethink disposable which

[2:02:26] works with local restaurants to

[2:02:29] who use single use for dine in

[2:02:30] to see if they can switch that

[2:02:33] to reusable which can save them

[2:02:34] money obviously reduce waste

[2:02:37] and then also provide an

[2:02:38] elevated dining experience and

[2:02:42] we had low participation early

[2:02:43] so we've really been targeting

[2:02:45] and focusing on that and over

[2:02:46] the year we've essentially

[2:02:46] filled all the available spots

[2:02:49] in walnut creek for this

[2:02:49] funding cycle.

[2:02:50] So we're excited to get those

[2:02:53] resources out there so that we

[2:02:54] can promote these great changes

[2:02:55] that the restaurants have been

[2:02:55] making.

[2:02:56] But they're about seven

[2:02:57] restaurants are actively going

[2:03:00] through that process right now

[2:03:00] .

[2:03:01] >> we also hosted our second

[2:03:04] annual repair cafe partnering

[2:03:05] with sustainable rossmore and

[2:03:08] recycle smart but it was hosted

[2:03:09] in civic park and open to

[2:03:11] anyone who has a common

[2:03:12] household item that they think

[2:03:13] they can fix but isn't

[2:03:16] operating at the time they can

[2:03:17] bring it in and a volunteer who

[2:03:18] has some sort of repair skills

[2:03:20] sits down with them and they

[2:03:20] work together on seeing if they

[2:03:23] can make the item usable.

[2:03:24] And so we had really great

[2:03:26] turnout again this year with

[2:03:29] 129 items that were brought in

[2:03:30] and about 70% of them were

[2:03:30] either fixed or the person

[2:03:33] walked away kind of knowing

[2:03:34] what they would need to do to

[2:03:34] fix it.

[2:03:37] It's a really great environment

[2:03:38] and there encourage anyone to

[2:03:38] attend.

[2:03:39] We're hoping to host one each

[2:03:41] year people use their item

[2:03:42] doesn't get fixed.

[2:03:42] They feel really good about

[2:03:43] trying to do it and it helps

[2:03:44] add to our culture of reuse and

[2:03:47] repair in the city.

[2:03:49] >> and my last topic is just an

[2:03:52] update on our gas power leaf

[2:03:53] blower ban which has been in

[2:03:56] effect since APRIL.

[2:03:56] And so sustainable staff and

[2:03:57] code enforcement staff are

[2:04:00] working together to respond to

[2:04:00] complaints of potential

[2:04:03] violation that we receive and

[2:04:04] we're really focusing on an

[2:04:06] education first approach.

[2:04:09] We're averaging about 150

[2:04:13] reports a month and we have

[2:04:14] notice we send a if we get

[2:04:17] repeat notices you know, we

[2:04:18] have steps that we follow up on

[2:04:20] that but about 85% of the

[2:04:22] properties we've only received

[2:04:23] one complaint about them.

[2:04:24] So we're hoping that's a sign

[2:04:24] that the outreach that we're

[2:04:27] doing s either informing

[2:04:27] people of policy they didn't

[2:04:30] know about or helping them see

[2:04:31] the benefits of it and bringing

[2:04:34] them into compliance.

[2:04:35] >> and with that I'm happy to

[2:04:35] take any questions.

[2:04:37] Thank you can so I actually

[2:04:38] have a quick question on that

[2:04:38] last one.

[2:04:41] So how what's the outreach that

[2:04:42] if we hear a complaint what's

[2:04:42] the next step?

[2:04:45] >> so we send a letter to the

[2:04:46] property letting them know that

[2:04:47] there MAY have been a potential

[2:04:50] violation sharing the resources

[2:04:51] that we have on our website and

[2:04:53] we include a flier that's

[2:04:54] targeted to landscapers along

[2:04:55] with that notice so they can

[2:04:58] pass that information along if

[2:04:58] that's the service that they

[2:04:59] receive.

[2:05:01] Thank you.

[2:05:02] On the reusable food work we've

[2:05:05] had some conversation at

[2:05:06] recycle smart about this.

[2:05:07] What do you actually mean by

[2:05:10] reusable food where because

[2:05:10] quite frankly if I go into a

[2:05:13] restaurant and I get a plated

[2:05:14] dinner with their plates that's

[2:05:17] reusable because it's going

[2:05:17] through a dishwasher but I

[2:05:18] don't think you mean thank you

[2:05:21] what do you mean by that?

[2:05:21] >> yeah.

[2:05:22] So this program is pretty

[2:05:24] flexible and part of what they

[2:05:25] provide is technical assistance

[2:05:26] kind of working with the

[2:05:26] restaurant and understanding

[2:05:28] their operation.

[2:05:29] So the photo on the slides a

[2:05:32] little small this isn't an

[2:05:33] example in walnut creek but it

[2:05:34] is an example of the kind of

[2:05:36] the wide breath this kind of

[2:05:37] program could provide.

[2:05:40] So the photo on the left would

[2:05:41] be the before you come in and

[2:05:43] sit down and you get your food

[2:05:44] in a clamshell even if you're

[2:05:44] eating it in so they can

[2:05:47] provide dishes for that but

[2:05:48] they'll also assist restaurants

[2:05:51] even if it's one of the

[2:05:52] participating businesses is

[2:05:55] looking at just reusable straws

[2:05:56] there they mainly do beverages

[2:05:59] so even if they aren't able to

[2:05:59] transition everything if they

[2:06:03] could do just the straws as an

[2:06:06] example it still reduces a lot

[2:06:07] of waste being generated and

[2:06:10] can save them the money they

[2:06:11] have to go all the way.

[2:06:12] I guess a conversation centered

[2:06:12] around the dishwashing

[2:06:14] requirement so if they're

[2:06:15] actually eating in and that the

[2:06:18] food establishments utensils

[2:06:22] and food were and even that it

[2:06:22] might not even be available on

[2:06:23] site.

[2:06:26] Yes so the technical assistance

[2:06:27] providers can work with them to

[2:06:30] see if the certain there are

[2:06:31] some that sometimes it works

[2:06:34] without a dishwasher they there

[2:06:35] are ways they can do it.

[2:06:36] Sometimes it doesn't it doesn't

[2:06:38] work for every site but this

[2:06:39] program actually can funded

[2:06:41] dishwashers which a lot of them

[2:06:42] don't.

[2:06:43] >> so that that is a really

[2:06:43] great way about how it's

[2:06:44] structured.

[2:06:45] Thank you.

[2:06:46] >> yes.

[2:06:50] Yeah and thank you for the

[2:06:51] presentation and a lot of the

[2:06:51] exciting projects we're working

[2:06:53] on.

[2:06:54] Congratulations on the work

[2:06:54] with rock and roll.

[2:06:57] I was wondering with this

[2:07:00] reusable food containers did

[2:07:01] someone reach out to john meyer

[2:07:05] hospital cafeteria because they

[2:07:05] recently there are very high

[2:07:09] volume and they recently just

[2:07:09] made this change and I imagine

[2:07:13] that the volume of disposables

[2:07:13] that hey go through would

[2:07:16] probably equal 5 or 6

[2:07:17] restaurants in and of itself

[2:07:17] but they've transitioned to all

[2:07:21] reusable food wares and yeah

[2:07:24] that's that's great to hear I

[2:07:25] don't think and just you know

[2:07:28] outside of restaurant and

[2:07:29] there's some other schools

[2:07:30] programs that recycle great

[2:07:30] works on I'm not aware of them

[2:07:32] reaching out to health care

[2:07:36] yeah just a few yeah I feel o

[2:07:36] it's nice to see you.

[2:07:37] >> yeah.

[2:07:39] Thank you.

[2:07:40] >> thanks, candice.

[2:07:40] Thank you.

[2:07:43] And I'll pass it off to erica

[2:07:43] vanden brand to give the

[2:07:54] general plan update call hello

[2:07:58] there council erica vander

[2:07:58] brown community development

[2:08:01] director so just a little bit

[2:08:02] more than a month ago we are

[2:08:05] before you talking about the

[2:08:06] general plan update and the

[2:08:09] fact that it's a multiyear

[2:08:09] community based effort.

[2:08:12] It's more of an iron man than

[2:08:12] it is a5k.

[2:08:16] So with that I will share with

[2:08:19] you one slide and what's

[2:08:20] happened since we're last in

[2:08:24] front of council on the 21st of

[2:08:24] JULY.

[2:08:28] So if you recall you know there

[2:08:29] had been a significant amount

[2:08:30] of stakeholder outreach that

[2:08:31] occurred in the community as

[2:08:32] well as having a joint

[2:08:35] commission kickoff study

[2:08:36] session and then coming here

[2:08:39] before council on the 21st of

[2:08:39] JULY.

[2:08:42] So since that time we've been

[2:08:43] out in the community talking

[2:08:44] with folks about what their

[2:08:46] hopes, aspirations and dreams

[2:08:47] are for the general plan.

[2:08:51] Update we've been at the locust

[2:08:52] street festival once upon a

[2:08:54] street and probably plaza and

[2:08:55] then later on this month we

[2:08:58] will be at both farmers markets

[2:08:59] so that the one in shade lands

[2:09:02] on the 19th of this month as

[2:09:06] well as the downtown farmer's

[2:09:10] market on the 13th to share

[2:09:11] with the community that this

[2:09:13] effort is underway.

[2:09:14] >> and then the you know

[2:09:17] probably for you the least

[2:09:21] interesting paper based type of

[2:09:21] -

[2:09:22] thing is that we have existing

[2:09:25] condition reports to document

[2:09:26] all the different existing

[2:09:29] commissions are conditions

[2:09:30] throughout the community and so

[2:09:33] those are you know have been

[2:09:34] drafted, they've been reviewed

[2:09:35] by staff and we're going back

[2:09:38] and forth with the consultant

[2:09:38] to make sure that those

[2:09:41] existing conditions represent

[2:09:42] represent the community as we

[2:09:45] know it to be today and those

[2:09:46] will be shared out a little bit

[2:09:49] later in the year with both the

[2:09:53] commissions and I want than you

[2:09:54] with council.

[2:09:54] The intention is that by the

[2:09:56] end of the year that we've

[2:09:57] returned and that we're able to

[2:10:01] share that information with you

[2:10:02] and to have a further

[2:10:05] discussion most importantly

[2:10:07] however there on thursday,

[2:10:08] SEPTEMBER 24th there is a

[2:10:09] workshop upcoming at the civic

[2:10:12] park community center and so

[2:10:15] mayor pro tem francois has

[2:10:16] agreed to help welcome the

[2:10:20] community to that on that day

[2:10:23] and so with that it's not

[2:10:24] nearly as exciting as the last

[2:10:28] time we were here last month or

[2:10:29] you know, the month before

[2:10:29] that.

[2:10:31] But just if you have any

[2:10:32] questions I'm here to answer

[2:10:34] them.

[2:10:35] >> thank you.

[2:10:39] And I'm manning the stuffing

[2:10:39] the farmer's market booth n

[2:10:42] the 13th so I'll see you or

[2:10:45] staff or both what is an

[2:10:46] existing an example of an

[2:10:49] existing condition and when do

[2:10:50] you think council will see that

[2:10:53] report and will it be before a

[2:10:56] mayor pro tem and I two part

[2:10:57] good question.

[2:11:01] >> so the the intention is an

[2:11:04] existing conditions report so

[2:11:05] there are a number of them some

[2:11:08] of them deal with healthy

[2:11:08] communities, some of them deal

[2:11:11] with the state of in our arts

[2:11:12] and recreation or open spaces.

[2:11:15] Still others you know document

[2:11:16] our demographics or economic

[2:11:19] development you know what's

[2:11:20] going on and then our land uses

[2:11:23] in our transportation certainly

[2:11:23] so that is the array of

[2:11:27] existing onditions and it's to

[2:11:28] make sure that we all have the

[2:11:31] same facts that we're operating

[2:11:32] from in the community and that

[2:11:35] all those are undocumented.

[2:11:36] Now in terms of your next

[2:11:39] question, we're so well I was

[2:11:40] sharing with councilmember

[2:11:43] francois earlier it's like one

[2:11:43] of these period television

[2:11:46] shows where you have the staff

[2:11:47] scurrying around for the big

[2:11:50] event and so we're trying

[2:11:50] desperately to get all this

[2:11:54] done and we need to be able to,

[2:11:57] you know, work to both with our

[2:11:58] consultants to get things done

[2:11:58] as quickly as possible and then

[2:12:01] also find time on he council

[2:12:02] agenda.

[2:12:05] So I will defer that question

[2:12:08] ultimately to our city manager

[2:12:08] .

[2:12:12] Thank you.

[2:12:12] Okay.

[2:12:13] I think that's it.

[2:12:15] Thanks for the update, erica.

[2:12:16] Thank you very much.

[2:12:17] And I will introduce rich payne

[2:12:25] our public works director.

[2:12:29] >> good evening mayor.

[2:12:30] Members of the council I'm rich

[2:12:31] payne, the public works

[2:12:32] director for the city walnut

[2:12:33] creek.

[2:12:34] >> tonight I will be updating

[2:12:37] you on the park and recreation

[2:12:40] facility.

[2:12:41] This probably already includes

[2:12:45] many of the metro projects

[2:12:49] specifically a large one which

[2:12:49] is the aquatics and community

[2:12:50] center.

[2:12:51] >> so I'll give you an update

[2:12:52] on that along with some other

[2:12:53] funded projects such as the

[2:12:57] transportation project that we

[2:12:57] have going in the ity.

[2:13:01] >> so just first off just

[2:13:01] want to recap some of the

[2:13:02] projects that we've completed

[2:13:07] using our metro funding and the

[2:13:08] first one here is the ball

[2:13:09] field lighting project at tice

[2:13:12] valley park.

[2:13:12] I'm sure mike vickers is

[2:13:15] looking at this picture and

[2:13:16] asking why couldn't you use a

[2:13:17] better picture of the turfs in

[2:13:19] pretty bad shape?

[2:13:20] But I wanted to illustrate this

[2:13:23] the lighting has enabled the

[2:13:24] city to expand the usage of

[2:13:27] this ark and you can see that

[2:13:28] it's being well used.

[2:13:31] So I think that's a success

[2:13:31] even though it's a little more

[2:13:34] work on our maintenance staff

[2:13:35] and it definitely is a success.

[2:13:38] The synthetic turf project at

[2:13:39] heather farm park is another

[2:13:39] one.

[2:13:42] Just anecdotally my ife and I

[2:13:43] were here on friday drove past

[2:13:46] the field and looked at the

[2:13:47] just looked at what was

[2:13:47] happening out there and I don't

[2:13:50] think there was a square oot

[2:13:51] of that field that wasn't being

[2:13:54] used or several teams using the

[2:13:54] field for practice.

[2:13:57] >> it was really you know, just

[2:13:57] -

[2:13:58] illustrates the success that

[2:14:01] has gone into this project.

[2:14:02] And then I just want to point

[2:14:06] out the court resurfacing at

[2:14:06] both our basketball court

[2:14:09] abelardo and then the roger

[2:14:10] park.

[2:14:13] So both really in talking to

[2:14:13] mike it really has activated

[2:14:17] those spaces before.

[2:14:18] If you remember the basketball

[2:14:21] court at our building was in

[2:14:22] pretty bad shape and really

[2:14:24] underutilized and now that it

[2:14:25] we've resurfaced it and prove

[2:14:28] that amenity has really drawn

[2:14:29] people there for pickup games

[2:14:35] and other types of activities.

[2:14:36] Just to update you on the

[2:14:39] existing park at civic we were

[2:14:43] in the process of this this

[2:14:43] project has taken a little bit

[2:14:47] longer than anticipated.

[2:14:48] One f the delays for this park

[2:14:51] was just he getting a hold of

[2:14:51] all the playground equipment.

[2:14:55] So there's been delays in

[2:14:56] getting that but now that we

[2:14:57] have it we're working with the

[2:14:59] contractor to schedule the work

[2:15:00] and it's slated to happen in

[2:15:03] the fall.

[2:15:04] So and as it starts up there

[2:15:06] will be about six weeks for

[2:15:06] that project to happen.

[2:15:10] >> so next on the list is sort

[2:15:13] of our premier project for

[2:15:16] metro as I offer these pictures

[2:15:17] just so you can kind of take a

[2:15:20] look at just the development,

[2:15:21] it's really kind of cool to see

[2:15:24] just everything coming

[2:15:25] together.

[2:15:29] You can imagine in how it sits

[2:15:32] next to he concrete pond and

[2:15:35] just the experience that's

[2:15:36] going to create for the

[2:15:39] community center in terms of

[2:15:40] the pool you can see it they've

[2:15:41] excavated the pool.

[2:15:43] The next steps there will be to

[2:15:47] add some additional utilities

[2:15:48] and associated lighting and

[2:15:49] other things at rebar it and

[2:15:51] then the gunite which is

[2:15:52] concrete that they spray on

[2:15:55] will go on I'm told this month

[2:15:56] I was talking to the contractor

[2:15:59] and so later this month we'll

[2:16:00] see concrete going there.

[2:16:03] I know the push is really to

[2:16:06] get all this done before the

[2:16:07] the super el nino comes.

[2:16:07] So we're I know that the

[2:16:10] contractor s really concerned

[2:16:11] about that and then of course

[2:16:14] the next step will be vertical

[2:16:14] construction.

[2:16:18] We'll start seeing things come

[2:16:18] together and I'll tell you that

[2:16:19] we're really excited to see

[2:16:22] that happen.

[2:16:23] But just to update you and

[2:16:25] overall the project is going

[2:16:26] well.

[2:16:26] We've ran into a few things

[2:16:29] associated with the site

[2:16:33] development but I think so far

[2:16:34] given the magnitude of this

[2:16:35] project is it's going quite

[2:16:35] well.

[2:16:38] So next on the list is all the

[2:16:42] pedestrian bike friendly

[2:16:42] development that's going out

[2:16:43] there.

[2:16:43] The first one here is a trail

[2:16:46] crossing enhancements project.

[2:16:47] If you drive around town you

[2:16:50] can see all these the

[2:16:51] improvements that are being

[2:16:53] made at all of our trail

[2:16:54] crossings and I definitely see

[2:16:58] well it has definitely created

[2:17:02] a safer environment for people

[2:17:05] crossing at these intersections

[2:17:06] before I think they were

[2:17:09] probably under marked now

[2:17:10] you'll see the signs lines and

[2:17:13] legends and advance warning

[2:17:14] when you come up on these

[2:17:14] trials and it really has

[2:17:17] improved safety for the

[2:17:18] pedestrians and bicyclists

[2:17:18] bicyclists that use this

[2:17:22] infrastructure for the broadway

[2:17:23] newer safer to school project

[2:17:29] is in design and that

[2:17:33] improvement is slated to happen

[2:17:33] .

[2:17:35] And I want to say and we see

[2:17:40] here yeah the construction is

[2:17:44] is slated to happen in late

[2:17:48] 2728 so and that really is

[2:17:49] going to improve the safety for

[2:17:52] the school and the other users

[2:17:53] that use that pathway too or

[2:17:55] that area to come downtown

[2:17:56] including the motorists that

[2:17:59] use that area.

[2:18:00] >> so design is underway for

[2:18:03] the north broadway road diet.

[2:18:04] This is that section between

[2:18:08] civic and and why we are really

[2:18:10] it's a wide really expansive

[2:18:11] area when you're crossing you

[2:18:15] feel kind of alone out there.

[2:18:16] It takes a while to get across

[2:18:18] that area so the improvements

[2:18:19] and design are underway for

[2:18:23] that project and that's also a

[2:18:23] project that will probably

[2:18:30] happen in 2028 ish but that

[2:18:31] there's still a lot of design

[2:18:32] work that needs to happen with

[2:18:35] that project and the same thing

[2:18:38] goes with the park side cycle

[2:18:39] track project.

[2:18:42] These projects are similar and

[2:18:43] that they'll both receive some

[2:18:46] type of cycle track and

[2:18:49] essentially cycle track is

[2:18:50] where they have a divider or

[2:18:53] something between the icycle

[2:18:54] us and the motorists and

[2:18:58] sometimes they'll use a buffer

[2:18:59] like park parking so that push

[2:19:01] the parking away from the curb

[2:19:02] out into the street and this

[2:19:05] allows some security between

[2:19:06] the motorists and and the

[2:19:12] people driving so the next one

[2:19:14] on the list here for bike

[2:19:15] friendly and pedestrian

[2:19:18] friendly infrastructure is the

[2:19:21] oakland boulevard improvements

[2:19:21] .

[2:19:22] This is a section of boulevard

[2:19:25] that from mount diablo oakland

[2:19:26] boulevard from mount diablo to

[2:19:29] trinity it's almost a connector

[2:19:30] from all that condensed housing

[2:19:33] there to the bart station.

[2:19:37] This one's a tricky one.

[2:19:38] We've received funding for it

[2:19:40] but it's it's a tricky one just

[2:19:41] because of the elevations are a

[2:19:44] little bit steep from just the

[2:19:48] way it was built are we it it's

[2:19:54] going to require a lot of a lot

[2:19:57] of engineering to put sidewalks

[2:19:58] and other bicycle

[2:19:59] infrastructure on this section

[2:20:02] of street the next one and I

[2:20:05] think we're all ware of this

[2:20:09] poject is on street there

[2:20:10] right now we're working with

[2:20:13] the county just to make sure

[2:20:14] that we're coordinating our

[2:20:14] projects together.

[2:20:17] This project is slated to

[2:20:21] happen in late 7 so the

[2:20:25] construction probably in in the

[2:20:27] end of summer or early fall of

[2:20:28] 27 and that'll be interesting

[2:20:31] how that turns out.

[2:20:32] But I know that there's a lot

[2:20:34] of angst out there for that

[2:20:35] project and the last one here

[2:20:38] is the walker avenue san miguel

[2:20:38] sidewalk.

[2:20:39] This project is almost done if

[2:20:42] you've driven through that area

[2:20:42] it's essentially a you know,

[2:20:46] return for ada and given the

[2:20:50] number of condominiums and

[2:20:51] other apartments in that area

[2:20:54] there is a lot of pedestrian

[2:20:55] traffic that come through there

[2:20:55] and so this will really make

[2:20:58] that corner, that section of

[2:20:59] san miguel and walker really

[2:21:00] safer.

[2:21:04] >> edestrian traffic and last

[2:21:08] but not least is the the sort

[2:21:09] of phase three, if you will, of

[2:21:12] the you know, the aquatics

[2:21:16] project as you recall this

[2:21:18] project are essentially the

[2:21:22] plan is to remove this from the

[2:21:23] site and so this we recently

[2:21:28] took to pros in fact last night

[2:21:30] we took this pro to pros last

[2:21:31] night and offered two options

[2:21:33] one and two and the pros

[2:21:37] commission recommended option

[2:21:41] two and sort of with the caveat

[2:21:44] that they that we plan to use

[2:21:45] the outreach information

[2:21:48] collected by the general plan

[2:21:49] as a foundation to guide the

[2:21:52] process with the focus on

[2:21:57] creating a mass the heather

[2:21:57] farm master plan update with a

[2:22:04] focus on really this clark and

[2:22:07] you know kind of re-use of this

[2:22:08] space here so if you look at

[2:22:11] that blue line last time I was

[2:22:12] up here there was a question in

[2:22:13] terms of what that footprint

[2:22:15] print looks like.

[2:22:16] This is sort of following the

[2:22:16] fence line.

[2:22:19] So it's a pretty large space

[2:22:23] that will be repurposing so

[2:22:27] more to come on that as I as we

[2:22:27] work through this the next

[2:22:28] update I'll probably have more

[2:22:32] information for you and that's

[2:22:34] all I have is there any

[2:22:39] questions toes in the water

[2:22:41] 2027 toes in the water 27 I

[2:22:44] have the sign on my on my desk

[2:22:45] .

[2:22:45] >> so DECEMBER 31st 2027 it's

[2:22:46] midnight.

[2:22:49] I know what 27 could you go

[2:22:52] back one slide please?

[2:22:55] >> maybe.

[2:22:56] Although I appreciate that the

[2:22:59] pros commission weighed in on

[2:22:59] this.

[2:22:59] Yes.

[2:23:00] And of course they took the

[2:23:00] most.

[2:23:03] But I think what they did is

[2:23:04] they took the broadest option

[2:23:06] and narrowed it to focus on

[2:23:11] this space here,not the whole

[2:23:11] park.

[2:23:12] Mike, did I interpret what you

[2:23:14] said correctly?

[2:23:17] >> so kind of the the they did

[2:23:21] see the importance of doing an

[2:23:22] update to the existing heather

[2:23:23] farm master plan which was done

[2:23:29] in 2003 and so I think the plan

[2:23:30] would be to use that the

[2:23:33] existing master plan and update

[2:23:34] it.

[2:23:34] There's a ew things that are

[2:23:37] outdated obviously we have an

[2:23:38] all abilities playground there

[2:23:41] along with the dog park so that

[2:23:44] aren't reflected in the other

[2:23:45] the fields and all the other

[2:23:45] things.

[2:23:48] There's not much to update in

[2:23:51] terms of the the the and the

[2:23:52] other farm update that was done

[2:23:55] in 2003 but they know which

[2:23:56] fell through the park on the

[2:23:58] third rail that yeah and then

[2:24:01] the folks would be here so you

[2:24:02] know just and my understanding

[2:24:03] is that they also asked for

[2:24:05] some additional information and

[2:24:06] we MAY be going back in early

[2:24:09] OCTOBER to discuss some of the

[2:24:10] options with them and then

[2:24:11] we'll bring it back to council

[2:24:11] for further discussion and

[2:24:14] ultimately decision about how

[2:24:14] to proceed what's correct.

[2:24:18] >> what were your estimation be

[2:24:19] like if we're looking at option

[2:24:22] if the pros commission if we

[2:24:23] look t option one essentially

[2:24:27] the time frame for making

[2:24:29] decisions versus option two

[2:24:29] time frame, it seems like an

[2:24:30] option to that could be a

[2:24:33] couple of years of discussions.

[2:24:33] >> right.

[2:24:34] And that was the pros

[2:24:37] commission's concern.

[2:24:38] And so the dea was not to wait

[2:24:40] until the general plan was

[2:24:40] complete.

[2:24:41] We were just interested in

[2:24:45] using some of the data used in

[2:24:48] the outreach for the general

[2:24:49] plan and aligning that data

[2:24:53] with the or with a an

[2:24:56] additional master plan of this

[2:24:56] area.

[2:25:00] So we were t was kind of a

[2:25:01] combination and that would

[2:25:04] expedite the you know, any kind

[2:25:08] of delays in the process of

[2:25:09] summarize a little little

[2:25:12] differently in that they liked

[2:25:16] the idea of option two but

[2:25:17] wanted it done as quickly as

[2:25:17] option one.

[2:25:20] And so you got this you know,

[2:25:20] so there might be an option

[2:25:23] three coming back and at no I

[2:25:24] was waiting for the we gave

[2:25:26] them option one, we gave them

[2:25:27] option two and they took option

[2:25:28] three and that's exactly what

[2:25:30] they did right.

[2:25:33] Think thank you.

[2:25:34] Yeah, you're welcome.

[2:25:35] What one thing and I know this

[2:25:37] isn't necessarily this forum

[2:25:38] but as we go through these

[2:25:39] projects I know that like just

[2:25:42] this last weekend right at a

[2:25:43] soccer game with our kids from

[2:25:44] these new fields out in dublin

[2:25:48] and everybody's like you know,

[2:25:48] 30, 40 yards from the field

[2:25:49] trying to find a little tree to

[2:25:52] sit under because there's no

[2:25:52] shade.

[2:25:53] And it occurred to me that as

[2:25:56] we build these projects like I

[2:25:59] was looking at the one on civic

[2:26:00] park and I'm thinking is there

[2:26:02] time to put up like some shade

[2:26:03] sails you know for the kids

[2:26:06] over the playground is that I

[2:26:07] know that maybe the ship sailed

[2:26:10] on a funding but yeah I think

[2:26:14] that's something we can look at

[2:26:14] when that time comes.

[2:26:17] Yeah because because I know

[2:26:18] what a what a premium you know

[2:26:21] that is especially like for the

[2:26:21] kids.

[2:26:24] >> yeah civic civic park has a

[2:26:25] lot of tree shade around it so

[2:26:29] it's there is a lot of shade

[2:26:29] there but I see what you mean

[2:26:32] especially which is you know

[2:26:33] all abilities fields and things

[2:26:36] I mean not the old buildings

[2:26:36] but the synthetic turf fields.

[2:26:40] Yeah those can get really warm

[2:26:40] so yeah.

[2:26:40] >> thanks.

[2:26:41] Yeah.

[2:26:43] I mean you spurred a thought

[2:26:46] there that parking field that

[2:26:47] we're not seemingly touching is

[2:26:50] part of this phase three.

[2:26:54] Is there an opportunity to do

[2:26:57] kind of solar car shade

[2:26:58] coverings to generate you know

[2:27:01] we can cross pollinate in terms

[2:27:02] of some of our priorities here

[2:27:06] and make t a little less less

[2:27:06] of a heat island?

[2:27:07] >> yeah, I think those are all

[2:27:09] things that we can look at when

[2:27:13] that time comes.

[2:27:14] >> okay.

[2:27:14] Thanks, rich.

[2:27:16] You're welcome.

[2:27:18] And I'll turn the time over to

[2:27:26] chief phipps.

[2:27:30] Thank you, rich.

[2:27:31] Good evening, mayor and city

[2:27:31] council members ryan his chief

[2:27:34] of police here to give an

[2:27:34] update on the council priority

[2:27:37] of public safety and social

[2:27:41] wellness as a reminder the

[2:27:42] goals here are to ensure a high

[2:27:43] level of public safety by

[2:27:43] building on efforts to support

[2:27:45] an effective and innovative

[2:27:45] police department.

[2:27:46] A proactive response police

[2:27:49] response to crime trends.

[2:27:50] Joint agency responses to

[2:27:50] homelessness and mental health

[2:27:54] challenges to crime prevention

[2:27:54] partnerships and partnerships

[2:27:56] in neighborhoods or programs

[2:27:57] and neighborhoods the downtown

[2:28:00] and other commercial areas

[2:28:01] impervious to traffic, transit,

[2:28:02] pedestrian and bike safety and

[2:28:05] community and egional disaster

[2:28:06] preparation and resiliency to

[2:28:06] meet the increasing challenges

[2:28:09] of wildfires, earthquakes,

[2:28:09] droughts, floods and other

[2:28:12] hazards.

[2:28:13] So the first strategic

[2:28:13] objective is to maintain an

[2:28:14] effective and innovative police

[2:28:17] department and I spoken a lot

[2:28:18] about the need to do a

[2:28:20] technology audit to ensure that

[2:28:21] we're not using overlapping

[2:28:24] technologies and so the idea

[2:28:25] here is to get not only more

[2:28:28] fiscally lean but also to

[2:28:29] become more efficient.

[2:28:30] So I am pleased to report we

[2:28:33] have submitted into an rfp

[2:28:36] process for a new cat or mouse

[2:28:36] .

[2:28:37] We did field test a couple of

[2:28:38] different vendors for that.

[2:28:40] We have not yet received any

[2:28:41] proposals yet so I don't know

[2:28:44] if the ones that we evaluated

[2:28:45] will be a part of this rfp

[2:28:47] process but we're actively

[2:28:51] underway here as far as patrol

[2:28:52] technology we are evaluating

[2:28:52] the addition of in-car cameras

[2:28:55] to the patrol fleet.

[2:28:55] Those are commonly referred to

[2:28:56] as dash cameras but they're

[2:28:58] actually not mounted to the

[2:28:59] dash anymore.

[2:29:00] They're mounted behind the or

[2:29:00] in front I guess in front of

[2:29:02] and between the windshield the

[2:29:03] rearview mirror.

[2:29:06] So so that system in addition

[2:29:10] to a camera system that covers

[2:29:11] the prisoner bay is under

[2:29:13] evaluation.

[2:29:14] I'm not sure if we're going to

[2:29:15] end up purchasing those but it

[2:29:17] is something we're actively

[2:29:17] evaluating.

[2:29:18] Social media engagement has

[2:29:21] jumped since the last quarter.

[2:29:22] It's it's up the instagram

[2:29:24] followers have increased by

[2:29:28] 7000 and then with the facebook

[2:29:36] is always probably more

[2:29:36] utilized broadly and we're now

[2:29:39] up to 30 5000 followers for

[2:29:40] that for that part of our

[2:29:43] social media city wide camera

[2:29:44] systems e're continuing to

[2:29:46] evaluate management, manage

[2:29:47] camera technology there.

[2:29:50] And then with respect to our

[2:29:51] license plate reader cameras, I

[2:29:52] did make a comment I think at

[2:29:54] the last meeting that we are

[2:29:55] evaluating and actually

[2:29:58] building a public acing portal

[2:30:01] to outline not just the best

[2:30:02] practices with respect to data

[2:30:06] sharing from lpr cameras but

[2:30:06] also who we share it with and

[2:30:07] we plan on updating that

[2:30:14] frequently with respect to

[2:30:14] continuing proactive response

[2:30:15] to crime trends and with the

[2:30:18] community involvement we we are

[2:30:18] continuing to host coffee with

[2:30:21] the cop events.

[2:30:24] The last one was on JUNE 16th

[2:30:24] and a national night out was

[2:30:25] well attended.

[2:30:26] We'll get to that in just a

[2:30:28] little bit.

[2:30:28] Officers in addition to going

[2:30:32] to national night out did also

[2:30:32] attend a bunch of neighborhood

[2:30:32] -

[2:30:36] block parties which is that the

[2:30:39] more traditional way that that

[2:30:40] national night out is run but

[2:30:43] we also found that we got a lot

[2:30:44] of great engagement and

[2:30:45] participation by by hosting

[2:30:48] added broadway plaza so so that

[2:30:54] will continue and of about 85

[2:30:55] or 90% done with one on one

[2:30:57] meetings with all of our staff

[2:30:58] and these are these are with

[2:30:59] everyone these are with our

[2:31:01] sworn police officers and with

[2:31:05] our professional staff to try

[2:31:05] another room to improve

[2:31:08] communication in the department

[2:31:09] of communication.

[2:31:10] But also the goal is to develop

[2:31:12] action items with the themes

[2:31:16] that I co-lead from all of

[2:31:17] those one on ones and with

[2:31:18] respect to crime, intelligence

[2:31:21] and analysis we've been with

[2:31:22] peregrine now for a couple of

[2:31:25] years and the the things that

[2:31:28] this program can o we're

[2:31:29] finding more and more every

[2:31:29] day.

[2:31:32] In fact currently working on a

[2:31:33] new dashboard informational

[2:31:35] dashboard for the council as

[2:31:37] well as a post not a post but

[2:31:44] sort of a change in how that

[2:31:45] information is delivered.

[2:31:45] So instead of excel

[2:31:47] spreadsheets and numbers and

[2:31:48] analysis you'll receive a

[2:31:51] little bit more of a thorough

[2:31:52] visual breakdown of of of what

[2:31:55] you need to know.

[2:31:56] And I would be remiss if I

[2:31:59] didn't plug the next coffee

[2:32:00] with the cop which is on

[2:32:02] SEPTEMBER 8th at nordstrom at

[2:32:05] 9:30 A.M. Where nordstrom the

[2:32:09] coffee shop at nordstrom and

[2:32:09] one downstairs that would make

[2:32:12] it easy for people yeah

[2:32:16] national night out this was we

[2:32:16] we had a good attendance as

[2:32:19] well but 400 people were in

[2:32:20] attendance for for this

[2:32:22] national night out we continue

[2:32:23] to see good crowds every year

[2:32:27] again it's it's it's very

[2:32:30] beneficial to us that in such a

[2:32:30] a welcoming venue such as

[2:32:34] broadway plaza.

[2:32:38] >> strategic objective number

[2:32:39] three coordinate joint agency

[2:32:39] response to homelessness and

[2:32:42] mental health challenges.

[2:32:42] hop continues to collaborate

[2:32:43] with the city and with the

[2:32:46] county and different resources

[2:32:46] to to address people

[2:32:50] experiencing homelessness.

[2:32:51] I am pleased to report that

[2:32:51] there aren't any established

[2:32:54] encampments in city limits as I

[2:32:55] think I did the last quarter as

[2:33:01] well ith strategic objective

[2:33:04] number four which is to develop

[2:33:04] crime prevention partnership

[2:33:05] and programs.

[2:33:07] We continue business watch.

[2:33:08] This was the brainchild of our

[2:33:11] crime prevention specialist

[2:33:11] cara ramon.

[2:33:15] This initially started off as a

[2:33:16] crime free business model which

[2:33:19] is the more common way to to to

[2:33:23] build something like business

[2:33:24] watch.

[2:33:24] >> but cara took that in and

[2:33:25] ran with the concept.

[2:33:27] So we've hosted a few meetings

[2:33:27] to this point four events so

[2:33:30] far this year they re

[2:33:31] increasingly getting to be

[2:33:34] better attended and the idea is

[2:33:35] to have businesses commuting

[2:33:36] communicating with each other

[2:33:38] so that if you see something

[2:33:39] say something but also to open

[2:33:40] up lines of communication to

[2:33:42] the police department with that

[2:33:45] detectives our detective bureau

[2:33:46] presented on fraud, robbery and

[2:33:49] business related crime business

[2:33:50] watch lunch and learn on the

[2:33:52] 18th of AUGUST and then the

[2:33:57] crime prevention specialist

[2:33:57] completed three environmental

[2:34:00] design evaluations of local

[2:34:01] businesses and what that is

[2:34:02] that's a service that we offer

[2:34:04] where the crime prevention

[2:34:05] specialist will go and make

[2:34:08] environmental recommendations

[2:34:08] to the business to increase

[2:34:11] security and lower the chances

[2:34:12] that they could become he

[2:34:13] victim of a crime.

[2:34:13] >> and the neighborhood watch

[2:34:16] program we we we've restored

[2:34:19] that up but it's starting to

[2:34:20] grow a little bit.

[2:34:20] But again, that's the the

[2:34:23] revamp from our crime

[2:34:26] prevention specialist with

[2:34:29] strategic objective number five

[2:34:30] to improve traffic transit

[2:34:33] pedestrian and bicycle safety I

[2:34:34] am pleased to report the

[2:34:34] overall traffic collisions have

[2:34:36] decreased 11% compared to this

[2:34:37] point last year.

[2:34:39] Duis we're seeing a lot more

[2:34:40] dui arrests and that's probably

[2:34:43] due to our officers comfort

[2:34:44] level based on some of the

[2:34:47] training that they've received.

[2:34:48] They ypically when an officer

[2:34:51] is is they go through the

[2:34:52] police academy, they do receive

[2:34:54] some level of training as to

[2:34:55] alcohol and drug detection from

[2:34:56] from drivers.

[2:34:59] But until you go through a more

[2:35:00] specialized class, sometimes

[2:35:03] those things can can slip by.

[2:35:03] So we did send a number of

[2:35:06] officers to that training

[2:35:07] several years ago or three

[2:35:08] years ago now and now it's

[2:35:10] starting to take hold with the

[2:35:10] I mean we can't really use

[2:35:13] covid as an excuse anymore but

[2:35:14] we did hire a number of

[2:35:15] officers through covid and

[2:35:18] getting them used to going out

[2:35:19] and making traffic stops and

[2:35:21] educating the public again was

[2:35:22] it was a bit trying.

[2:35:25] So we're there now we're making

[2:35:26] traffic stops route and

[2:35:29] educating the public ut one of

[2:35:30] the products of that is an

[2:35:30] increase in dui arrests over

[2:35:32] the nighttime and weekend hours

[2:35:36] today or since SEPTEMBER of

[2:35:37] last year we're at 118 arrests.

[2:35:43] But I will note that in 2025

[2:35:45] year to date 2025 so JANUARY

[2:35:46] 1st to SEPTEMBER 1st we had 49

[2:35:50] dui arrests and since then or

[2:35:51] since JANUARY of this year,

[2:35:53] year to date we have 89.

[2:35:54] So it's quite a significant

[2:35:58] increase in one that is a

[2:36:01] little surprising kind of given

[2:36:02] the ride share that are out

[2:36:05] there and the opportunities for

[2:36:06] folks to not drive impaired.

[2:36:09] But now that we're now that

[2:36:10] we're out there stopping them

[2:36:11] there, they're being held

[2:36:12] accountable if they're driving

[2:36:16] impaired.

[2:36:17] And I did MISS One thing for

[2:36:20] pedestrians safety month we are

[2:36:21] partnering with rossmore on a

[2:36:21] presentation planned for

[2:36:24] OCTOBER.

[2:36:24] >> those are always well

[2:36:27] attended for strategic

[2:36:28] strategic objective number five

[2:36:28] which is to improve traffic

[2:36:31] transit pedestrian base,

[2:36:31] bicycle safety.

[2:36:32] We continue to work with public

[2:36:38] works quarterly to discuss not

[2:36:39] just engineering projects but

[2:36:40] also community feedback and

[2:36:43] evaluate roadway conditions and

[2:36:43] to review crash details after

[2:36:44] serious collisions.

[2:36:45] So one thing that actually came

[2:36:46] up in our chiefs advisory board

[2:36:50] meeting was fairly minor

[2:36:51] detail about a local parking

[2:36:52] lot coming out onto a public

[2:36:55] roadway that captain slater has

[2:36:55] since started to work with

[2:36:58] traffic engineering to see if

[2:36:59] we can come up with a solution

[2:37:02] for so well we'll take it from

[2:37:02] anywhere we can get it.

[2:37:03] Any suggestions or feedback?

[2:37:06] We're certainly open to and we

[2:37:07] want to improve our roadway

[2:37:09] safety as much as possible on

[2:37:13] e-bikes so we receive it pretty

[2:37:17] regularly.

[2:37:18] Complaints about reckless

[2:37:18] e-bike riders and I know

[2:37:19] council member dave any of this

[2:37:23] is a passion project of yours

[2:37:26] and so I am pleased to report

[2:37:27] that we participated in a joint

[2:37:30] e-bike education on AUGUST

[2:37:31] 18th.

[2:37:31] So nine agencies in total

[2:37:35] participated and we were one of

[2:37:36] them 45 officers and that's I

[2:37:38] don't think they're all

[2:37:39] pictured there but you see the

[2:37:43] numbers there and this is not

[2:37:43] just specific to walnut creek.

[2:37:47] This is this is a growing issue

[2:37:47] everywhere and obviously with

[2:37:50] respect to e-bikes and and

[2:37:51] motorcycles, we want to ensure

[2:37:54] that people are safe.

[2:37:55] We want to ensure that there

[2:37:56] are license and we want to

[2:37:58] ensure that the public around

[2:37:58] them is safe.

[2:38:01] So 194 contacts total made 56

[2:38:04] tickets were issued a 137

[2:38:05] warnings or education contacts

[2:38:07] were made.

[2:38:08] One was arrested for drug

[2:38:09] possession which is always

[2:38:13] surprising to me on an e-bike

[2:38:13] and then we towed one for I

[2:38:16] believe being unlicensed with

[2:38:17] the next operation planned for

[2:38:23] SEPTEMBER 17th with respect to

[2:38:24] strategic objective number six

[2:38:25] which is community and regional

[2:38:27] disaster preparation we

[2:38:28] provided we were provided with

[2:38:35] updated training on when.

[2:38:36] This was at one of our command

[2:38:38] staff meetings a representative

[2:38:40] from cw us came and made sure

[2:38:43] that we were all signed up for

[2:38:44] the alerts and we were but but

[2:38:47] he also assured us that the

[2:38:47] system is working properly.

[2:38:48] there are times that sometimes

[2:38:49] we don't feel like we're

[2:38:51] getting all the alerts there.

[2:38:52] They assure us that we are and

[2:38:58] so we are now well informed.

[2:38:59] >> now I'll open it up to

[2:39:02] questions if any of you MAY

[2:39:02] have some.

[2:39:03] >> is is officer young feeling

[2:39:06] the pressure of people that are

[2:39:09] going to be on his tails for

[2:39:09] the award next year?

[2:39:13] >> I can't speak for him but he

[2:39:13] should be which is a good

[2:39:16] problem for us and the

[2:39:17] community frankly I as just

[2:39:21] curious on the cwc how is that

[2:39:21] different from so because I

[2:39:24] think I guess nixon alerts yes

[2:39:27] so cwc is countywide it's the

[2:39:30] county emergency system as

[2:39:31] opposed to everbridge which is

[2:39:31] one that we have within the

[2:39:32] city as well.

[2:39:35] So we make the call when it

[2:39:36] goes out on next hold.

[2:39:38] Correct the call on cwa?

[2:39:38] >> correct.

[2:39:39] So we MAY never hear from them.

[2:39:42] We MAY not but if we make the

[2:39:46] requests from them they will

[2:39:46] make sure that t gets to the

[2:39:47] right people.

[2:39:47] Okay.

[2:39:48] What's the I mean what is the

[2:39:50] difference like a refinery

[2:39:53] blows up coverage?

[2:39:54] Yeah, well coverage between

[2:39:55] that and everbridge coverage.

[2:39:57] Okay.

[2:39:58] >> thank you.

[2:39:58] Right.

[2:40:05] I think oh what is this we

[2:40:06] frequently hear comments that

[2:40:06] why aren't we just banning

[2:40:10] e-bikes outright like down and

[2:40:13] I kind know what is what's

[2:40:17] really going on at the this

[2:40:17] regional level so you have to

[2:40:20] work regionally because people

[2:40:21] are crossing borders faster

[2:40:24] than they used to but well and

[2:40:25] you know without giving away

[2:40:28] too many trade secrets

[2:40:31] sometimes a planned e-bike

[2:40:31] enforcement operation is the

[2:40:32] way to go.

[2:40:35] >> the regionally this works

[2:40:36] better because just to your

[2:40:40] point, councilmember silva it

[2:40:40] is it is people do kind of

[2:40:41] crossover borders.

[2:40:43] Te california the jurisdiction

[2:40:44] isn't an issue it's it's the

[2:40:47] personnel and making sure that

[2:40:47] we have the personnel o catch

[2:40:48] people on the other end if they

[2:40:50] take off.

[2:40:50] One thing we're not going to do

[2:40:51] is if it's a danger to public

[2:40:54] safety, if we were to continue

[2:40:55] a pursuit of an e-bike rider or

[2:40:57] an e motorcycle rider, we do

[2:40:58] need to weigh that out.

[2:40:58] And if it's just the violation

[2:41:01] of the e-bike or the the

[2:41:02] driving pattern of the e-bike

[2:41:05] rider as opposed to maybe a

[2:41:05] violent crime that they're

[2:41:08] fleeing from, we have to weigh

[2:41:09] that out when we're deciding

[2:41:11] whether to to continue a

[2:41:14] pursuit.

[2:41:15] >> thank you.

[2:41:19] I think yeah I see e-bikes

[2:41:19] doing well.

[2:41:20] >> leaves go all the way down

[2:41:21] the street in front of my house

[2:41:22] now.

[2:41:23] >> yeah and you know that's

[2:41:23] certainly unsafe and if we were

[2:41:26] to catch that then we would

[2:41:27] initiate a traffic stop on them

[2:41:30] and write a citation.

[2:41:31] >> two weeks ago after this

[2:41:31] meeting I pulled out of the

[2:41:34] parking lot was going south on

[2:41:34] south broadway for north

[2:41:37] broadway and there were two

[2:41:38] coming at me from his side and

[2:41:38] one coming at me from this.

[2:41:41] They were clearly in the street

[2:41:42] but I couldn't even figure out

[2:41:43] what it was.

[2:41:48] >> it was just I liked maybe

[2:41:49] they had a light because you

[2:41:51] were probably ahead of me.

[2:41:52] >> oh and I do see legislation

[2:41:53] coming down the pipeline

[2:41:55] eventually to to regulate these

[2:41:56] a little bit more closely.

[2:41:59] But I won't comment on any

[2:41:59] other city ordinance that

[2:42:02] outright bans them but I don't

[2:42:06] know if they're having any

[2:42:07] success with that to be frank.

[2:42:10] >> you know, since we're on the

[2:42:10] topic just today I spoke with

[2:42:13] our emergency medical care

[2:42:14] committee which is a committee

[2:42:18] at the county level and about

[2:42:21] e-bikes and bike safety.

[2:42:22] And so I hope that in the near

[2:42:24] future they'll be stronger

[2:42:28] county wide coordination and

[2:42:29] we'll certainly bring that back

[2:42:32] as soon as I hear more.

[2:42:32] >> excellent.

[2:42:36] Q thank you.

[2:42:36] >> gibbs my pleasure.

[2:42:37] I will now turn it back over to

[2:42:38] joe for closing.

[2:42:42] >> thank you for lunch.

[2:42:42] All right.

[2:42:46] Wll thank you o all of our

[2:42:46] leads for presenting.

[2:42:47] So tonight we discussed

[2:42:50] priorities from 2025 and 2026

[2:42:50] calendar year.

[2:42:53] Believe it or not, 2027 is

[2:42:56] going to get here very quickly

[2:42:56] .

[2:42:57] >> so city council will soon be

[2:42:58] identifying a new set of

[2:43:01] priorities for those two

[2:43:01] calendar years.

[2:43:02] >> so I want to talk a little

[2:43:05] bit about that.

[2:43:06] So at the MAY 19th city council

[2:43:08] meeting city council did

[2:43:11] approve staff to go forward to

[2:43:12] conduct outreach with the

[2:43:16] community to help inform

[2:43:16] development of the next two

[2:43:20] calendar year priority cycle.

[2:43:23] >> so since then staff has

[2:43:24] developed a wo phased approach

[2:43:28] to to engaging our community

[2:43:31] with an overall theme of your

[2:43:31] voice.

[2:43:34] Our future and phase one was to

[2:43:38] begin with a broad open ended

[2:43:39] community question or an pen

[2:43:42] ended listening to hear what

[2:43:43] issues mattered to the

[2:43:45] community over the next two

[2:43:45] years.

[2:43:46] And so that phase that first

[2:43:49] phase did start this week.

[2:43:50] >> we did launch a inhouse

[2:43:53] designed open ended survey that

[2:43:57] was launched and shared in the

[2:43:58] nutshell which was delivered to

[2:44:00] folks this week and is on our

[2:44:04] city website and it asks the

[2:44:05] question what would you like

[2:44:07] the city to prioritize in 2027

[2:44:11] and 2028 suggest an open field

[2:44:12] share with us what you're

[2:44:15] thinking and that survey will

[2:44:18] be open to the public until

[2:44:18] SEPTEMBER 15th at 5 P.M. And

[2:44:19] I'm just going to go ahead and

[2:44:22] plug you can find it at walnut

[2:44:25] creek see

[2:44:26] a.Gov/council-priorities and we

[2:44:28] will share a social media post

[2:44:29] on that as well.

[2:44:30] >> so the responses we received

[2:44:33] to that open ended survey is

[2:44:35] going to help inform the phase

[2:44:36] two which is a more defined

[2:44:40] community survey where we're

[2:44:41] going to ask the public to to

[2:44:44] rank or rioritize the themes

[2:44:47] of most value to them.

[2:44:48] Those themes will be of course

[2:44:52] informed by this open community

[2:44:52] listening section.

[2:44:55] >> so we're currently

[2:44:56] considering whether that phase

[2:44:56] two survey will be done in

[2:44:59] house more informally or if

[2:45:00] we're going to go ahead and

[2:45:00] pursue the support of a

[2:45:02] consultant especially if we

[2:45:06] find from our phase one that

[2:45:07] there's a lot of complex a lot

[2:45:09] of complexities to the issues

[2:45:10] we receive and then we'll go

[2:45:11] ahead and provide to city

[2:45:14] council the the results of that

[2:45:17] survey to help inform as the

[2:45:21] next priorities are developed

[2:45:22] and that is all I have for

[2:45:22] tonight.

[2:45:26] Any questions about the survey

[2:45:29] or engagement?

[2:45:29] Okay.

[2:45:30] Ask a question.

[2:45:33] Could you send us the link to

[2:45:33] that survey o that we can find

[2:45:36] it and have it handy on our

[2:45:36] device?

[2:45:37] >> absolutely.

[2:45:37] Thank you.

[2:45:38] Will that be promoted on social

[2:45:40] media?

[2:45:41] >> yes, we will do that this

[2:45:42] week.

[2:45:42] Great.

[2:45:42] All right.

[2:45:44] Thank you.

[2:45:45] >> all right.

[2:45:46] Thanks, joe and thanks.

[2:45:46] Thanks team.

[2:45:47] Nice job.

[2:45:48] >> yeah.

[2:45:48] All right.

[2:45:55] Which brings us to our final

[2:45:58] item the public hearing.

[2:45:59] So this is a consideration of

[2:46:00] considering a waiver of the

[2:46:03] reading and introduction of an

[2:46:03] ordinance amending the city of

[2:46:04] walnut creek councilmember

[2:46:06] compensation to a $600 per

[2:46:06] month.

[2:46:09] And I invite human resources

[2:46:10] director tricia raber forward

[2:46:24] to provide the presentation.

[2:46:28] >> good evening mayor.

[2:46:29] Welcome.

[2:46:29] Council members trish raver

[2:46:30] human resources director I'm

[2:46:33] here this evening to rovide a

[2:46:34] brief presentation on council

[2:46:38] compensation.

[2:46:39] The agenda this evening

[2:46:43] includes the history of council

[2:46:43] compensation applicable

[2:46:46] legislation inclusive of

[2:46:49] government code section 36516

[2:46:53] and senate bill 329 as well as

[2:46:54] compensation options for

[2:46:58] council consideration

[2:47:03] government code section 36516

[2:47:03] provides for general law cities

[2:47:06] such as the city of walnut

[2:47:07] creek to establish and adjust

[2:47:10] compensation by ordinance.

[2:47:11] There are two primary ways in

[2:47:13] which council compensation can

[2:47:14] be adjusted according to that

[2:47:17] government code section either

[2:47:18] based on the city's population

[2:47:22] size according to a schedule or

[2:47:23] by adjusting based on a modest

[2:47:25] inflation calculator.

[2:47:30] >> this table provides the

[2:47:30] history of council compensation

[2:47:32] over the past 50 years during

[2:47:34] which time only five

[2:47:35] adjustments have taken place

[2:47:38] the current compensation of

[2:47:40] $650 per month was adopted

[2:47:43] almost 25 years ago in 002.

[2:47:44] I also want to note that

[2:47:47] council members are eligible

[2:47:48] for participation in the city's

[2:47:51] retirement and health plans and

[2:47:52] MAY be reimbursed for

[2:47:54] technology and travel expenses

[2:47:58] in JANUARY of 2020 for

[2:47:59] legislation surrounding

[2:48:02] compensation council

[2:48:02] compensation was adopted to

[2:48:06] acknowledge that compensation

[2:48:07] and had not kept pace with

[2:48:07] inflation.

[2:48:10] as a result the population base

[2:48:11] salary rates for increased in

[2:48:13] an additional method as added

[2:48:14] to adjust compensation ased on

[2:48:18] inflation based on the

[2:48:19] population based salary rate.

[2:48:22] The city of walnut creek at a

[2:48:24] population of 70,127 would all

[2:48:27] within the population tier

[2:48:30] between 50 and 75,000 at $600

[2:48:34] per month.

[2:48:35] >> this chart provides the

[2:48:38] compensation here to council

[2:48:39] members in all general law

[2:48:42] cities and contra costa county

[2:48:42] except the three charter cities

[2:48:46] of el cerrito, richmond and san

[2:48:47] ramone who are not subject to

[2:48:49] these laws.

[2:48:50] The chart provides the

[2:48:50] population of the city the

[2:48:54] population based monthly salary

[2:48:57] according to sb 329 and the

[2:48:58] current compensation received

[2:49:01] as of DECEMBER 2026.

[2:49:05] As you can see the majority of

[2:49:06] city council compensation at

[2:49:09] the population based salary

[2:49:11] rate established by sb 329

[2:49:12] however, the cities of

[2:49:15] lafayette orinda and moraga do

[2:49:16] not provide compensation to

[2:49:19] their council members.

[2:49:23] >> I have to note that sb 329

[2:49:26] updated the maximum population

[2:49:27] base salary amounts to address

[2:49:30] in part the current economic

[2:49:31] environment the time commitment

[2:49:34] required by elected officials

[2:49:35] and potential barriers to

[2:49:38] public service council members

[2:49:42] area council members contribute

[2:49:43] countless hours of time and

[2:49:46] devote a significant amount of

[2:49:46] effort and energy serving as

[2:49:50] their role and council member

[2:49:50] to a community.

[2:49:53] >> no increase is taking place

[2:49:53] in nearly 25 years and

[2:49:57] compensation has not kept up

[2:50:00] with the evolution of the role

[2:50:03] per government code section

[2:50:04] 36516 any change in

[2:50:06] compensation would be processed

[2:50:07] active and does not apply to a

[2:50:10] council members current term of

[2:50:11] office.

[2:50:11] However, when one or more

[2:50:15] council members begins a new

[2:50:15] term of office and becomes

[2:50:18] eligible for a salary, all

[2:50:19] members of the council will

[2:50:20] receive the same adjusted

[2:50:23] salary general law cities who

[2:50:23] choose not to adopt an

[2:50:26] ordinance relative to council

[2:50:27] compensation MAY submit the

[2:50:30] question to electors at a

[2:50:33] municipal election.

[2:50:37] In summary, the compensation

[2:50:38] provided to california cities

[2:50:44] under sb 329 at a 50 to 75,000

[2:50:44] population level is 1600

[2:50:48] dollars per month.

[2:50:48] An ordinance has been drafted

[2:50:52] for introduction increases the

[2:50:55] council compensation from $650

[2:50:58] to $1600 per month resulting in

[2:51:02] an increase of $950 per month.

[2:51:03] If this resolution is adopted,

[2:51:06] the salary rate for all council

[2:51:07] members would become effective

[2:51:07] DECEMBER 1st with the new

[2:51:10] council's term of office in

[2:51:13] DECEMBER of 2026.

[2:51:18] >> the council options are as

[2:51:18] follows.

[2:51:19] Introduce the draft ordinance

[2:51:22] tonight increase the salary

[2:51:25] from 650 to $600 per month

[2:51:27] effective DECEMBER 1st, 2020

[2:51:28] six modify the draft ordinance

[2:51:32] and adjust the salary to a

[2:51:32] different amount under $600 a

[2:51:36] month for introduction at a

[2:51:36] future meeting.

[2:51:37] Modify the draft ordinance to

[2:51:40] effective date further in the

[2:51:41] future for introduction at a

[2:51:43] future meeting not introduce

[2:51:44] the draft ordinance and retain

[2:51:47] the existing rate of $650 per

[2:51:47] month.

[2:51:51] Submit to the electors at a

[2:51:51] municipal election a question

[2:51:54] of whether council should

[2:51:55] receive a salary for services

[2:51:58] and that amount or provide

[2:51:59] alternate alternative direction

[2:52:03] staff so finally the staff

[2:52:07] recommendation is to move to

[2:52:08] introduce and waive a reading

[2:52:11] of an ordinance amending the

[2:52:11] compensation for the city of

[2:52:14] walnut creek council members

[2:52:17] from $650 per month to $600 per

[2:52:18] month to be effective on

[2:52:20] DECEMBER 1st, 2026.

[2:52:24] I don't have a question side of

[2:52:25] but I'm happy to answer any

[2:52:28] questions you MAY fresh I also

[2:52:29] question I had a question of

[2:52:32] what has the cost of living

[2:52:36] escalated from or what is it

[2:52:37] been from the last time there

[2:52:40] was an increase in 2002 which

[2:52:43] presented it doesn't do till

[2:52:43] now.

[2:52:44] >> what does that cost of

[2:52:45] living increase mean?

[2:52:48] Well the cost of living

[2:52:52] increase changes annually so

[2:52:52] the ballpark or ballpark I

[2:52:55] would say what I'll say what

[2:52:59] this legislation allows for s

[2:53:00] 5% per year.

[2:53:03] So let's just say for the last

[2:53:03] 22 years that'd be 120%.

[2:53:09] So if it was 5% per year yeah

[2:53:10] yeah.

[2:53:11] >> which would equate to it

[2:53:13] would be it would take it from

[2:53:17] to $780 plus the $650 so it

[2:53:23] would be $1,430 versus he 6050

[2:53:27] that so it's less than that if

[2:53:28] it's not compounded correct.

[2:53:30] That's how the legislation when

[2:53:31] calculate but if you look at it

[2:53:34] from an annual basis which is

[2:53:35] how cpi is actually calculated

[2:53:38] because it compounds year to

[2:53:39] year I believe it puts it close

[2:53:41] to 20 100 hours, correct.

[2:53:42] So had it so had it increased

[2:53:45] every year just like salary

[2:53:46] increases and contracts and all

[2:53:50] that it would be about $2,100 a

[2:53:53] month right now and everybody's

[2:53:54] been at the same 650 a month

[2:53:57] for the last 24 years.

[2:53:58] >> correct.

[2:53:58] And that's what we do with

[2:54:01] every ther salary within the

[2:54:02] city is look at it from a

[2:54:02] compounded perspective.

[2:54:04] Okay.

[2:54:05] Thank you.

[2:54:08] The questions and the

[2:54:09] questions.

[2:54:09] Okay.

[2:54:12] Public comment I if I guess

[2:54:15] there's nobody here in the

[2:54:16] chamber, is anybody online?

[2:54:16] >> okay.

[2:54:20] All right.

[2:54:20] And then then public comment

[2:54:23] and if we have any of if you

[2:54:24] have any comments here and and

[2:54:27] actually I'll make I'll make

[2:54:28] the first comments anybody can

[2:54:28] add on if you would like

[2:54:31] obviously we have a couple of

[2:54:31] council members here that will

[2:54:35] not be here taking advantage of

[2:54:38] this afterwards so I think

[2:54:40] actually and what I found in

[2:54:41] the last ten years of me being

[2:54:44] on city council people are

[2:54:45] shocked at how little we

[2:54:48] actually make on council that

[2:54:48] there is just this mall

[2:54:52] stipend for council and that is

[2:54:52] really a salary.

[2:54:53] I don't think it's meant to be

[2:54:56] a salary but I did do a

[2:54:56] calculation of general costs

[2:54:57] and people have asked me what

[2:55:00] is it this member make or what

[2:55:00] kind of time do you put into it

[2:55:03] and of course is varies among

[2:55:04] different council members.

[2:55:05] We've worked with council

[2:55:07] members that have put the

[2:55:08] minimum effort in and we work

[2:55:11] with council members to ut the

[2:55:14] maximum amount of effort in

[2:55:15] accounts for.

[2:55:16] S I'll just based upon myself

[2:55:18] and then people can determine

[2:55:19] about that.

[2:55:19] But so for council meeting

[2:55:22] weeks like this week or a

[2:55:23] couple of weeks that we have

[2:55:26] during the month, I find that

[2:55:26] with the meetings that I have

[2:55:29] the preparation, the committee

[2:55:33] assignments and multiple of the

[2:55:34] things that are going on it

[2:55:36] works out to about 25 or 30

[2:55:37] hours a week for me a non

[2:55:39] council meeting weeks tend to

[2:55:40] be more like 15 to 20 hours a

[2:55:43] week and weeks vary but that's

[2:55:43] what it is about.

[2:55:44] So calculating that over a

[2:55:47] month is about 80 to 100 hours

[2:55:52] and are given divide 650 that a

[2:55:55] $650 comes out to about $6.50

[2:55:56] to $8 an hour for the time that

[2:55:59] I am spending on council again

[2:56:00] that MAY vary now we can

[2:56:02] probably add another 5 to 10

[2:56:03] hours a week for mayors who

[2:56:03] have additional obligations

[2:56:06] every week we are in the first

[2:56:09] time I was mayor I was shocked

[2:56:10] at how many things I was

[2:56:11] invited to that I never even

[2:56:13] heard about because it's the

[2:56:14] mayors were invited to things

[2:56:15] and that was during covid this

[2:56:17] year been far more so that just

[2:56:20] adds to it.

[2:56:22] >> so that's just on what we

[2:56:25] are doing here in our normal

[2:56:25] responsibilities but we also

[2:56:29] get invited to the 10 to 12

[2:56:29] gala and major fundraisers for

[2:56:33] nonprofit causes every single

[2:56:33] year each one of the costs of

[2:56:36] the ticket between 200 to $500

[2:56:41] per ticket we pay for those out

[2:56:42] of our own pocket if we get two

[2:56:43] tickets to include the spouse

[2:56:44] that's 4 to $5000 for just the

[2:56:47] tickets and there are as we

[2:56:48] know usually additional

[2:56:51] fundraising requests during

[2:56:53] those events which can be 250

[2:56:54] to $500 on average.

[2:56:58] I mean obviously you can even

[2:56:58] budget more as well but that

[2:57:00] means that the gallo's alone

[2:57:01] costs about $10,000 per year

[2:57:04] for council members who often

[2:57:05] do feel an obligation to go to

[2:57:06] these not these worthwhile

[2:57:08] nonprofit causes.

[2:57:09] But the council are always

[2:57:10] invited and we always make sure

[2:57:12] that we that we have presence

[2:57:16] at many of hem and o at $650

[2:57:19] a month or $7,800 a year that

[2:57:20] doesn't even cover the

[2:57:23] fundraisers and then add in the

[2:57:24] 80 plus hours of the month.

[2:57:27] So when I look at all of that

[2:57:28] and I look at who we want to be

[2:57:30] able to serve my council, we

[2:57:30] want a diversity of of

[2:57:34] everybody young, old,

[2:57:38] different, different people in

[2:57:38] different demographic or socio

[2:57:42] economic arenas.

[2:57:43] People want to serve on city

[2:57:44] council for a variety of

[2:57:46] reasons but none of them are

[2:57:46] financial.

[2:57:47] I can promise you none of them

[2:57:47] are financial.

[2:57:50] Nobody's getting rich being on

[2:57:51] city council but council

[2:57:53] members shouldn't ave to ose

[2:57:54] money or be in the red every

[2:57:57] single month for serving either

[2:57:57] .

[2:57:58] It'll never be a full paying

[2:58:01] job being on the council there

[2:58:02] can be somewhat of an increase

[2:58:05] in state and I feel which may

[2:58:06] allow for younger or more

[2:58:06] diversity on the council where

[2:58:09] this can be a little bit more

[2:58:10] help f a supplemental income

[2:58:12] to allow for them to

[2:58:13] participate in public service.

[2:58:17] S for ll that those reasons I

[2:58:20] do feel that it makes sense for

[2:58:25] the next council and and moving

[2:58:28] forward to increase the stipend

[2:58:29] for council members.

[2:58:33] >> is that your motion and I

[2:58:34] will make it for me on this

[2:58:37] borough first of all is anybody

[2:58:37] else have any further comments

[2:58:39] they would like to make on that

[2:58:40] ?

[2:58:43] >> okay, let me go you know

[2:58:44] I've been on planning

[2:58:45] commission for ten years and my

[2:58:48] kids were right at the cusp of

[2:58:51] needing somebody there at night

[2:58:52] and I decided I would just go

[2:58:54] to planning commission and I

[2:58:55] just had the phone right there

[2:58:56] and if it started going off I

[2:59:02] would have to be it not having

[2:59:03] enough money to cover daycare

[2:59:03] is a big barrier for parents

[2:59:06] with school age kids.

[2:59:10] It keeps us older than you know

[2:59:14] and I want to want to make

[2:59:15] sure that we find a way to

[2:59:18] encourage younger people to

[2:59:18] begin participating and be

[2:59:22] interested in running the

[2:59:22] council.

[2:59:23] And so I I'm supportive of

[2:59:23] this.

[2:59:26] I, I personally have a view of

[2:59:27] my husband that I keep track of

[2:59:30] what I spend and I always tell

[2:59:31] him everything but I will not

[2:59:35] go into debt to be okay.

[2:59:37] >> don't tell him I probably do

[2:59:41] so much now he's in bed in the

[2:59:41] in the bed ever again.

[2:59:44] >> yeah I agree with everything

[2:59:45] that has been said in terms of

[2:59:46] the hours commitments the

[2:59:48] nonprofits I think as it's been

[2:59:49] 25 years since it's been

[2:59:53] updated and I think the chart

[2:59:53] basically showed among

[2:59:57] comparable cities we are way

[3:00:00] down we're not keeping pace

[3:00:01] with inflation and and so when

[3:00:05] the time as appropriate I'll

[3:00:06] either make a motion or

[3:00:09] seconded and actually tricia

[3:00:09] you go back to that comparative

[3:00:12] slide if I can so while she's

[3:00:13] doing that I could make a

[3:00:16] couple of comments starting one

[3:00:20] to do the math as to what their

[3:00:22] differential is over after 20

[3:00:23] years on the kelso and there

[3:00:26] was an actual period of about

[3:00:27] eight years in which I was

[3:00:27] making less than 650 during the

[3:00:31] recession and we didn't it

[3:00:31] back.

[3:00:33] I think the other reason why

[3:00:34] this is important is it's not

[3:00:37] just because of families and

[3:00:38] you know, children at night

[3:00:41] there are jobs when if you

[3:00:42] leave the job, if you're a

[3:00:43] teacher you have to pay for

[3:00:45] your substitute and we have

[3:00:46] daytime requirements that we

[3:00:49] have to we have a burden that

[3:00:50] we if we work we have to take

[3:00:53] time off and that is also not

[3:00:56] accounted for here.

[3:00:57] And when I was considering

[3:01:00] running for city council in

[3:01:01] 2006 I asked for council

[3:01:04] members what's the time

[3:01:08] commitment and the answer and

[3:01:09] it was separate but each of

[3:01:09] them said 20 hours a week.

[3:01:12] And lastly your mayor is 40

[3:01:13] hours a week.

[3:01:16] You're underestimating what it

[3:01:17] takes to be mayor.

[3:01:17] Yeah, probably right but yeah

[3:01:20] and so you know that all adds

[3:01:23] up and it is interesting to

[3:01:26] open the publicly available pay

[3:01:27] scale for the entire city and

[3:01:28] notice that we're on the last

[3:01:34] page I guess the lowest paid

[3:01:38] work we are right?

[3:01:39] And I think again if you look

[3:01:41] at this compared to the other

[3:01:45] cities, the ones that we are in

[3:01:45] the same population I think

[3:01:46] people feel that walnut creek

[3:01:49] in general they live in a

[3:01:50] terrific city.

[3:01:54] We do the best that we can, we

[3:01:55] believe of the city first and

[3:01:55] four of us there and I know

[3:01:57] that the headline states where

[3:01:58] the percentage increases but I

[3:02:01] think that you ave to look at

[3:02:02] the percentages do not tell a

[3:02:04] true story and especially I

[3:02:04] think in this instance it

[3:02:05] wouldn't do either.

[3:02:08] It's it's an increase that

[3:02:09] would take us still below where

[3:02:11] it would be if it was if it had

[3:02:14] been indexed properly from the

[3:02:15] last time it was increased.

[3:02:22] So okay post my opportunity to

[3:02:23] say I agree with everything

[3:02:24] that's been said as the newest

[3:02:26] member of the council that was

[3:02:27] actually a bit of a surprise to

[3:02:30] me was all the money that I was

[3:02:33] spending going to events.

[3:02:34] You left out meeting people for

[3:02:37] lunch, you know the coffee?

[3:02:37] Yeah.

[3:02:38] Tere are a lot of commitments

[3:02:42] outside of what is probably

[3:02:45] perceived we're doing that our

[3:02:49] that that costs oney and so I

[3:02:50] don't think like you said

[3:02:53] anybody with this increase is

[3:02:53] going to go into this job for

[3:02:54] the money.

[3:02:56] But I do think that the meaning

[3:03:00] behind the legislation is good

[3:03:00] not not just to lower the

[3:03:04] barrier to access but to you

[3:03:07] know, try to at least somewhat

[3:03:08] keep up with the cost of living

[3:03:09] for as small as it is.

[3:03:12] So I, I also agree with all

[3:03:16] that been said on to be on the

[3:03:16] record for that and if you

[3:03:19] could put up that slide again

[3:03:26] trish people not the one with

[3:03:27] the options I feel like this is

[3:03:29] the one you are looking for.

[3:03:30] >> yeah I will move to

[3:03:33] introduce and waive the reading

[3:03:34] of the ordinance amending

[3:03:35] compensation for city of walnut

[3:03:37] creek council members from 650

[3:03:40] per month to 600 per month to

[3:03:45] be effective on DECEMBER first

[3:03:46] and I will second that as the

[3:03:46] other member who voted to have

[3:03:52] no benefit of ncluding zero

[3:03:53] yes.

[3:03:53] >> yes.

[3:03:57] Including there they were out

[3:03:59] in council just because the

[3:04:00] increase does not take effect

[3:04:03] until the council members are

[3:04:03] seated.

[3:04:04] We've made the ordinance that

[3:04:07] the increase effective DECEMBER

[3:04:08] 2nd, not DECEMBER 1st because

[3:04:11] you're seated on the first

[3:04:16] susie could call the roll these

[3:04:19] members our friends all right I

[3:04:20] darling I never did any I know

[3:04:22] I and think that we've done

[3:04:26] something for the future of

[3:04:31] walnut creek and to help people

[3:04:32] to run were they might not have

[3:04:32] been able to before by a group

[3:04:34] and totally agree my

[3:04:34] recommendation would be you

[3:04:36] know that we stay on top of it

[3:04:37] maybe every four years in terms

[3:04:40] of the inflation or you do

[3:04:40] going forward.

[3:04:41] Thank you.

[3:04:43] And with that I believe we

City Council Regular Meeting at 6 pm

Agenda

Transcript