April 15, 2025 Council Appointments Review Committee

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Transcript

[00:00:02] Member Pat Showalter: Okay, we'll do that, but so, um, even though not everyone is here for our 1st committee. It's so that it gives us time to go over the policy and some questions if we have any. So more people will come at 610. So shall we start? All right. So, uh, welcome to the council appointment review committee of April 15, 2025. We'll start, um, the roll call at 601. Committee member Ramos? Here. I'm a member, show Walter. Here. Sure, come here. Great. We have a quorum. So we'll move on to approval of minutes. Item 3.one. Our minutes. Would any member of the public joining us like to provide comment on this item? If so, please complete a speaker slip and approach the lectern. Speakers will have 3 minutes. What comment? But I am not seeing any. So I'll um, close public comment and bring it back for emotion and system. I move approval of the minutes. Do a motion by, uh, council member show alter, 2nded by Vice Mayor Ramos. So all in favor. We can just raise our hands. And that is unanimous. Great. So we'll move on to oral communications from the public. Item four. Would any member of the public in attendance like to address the committee regarding an item not on the agenda? If so, please complete a speaker slip and approach the lectern. Speakers will have 3 minutes. I am not seeing any public comment or oral communication, so I post that item, and we'll begin item 5, which is our new business. Item 51 are the committee openings. Deputy city clerk Wanda Wong will make brief remarks and then we'll proceed with review and the selection of the interview questions.

[00:01:48] Wanda Wong: I just want to let you know that BPAC applicants, John Basalia, and Lee Zhang have withdrawn their names from consideration tonight. Thank you. All

[00:02:00] Member Pat Showalter: right, so then we'll move on to public comment. Would any member of the public joining us like to provide comment on this item? If so, please click, or sorry, please, to use it. Please, um, please complete a speaker slip and approach selector. All right. All right. I am not seeing any public comment. So per the selection process outline and council policy number K2. K dash 2. Interviews will be conducted in a panel panel format. Applicants will be interviewed in groups by body. Each applicant will receive the same amount of time to answer each question, and the question selected by the committee will be asked in randomized round robin order. The committee may ask a limited number of clarifying questions in the event. An applicant's answer was unclear or otherwise not understood. Clarifying questions should not be used to allow an applicant, an additional opportunity to expand on the original response. The committee will now review and finalize questions to ask each applicant, and the time allocated for each question. Questions previously asked for each group of applicants is included in the memo from staff. That would be. And I think we're doing questions for all the bodies, right? Yes. Okay. I think at one time. Okay,

[00:03:25] Deputy City Clerk Wanda Wong: that's correct. Yeah, if you'd like to do it piecemeal or if we were to do it all now, that's fully. Okay. Or not, not

[00:03:31] Member Pat Showalter: all of our applicants are here yet. So I figure we, why don't we just go through? That seems logical, right? All the all the committee questions. Okay. So on page 2 of the staff report. For the bicycle pedestrian advisory committee. Our colleagues comfortable with the questions and the time allocations. Would you like any, uh, suggestions to changes? So, I'm assuming we would use the old ones. Yeah,

[00:04:02] Wanda Wong: I, I, for each committee. Um, what I'm wondering about is just the overall, it's just a decision beforehand and it changes normal set question. So we want broad-based questions that generally don't change over time, or do we want specific questions? So if we want broad-based questions that don't change over time, these are great, if we want something more persist- specific, I'm not wedded to either idea, but I know that break PC and then for RHC, when we had like the whole council do it, we always, we always do that, but it's not necessary. Sorry, if that makes sense. I

[00:04:40] Member Emily Ann Ramos: personally think it's it's good to kind of go with the flow. And, um, uh, so, you know, we start with these general questions and think, are they appropriate at the moment? And probably most for most committees it will be, but for some it might not, and then just change it as we need to. I don't think we need to be have a fine tooth comb. Well,

[00:05:03] Member Pat Showalter: I mean, I, so on page two, there's the 3 questions with a different time allocation. So I think that the question is, do you want to edit any of those or add them or are they

[00:05:12] Member Emily Ann Ramos: good as his? Well, I think they're pretty good. And the reason I think it's good is because the thing that has come up. Um, as kind of a, uh, an issue sometimes with the VPAC is that there's more, more bicycle and not enough pedestrian. And so I think the fact that we have one question specifically that, that, um, deals with pedestrian experiences is appropriate for that. So I think in this case this is, this is, these are fine. I think they're good. Okay. All

[00:05:41] Member Pat Showalter: right. So I think that we're in consensus on keeping the questions for BPAC. So now we'll move on to the downtown committee. Downtown property owner and or representative of the business in the downtown. So, Looks like 30 seconds, 2 minutes, one minute. Let's see.

[00:06:04] Wanda Wong: And we have one applicant for each time. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. I think we'll still need to ask that. I think they're adequate for what we're looking for in that committee. I think like, For,

[00:06:36] Member Pat Showalter: for like question one, right? Some people are, are they renewed? Or, say. Is it just the one they were new, sorry. They're both new. Okay. They're both new, right? Yeah. So it's just, why do you want to serve? Right. We'll just take... So that's the only edit. Unless anyone has anything else. If

[00:07:06] Wanda Wong: you want to do the same for BPA, too, I think there's, oh, okay. I guess my...

[00:07:12] Member Emily Ann Ramos: I always wonder about this one. How would you balance the interests of businesses with those in the community? What is really meant by that? Or maybe it's good to have it open. I dont know, but I, when I read this, I'm a little puzzled about how I, what exactly it would be. There could be a number of things.

[00:07:31] Wanda Wong: There could be a number of things. It is also really interesting to see how they would answer. Especially if they're the downtown property owner or represent. Both of them are actually. So that's, it's, it's a double thing because that's, Supposed to be what they are supposed to be there for. So that'll

[00:07:49] Member Pat Showalter: be fascinating. I'll do that. Anything more on town, so I think just crossed out, so for BPAC, they just said, why do you want to start, right? We have the, or continue to serve, right? Well, wait a second. I'm

[00:08:04] Member Emily Ann Ramos: just wondering about, um, in that 2nd one, when they give them 2 minutes. Do we want to say something about, um, what do you think of downtown? How would you improve it? And how could the city, um, assist the business community in downtown? Should we, um, add that as well? In

[00:08:23] Wanda Wong: lieu of that 3rd question and the 2nd question or

[00:08:26] Member Emily Ann Ramos: just add it to the mix. I mean, well, and again, that's not their spirit. You have 2 minutes, but... Because, you know, the downtown committee is really about the city and the business is working together. Can you repeat your question? Yeah. How, uh, how can the city assist downtown businesses? Okay.

[00:08:59] Member Pat Showalter: So for question two, 2 minutes. What do you think of downtown Mountain View? How would you improve it? How would you balance the interest of businesses with those in the community? How can the city assist downtown businesses? You know, I was thinking about question three. And I was thinking like, did we want to ask something about economic vitality? You know, so maybe instead of asking this, you know, how can the city assist downtown businesses, we ask, you know, like, pushing 3, you know, the city has been, is working on vitality. Yeah, that's cool. Uh, it gets at the same thing. you know, right? Yeah, that's good. Because I'd

[00:09:34] Member Emily Ann Ramos: be interested on... how much should you worth that? Oh, should this anymore? Or what? What are valuable components

[00:09:48] Unknown Speaker: of our economic vitality program?

[00:09:52] Wanda Wong: I hope that they know about it. Like, it's a start off statement. The city is working on an economic vitality strategy. Okay. Okay. Okay. Yeah,

[00:10:02] Member Pat Showalter: okay, the city has an economic. I not a member. I hope to be. Vitality. It used to be on the visor. Uh-huh. Yes.

[00:10:13] Elma: So he has living fatality strategy. And... No,

[00:10:19] Member Pat Showalter: it's just that you're, how can maybe, maybe one minute. I'm so sorry. The meat. I'm so sorry. the meeting started. We're just in the question portion. Yeah. No worries, no worries. Yeah, no worries. We're not on the interviewing you yet, but we're deciding on all the questions we're going to ask all of the commissions. Thank you. Okay, so one minute, the city has an economic vitality strategy. How can the city assist downtown business? Maybe like that? Oh, sounds good. Sure. Is that okay? Yeah. Okay. All right. Okay, moving on to performing arts committee. Um. All right. I

[00:11:01] Michelle: like... That's nice. Anything fun? Uh Yeah,

[00:11:14] Member Emily Ann Ramos: I think this is, I think this is. Yeah, question 2 is great. Yeah, I think we should. Good job.

[00:11:22] Member Pat Showalter: Okay. See, okay, so I think the performing arts fishes are good. We'll move on to senior advisory. Anything on here? Let's see. I think those are good too. Yeah. I mean, I think, you know, obviously this was like a had a lot of council discussion. So I wonder like, um, Maybe that gets a question three, you know, would you like to just like the, What would you like to see the senior advisory committee do? Yeah, because it's

[00:12:03] Member Emily Ann Ramos: really being kind of reconstituted. Yeah, and um. It's finding itself.

[00:12:08] Member Pat Showalter: Yeah. and that's that's good. Okay. All right. Any other, did I miss any questions or anything? All right. So, um... Now that we finalize the questions and the time for interviews, the committee will now interview the applicants for the Visco pedestrian advisory committee. So let's see. We have. Are they all here? I do not think so. But they were told 610. And it is...

[00:12:46] Member Emily Ann Ramos: Yeah, 614. Is anybody in the hall? Can you see? Is anybody out there in the halls? You can go look. Sometimes people help them in. Yeah. Oh, so then I.

[00:13:05] Wanda Wong: Wait. Nobody's at all. Stop in the someone. Thank you. You're welcome. Well. Hey. Okay,

[00:13:20] Member Pat Showalter: is that all? Is that okay? It's a join, then we can rotate

[00:13:26] Member Emily Ann Ramos: them in. I did hear that there was some sort of an error email set out today about things being canceled. Did you? Oh that was true. So, filming arts can major. Tomorrow night? Ah, okay. Okay. There's one.

[00:13:42] Donna Castillo: So that depends, so that wouldn't have

[00:13:43] Member Pat Showalter: any. Beat that. All right. What is it? Yeah. You're

[00:13:47] Public Speaker: set up hardship. So

[00:13:48] Member Pat Showalter: I think your knee should be a bit of pool. I

[00:13:51] Public Speaker: have blue vision, so I... Okay, no problem. Okay, great. But

[00:13:56] Member Pat Showalter: feedback, right? Okay, perfect. Welcome. Welcome. Okay, great. Thank you. Okay. So, Jenny. So much. Okay, okay. Okay, we're only missing 2 now. Okay. All right, so the committee will now, um, interview the applicants. So let's see, um, and then, as was mentioned, John Vasala and Lee Zing withdrew their applications. So we will be with the questions and then for the order. Okay. Okay. So I think we'll start with Peggy, and then we'll go this way, and then we'll go back around. That's our that'll be our randomized order. And then for the 3rd question. We're just gonna have to see. Maybe we'll start with the middle and go around. But we might have more people by then. So, okay, so, uh, we'll start with you, Hank, if you don't mind. And then, do you know, I mean, charming. Okay. And this is Heather. She's our city clerk. She will time you. So for 30 seconds. Um, why do you want to serve on the bicycle pedestrian advisory committee? Well, this is a tough question for me. Um, it

[00:15:12] Hank: would be the beginning, I think that would be a good time for you to do this right now, but, I mean, I have a biker, and I think that, um, the most important thing for being a safe biker here is that not about the streets. It's more about letting people understand what they're doing, you know? And so when they're biking, I know I'm biking, but with the drivers, you know? And so my purpose here is not really to do, you know, to do the streets. You know, like safe, you know, safe streets, or like, um, road. But it's more like, well, like, uh, leaving the drivers end.

[00:15:46] Member Pat Showalter: Okay. I know 30 seconds goes very fast. Okay. So, um, Chassis, why do you want to serve on the bicycle pedestrian advisory committee? Um, I pretty

[00:15:57] Public Speaker: much exclusively get around Mountain View by bike, walking, transit. So I think I'd bring a unique perspective, um, to the B-Pack. I think most people here have bike and drive sometimes, as it is currently. And I also want to, um, prioritize things other than infrastructure. So, policy in addition to infrastructure. Thank you. Uh, Eater. Why

[00:16:22] Member Pat Showalter: do you want to serve on the bicycle pedestrian advisory committee? Um, I

[00:16:27] Public Speaker: have low vision, so I can't drive. I, Walk and bike use public transit. My partner has buscular dystrophy. She uses a power wheelchair. That's how we get around. We can't drive. Um, I think DPAC needs the perspective of disabled people. Um, sorely missing, just as an example, one of the documents attached this meeting was not accessible, and I tried to read it with a screen reader. And so, I think, really bring respect to a new perspective that's really needed. Thank you. Okay. Um,

[00:17:05] Member Pat Showalter: do you, is it Stefan, Stefan? Okay. Stefan Moss. Thank you. Okay, so, Stefan, why do you want to serve on the bicycle pedestrian advisory committee? Having

[00:17:15] Stefan Moss: lived in Mountain View in 3 different locations across the city for 25 years, I've walked cycled, and of course, driven all over the city. More recently, I work for a company that makes pedestrian and cyclist automated counters. And so, I'm working with the city of San Jose currently. So I have a unique position in terms of working with public works in the city of San Jose, uh, parks. Um, and so I've learned a lot about how to function in a city environment to get all parties involved. To make decisions for all. Thank you.

[00:17:50] Member Pat Showalter: Okay, that, Michael, why do you want to serve on the bicycle pedestrian advisory committee? I'm

[00:17:57] Michael: the mechanical engineer with a strong interest in urban design, and I believe that great cities are defined by great streets. I've studied the works of Jane Jacobs, the whole Chu Charles Mahon. And I stay current throughout urbanist literature and videos. And I want to bring a technical insight, a human centered perspective to the committee, helping shape streets that make walking and biking, not just possible, but inviting and enjoyable parts of everyday life in Mountain View. Yeah. All

[00:18:24] Member Pat Showalter: right, so we'll move. We'll start with Michael and then go back around. And so this time you'll have much more time. You'll get a whole 2 minutes. What are the most important issues facing the bicycle pedestrian advisory committee? And how would you resolve that?

[00:18:39] Michael: One of the most important issues facing the bicycle and pedestrian advisory committee is the gap between the city's vision 0 goals and the realities of infrastructure, jurisdiction, and design standards, particularly along the high injury corridor like El Camino, in which the city has limited jurisdiction and applying changes due to Caltran's ownership. The city is trying to eliminate fatalities and serious injuries, but the most dangerous segment of our network remain largely outside the city authority. This creates a disconnect between our ambitions and our tools. Compounding this is a tendency both locally and statewide to focus on minimum safety standards, rather than designing for true comfort, dignity, dignity, and accessibility ability. Sidewalks, mainly code, but still feel unsafe or unpleasant. Crossings may be legal, but they are still high stress. In these conditions, many people simply opt out of walking and biking altogether. I believe the committee should focus on systemic solutions, 1st by actively pushing for design, excellence, over compliance, supporting wider sidewalks, protected intersections, and pedestrian 1st signal timing. Second, by helping coordinate with multi-jurisdictional pressure on Caltrans, with the goal of relinquishment of the state route. And third, by elevating the lived experience of residents, through more pursatory engagement and data driven assessment. Vision 0 isn't just about reducing numbers. It's a tool among others for us to transform how people move through and feel in their city. We need to design a public realm where safety is filled, not just measured, and we're walking and biking are not just accommodated, but invited. Hey,

[00:20:11] Member Pat Showalter: Stefan, what are the most important issues facing the bicycle pedestrian advisory committee and how would you resolve them? Uh, Given

[00:20:20] Stefan Moss: the fact that vision 0 was established uh, as a priority for the city, I think back in 2019, Uh, it's obviously a very big goal that's very aspirational, but there are many cities that are larger than the city amount of view that have achieved. Uh, I believe that that overall generates a better, uh, focus, if you everybody's focused on vision zero, then what are those steps to get there? There's a lot of complexities, as mentioned earlier, between different jurisdictions, whether B, Caltrans or county, well, we don't have county pros here, but, um, in terms of trying to make decisions and you have to have a pragmatic approach to it and very inclusive, but, uh, the focus is really to become this model for, you know, a mid-sized, livable city that's the most comfortable, enjoyable, and desirable in terms of getting around for all where a priority is around active transportation. Right now, the city is not there. Um, and uh, enabling that with primarily, Walking first. I am a cyclist, but to me, I focus on pedestrians 1st because it's a larger set of folks. And we can enable, uh, safer corners, safer intersections, uh, through data and through getting more involvement with a larger set of folks, uh, than we do today when we do surveys. I think it would go farther and have a more inclusive approach to be able to prioritize, because I think one of the biggest challenges I see with the BPAC is a constant look at how do they prioritize and maybe finding a simpler approach to being more efficient prioritizing, if you're getting more data to help that prioritization, that has more justification. Um, and I think it's, you know, all done through collaboration, empathy, uh, for the people that are citizens, um, and inclusion. So it really has to be focused on everybody and equity has to be, like, 1st foremost in that, and sometimes that's very hard to balance. I have a career in product management, which is focused on getting constituents who don't agree to agree. So I have a special, um, experience doing that in a leadership role for many years that I think I can apply here. Thank you.

[00:22:23] Member Pat Showalter: Peter, same question. Unless you want me to do, would you want me to repeat it? Now I got it. thanks Okay. Um, I

[00:22:31] Peter: think the biggest issue we face is political will and like the size of people's imagination. to radically transform the transportation infrastructure that we have and how people are moving around. Um, Not just in the public, but also like in city employees. I think we've all spent our entire lives totally steep in the last several decades of, you know, heavily car oriented development. And it's, it's very hard for us to get outside of that perspective and have a, a bigger imagination about what we could have. I think when I, when I talk to people in the community, when I come to VVAC meetings and hear people making comment or, you know, city employees. I think most people have the, have good intentions. Um, but are often making excuses for the status quo because they can't quite imagine how much better could be. Um, I think I can do about that is continue to advocate for how amazing our infrastructure our city could be. Um, I, my partner, have a YouTube channel where we make videos about what it's like for us as disabled people to encounter the building environment, how bad it is. And show these little things where, um, these places where things have actually been changed for the better and how, how amazing it is and how it enables us to do something that we can't do in so many places. Yeah. Jesse,

[00:24:26] Member Pat Showalter: say, question. Yeah. So,

[00:24:28] Jesse: and talking to my friends and family in Mountain View, I just realize that people don't feel comfortable walking and biking to Mountain View, even taking public transit with uncomfortable stops, um, that don't have amenities, so that's a big issue. Um, I do think we should move to pedestrian for signaling, like we've seen in other cities nearby. And, uh, as I said before, policy is kind of my 1st, uh, thing I want to emphasize, I think that needs to be improved to make our infrastructure actually safe and usable. I've seen firsthand like multimillion dollar bike projects like the one just completed on El Camino. We put a ton of money into that to make safe bike lanes, but then when I try to ride on it, I encounter like 3 cars on a rope park in the bike lane, where there are no parking signs, clearly stated. And this happens on California, many of our pipelines. We have Uber Lyft, landscapers, movers, UPS, Amazon, even MVPD is like, oh, this is my parking spot, the bike lane. I can park here. And the 2nd someone blocks it, then all that safety and all that money. It goes out the window and it's kind of a waste because now cyclists have to go left into high-speed traffic. They're putting themselves at risk, and they can get hit. So we need enforcement. And the other thing is reducing traffic to North Bay Shore. I just saw recently an article on that by how we're way behind on our goals as a city. And, you know, if we get some good usable, um, safe bike lands on, um, shoreline and ranch store going towards the North Bay Shore, then can definitely help meet our goals. I'd

[00:25:58] Peggy: say, well, I actually have some of the similar policy, uh, motivations that he does. Uh, I believe in the policies are very important. And then without any policies, you know, uh, nobody, there's, there wouldn't be any kind of uniformity. But there had to be something more than just policies because without, you have policies, but without any people following the policies, without people knowing the policies, you can't get to the 2nd stage. The 2nd stage is what really drives the safety of these policies and any kind of a rules on the on the streets. Because if you don't have these human behavior, human people knowing what they're doing. Okay, how they're being interacted, how they're being, you know, seen by other people, how they're actually being not fearful when they're driving, or the rules and the regulations. Then the safety is just gonna be plopped. So for me, as a biker. I also have disabilities. I don't want to say it. a neurological disorder. And so I drive all the time. But, uh, you know, being able to, I know the policies very well, but if the driver doesn't know the policies and just follow through without kind of an intention. Then that sort of defeats the purpose. So that knowledge of the policies is a 2nd stage. I believe the advisory committee really needs a fault. And activities has to be done. And that's going to be going to my 3rd customer idea. Great.

[00:27:21] Member Pat Showalter: Thank you. All right. Um, and just checking is Christian, anyone back there, Christian? Nope. Okay. All right. Um, I still don't see Celia, but okay, so we will move on to the last question, and I think just to do round Robin, we'll start with Peter, and then we'll go Stefan Michael, and I guess go back around. That's all right with everyone just to, uh, try to, uh, keep it. So, Peter, we'll start with you for one minute. What are the most realistic things we can do to improve the pedestrian experience? Yeah,

[00:27:59] Peter: I think apart from the obvious things like replacing old carb ramps and making sidewalks wider and stuff? There's stuff we can do for like very little cost, like changing the software of the pedestrian crises. See, all the time people, uh, pedestrians, you know, crossing the street when they're, when the signal says they're not supposed to, because the timing is so out of whack. Um, and we could, we could have so many easy wins by having investering leading interval signals and, um, and just fixing timings all, all over the city. Um, Another big thing I think we could do is increase awareness of ASCMB, um, to get more feedback, I think the BPAC doesn't get enough, you know, they have the reviews of the ASCMV. I think we don't get enough feedback from people, get added to things like the city newsletter or put signs up around intersections. Hey, tell us what to make better. Oh, the easy things to do. You. All right, step home. I think most

[00:29:05] Stefan Moss: importantly, is to get more active input from more pedestrians and more walkers. Um, uh, in terms of where to prioritize any infrastructure work, but as well as just general, maybe more, um, public safety, um, action that has been done in the past is sort of, you know, traffic calm in areas where there have been pedestrian near misses, um, or actual accidents in the past. But I think it's important to try to start to gather more data around where pedestrians paths are, um, and walkers paths are because to get downtown from wherever they live and sort of start to develop heat maps to understand where people are and aren't going and why they aren't going to, to those certain, or if they aren't using those certain paths. And using those, using that to really help prioritize where we build buildouts and where we put more infrastructure because there's very limited amount of money to be spent on infrastructure. So you want to use it to create the best paths for the most people. Right.

[00:30:07] Wanda Wong: You? Like, older. Um,

[00:30:10] Michael: to quickly and easily improve the pedestrian experience, we can prioritize pedestrians at signalized street intersections. Today, traffic signals treat pedestrians as equal priority vehicles, forcing them to wait through long cycles at loud, high stress intersections. That's rain crossings, like seeing a Dana and Shoreline, already give immediate priority. However, they lack the feel and safety that a controlled intersection provides. This kind of reconfiguration is low cost. We already know the signals can be reprogrammed, even the voice props. And the impact on vehicle traffic is minimal, especially when pedestrian movement can align with non-conflicting cross traffic. If we want walking to be a real transportation choice, we need to send a consistent message that pedestrians are not just permitted, they're prioritized. Thank you. Then

[00:30:53] Member Pat Showalter: we'll do Peggy and then we'll end the test.

[00:30:56] Peggy: Well, for me, most again, this is the same thing. Transparency is very important. Uh, Pedestrians, uh, bikers, uh, drivers are like transparency of what the advisory committee is doing, that there's actually this uh, committee existing in Mountain View that's helping them, will actually, uh, will actually help industrians, help the drivers, help the bikers, know that uh, they are being cared for. Because there are, there's, I see on the Castro Street, there's, these bike signs, all no bikers on the, in the middle of the Castro Street, but people still do it. You know, people bikers, they still go on. And to me, you know, pedestrian's not going to feel safe. And so they have that sign over there, but it's not transparent enough for them to know. For them to know, meaning, like, giving them some sort of a, um, confirmation, some sort of a safety guarantee that they, that they can actually feel safe, letting their kids there without a biker or one of those, you know, I see it all the time. Those Michael going up, you know, those kids biking up. That's, that's, uh, that's one thing. And, uh, And the whole, as and the, sorry. Thank you. Okay. Jesse. Hey,

[00:32:05] Jesse: uh, so a couple things, I think, um, to help pedestrians get around and feel comfortable walking, we should um, a lot at high traffic intersections, you know, Global warming is a thing. We have, uh, we're gonna have more and more uh, heat waves in the summer and on those hot summer days. I just see people like, you know, trying to stand behind the thin shade of like a pole or something and that makes it really uncomfortable to walk outside. Um, we should consider no right front on red in more high risk areas. I've seen, um, some places where like the newer intersection at San Antonio, um, in California, where cars are allowed to turn red on red, and the San that says yield to pedestrians, they don't, they just nudging their way into people, and I see that kind of thing all the time, and it makes it just really uncomfortable a lot. Um, so that's why we need enforcement, again. There's many cars that park too close to ramps intersections that reduce visibility or even block the intersection so that if you are trying to roll down it on a wheelchair or something or you have a walker, then you can't cross. That happens on a pretty regular basis on my street. And I know you're supposed to report it with S Mountain View, but I think we need proactive information.

[00:33:11] Member Pat Showalter: Thanks. Thanks. Okay. All right. Well, um, that concludes our BPAC interviews. Thank you all so much for your time. We're gonna do all the interviews and then deliberate at the, at the end of all of our interviews, for all the different questions. So, we want to thank you. Then nobody mentioned our active transportation plan. So I wanted to share that we have our ATP and so hopefully that will be, you know, opportunities for a lot of the things that you talked about and that community input. So thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you. All right, the next committee. Are the downtown committee applicants? Miracle's coming up now. I'm gonna go open the door. Okay. Thank you. Have a great night. Yes. Bye, it's Fatisha. Oh, you're doing today. Bye, bye. I think we're just waiting for Marisol, right? She, she was opening the door for her. Yeah. She like. Well, I'll read. I'll read and hopefully she'll start working out because we have other people waiting too. All right. The committee will now, uh, interview the applicants for the downtown committee for downtown property owner and our representative of a business in the downtown seat. We have Sean Foreman for a downtown property owner and representative of a business in the downtown downtown business association seat. We have. Marisol Malia. Oh, she's trying to get online. So she said she needs to talk to work. Okay. Shall I proceed or? Okay. Alright. Thanks for your peace, man, John. No problem. There's

[00:36:14] Wanda Wong: only 2 of them do it back and forth. Because, like, how we did it, because we didn't have to go in the middle, because there's only 2 of them that's. Oh.

[00:36:28] Member Pat Showalter: I just... I just... We just need to get her. Okay, great. Marisol,

[00:36:52] Marisol: are you here? I

[00:36:54] Member Pat Showalter: am. Thank you. Okay. Great. Okay, so we're gonna do, I think, um, it has to go round Robin per our council policy. So I think I'll start with Sean and then I'll ask you, and then I'll ask you the 2nd question and then back to Sean. It's just gonna have to go back and forth, okay? No

[00:37:14] Marisol Malia: worries. And this is for the downtown committee, correct? Because I just see there's so many tonight. Yes. Okay, perfect. Yep,

[00:37:20] Member Pat Showalter: it's your turn. We've been waiting for you. Okay. All right. So um, The questions are, so we'll start with Sean, thank you again for your patience. Why do you want to serve on the downtown committee and you have 30 seconds. Um,

[00:37:39] Sean: cool. Well, so I've been a business owner for the last 3 years in downtown. I've been sort of getting involved with the community. Our business in particular is very involved in creating communities. Um, I like seeing how the downtown vibe changes as we have like different events and I think that's, It'd be great to open up a dialogue between the city and um, all of the businesses so we can align our goals. Great. Oh,

[00:38:06] Member Pat Showalter: yeah, now we see you. Okay. Wonderful. Wonderful. Okay, wrestle your turn. 30 seconds. Why do you want to serve on the downtown committee?

[00:38:13] Marisol Malia: Um, well, as the current downtown business association director, I want to continue to uh, support and advocate the businesses to reach their goals in getting more foot traffic out in downtown, um, to bring more family activities downtown and, um, just be an advocate between them and the city. Great,

[00:38:36] Member Pat Showalter: thanks. Okay, we're gonna stick with you, okay? Okay, go. All right. Because it's just the 2 of you, so let's go back and forth. Okay, so for 2 minutes, what do you think of downtown Mountain View, how would you improve it? And how would you balance the interests of businesses with those of the community? Um,

[00:38:54] Marisol Malia: I think downtown Mountain View is, it's up and coming, especially considering the, the, you know, the close streets since COVID. Um, I think that sorry, what was the 2nd question? How would you improve it? Oh, I, you know, uh, something that the businesses are looking for is to have more events downtown and having an easier way to accomplish that. Um, so, you know, how do we work with the city so that permitting is easier, how do we, um, how do we bring others, but also, you know, smaller things like restrooms, like how do we, you know, how do we add more options for attendees and guests, um, so it doesn't all fall on the businesses? Um, And there was a 3rd question. was

[00:39:50] Member Pat Showalter: how would you balance the interests of businesses with those of the community? Oh,

[00:39:55] Marisol Malia: yes. Um, again, continuing to have more events that bring people into the businesses and have, um, and kind of just tell their stories. So, you know, businesses, you know, are we have small businesses, mom and pops, less larger anchor stores, um, and, you know, the community wants to continue to support those businesses. And so having more options out there would be very beneficial. Thanks. All

[00:40:27] Member Pat Showalter: right, Sean, same trio questions. Do you need me to repeat them? Okay.

[00:40:31] Sean Foreman: Um, so I actually, uh, have never seen Castro not blockaded 4 pedestrians? I think it was a controversial decision, but I actually support it. I don't think it's influenced the downtown traffic that much. I think it's a really great thing to have a walkable area, so I think Castro is great. Um, I agree with the events, uh, we definitely see the difference in the foot traffic between days when there's nothing going on and like, you know, Oktoberfist is huge. The beer and wine festival is huge, and just having more of those events and maybe, I've even heard some businesses say, well, what can we do on a week day to bring people in? That's a little bit more community oriented. Most of our events we see are on. weekends, which is great, but Pestro is always full on weekends anyway. Okay,

[00:41:22] Member Pat Showalter: so we'll stick with you. This is the last question. Oh, so it's for one minute. The city has an economic vitality strategy. How can the city assist downtown businesses? Yeah,

[00:41:35] Sean Foreman: I think the hard question is, what do people come to Kestra Street 4. We do have a lot of restaurants, which is great, but if you're not coming down to eat, uh, what are you coming for? So we've got, um, the toy company that's somewhere on Castro Street, we also have us. We also have those games that are, um, on the street. I think those are great ways to bring people in. Um, I think there was a downtown precise plan that talked about what kind of restaurants, what kind of retail is allowed. I guess I would love to see a more comprehensive plan about what else can we add to downtown that isn't restaurants that would really be interesting to take your family to, take your friends to? Um, we've also noticed that downtown gets pretty quiet after 9 PM. Um, what's a good thing that we could bring to downtown that isn't, say, a nightclub that would actually be fun to go to at 9 o'clock with the friends. So, do you want me to repeat it? Um,

[00:42:37] Marisol Malia: no, I think I got it. Thank you. Um, well, one major thing would be streamlining any like permit processes to help, uh, you know, if it's improving their business or adding more to their business, um, but also making it easier for businesses to start up in downtown, I believe right now there are, you know, various rules with, um, some feel, not a whole lot of rhyme to the reason, and it would, it kind of blocks adding some anchor stores that would Bring more business downtown and not necessarily impact the businesses that are currently in there. So not taking away from who is in downtown, but just being able to add more to bring more. Great.

[00:43:23] Member Pat Showalter: Thank you. Okay, that was our last question. So, um, thank you both. We're gonna deliberate after all of the interviews and our city clerk's office. We'll be in touch. Okay. Have a good night. Bye. Thank you. So next up is... Yeah, keep it. Thank you. The committee will now interview the applicants for the performing arts committee, and I believe there are three, but there are 3 in the audience. I

[00:44:06] Valerie: want to. The public can't get onto the. Have the interviews. Inquiring a soon sort of get into? I don't. We

[00:44:18] Deputy City Clerk Wanda Wong: can stop it and start again, like, she's like... Uh,

[00:44:23] Member Pat Showalter: so people are wanting to be, you have somebody who's wanting to get on that can't get on. The public cannot. Are you in the meeting? Sure. So if the group wants, we can take a pause and they'll have to restart the whole zoom. I

[00:44:41] Public Speaker: don't have anyone who wants to get on. I'm happy to pause. But we can

[00:44:46] Member Pat Showalter: pause. Yeah, I, it's not, we'll start with, is it eating enough? eating a, then we'll go with eating a, and then go around that way. Does that sound like okay for everybody? All right, perfect. All right. So we'll start with Valerie. Why do you want to serve on the performing arts committee? 30 seconds. All

[00:45:01] Valerie: right. I've been, uh, it has been my great pleasure to serve on the bicycle pedestrian advisory committee for the last 8 years. I did term out in December. I am very passionate about performing arts. I have been singing, dancing, doing magic tricks since I was 4 or 5 years old. I performed in many Bay Area theaters, including some semi-professional touring theaters as well. I love to sing, dance, but most of all, I love to see how things come together in the background. And I have loved seeing shows in our performing art space here, and I want to see what I can do as a resident to bring this facility really to life. And I think just, even based on the last set of interviews, to help bring more people downtown for other things besides restaurants. Great. Thank you. Okay.

[00:45:50] Member Pat Showalter: Eating nuts, you?

[00:45:52] Irina: So, uh, similar interests. I really passionate about arts, and I have been singing and dancing, and I am part of Stanford Symphony, Corus, um, at the moment, and I'm author at San Francisco Symphony. And also, uh, have been an usher at um, West Bay Opera. And my professional expertise is relevant in terms of negotiating contractual agreements and ownership provision, IP ownership and brand guidelines for creative artists and executive producers of the shows. And I have extensive.

[00:46:30] Member Pat Showalter: Oh, thank you. That was the timer. Thank you. Okay, answer that? Hi,

[00:46:34] Public Speaker: I'm also very passionate about performing arts. I've been working in the performing arts sector for over 15 years as a performer, an educator and an administrator and a presenter, so I feel I bring a unique perspective to the city. Um, And especially, um, focused on the multicultural community and have worked in that specific area for many years. And, um, I would love to shape what the cultural fabric of the performing arts scene is looks like and not be. Thank

[00:47:05] Member Pat Showalter: you. All right, so we'll stick with you. So the 2nd question, you get 2 minutes. Describe your vision of the cultural scene and artistic desires of Mountain View and surrounding communities. Okay,

[00:47:18] Public Speaker: great. So like I said, my focus has been on the multicultural arts, and that's community that's, you know, driven highly by passion, but very limited resources and often easy artistic directors wearing, you know, many hats, and I feel like the resources of a city or um, a place like MVCPA could go a really long way for small to mid-size organizations. Uh, short-term vision I have that I recently learned falls under parks and recreation, not so much, um, performing arts is that I'd love to see for our outdoor weekly performances, um, music concerts. I'd love to have a Bollywood and beyond night. We have a large South Asian community, and I think you'd be a great way to, um, not only bring in, of course, the music aspect, but bring in, you know, artisans, like henna, artists, and, um, local handicrafts, and, of course, food trucks, and use that as a model to, um, then do with other, um, multicultural, um, arts and music forms. Um, on a long term, um, I'd love to, uh, establish ongoing relationships, again, with, um, some of the really well-established, uh, cultural dance forms that we have in the South Bay and peninsulas, specifically, and it's, the South Bay is really unique in that we've had these dance companies and music organizations that've been around for decades. It's very different than the San Francisco dance and art scene. And, um, and I think the multicultural festival that we, the city puts on is a great, um, you know, platform, but it's more geared towards amateurs and students. And so to be able to give that platform at the main stage, or the 2nd stage, to professional dats and music organizations, and perhaps, you know, look at doing a, um, music and dance festival similar to what we have in San Mateo with the Peninsula Dats Festival. Thank

[00:49:15] Member Pat Showalter: you. Okay, Irina.

[00:49:17] Irina: Um, so I recently um, attended several performances. Oh,

[00:49:21] Member Pat Showalter: sorry, we'll start, we'll restart for you. Sorry.

[00:49:24] Irina: Sorry. Yeah, so I'm impressed with the current program. So I recently saw, um, the Rakmanina Fitzazar, performed by Hershey Feldman, and I'd like to continue that traditional plus to introduce more like a diversity, uh, multicultural aspects, of course, and then, um, partner with other organizations like the works of Silicon Valley. Um, West Bay Opera, San Francisco Symphony, and perhaps introduce that element of variety of performances. Uh, plus, um, maybe art exhibits, uh, what about Legion of Honor, Dion Museum? Because I'm sure uh, many mountain new residents would appreciate not having to drive to San Francisco for those exhibits and uh, um, yeah, San Jose has fantastic theater uh, options and uh, maybe we can alternate to have our venue here as an option for them to display data once again. I'd like to continue tradition, to invite international producers and artistic directors like Hershey Feldman from Florence. Um, so that's, That's my, my, my thinking about. Thank

[00:50:41] Valerie: you. So I very similar to the other folks on this panel, I'd like to really expand the programming that we have here currently. The idea I spoke with a former member, John McAllister, about the, the Mountain View presents. How can we bring in our own unique programming, uh, leverage other things that are happening around, of course, there's the great, um, musicals that we all like to see, like to get those performances in, get consider getting touring theater companies in. We have our home theater company. We have theater works. They also perform in a very, very small theater in Palo Alto. caught several theaters there with no parking and no restaurants around. And I look at what we have to offer here and how do we negotiate those deals with theater works. How do we help them bring in the audiences here? Um, different types of programming, clearly from the current programming. You have children and families is an important, Avenue for this. We used to have the lyric theater, did Discovery series in the 2nd stage. I've also seen like last 5 years and other smaller productions put on there, little concertos. Back in the day, Mountain View used to actually activate both spaces, the 2nd stage and the main stage, and so it was a great opportunity to bring a lot of people into this area. I think when I also hear folks talking about the business area, that's, you know, what I do in my real life as well is with contracts and finances, I was considering becoming a partner in the Gaslighter Theater for where I performed for about 5 years, which so I looked into the business, the day-to-day operations, how to keep that afloat. Uh, in that business. I really, um, think we can do a lot more here. For example, when I was in college, our small auditorium, the Elliott auditorium, and pretty university. I saw bands like Duran Duran, um, came in, Pearl Jam came in, cranberries, um, pretty large bands at the time. This is the 1990s, but it really enlivened that part of the campus and brought people in. And I think we could see something like that happening here. Great.

[00:52:49] Member Pat Showalter: Thank you. All right. Well, we're down to our last question. So, you know, we'll start with you, then we'll go to Antada, and then we'll come back to Valerie. So for one minute. What do you think the priorities of the committee in the coming few years? What, oh, sorry, what do you think should be the priorities of the committee? Uh,

[00:53:10] Irina: well, so to bring, um, more balance to our community and to secure, um, new partnerships that would bring varieties. Uh, to, um, maintain community, um, diets, and, uh, invite more volunteers, uh, encourage people to participate and, uh, obtain the ideas, maybe make the surveys and distribute and mount a new voice, and, uh, see if we can have communities, uh, voice what kind of performances they like to see.. Um,

[00:53:51] Public Speaker: So I would love to focus on. I think it was an agenda item that had been brought up earlier, which was trying to see how the 2nd stage could be made more accessible to smaller organizations, and my focus, of course, being the multicultural mid to small size organizations. I can attest myself. I have presented at MVCPA myself, and I know what the challenges were for someone small org like myself, and how maybe that could be, um, changed or worked around so that we can bring in, um, like I said, a lot of these smaller organizations, they work in silos, like an Indian community will perform for an Indian audience. So if we can start laying the groundwork perhaps for a festival at the, at the NVCPA that can bring in your more larger professional companies. And, um, I'd also love to see how we can utilize the amphitheater space behind MVCPA that, um, seems like a really underutilized space. So

[00:54:53] Valerie: for, uh, similar, I really think we can focus on using the full spaces that we have in writing, drawing groups, other organizations. I look at theaters like the South Bay Musical Theater and West Valley Light Opera, they perform in a, Very small, the Saratoga Civic Center, which is very small, isolated, again, not near any businesses, restaurants, anything of that sort. And, uh, they pack the house there and what kind of productions could we bring in here to keep that viable? I, uh, recently was able to see the ballet up in San Francisco and really appreciated the very diverse audience that was able to come in for that. I think different types of events that we could leverage and really activating that 2nd stage space and whether it be with, you know, um, piano, leg, karaoke nights or something, like, we could be a little more clever with it. and just really help encourage smaller groups to come perform here so we can keep it active. Right? Well,

[00:55:55] Member Pat Showalter: thank you very much. That concludes our question. So we will deliberate after our interviews. Thank you very much for joining us. Thank you very much, council members. Thank you. Thank you, Wanda, good night. Thank you. All right. We will now move on to, um, interview the applicants for the senior advisory committee. If you're an applicant for the senior advisory committee, please feel free to come forward. But you're, okay. Those which of us. I think we are missing one person. Yes.

[00:56:52] Unknown Speaker: Ruth gonna be able to come? She, she, she kind of, kind of, English and flies. But

[00:57:01] Irina: still wants to recommend in discussion. She

[00:57:05] Deputy City Clerk Wanda Wong: did not. Okay. Thank you. Okay. All

[00:57:11] Member Pat Showalter: right, everyone, ready? Okay, so as I mentioned, you probably heard we have to do round robin, so we'll start on one end, then we'll go the other way. And then the 3rd one will just, it'll probably be between Donna and Michelle and we'll just go around. Sound okay? All right. So, Elma's been at this table the whole time, so, Elma, we'll start with you, huh? Okay, so, uh, the 1st question is 30 seconds and you'll hear the the timer go off. Why do you want to serve on the senior advisory committee?

[00:57:41] Elma: Because I founded this group something like 13 or 14 years ago. Have seen it, thrive, and then die back, thrive, and then die back. And I would like a third time trying to get going again. Um, I don't live in Mountain View at the moment. I am really trying to change that. Um, and I would, I, Seniors is my current passion.

[00:58:04] Elma: Thank you. Hey, Michelle, same question. Wow.

[00:58:08] Michelle: Hello. Now that I'm retired, I find I have lots of time to spend on my interests, I currently volunteer at the senior center, so I get to listen to a lot of chatters. And, uh, So I thought this should be a good way to uh, spend my time serving the community, getting a little more involved since, um, I just retired. I'm not going to say just for a couple of years. And uh, very busy then and now I've got time. I work with pets, and seniors.

[00:58:45] Donna Castillo: Thank you. All right, Donna, same question.

[00:58:48] Donna Castillo: Sure. I'm Donna Castillo. I want to be on the seniors commission to really act as an advocate for the seniors. I did that for the city of San Jose. I was vice sheriff for their commission, moved to Mount View, and I really want to focus on the area in which I live in every day. So that's really important to me. Thank you. All

[00:59:07] Member Pat Showalter: right. And Cassandra?

[00:59:09] Cassandra: So, I'm interested in serving the senior advisory committee. I'm going to be candid. I did not grow up with seniors of my life. My office, I didn't grow up with my grandparents or anything, but now that I'm seeing kind of aging effect. My mom personally, I am seeing kind of the effects and how readily available resource should be for seniors. And also through my day job, I work at a services agency where we primarily serve seniors, although that's not all the people we serve. So I think right now I really want to help Mountain View, kind of get our seniors online as fast as we can. I think it's really important. Thank

[00:59:44] Member Pat Showalter: you. All right, and we'll stick with you for our 2nd question, Cassandra. So one minute. What do you think would be likely areas, a particular focus for you on the committee?

[00:59:56] Cassandra: I think for me, and I did look at the work plan, I kind of want to see a little bit more access to technology for seniors. Um, there was a lot of conversations in the work plan about, um, next door and, you know, those aren't apps that. Um, I have seen a lot of seniors be able to connect with. and be able to kind of live active lives. I think connecting seniors digitally would help a lot with the isolation and loneliness apart from the senior center. I believe the senior center is really good. But being online and being able to connect even with family members that don't live here is super important because a lot of our singers, unfortunately, they face a lot of loneliness. And being connected with other seniors is great, but I think intergenerational connections is really important, especially when we're gonna see seniors kind of rise up in the ranks and need more resources, but we don't see a lot of children here as much or we don't see a lot of that intergenerational connection between seniors. Um, so that that's mostly what I kind of want to work on. I also just want to create more spaces where they can live social lives. So yeah.

[01:01:00] Unknown Speaker: Thank you. Donna.

[01:01:03] Donna Castillo: I think I agree with a lot of what Cassandra's saying. Getting technology into the hands of the seniors is super important, but we also have to understand their methods of communication. So is that something that they would readily adapt, or is this something that, um, like my mom needs to be printed, and then how could we serve her and make sure that she's, um, aware of activities to avoid loneliness and connecting with other seniors in our community or or kids or their family or whatever it is. So really having a true understanding of where they are in that, in that, um, in that group, because technology is not always going to be number one. And it's really important. I think loneliness is huge. So what activities we can do, that we can communicate out and bring them together. It's gonna be important. Thank you, Michelle.

[01:01:50] Michelle: Hi. And this is a new role for me, so I'm really here or wanting to just be a voice, not so much what I want. Of course, everything would be what I want from me. Make my life easier, which in turn might be just the same for everyone else. But mainly, I'm thinking that I can use the senior center as a resource, because they talk a lot, and um, And I can listen. I'm go- want to bring my skills and and get things done. But for them not for me.

[01:02:25] Unknown Speaker: Elder?

[01:02:26] Elma: Yes, um, I have a, in addition to the, the bachelor's. I have an MBA, a master's in gerontology and a doctorate in health, senior health. Um, and I bring an academic focus to this and I read a lot. Um, I am currently working on a book on uh, long-term care and what's wrong with it at the moment. And several other academic type of pursuits, but my what I bring is a lot of knowledge and access to that kind of information. Plus, I bring a lot of history because I've been working on this for about 15 years. And have seen this thrive and fail, thrive and fail, thrive and fail. And I would like to do what I can to boost that again. One of the biggest problems is that Mountain View doesn't know what its seniors are like. Well, the senior advisory committee, as it's currently constituted, didn't know where the research is that was done as to who the seniors are in Mountain View, what do they want and other things?

[01:03:30] Member Pat Showalter: Thank you. Okay. So we have our 3rd question. So I'm just gonna, Don, I'll just go with you, and then we'll go, Cassandra, then we'll go, Elna, and then Michelle will end. That's all right with everyone. Okay. Um, so 2 minutes. What would you like to see the senior advisory committee do?

[01:03:50] Donna Castillo: Stepping back is to really understand all the needs of the, of the seniors in this community. And so there's the work plan, but then I know that Santa Clara County has done a lot of research and have studies and surveys, taking a look at that resources through Santa Clara County, and how can we potentially dip into that data since they've already spent money and did all that and how can we incorporate that and their findings and match it up to what's happening here in Mountain View, um, long-term care.. Technology, all the things that everybody's bringing up, but bring it all together. and one good work plan, and have consistent meetings and talk about it and track that progress and making sure that we're making progress. Um, I noticed that we've had a lot of meetings were canceled over the, the last year, right? So to try to get a great team together. There was consistent, and then we meet, and we track our progress, and then communicate it up to council, so that hopefully we can make a difference in this community. Okay,

[01:04:50] Cassandra: um, I think for me, I really want to see the uh, senior advisory committee kind of look at where the needs are, just like Donna said, but also look particularly, uh, are low income seniors and how we can get them online. Um, I know personally, um, my late uncle, he did, he refused. He didn't want to go to the senior center. He, a lot of immigrant families are like that. Um, he refused, but he did instead to build his own kind of senior community. He would walk to Ringsdorf Park every single morning, like clockwork, he would not miss. And after he kept walking. He started building friends along the way, and now they, they all used to meet up. I'm pretty sure they still do it without my uncle there, but they all just kind of meet there and walk every single day. I remember when I was little, they lived right across the street from the senior center. still refuse to go. He doesn't like it. And I'm not going to assume that also you said like that, but some some from immigrant families, they, at least even with my mom who's aging, she does not want to do any of it. Never would accept it. So kind of bridging the gaps of how resources can be available for these communities and how beneficial they are and trying to make, um, kind of an understanding between like the younger generation and kind of the older generation, how we can connect them. There's like a service. I don't know the name off the top of my head, but you can call a senior can call and talk with someone who's younger for at least an hour every day and it boosts their morale. And I think that's super helpful. I don't think that, um, Mountain View is connected to those services, but it, I've seen an improvement in my day job of how the seniors, um, kind of get out of the loneliness and isolation and start building their own communities, which I think is super helpful. So I'd love the senior advisory committee to kind of look into that. Um, and just create more opportunities for social connection, not just like seniors with seniors, kind of that intergenerational bond because I feel like it's really important. For seniors to be a part of the community, not just isolated with kind of their own generation in people. I think that would boost a lot of, um, kind of get them out of that phase. Yeah. Sure. Um, um,

[01:06:58] Elma: there are issues that we are about to face that most people don't even realize, one of which is called the senior tsunami or the great tsunami, or, um, as in the book, The Age Wave, where we are already in the 1st year of a 20 year, um, bump in the snake, um, of people who are 65 and older, outnumbering the people who are 18 and older, or 18 and younger. And if you think about the economic and social and many other kinds of implications of having a population that is heavily weighted towards seniors, you can see that there are lots of problems coming. I would like us to expose some of that. Another thing that I think is really important is getting people out of their houses, if you will. Um, the COVID pandemic really illustrated the damages that isolation and loneliness can do. Isolation is not the same thing as loneliness. Both of those need treating. Um, I would also like to be able to, um, put on presentations for the general community to teach people about what their life is about to be like and what it is like right now and what are the resources. among the things that I do. I have been serving on county committees on this, these subjects for about 12 years now, and I'm still involved. Um, Mountain View historically has not had much to do with the county organizations that focus on seniors. And I would like to bring more of these county and state activities into view with the seniors in Mountain View. Um, I'm close to the end. I may as well stop. Thank you.

[01:08:40] Member Pat Showalter: Okay, Michelle.

[01:08:42] Michelle: Well, I just have to agree with what everybody said. I don't think it can add anything else other than, um, I have resources I can bring to the table in my mind. Use me as a workhorse. You know, I'm a negotiator. Um, and my main concern, I think, is what you had mentioned was that the seniors are afraid of technology, and with that, they're just gonna get swept under the rug. They already are. They're afraid of scams. And I think, um, once you educate someone, and, uh, they lose those fears. So, uh, we had tried to set up a class at the senior center and, uh, for some reason, their seniors didn't really want to participate. So they had to cancel the class, but then you had other people coming up, thinking, well, learn it, well, learn. And I think if we'd set up some workshops where they can just learn about what's out there for them. And I'd like to see that happen, as well as transportation for them. Well, if them aren't driving, And for whatever reason, ailments, site. Um, they limits them. And I think there's only one bus that comes out there, and we go. So, um, yeah. So I'd like to see, want more. mobilization for them. Thank you. All

[01:10:08] Member Pat Showalter: right, so that concludes our questions. Thank you very much for your time. Thank you. Enjoy your night. We'll be deliberating here. But the city clerk's office. We'll be in touch with you. Thank you so much. Thank you, everybody. Yes, thank you. Bye, bye, bye. So,

[01:10:29] Deputy City Clerk Wanda Wong: um... Would be helpful, super? Oh, I'm fine.

[01:10:34] Member Pat Showalter: I will now bring the matter back to the committee for discussion and recommendation to the couch. So just to, um, kind of overview. There's one seat open on the bicycle pedestrian advisory company. There's one seat open on the downtown committee, downtown property and or representative of a business in the downtown and one seat specifically reserved for the downtown business association. There are 2 seats open on performing arts. committee, and there are 2 seats open on the senior advisory committee. H one? Oh, T.

[01:11:17] Unknown Speaker: Can you start with them up? We can start with feedback.

[01:11:21] Wanda Wong: That's right. One

[01:11:27] Unknown Speaker: spot, 10 people. Yeah, the last time we had this meeting are responsible. Can we appoint some more? Apparently then. That wasn't the case. Okay, got it.

[01:11:43] Donna Castillo: Yeah, I was gonna, like, source wise or something. Okay. Uh-huh.

[01:11:47] Elma: See his search space? What you asked about Source Spice? Yeah. Well, I think we should be out of the room. Thank you.

[01:11:55] Member Pat Showalter: so much. Can you help, Ella? You okay? I'm sorry Did you need help or are you good? Okay. Oh,

[01:12:07] Unknown Speaker: thank you. Thank you, thank you so much. turn good.

[01:12:16] Wanda Wong: Yeah, it works with here. Yeah, very high quality alcohol for the feedback. That was actually really, really do. I'm just like, oh, this is gonna be it. And

[01:12:24] Member Emily Ann Ramos: then seriously, we could appoint all of them and they would be, they would... Well, you know, you can't point all of them. You know, in terms of their qualifications, they're all, you know, I think they would all do a good job. Oh, there would have been 9 applicants, and then 2 didn't come, but still, 2 withdrew. Also, but even so, we have a, yeah, but, um, Kind of a, a wealth. I'm

[01:12:51] Wanda Wong: very different from each other too. Well, there are some similarity, there, there were some, similar, a couple of them. Um, but, um. So

[01:13:01] Member Pat Showalter: I think what might be helpful is, I think one of the, we can see who's currently on PPAC, on H2. So, maybe just thinking about, I think, um, Puff over show wats are brought up, you know, oh, we, um, uh, kind of biblically on a new, a pedestrians. Um, So I don't know if, That might be helpful with, um, the discussion. I

[01:13:31] Wanda Wong: see, like, 3 of them. I don't know one of them on the beat pack. Do

[01:13:36] Member Pat Showalter: you recall that? Well,

[01:13:39] Member Emily Ann Ramos: I think all of them seem interested in pedestrian issues. It seems like we've gotten the message. Oh, I meant for the current. Oh, do I know these all of these people? No, I don't. I don't know Terry Barton, and I don't know John Stone. Isaac Stone. What? He's Isaac Stone. Oh, I know Isaac Stone. Okay, right. It's

[01:13:56] Wanda Wong: like Casper Zacquari's, are Michael Casper Zac? Yeah. Yeah. That makes all the difference. Yes. So, um, uh, and Just

[01:14:08] Member Pat Showalter: looking at who's, you know, that might help with, um, as we talk about. So, for

[01:14:19] Wanda Wong: example, there were 2 very highly technical applicants. I would say like Michael and Stefane are very similar to like James and Isaac in terms of how they are approaching things. So, They're very strong applicants, but it's not a missing voice in BPAC. They can start there. Although they, like I said, wonderful voices, but not a missing voice and beatpack.

[01:14:42] Member Emily Ann Ramos: Yeah that's a good point. Well, I think that one of the things that's kind of, well, there's 2 things that I think are kind of, one is, there are no women. Um, and and the other one is, um, uh, I've never heard of anybody talking about disabled. perspective before. Um, so those are, uh, you know, that's of interest. One of the things that was very meaningful to me was at the end, Jesse Cupp brought up the idea of the need for shade. And I, I always think of, I mean, when I'm biking in particular, I'm really struck by how much more fun it is to ride on a street, that has a lot of trees, and shade, one that's hot. So, and I know that when we talk about, you know, the sustainability committee, when we talk about, um, uh, complete streets, and they need to do that. So I, you know, I was really interested that that, you know, that that got brought in, they were all really, they all seem to care about pedestrian issues, which is good, and they all seem to care, and awful. They know they knew a lot about vision zero. Which I thought was, that was important, because that's very relevant. Um, What?

[01:16:08] Wanda Wong: Well, what I liked about Peggy. So at 1st with Peggy, when she was like, why she wants, because like she didn't want to talk about like the streets itself, and I was like, 0 no. But then when she started, uh, when she talked more in depth in the 2 minute question, she talked about, it was more about like, how are we educating, how are we enforcing, how are we implementing the policies that we have? And I think that was actually pretty powerful. Um, that was that was unique to her. At first, like I said, at 1st I was just like, 0 no. And I was like, oh, wait, no, there's a point there. I like, I like that. Yeah. Um. Several

[01:16:45] Member Emily Ann Ramos: of them mentioned enforcement. And so I thought was interesting too. That was interesting. Brucing enforcement. Um, And um. I think that both Jesse and Peter had um, the viewpoint of somebody who gets around without a car. Yes. And I don't know if any of these people are in that. I think in

[01:17:26] Member Pat Showalter: Peggy's application, she talked about bicycling or taking an Uber. And I think that's because of her disability. Oh,

[01:17:35] Member Emily Ann Ramos: okay, so that's, she's also in that one of the people has that perspective then. I think she mentioned her, um, neurologic

[01:17:42] Member Pat Showalter: flow. Yes she did. And so, And

[01:17:48] Wanda Wong: it was Peggy and Jesse were the only ones that are essentially talking about like family and and children and how they feel safe going on the things. Although there was someone that talked about like we prioritized the bare minimum safety and not comfort. And I was just like, oh. Yeah,

[01:18:17] Member Emily Ann Ramos: that was Michael, who did that? Uh-huh. Yeah. I

[01:18:22] Wanda Wong: was like, oh, mechanical engineer. Yeah. Do

[01:18:41] Member Emily Ann Ramos: we need to, do they have an alternate? Yeah. We

[01:18:46] Wanda Wong: always try. Every time. Every time we always try. I

[01:18:52] Member Emily Ann Ramos: believe in participation. So

[01:18:58] Member Pat Showalter: I think, um, For the looking at, and I was just re-looking at our NRVPAC members. So I think kind of, I would be, um, um, All the applicants were excellent. I think that, Thinking about a voice that isn't part of the VPA currently is where I'm thinking. And I'm, um, really inclined on Peter or Peggy. Hmm No,

[01:19:32] Member Emily Ann Ramos: or my top play right there. Yeah, I guess, I guess my, I was sort of the top 3 was Jesse, and, um, and Peter. Uh, I thought Peggy had a, Yeah, I thought mine were Peter and Jesse, but yeah, they're they're all good. I mean, those 3 are very good. Which is why I asked about the open.

[01:19:58] Wanda Wong: I look at Peter and I'm just like, oh, I want to contact you later. I have ideas. I have plans. I want to work with you on. And it not necessarily has to do with B-Pack. So like I'm, I'm quite excited about that. Like, um, Yeah,

[01:20:15] Member Emily Ann Ramos: he would be, you know, his voice would be, um, meaningful on HRC too, wouldn't it? Yeah At

[01:20:30] Wanda Wong: this point, we probably should just rip off the Band-Aid and just pick some, like, because we were good with everyone. So, I

[01:20:40] Member Pat Showalter: think that the tipping point for me will be if a committee of all women do not point a woman to an all male body. Um, you know, I thought about that too. Particularly looking. I think we need diverse voices and just knowing the folks that I know, um, there also isn't, um, I think that it would be important to just have a different difference of, of perspective and and also, uh, and

[01:21:16] Member Emily Ann Ramos: that's just, that was just what stepped, you know, that we just lost a woman. Yeah.

[01:21:22] Member Pat Showalter: Yeah, because Valerie just, oh, is it a lot of. Right. Yeah,

[01:21:29] Wanda Wong: I would say, do we do we make emotion? I would just say, I move that we appoint Peggy. Is that? What's 2nd it? I can second.

[01:21:49] Member Pat Showalter: But we can, but we can do it all at the end too, right? as a whole. Okay, okay. All right. So, um, now we can move on to something that just had 2 out. Do you want to?

[01:22:00] Member Emily Ann Ramos: Oh, I was just gonna say, when we were talking about the voices, you know, I really do think the complete streets in the shade is a big deal. The surge is very strong on that. He is very strong.

[01:22:10] Member Pat Showalter: So I'm just trying to think about the folks I do know on the commission, you know, and thinking about the different things you brought up. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Downtown committed. Downtown committee. A little bit more straightforward, right? If there's one for one and one for the other, correct? If

[01:22:29] Member Emily Ann Ramos: we appoint Sean and Marisol. Okay. And frankly, I was very impressed with both of them. I really um, uh, and it's important for the downtown committee to have a business owner. And so I really appreciate the fact that this... Oh,

[01:22:47] Wanda Wong: yeah, I went when they 1st opened, gave him my car being like, how was your permitting process? Yeah.

[01:22:54] Member Pat Showalter: I need to go visit it. Yeah. Okay. All right, so that was a motion bike committee member, Shelter, and then 2nded by a member, Ramos. So then we'll move on to, um, what is it? Performing art? 2 positions. There's 2 positions, the 3 applicants. I think another group that was quite, um, very impressed by all our applicants. I

[01:23:24] Wanda Wong: actually really liked on Pampara. I, ironic, interestingly enough, just a couple days ago, I was trying to look up, um, Filipino cultural dancing. I could not find anything in the Bay Area, and I just like, these things are just so siloed, that like, I wish that we had more ability to make a difference in making that community wide and together kind of thing. And she was like speaking to them. I'm just like, yeah, I know we have that issue. And

[01:23:55] Member Emily Ann Ramos: I did speak to all of them. And I, I put in a big plug for the 2nd stage because I, and they sort of followed up with that. So I... So I was going to mention that, but I do, I think they're all really good. Valerie has the advantage that she's been on the beach pack. She's been very active in the community. And she, uh, she knows a lot about theater organization. And I think that's real, you know, about the business of theater. And I think that's really relevant. I mean, she also is really into the arts, but she knows a lot about the business fear. They all, I think they're all good, but, but, um, uh, Again, it's too bad we don't get alternates, but. Every time. Every time we try. Um, yeah, I, I, uh, I would move that we, uh, um, appoint Valerie in Ecara. Okay. Second. Okay,

[01:24:57] Member Pat Showalter: so we have a motion for Valerie. and Antara, and then hopefully we can keep in touch with Arena and, you know, I think this is this, uh, for whatever reason, our performing arts committee tends to be a difficult one to fill. So, um, that's right, you know, hopefully our measures stay, um, or we can directly reach out again. And if it's okay. I

[01:25:22] Wanda Wong: feel like that there's always a tough committee. All right. Same goes for like the beef, I guess, that didn't make it. I think they have a role in our community, doesn't have to be on these commissions. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Okay,

[01:25:34] Member Pat Showalter: um, let's see. And then our senior advisory, a drought than blood. Uh, so, this, uh, let's see, so for senior by the, there are 2 seats. That are available. What

[01:25:56] Wanda Wong: I loved about the whole group is that they kind of came in, it's like, it's not much, but it's what I have and I want to bring it to this. And I'm just like, I love that. It's so, so, like, selfless and service oriented. Yeah, it's heartwarming. Yeah. Um,

[01:26:21] Member Pat Showalter: another difficult body to to make sure that we have, um, uh, quorum, um, I was really, uh, I liked that we had a multi-generational applicants. Um, you know, representing different, uh, Different communities and I think maybe that will bring the energy that, uh, our senior advisor

[01:26:48] Member Emily Ann Ramos: currently needs. Well, I don't know anything about, oh, I'm not familiar with the Deanna or, oh, I haven't met Brian yet. Um, But, um, Nirvana isn't, They, they aren't old. Yeah, yeah, they are old, they aren't. I mean, they may, they may formally be seniors, but I don't think so. don't think so. Um, and, uh, Yeah, I, um. I particularly liked, um. What? Elna. I mean, like, you know, Elma has such a academic view of everything. You know, she really knows the material. And, and, and I also think Donna Castillo has, you know, a tremendous amount of knowledge. You know, she served on the San Jose, um, senior committee, and both of them talked about how, you know, the city could coordinate better with county services, and, um, I thought that was really, um, uh, important in the discussions about loneliness, you know, that we heard from, uh, illna and Donna and and Cassandra, they really spoke to me, so. Um, And, uh, you know, and then we have Michelle, who, she has stepped up. She volunteers at the senior center. I mean, that's, So really, we have some very good choices here.

[01:28:28] Wanda Wong: Very wholesome applicant kind of things. She's like, I'm retired and I just want to help. I was like, I love that. I'm also still signed that Elna is the one who helped down the cedar condition. Oh my god. Yeah,

[01:28:47] Member Emily Ann Ramos: she lived in the Mona Loma neighborhood for decades. Yeah, a lot. And

[01:28:59] Wanda Wong: I agree that it. That Donna had experience up in San Jose on the scene. I always wonder how other commissions are and like how it compares to this and how they work, like not. Because it's not that we're, we're not that far from the all these different cities. We shouldn't be in silos kind of thing. Yeah, so have that kind of experience of seeing the differences. It brings something very fresh. Yeah,

[01:29:25] Member Emily Ann Ramos: it's important to benchmark and, you know, have knowledge about what other communities do. Yeah, okay, really. Yeah. And

[01:29:32] Wanda Wong: I, I, I know Cassandra very well. Yes, you do. Very fond of Cassandra. Uh, I, I do think that she comes in this with a very selfless lens and, You know, there, there will probably be other opportunities for her because she is someone that will always step up to things, so.

[01:29:57] Member Emily Ann Ramos: I

[01:29:57] Member Pat Showalter: think, um, I was struck by, you know, this would be the 3rd time that Elna would be on Zach. And I think that, I would, I feel torn between kind of her being on a 3rd time or engaging with voices that haven't applied to SAC before, and maybe, um, you know, with the 3 others who are, they're such a great group, the 3 that are, that are there, could help like invigorate, and, Um, you know, revitalize the the sack. So, um, that's kind of where I am, where I felt, um, I really took note of the response that it is. Um, from Donna and Cassandra in particular. Um, I thought about how they might work in concert with the other, the current members. So, I was having to keep up with nirvana. Yeah, yeah. But, um, That's that's where I was. I think it was, um, they were all excellent applicants. Um, But I also feel like, um, Well,

[01:31:28] Member Emily Ann Ramos: that is one viewpoint, but then another viewpoint is that she's got institutional knowledge that nobody else has because she's, he's been involved, you know, all that time. So, you know, it's it's it's both, right? At the same time. I think, but

[01:31:42] Member Pat Showalter: I think, um, You know, this became a topic at council. And so, you know, the committee, the committee. And I think that I, in particular, am looking for, um, like the next iteration of the senior advisory committee. Um, and I, I, I wouldn't want there to be too much history and not enough forward thinking and how we can, um, because I wouldn't want, It was mentioned like, okay, so it started, and it died, and it started, and it died, and I'm here to restart it. I just, you know, I think that just for the sustainability purposes, we need to kind of pipeline new, well,

[01:32:26] Member Pat Showalter: I think, yeah, that's just my perspective. Well, I think that just adding a little history. One of the reasons that it didn't, um, work as well as it might is that, um, Some of the individuals, uh, one couldn't get to the muties of person. In other words, and also they weren't, uh, they weren't, uh, good at being on a committee. And, um, and you know, that's a separate skill. that, right? Some people have it and some people don't. Anyway, I would say, based on, you know, my read of these individuals is, they all would be fine on a committee. You know, they would be good at that. So that's not an issue. We don't have anybody that's gonna cause a, you know, a problem. It was what you talked about with the selflessness. You know, they will be understanding to other people's thoughts and so, um, Yeah,

[01:33:23] Member Ellen Kamei: with Alna is just the balance of honoring that legacy, but also trying to see what can it be in the future? kind of thing, because the senior advisor, it's still kind of on the chopping block. Um, that we're hoping that it could bring something, uh, to our city that we really have it seen anymore, which inspires people to continually. That we will continue to have applicants for it, not one is just dying. Kind of thing. Yeah,

[01:33:57] Member Pat Showalter: well, I think it's really heartening that we've had, you know, we've got, we had 5 applicants and I, I know Ruth Norris quite well. She's a friend and she would be great. I mean, she wasn't able to come to the interview and I understand that just, that just disqualifies you, right? Yeah,

[01:34:13] Deputy City Clerk Wanda Wong: she would have to have interviewed at least once.

[01:34:15] Member Pat Showalter: But she interviewed for another committee? She's interviewed for the senior. That was not performing arts. She interviewed for another committee that left a while back. So she has been in. So anyway, she's she's also, I mean, she's a good applicant. She's, you know, she's a,

[01:34:37] Member Emily Ann Ramos: um, uh, I read hers, but I didn't. I mean, we can talk about all of them, but I didn't, I thought, but I hope when we're narrowing it down and not expand.

[01:34:46] Member Pat Showalter: Well, anyway, I mean, I guess what I'm saying is, you know, there's interest now. And there was, there were quite a few periods where there was an interest and we didn't have enough applicants, right? And so, so this is a good sign. This is good. It was a good problem. We got here. Well, I don't know. I would just like to make motion then to, to, um, appoint Elna and, and, and Donna and see. of where it goes. Yeah,

[01:35:19] Member Ellen Kamei: this is where I do kind of struggle because I am very fond of Cassandra, but she's the type of person like, well, if other people are more qualified than me, I'm happy and I'm just like, don't think like that, Cassandra, but then I'm also like encouraging that and if, if I, if I do do that. Kind of thing. Does that make sense that that kind of struggle? Um. I think I'm going to support Cassandra for this committee. Okay, so you so no 2nd? No

[01:35:56] Member Pat Showalter: second. Okay, so, all right. Well, I, I, then what would be, um, I make a motion for Donna and Cassandra. I'll second that.

[01:36:11] Member Emily Ann Ramos: Great. All right, so I think that's... Everyone, you'd like to recommend

[01:36:18] Member Ellen Kamei: to the, um, December 31st, 2025 term and also the other term, which expires at 27. Oh, there's a difference? Yes. Yes, period. Yeah, no worries. I would give Donna the longer term. Is that okay with everyone? Yeah, sure.

[01:36:34] Member Emily Ann Ramos: And then people can also, everyone can reapply. Okay.

[01:36:40] Deputy City Clerk Wanda Wong: So for there, actually, you'll need to have these eight.

[01:36:42] Member Emily Ann Ramos: Yes, please. I was gonna I was hoping we could restate all of the. Yes, yes, yes. So

[01:36:47] Deputy City Clerk Wanda Wong: for the one unexpired burger, um, peggy, will be the recommendation to temple. Um, for the one unexpired term on downtown committee, specifically for downtown trip association, Marisol will be the recommendation. And then for the unexpired term ending 123127. Sean. For the downtown property and or representative of business. For the performing arts committee to unexpired terms, ending 123128, Valerie and uh, and far off. And then for the unexpected, unexpired term, in the 123125 on senior advisory committee. Uh, Cassandra, and for the 123127 term, would be gone. Correct? Yes. Perfect. Okay. Does that sound work to everybody? Bye.

[01:37:52] Member Emily Ann Ramos: All right. Okay. And then with that, um, with our recommendation to the city council, we'll move on to item 6 committee, staff comments, questions, and committee reports.

[01:38:06] Member Pat Showalter: I guess, you know, I guess my question is, because BPAC is so popular at the moment, is it something we want to, um, uh, request that the, when if you get policies committee, considers bigger? You know, making it 7 people instead of five.

[01:38:26] Member Ellen Kamei: Have we ever had a history of? I think we're gonna hear... Oh, I'm listening. Go ahead. Yeah. Have we ever had an issue with like not having enough applicants? I hate to like, for example, I mean,

[01:38:37] Member Pat Showalter: I don't know. I mean, not in the 10 years I've been involved, but I don't know. There hasn't been. Okay. It's

[01:38:44] Deputy City Clerk Wanda Wong: just a popular. So there's 2 things. Um, I believe that you've had a off agenda memo from assistant city manager of Bramford, about the topic of alternates. But you're asking to expand the actual membership of the body. Um, so, as you know, from our December council meeting, your December council meeting, several of the resolutions that established bodies are coming back to you in turn, um, to kind of streamline the way that they look and feel and update language and make sure everything is noted in there that should be noted. That would be a really appropriate time to, um, consider with your colleagues, whether or not expanding membership would be an interest.

[01:39:30] Member Pat Showalter: And what do you think that's coming back? you remember? Uh,

[01:39:32] Deputy City Clerk Wanda Wong: no, so those um, are up to the department that liaises with them, so that would be up to public works. So, um, I can certainly speak with public works and and see when they live right now. And let you know. Okay. Is that okay? Yep, yep. Any other,

[01:39:53] Member Emily Ann Ramos: yeah, any other questions or uh, committee step comments, reports? My 1st one. Yay. Anything yet? Okay. All right, so we get to move on to adjournment. These recommendations will be considered by the city council and it's April 22nd meeting. This meeting is adjourned at 743 PM. Good night.

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