September 26, 2023 Regular Meeting of Mountain View City Council

Video

Transcript

[00:01:30] Mayor Alison Hicks: Good evening, everyone. Thank you for joining us for our closed session. City Attorney Loeb will make a closed session announcement, and then the city council welcomes public comment on the items listed for our closed session. So, the attorney lo.

[00:01:45] City Attorney Jennifer Logue: Thank you. There are three items on this evening's closed session agenda. Item 2.1 is a conference with legal counsel regarding existing litigation, pursuant to government code section 54956.9. The name of the case is Gulai, May Balavia versus the city of Mountain View, Santa Clara County Superior Court number, 23 CV, 418256. Item 2.2 is a conference with legal counsel regarding existing litigation pursuant to government code section 549 56.9. The name of the case is Ella Cobzanitz versus the city of Mountain View, Santa Clara County Superior Court case number 23, CV, 420311. And the final item, item 2.3 is a conference with legal counsel regarding a liability claim pursuant to government code section 54956.9. The name of the claimant is Manuel Garcia.

[00:02:44] Mayor Alison Hicks: Thank you. Would any member of the public joining us virtually or in person like to provide comment on the closed session items listed on tonight's agenda? If so, please click the raised hand button in Zoom, or submit a blue speaker card to the city clerk. City clerk? Do you have any cards?

[00:03:05] City Clerk: No.

[00:03:06] Mayor Alison Hicks: Um, now is time to raise your hand, if you're attending virtually, and would like to speak. Seeing no hands, we will now recess to the Plaza conference room for closed session and return to the council chambers at the close of the closed session to continue the regular session.

[00:04:44] Mayor Alison Hicks: Good evening, everyone. Welcome to the regular meeting of the Mountain View City Council of September 26, 2023. I have an announcement. The city clerk's office is recruiting volunteers to interview for service on boards, commissions, and committees. The application period has been extended to Friday, October 6th, at 5 p.m. We currently have vacancies on the following. The Bicycle Pedestrian Advisory Committee, the Board of Library Trustees, the downtown Committee, and this would be for downtown property owners, and or representatives of a business in the downtown. Also the Parks and Recreation Commission, the Senior Advisory Committee, and the Visual Arts Committee. In addition, recruitment is open for volunteers to interview for one vacancy on the rental housing committee. The application period closes this Thursday, September 28, at 5 p.m. Applications and more information can be found at mountainview.gov/advisors. Now, please join me in the pledge of allegiance.

[00:06:00] Unknown Speaker: Allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic, for which it stands, one nation, under God, invisible, with liberty and justice for all.

[00:06:18] Mayor Alison Hicks: Now we move to item two, which is roll call. The city clerk will take attendance.

[00:06:25] City Clerk: Councilman Brabe Coca.

[00:06:26] Councilmember Margaret Abe-Koga: Here.

[00:06:27] City Clerk: Council member Kameh?

[00:06:28] Councilmember Ellen Kamei: Here.

[00:06:28] City Clerk: Council member Manachek.

[00:06:30] Councilmember Lisa Matichak: Here.

[00:06:30] City Clerk: Council member Ramirez. Council member Ramos.

[00:06:32] Councilmember Emily Ramos: Here.

[00:06:33] City Clerk: Vice Mayor Scholalter.

[00:06:34] Vice Mayor Pat Showalter: Here.

[00:06:34] City Clerk: Mayor Hicks?

[00:06:35] Mayor Alison Hicks: Here.

[00:06:35] City Clerk: Yep,corn.

[00:06:38] Mayor Alison Hicks: Thank you. We are now on item three, which is presentations. Please note, these are only presentations. The city council will not take any action, and public comment will occur after the presentation item. If you'd like to speak on this item in person, please submit a blue speaker card to the city clerk now. So, we're on item 3.1. Um, we are happy to be joined this evening by Sukanas Kumar, Chair of the Porn Performing Arts Committee, uh, to accept this proclamation. Will you please join me at the lectern? Hi, maybe you can come to this side of the lectern. Here is your very long proclamation. You can take it home and read it, but I'll read part of it. In part, the proclamation reads, whereas the nation's 120,000 nonprofit arts organizations, the national endowment for the arts, the national endowment for the humanities, the nation's 4,500 local arts agencies, in communities across the country, and the arts and humanities' councils, of the 50 states, and the 6th U.S. jurisdictions, and districts, have regularly issued official procl on an annual basis designating October as National Arts and Humanities Month, and, whereas cities and states, through their local city and state art agencies, which represent thousands of cultural organizations, have celebrated the value and importance of culture, in the lives of Americans, and in the health of thriving communities, during National Arts and Humanities Month, for nearly 30 areas, and for a whole host of other reasons that I will not read out right now, but you can read later. Now, therefore, I, Alison Hicks, mayor of the city of Mountain View, along with my colleagues on the city council, do hereby proclaim October as National Arts and Humanities Month in Mountain View, and call upon our community members to celebrate and promote the arts and culture in our city. And to specifically encourage greater participation by said community members in taking action for the arts and humanities in the city of Mountain View. So, Kenya, would you like to say a few words?

[00:09:28] Sukanya Kumar: Yes, please. Thank you, Mayor. I'm grateful to represent the performing arts committee in accepting this proclamation, recognizing October as the Arts and Humanities Month. Arts and Humanities is the lifeblood of society. The essence of our collective struggles, joys, and aspirations. In recognizing this month, our city acknowledges the transformative power of arts, it is the mirror reflecting the beauty and complexity of our society and the world around. It helps us in challenging us to think and to engage with the diverse perspectives that shape our society. The arts and humanities, inspire critical thinking, drive innovation, and fortify the foundations of civilized and compassionate society. This proclamation reminds us of our responsibility to invest in arts education, to support local artists and cultural organizations, and to advocate for policies that promote the thriving artistic community in Mountain View. As we celebrate arts and humanities month this October, let us renew our commitment to fostering creativity and cherishing the beauty of human expression. Together, we can ensure the arts and humanities continue to thrive, enriching lives, and leaving a lasting legacy for generations to come. Thank you.

[00:11:19] Mayor Alison Hicks: Thank you so much. I've always thought the reason I might like to live in the country is because of the beauty of the countryside, but the reason I love leading in the city is for arts and culture. So, thank you again. Do any other members of the council want to make comments at this point? And also, uh, would any member of the public joining us, either virtually or in person, like to provide comments on this item. If so, you would click the raised hand button in Zoom or submit a blue speaker card to the city clerk. Okay, so seeing no speakers, I will now, uh, I will now bring the... Oh, now we're on the consent calendar. Um, let me make sure. Yes. We're now on the consent calendar, item number four. Consent calendar items will be approved by one motion, unless any member of the council wishes to remove an item for discussion. If you'd like to speak on this item or the next item, oral communications on non agenda items in person, please submit a blue speaker card to the city clerk. Would any member of the council like to pull an item? Okay, I don't see any council members wanting to pull an item. So now it's time for any member of the public joining us virtually or in person to provide comments. We would need your blue speaker cards or a raised hand virtually. And I see, um, Margaret Petros. You'll have three minutes. And is this for this is for the consent item.

[00:13:22] Margaret Petros: 41 yes.

[00:13:28] Mayor Alison Hicks: I think our city clerk will help you out with the microphone.

[00:13:32] Margaret Petros: Thank you. My name is Margaret Petros. I'm a crime victim's advocate, and the executive director with mothers against murder. It's a local nonprofit. We know all about the devastation that violence with deadly weapons causes our communities, and we believe sensible measures can be taken by cities that will reduce gun violence. I think both amendments for adoption today are sensible, on amending chapter 18. I specifically like the condition that businesses does not, the business does not operate from a home, and the location cannot be within 250 feet of a school or a public park, places where children and the public in general visit to learn, to relax, to enjoy, not to be worried for their safety and security. I also think it's fair that there is an appeal process in place. So if the permit is denied by police, the fact that an independent hearing officer can review the appeal as a sound democratic process. On amending chapter 36, I cannot fathom the idea that gun and ammunition dealers could operate from home. I had no idea this was happening until I read the amendment today. It's, uh, I'm very interested in numbers, though, and it would have been good to give the public details about how many firearm dealers are operating in mountain view. So thank you for taking a reasonable stand. I think it would have been good for both amendments to have included statistics of gun violence from the city of Mountain View, not just national and statewide. And actually, um, not just on this ordinance, but on a continuous basis. It's very important for this body to get a monthly report on all incidents of violence in mountain view. Always, staying on top and tracking the level of violence will engage the public. When more people care and take a stand against violence, making it socially unacceptable is the best, most efficient, and most economical way to reduce harm. Thank you.

[00:16:06] Mayor Alison Hicks: Thank you. Are there any other in person speakers? Okay, seeing none. I also see no virtual speakers. Um, so I'll now, uh, bring the item back for council action, and note that a motion to approve the consent calendar should also include reading the title of the ordinance is attached to item 4.1. I see a motion by council member Abbe Koga, and a second by council member Ramirez.

[00:16:40] Councilmember Margaret Abe-Koga: Thank you, Mayor. I would like to move the consent calendar, including item 4.one, adopt an ordinance of the city of Mountain View, amending chapter 18 of the Mountain View city code to add article 2 firearm dealers, to impose local permit requirements on firearm dealers operating within the city of Mountain View, to be read entitled only for the reading waived, and adopt an ordinance of the city of Mountain View amending chapter 36 zoning of the Mountain View City code to add firearms and ammunition retailing, as a prohibited home occupation used to be read entitled only For the reading waived. And I know we don't respond. Well, I guess just wanted to, um, I answered the, um, Ms. Petros's question. I think if I remember correctly from the staff report, it was 2 or 3 operators, home operators of firearms.

[00:17:31] Mayor Alison Hicks: Thank you. Okay, now we can vote.

[00:17:39] Councilmember Ellen Kamei: Oh, yes. Yeah. So I just wanted to clarify. So I wasn't here for the discussion for item 4.one. Um, but the council's been working on this for many years and I feel comfortable supporting it. So I just wanted to clarify. Thank you.

[00:17:52] Mayor Alison Hicks: Thank you. Okay, now we come out. Pass this unanimously. We're now on item five, which is oral communications. This portion of the meeting is reserved for persons wishing to address the council on any matter, not on the agenda. Speakers are allowed to speak on any topic for up to 3 minutes during this section. State law prohibits the council from acting on nonagenda items. If you'd like to speak on this item or the next item in person, please submit a blue speaker card to the city clerk now. Uh, would, and also if you're joining us, if you'd like to speak, and you're joining us virtually, please raise your hand in Zoom. Um, so, uh, we now have, uh, each person will be given three minutes, and I see several speakers. First, Mark Taylor.

[00:19:00] Mark Taylor: Hello, mayor and council member. My name's Mark Taylor. I represent Adam Sandhu. He bought the coin car wash on old Middlefield Road and Independence about a year ago, and he's trying to turn it into a beautiful, brand new tunnel car wash. And we're having some problems with the planning department, because they want us to put a small little sliver of landscaping in between a wall that's almost as tall as that building there, and our car wash. And it's gonna be five feet. So they're making us do that, and we're having a real problem with that. So I gave you guys some slides. I'm not sure if you had those or not, but we can quickly go through those. We're planning on giving them a lot of extra landscaping in exchange for that little sliver there. And we already have some in the front, but when we build the brand new tunnel, which is gonna cost us many millions of dollars to do, we're gonna put a lot of extra landscaping, make it a nice atmosphere, and make up for that landscaping that they want. If you look at the one that says property behind us, You'll see the school, it's right up against the building. And they're the same zoning as us. And so they're not letting us put the car wash right up against the building, but our neighbor gets to do it, and they're the same zoning. So we're wondering why we're being treated to a different standard. If you look at the next slide, you can see how big that wall is. There's no windows on it. We just want to butt the car wash right up against it. We don't want to have a space where homeless people can go, people can urinate, sleep, throw garbage. It just doesn't make sense for us. It's a waste of our land, too. The next slide shows the perimeter planting, the 5 foot requirement in the code. And we're trying to find a way to get that waved so we can build this car wash. The next thing, the next slide is, shows the plans of the car wash, and it shows how we want to butt it right up against the building. And let's see. We hired an architect, a landscape architect, and I like to read what he said, so, uh, we can understand it. He said, Thanks for sending additional information about the five foot setback. I reviewed the zoning code, and do see that under Section 36 zone development standards. A 5 foot wide screen planting is required along all permitter property lines. However, it appears the building has no setback requirement, just 5 foot of landscaping next to parking. Also know that this site is not next to residential. Given the existing conditions, the existing adjacent building wall is tall, has no windows, and is on the property line, and your proposed building will have no windows, either. So I would argue that there is no need for a screen planting, because there is nothing to be screened from view. Incorporating a five foot plant area between the two buildings would be required, would be required unnecessary maintenance, especially establishing plants in the dense shade, with no sun. Additionally, this sliver of landscape would be forgotten, would collect trash, and would benefit no one regarding the screen for aesthetic purposes. In my opinion, it would be better benefit to the community in the neighborhood. if the building was located on the property line, and the area of the 5 foot landscape strip be incorporated along the frontage of the property. Thank you.

[00:22:12] Mayor Alison Hicks: Thank you. The time is up. But thank you for the information. You're welcome. And we don't just, procedurally, we don't discuss it or do questions and answers at this point, but we do listen carefully. I understand. I understand. Thank you. Thank you. Next, Margaret Petros.

[00:22:33] Margaret Petros: Hi, again, Margaret, petrol, victim, advocate, and executive director with Mother's Against Murder. Um, I'd like to bring to your attention, a sample case of a violent incident at Rinksdorf Park that happened 2 years ago. Specifically on September 15, 2021. 911 call to Mountain View Police Department at 104 in the afternoon. I reported that uh, groups, 2 people with guns and shots fired. Reviewing official records show a total of 21 police personnel were involved in attending to this incident. Those were just the named ones. I'm sure there were more that were present. Um, so, um, think of the cost involved and think about tying up really precious resources of the city. So police did a great job in investigating, identifying the shooter who physically injured 2 victims, and emotionally injured a lot more, I'm sure. There was a mother with a 2 year old sitting close to where police found bullet casings, and specifically within 30 feet of their, where this mother and child were. This is a gang related case of young men with guns at a public park in the middle of the day, and shooting at each other without any regards to innocent people around. This case is still ongoing 2 years later. There has been a total of 12 court hearings involving 6 different judges. The case is scheduled for sentencing on October 20th. This is the, um, it was continued twice already for sentencing. The maximum jail time. The shooter can be sentenced to, is 180 days in jail and 3 years formal probation, due to a play bargain deal between the district attorney and the defense attorney. FYI, the shooter built out within one week, with very few conditions. So he's been out in the past 2 years. I did not find anything in the records that protect the victims or witnesses, and nothing about not going to the park either. What does this tell you in our community that about the justice system? Is it serious about gun violence? Um, You are the representative of Mountain View, and I'm really asking you to be more vigilant and on top of what's happening and in specific cases. Um, the cost involved and the harm to victims who are not getting the necessary attention, the needed attention. Thank you.

[00:25:41] Mayor Alison Hicks: Thank you so much. Next we have Lords Rango.

[00:25:49] Lourdes Rangel: Hello, good evening. Thank you for the opportunity. I'm here to speak on behalf of the trees of the Monte Loma Park, next to the fence and the cern area. I saw that you are cutting them, and that provides a lot of shay, where the kids play, especially in the summer. It's very hot there, and I will love to keep those trees, at least the ones by the center center area, because we're not gonna have more shade, and please, I'm asking you, can you please stop cutting those trees? So where children can have some she and play happily at the park, Monte Loma Park. Thank you.

[00:26:35] Mayor Alison Hicks: Thank you. Now, John Stalcop?

[00:26:45] John Stalcup: I I'm also here to speak on behalf of, uh, saving the trees at Montaloma Park. So, Monte Loma Park, uh, near Ringstorf, is pretty much the only park in the area that has adequate shade. The families with little children, toddlers, and nannies throughout the day, they value that park in particular because it's not blindingly hot and bright throughout the middle of the day. And right now, someone is chopping down the trees along the fence line, and they're going along, and they're about to cut down the ones by the sand pit, and the jungle gym, where kids spend a lot of their time. So anyway, it would reduce the quality of the park, it would reduce the value of the park to the community if these trees are taken down. So, please save those trees. Thank you.

[00:27:28] Mayor Alison Hicks: Thank you. I see, if there are any other people in person who want to speak, please submit a card now, and or raise your hand, if you want to speak virtually, I'm not seeing any more speakers. So in that case, we will now move to our study session. We are now on item 6.1, which is our draft economic vitality strategy. And Spanish translation services are available for this item. We'll now hear from our interpreter. Okay, well, or maybe not. So the purpose of this study session is for the city council to provide direction to staff on the economic vitality strategy, including goals and strategies to further support the small business community. Given the need for council member recusals due to conflicts of interest, this item will proceed in the following manner. We will begin with a staff presentation, which we followed by public comment. At the close of public comment, the council will ask questions, deliberate, and provide feedback on matters requiring council member recusals first. Counsel will then ask questions, deliberate, and provide feedback on the remaining items for discussion. Assistant City Manager, Community Development Director, RT Shrivastva, and economic vitality manager, John Lang, will present the item.

[00:29:18] Economic Vitality Manager John Lang: Good evening, Mayor, Counsel, and the members of the community members of Mountain View. I'm John Lang, the economic vitality manager for the city of Mountain View, and I am joined up here with the assistant city manager, community development director, Artis Shvasaba, and we are also joined by our consultant, Chris Medford, with community attributes, Incorporated. Tonight, we are proud to share with you the initial draft of the economic vitality strategy and the companion document, the landscape assessment. We believe it is important to have this check in opportunity with council and the community, so we can confirm if we're on the correct path with the economic vitality vision, for this community, along with the goals, strategies, and actions. Getting some consensus and further direction on these goals and actions will help staff and the consultant better establish priorities and implementation schedules that are not currently defined in the document. With that said, we look forward to hearing from you in the community on the initial draft. The purpose of this study session is to provide an overview of the approach that was taken to help complete this initial draft and seek your feedback on the following different aspects of the economic vitality strategy. To that end, there are 2 questions we're seeking feedback. The 1st is, does counsel agree with the vision and equity approach slash statement associated with the economic vitality strategy? And does city council agree with the goals and strategies associated with the economic vitality strategy? Back in 2001, city council... on now. Wait on. Let me see. Undertook a strategic roadmap process that helped identify city priorities. Through that process, economic vitality was identified as one of the 7 priorities for the city. In October of 2021, staff sought input from city council on a scope of work associated with a request for proposals for consultant services to aid the city in the development of an economic vitality strategy. The feedback from city council included objectives should include short and long-term strategies. Recommendations should support new business entrepreneurs, startups, and emerging companies, as well as the retention, expansion, and expansion of existing mountain view businesses. An equity lens should be applied relative to all aspects, an analysis of recommendations with a focus on creating a business environment for all, and identify existing and emerging industry clusters and assets unique to Mountain View, and evaluate their potential job growth and expansion, and include an analysis around sectors of small business, retail, tourism, hospitality, medical, and healthcare. The city issued an RFP following that direction. We receive several proposals, the selection committee recommended community attributes from Washington State as the consultant to work on this project. In May 2022, city council approved an agreement with community attributes to aid the city in developing the economic vitality strategy. So what has occurred since that time? After executing the agreement with CAI, CI and staff began working on identifying stakeholders to contact in order to gather input and feedback. This work on the focus groups and interviews occurred in the late summer and fall of 2022. During that time is when public meetings in Mountain View were all done remotely. So all the engagement and outreach initially was done virtually. After completing interviews with city council and orientation interviews, with some resonance, former elected leaders and staff, focus group interviews, were done. They were clustered around land use and like types. And they included a range of entrepreneurs and businesses in each of the focus group areas. During this process, CAI also began to do work on a data analysis that was reflecting the feedback that they were hearing from the focus groups in interviews. All of this helped contribute to developing the economic vitality strategy. After the focus groups wrapped up in the data, we did some community outreach. This is the 1st time we were more public with the work that was going on on the economic vitality strategy. Three community meetings were held in February, March, and June of this year. Also presentations to the downtown committee, the Mountain View Coalition for Sustainable Planning, and Old Mountain View Neighborhood also provided feedback into this process. From all of this outreach and engagement with groups, several core themes developed. Here are the 5 largest themes that came through the focus groups. Housing and affordability are a concern across all industry clusters and impact talent for the business community. Small businesses are still struggling and especially in downtown. Mountain View's identity amongst the business community needs to be better defined and articulated. Mountain View's permitting processes are viewed as lengthy, and community development should be central to the city's economic vitality and planning. So that was the feedback we receive from focus groups in interviews. So building upon all the themes that were heard through that engagement process. The data analysis started to confirm some of the feedback. So the next few slides are really taken from the landscape analysis. The chart that's in front of you here reflects population, housing units and jobs over the last 10 years. What you will see is population and housing units grew at very similar rates and paces. However, jobs during that same period outpaced housing growth 8 to one. Drilling a little bit farther down in the jobs over that same 10 year period. Looking at these 2 charts side by side 2010 to 2021, Looking at the orange color, that is where a vast majority of the jobs grew in information and professional services. You will also notice in the green blue color where there was significant job loss. So in the sectors of manufacturing, wholesale and distribution, over 50% of jobs in both of those categories were lost during that same period. Some survey work that's being done by the Bay Area Council since the pandemic started has been asking quite frequently, how much of the workforce is remaining or going to remain remote or permanently remote? At the time this work was being done on the data analysis by CAI. The latest data showed that 20% of the jobs are going to be permanently remote. Looking at data that was recently released by the Bay Area Council in 2023 still has that figure pegged at 20%. So it has not come down in the last 9 months. Flipping over to retail. Mountain View is part of our larger regional trade area and competes with retailers north in Palo Alto and south in San Jose. This map really highlights the regional, uh, regional trade area around Mountain View. It shows retail being concentrated and clustered around arterios throughout the peninsula and the South Bay. Analysis was conducted on trying to understand the types of retail segments that exist in Mountain View. A leakage analysis was conducted. The better sandwich categories and segments, the city captures more than its fair share of retail sales, based upon the purchasing and spending capacity of Mountain View residents and businesses. This analysis also shows there's certain retail segments in Mountain View where goods are not being purchased locally, either because people are choosing not to purchase them here or the businesses do not exist. The red figures really highlight the leakage. This is where spending is occurring outside of mountain view, so whether that's businesses are here in mountain view, and people are choosing to spend elsewhere, or these businesses actually don't exist in quantity in mountain view. The black figures on the right hand side really reflect where we're capturing a surplus. This is where we're not only capturing the spending from the mountain view community, we're actually attracting inward opportunity here. And certainly having the surplus is nice. But this chart also highlights where we can begin to focus some attraction efforts on retail. And then we talked about housing being an issue for all businesses in Mountain View. This chart really kind of demonstrates the challenges that exist in mountain view. This is from the last housing cycle, and it shows where the city overall was very successful in issuing new housing permits during the last business cycle, but it did lag in the lower income categories. So based upon this feedback, we started to develop an outline for the economic vitality strategy. The report really starts with a background on the outreach and findings and the data research, and then it's followed through this structure. It starts with the vision statement, which is really the North Star for this vision. I'm sorry, for this document. The vision really communicates to our internal and external stakeholders, what our future ambition is. We only have one vision statement. Going one level down as goals. Goals are what do we need to do to support the vision? There's four goals identified in this plan. And underneath those goals are the strategies. These are the guides we're going to use to implement success towards the goals and the vision. There's 20 strategies. And then finally, the actions. These are the things we're gonna do. This is our action plan. They're measurable and they can define the reasonable parties and timeline timelines associated. There's 125 actions. We developed a vision statement for economic vitality, and really the bold in the statement is really what we're focused on in the vision, which is clearly communicating mountain views, a vibrant community that has very diverse neighborhoods, enjoys convenient shopping and dining, attracts skilled workers. We're blessed to have many neighborhood amenities with downtown being the centerpiece and quality of life is foundational to Mountain View residents. Once again, the scope of the RFP to select a consultant, we made clear, we wanted equity to be addressed in the economic vitality strategy. Traditionally, equity, and economic development strategies has not been a lens that has been historically addressed. This is rather a new trend that's occurred in the last 10 years. To be more intentional and inclusive, We've noted within the economic vitality strategy, next to each action item, a symbol denoted here as a scale that reflects this strategy is really focused on equity in moving the needle in mountain view. As I mentioned, there are 4 goals. Goal one is a goal really focused on downtown, goal 2 is focused on medium and larger sized businesses in Mountain View and supporting the entrepreneurship economy in Mountain View. Goal 3 is focused on small and local businesses throughout Mountain View. Do recognize that there is some interplay between goal 3 and goal one. And goal 4 is really focused on modernizing development policies and procedures that result in consistency and clarity for businesses. So going through the 4 goals, at a very high level, The next set of slides really reflect the strategies under each goal, and then just a couple actions, there's a fuller list within the economic vitality strategy draft. For each one of these, we just wanted to highlight a couple samples along the way. So for instance, under goal one, which is establishing downtown Mountain View is a vibrant center of commerce, looking at Strategy one. differentiate downtown's character mixed uses and visual appeal to shoppers. One of the actions that can be undertaken is adopting a live entertainment ordnance that would allow for street performers to operate. An action like this can further build and enhance downtown's character. As an example, take music on Castro today. This is an activity that supports the overall goal and brings a vibrant character to the community and gathering place of mountain view. This is the 2nd set of strategies under goal one. Once again, looking at strategy one. support a division or modification of existing spaces to maximize adaptability to market shifts. As the market evolves in retail, one of the actions could be work with a specialized retail consultant to notify retail mixes that work with different space needs. And you'll see on this slide, there is a scale denoted here, talking about equity, match vacant storefronts downtown with growing local home-based or shared space businesses to transition them to brick and mortar spaces. So that's an example of how we're growing and wanting to include equity throughout the document. Goal 2 is really focused on our advanced industries and innovation. There are 4 strategies under this goal. The 1st 2 are denoted on the slide. Strategy 2.2 is really focused on diversifying our workforce. One of the actions is to strengthen our collaborations with community college. The council has already demonstrated this by allocating ARPA funds and supporting workforce efforts over the summer. As businesses continue to compete for talent and identify both career ladders and training operas, training opportunities. This not only supports our residents, but our businesses. So that is an example of the types of things we can be doing to better support our business ecosystem as well as our resonance. This is the 2nd set of strategies under goal too. Bear with me. So, looking at this one, strategy 2.4. Market Mountain View to businesses and specific target sectors and niches. An example of that is promoting the local creative economy. When we talk about the artist community, that is the creatives here in mountain view, creating opportunities and partnerships with them, and creating spaces for them to thrive, and help support the community, are ways we can enact actions under goal to. Goal 3 once again comes back to small businesses. Sorry, I got my pages a little turned around here. So, um, highlighting goal 3.2. There are 2 examples recently occurred that show the intersect between development and supporting small businesses and neighborhoods. For instance, the Lot 12 Affordable Housing Development project is an example of providing space and amenities for the community. The housing project will actually provide public space as part of that project. Another example of creating these unique opportunities is the Google development agreement that was negotiated with community benefits to develop a small business assistance program to support local businesses. Two more strategies under goal three, there's a total of 7 strategies. Strategy 3.4, using some of the data from the landscape assessment, the city can help inform niche market opportunities that exist for entrepreneurs and retailers, one of the actions would be identifying those segments that were identified in the leakage analysis. So those are places where we can focus our attraction efforts for retailers. And then finally, the last 3 strategies, uh, for goal three, I'll call out strategy 3.5 is the reflection of the strong feedback we received during one of our community meetings. This was a strategy that came about exclusively through community outreach. We heard about the struggles and challenges of our Latinx entrepreneurs. and having them grow in the food service sector. There are a host of actions that can be implemented to better support small businesses. We can take those lessons and expand them to other ethnic ethnic sectors as well. And that is also another action we have highlighted. That's not on the slide, but in the document. And then finally getting into goal number four. Goal 4 is about modernizing our policies and procedures. As an example, strategy 4.one is about adapting our codes to fix new modes of business operations. As business continues to evolve and people are looking for more niche opportunities, how do we address coffee shops and plant stores or manufacturing a spirits at tap rooms? Or the latest one I was presented to me, a Cat Cafe and adoption center. Our codes don't necessarily align with those types of uses. So how do we modernize or adjust our codes that create flexibility and opportunity for those? And the last 3 strategies are noted above for goal 4, another example, strategy 4.3 about streamlining the permitting process. A potential action here could be develop an expedited review process or rapid response team for selected land use or project types. So this is a very high level overarching overview of the 4 goals and the strategies and some sample actions. We want to get into some timelines. So the next 4 slides really address some of the feedback staff is received, since we've published the draft economic vitality strategy. And one area of interest we've received is the timing and phasing. So staff is happy to take feedback and suggestions on reordering the strategies based upon council feedback, but we wanted to make sure 1st and foremost, we have the right strategies identified, and that will help us inform the implementation timeline. So the strategies are broken down into short term, midterm, and long term. So you see the short-term strategies one to 2 years here. The midterm strategies, a lot of them in the 2 to 3 year time frame to implement. And then finally, the long-term strategies, which are things over 3 years. Then we're going to conclude with our next steps. Once again, we did hear additional input after publishing the document. So these are other things we'd like counsel to affirm or provide consensus to us on whether we move forward with, and they are doing additional outreach and engagement with small businesses and property owners, entering merging equity language into the vision statement, or creating measurable metrics for success in developing an implementation plan. With that, that concludes staff's presentation. Thank you.

[00:51:59] Mayor Alison Hicks: So now is the time when members of the public joining us virtually or in person can provide comments, if you want to provide an in-person comment, please provide us with our city clerk with a blue card and if you are going to make a comment virtually, please click the raised hand button in Zoom, we'll take in-person speakers first, and each speaker will have three minutes. First, Peter Katz.

[00:52:38] Peter Katz: Thank you, mayor, and thank you, city council. I have to say that I am so excited to be here in front of you tonight, because the economic vitality strategy is something that is long overdue and sorely, sorely needed. Every time we're out in front of small businesses, and we talk about many of the concepts that are presented here. They always ask, when is this coming? And the answer is usually, well, wait for the economic vitality strategy to come out. And so to finally see it in print is really, really just energizing. I do want to point out that vitality means energy, movement, activity, growth. Its enemy, is inactivity. The most important thing about the plan is that we move that we have action, that we move forward. We cannot wait, we cannot put up barriers, we cannot throttle creativity. We are the center of innovation. Let's live up to that. We know what needs to be addressed, the things that are in this document as much as the research that has been done, has been done before. We've seen it in other studies. We hear it every day. And so it's not a matter of we need to dig deeper at this point. It's, we know it needs to get done. Let's move forward on it. And to do that, we need timely action, we need staff to be empowered to make decisions, to cut down on red tape, to get things, to make decisions that don't always have to come to council. We heard in the public comment just a few minutes ago about a very odd situation that was happening with a car wash. We should be able to handle that without having to go through, you know, extra, extra effort, if you will. And we need to be creative. We need to be able to look at solutions that we haven't looked at before. We need to think about interesting activities such as we're listed in some of the slides earlier about, you know, let's put music on the street. Let's put pictures into restaurants that can be sold and things like that. We need to invest, we need to invest in these type of activities. So again, I urge the council to accept the goals, accept the vision, and to really stay tuned for the action plan, or the implementation plan, because that is where the rubber meets the road. And the chamber remains committed, as we have been all along in this process, to help, to offer our support, to offer our resources to make it all happen. Thank you again very much.

[00:55:24] Mayor Alison Hicks: Thank you. I see no more in person speakers. So we go to virtual speakers, first Robert Cox.

[00:55:45] Mayor Alison Hicks: Okay Ready?

[00:55:50] Robert Cox: We are ready, yes. Okay. Thank you for the opportunity to comment on the draft. economic vitality strategy. I would also like to thank Mr. Lang hosting a special session on this topic to the old Mountain View Neighborhood Association and for livable Mountain View. I appreciate that you have listened to our key concerns, which are reflected in the staff report outline. In particular, let me call out 1.1, taking actions that will differentiate our downtown character through public realm improvements. 1.3, confronting vacancy by actively engaging the owners of vacant ground floor retail properties, and exploring incentives, and remedies to vacancy. Thanks for making it at the top. Recruiting small businesses that offer products and experiences missing in Mountain View, and 4.3 creating a rapid response team to handle expedited permits within our downtown area. I would offer one word of caution on 4.1, offering a broader range of uses in retail areas. In particular, I would like to reiterate that ground floor in our historic retail district should be public serving, uses not administrative office uses, and that the historic character of the area must be preserved. So I love your example of the Cat Cafe. That kind of innovative thinking is what we want to see more of. I did notice that much of the data in the staff report emphasized the period from 2010 to 2021. And I do urge our city decision makers to also consider the significant changes which have occurred in the last two years. In particular, thanks for adding the slide on the permanence of some remote working. We need to be thinking about how that's affecting things do. Successful city planning is about where we've been, but also about where we are now and where we are going. And I think you guys are on the right track. So thank you so much. I'm enthusiastic about this, and I look forward to celebrating all of your success with us. Thank you for listening to my view.

[00:57:57] Mayor Alison Hicks: Thank you. Next, we have Jesse Cupp.

[00:58:05] Jesse Cupp: Hey, how is everybody? Um, I'm very happy with the presentation from John Lang. Thank you so much for working on that. It's an awesome piece of work that you've done so far. I read the abridged version of the memo, so I have some comments, and I apologize if maybe in the full version, you've already mentioned some of these things as potential action items, and I missed it. Um, in any case, I was very happy to see in, um, 3.5. The commercial kitchens as a potential acting item. I think that's really important for helping our micro businesses become bigger and help our homegrown businesses, you know, eventually move up to from the food cart or food stands to maybe a food truck and then maybe to a storefront. Um, because you can't make such a big leap without having those intermediate steps. So part of that, um, I think, uh, means some kind of support or having a central parking lot for food trucks in addition to those commercial kitchens. Um, I'm very happy with the mentions of the creative class and public art, and I just want to reiterate iterate to counsel that public art is a valuable tool for economic development. Um, permanent installations like murals and sculptures can boost tourism revenue. For example, there's a study from Canada, and I'm what I can share with you that shows 5 Canadian cities, who had started mural programs, all saw economic benefits from that, and it helped their businesses nearby, just from the self-guided mural locks. Even in cities where that was not an explicit goal. So some places did it art for art sake. They still saw those economic benefits. Um, and in addition, uh, there's some data from Americans for the arts, uh, arts and economic prosperity 5 report, showing that attendees in Santa Clara specifically, then an average of $26.27 per person at arts and culture events. So any type of events such as our recent art and wine festival can have a huge impact on our economy. I did the math and just calculated an estimate based on our 190,000 attendees times that number. It was almost 5000000 of dollars of additional dollars for an amount to you. So that's a huge difference. So more events like that would be great. Um, make cities attractive places for businesses to locate and for skilled workers to live in. Uh, the quality of life benefits of public art provide sustainable, long-term appeal, and uh, vibrant local art seems facilitate valuable networking and idea sharing as well. So I think attracting businesses is great. Um, but in the new era of remote work, I think attracting people is also very important. And public art is a great way to do that. If people can choose to work and live from anywhere. We need something to differentiate and how and view. And having our site specific art, that celebrates our local history and our culture and our people is a great way to do that. So thank you very much for your time. And, uh, I'm off. Thank you.

[01:01:03] Mayor Alison Hicks: So, this is the last call for speakers. I see no more in person or virtual speakers. Um, So now we're taking the item back for council questions and deliberation. Um, the, uh, 1st step will be council members with the conflict of interest related to goal number one of the draft economic vitality strategy will make recusal statements now. Um, Council member Abikoga, do you have a statement?

[01:01:46] Councilmember Margaret Abe-Koga: I am accusing myself from participating in any discussion about goal one of the draft economic vitality strategy due to the proximity of my personal residence to the downtown plan area. Thank you.

[01:02:00] Mayor Alison Hicks: And I am also recusing myself from participating in any discussion about goal number one of the draft economic vitality strategy due to my proximity of my personal residence to the downtown plan area. And so I hand the mic over to, or the gavel, I guess, over to Vice Mayor, Showalter.

[01:02:20] Vice Mayor Pat Showalter: Thank you. Okay. Council Wimber, may I check? Thank you. So before we get into a discussion of this, um, I'm not sure if this is a question or a comment, but, um, I, um, was thinking that, uh, goal one should actually be recast as applying to all of Mountain View and not just downtown. And I'm saying that, because some of the actions, such as establishing a vacancy tax, or outdoor live entertainment, I can think of that, you know, at San Antonio Center, they already have some of that. Um, And so I guess I would, I was thinking that go one could be broadened to be citywide. Um, and you still could have specific actions under that for downtown. Um, but a lot of them could apply citywide. Um, and if we broadened it, um, then perhaps our colleagues could come back, and we could talk about, um, these applying to all of the city, um, and I'm not sure how we would do that, um, would we decide, or do we bring our colleagues back to decide, or how would we do that? Can we do that? To the attorney, Log?

[01:04:00] City Attorney Jennifer Logue: Yeah, so I think that if the members that are present now are in agreement that, you know, these strategies, you might like to see them broadened and applied citywide at least to begin with in this stage of the study session. You could decide that now and we could bring your colleagues back so that you could discuss, you know, maybe providing direction to staff to bring this back at a later date with, you know, as a broader citywide categories.

[01:04:30] Vice Mayor Pat Showalter: I would like to do that if my colleagues agree. Okay. Council member Kameh.

[01:04:35] Councilmember Ellen Kamei: Great. Thank you. In that same vein, I would say, then, if we would be able to amend the draft vision statement, because downtown Mountain View, the centerpiece among them is written, and perhaps, I don't know if that would preclude conversation when we talk about the vision with our colleagues, but I'm comfortable, editing this, although I'm sure counselor rheumatic. You have feedback on the section. So I don't want to, I don't want to, what is it, jump the shark here. But I do feel broadening it is something that I have in my comments, and so I don't know when we can insert that in, but I agree and would like to go down that path.

[01:05:23] Vice Mayor Pat Showalter: Thank you. Okay, well, moving along those lines. I guess my question is, does anybody have any strategy or action that they think should just be for downtown that we should discuss now, and then bring them back? Bring our colleagues back. Thank you, Vice Mayor. Ramirez, yes.

[01:05:46] Councilmember Lucas Ramirez: I did have one question that I think is downtown specific, and that has to do with the parking strategy that I think the council approved in, I don't remember exactly what year 2019 or thereabouts. But much of that work remains, and I'm wondering if staff will integrate that into the vitality strategy, because there are many concerns that we've heard from our business community about parking or whether that ought to remain a standalone set of action items.

[01:06:19] Unknown Speaker: Um, we have been correlating between the 2 documents given councils already adopted the parking strategy, so we will make sure that if they're missing pieces, we can cover that in the vitality strategy, but we have been making sure we're in general alignment with what's already been adopted by city council and um, per council guidance on adopting the the parking strategy. There are a lot of action items associated with a strategy that I think do help support and align with the vitality strategy. So where there's missing pieces, we can incorporate that into the vitality strategy and cover it that way. So we have it completely covered.

[01:07:00] Vice Mayor Pat Showalter: Okay Thank you. But if I understand correctly, if no one is objecting to the actions and we're not going to be discussing them, then there's no reason why, Mayor Hicks and Council member Abby Kogo can't come back, is that correct? Even if there was parking, those parking actions do remain specific to downtown.

[01:07:21] Vice Mayor Pat Showalter: Because we have a different parking, uh...

[01:07:25] Unknown Speaker: Yes, and I, yes, that's correct, and council member Ramirez was able to ask this question related to that downtown strategy, and now, if you would like to move forward with discussing kind of broadening these other recommendations, I think it would be appropriate for you to bring back your colleagues.

[01:07:43] Vice Mayor Pat Showalter: Okay, I do have one more question. And that is, um, following up on council member Kame's question about the, um, the vision itself. Does that really have to be changed to allow them to come back, or is that high level enough so that we can not worry about that?

[01:08:06] City Attorney Jennifer Logue: I think that that statement is broad enough that it's okay, and it wouldn't preclude their participation. Um, you're generally saying that it is the centerpiece of the broader strategy, and I think that that's okay. That statement alone, that vision statement alone would not necessarily affect their financial interests, requiring them to recuse.

[01:08:28] Vice Mayor Pat Showalter: Well, that makes good sense to me. So, given that, why don't we have... Oh, is there anybody who objects to this? Do we need to take a straw pole about this? I'm seeing nodding heads. Emily, are you okay with it?

[01:08:45] Councilmember Emily Ramos: Yeah.

[01:08:45] Vice Mayor Pat Showalter: Okay, so then let's invite our colleagues back. Okay. Alright. So I'm going to move back over.

[01:09:06] Unknown Speaker: We got it all figured out. together all together.

[01:09:12] Mayor Alison Hicks: Well, I'll say we usually watch what you're saying on a television, we did not have that available to us. you'll have to, so I usually know if I'm picking up where you left off, but I don't actually know where you left off.

[01:09:25] Vice Mayor Pat Showalter: Well, we basically decided that, um, it would work well to broaden the discussion, um, so that, uh, the, uh, the strategies and the actions could really be generally discussed for the whole city itself, not just for downtown. And so, we decided, we discussed one that was just for downtown, and put that, you know, figure out how to handle that one. And so, I think we're just gonna move forward, going through all four strategies, as was suggested by staff. Four goals, right, four goals, and we have many strategies.

[01:10:10] Mayor Alison Hicks: So are you telling me that goal number one is broadened now, and council member Abbe Koga, and I can make any comments on the more broad category, or more broad...?

[01:10:23] Vice Mayor Pat Showalter: Yes, and the rest of the council has not discussed that, either. We just discussed the fact of broadening it. So we all need to discuss it.

[01:10:30] Mayor Alison Hicks: Okay, now I know where we're at. Thank you. So, do any council members have, and do correct me if I'm taking off at the, I'm still, I'm not, I'm 95% sure. I'm taking off down the wrong right path, but tell me if I've gotten anything wrong. So do any council members have comments on the new, more broad goal number one? Council member Mattachek.

[01:11:00] Councilmember Lisa Matichak: Actually, um, I was wondering when, um, were we able to ask just general questions?

[01:11:07] Councilmember Lisa Matichak: Would you like to, maybe that's where you'd like me to start?

[01:11:09] Mayor Alison Hicks: Yes. Can we start that? Let's do any council members have questions about all the goals? Is that what you would like?

[01:11:17] Councilmember Lisa Matichak: Okay.

[01:11:18] Mayor Alison Hicks: And so council member?

[01:11:19] Councilmember Lisa Matichak: Well, it's not just about the goals, just in general. So, you know, there's a vision statement in here, and I was wondering, how does that vision statement? sort of interact or fit with the vision statement for the city. Like, why do we have two? Typically, the city has a vision statement, and each strategy might fit into a piece of it.

[01:11:52] Unknown Speaker: And so that's really where we developed how this strategy fits into the council's vision for the city. The general plan could have a vision, our downtown parking strategy, had one. So, with your direction, we could fashion it in such a way that it fits in as a part of the city's overall vision. So we could see how these all work together to achieve the broader vision.

[01:12:24] Councilmember Lisa Matichak: And would you use it? Um, you know, periodically to do something to make decisions or to, um,

[01:12:33] Unknown Speaker: vision statements, really, I think John said at best, um, they're intended to sort of give people a picture of what we're trying to accomplish with a particular strategy, um, and it really focuses, um, both, you know, um, our residents, our customers, and us, on what are we trying to achieve with it? So it does help, because it gives us, in a very succinct form, what we're all about, or what the strategy's all about. Okay. Um, let's see.

[01:13:09] Councilmember Lisa Matichak: I also talked in the staff report about, um, Mountain View's identity and competitive advantage, and, um, and defining that. And I was thinking, what would people say, either used to be, or currently is, our identity and our competitive advantage? Have we lost it? What did we lose?

[01:13:36] Unknown Speaker: I let John add more, but I think one of the things when we talk about identity is, um, I think people can't tell when they're in Mountain View, and they've left Mountain View as they're walking or driving Mountain View, and really what we're trying to do is, um, create an identity that says, uh, this is Mountain View. And we can do it in a variety of ways. I think more of an experience. And some of those examples are, um, if we create downtown as a hub, or we identify new hubs, as we create new districts. People will identify those with mountain view. Some of them touch El Camino, which is kind of a big, you know, up and down corridor for the Bay area, and as we develop plans for El Camino, we've talked about that. You know, when do you know you're in Mountain View, and when do you know when you've left Mountain View? So that's just one example of how we could create an identity.

[01:14:35] Unknown Speaker: I think the only thing I would like to maybe add to RT's statement is, I think there is also some perceptions out there because of COVID and we haven't been engaging in the broker community. Getting out in front of the broker community a little bit more and being more engaged with them. There has been a big disconnect, and I think there is a great opportunity to tell Mountain View's story and why there's an opportunity here, but certainly being 3 years removed from COVID. There's, I think a disconnect there. So these are the kinds of things we can do a better job of storytelling in presenting the opportunities. Otherwise, you kind of let the narrative take on its own. It just takes on its own form. And so I think getting ahead of that, we started to do broker broker events last year and getting back in the spirit of doing that, but prior to that, the last time it was done was 7 years prior to that. So, you know, getting out in front of that messaging, I think, is helpful and communicating, we're open for business and we watch your business, I think, is very important.

[01:15:47] Councilmember Lisa Matichak: Okay, so, um, we might not have lost our competitive advantage or our identity, but we haven't been, um, talking about it as much as we used to. or people haven't been, um, paying attention to it, and we need to sort of amplify. Um, is that a good takeaway? Okay. Um, let's see. I think those are my general questions. Thank you.

[01:16:16] Mayor Alison Hicks: Council member, Commander.

[01:16:18] Councilmember Ellen Kamei: Great, thank you. Um, I have some questions for our consultant. Are they available virtually present? Wonderful. Thank you. Chris.

[01:16:40] Chris Medford: Hi.

[01:16:40] Councilmember Ellen Kamei: Hello.

[01:16:41] Chris Medford: Hi. I'm your consultant.

[01:16:42] Councilmember Ellen Kamei: Wonderful. Thank you. So, I just had some clarifying questions. So, counsel was able to have prior briefings with staff, but we weren't able to debrief with you and wanted an opportunity to kind of, I would say, kind of clarify. And so perhaps you can share how the scope of work was shared or done. Um, I know that there was council member interviews, some facilitation of interviews, and then I think trying to understand too, where my question is going is, for the, for the goals and strategies were those things that you presented 1st and then staff revised or kind of, can you maybe walk us through the workflow in the process? That'd be very helpful. Thank you.

[01:17:29] Chris Medford: Yeah, you bet A large, 1st of all, I'm Chris Medford. Nice to be in front of y'all. Thank you. Community attributes is my consulting firm, and we're very grateful for the opportunity you've done this work for Mountain View. Much of the scope of work was predetermined for your RFP, and I think John and Arthur, you could speak to that better than I can. We responded to that, so there was a Folsom scope of orchid there. We collaborated up front, as we do with most public sector contracts, to go from what I call an RFP scope of work, to a contract. Go before work. And then we have a conversation about how to allocate resources that are devoted to the consultant budget to do that scope of work. There's always trade offs of breadth versus depth, right? We can go deeper and deeper and deeper on many of these topics. So we're grateful for that collaboration up front for our work program, for the contract. We proceeded with independent data analytics while leveraging all the supporting documents like the parking study reference earlier that John and team were able to give us. We got to a point where we had some takeaways, and we collaborated with staff to share our interim working findings. We did that as well, with many of the individual outreach interviews that we did. Outreach included interviewing most of you on a one on one basis, at the outset of the work, which we're grateful for that input and alignment up front. The public engagement and the community engagement was something we collaborated with the city team on, as well. We put all that together in some working draft takeaways, some strategic themes, if you will. And then we collaborated with John and Arthi and city manager, Kimbra, to refine that and test alignment. And we did that, it was transparently collaboratively as possible. When we got to a working draft, You know, this is your plan. It is a draft plan, right? So we're here as a supporting expert in that role, right? It's your community's plan, your city's plan. So we would need you all, and we certainly relied on city staff to help us shift embassies as necessary and how to organize the goals and things. Is that close?

[01:19:49] Unknown Speaker: Yes.

[01:19:50] Councilmember Ellen Kamei: Well, the city hasn't done anything like this for two decades, and so I think just going through a little bit of the process is helpful, because one of the things that, um, I'm trying to understand, and I think, comes remember, Madachek was asking earlier was the vision statement, as well as the equity approach. And so can you maybe share, like, is that something that multiple jurisdictions that you're working with are also, they have their city vision, and then they're carving out these two separately. I love a little bit, I think, a background considering some of the things we're doing are considering new or on the forefront of where economic vitality strategies are going.

[01:20:35] Chris Medford: You bet, that's a great conversation. Thank you. Um, yes, uh, just about every city, every city we're working for ranks equity high, to be integrated into their economic development, thinking economic vitality thinking, uh, and the plans. Now, there's a formatting choice about how you present equity within those documents. Some cities have a standalone equity section, and they say this is our equity plan, as it informs the economic vitality strategy, if you will. Many other cities, probably most cities, certainly our preference as a consultant, but we're deferential to how you want to organize, is to integrate those concepts. We would like equity to be seen in every goal and every strategy all throughout your report. We've taken care to, at icons, for very specific strategies and actions that are meant to very specifically address equity in Mountain View, and that's a common approach as well. And oftentimes, you'll have your cake and eat it, too, where it's integrated in the report, and at the end, those items with icons are pulled out, simply through information designed to say, these are the strategies that are specifically aligned, equity objectives. The vision is a common piece, just to frame the document. I think Earth you spoke to it very well earlier, as well. It certainly should be very consistent with your adopted vision as a city, and foreign economic vitality strategy. It's simply an outline mechanism to align the goal. How do these goals align or what do these goals align towards? And that's the purpose of the division statement.

[01:22:09] Councilmember Ellen Kamei: So, can you walk us through how one of the icons is considered achieved? So, for other instances, so the city's budgeting process, we have a budget equity lens where we kind of match through that. I'm not sure if our colleagues will discuss maybe instead an equity lens with which we're looking at things, but for some of these, at what point are they considered? Right. Because some of them, for example, I'll read strategy one. Match of vacant storefronts downtown with growing local home-based or shared space businesses to transition them to brick and mortar workplaces. So is it like the 1st one, the 2nd one? I think that's where I struggled with the icon icons. And can you tell us where the industry is going with that or is it... Why, as the icon, like I understand integrating it, as opposed to doing standalone. But can you share with us?

[01:23:17] Economic Vitality Manager John Lang: Yeah, you bet. I think there's a couple of parts to that. One is the icon a fair placement, right? Is it actually reflecting your equity values, the city's values towards equity? Is that strategy aligned towards equity as you want to speak towards equity? That's a fair conversation you can have with any of the strategies. The budget resources. That really downs down to the action plan of the implementation plan, which isn't in place yet. Every city or organization we've worked with for plans like this. There's an altitude management choice to make along the way. Some are very, very, very detailed, with very lengthy implementation items and action items. Others are meant to be a little altitude up to allow for flexibility. It's an alignment document. And the strategies, I think, in your case, read in that way. It allows staff, the opportunity to build them out in a more action step. And we're happy to support that effort as well. And at that point, some of those action steps are more tangible, where you can say, has this been achieved, and it's outcomes of that plan as much as anything. Theoretically, all of these strategies are of importance.

[01:24:35] Councilmember Ellen Kamei: Yes. And so, with the call out, I understand identifying it as equity, but how is it maybe differentiated by staff or the public as this doesn't necessarily equate prioritization over all strategies available.

[01:24:56] Economic Vitality Manager John Lang: Right, so prioritization can mean a couple of different paths as well, right? It's the timeliness of it. Is it something that you move first on, and that's where those implementation plan conversations are important. And John has started, John and Team have started an implementation plan in your handout, I believe, to show what that might look like. It can also mean the quantity of resources that are devoted toward that. It can be a longer term goal, yet still rank very high, as far as a priority goes. The icons are simply meant to create some awareness and appreciation that, yes, equity is meant to be reflected in this economic fidelity strategy. And there are some strategies that we really wanted to call attention to that we think reflect that. And again, if this draft doesn't reflect that, then there's opportunities to change that.

[01:25:48] Councilmember Ellen Kamei: Great, thank you. My questions for you were that you're the industry professionals helping jurisdictions craft these, and so we just had a long dialogue about it, and I appreciate the... the overview. Wonderful. Thank you. Those are my questions for you. Great. My questions for staff are, so if we're doing, um, this equity approach, how might this talk to, um, our REJ, our race equity and justice action plan that we adopt annually? Would this be incorporated separately or would these be things that would be reflected when we go and we look at our action plan?

[01:26:31] Economic Vitality Manager John Lang: The intention here, and again, we would want council direction on it, was to include it as part of the economic vitality strategy, so that we could, once the strategy was adopted, work on these items, as action items, but they do fit into our broader REJ strategies, to sort of grow the workforce, and to bring economic development access to to our residents and workers who have not traditionally been able to access it. So we could reflect it in both documents so that people could see what we're doing with the economic vitality strategy.

[01:27:10] Councilmember Ellen Kamei: And so what I'm asking is online. We have an RCJ action plan. Yes. Well, what we list everything that the city has adopted for our goals related to race equity and justice.

[01:27:23] Economic Vitality Manager John Lang: Got it. One of council's work plan items is the strategy, and what we could do is maybe online work with the CMO's office to provide some kind of a link that shows, here is another plan that also achieves some goals. So maybe we can find a way, um, and I'll have to confer with the city manager on the best way to do.

[01:27:45] Councilmember Ellen Kamei: Great. Thank you. Okay, I'm sorry, my last question. Can staff refresh my memory on how we work through our preferred list of vendors? So in some cities, for example, the city of San Jose has a preferred vendor list for all of their city owned and managed facilities where if groups come and they want to do rentals, they have a list of preferred small businesses to use for whoever is occupying that space. Do we have that currently, or could that be something that we give feedback on? I'm getting lots of faces. Okay.

[01:28:25] Economic Vitality Manager John Lang: We don't have one. Okay, sure. But we could certainly look at what San Jose has, and we can look at how we might fit into the economic vitality strategy.

[01:28:36] Councilmember Ellen Kamei: Because I think one of the things that all of us do or sometimes we host meetings or people ask to rent our spaces and they ask, who should we use, right? And I think it would be really great to have a list and just wanted to. I didn't know if it had passed my memory that we don't have, we have one or we don't have one. So this is very helpful.

[01:28:56] Mayor Alison Hicks: Thank you very much. Thank you, mayor. You look like you have an additional comment that you're about to make.

[01:29:05] Economic Vitality Manager John Lang: I did, I do want to confirm. I might need to discuss this with CSD because I don't know if they have a preferred Vendalus. I know that we don't funnel a list of small businesses to them. intentionally. So I might have to follow up on that specific point.

[01:29:24] Mayor Alison Hicks: And I see the city manager has a related comment.

[01:29:27] City Manager Kimbra McCarthy: Yes, thank you, mayor and council member, Kamei. So, uh, a couple few responses to your question. So, um, the 1st one is that in relation to our race equity inclusion, our race equity and justice action plan, that is one of city council's work plan priorities, and the city manager's office is uh, working. It's underway right now to look at expanding that, having a consultant on board to really help us dive into how we can expand the plan. And I certainly think that we can incorporate the economic vitality strategies into that plan as a separate component of it, because right now we just have different categories. And I think there's absolutely room to figure out how to incorporate the equity components, or at least the equity strategies, into that plan. What we're seeking from council tonight is your feedback on whether the way that it looks now in the draft is how you all want to see it. Do you want the icons? Would you rather have an overarching statement that's mentioned before? Should we focus on maybe your top view strategies for equity as opposed to all of them? So we really are looking for that feedback from all of you on whether this is how you want it to look. But certainly, wherever you land, we can incorporate that into our race equity and inclusion action. plan. The 2nd thing for preference for local businesses. So, um, I see this actually as a procurement issue as well. So a lot of cities have local preference requirements for various purchase of goods and services where we might be able to look at what businesses in Mountain View might be able to provide whatever it may be. and we would give preference to local businesses. I don't know if we have that yet. So this is something that I would need to check with our finance and administrative services director on. If we don't have it, and council's interested, and that's something that you all would direct us to look into. That's certainly something that we can look into and incorporate as part of the economic vitality strategy. So that's the 2nd thing. And then the 3rd thing is that, um, in terms of uh, rental spaces and what we're doing, um, I know community services department came up. So just a reminder to counsel, we are currently looking at our fee schedule. So part of the fee schedule, and I was just talking to our director this morning about this. Part of what we will be looking at are the rental rates and how nonprofits are approaching us about renting, how businesses are approaching us about renting. And so that will ultimately come back to council and staff is trying to have a, uh, I guess you can say, a very holistic approach to looking at how we're charging folks now and what we want to be charging in the future so that you all can react to that and, frankly, charge less money. Um, particularly for Mountain View businesses or Mountain View nonprofits. So, as I mentioned, just talked about that this morning, and that will be coming to you all, not anytime soon, because a consultant just started, but that is gonna be part of what we're incorporating into the next budget cycle. So, this will come to you all.

[01:32:48] Mayor Alison Hicks: Thank you. Thank you. So, just as a reminder, we're doing questions first, and, I mean, comments may filter in, but generally we're doing questions. Yes, vice mayor.

[01:33:01] Vice Mayor Pat Showalter: Yeah, I have sort of, I'd like to continue the discussion with our consultant, if we may, please. Hope you got to rest there for a minute or two. Good. And, um, and also, please talk as much as you can into the mic. I know you're kind of tall, so that's a little different.

[01:33:22] Economic Vitality Manager John Lang: Yeah, no. No, no problem. Thank you.

[01:33:24] Vice Mayor Pat Showalter: Anyway, um, You know, I was really interested in all of the statistics you got together. It was just fascinating. And I think that I wanted to ask you a little bit about, from those statistics. What's your feeling of what sets Mountain View apart from our neighboring communities? Did you get a kind of read on that?

[01:33:49] Economic Vitality Manager John Lang: Well, sure. Uh, we could I could give a very lengthy answer on that, right? You know, Mountain View, much like many cities in high tech concentrated areas, many cities in Silicon Valley, many cities in the Seattle, Washington area, are somewhat of a tale of 2 cities and somewhat not, right? So you've got a heavy concentration of very large employers. They are concentrated in one part of town. And you've got a community that commingles with those workers in different places across the city. Statistically, that's very different than most cities across the U.S. You have many peers in that regard. So you're not alone in that space, but it is a defining characteristic of mountain view. The community and your commerce centers in the downtown and the different economic centers are commingled, as John presented, amongst a very large region, right? And I very much agree with what RT said, is that part of the identity conversation is, how do you know you're in Mountain View versus Los Altos, or your neighboring cities, or you're going from one into the other? And that's one dimension of how to talk about the identity. Some of the data we showed show you how what the percentage of the people that live in Mountain View is that work elsewhere and what the percentage of people that work in Mountain View are, that live elsewhere. And what has changed dramatically, as you all know, during the scope of it, during the span of our work together on this, is the degree to which those data really explains who is here in Mountain View on any given day. Right? So if Google and Microsoft and the major employers, let's say they have half of their workforce here on an average basis, and when those workers, those companies are saying that they have called for a return to work, it's really this hybrid concept that is still in play, for all workers, right? So we count as having returned to the office if we're in the office two or three days a week. You add that up at aggregate, you're no more than half of that workforce back to where they were a few years ago to you one day. If everyone has distributed 2 or 3 days a week, you're roughly getting half of the employees as your high water mark of the daytime population. So that's changed. The mountain view is different today than it was pre-COVID as a result of that. You're not alone in that, but because of that weightiness of the large employers there at the north end of town. This changes a dramatic change on mountain view. It's all pause there. I can answer any more questions you want along those lines, but there are some very distinctive things about Mountain View. about your economy, about your community, and about your neighborhoods, and the look and feel.

[01:36:39] Vice Mayor Pat Showalter: Okay, and, um... I also was interested in the strategic themes. And I guess this is really a question for both staff and, you know, and the consultant, is how did those strategic themes differ here, then they might have differed for our neighboring communities. And I really, you know, I thought that those themes were kind of the real, sort of, foundation of this report. And, you know, that seemed to lead to the vision statement and the strategy, and I kept going back to them.

[01:37:22] Economic Vitality Manager John Lang: That's as intended. So when we do work like this, after we've done the data analytics, after we've done a fair amount of outreach and engagement with leaderships, then some themes emerge. And we call them them because we don't want to call them goals yet. You get to choose your goals, but we mean that to be exactly the way you describe the vice mayor to say, these are foundational, to then inform your leadership conversations about what are your goals, having heard those themes. You know, because it came from local interviews, We haven't done that elsewhere with your peers and neighbors. I can tell you with some confidence that you're among many, many cities up and down the west coast and also around the country that rank similar issues in the same order. Affordable housing, number one, right, all the time. You, like other communities, have done a lot of work in the Seattle area, and we're doing the city of Redmond, Washington's economic economic development plan right now. The parallel conversations, you have very high earning technology workers in a community that also needs housing that's affordable to a broad range of wages. So, those strategic themes are common amongst your neighbors and their amongst other cities up and down the region.

[01:38:36] Vice Mayor Pat Showalter: Well, thank you. That's very interesting. Okay, and, um, Mr. Lang, one of the things I wondered about is, is a little bit more about, what's next? You know, the action plan, because, I don't know, I read this, just generally, and I thought it was great. I don't really necessarily think we need to, um, rewrite it, or too many times, or worry about it. I mean, it would be interesting to see what other people think, but I, you know, I didn't have a lot of problems with it. But I want to know what's the next leap. I'm, uh, sort of...

[01:39:14] Economic Vitality Manager John Lang: I appreciate the question. I think the next logical step. So, one, in addition to getting your feedback tonight, I'm very excited to announce we will get a two new staff to the economic development team in October. So very excited about that. And because of that, you know, having the opportunity to do a lot of things that we've been wanting to do. So working in kind of parallel. A lot of the things that are outlined in the strategy right now are things that we could be we could be doing. You just need, a few more bodies to help. So getting the staffing on board, I think, is critical. Some of the things that are outlined in the strategy are going to require lifts and coming back to council for maybe clarifying direction. But there's a lot here that can be done. I would say in my career trajectory, a lot has changed in the last 20 years in this field. And as I mentioned, this role of equity in plans is a newer thing, right? And so I think there's a lot of things we can be doing and enabling new partnerships that actually haven't existed in Mountain View. So I'm excited, but obviously I want to make sure that this community is bought into the plan and certainly council is bought into the plan. So we're really looking for the feedback from council on, you know, do we need to make tweaks? Do you want us to come back? We're really looking for that guidance. If you want us to run, very happy to run. But we are really looking for that feedback.

[01:40:51] Vice Mayor Pat Showalter: Okay. Well, thank you. Yeah, and I also think that another thing, at least in sort of the mountain view culture is, for a long time, we've had themes that are along the lines of a community for all, or everyone is welcome, or, you know, along those themes, and I think that describing it as race and equity is just another, it's a different way to describe it. Maybe, in some ways, a better way, maybe in other ways not. But we've always been a community that really enjoyed our social and economic diversity. And that was one of the things I always thought set mountain view apart, is that we, you know, we have people here from all over the world. And it's just, it really creates a very interesting community, uh, learning, you know, all the different customs of our various neighbors. And, um, I never lived anywhere that that was so evident. And so I really enjoy that, and I think it's one of the things that sets Mountain View apart, but it also, I mean, it creates a lot of opportunities for businesses that I'd like to see realized a little bit better. Okay, thank you. That's my questions right now.

[01:42:07] Mayor Alison Hicks: So I see several people in the queue for a second time, and I don't know if they just didn't remove their names yet. And I'm going to take this space to, since you're up here, ask my question. And I'm gonna make a little comment, just since you raised the issue of diversity. I think in some ways, just 'cause I'll forget it when we make our comments. Although, in some ways, Mountain View is becoming more diverse, I think at the same time, the graphics that you showed showed us becoming less diverse, in terms of, in terms of the variety of businesses, it's becoming much more, I didn't memorize them, but it was tack and information. I think that, and then also less income diverse. You know, I probably mentioned this before, but my kids went to the dual immersion school, Castro school, with a lot of low income, recent immigrants. Those people are largely gone. So not all, but a large number of them are. So I don't think that diversity, I don't think we're purely becoming more diverse. I want to talk about income diversity. I mean, frankly, I'd prefer that there were no poor people in the world. But since there are, you know, I think we have to pay attention to whether we're driving them out of town. And I think that on the diversity topic, it's not all good news.

[01:43:31] Vice Mayor Pat Showalter: I wouldn't disagree with you, but I would say, having lived here a very long time like you have, that for most of that time, that desire to have diversity has been a shared mountain view value. That's one of the things that differentiated us, which I've always liked.

[01:43:49] Mayor Alison Hicks: That's true. Now, from my question, so full disclosure, I studied economic development when I went to planning school, decades ago. So, I'm finding much of this very similar to what we did several decades ago, and I'm wondering what changes you've, what, if any, changes you've made in the methodology, was some of the very big changes that are going on right now, economically, in particular, um, hybrid and remote work, uh, also, kind of some of the sustainability things that we're doing differently, for example. The concept of 15 minute cities, you know, so you don't have to drive everywhere, which drive everywhere to pick up your whatever groceries, go to the drugstore, whatever. Um, which would imply more small businesses, scattered in areas throughout the city, so thank you, council members, for broadening, uh, goal number one, because I think that that is something we have to do for, um, if we're going to have 15 minutes cities, we have to look at more than just the downtown. So thank you for that. But, um, can you, and then this just tremendous, I was shocked to see that we increase the number of jobs. To me, this was almost like the headline, the number of jobs eight times the amount of housing. I mean, that's shocking and bad.

[01:45:19] Consultant Chris Medford: It was kind of a headline to me when I found that, also.

[01:45:22] Mayor Alison Hicks: Yeah. And so, really, meaning that we have a very bad job housing balance is what it sounds like to me, which I kind of already knew. But for some of those issues that we're really not around when I was studying this subject. Have you changed your methodology at all? What are you doing differently, particularly on the remote and hybrid work subject?

[01:45:46] Consultant Chris Medford: Right, thank you. Things have been changing rapidly, the past couple of years. Things have not, um, really settled down, I would say, in terms of confidence, whether we're at, where we are in 2023 versus what would be in 2030 on some of the remote working trends, right? I kind of think we're there in terms of this is what the future looks like, and we have the same debate in the Seattle area, is what you have here, about, I mean, we can go down that rabbit hole about, um, where it's going for the remote work, where I try to ground it in economic thinking is the math for a viable business is still the same, right? So if I'm a retailer, if I'm a restaurant, I still need people to come in the door, and my sales and revenue, my income statement hasn't changed. What is changing is, where's the location for that business or vice versa, where the people coming from to come into that business? If there are fewer people on a day-to-day basis coming in your tech sector, and there's fewer people shopping while they're at those work, then how are you going to sustain that foot traffic in these commercial areas that you want to see more vibrant retail and restaurant? Because their math hasn't changed. The real estate math hasn't changed. They still need to have rents and revenue to cover, that's got to come from people that are coming in. So if you take the 15 minute city concept, then you've got 2 choices. You're either bringing people in from elsewhere or it's people that are living close in to be the patrons of those businesses. Those people can be either residents or workers. And that mixed village concept on a hub by hub basis is still a formula that is worth exploring to understanding what's that balance. Who's gonna walk in that storefront and why? That's still the same question. Still the same proposition from a restaurant tour's perspective. So a lot of these things can shift. You certainly have seen across the country, restaurants and businesses opening in the residential areas more so than had been before, and you see all the downtowns being challenged in places, especially where used to be a high degree of daytime population that is now half, for lack of a better number. I can keep talking. I'm just pausing so I don't keep talking.

[01:48:01] Mayor Alison Hicks: So, go ahead, please. So does that mean that people are going out? Like, still people don't want to stay home all the time. I mean, we did that for several years, and now I think most people are tired of it, people are going out to movies, and so forth again. Does that mean that we have to shift our, uh, some of the businesses that we have to a more, uh, sort of entertainment model, um, you know, going out, not because it's, you know, you're working at the office, and you run out for lunch. But because you've been working at home all day, and you're sick of being there, and you need to get out. Right.

[01:48:35] Consultant Chris Medford: Neighborhood my neighborhood puts its place by place, how you answer those questions, right? And there are some general trends, but how it plays out for place making, and these mixed use villages and things, like, I don't mean to say, village over, nobody's mixed use developments, those questions are in play, right? Or how do you get from one spot to another? That's where your parking study is important, how accessible is the place, regardless of what to the commercial centers that you're talking about, what those motivations are, like you're speaking to. Yes, those have changed, that those are different. If I don't go downtown every day like I used to in downtown Seattle, I'm thinking to myself, then where I spend money is certainly shifting into the neighborhoods, the big commercial centers, where the neighborhoods are, are booming, right? Those rents are up and people are there. Your challenge in Mountain View is, in addition to these changes, you know, what I think hasn't informed the conversation may be enough yet is your regional proximity and all the competition that you have around you. So your conversation is both a neighborhood conversation and really a mega region conversation about where are people now then, and how do you take market share from other established places? What are the niche retails and restaurants you'd like to see more of? And how can you be empathetic with the developers and the retailers who are trying to compete in a very established region already?

[01:50:00] Mayor Alison Hicks: Okay. Thank you. Now, of course. Yeah, and that's some of what I'm reading is that place making and entertainment is becoming more important for drawing people from other regions and drawing people out.

[01:50:10] Consultant Chris Medford: It can be, and that can be saturated too, right? It's a market segment place. You see a lot of, uh, a lot of event space all of a sudden. How many events does one place need, right? And those things can tip back and forth, depending on the market demand. Thank you.

[01:50:24] Mayor Alison Hicks: Mm hmm. Council member manager?

[01:50:27] Councilmember Lisa Matichak: Thank you, I do have one more question. Um, I need a little bit of clarity on, um, prioritization or not, um, of things to be done. So, there was a council question about that. And the answers said that, um, items noted in the draft economic vitality strategy could be included by counsel in a future strategic prioritization and goal setting cycle. And I also see new information tonight about short term, medium term, and long term. And I heard you say, you know, we could run. And so I'm trying to figure out, what do we need to priority? Let's see, does the council need to prioritize anything in the work plan? Or do we just need to prioritize the actions and, say, go. Or something different.

[01:51:29] City Manager Kimbra McCarthy: Council member Mattachek, and excuse me, staff. Let me just jump in here real quick and then help me if I'm missing anything. So one of your work plan items is to implement the economic vitality strategy. So at that time, I believe I can't remember which council meeting it was the numerous times we talked about the work plan, we discussed that you would have a number of, like, a to-do list. All of your action items or the strategies that would come out of that would ultimately need to be prioritized by you all if there's 120 some action items. I would imagine there are some items that would be the highest priority to council members. So as our economic vitality manager said, if there are certain items that you want staff to run, knowing that we're going to have new staff on board next month, then it would be good to know that. Um, just, it would be good for you all to give that direction. If there are a few things. But in terms of everything, and I know it's kind of broken down by short term, medium term, and long term, we would have to look at the next upcoming work plan cycle in terms of all of the other things to prioritize. But I think, you know, it is realistic to say that we know there are things we need to do right now. And so we would seek your feedback, an input, if there are specific things that you want to say, staff, you know, run. So, again, this is part of the work plan, we couldn't do everything at once, but we would certainly look for your feedback on your priorities.

[01:53:08] Councilmember Lisa Matichak: Okay, thank you. That's helpful. That was it.

[01:53:11] Mayor Alison Hicks: Council member, Abby Koka.

[01:53:15] Councilmember Margaret Abe-Koga: Thank you, Mayor. Um, a lot of my questions have been asked. I guess, though, I had some, I was trying to categorize them. I guess I start with a discussion that was going on earlier in terms of the changing types of businesses. So, and, you know, I've been on this council for 15 years, been through 2 economic cycles, being mayor in 2009 during the Great Recession. And there's a lot of practices that we used to do back then that we just don't do anymore. For instance, when that I really enjoyed doing as mayor was visiting businesses. And we would schedule, I think I did 25 or so in that year. We don't do that anymore. And so I feel like when we did that, we did have a pulse of what was, you know, happening. Um, and what I remember back then was that we were like a hub or center of startup companies, and I'm just curious to hear, if that's no longer the case, because I just don't hear, and I know the industry has changed too, with venture capital, changing and whatnot. But, like, what is, is it because we have, in Seattle is similar, one large employer entity now?

[01:54:41] Councilmember Margaret Abe-Koga: Um, How do get, what is causing or becoming, are those, are there barriers to these startups, you know, new innovative companies? Because for me, that's always been a priority is to have a diversity of businesses and always like fostering the next generation of business. Have you seen that change or wane over the years, I guess? would be the 1st question.

[01:55:10] Consultant Chris Medford: Yeah, it's certainly evolving, and I'll speak to it on a broad basis. I'm sure John does far better than I do those in individual businesses. I will say it's integrated. I think it's appropriate. I'm grateful for Arthur and John getting more team members in economic development. The opportunities for economic development are always far greater than staff capacity to pursue, and these very difficult choices on a week-to-week base are based on capacity constraints. So even with 2 more people. There's still going to be far more opportunities to serve than the expanded staff as. It relates to going on visiting businesses and those types of activities. Part of your question is about how has the region changed, how has industries changed, and there are big thing changes, big things that have changed, that are challenging doing business in Silicon Valley, but there's also lots of demand, right? One of my favorite quotes for high growing areas. This is from Yogi Bera, where I said, nobody goes there anymore. is too crowded. Right? And that's kind of the scenario. It's like there can be a lot of people leaving the Bay Area. There can be a lot of people leaving Seattle to go to Boise to go to different parts of the country, and still, a lot of people wanting to be here. Still, a lot of people wanting to start businesses. And I think your entrepreneurial environment is the same way. It is eclipsed by the major world changing companies that have been in Mountain View, and there's a vibrant energy to want to start new businesses here and a lot of good stuff happening. And there are barriers to do that, and there always have been barriers and risk in doing that. So how it all nets out is an ever growing region. That's where some of the data are useful in the landscape assessment to kind of zoom out and see a big picture. You've added a lot of jobs. A lot of them have come from the major tech employers. Most of the tech success entrepreneur activity comes from people leaving those employers and starting those companies, right? All of the Seattle region is started with the Microsoft, as the employment base, when the dot com boom happened in 2001, it was a proliferation of people that left Microsoft to start new businesses. Same thing with Silicon Valley times five, right? So those trends are alive and well in terms of the talent that is procured and where they are, you bet there are new challenges, you bet space and access to services as a challenge, and that's something to be vigilant about. Challenges have always been there. The talent is still here as well. John, please, if there's a local flavor you want to add to that, go ahead.

[01:57:48] Economic Vitality Manager John Lang: Okay, I would just add, you know, I think there's a couple things that have happened over the last couple years. The VC market has changed, and some of the different accelerators that existed here don't exist here anymore. And we have space. That's the thing. We have space. I think when the VC market begins to shift back into going from more mature to early startups, there may be the opportunity there because we have the space and rents are going to be very affordable for folks. So it ebbs and flows if you've been in the valley long enough, you know, it does the dip and tends to bounce back. But we have seen some shifts. So when we look at the data, there are less incuba- accelerators in Mountain View right now, than there have been historically. But I also think that's a reflection of just the financing that's going on. So, you know, there is an opportunity for us to be, once again, putting that message out there. I think there's also some shifts. We work just left. So that ability for that co-working space has changed. So there are dynamics that are moving around, but I think these are all solvable things, but we'll have to be a little more flexible going forward and communicating that message.

[01:59:05] Councilmember Margaret Abe-Koga: So in the, um, allowing the, um, the theme of space, that was another thing I remember, we had the, as businesses grew, um, needed more space, they would leave Mountain View because we didn't have that. And, you know, I lived downtown, so I've seen several of the businesses in downtown actually leave, and I see the big pure storage sign as I go down highway 101 in Santa Clara, but space, how do we get around at that? I mean, is there really anything we can do with that in light of the fact that the city doesn't own, you know, control space, right? It's mostly privately owned.

[01:59:52] Consultant Chris Medford: I would make the argument, you know, as long as we continue to have the ingredients to attract that opportunity, the fact that it grows and nurtures here, and if it leaves because it needs bigger space, well, then we've incubated, and let's accept the new one after that, right? But unless you're willing to take large swaths of land to build campus environments, That's just not where it's going to be. So when you look back at the 2003 economic strategy, Mountain View did, that was recognized at that and it's just the environment and the constraints Mountain View has. So this place to play is really own that ability to nurture that talent, grow it, nurture it, keep it as long as you can. And it may, it may leave the house and go find a new house and start a new family someplace else. Let's attract a new family in there and let it grow, right? The piece that I know, John, does, John, I'll just, what is underneath what John said is the effort to retain those businesses, right? So when folks come to John, folks come to you each. Yeah, you want to do all you can to retain those businesses and help them expand your comment earlier about visiting the business. That's what it's all about. Right? And the Chamber of Commerce is important about that. And surfacing, what those issues are, so you can do your best to keep them here and understand what those obstacles are. It's block and tackle communication coordination. When is your lease up, how much space do you need? Talk to the brokers like John mentioned earlier, do everything he can to accommodate them to keep them here. You're in the middle of a big vibrant region with lots of competition, in some cases, you just might not have it. But to do all you can, It's a part of it, and more staff people, more better. Yeah, and I agree with you. I think that was what I heard often was when, you know, we could help companies through our permitting process, or help them find space, that they'd like. critical. Yeah, you bet. critical to see it coming and to understand, help anticipate their needs before, to, short term crises. Yep. Uh, so the next question, I think this is the bigger one is, um, investment. So I see, I bet we need to be investing in, you know, the older buildings and I is in Los Altos, and, you know, they have a private investment group that's doing a lot in their downtown. We don't have that. But so I've been wondering, like thinking, well, what could the city do? And there's an issue, or it's brought up the EFID, and I remember at a Cal City's, I think, or National League of Cities conference I went to, a workshop, but what would it take to set up an EFID? A lot of leadership, a lot of communication to coordination to get folks together to understand the benefits of that, right? And then it's a math conversation to say, what do you get out of it? What are the investments that come with that? There are no shortcuts. They work at best when there's a very clear boundary and a very tangible benefit that comes from that. And folks can trace it and track it, and they can see it, and they can see where it comes from it.

[02:03:12] Councilmember Margaret Abe-Koga: So, are there, is it, like, a voting, is it a voting process? Is it, like, a...

[02:03:18] Consultant Chris Medford: I know what it is well in Seattle, but John can probably speak to it better in California.

[02:03:23] Economic Vitality Manager John Lang: Yeah, I mean, it's similar to, in essence, setting up a business improvement district. There is a process. There's a voting that goes on. And so basically people are, in essence, self-assessing themselves for it. So, um, so there's a legal structure that needs to be followed and setting it up. We can certainly do more digging into what it would cost to establish one. But there is definitely a process to follow to enable fun. It is a challenge to city coordinations of those. I see that a lot. Sometimes it's, they don't get stuttered really well on their own and it falls back on city staff to administer and everyone has faith in the idea, but it, sometimes it takes a couple of stars to get it going.

[02:04:08] Councilmember Margaret Abe-Koga: Oh. Maybe you can clarify for me, what's the difference between a business improvement, district, and EFID?

[02:04:18] Economic Vitality Manager John Lang: So, um... And EFID is typically supporting much greater infrastructure, um, investment where a BID might be street, street cleaning, an area, uh, or general maintenance of an area, uh, infrastructure financing district is talking about much greater capital investment. So it's pretty self explanatory. I guess.

[02:04:40] Councilmember Margaret Abe-Koga: Okay, thank you.

[02:04:42] Consultant Chris Medford: It can be partner, it can be leverage with other dollars. That's a part of that as well.

[02:04:47] Councilmember Margaret Abe-Koga: And then, um, finally, it was brought up, but the timing of this... plan, or... strategy, I think, that was mentioned seven to 10 years, I recall, I think, when we were doing our council work plan, a lot of these items were in tier two, not one, um, which, you know, was a concern to me. And I, um, but I guess I don't see us having the luxury of time, to be frank, and the difference, you know, from 15 years ago to now is, like, we just didn't have the same competition back then, so we could kind of rest on our laurels, but, you know, over the last 5 years, I see Sunnyvale's downtown is redeveloped and Los Altos, and we have a lot more competition now. So I just don't see us having a decade to do this. What do we need to do to accelerate?

[02:05:39] Consultant Chris Medford: You need to choose priorities with your capacity constraints in mind very tangibly, right? You can't be everywhere at once. If you don't rank the priorities and get stuff done. Uh, economic development, it's easy to be too busy to get anything done. Because there's so many things you can do a little bit of. And you've got to make some difficult choices because you don't have infinite resources of capacity to execute on these things.

[02:06:03] Mayor Alison Hicks: Thank you. So, now we're coming back for comments on the two questions. And I think I'll just let us answer, answer both questions, and take notes on what everyone says. So if you uh, staff, if you can put the 2 questions up, so we can see them. Uh, council member Ramirez.

[02:06:37] Councilmember Lucas Ramirez: Thank you, Mayor. I appreciate all of the questions that have been asked, a lot of good ideas that I'll try and touch on to the extent I can remember all of them. But first, I want to appreciate the work that staff has done and the consultant as well. I think there's the bones of this document are very strong. There's a lot of good material that I strongly agree with. I like the actions a lot. I do have some high-level feedback that many members of the council have touched on and actually you anticipated in one of the latter slides. And I think at a high level, what I would say is, what I think would help the document is instilling some type of measurable objective or quantifiable goal, something that we could use to hold ourselves accountable, and then also be able to have a shared understanding of success. I'd like to see is at the end of the 10 years, 7 to 10 years. We could all agree whether we've achieved our goals or we didn't achieve them or we've made progress and then can make some tactical adjustments to course correct where we need to. Um, and I'm open to how we do that. I, uh, you know, I, one of the simplest or the most simplistic examples I could give is for goal one, which we've broadened, and I support that. I appreciate Council member Matachek for suggesting that. If a primary concern, for instance, is vacancy. I think a quantifiable goal could be reduced vacancies citywide by a half. It doesn't tell us how we do that, but it gives us a very clear objective. we could strive for, and at the end of the time frame of the document, We will know whether we've come close to that goal or not, and we can also prioritize the list of actions based on how close we think each one could help us get to that goal. I'm not saying that has to be what the goal is, but just as an example of a way we can modify some of these goals to help us, be able to get on the same page on what we need to prioritize and what we're hoping to achieve. You've already preempted my hope that we would establish a series of milestones or a time frame for the plan. So I appreciate staff's preliminary work on that and look forward to some of the modifications that you will propose later, with a subsequent draft or even a complete document, depending on what the direction from the council is tonight. So, I think at a very high level, I'm supportive of, so I agree with the vision and equity approach in statements. I'm open to modifications. I'll share for question one, what I think, um, they should strive to achieve. The way I think about this is, if there is some discretion, that staff has on a given question, that the vision statement or the equity statement would help staff make a determination or prioritization in a sort of an intangible way. So the one example I'm thinking of is, let's say we didn't provide direction on how to use the ARPA funding that we received. An equity statement might have allowed staff to come to council with a recommendation that looked like what we ended up proposing, right? Giving back a lot of that money to the most vulnerable in our community or investing it in businesses that were struggling the most. That didn't have to be the recommendation. There were plenty of other ways of using that money, that all would be equally valid. But in equity approach, I think, would help guide the staff to make a determination that the money should be invested where people are feeling the most pain. So if it's an example, it doesn't have to occur that way. But I think that's one way of looking at both of these statements that I think would be potentially valuable. Otherwise, it could just be a bunch of words that nobody ever references again after we had approved the document. I did want to speak. I very strongly support several of the suggestions that council member Kameh had discussed earlier. And I don't know if we need specific actions pertaining to that. It sounds like there might be other ways of introducing some of those concepts of like the procurement, prioritization that you were talking about, city manager, McCarthy. So a lot of the equity components that council member Kameh had introduced, I think, are very interesting, and I would support them strongly. And we've already touched on prioritization to some extent. So that's, I think where I'm going to conclude right now, high level. I agree with the vision and equity approach. I do hope that they're written in a way where it's actually useful to staff, when there is that intangible discretionary element, and it can serve as a guiding post. And then I agree with the goals and strategies. I do hope at the goal level or the strategy level, whatever staff determines makes the most sense, that we can introduce some sets of metrics or something to help us, you know, make sure that we're on track. But the actions themselves, I think, are very strong. And I'm really looking forward to implementation of the strategy.

[02:12:43] Mayor Alison Hicks: Thank you. Are there other council members who want to weigh in? Vice mayor?

[02:12:52] Vice Mayor Pat Showalter: Sure, I'll take a turn. Um, yes, I would I would say to number the 1st one. Does the city council agree with the vision and equity approach associated with the economic strategy? Yes, I really like it. And as council member Ramirez said, I think that this vision should be looked at by staff, when things come up that don't quite fit in the mold, and they should be able to say, well, this is the intent. This is reasonable, this is in good taste. And their action should be, let's figure out how to make it happen. We have a rule that specifically says, you know, this might be illegal. If there's a way to make it work reasonably, that's what we want to do. We want to be the city where things get done, not people, you know, barriers get put up. Um, I, uh, I also would, we can kind of, I was, I looked at that procurement strategy, I forget which number it is now. But anyway, I asked the question about, did we mean that that was, we would do, like, shared buys, perhaps with other, I mean, and I know in the particularly in reducing the use of disposables. It's a good practice to have shared buys of the new, required food wear, for instance. So you get a better price, and you can bine bulk, and you can just take care of it for a lot of the merchants in the community. They just pay a little money, they get what they need. And then on the flip side of that, do we have a policy that we're supposed to buy local? And I, I don't know. So, it's something I would like to look into. And then another thing I wanted to talk about was the concept of volunteerism and pro bono. We have just an incredibly talented community. And they are willing to help us with many of these things. I mean, particularly, you know, the nonprofit community is very helpful with the, with the, um, some of the, the Latino community, uh, businesses, and that's great. So I, I think we should, we should really encourage the use of that, that existing sort of superstructure we have within the community to continue, and we wouldn't, we shouldn't necessarily think the city has to take over it, we just want to help people, uh, when they get into a problem, sort of get out of their way, so that they, they can do things if, if we're creating problem. And, um... Then another... With goal four, I was wondering, this is a question I should have asked this early, I'm sorry, but I was wondering, this modernized Mountain View's development policies to provide clarity and certainty for new uses that align with EVS, vision, and goals. How does this relate to work that we've already, we've already started with the Matrix study. I think much of it relates to

[02:16:24] Economic Vitality Manager John Lang: thank you for that question, actually. We've been thinking about that ourselves. Much of it does relate to Matrix, because we are looking and will be coming to council next year with processes and policies that might look to streamline operations. This adds another dimension. I think, um, this allows us to look at land uses to look at updating those. with a specific eye to looking at how businesses operate today and the examples given to you about the cafe. And I had an example of a 3D printing business that printing was manufacturing, but 3D printing is very different, you know, and it could go into our storefront. That's an example. You know, we were able to be flexible there, but why not update our land uses, you know, to be more mindful of what's going on today. So I think this strategy adds another dimension to the work that we would have started with the Matrix, and would be very helpful and we could bring the 2 together. Um, this is not what I'd call, um, one and done. I think we have to, yes, this is one of those things that we have to continue looking at, and get used to bringing these ideas as we see them to council.

[02:17:47] Vice Mayor Pat Showalter: Yeah, I would really like to see the city staff, sort of all up and down the organization. See, it is one of the pleasures of their job to say, hey, I see a way we could do this better, and bring it to their, you know, department head or whoever their supervisors, um, was, and get a lot of, you know, get a lot of kudos for that. I'd like to be that, you know, that to be part of our employee culture. Okay, then another thing I wanted to mention, along the lines of, was the stakeholders. I really appreciated that there was a broad stakeholder outreach for this. I think that that is very, very important. Whenever you start any new process, you have to sit down and think, Well, what's the stakeholder ecology for this? You know, who are really the players here? And that's very important, and I think you did a good job of that. When I look through a couple of the strategies, there are some groups that I think you might want to think about from time to time. One is the UC extension. I think the UC extension can be seen as job help as well. I think sometimes we will want to be, including the day workers. And then another group, I think that we want to be including from time to time, is the Mountain View's Freestyle Academy. You know, they may be a source of either pro bono work, or maybe less expensive, but more creative work, these students who just have great graphical skills and energy, you know, that I would love to see getting involved at this level. I think it would help sort of teach the entrepreneurial spirit to our youth a little more. So I wanted to mention those things. And... Yeah, I don't think you need to rewrite this. That's my personal opinion. I think that, you know, you can maybe you need to rewrite goal number one, because we made that broader, but other than that, I'm pretty happy with this draft. I think we need to jump right into the actions. Thank you.

[02:20:05] Mayor Alison Hicks: Thank you. Council member Mattachek.

[02:20:07] Councilmember Lisa Matichak: Thank you. So starting with question one, I think the vision statement is pretty aspirational, and I found that it was overlapping quite a bit with the city's vision. And so I would prefer to have an economic vitality, vision that is more specific to what we could accomplish with a great economic vitality strategy. And while, I guess everyone knows, I loved Wordsmith. I don't feel like, um, this is the one I would wordsmith. I would look for a new version. Um, because I think it needs more than a few tweaks to make it more specific to economic vitality. But I think it's important to have. So I'm supportive of that. When it comes to the equity statement, I was very concerned that we use very strong words, like eliminate and insure, and I think I say this quite a bit. You know, we can't ensure and eliminate, but we can support, and we can, you know, take some actions, and, um, there's lots of other things we can do, but, um, we can promote, we can reduce, but we can't eliminate. So I, and then I thought, well, gosh, do we really need this? And I guess I'm more concerned about having the actions to address equity than I am an equity statement. So, um, I appreciate having those marked uh, in the goals. Um, So then, um, I do think this is a crate document. There's a lot in here. There's almost too much in here. And I really wish I would have had the implementation, the short medium along to look at, because I don't feel like I can react to that tonight. Um, but that is what I was looking for. So, I was looking, you know, I sent in a lot of questions asking, for examples, and that really helped me. Maybe not everyone was thinking that way, but I felt like I really wanted to understand what the issue was. Because the actions were clearly, you knew what the issue was. But I needed more information on that and more examples. So that was really helpful. So I don't know if there's a document that exists somewhere that has more detail. I don't know if it should be added to this, but I feel like I could use that to provide better input on this. Um, but I would like to understand for these, um, what is the level of staff effort, some sort of quantification, um, in the software world, we typically say it's, um, a T shirt size. It's a small, medium, or large, extra large, extra small, to get some relative perspective on the effort, and that would be helpful for me, as well as, what do we think the result will be? What will be the impact of this? And that kind of goes to, I think, what council member Ramirez was saying, you know, some qualifiable way of saying, did we do this or not? Were we successful? Did we make a difference? And I also need to understand the cost for these. And I think I would need that before I could really dive into prioritization, although I did hear, and I do agree, there are some probably some quick hits here, that we need to just get going on. And for me, just looking at this short term strategies, I was thinking more along the lines of, you know, having somebody that can help, um, applicants get their, um, permits processed.

[02:24:30] Economic Vitality Manager John Lang: Yes.

[02:24:31] Councilmember Lisa Matichak: Um, and, um, if there are some uses that should be added, you know, we don't, I don't, soon we could come up with all of them, but there might be some quick hits that we could do, um, short term that could help in that regard. Um, I guess I'm less concerned about, um, working on our identity and those kinds of things, because I feel like that might come with some of these other actions, and the other one is obviously reduced vacancies. But I'd say that is, again, throughout the city. While I know downtown is very important. There are other pockets where we have quite a few vacancies, although I have heard that um, one of those areas, um, they are filing a lot of applications for permits, so that's good news. So hopefully we can replicate that. Um, okay, so, um, Let's see. I do, in general, obviously, I would like to expand the scope of goal one to make that city wide. And, um, The other ones. I'm actually okay with. I don't know if I, again, I feel like I needed more information to provide more input on the actions. Um, so I guess I'd just say, you know, for now I'm okay with everything else is in there. Thank you.

[02:25:58] Mayor Alison Hicks: So I'm just going to ask you one question. You said you need more information to provide input on the actions. Are you thinking this comes back again, and at that time, you're able to do it, or I'm trying to figure out.

[02:26:09] Councilmember Lisa Matichak: I am. Um, you know, I do feel like we need to identify the quick hits. I'm not sure if we're doing that tonight. Um, or if we're just gonna let staff do that. But I do feel like I need more information if we were going to prioritize all of this.

[02:26:25] Mayor Alison Hicks: Okay, so it'll come back.

[02:26:27] Economic Vitality Manager John Lang: Yeah, in another step, it'll come back as a second.

[02:26:30] Mayor Alison Hicks: Yeah. Thank you. Thank you. So, now, council member, Apicoga.

[02:26:37] Councilmember Margaret Abe-Koga: Thank you, Mayor. Starting with the questions, regarding the vision and equity statements. So I don't have a lot to, um, change, and frankly, it's really because I, you know, as much as I appreciate these statements, um, as a frame, as framing the conversation, I'm really interested in just getting going and getting the work done. So I don't want to be wordsmithing and all that. I just want to get going on the action items. I will say in terms of equity, um, I, I, my concern with equity really is, um, you know, I share the, or understand council member Mattachek's comments, um, like we, for me, it's about having a level playing field. And then it's up to the individual's businesses to figure out how they're going to thrive. So we can't guarantee, you know, things. So I don't want to guarantee things that we just can't guarantee. My interest here, and, you know, this is a long time ago, but it goes back to that. Just, you know, having a level playing field, there was a time, you know, bring this up where I had heard from, um, like Asian businesses downtown that, you know, they felt that some of the rules and regulations that were put into place were because, you know, some council members or folks thought there were too many Chinese restaurants downtown, um, the neon signs and all that. And I think we're past that era. But that's what I want to avoid is those types of, you know, comments, even impressions that were, you know, were trying to limit certain types of businesses or based on, you know, race or background or whatnot. So that would be my interest is just to, you know, make it a welcoming place. Basically that, just making it a welcoming place for businesses to want to come and do business. And, um, I think along that line as we go into the strategies and the goals, um, that's really what I want us to get back to. I think we had it 10 years ago. And, you know, our I think our priorities shifted some and rightfully so, but I have been feeling over the last decade that we've just let some economic development kind of go, let it go. And, um, some of it had to do with just not feeling the position. I'm so glad you're here, John, but for a long time we didn't have you. So, you know, so I think we're getting back to getting back to business as a city and doing economic development. I just think it has to be a higher priority now because we do have a lot more competition. So that's really my interest with this. I want to see how, you know, quickly we can get going and do this. Because to be honest with you, I've seen these issues over time, I've heard them. We've talked about it. Like, you know, one of it is like around parking. My question, you know, was, well, where are we? We did the parking study way before the, um, pandemic, where are we on implementing those? Like, we should have implemented a bunch of those by now, and I don't think we have. So that's what I want. I'm interested in is like, let's just get to going and get these items done and put them into action. Um, the only goal that I would have a, I have a comment on is goal 3, and, um, and it goes to, I, you know, absolutely support local businesses, but what I've seen in other areas is, and, you know, I know we've had this debate for years in this city, and I think, you know, in general, folks want to support the mom and pop and local businesses, and I do too. But what I see is that in order for them to thrive, you also have to have the bigger retailers, the more, you know, some of the brand names to attract people to come to the city to shop. And then it's like, oh, while they're there, they see the mom and pop and that becomes hopefully, you know, name, name brand down the road. But I really think that we need to foster a mix. And so I'm open to that. Um, I know in the past some people only wanted mom and pops, but I just don't think that's, um, realistic in this today's market. So that would be the only thing I would change and it was part of goal three. Um, I actually did look at the, I mean, I looked at it here and just went pretty quickly through the implementation plan, but, um, I, and these are just what I would focus on, um, short term strategy. I think strategy 4.3 is number one important because this is what I've been hearing time and time again. permitting processes are slow. Um, you know, nurturing that business climate. I want us to get back into, yeah, get just getting back into being business friendly, you know, helping the businesses out one by one, having that personal touch. And these were the things that I remember hearing, you know, we're not, we weren't like, as soon as they, I don't know where they are now, but back then, back then, they were able to actually even, you know, give money to businesses to attract them to come to San Jose. And Mountain View, we just didn't have that kind of resources. So our differentiator was that we had the staff who could go and, you know, talk to the businesses one on one and do those things, help them find space, get them through the permitting process. And I got the sense that, well, we just didn't have the staff, so that's been kind of put on hold. And I think we just need to get back into that. We need to be more assertive and aggressive. And, you know, I see Mike Castrazak, and I don't know if he ever went to it, but I remember hearing how, you know, even council members would go to the international shopping center convention, and, you know, we just need to be out there and hustling, frankly, that's what you do in business. You know, I had my short period of renting a small business. And that's what I think we need. So ultimately, I think it comes down to resources, where do the resources need to go? We have staff, you know, I don't know if we need more. I would like to see an evaluation of that. Yeah, the strategy 4.3 is the most important to me. I would take some of the midterm strategies, like 2.3, 2.1, 2.4, 3.1, and 4.1. And these are all just around the theme of, you know, attracting new businesses and retaining them and helping them expand here. So those would be my top priorities and the short term strategies that I would like us to focus on. I agree that in time, as we do this, and we gain, you know, more businesses, hopefully, or a good mix, we'll start to see what our identity is, maybe it would go back to being the startup capital. I don't know. Maybe it will be the AI capital, who knows? But yeah, I think we just need to, frankly, get out there and start, you know, recruiting new businesses and helping the businesses we have grow and thrive. So that would be the focus areas for me. And then, let's see, I did the, oh, two. Okay, so that was two, I guess. So, um, yeah, so I think you've heard my my overall the comment or my big priority is let's just get doing get going and doing this and, you know, I love these plans. They're great, but yeah, I've seen enough of them. So let's just start implementing it. And I actually would like to learn more or see if we could do an EFID because I do think we need to figure out some way to create an investment pool. that can, you know, like Sunnyvale, right? They had a private developer redo their downtown, Los Altos has Pasorella Ventures. Like, we don't have that kind of private investment group. So that's where I'm thinking, well, can the city, you know, feel that whole. Um, and I, you know, I, I was a fiscally tight one for a long time, but I think we're in a place where, you know, we do have some resources. So, I think, you know, I appreciate their free help and everything, but I think we just need professionals to do this and we just need to add resources to this economic development. Thanks.

[02:35:50] Mayor Alison Hicks: Thank you. I see the city manager has her name up. Do you have a specific comment specific?

[02:35:55] City Manager Kimbra McCarthy: No.

[02:35:56] Mayor Alison Hicks: Okay. Uh, Council member Kameh.

[02:35:59] Councilmember Ellen Kamei: Great. Thank you, mayor. Well, thank you to staff. You've sparked such a robust conversation and I think that, um, you're hearing from counsel that there's, you know, great, great interest. why we prioritized it. So for question number one about the vision and the equity approach statements, I would say we're on the right track. I think colleagues have given some areas of refinement. And my feedback here, and I may be the only one, but I feel like what we have done over the last 4.5 years that I've noticed since I've been on council is kind of woven in an equity lens into our work. So when we've looked at the budget, when we've looked at the CIP, we're calling it an equity lens and departments are used to that terminology. And so my request would be maybe instead of approach or statement, but a lens, and then I think that could clarify that we're looking at it through budget, CIP, and now economic vitality. I think that would really align with where the city is going and, um, would be very helpful. I'm also comfortable if as staff refines this, along with our consultant, if they're interwoven, because when I think of Mountain View, I think of equity. I don't see our visions separate and the 7 goals that we have prioritized or our 7 strategic priorities, I'll reflect, equity in our in with me that intent. So, but if you'd like to have it called out, which I understand is the new way to do things, I'm comfortable with that. But I just wanted to add that. I think the icons are fine, but as council member Ramirez was saying, I think we also need to be clear in how we're reaching that goal because I do find that it might be perhaps subjective, and I would just want us to be clear. For question 2 about the goals and strategies, I did have a couple comments for strategy 2.one, I had asked the question about our city's procurement processes, because I saw the question I asked earlier about perhaps having a preferred list, as being able to fit under strategy 2.one. Um, another strategy, um, that was of interest was 3.5, um, or sorry, um, 3, uh, yes, 3.5, um, we specifically call out our Latino community, which I think is wonderful, but hopefully as we expanded the umbrella to be the city of Mountain View, I'd love to think about maybe just all diverse small businesses, so that could be women, women of color businesses. I'd love to broaden the umbrella, or disability, like they have Ada's Cafe in Palo Alto. I think it'd be wonderful for 3.5. For 3.7. Um, talking about leveraging community, our community of benefits agreement, something that I didn't see discussed was talking about different business districts within the city. And so we talk about downtown, we have San Antonio, but as we have approved 2 master plans, I would love for Strategy 3.7 to be thinking about these different nodes that we can create throughout the city to do some business activation. And then, just, I guess, I'm going to do a three, which is just, like, general comments, if that's okay, Mayor. I had added, since we're broadening it to all of Mountain View. I'd love to engage our neighborhood associations and some other groups, the vice mayor brought up some wonderful organizations. I also feel like this would be a great opportunity to engage with our Chinese civic language leadership academy to help activate some of the businesses I spoke to, hadn't heard about it, and I think there might be a language barrier there. Um, Let's see. Um, and when for Strategy 3.7. When we talk about the business district, could we also look at business district signage? So brought up earlier, you don't know when Mountain View starts and stops. Well, maybe we have something that says downtown, now you're in San Antonio, now you're in this area. I'd love to look at that. and appreciate staff's openness to including our work in the economic vitality, um, uh, strategy in the REJ action plan online. Um, and I love the idea of what Council member Matacheks that it, or many colleagues have said about quick hits. And so when this does come back to council, I'm open to it being a second study session or an action item, but I would love for a category to come back maybe with instead of just, it's just implementation short term, maybe it's implementation now. And then there's an implementation short term, because there are things that are already in progress. Staff is already doing, and I know council support. So those are my comments. Thank you, Mayor.

[02:41:33] Mayor Alison Hicks: Council member, just one clarification for my notes. You mentioned 2.one, but I didn't get what you said about it.

[02:41:46] Councilmember Ellen Kamei: got everything else. Oh, I was just commenting that I had seen procurement mentioned in 2.one, and that's why I had brought it up earlier.

[02:41:54] Mayor Alison Hicks: Okay, thank you. Thank you. Council member Ramos.

[02:41:59] Councilmember Emily Ramos: Thank you, Mayor. I agree with many of my previous colleagues who I have copious notes now. scribbling down as everyone was writing. Um, I will start with um, in question one. This council agree with the vision equity statements associated with the economic vitality strategy. I generally agree with the vision statement. Um, I agree with council member Kame that maybe it should be more of a lens rather than a pulled out approach that we look into having something more integrated would be better. I was thinking if there was something pulled out, it wouldn't be quite like this. I think about how in historical, um, attempts for economic development and economic revitalization. I think about, I forgot what it was exactly called. I think it was urban renewal, and that has caused significant, the intent was to boost up our economic vitality, but in practice, it ended up pushing out communities of color, out of cities. And I think why we would have, if we were to have a separate, called out, equity approach, it would be essentially to address that or to calm that as cities go for more of their economic development, that they're not doing this in spite of our diversity. We're doing it with our diversity hand in hand. Um, I think about what... In some ways, uh, Council Manor Magic is right when the language is strong, like the insurers and what was the other word that you called out in particular, that was particularly strong. But I think overall, the equity, the language in there wasn't, wasn't... Our economic diversity, our economic vitality strategy will be diverse, and inclusionary, and welcoming, because mountain view is inclusion, uh, words. inclusionary and welcoming. And I think, uh, this is similar to how council member Kamei wanted it as a lens, because it's part of all of it. We're using the same lens to look at our economic development. And we're looking at the same lens to look at how we are figuring our housing crisis. We're looking at the same lens as we figure out all these other strategies in our city. So I think that's probably a better way to approach that. Um, one of the things that was mentioned about, uh, uh, council member Abbe Koga, the EFID. One of the things I was thinking about is, there is a particular type of, um, community develop, it's called a community development corporation. These were mostly known, at least in my understanding of my work. Those are mostly known for, like, local development corporations, also hand in hand with, like, CLTs and stuff like that. But another aspect of CDCs or community development corporations was for community, economic development, like within the community, like the community driven economic development. And it is usually done specifically to help communities that don't have that level of investment. So I think that's actually a good, um, a good thing to add along with a council member AbeCoca suggestion of the EFID. I remember the county was setting aside some technical assistance funding relating to that. Now, I believe all the funding is is done. They spent it on a number of different cities south of us. But I think, should they open that funding again? Or should we decide to open funding for something like that? I think that would be very helpful for our economic development. Um, I agree with council member Ramirez and council member, um, Mattachek about the metrics, um, having goals, milestones, um, related to it. And then, um, Vice Mayor Schoalter kind of, uh, uh, stirred some memory in terms of, like, understanding of the stakeholders of having, like, the day workers and the UC extension, which I was great, 'cause it led me to think about the Civic Leadership Academy, which council member Kame also mentioned, um, I View the Civic Leadership Academy is basically the the academies that reaches out to these, um, largely immigrant communities. But the programming itself, I found similar to be, like, Leadership Mountain View, um, which is wonderful program. Um, but, uh, if it is structured kind of like that, then maybe we should have an entrepreneurship day or business day, in these academies, there is such a strong entrepreneurship spirit in our immigrant communities, um, So I think that that would be great. Um, I also prioritize um, strategy 4.3. I think that's one of the top priorities in relation to our, and it's a short term strategy. So we can get it done real quick. Um, I agree with council member Kame's, um, broadening of strategy 3.5. Uh, I don't think it, uh, I think it is something, I, Over the weekend, one of the Instagram stories that I kind of zoomed through was this great 90s nostalgia clip. Um, and it was all about how there were so many Asian restaurants in downtown Mountain View. It was really quite a cool thing. And half of them don't exist anymore, which is sad. But it was one of those things where they're, if we allow our community to show itself in our economic development. It's one of those things that I think, we have that history there. We have that, that formula there in our past. And I think that should be touched upon. So I think that's, I think I properly answered all the questions, so I'm gonna leave it at that.

[02:48:20] Mayor Alison Hicks: Uh, city manager, do you have comments?

[02:48:22] City Manager Kimbra McCarthy: Yes, thank you, mayor. So I just wanted to clarify for counsel that we do have a local preference in our procurement policy. So just to be clear, it's in our administrative instruction 2 dash 11, number five, which lists that price and other factors being equal, preference shall be given to local vendors located within the city of Mountain View.

[02:48:49] Mayor Alison Hicks: Okay, thank you. So, I'll make my comments. There, I have fewer to make, given that I'm going last. A lot of them have been said. Um, regarding the vision and equity statement, um, I, um, I actually do agree with what council member Matachek said about some of the words in the equity statement being, um, being so strong that it sounds like the city is gonna solve a lot of larger regional problems. And I'm totally behind the actions, but I don't want to say, if, say, AI and AVs, take away a tremendous number of jobs that Mountain View is gonna be able to pick up the pieces, I don't think that's the role of the city. So I don't want to say we can do things that are not realistic. I, you know, if something becomes, some things become a broader, regional, and even national problem to solve, or statewide problem. But the actions, I think, are great. The actions, and... And so I'm interested... I am not sure that I'm completely clear on what it means to, as some council members have said, incorporated into the vision statement or make the equity statement more of a lens, but, um, but I would be into some tinkering with, with that. And I also would be into making the vision statement a little differentiated from our overall city vision statement and very specific to economic development. I agree with a lot of other people, what a lot of other council members have said on metrics, quick starts, looking at some funding mechanism, like EFIDs, several council members have mentioned broadening the stakeholders that we interact with. I'm not going to name them, but I think that's a good idea. And some of the suggestions regarding procurement, and other equity strategies I thought were good, and saying that 4.3 is a top priority, as several people have. So, I guess the remaining things that I would say are, I'm glad that counsel broadened, um, the goal number one. Uh, and I think that, I think that there are some specific things that we should do under that, that are, that are not called out in the economic vitality strategy at this point, and those are, um, things regarding place making, branding, making our, uh, walkable districts, you know, whether they're the downtown, the San Antonio Center, or the hopefully soon to come, North Bay Shore, or East Wisman, um, you know, different differentiating each of them, I would say, you know, the downtown, um, I would think of something more historic, the North Bay Shore, maybe something more nature based, the East Wisman, something more modern, et cetera. So I'm thinking that each should have a distinct character. So you might think, I want to go here, go there, and you're going to a different place. So placemaking, branding, Um, I, I read through the Palo Alto recently did an economic strategy that was very specifically related just to, um, walkable retail that I think we might use to inform, uh, inform what we do. It had a lot of these themes, and it used the term, it talked a lot about experiential retail in restaurants, saying that people, you know, don't want to stay at home all the time anymore, and that go into places that give them an experience is the reason they go out because they can, you know, do online shopping and so forth. They also use the term best in class, um, meaning that you, you know, you want to make a place that, you know, one might say, I'm not gonna go to downtown Los Altos, uh, today. I'm going to go to downtown Mountain View, or I'm going to go to North Bay Shore. You know, a reason that you really want to go out of your way to go there. And another thing that I want to make sure we do, because we've had problems in the past, in some of our more walkable districts, is that the ground floor has public facing uses, as opposed to some, in some places, we have office lobbies, office cafeterias that kind of interrupt the flow of window shopping and so forth. And let's see. I also would like, we have talked about giving out small grants for some of these place making and facade improvement. I would actually like to not just hand out money, because I think some, you know, the Windows displays and signage and so forth are not best in class in many of our shopping areas. And I think that people need help with the designer. So I think handing out, handing out money with some professional help attached to that, and not just would be things like window displays, that's really what invites people into your shops, and I feel like a lot of our shops are not, you know, they don't know how to do that. So some of those place making details, and I think we can refer to what some other cities around us have done to refine those a little bit. So that's the end of what I have to say. Um, Council member Abbe Koka.

[02:54:57] Councilmember Margaret Abe-Koga: Thank you, Mayor. I forgot one thing. And I do appreciate the council broadening the scope. So the mayor and I could participate in this conversation fully. Um, one of the uh, strategies in, I guess I can just take a strikeout downtown in it, but strategy one. 3 that has to do with vacancies. And um, You know, I support addressing vacancies, but I have to say, I do not support a vacancy tax. I think that we should do everything we can to incentivize and then understand, you know, what the reasons for the vacancies are. But when I hear, like when I, you know, when businesses hear more taxes or the parking in Luffy's too high. So, you know, we don't like, why would we want to add more fees or costs to them? The other thing is, you know, over time, over the years, I've heard moratorium come up. And I think these are words or concepts that signal that we're not visiting business friendly. And so I would like to avoid those types of measures. I think we really need to do, uh, you know, we'll just go out and talk to the businesses and figure out, you know, what the challenges are. Um, I remembered and I was able to pull up actually leadership Mountain View, there was a group that did a survey of our downtown businesses a couple of years ago and they went and talked to 80 brokers and, and, um, you know, their conclusions were very similar to what's in here. But, and I remember talking to that meeting with them and saying, you know, vacancy tax wouldn't work because each and every business has a different circumstance. And so that's what I think we need to do first. before we start implementing, you know, what do you, like, sticks more than carrots. I want to see more carrots. So that would be the one area that I would like to... I mean, I know I have to get 3 others to support me, but to take out from this strategy.

[02:57:04] Mayor Alison Hicks: Thanks. So I've seen no other council comments. Are there a final council comments?

[02:57:16] Unknown Speaker: Just one brief question. There are certain areas, so this wouldn't apply to downtown, but like areas like San Antonio, which is really right at the border of Los Altos and Palo Alto. I know in our strategy, we talked about, like, the mountain view identity, and the mountain view thing, but, like, there are some areas where there's, like, hubs that we may want to work with other cities. I don't know how that fits in the strategy.

[02:57:46] Unknown Speaker: Um, there are a couple goals in there that talk about partnership opportunities. I think those are, we can look for a place or space within that. I'm not recalling exactly the strategies, but there are a couple where we identify partnership opportunities. I'd also say work very collaboratively with my colleagues in other cities and we communicate a lot on shared best practices. So this is an opportunity for me to engage them and see what are our neighbors doing and how better to collaborate as well. Council member, Matt.

[02:58:25] Councilmember Lisa Matichak: Thank you. So I agree, vacancy tax would be, for me, the last resort. Um, so I guess, you know, I don't mind if it's in here as long as it's not the top priority. It would be the last priority for me in that area. But I do have another question is, you know, if we, I've heard a lot of folks say, you know, we want to move fast. So how do we and when can we discuss what we think are the most important things to do, like ASAP. Um, and is that, um, we just talk about that at a meeting without a whole lot of preparation, so we have some time to spend with this. Or is it, like, I don't want to wait 6 months to talk about that. So how do we talk about that sooner?

[02:59:19] City Manager Kimbra McCarthy: Thank you, Council member Mattachek. So I think you could give direction this evening by straw poll on what some of the items are that are important to you. Alternatively, we were always intending to come back to you all by the end of the calendar year with the final economic development draft. So if this turns out to be a study session again, instead, at that time, you all could give your direction to staff on the most important things for us to do immediately right away. Um, I would say that could be a good option, considering that we're just bringing on 2 new staff next month. So it's, it's, you know, right away doesn't necessarily mean next week, although I do know that we're ramping up, but having a full staff on board, at least by the end of October will give us a good ramp to start. So perhaps... excuse me, that could be the path forward is for you all to discuss it in another study session and kind of think about where you all landed tonight. Um, but I would look for your feedback on what you want to do. Do you prefer to have it in another study session, or do you want to give some direction this evening on your top priorities, which I've heard some.

[03:00:35] Councilmember Lisa Matichak: Yeah, I guess, um, you know, the list of uh, short term, uh, that was new information tonight. That's at the strategy level, and there are sometimes a lot of actions under the strategy, and I feel like I'd rather look at the action level than the strategy level. But, Yeah, because some of the actions I just said, as did council member Abbe Koga would be last in terms of priority, but that's at the action level.

[03:01:11] City Manager Kimbra McCarthy: So council members, perhaps what we can do is staff can take a look at the actions, because those are really, like, what I call the to-do list, all of the things that they're going to do. So perhaps staff could take a look at that, especially once we have a more full team on board and bring back to you as part of the study session, some recommendations on what they believe that they can handle as kind of quick hits or quick wins, and then you can give feedback if there's areas where we've missed, you know, if you think there are other things. Or if we need to clarify why we wouldn't be able to do something as fast or what the trade-offs might be. So we can certainly do that in another study session, which would give you all an opportunity to dive a little bit deeper into those actions.

[03:01:58] Councilmember Lisa Matichak: I think the one that I would feel comfortable prioritizing tonight is, um, we've heard this, um, some have heard for many years. You know, somebody that's a point person to help with permitting. But that's at the strategy level.

[03:02:17] Mayor Alison Hicks: Well, I would need... I'm hearing that, well, I'm hearing the suggestion that we come back for a study session with actions we can prioritize, but that tonight we make 4.3, which 4.3 jump ahead of the rest, is that kind of what people, several people are saying? Okay, can we have a store pole on that, or Vice mayor? Did you want to say something else?

[03:02:46] Vice Mayor Pat Showalter: Yeah, I was just going to say that under 4.3, the action that's in the staff report is create a dedicated rapid response team to handle expedited permits for designated... Anyway, that was the one I wanted to go first. And I think based on what other people have said. That's what they want. That's what we want to go first. So...

[03:03:06] Mayor Alison Hicks: Okay. It's not the straw poem, more specific. Okay, so that... Yeah. It will be that will... Oh, city manager, do you have a comment as well?

[03:03:15] City Manager Kimbra McCarthy: Yeah, thank you, mayor, council member. So I would ask for our community development director to weigh in on what we have implemented as far as a point person, the permit navigator positions, which those were identified as the people to help through the permit process. We also have created two brand new teams that are working on the permit process. I know there's more work to be done, but, um, community development director Schvas. If you could expand on what we have so far, because I think that's what this action is intending to address.

[03:03:51] Community Development Director Aarti Shrivastava: Thank you, um, city manager McCarthy, um, and thank you for that question. We've put a lot of work this year into implementing the permit navigation team. And it's taken a little while because we've had to fill positions. We currently have one deputy zoning administrator in charge of planning, our principal engineer in public works, and a position we're recruiting for, a deputy building official who will be sort of the 1st level navigators. And then you know our assistant director, Lindsay Hagan, who has recently come off her interim role as the planning manager and now fully transitioning into the role of sort of the lead navigator. So that team is currently working on a set of, um, I would say, code updates, you know, believe me, we do have a list. And, you know, we keep this list updated. You'll see the 1st set of amendments. Unfortunately, most of them are related to state bills, but our next launch is going to be items that we identify with John. So it's happening. Secondly, as the city manager said, once the economic development specialists join us, economic vitality specialists join us, we will assign one to the downtown and one to other general policies, and we will have 2 action teams, one related to downtown, and this person will join the permit team as we look at how to implement better processes. So it's in process right now. I'd like to tell you, 4.3, and it started with Matrix, and I think we can very easily fold in code updates to implement the economic vitality strategy. And our intention is really to look at them annually. And you might see them every 18 months or so. We haven't done any in years. So this would be a good start.

[03:05:54] Mayor Alison Hicks: So is that to say that we don't need the straw pole because it's already in action, or would the straw pole be useful?

[03:06:00] Community Development Director Aarti Shrivastava: I think it'd be useful, but I just wanted to let you know, it's an action. It started with Matrix. We have implemented it, we've created an action team for the downtown, not just citywide, but also community development. Um, and, uh, uh, yes, so it's it's our quick hit, if you had to say it.

[03:06:20] Mayor Alison Hicks: Okay, so a straw poll won't hurt. So I guess the straw poll is that we will come back. We will come back before the end of the year with an update to the overall strategy, but we will prioritize 4.3, which is a rapid response team ahead of that. Everyone in favor?

[03:06:45] Unknown Speaker: So it's not the entire 4.3. It's only one of the actions within 4.3, right?

[03:06:49] Mayor Alison Hicks: That's what I was saying.

[03:06:50] Unknown Speaker: Yeah, exactly.

[03:06:51] Mayor Alison Hicks: Is that what you want to vote?

[03:06:53] Unknown Speaker: Yes.

[03:06:53] Unknown Speaker: Yeah, but you said we'll prioritize 4.3.

[03:06:56] Mayor Alison Hicks: It's not the.

[03:06:56] Unknown Speaker: 4.3, yes, the rapid response team. action.

[03:07:00] Mayor Alison Hicks: All those in favor. Okay. Passes. Uh, Council member, Kamet, you have another comment?

[03:07:08] Councilmember Ellen Kamei: I just had, actually, I had a question for staff. So, when this comes back to us at the end of the year, would it be possible to perhaps get it in, like, a chart form the way we do for our, when we do goal setting? And I ask that because in that we are able to do the strategy, the action, and you can add the timeline in a column and maybe add another column and if it hits equity. I think it's easier to read because you saw struggling with like going back and forth with the papers. I think if it's all on one, it might just be easier if that, if I can asset of stuff, that would be much appreciated. Thank you. City manager.

[03:07:52] City Manager Kimbra McCarthy: Thank you, Mayor. So, to just address the final comment from council member Kame about the equity lens. So I heard a lot of interest about using a lens as opposed to the individual actions. So I just wanted to remind everyone that the way that we apply the lens is we basically ask the question, does this benefit or burden, communities of color, low income residents? And I don't remember the last part of it because we did add a couple other parts to that. But what the departments do is they actually analyze the programs and policies or even budget requests when we apply this to the budget or the capital improvement program. And they answer that question and how it mostly always benefits our residents. And so we can apply that same lens to the EV strategy, if that's what you will. Excuse me, if that's what you all are interested in, as opposed to separating out all of the various actions and strategies. So it just, you know, depends on if that's what you're interested in.

[03:09:04] Mayor Alison Hicks: Yeah, I could maybe I'm asking the same question you are. I could use several council members talked about using a lens rather than the statement or in addition to, and maybe a little clarity on exactly what that.

[03:09:15] Councilmember Ellen Kamei: Sure. I can clarify my intent. So I think that I appreciate the city manager's clarification. My, I want to use similar terminology. And so, to me, when I was thinking about the lens, it's that, you know, we're looking, and this will hopefully come back to council, but that our vision and the way that we are thinking about equity will be in the scope of our work. And I want to clarify. I'm not looking for departments to do more work and more analysis with this strategy. I think I am looking for consistency in the language that we use when we're talking about the equity. So that's one way that we apply the lens. So maybe it's like to get into the semantics. It's like the lens application. Department heads do this. When it comes to economic vitality, our lens is used in this way. I'm fine. It sounds like council members were interested in the action items. That's fine. I just feel like if the intent is there to address equity, I want it to be, um, the intent to be clear versus just using the word equity. And so that was where I was trying to come in the clarity of talking about this approach. So, to further clarify, I am, I would be comfortable with staff coming back through this, to the council at the end of the year, and talking about, I think that there are certain words that people had brought forward, ensuring and kind of other, other strong language, tweaking that, and maybe talking about, because it says, Mountain View's economic, vitality vision. So it's like equity approach, vision. I just wanted to, I feel like there's too many words that are out there and it's not truly talking about what we're doing. And I think if we said mountain view's economic vitality lens includes a commitment to addressing the causes of socio and economic inequality for residents and workers in Mountain View, that would make me feel comfortable. It is not to, yes, bring more to the departments. Thank you.

[03:12:03] Mayor Alison Hicks: Okay, that's a little more clear to me. I hope it's clear to staff. Okay, I see heads nodding.

[03:12:08] Mayor Alison Hicks: As for the rest of this. So, I would say, of all the items I've chaired, there are more disparate comments on this one than any, than any other item I've chaired. I didn't hear people strongly disagreeing with any of them, though. So maybe staff can tell me where we should go from here. I don't want to take a straw vote on every single thing everybody has said. My preference would be, now that we've taken some votes on, well, at least one thing, that all these can be incorporated and brought back, and if people, if council members are opposed to any of them at that point, we can eliminate them. But does that sound, does that sound fine to... to the city manager?

[03:12:58] City Manager Kimbra McCarthy: Thank you, Mayor. So there were a couple items that I think you all should take a straw pull on just in terms of their importance in the strategy. So I heard feedback, strong feedback about the vacancy tax, whether to take it out or to either keep it or put that low on the priority.

[03:13:17] Mayor Alison Hicks: Can I deal with that one now?

[03:13:19] City Manager Kimbra McCarthy: Sure. So, one way I heard it said is that that could be the lowest priority. Would that be a way, so that other measures would be taken first, and that would be a last resort, is that something that, um, council members would support, or do you want to...

[03:13:39] Mayor Alison Hicks: Okay. So, a straw poll on whether to make vacancy tax the lowest priority. Yes. Okay, that passes, and the next one.

[03:13:54] City Manager Kimbra McCarthy: Okay, so I'm going to just run through some of the things that I heard which appeared to have consensus. And, um, I would ask staff to also jump in if there's things that I'm missing, um, or council members for sure. Um, heard that we have interest or council has interest in, including measurable, quantifiable goals. as part of this with the milestones, just so that there's a shared understanding of success. All those in favor? Okay, so the procurement, local preference. We've established that we do have that. So I confirmed that. incorporating these items into our REJ action plan, heard broad consensus for that, and that's something we can easily do as staff. I'm sorry, the race, equity and inclusion, action plan, or race equity and justice. We've referred to it in both terms. Is there a consensus for adding those equity related items that staff would determine that have the icon on them now, but now it appears that having a broad statement would be more beneficial, but we can include items in our action plan. So vice mayor? Or, yeah.

[03:15:34] Vice Mayor Pat Showalter: Yeah, I don't think we're saying with this change in the, the, um, statement about equity that we necessarily want to change the use of those icons and their identification. I think that's fine. It's just that the actual statement itself, the language needs to be revised. Did I misunderstand that?

[03:15:58] Councilmember Ellen Kamei: No, but I think the, what I had asked earlier was, we have this website called the, we adopted an REJ action plan, and every time council does something. It gets added to our council website that says, well, the city website that says everything that the city has been doing, related to REJ. So what I had asked was those items that we're working on with the icon, can we add it to our website that already exists so that the public knows the items that we're working on. That was my intent with that. So it's not, you know, not adding. Yes, it's not adding per se, but it's creating greater visibility. And my whole intent with this is that if we're saying we're going to do equity, I want to be able to show people just how we're doing it and be able to point to these items.

[03:16:50] Mayor Alison Hicks: It's a good idea. Okay. And council member manager?

[03:16:55] Councilmember Lucas Ramirez: Yeah, I would actually, um, have mention or inclusion of our economic vitality strategy includes equity, doing things to address equity, as part of the overall vision statement for our economic vitality strategy, as opposed to a separate statement or vision. It's just part of it. So city manager, were you going to say something?

[03:17:31] City Manager Kimbra McCarthy: So I'm hearing that, yes, there is interest in at least including those items with the icon as part of our action plan. And this is also part of your work plan. Strategic priority work plan is to update the race equity and inclusion action plan. So this would be part of that update.

[03:17:51] Mayor Alison Hicks: Correct. It follows what you're already doing. So if you all are okay with that.

[03:17:57] City Manager Kimbra McCarthy: Then I think that's easy for us to do.

[03:18:00] Mayor Alison Hicks: Yes, it's a draw vote. Yes. Okay. Okay, that passes. Right.

[03:18:06] City Manager Kimbra McCarthy: Okay, then the next thing that I have is around the vision statement. Um, hearing a lot of, uh, feedback to make sure that we are changing the language that seems a little extreme, and making sure that it aligns with the city's, uh, values around economic development specifically, and not so that it's marrying our current citywide vision statement. So tweak the vision statement for you all to react to. Okay. Everyone in favor of that? Raise your hand Okay. Majority, yes. Okay, then implementation items to break them down into immediate, short term, medium term long term. Bring that back in a table, easy to look at, so you all can react to that. At the action level, yes, 120 some. Okay, action. Should we vote on that? Passes. Okay, expand the scope of goal one to make it citywide. Okay. Uh, 4.3. One of the number one priority, which we talked about and clarified, but just make sure that that's part of the immediate quick hit priority. Okay, clarify and streamline the permitting process and have the specific context. Okay? Then I also heard interest in exploring an EFID, and this likely would not be a short term or an immediate, but I did hear interest in that. and council, um, seem to be interested and so we can see at the staff level what we might be able to do. But that seemed to be something that I heard from several of you. So all those in favor of exploring it. You have a question?

[03:20:08] Councilmember Lisa Matichak: Thank you, Mary. I think a lot of these action items, we probably need more information before we give staff preliminary direction to pursue them. I'm interested, but if that takes 3 years, and it means we have to deprioritize something else on the work plan, then I think we probably need more information before we start prioritizing good ideas, but ideas that we're probably not adequately informed about right now.

[03:20:35] City Manager Kimbra McCarthy: Okay, so that's helpful because the last thing I was going to say is that there were several other priorities mentioned by a few of you, and Mayor, this might be what you're getting at where you've heard a lot of different things. So perhaps when we bring the item back to you, and it breaks down each of the action items, then you all can give us feedback on each of those items, because there were several different ones mentioned by you, and you can now see them laid out in a different way once we bring it back to you, as opposed to going through all of those tonight when you don't necessarily have all the information. And those were the biggest items.

[03:21:11] Mayor Alison Hicks: Do you have a list of those in front of you?

[03:21:13] City Manager Kimbra McCarthy: I have some of them that were mentioned, but I think what we would do is just, you would see all of them. We would bring back all 120 some with more context and you can give us feedback at that time.

[03:21:27] Mayor Alison Hicks: Okay. Yeah, I mean, so, for example, as I spoke last, I brought up things on placemaking, I haven't circled back and asked people about those, but I think they could, I mean, I could right now, but they could also be on the list of things that are brought up, and if people don't like it next time they vote it down.

[03:21:48] Unknown Speaker: Just to be clear, are those items that don't currently exist? So if there are new actions, we probably should vote on them tonight to formally include them in the analysis we'll receive.

[03:22:00] Unknown Speaker: I would ask staff, is there an action item on placemaking and brand? I know there's one on branding.

[03:22:08] Unknown Speaker: Um, no, there's no specific, um, there's no specific strategy. or action around place making. Defined place making.

[03:22:19] City Manager Kimbra McCarthy: Okay, so mayor, then I would ask you to take a straw poll. on that.

[03:22:23] Mayor Alison Hicks: Okay, so do we add action around placemaking?

[03:22:28] Unknown Speaker: Can I define it? Yeah, so it would be, um, it would be, um, branding differentiating the different, um, the different, uh, downtown and village centers, and it could include, um, it could include things like upgraded signage, um, and, uh, upgraded signage and facade improvement, uh, facade improvement grants and design help for people who were getting those grants.

[03:23:02] Mayor Alison Hicks: So all those in favor?

[03:23:09] City Manager Kimbra McCarthy: Were there others? That is all that I had.

[03:23:16] Unknown Speaker: Yes. I just wanted to make an additional comment, and that's that on page slide 25. We have a list of short term strategies. And granted, what we really want to hear, or what I really want to hear, I think most people want to hear, is about the action that goes with this strategy, which I just, you know, look through quickly. But just looking through that quickly. This is a good list. So I wanted to, you know, I wanted to make sure that that comment was, you know, registered. I think that, you know, it's got 4.3 in it. It's got 1.3 about the vacancies. So, I mean, I think that, you know, you've really done a good job of identifying those there. And if anybody, if we want to make a straw poll about, do other people think it's generally a good list? That's okay with me, too, but we don't, I mean, we don't have to.

[03:24:06] Mayor Alison Hicks: I think it's a great list. Okay, so I think with that, if there are no other comments, I think we're closing out this item. Um,

[03:24:18] Mayor Alison Hicks: I think we're gonna take a 10 minute break, but I also think we need to vote to continue after 10 o'clock. So do I have emotion on that? I have emotion by the vice mayor and a second by council member Ramos, so we can vote.

[03:24:50] Mayor Alison Hicks: So it passes, and we'll take a 10 minute break and be back at 10 o'clock.

[03:28:56] Mayor Alison Hicks: Okay, we are now to section eight of the agenda, which is new business. 8.1 will be selection of the preferred and alternate development teams for 87 East Evelyn Avenue Affordable Housing Project. Senior Housing Officer, Deanna Talavera, will present the item.

[03:29:18] Senior Housing Officer Deanna Talavera: Thank. Share the screen.

[03:30:02] Deanna Talavera: Good evening, mayor, vice mayor and council members. My name is Deanna Talaver and I'm the senior housing officer with the housing department. I'm joined this evening by Wayne Chen, housing director and Libby Seifel, who's joining remotely, both of whom I worked alongside on this RFQ RFP process, and who will both be available to respond to council questions following the presentation. Before starting, I'd like to extend our gratitude to each of the development teams. For their significant time and effort that they've invested in this developer selection process. Each of the teams demonstrated their commitment to affordable housing and to serving the Mountain View community. Getting started, I'll 1st provide some background on the site we're discussing this evening. For the past few years, the city and the Santa Clara Valley transportation Authority or the VTA, have worked together to bring affordable housing to this site at 87 East Evelyn Avenue. Back in 2019, the city council authorized staff to negotiate a long-term ground lease with the option to purchase the site from the BTA. In 2021, we executed a ground lease, and in 2022, went to the city council via study session to determine the development priorities for the lot. In June of this year, the city completed the purchase of the lot from the VTA and took title to the property. Staff took the priorities from the council study session and issued a request for qualifications, and then an RFP requesting proposals for the site. The city received proposals from 5 development teams. Now, I'll tell you a little bit about the Evelyn lot itself. The lot shown here in Blue is 2.1 acres in size and is located at the corner of Pioneer Way and East Evelyn Avenue. It is zoned as high density residential or more commonly known as having R4 zoning. Charities housing owns the site next door shown in Orange. As mentioned, staff went to council via study session to request input on development priorities for the lot, and these priorities were included into the RFP, and are summarized here on the slide. It was important to achieve deep affordability on these sites, with 30% of the units set aside for extremely low income, households, and the inclusion of rapid rehousing and permanent supportive housing units. There was a desire to see a project density of between 80 to 100 dwelling units per acre, with support from the council for greater project density if it was financially feasible. In addition, there was a desire to see a project that it ceded 7 to 8 stories, if an applicant could demonstrate that their proposed project was also financially feasible. Another priority was to include a parking plan, that balanced parking with other project features, and a plan that was supported by a strong TDM program. Each of the teams understood that a parking study may be required if selected. There was a strong emphasis on design and placemaking. We asked the applicants to demonstrate excellent design, and appropriate transitions between this site and some of the surrounding uses. The proposal had to account for vehicle, pedestrian, and bicycle circulation, um, and include neighborhood serving amenities like a childcare center, and designated space for community serving, um, activities like food distribution sites and possible health services. In addition, that whomever was selected, agree to master planning of the 2 sites, so both the Evelyn lot and the charities lot, in a coordinated effort to identify opportunities for shared infrastructure, utilities, open space, parking, and other design elements. And finally, that the applicants identify potential pathways for the existing safe parking participants to eventually occupy a unit, if they decided to do so. So the RFQ and RFP process kicked off with these priorities in mind. Staff issued the RFQ for the Evelyn lot in August of 2022. And we received submittals from 5 development teams. A review panel met and determined that all of the teams met the qualifications to move forward to the RFP stage. The RFP was issued in January of 2023 and submittals were due in April. Following review of those proposals, The panel met with each development team to ask questions and hear more details about their projects. This evening's selection of a preferred and alternate development team will conclude the RFP process. So, um, the review panel included representatives from the housing, planning, real property and land development teams. We also had the city's economic advisory consultant, cipher consulting, and a member from the VTA joined the panel, but they were both non-voting members. All responses to the RFP were evaluated according to the criteria listed on this slide. And the evaluation resulted in the following rankings. Affirmed housing was, um, recommended by staff as the preferred developer and right 1st overall. Charities housing was um, ranked second. And in the event that affirmed housing was unable to meet the requirements of the ERNA or exclusive right to negotiate agreement, or the city priorities for the project. Staff recommends that council select charities as the alternate developer. This will allow the process to move forward without having to come back to council to select another developer. Alto was ranked third. Bridge housing was ranked 4th, and the core companies who partnered with Eden housing on this development was ranked fifth. It's important to note that this was a highly competitive and qualified group of applicants, but both the preferred and alternate developer teams submitted proposals that more closely aligned with the development priorities for the site. Here you'll see a summary comparison of the submittals, all of which include at least 200 units, and all of which are 100% affordable to low income households earning between 30 to 60% of the area median income. Each incorporates units that serve special populations, including those that qualify for rapid rehousing or permanent supportive housing units, individuals with intellectual disabilities and at risk seniors, both the preferred and alternate teams have set aside 50% of their units to serve larger households and families. This slide provides a side-by-side comparison of the 5 development teams and the community serving space that they've allocated within their developments, as well as the childcare space they plan to include, um, as part of the overall developments. Some teams left the spaces unprogrammed so that they could respond to input and community feedback, and others included space for food pantry and warehouse uses. I should note here that the development cost information for the Alta, Bridge, and Charities team was inadvertently transposed when we put this table together. The information was correct in the staff report narrative and is updated here on the screen. On this slide, we present a side-by-side comparison of the 5 development teams, outlining their total development cost and requested city subsidy. Both broken down by unit and by bedroom. These numbers represent a starting point. The variation in estimated subsidies can be attributed to a few different factors. First, the total development costs for each of the proposals differ based on the characteristics and scope of their projects. Additionally, each applicant has made their own decisions regarding funding sources that they plan on utilizing, and the extent to which they leverage external funding sources, including grants, tax credits, and private financing. This comparison will serve as a reference point for the remaining portions of the presentation. So we'll start with affirmed housing. They are working with Van Meter Williams Pollock as the architect. They've identified Cahill contractors as the general contractor for their proposed project. Um, and Solari Enterprise will serve as the property manager, and they have not yet identified a resident services provider. So I'll discuss the details of the affirmed housing proposal. It's recommended by staff as the preferred developer for the law. Their proposal includes 268 units, over 2 phases. And the project will include 42 rapid rehousing units and 15 permanent supportive housing units. Half of their units will serve larger households and families. Phase one is a 7 story family building, and phase 2 is a proposed 12 story family building, which is proposing using an innovative construction material, such as mass timber, which yields a lower carbon footprint than a concrete building, and results in faster construction times. The phase 2 building will house the resident services and community spaces. You can see here that there is a, uh, sorry. You can see here that there is a significant amount of ground floor space dedicated to the childcare center, resident services, flexible community resource space as well. Affirmed was thoughtful in their site plan and integrated a lot of circulation throughout their site. It allowed for flexible configurations and um, opportunities to master site plan, um, with the adjacent site. Overall, they demonstrated a creative and flexible approach to their site development. A firm also had the lowest overall development cost per unit, which was supported by a detailed construction cost estimate from Cahill contractors. They also had the lowest city subsidy request in total and on a per unit basis. They are requesting $4000000 of city funding for each phase of their development. However, it's important to acknowledge that these figures are subject to change, as their funding award estimates may vary from the requested award amounts. So affirmed housing are recommended by staff as the preferred developer for a few reasons. First, they were the most responsive to the city priorities outlined in the RFP. Affirmed was able to meet all of the criteria, and did the best job at balancing the inclusion of childcare, density, affordability, and overall site plan design. They went the extra mile, providing detailed cost estimates for construction, and securing commitments from the low income investment fund to finance their childcare center. Finally, they demonstrated strong commitment to community engagement prior to committing space in the development. While recognizing these strengths, it's important to acknowledge that if selected, staff will have an opportunity to review the project in detail and provide feedback. In addition, in coordination with their design team, a firm will need to address their circulation design to ensure that there's emergency vehicle and solid waste access and that those needs are fully addressed. Additionally, staff will collaborate with confirmed to determine if additional subsidies may be needed. Next, we'll move on to charities housing. Charities Housing is working with David Baker Associates as the architect, and Nibby Brothers, General Contractors as the contractor for the site. Charities Housing will serve as both the property manager and resident services provider. Charity submitted a strong proposal and was highly ranked, and staff is recommending them as the alternate development team. Their 3 phase project includes 391 units across 4.one acres, combining both their site and the city owned site. The image here is the site plan, which shows the development across both parcels with 4 residential structures and a standalone parking garage that serves the entire development. The project includes a childcare center located in phase 2B and a CSA food distribution pantry and warehouse located in phase 3 off of Pioneer Drive. The project provides a range of open space and non-vehicle circulation throughout their site. While charities does not have the lowest requested city subsidy, they are comparable with the other developments in terms of um, subsidy cost per unit. As stated before, these figures are subject to change, as the project details from up and funding commitments may vary from what is actually awarded. Charities had a strong proposal that included deep levels of affordability, the inclusion of family sized units, and a substantial amount of parking, were things that we felt were their strongest qualities. In addition, there were strong design elements and potential for shared open space. However, staff had concerns about the distance between the standalone garage and residential units on the city-owned sites. Their ability to finance the construction of the standalone parking garage in phase one. In addition, they're designed, straddles, parcel lines, and staff would need to work with charities, if selected, and the VTA to identify the potential impacts, if any, that the continuing federal transit interest on the Evelyn lot may carry. Move on to alta housing. They are working with PiToc, architects, and they have not identified a general contractor for this project. All to housing will serve as the property manager and resident services provider for this proposal. Their proposal, which was ranked 3rd, includes 201 units, over 2 phases and a standalone parking garage. One phase will consist of family housing while the 2nd phase consists of senior housing. The proposal sets aside 22 units for at risk seniors and incorporates 29 units of rapid rehousing. Their proposal also includes a childcare facility in phase one and an urban farm on the roof of the standalone parking garage. They are proposing space for community services agency or CSAs, food distribution program as well. Their design offers paved pathways that encircle the entire property and create efficient pedestrian and connections between the charity site and pioneer way. Alta's financing plan assumes $30000000 from the city, which is frontloaded with 27000000 in phase one. The project is also assuming that a quarter of the units will receive project-based vouchers which are limited in the county. Finally, the project assumes funding via the anticipated regional measure known as BAFA, which, if passed, would make this a viable source of funding for all of the development teams. As of today, however, it's not a realized source of funding. While it's a middle in design, word of high quality, the overall proposal was less responsive to the RFP and did not include the family sized units identified as a priority by the council. Finally, the subsidy request was the highest per unit and on a per bedroom basis. Although the standalone garage had practical efficiencies, it likely added to the overall project costs. Bridge housing, uh, we'll move on to their proposal. They are working with Sidel architects. They've identified LND construction as the general contractor. Bridge will serve as the property manager and abode services will serve as the resident services provider. Ridge is proposing 238 units serving large families and a permanent supportive housing building over 2 phases. Their project included a set aside for individuals with developmental disabilities. This project incorporates neighborhood serving amenities, such as childcare and a community room. The project offers above ground podium parking, wrapped by the development. They did incorporate tree preservation and planting into their planned outdoor spaces. Ridge proposes to construct the project, with 4% federal tax credits paired with state HCD funding, and with contributions from the city. The anticipated city subsidy amount for this project is $17.70000 with a per unit subsidy of around $74,000. While the project did align with many of the development priorities outlined in the RFP, including a strong emphasis on deeper affordability levels and serving individuals with developmental disabilities, some of the concerns raised about the overall proposal were that the project was enclosed, providing less permeability for bike and pedestrian circulation, through the site, and fewer overall master planning opportunities than some of the more highly ranked proposals. Finally, our 5th ranked team was the combined proposal from Core and Eden Housing. They identified HKIT as the architect for their project. Core builders would serve as the general contractor, and Eden housing would serve as both the property manager and resident services provider. Their proposal included a total of 28 affordable units, over 2 phases, one phase is family housing, with at least 50% of the units being 2 to 3 bedroom units, and one phase of senior housing. Here's the Eden site plan, and you can see that parking for the development is tucked under the building. The project includes a childcare center that can serve around 30 children and has 2 community rooms that would serve the residence, and which can be made available for community events like cooking classes and food distribution. The corn eaten team had a strong financial plan, which included various sources of funding. They proposed a bank loan, tax credits, and state sources of funding, and the team is requesting $9000000 from the city for phase one, and approximately $89 million for phase 2 for a total of $17.9 million subsidy from the city. Despite being competitive, their proposal did not fully align with the city's priorities and goals, resulting in their 5th place ranking. The RFP prioritized family size units and units for rapid rehousing and permanent support permanent supportive housing units, which were not adequately addressed in their proposal. Given its focus on fully affordable senior housing in phase two. Furthermore, the site plan was more closed off and less conducive for master planning than some of the other submittals. And their community spaces were designed primarily for residents, rather than the broader community. Although their submission had strengths, it fell short in addressing the priorities outlined in the RFP when compared to other proposals. The RFP asked each developer team to address how they would approach a coordinated master site plan process for both of the sites, aligning with council's direction from the May 2022 study session. This approach brings benefits like connected open spaces, shared amenities, cost-effective development, and better site functionality. The goal is to create a cohesive development beyond what the individual projects could yield on their own. After selecting the preferred developer for the Evelyn site, staff will begin this collaborative process. This will not delay housing development on either of the sites. The coordinated process includes a project kickoff meeting and putting together a schedule. The developers should meet post-developer selection to discuss goals, steps, and timeliness, I'm sorry, and timelines for the master site plan and project design. From there, the coordinated master site plan will begin, and each project will work with staff through the informal application review process. This is where the city and the developer teams can identify shared resources and integrated design options. Community outreach is another important element of this process. It's assumed that the selected developer and charities will conduct community outreach for the master site plan and their own project designs. Outreach can be coordinated or separate based on each developer's timeline. And finally, the city endorsement. The master site plan and project design will go before council for review and input during the city's funding process. Funding for the Evelyn Lot will get determined through council approval. So what happens next? After council, selects the preferred development team, the city and the developer will enter into an exclusive right to negotiate agreement and begin the negotiation period. From here, the city will work to begin design review and kick off the master site plan process. We'll come back to the council to review the key deal terms, and project design, and for an update on the master plan process. After execution of the LDDLA, which is the least disposition and development agreement. The selected team will submit a formal planning application currently targeted for Q1 of 2025. We estimate that construction on the site will begin in 2026 and um, completed in Q4 of 2028. As part of this process, and before leasing city owned land to a developer, the city must 1st go through the process of declaring it as exempt surplus land under the surplus land act. Surplus land that's transferred for the use of affordable housing is automatically considered exempt surplus land. So we recommend that the city council is part of their action tonight. adopt a resolution declaring the Evelyn Lot exempt surplus land. The fiscal impact. Selection of a preferred developer tonight does not have a fiscal impact. The project will require city funding and staff will work with the preferred developer to determine that amount through a process. Funding commitments will be part of the ground lease and development agreement negotiations, and staff will return to council to approve those items under separate meeting. So this evening, we recommend that the city council select affirmed housing as the preferred development team for the 87 East Evelyn Avenue Affordable Housing, residential development, and to select charities housing as the alternate developer, should negotiations with a firm not progress. In addition, staff is recommending authorization to execute the ERNA agreement and to proceed with the master site plan process. Finally, staff is recommending that the city council adopt a resolution declaring the lot exempt surplus land pursuant to the surplus land act. Each of the development teams are here, and we'll provide a brief five-minute presentation to the council. They will also be available for questions on their specific proposals, as will we. Thank you.

[03:54:17] Mayor Alison Hicks: It's quite a lot of information to convey. You must be breathless. So, we'll now have a presentation from each applicant for 5 minutes each. Up first, we have affirmed housing, represented by James Silverwood, President of Affirmed Housing, via Zoom, Rob Wilkins, Vice President of Affirmed Housing, and Stephen Ellis partner of Van Meter Williams Pollock.

[03:55:04] James Silverwood: Good evening, Mayor and Council. I'm Jimmy Silverwood, president of Affirmed Housing. We're very happy to be here tonight to present our best effort proposal of responding to this RFP. A list of our partners are shown on the bottom of this slide, all of which are here tonight. Next slide, please. Affirmed has over 30 years of experience providing affordable housing in California. We have financed close to $3000000000 worth of affordable housing in the state, with a 1000000000 in tax credits alone. We've developed every product type from a 23 story affordable housing high rise in San Diego, to a 12 story historic renovation, to infill, podium mid-rises, to your traditional, 2 story walk-up. We can deliver what we're proposing here to the city. Next slide, please. Shown here are a few of our completed projects in San Jose, including villas on the park, one of the 1st 100% supportive housing developments in San Jose. And Vella, the 1st rapid rehousing project in the county of Santa Clara. Next slide, please. Here are some additional developments in San Jose, all of which include partnerships with Santa Clara County. We were awarded the VTA owned Barriessa site in the upper right corner through a similar RFP process last year, a 10 story concrete building with 195 homes. Next slide, please. Our 2 phase strategy on our Evelyn proposal allows for the highest total density while still preserving space for the safe parking program during phase one construction. At 7000 square feet, Our proposal includes the largest area set aside for a childcare facility, we've proposed kids connect as the childcare facility provider, which qualifies for a $2000000 commitment from Liff for childcare facility improvements. Our proposal also includes 140 parking spaces, taking advantage of this transit rich location with 2 transit stations nearby and numerous bus stops within walking distance. This has also allowed for a lower development cost per unit. We have a 3,500 square foot community resource space, which can be reserved for food pantry, distribution with CSA. We've had initial discussions with them, and we would be happy to work with them. Through the leverage of state tax credits. We're able to keep the funding requests from the city as low as possible. This location is perfect for state credits. Our company has secured close to $100 million in state tax credits since the governor began allocating those funds in the state budget. The free land and our parking count proposed also helps keep the city subsidy request low. If selected, we'll work closely with charities on the community outreach, design, and master plan. We have successfully partnered throughout the state with several nonprofits, including people assisting the homeless path on their campus in Los Angeles, as well as villas on the park, just to name a few. Next slide, please. This is our site plan here, and our site planning exemplifies the collaboration between our architecture and landscape design concepts, balancing open space between phase one and phase two, as well as charities site, and fronted with active uses. Great care was taken to locate certain types of spaces to reflect the importance of interfacing with pioneer and Evelyn, and to create a sense of flow throughout the site. The 1st phase, the West building, on the right of the screen, will include 161 affordable homes. This building will also include the parking for both phases among 3 levels, including one below grade. The East Building contains 107 homes and a large community resource area on the 1st level, as you can see on the left side of the screen. If you could please skip the next 2 slides and go to the video, which van meter here will present. Thank you.

[03:59:46] Stephen Ellis: Thank you, everyone. I think you need to click the screen to let it go. There we go. So this is looking at the entirety of the site already developed with a focus of mature trees within the landscape and complementing the architectural articulation of the building. As we're zuming in here, ground 4 units are meant to activate the street. So a little bit exposed, have eyes on the street, but also sheltered enough so that they're protected. The activation kind of runs all the way up, Evelyn, to plazas are facing the lobbies of both buildings. Here we're looking at the corner of phase one, the mature trees, the sculptures within the plazas. That's meant to be an attractive feature, drop off for the daycare, which we've discussed that could be extended to add more space if necessary. Facing directly to daycare, with a complement of indoor and outdoor space that was already mentioned, and charities side to our right. You go, pick up that as we turn the corner, and we're looking at our planted EVA. And this is the Imagine the double lane road, only that it's a wino for fire department vehicles that access, but really only one lane will be for vehicles, but we have manitized the other side. So for pedestrians, bicycles, looking at the muse, I'll take a peek of, but this corner is going to be where that community resource room for CSA is supposedly is going to be anchored, that is architecturally contiguous versus the ground floor, which we took great care to make sure that it has a different material and expression to make sure that the street level feels intimate enough for pedestrians, and you see more plazas. And here is a concept very common in a project of having active use is facing those outdoor spaces. This music in particular is going to be a very important buffer between phase one and two. And here, you see an overall look of the entire development of which this is, it's kind of the nice ending shot for this. Thank you.

[04:01:53] Mayor Alison Hicks: Thank you. Um, do any council members have questions about this application in particular? Just... Uh, Council member Matachek, do you have a question for this applicant?

[04:02:10] Councilmember Lisa Matichak: I do. Okay. I was wondering, uh, what your experience is with your other developments, in terms of the residence' use of transit passes.

[04:02:25] James Silverwood: So, I would say, um, in terms of transit passes, a lot of our transit oriented developments do include resident transit passes, um, most of which are currently in development. So, currently operationally, we don't have, not to my knowledge, a development that has transit passes, so I can't give you feedback in terms of an operational development, but we have several under construction, as well as within our pipeline that have committed to including transit passes. It kind of depends on some of our TOD work. We have several developments in Southern California with MTS, which is the transit agency there. And then the VTA development is currently still in the development phase.

[04:03:12] Councilmember Lisa Matichak: Okay, thank you.

[04:03:13] Mayor Alison Hicks: Council member Ramos.

[04:03:16] Councilmember Emily Ramos: In our staff report, this is a little bit both for both of you. It said that there was a possibility that it would, instead of being 12 stories, It would go down more. What does that mean for the unit count? if we do do that?

[04:03:33] Mayor Alison Hicks: I would ask Mr. Silverwood to provide the details of that. I'm gonna invite Rob Wilkins up, our senior vice president of Northern California.

[04:03:43] Rob Wilkins: Thanks. Good evening. Good evening, everyone. Um, so, it's about 10 units per floor on that 12 story building, so, if you brought it down to eight or nine stories, that would be a deduction of 30 or 40 units, that answers your question. So that would lead to a total about 228, 238 units.

[04:04:05] Councilmember Emily Ramos: And from the staff report, that's only if we wanted to lower it down. You guys are good with 12 stories, right?

[04:04:13] Rob Wilkins: We'd prefer the 12 story.

[04:04:14] Councilmember Emily Ramos: All right, thank you. Oh, one more question. Um, the subsidy where I think all of our eyes kind of popped out when we saw, hello, the subsidy was, um, one of the sources that you gave us, uh, was the supernova. How confident do you feel about that?

[04:04:39] Rob Wilkins: I mean, we feel as confident as any of the applicants. I think everybody, most likely, included HCD funds, so the SupernoFo goes through HCD unless you have ASIC funds, that you're proposing. So, um, the location, given that it's an agency ground lease, all of that, um, helps for your point score with HCD. So I would say we're pretty confident. Did that answer your question on that?

[04:05:09] Councilmember Emily Ramos: Yeah, I guess. Thank you.

[04:05:14] Mayor Alison Hicks: Council member Ramirez.

[04:05:17] Councilmember Lucas Ramirez: Thank you, Mayor. I'm gonna ask some of council member Ramos's questions, but just with different words. Um, and so the first is about the viability of the tower. When we met, you had provided, I don't know to what extent you're allowed to share these numbers, so I'll seek guidance from staff, but you had shared some hypothetical development costs using different types of construction materials, right? So mass timber versus concrete, in the event that the mass timber technology didn't work. Can you share with the full council that analysis?

[04:05:56] Rob Wilkins: Yeah, so we have Cahill here tonight who provided us estimates for both concrete versus CLT. The mass timber was very, I mean, it's almost identical in terms of construction cost. What we are anticipating, most likely, is some schedule savings, so that would help with construction interest and things of that nature. But in terms of the hard costs, it's pretty identical and, uh, Nate still here? Yeah. Do you want to hear from Cahill as well, with a little bit more detail, unlike the construction estimate, for example, or

[04:06:31] Councilmember Lucas Ramirez: Sure. I think with the focus on, I think we want to ensure that the tower is truly viable.

[04:06:39] Cahill: Yes. The tower is viable. You know, it's interesting. A 12 story building. Yeah, I like to refer to it as a 12 story building, I think a tower is a 23 story high rise. Um, you know, so I guess it just depends. But in terms of the financial viability, we're also talking about 107 homes. in that 12 story building. We're not talking 300 homes. There's been plenty of 100% affordable developments that have been utilizing high rise or, you know, 12 story plus, uh, concrete, uh, well, mostly concrete from what we've seen. We've also not seen in the affordable housing space, but we have seen on the market rate space, the mass timber, high rise specifically one in one or 2 in Oakland. Does that answer your question?

[04:07:36] Councilmember Lucas Ramirez: I think so. Understand that for the council, um, affordable projects over six or seven stories are rare, um, throughout the county, and nonexistent in Mountain View, right? So I think we want to make sure that we understand how this would work in practice and that we're not going to advance a project that comes back to us later.

[04:07:58] Public Speaker: Yeah, you know, a 7 or 8 story building. There's a couple high rise, 100% affordable developments currently under construction throughout the state. I can't speak for within the county. I'm not sure, but, um, for example, in Los Angeles, one just topped out, uh, winegart and Chelsea Investment project related has a high rise in downtown LA, 100% affordable development in the works. There's been 2 or three, 14, 15 story, 100% affordable developments recently within the last 5 years developed in San Diego. I think we're at a little bit of a point in which, from a construction cost standpoint, lumber is not as cheap as it used to be. And a lot of these infill developments with significant parking as well, the cost per unit is approaching high rise type cost. In terms of the 12 story structure, there's also no parking included within that structure. So that reduces the cost of that aspect when you're looking at a per unit basis, but it's still more expensive than the mid-rise building that we proposed here.

[04:09:13] Mayor Alison Hicks: Okay, that's helpful. Thank you. And then, I agree, that the low subsidy, I've heard more than one person say, if it looks too good to be true, it probably is. So I want to, I think it would be helpful for us to understand. How is it that you can provide a subsidy request that looks so different from all of the other applicants. What are you seeing that the other applicants are not?

[04:09:41] Public Speaker: I think, I mean, I don't have every applicant's performa, but my best guess is that most folks did not include, they included less state tax credit equity, which, again, we've been extremely successful, securing those state tax credits, we were awarded up probably 40 million between 2 projects in the 1st round this year. So we're leveraging those state credits. This is located in a TOD location. It's in a highest resource area, which currently the state credit program, incentivizes developments being affordable developments being developed in high resource areas, and so, um, we've been kind of leveraging state credits on all of our deals. So some of the applicants, for example, I don't know. I don't see their performers, they might not have included state tax credits, for example, or they might have included a lot less than we did. So it's just assumption wise. I think it was mentioned during staff's presentation that some of those assumptions are different. Similarly, you know, some of the folks might have included more HCD money. you know, so there's no apples to apples in terms of the assumptions of gap resources. However, I think, my guess is the state tax credit aspect, folks maybe weren't utilizing as much as us.

[04:11:09] Mayor Alison Hicks: Okay, a few more questions. So the subsidy per unit is just under $30,000. Is that comparable to the subsidy for unit for other projects that you've done across the state?

[04:11:22] Public Speaker: Yeah, I mean, the land, right? I don't know what the appraised value is, but probably 15 to 20 million. So, 8 million plus that is comparable to other projects, such as 190 home development currently in our pipeline in San Jose. That land cost, you know, 10 or 11 million. Um, we're getting city funds approximately 25 million on that development. So if you add in the land component plus that, you know, you're at a comparable level.

[04:11:56] Mayor Alison Hicks: Okay. Again, I'm comparing across applicants and the others are in the roughly 75 to, mostly 75 to 86 range except for one applicant or, um,

[04:12:10] Public Speaker: Yeah, the parking also goes into that, though as well, right? I think, I mean, it depends on which proposal we're comparing to, but I would say on average, it's 100 less parking stalls. So, you know, for structured parking up here, you're probably looking at 65,000 a unit that equates to, you know, 35,000 a unit, potentially on our development.

[04:12:33] Mayor Alison Hicks: Okay, so a substantially lower parking provision.

[04:12:37] Public Speaker: Yeah, so you'd have to add in the parking cost and then compare it, especially when we're talking cost per unit, but that obviously also still, you know, goes into, uh, you have to take that into account for the city subsidy requests as well.

[04:12:50] Mayor Alison Hicks: Okay, thank you. That's helpful. I have a couple of quick questions for staff that would probably apply to all of the applicants. So the 1st is just to be clear, our transit pass is going to be required of any development team that we select.

[04:13:07] Unknown Speaker: We would work with every whoever's a selected developer to incorporate a robust TDM strategy. A firm team did include different options, but typically TDM plans are developed through conversation development of what that would include when we're actually working on the actual project and project entitlement. So I believe that would be part of affluent conversation, but we would definitely incorporate that in terms of discussions of firm were selected.

[04:13:34] Mayor Alison Hicks: Okay. Thank you. That's helpful. And then, a question maybe of the city attorney, one of the things I'm interested in is, to the greatest extent, possible, ensuring that what is being proposed is actually what is delivered. So, when we provide direction on who to prioritize, I guess, or who we select for the negotiation of the ERNA, and then later the LDDLA, to what extent can we provide or require firm commitments that For instance, there isn't a significant increase in the subsidy request, or that there isn't a significant decrease in the unit count?

[04:14:21] City Attorney Jennifer Logue: I think you can ask this evening for, you know, a verbal commitment to stand by the proposal, but in the end, you know, if there are changes, business changes, you know, other changes, with regard to, um, supplies, I don't think that tonight you can, you know, require a guarantee that there won't be, you know, requested modifications at a later date that council would have to consider based on changes, you know, in the environment, economic environment, or like that, but you can ask for, you know, a commitment to, you know, follow through on what was proposed this evening.

[04:15:03] Mayor Alison Hicks: Okay. I guess one of the reasons why I ask is, I'm concerned about, I'm sure there are ways of dealing with this, but I think all of us would be concerned about a bait and switch, or, you know, we're overpromising and under delivering, right? Asking for $8 million is very attractive. And then later on, we find we actually have to provide 25 million. Well, that's unfair to the other applicants, who, you know, could also have said we're gonna request only $8 million, only to then later on say that we need far more than we anticipated. So how do we protect ourselves from a scenario where it, you know, somebody maybe in good faith had requested a very low subsidy only to find that that wasn't realistic and achievable?

[04:15:54] City Attorney Jennifer Logue: Um, I'm gonna need a few minutes to think about that question to see if there's anything that you can do tonight to actually prevent that. Um, you know, in the future, and I'm gonna get right back to you.

[04:16:06] Mayor Alison Hicks: Okay, thank you.

[04:16:07] Unknown Speaker: If I may offer a couple of thoughts. The timeline does include coming back to council and closed session on key deal terms. Now, if through the ERNA process and through the initial stages of negotiations, we find that pretty quickly, the numbers are looking quite different and the projects are looking quite different. And I think we can have an opportunity to bring the item back for discussion to counsel a bit. At the very least, there is intended to bring a bring back on key deal terms to council, so that is at least one opportunity. And I think, um, based on how the discussions go, then we can see whether it makes sense and appropriate to bring it back to council for input and direction.

[04:16:45] Mayor Alison Hicks: That's very helpful. Thank you.

[04:16:49] Mayor Alison Hicks: Vice mayor.

[04:16:51] Vice Mayor Pat Showalter: Yeah, I just wondered what experience you have building with mass timber, and have you built a 12 story mass timber building?

[04:17:02] Public Speaker: We have not. The technology. I'm not sure exactly how old the technology is, but we have not completed a 12 story mass timber building to date.

[04:17:14] Vice Mayor Pat Showalter: Have you built... Have you built buildings that included mass timber?

[04:17:18] Public Speaker: Uh, no, not to date.

[04:17:20] Vice Mayor Pat Showalter: So this would be a new experience for you. Now, I know that it's a new technology, and it has quite a bit of promise. I mean, for instance, the Microsoft Building in the North Bay Shore, um, used mass timber, um, for some... Okay?

[04:17:36] Public Speaker: Yeah, I think that in terms... I mean, our goal is to build a 12 story mass timber building, but what we also included in the proposal is it really will depend on how mature that technology is. I think that in terms of sourcing it. There have been some challenges. And so over the next couple years, that that also will determine that. I think, though, the important aspect is from a construction cost standpoint, they are identical, but our goal is to continue down the mass timber route. But in terms of a financial sense, It doesn't change our proposal.

[04:18:17] Vice Mayor Pat Showalter: Thank you.

[04:18:18] Mayor Alison Hicks: Thanks. Council member commit.

[04:18:20] Councilmember Ellen Kamei: Great. Thank you. I have a question for staff. So, um, some of the applicants um, have a specified childcare provider that they are using. So in evaluating every one's application, are we tied to the childcare provider they're going to use? Is it a discussion that staff would have it at a different time or and kind of in that vein too? Some have also had conversations with one nonprofit provider for the other space, the commercial space. And so as we're going forward with the presentations, I just like some clarity on what, how much flexibility we're looking at with each project or if how many things are already. I guess, quote unquote, baked in. Thank you.

[04:19:10] Unknown Speaker: Yeah, thanks for that question. I know for the firm project, for example, the community space was intended to be a community driven process to determine what the actual uses were. will be, but the proposal did provide illustrative examples of what it could be, such as health clinic, food pantry, et cetera. This could be something that the firm team responds in terms of the commitment of kids connect as the provider. Our understanding is that it is helpful for a developer to identify a provider for this type of service on the front end, and may have been part of the process in terms of securing funding from Livs. So that could be something that a firm provides more information on. And I think for the other development teams as well, in terms of whether their partnership with some of the service providers are fixed or whether they can be fluid.

[04:19:59] Councilmember Ellen Kamei: Okay. All right. So then I guess I would ask that request as applicants come forward if you can give a little bit more detail on the childcare provider and if they are secured or if they are fluid. Um, and then another question, and I'm not sure if this is to staff or to the applicant. Is there a way for those occupying the building could have preference for the daycare? I can't remember if that's included in the, it was included in our RVRFQ process.

[04:20:27] Unknown Speaker: So that if you live there, you could have a preference for your, if you have a child of daycare age, you would be able to qualify. We, I don't believe we specify that detail in the RFP, to that degree. The intent was that the community serving spaces would be community serving for both the on-site residents as well as for the broader community, as a way to contribute towards the sense of placemaking for the broader area. I think that could be something that could be discussed with the selected team. And certainly, we have heard, and we understand that it is very helpful to provide daycare services for onsite residents, especially for lower income households, to be able to help facilitate attending community meetings, going to work, et cetera. So that would be definitely a discussion point that we would want to include in terms of how the slots would be prioritized for on site versus the community.

[04:21:16] Councilmember Ellen Kamei: Okay, and so I'll just turn to affirmed. I know that you've used, I believe, kids connect before. Is that correct?

[04:21:23] Public Speaker: So this is actually, this would be our 1st partnership with Kids Connect. Um, We have other daycare facilities that are being included throughout some of our developments in California. And our goal is to always have that preference. I think part of what we're realizing is it depends also on the funding structure of the childcare facility. So we have the CEO of Kids Connect here tonight so she could potentially speak on that aspect, but that would definitely typically be our goal, is to have a preference for residents, so long as that, you know, meets, you know, their funding structure.

[04:22:00] Councilmember Ellen Kamei: Okay. Well, if the CEO is here and has any comments, I don't know if they're here virtually or in person. Oh, you're in person. Lovely. You never know in our hybrid world if people are here. But any feedback on the question or your experience in other spaces would be helpful. Thank you.

[04:22:20] Mayor Alison Hicks: Welcome. Thank you.

[04:22:21] Public Speaker: Good evening, counsel. Um, I am CEO of Kids Connect, Invent Karen Preschool, and we currently serve um, about 220 families throughout the Bay Area. We have five locations, and I am very financially prudent. So I've managed to keep cost down in order to, um, offer, uh, diverse and, um, equitable childcare experience. So, our experience has been, we've opened all of our preschools from the ground up. And one of the ways that we're able to do that is by keeping our management team small, and also making sure that we have qualified teachers, and paying a fair wage, which helps us with the cost of turnover, and a good learning experience for children. In terms of funding, we've managed to secure funding through Lyft. We also qualify for an SBA loan. I did those things on the front end in anticipation. So I feel pretty confident that we'll be able to deliver, um, a quality program in this new, um, environment.

[04:23:40] Councilmember Ellen Kamei: Great. Thank you. I appreciate it.

[04:23:42] Public Speaker: Thank you, those mate.

[04:23:43] Unknown Speaker: Oh, uh huh. Mary, may I ask a quick follow up question?

[04:23:47] Public Speaker: Sure.

[04:23:48] Unknown Speaker: Um, so, thank you, Council member, and I appreciate you being here, uh, in person. Just so I understand, the letter of commitment is you're proposing to pay for the tenant improvements for the childcare facility.

[04:24:02] Public Speaker: I am agreeing to pay for, um, partially, but also, um, the expense of, um, getting it off the ground in terms of, um, human resources, um, furnishings, supplies, those type of things.

[04:24:19] Unknown Speaker: Okay, that's helpful. And then turning to affirmed, um, do you, so it sounds like there's gonna be a gap for the TI. Is that something that you're intending to come to the city for, or do you have some way of making up the difference?

[04:24:34] Public Speaker: So the lift commitment is for $2 million for improvements associated with the TIs of the childcare facilities. So, um, Kids Connect qualifies under that program through LIF. Um, I think, um, I think you were describing maybe some of the operational cost, per se, through lift. I think Lyft helps with that aspect as well. Is that correct?

[04:25:00] Public Speaker: That's correct. Yeah. So, um, I've actually been working with Liff. In order to secure funding for my projects that I'm working on. And, um, this is one of them that is already approved.

[04:25:16] Unknown Speaker: So... Then, just to clarify, we're not expecting a gap at the TI.

[04:25:21] Unknown Speaker: Absolutely not.

[04:25:22] Unknown Speaker: Wow. Okay, thank you.

[04:25:23] Unknown Speaker: You're welcome.

[04:25:28] Unknown Speaker: So I do appreciate... I worked in the childcare sector, and I do appreciate some of your answers in terms of qualified daycare teachers and well trained and reducing turnover, you're actually saying all the right things. But that's a comment. Um, I have a question for staff. Um, this, you know, various applicants have described this as transitoriented development, but the train station is actually, um, a bit of a walk. And I hope it's a walk rather than a drive for people. So, and the sidewalks, I actually walk them and try to get people to walk them when I go down Evelyn, and they are not very inviting. In fact, usually when I go to friends' houses down Evelyn, my family asks us to take the car, even though it's pretty close. So, what, with all of these, uh, proposals, is staff willing to work with the applicants to make sure, and I have to say, the things that, when I walk there, and people don't want to walk with me, the main thing that they don't like is that they're exactly adjacent to cars, it's buffers from the cars. It's not so much a wide sidewalk, because this is not gonna be the downtown. We're not gonna need a 20 foot wide sidewalk. But it's the buffer, and some of the proposals, I was not clear whether that was, whether that was actually there, and so I'm just asking about a willingness. Did you see the ability, with the setbacks that people were proposing, to make sure there's a buffer along that the entire stretch along Evelyn, and are you willing? If it's not there, sometimes I can't see whether they're trees and other plantings as buffers, because they're trying to show the building. So they eliminate the trees, but I'm wondering if that's not there. I think it's super important for transitorian development, and if you're willing to work with all the applicants to make sure that that exists, and it does encourage walking rather than taking the car to the train station.

[04:27:27] Housing Director Wayne Chen: Thanks for that question. I'll provide initial comment and see if Deanna has anything to add. I think the video was illustrative in terms of how, at least, a firm would approach, and creating a sense of place in the, sort of, the plaza areas at the corners, the ability to master plan the site, could allow the better pedestrian realm, to be extended from the pioneer corner to the freeway. So I, that was definitely a part of the RFP itself, to have quality design, which includes the pedestrian experience. So I will pause the receive if Deanna has anything else to add.

[04:28:04] Senior Housing Officer Deanna Talavera: No, just to build on the fact that we really prioritize projects that included lots of circulation and open space at the ground floor for opportunities to bike and walk and not have to go all the way around the corner to, you know, walk to the train station. Each of the proposals included setbacks, some more generous than others, but definitely hearing that it's a priority of council to incorporate that into a final design. I think we can carry that forward as we negotiate with the teams.

[04:28:36] Councilmember Ellen Kamei: Thank you. Yeah, I noticed that you did seem to work with applicants on making sure there was circulation through open space and circulation throughout the site, but it's particularly along Evelyn, because I think that's where, I mean, if it's transitoriented development, that's where people are going to have to walk or bike. And so, yeah, I'm particularly concerned about that and glad to hear that you can work with people.

[04:29:01] Mayor Alison Hicks: City Attorney Logue.

[04:29:03] City Attorney Jennifer Logue: Yes, thank you. I just wanted to, um, jump back into respond to the question from council member Ramirez. So I am not aware of any other way this evening that you can get more than a verbal commitment to, you know, deliver what was proposed other than what was suggested by Director Chen, which, you know, would allow for checks along the way as the project to move forward and to bring it back promptly to counsel if there are problems identified with regard to funding.

[04:29:36] Mayor Alison Hicks: I see no further questions from council members.

[04:29:42] Mayor Alison Hicks: So, with that, So thank you. Our next presentation is from Charities Housing, represented by Marvel N, associate director of development of Charities Housing.

[04:30:09] Marvel Lang: Okay, uh, good evening, Honorable City Council members. I'm Marvel Lang from Charities Housing, and I'm joined tonight with our senior leadership team, including Kathy Robinson, our director of development, and we are very excited to share our proposal with you. Next slide, please. So, charities housing. We are a nonprofit, mission driven, not affordable housing developer, focus on providing deeply affordable homes. Next slide, please. We started right here in Santa Clara County, building over 1,500 homes, across 30 properties. We have become, you know, a trusted local partner. This includes a longstanding, nearly 30 year relationship with Mountain View through our Sierra Vista and San Antonio properties right here in Mountain View. And we are one of the most active developers in the county with one development completed last year, three currently in construction, and next year. Next February, we'll be starting our 1265 Montecito project right here in Mountain View. Next slide, please. So our proposal as staff went over is to combine the charities and VTA lot, to build 391 homes across 3 phases, in phase one, we will have an 8 story type one concrete building, and we will also have a parking garage that will be shared across 3 phases, and in phase 2 and 3, we'll have 5 story type 3 wood frame buildings. Um, we will provide 287 parking spaces, which, you know, as a local property manager, we believe is the correct amount of space or appropriate amount of space, rather to, uh, you know, not significantly impact the neighborhood, and our residents, especially for, uh, a development of this size. Regarding the FTA use agreement, we consulted with our attorney, and we understand there's several, you know, options or solutions to combine the sites. One which I'll offer is perhaps extending the FT agreement onto both sites, but ultimately, you know, if we're selected, the city, we anticipate, we'll own the charity site, so we will work together on what is the best solution. Next side, please. For financing or our teledevelopment costs, we estimate, it'll be about $391 million. This is for all three phases. This is, you know, a conservative construction estimate based on real-time construction costs using construction methods or construction types that we are very familiar with. We were asking for a little over $30000000 subsidy from the city or $44,000 per bedroom, and all in with the land value. We're leveraging the city's funds very well, we believe, at 8 to one, regarding the phase one financing in the garage. You know, we would plan to use the funding sources we have in our proposal and follow a structure similar to our another project we complete recently called the Met, which is a two-phase project with a parking garage in phase one. And phase 2 has a shared use agreement and easement with the parking garage. I was able to apply for financing with the parking garage entirely, and we would follow that model. Next slide please. So for us, a big focus or design emphasis was to create a community with a real neighborhood feel. And we found by moving the parking to the back, we were able to provide a generous and uninterrupted open space experience holding 53,000 square feet. This connects all three phases seamlessly and to the surrounding areas. We have centralized menu spaces shown here in pink, that promote indoor outdoor connectivity, and generate vibrancy. Next slide, please. And phase two, we have a childcare center, that would be over the 2500 square feet. It also has 2,000 square feet of dedicated outdoor space. We formulated this program with catalyst kids, which would serve about 60 children. And to answer Councilman Kame's question, you know, this, we would be open to others as well. But we worked with cows, kids, just as a starting point to help. And, you know, but they're very experienced. They are a nonprofit operator with over 20 locations in the county and, you know, they help and work with families to provide fully subsidized childcare funding that are eligible. Next slide, please. In phase three, we worked very closely with CSA, for this food pantry, or food distribution center, we work closely with them to understand their long term planning and space goals, and we found that 8,000 square feet was, you know, a good amount of size to help them further along their strategic growth plan. This would be a food distribution pantry that would serve all residents in the surrounding community. And, you know, there'll be a really vital resource right on site, and they will also provide their other vital services to the residents, next slide, please. This is a diagram that shows the walking distance from the parking garage, the furthest phase 3, is just about a 2 minute walk, which we find to be reasonable. There's also loading and unloading spaces along the driveway, and there's also space on East Evelyn that could be repurposed for that, but we're also open to, you know, adding a tuck under parking or parking along the driveway, if that is deemed necessary. Next slide, please. Overall, we believe our proposal provides the best experience for our future residents, you know, something that will be, uh, sustainable and provide healthy living. Next slide, please. We envision, you know, interconnected open space networks between the different phases. Next slide, please. Uh, sweeping open spaces with central plazas for community events and recreation, next slide, please. And a real neighborhood character, with ground floor residential and tree lined pathways. Next slide, please. And I'll end with two renderings, this is along East Evelyn, where we envision really active and attractive street level, as our Paseo spill on to East Evelyn. Next slide, please. And this rendering is at the heart of our development, where we really see just a very active, fun and vibrant environment for our residents, one where they can join maximum amenities, again, healthy living, and feel connected to a larger community. Nice side, please. And that concludes a proposal. I'll just end by saying, you know, we're really proud of our proposal, our this little pocket neighborhood we've created, one that we know is feasible, one that we can deliver based on our track record, and experience as a local trusted partner. Thank you.

[04:37:08] Mayor Alison Hicks: Thank you. We have council questions regarding this application. Council member, Matachek.

[04:37:18] Councilmember Lisa Matichak: Thank you. So, um, actually, if all the applicants could comment on your experience with transit passes and the use of them, would appreciate it. Thank you.

[04:37:29] Marvel Lang: Sure, I'll start. Actually, why don't you answer this, Kathy, you were more familiar with Renaissance.

[04:37:35] Kathy Robinson: Thank you, Marvel. Um, In 19, in 2019, we completed 160 unit development called Renaissance Place. It's in San Jose. Studio apartments, 100% permanent support of housing, and every resident, receives a transit pass, who lives in the development. And the utilization rate is very high, as you can imagine. Many of those folks don't have cars. There's great bus transportation along center road, where this is located, and, um, we think it's a real asset to the community, and are, in fact, looking at incorporating them in all of our new developments going forward.

[04:38:24] Councilmember Lisa Matichak: What if it's not permanent supportive housing? This would,

[04:38:28] Kathy Robinson: we're talking about our vision is to include it in all developments going forward. So, in a family development...

[04:38:36] Councilmember Lisa Matichak: Sorry, I was asking about the usage. So, you said it's high, but that was 100% permanent support of housing. So, I'm wondering, do you have data on usage, if it's not permanent support of housing?

[04:38:48] Kathy Robinson: We do not.

[04:38:48] Marvel Lang: We do not.

[04:38:49] Councilmember Lisa Matichak: Okay, thanks.

[04:38:50] Mayor Alison Hicks: Mm hmm. Council member Ramirez.

[04:38:56] Councilmember Lucas Ramirez: Thank you, Mayor. Um, I have a few questions. Uh, so the first is related to the feasibility of the stand alone garage. We talked a little bit about this. Um, and it would be, maybe helpful to understand, um, if you've had a chance to look into, for instance, whether there might be any, uh, penalties for, uh, when you're applying for any of the external sources of funding, for potentially over parking a project or what other kinds of constraints there may be. And then what you could do to mitigate those impediments.

[04:39:35] Kathy Robinson: As Marvel mentioned, we have one development that we've completed that was a two phase development in San Jose has a standalone garage, you know, very, very similar to what we're proposing here. It was constructed in the first phase. and paid for with tax credits, and the second phase, which was completed two years later, actually did not have to contribute to the building of the garage, because tax credits paid for it, and all of those costs went into bases. And the second phases, actually, just helps support the operation and the maintenance of the building, of the garage. We've not been able to find any prohibition in tax credit rules and regulations regarding building the garage as part of the first phase, if that were the vehicle that we decided to use going forward. But we have other ideas about possible ways to pay for the garage, including possibly condoing it and paying for it separately, and then having each of the phase phases contribute, if necessary. So I think there's there are several ways that we can approach it if this is the path that we're going to go down.

[04:41:04] Councilmember Lucas Ramirez: Okay, that's helpful. thank you And then, I'm phasing one of the benefits, perhaps, of selecting a different development team is that we could potentially have two developments constructed concurrently, right? So we can deliver more units more quickly. Is there any way that you might be able to proceed if we select charities as the development team, that you could proceed with maybe two phases concurrently, rather than do a three phase program?

[04:41:38] Kathy Robinson: Um, I think, um, what we described in our timeline is actually a pretty aggressive, uh, phasing plan for a three phase development. We envision applying for, of course, all of this is predicated on arranging all the state and local subsidies that we need, so that we're ready to apply for tax credits, and then applying in each consecutive round of tax credits that we are able to apply for. So it would be sort of a rolling construction is how we envision it. rather than being able to apply simultaneously for two different phases. And when this has occurred in the past, in other charities developments, the actual, the second phase actually started within six months of the first phase, and was completed, obviously, within second, six months of the second phase, which, in some ways, is advantageous, because you're renting up a lot of units, and it's important to have a little bit of breathing room to get all the property management and tenant related activities taken care of.

[04:43:00] Councilmember Lucas Ramirez: That's helpful. Thank you. And then, um, again, presuming that another development team is selected, uh, can you provide a sense of what the funding request of the city might be for a standalone project on the charities controls? site.

[04:43:15] Marvel Lang: site you help that?

[04:43:20] Kathy Robinson: I think. We haven't we haven't gone down that far. As we were hoping, obviously, to be a selected developer here, but I would say probably around the, you know, we're asking for 30 for the 3, so we're probably looking between like 10 and 15, I would, I would, I would guess here, or say here.

[04:43:38] Councilmember Lucas Ramirez: It's helpful for us because if another development team is selected, we can't just think of their number in isolation, right? It would be their number plus whatever it would take to deliver a separate charities project. And then last question, I have some sensitivity to this, wearing another hat, I know it's hard to fill, um, commercial space, um, and, uh, and tenant improvements are very expensive. I'm wondering if you could speak to how, well, for each of the entities you're looking to work with, are there commitments to pay for TI? Are you you're condoing each of the commercial spaces, right? So are you intending to sell? How do we make sure that the commercial space actually is delivered?

[04:44:30] Unknown Speaker: So we as I said, we've worked closely with CSA. So for that space, as you mentioned, we would look to conduit and CSA their preferences to own it, so they would be responsible for the cost of that commercial shell and the TI in terms of the childcare space. We would, we need to explore that a bit more. Our current plan is to rent, to catalyst kids. So we would be responsible for the commercial costs, and we would be looking at state funding sources or, you know, the county has a no foul right now for childcare. So we'll be looking sources like that to help pay for the childcare. But we've also, you know, we've done commercial, ground floor commercial spaces. Blossom Hill or Blossom Valley is a project we have under construction right now with 16,000 square feet of commercial space, and we've also funded that through ourselves. So that's also another option to help fund the childcare space.

[04:45:30] Councilmember Lucas Ramirez: The TI would be responsible from countless kids.

[04:45:33] Councilmember Lisa Matichak: Right. The, the, the, project is exactly the one I'm concerned about. That's one of my boss's district, and I know how very challenging it's been to deal with the commercial space there, and I hope we don't replicate that here. Um, so, uh, to the extent, you're able to, you know, the affirmed had a letter of commitment. I know that's not something that you have here, but it would be helpful for us to understand how the TI ultimately gets paid for. Sorry, for which space for the, for either? Well, I have more optimism about optimism about the CSA space, but the childcare one, I have some concerns about because I know it's not cheap. So it's at this point, it's no longer a question. I'm glad to hear that you've been thinking about it, but it would be helpful for us to understand the ability to pay for the cost of the TI for the child here.

[04:46:31] Unknown Speaker: So, on my understanding from callous kids is that, you know, they apply for state funding for these type of things or other sources of funding, they are, you know, they have over 50 or around 50 years of experience as an operator with 20 locations in Santa Clara County, and, you know, they serve over 10,000 children. So, you know, they know how to get an childcare center operating, including for paying the TIs. And, you know, we would work with them, uh, as much as needed to, to help them get that off the ground, and that, that, or whomever, you know, again, whomever the childcare provider is as well. But that,

[04:47:10] Councilmember Lucas Ramirez: yep. That's very helpful. Thank you.

[04:47:13] Mayor Alison Hicks: Vice mayor.

[04:47:16] Vice Mayor Pat Showalter: Yeah. Um, staff had a couple of um, uh, things about your proposal that they were concerned about. And, um, one of them was the distance between the parking structure and some of the, and some of the other apartments, and, um, you talked about that in your presentation. But another one was the problems of putting a building on the property line. And, um, I'm not really sure. That's why that's a big problem. I guess you'd have to consolidate the lot to start with or something. But anyway, I wondered if that is a problem. How difficult would it be for you to, um, move the, the phase back, uh, and make it not on a property line.

[04:48:06] Unknown Speaker: Uh, we could certainly do that and explore that and, um, you know, maintain the unit count. That's something we, you know, talked to the architect about, since we understand that was a possible issue, so we could definitely do that.

[04:48:20] Vice Mayor Pat Showalter: Okay. And could you go through the circulation pattern? I don't know, maybe we want to take one of your, um... one of the pages from the presentation back, but I just really like to understand how a car goes in and out. And how people get to loading zones. Can you put up their presentation? Thank you. Yeah, no problem.

[04:48:59] Unknown Speaker: The short answer is, there's one exit and entry point off a pioneer, because we were very concerned and cognizant of the fact that the freeway exit is very, very close to where any entry or exit point off of Evelyn would fall, and we wanted to avoid anything. conflicts. So, you can see here, on the slide, that the access driveway is off of pioneer, and it leads straight down through the property and to the parking garage.

[04:49:41] Vice Mayor Pat Showalter: Well, what about the drop off? zones? How would people get to the drop off zones? I mean, are those sort of walkway things wide enough so that somebody could get to them? Yeah, there's another slide that actually shows how the foot pattern, the foot traffic pattern works. Oh, there you go. There you go.

[04:50:06] Unknown Speaker: Okay. Okay, so, the... where the footpath pattern starts is at the... as at the furthermost north point of the garage, and folks would exit the garage, and could immediately enter the building one, within a few steps, and then there's pathways, and sidewalks all around, and through the development, that take you to multiple entries into the other buildings.

[04:50:42] Unknown Speaker: Okay. So the estimate is that, to the farthest entry point, it's about 450 feet, and a less than a two mile walk, two minute walk. Not a two mile walk. Not a two mile walk. I know we're trying to promote walkability here, but that was not what we intended.

[04:51:02] Vice Mayor Pat Showalter: Yeah, well, in a sense, I mean, it looks like the fact that you have the cars all at the back. It makes the whole complex much more walkable. You know, there wouldn't be many cars there. There might be a few at a time, but it would be, you know, relatively low car. Okay, thank you very much. I appreciate your answer. Thank you.

[04:51:28] Mayor Alison Hicks: Council member Ramos.

[04:51:29] Councilmember Emily Ramos: So this is kind of a combo question for staff, and then charities. So the staff recommendation is to select the preferred developer, and then if something goes wrong with the preferred developer, then we have an alternate developer. So I wanted to get a better sense of how that works, considering that, uh, our alternate developer, uh, is the, the recommended alternate developer was the one that we also have to, they, anyone who we select that's not charities, will still have to work with charities. And charities will also have to figure out another project if they're not selected. So how does this timeline work in terms of, so you will meet with the preferred developer and determine at what point do we say, uh-oh, this is this is not gonna work out? What kind of time frame are we looking at that? And is that something that, that, if charities is not selected that they could think through? There's a lot of questions in that. Sorry.

[04:52:30] Kathy Robinson: Thanks for the question. I think we would start with the next steps framework that was provided in terms of the ERNA schedule, and then working through the master site plan collaborative process. And I don't know if we can pull that slide back up, but it provides a timeline for the rest of this year and into 2024. And that would be really the way we would kind of, um, help manage the process. And through that process, we can determine whether there might be any items that come up where we would have to bring it back to council, or we have to consider the alternate developer, if affirmed, is selected. So we would start with that process. Here's the timeline that Deanna went over in the PowerPoint. And, yes, I think it's in your handouts as well.

[04:53:18] Councilmember Emily Ramos: So, with this assumption, if we select a developer that is different from charities, I believe council member Ramirez had one of the perks of having two separate developers, is that we can put both things at the same time. How likely is that with the timeline that we have there? because we have the master site plan. But wouldn't charities also need to submit something, in order for them to essentially be developed at the same time?

[04:53:44] Kathy Robinson: Um, yes, if counsel, um, supports staff's recommendation for the, uh, preferred and alternate developer, charities would then, uh, proceed with their own site, through the, through the, the Nova process, and the, uh, informal and then formal review process, as a, um, as a non-competitive process. And so, in terms of looking at the process, we would envision that charities would be able to develop their project schedule, through the master site plan process, for their site. And then, of course, that would be coordinated with a firm project. So we would envision then working with charities to develop a parallel timeline for their project. That would have to get developed, but we do not envision the master site plan process, to delay the charities process if they were to go through their own site through that over process. If that makes sense.

[04:54:48] Councilmember Emily Ramos: So what happens if the worst comes to pass, and the preferred developer doesn't work out, which is why we had an alternate developer, how does the timeline shift that way?

[04:55:02] Kathy Robinson: I think there's a few variables. We would follow this process, and, you know, if it were to come to that point, we would have to evaluate where that point is, and then work on creating a new timeline, that could cause a little bit of delay from this timeline, I think it's hard to say, and whether if charities were to then the alternate developer status, then they become the actual preferred developer, if that the case. Um, you know, I would imagine that they would begin with concepts that they've already had and can potentially pick up from what they've submitted here and then working with staff to develop the whole site together. Probably it would lead to some additional timeline to what you see here, but it's hard to say.

[04:55:56] Councilmember Emily Ramos: Thank you. That's all the questions.

[04:56:00] Mayor Alison Hicks: Okay, so any less council questions? Bryce Mary, your name is still up. Do you have another? Okay. Okay, so thank you very much. Thank you.

[04:56:11] Mayor Alison Hicks: Thank you. Um, let's see. Next, our next presentation is from Alta Housing, represented by Carlos Castellanos, Vice President of Real Estate, from Alta Housing, and Justine Psi, project manager from Alta Housing.

[04:56:35] Carlos Castellanos: Good evening, Mayor. Good evening, council members. I'm Carlos Castellano's Vice President of Real Estate Development and Alta Housing. And if we can go to the next slide, I'm also joined here by Randy Suda, our CEO as well. I wanted to just quickly mention that our approach to this proposal, it was looking at our local expertise, our ability to work as a civic partner with the city, and our proven track record to collaborate with other development partners. We've done in other developments. Going to the next slide, please. The key development principles that we considered in the design that you've seen already, and will be in the next slide, is looking at this as a comprehensive master plan, thinking of this as really a community hub, looking at both the charity site and the Evelyn site together in creating this community hub. And the most important thing for us also is permeability, and you'll see that in our proposal as well. Next slide, please. So here's the proposal, and what we've done is we've framed the Evelyn lot with two phase development, phase A, being our larger, large family development, phase B, being the senior development, and then we have down at the right hand corner, the parking structure that is separated from the two other phases, so that both Phase A and B are walk up style buildings. They're both 6 story high development. And what you're able, what we're able to accomplish here is this permeability through, along the pioneer, at the very lower bottom of our, that's a pedestrian walkway and bicycle path that would lead you to the charity site, as well as through the building itself. We have this half acre open space that's framed by our buildings, that provides a nice childcare space there that's protected from the street, and we have, actually, the next slide, we'll talk a little bit more about this, so we can go to that in terms of the amenities. This is where we talk about our, the different amenities that we're really focused on, one is, I was mentioned, the open space that includes zoned, areas for interaction between our residents and the community and the residents, from the future charity site as well. We also have the community room that we worked with in consultation with CSA to really figure out a flow pattern, so that it would work for their food distribution process, so that we have it as one way in, one way out, and flowing out back to the street, so that we can have the participants queuing up to pick up their food and be able to go back out. And in addition to that, we have our childcare facility that we worked with the Santa Clara County Office of Early Childhood to get a sense of how to make the space available for a childcare provider. We didn't pick up a particular childcare provider. We see that as a little more fluid. We're going to be doing an RFP looking for opportunities for childcare providers to move into the space. It's a program that about a 35 student, or a 35 kid childcare space. And we did also talk to California Young World Inc. to also get there input on what kind of a childcare facility layout they'd want to see. And in addition to that, the 3rd part that is a part of our amenities is the rooftop urban farm that we're looking at that as a place where our residents, the residents of the charity site, and hopefully the community can come and farm, and have this opportunity also for CSA as a way to provide fresh produce. And finally, the connection between the collaboration, I would say, between the space of the charities in ours is the Blue Nerf, the living street, that would be serve as a calm driveway for the charity site, and also kind of a walking and active area for our residents that'll actually have stoops that open up to that street there. moving on to the next slide. Okay, then what we're looking at is, is the, like I said, the community hub of potentially a new neighborhood, and looking at how it's situated near the existing transit, the existing neighborhoods, we see this as being able to flow through our site, out to pioneer way, out to Evelyn, but also being able to use our residents can, especially with those with children, being able to access Dana and get over to Landl's elementary school, instead of having to go through. There's many different ways of being able to move around walkable areas. We have transit in the area, already bus line that goes through there. So we see this as a very a great potential for a new neighborhood. Going to the next slide. Just briefly here to talk about the other part of it that we felt it was close to us is that we are currently hosting a safe parking site on our 1020 Tarabella lot. And we've been working very regularly with city staff on how on our timing and how to think about transitioning the current participants to either permanent housing or to another lot. In fact, we're even offering another lot that we own in the city as a potential for another site for to potentially move once we get into construction or even sooner, have that site available for the safe lot participants. And we've also successfully transitioned other residents in the city of Redwood City from some of them were eligible to move into a home key development that we were developing. I wanted to quickly answer some of the questions that were asked before the, we are looking at bus passes, and we actually do currently provide bus passes at multiple of our sites, including at least a couple in Mountain View and some others in Palo Alto. So Luna Vista has passes right now. So we've been successful at implementing that. And I think I'll leave it at, I think, I don't know if there's any other slides. I think that's the end of the presentation. Oh, quickly, on the financing side, you've heard a lot here. We've front loaded the financing of the garage into the 1st phase. So our sources show the need for more city funding into the 1st phase. And we are also, you know, looking at diversifying the funds. It was brought up in the staff report that we identified a future funding source, the Bay Area housing finance agency, Bafa, and we put it in as a placeholder. That's a very conservative number if the measure passes next year. So we're looking at that as part of our public contribution. So it would, if we were to get more from Bafa, it would defray, or reduce the amount that we would be asking from the city. And I don't think there's any other slides there. That's it. So we'll leave it for questions. Thank you.

[05:05:34] Mayor Alison Hicks: Okay, so we're open for questions. Are there council questions at this point? I'm not saying any. Council member Roma.

[05:05:49] Councilmember Emily Ramos: Just a quick one. Um, when I was meeting with, with the developer from Alta, um, Bafa was a placeholder, but, there was like another funding that, uh, they mentioned before, although they, they actually put a 1000 the 1st time I saw it, uh, 9000, 1000000 as opposed to 2 million. But I don't remember what source that of funding that was.

[05:06:11] Unknown Speaker: Yes. The, the, the placeholder that we had there that we called the Bay Area housing finance agency, Bafa, it's actually the same amount that we would ask for for the federal home loan bank, the affordable housing program. We would probably ask about a 1000000 from each phase. So we, we, we called it Bafa because we really see that as the, as the future source for, for our, our area. But we would always fall back on something like the federal home loan bank to cover that, if that didn't come to fruition.

[05:06:47] Councilmember Emily Ramos: Thank you. Another thing is, when you showed the map of the, where is it? It's not actually a lot of slides, but there was one slide that, um, where you showed... No, I just think they've made the best light of my head now. Um, but, um, uh, here we go. In the master planning area, you mentioned the... the woo woo... Woo nerf. Woon Nerf. Mm hmm. Um, but that appears to be on the charity site.

[05:07:25] Unknown Speaker: Yeah, that's something we would want to collaborate with to see if, you know, how we could do that. This was just a representation at this point, that it would be on the charity site. Yeah. All right, thank you. Mm hmm.

[05:07:38] Mayor Alison Hicks: How come I'm very mad at you?

[05:07:40] Councilmember Lisa Matichak: Thank you. And so, I think it is at the Luna Vista site that, um, one of my colleagues said they were, some of the residents were concerned about the lack of parking, and, um, I think that's about, uh, a half a parking space per unit there.

[05:08:02] Unknown Speaker: It's a little bit below that, about 0.43.

[05:08:04] Councilmember Lisa Matichak: Yeah. So, um, in this proposal, um, you've got, um, 1.26. Correct. And I'm just wondering, why is such an increase?

[05:08:19] Unknown Speaker: I think part of it is the lessons that we've learned in terms of, you know, car usage right now. We also see that we would want to make sure that folks do use transit, but we also see that this could be an opportunity for offstreet visitor parking right now. So we kept it, and by having it separated in its own garage structure, we could take a whole level off, and we would be able to bring it down and keep it at a lower ratio if we do more traffic studies on this site and find that it can reduce it. I think at this point, we were not asking for any kind of variance on the parking when we went for that ratio there. And so, but taking a level off would still keep us over one space per unit, and even taking two levels off, would be like at a .82 level. So we really see it as kind of flexible. We could work with the city on that.

[05:09:25] Councilmember Lisa Matichak: Is any of the parking for CSA?

[05:09:29] Unknown Speaker: We haven't identified it completely at this point. It would be for staff members, so it could be for our staff, the childcare staff, as well as CSA staff, too.

[05:09:39] Mayor Alison Hicks: Okay. Thank you. So, I have a question. Okay. So, there's senior housing included in this. Isn't that true? Um, so what number, I've never explored this with affordable housing. What number do you start at with senior housing, where my parents live? I think it's 50 or 55? Does it start at 65? What's the number that is the low threshold for senior housing?

[05:10:05] Unknown Speaker: I think it depends on sources, but most generally, we tend to pick the 65 age level or higher, but we would need to look at the funding sources.

[05:10:16] Mayor Alison Hicks: Okay. So you're saying funding sources vary in terms of how they define... How they define senior start. Okay. Do you know the numbers they vary from?

[05:10:28] Unknown Speaker: Um, I believe they go as low as 55? I don't remember what source that would be.

[05:10:34] Mayor Alison Hicks: Or staff knows anything about when you become a senior?

[05:10:42] Unknown Speaker: 80. We would have to look at the different funding sources, as Carlos mentioned.

[05:10:46] Mayor Alison Hicks: Okay, so it varies according to funding sources. Okay. Thank you.

[05:10:49] Unknown Speaker: Yeah, sure.

[05:10:54] Mayor Alison Hicks: Okay, thank you very much. I'm not seeing any more questions at this point. Our next presentation is from bridge housing, represented by Jonathan Stern, director of acquisitions and planning for Bridge, and Alex Sidell, principal of Sidell Architects.

[05:11:14] Jonathan Stern: Good evening. Well, it's still evening. So I am Jonathan Stern with Bridge. This is Alex Idell. I'm trying to... I think the staff did an excellent job of summarizing our proposal, so I'm going to try to give more of our thought process and some of what we think are differentiating makers. So if you can go to the next slide, bridge housing, over the last 40 years, have created over 21, 21,000 homes and we still manage about 14,000 affordable homes throughout our portfolio. Um, We, uh, uh, we, you know, do what we do very well, we believe, humbly, but we also believe in having good partnerships, and I wanted to emphasize some of those partnerships, one on the design side, and these each represents something that's really critical for this project. So on the design side, we partnered again with Alex Seidel and Seidel architects because he has a long history in Mountain View, including on the development review board. And we just have wonderful experience working with them and coming up with great designs. And he'll talk a little bit more about that later. We also teamed on his suggestion with SWA landscape architects, because the surrounding area and the usable open space in the public realm, we thought was really critical to this project. And finally, we partnered with abode services because the city asked for a great deal of special needs and PSH housing here. And managing that right, both from a property management perspective and a residential service perspective is really critical. If you go to the next slide, please. Um, So, uh, to talk about our approach, we delivered this in 2 buildings, um, sort of a tried and true uh, 6 story podium, mid-rise uh, delivery. We did it with 2 differentiated buildings, one special needs building, one of a large family building. This will make us competitive, especially on this site, being highest resource, with max points, with 25% special needs in each building is a minimum. This should get us really competitive. And our ideal is this design can be built either in phases or together. And since we'll be competing in 2 subpots of the supernova, we think that is quite doable. This is an approach we took at the Berkeley Hope Center, which just opened, well, in the last calendar year, so well over a year ago and has been operating, with transit passes provided, both on a special needs building and in a family building, and it was delivered with 0 parking and leased up just a smidge under, you know, projection. So we have great confidence. that we will find tenants that will work that'll work in this environment. And one thing I'll say, if you go to the next slide before I transition, let Alex speak, is we did talk about having daycare as one of our uses, um, we delivered that on the pioneer side for drop off zone, um, and our experience with the 12, uh, I think it's 13 now daycare centers that are, are some of our commercial tenants in our buildings throughout our portfolio, is that for this size space, unless you have an institutional childcare delivery and quite a bit of childcare. The best thing if you want to attract a minority and women owned businesses is those are smaller businesses with shorter planning horizons, and we would like to start recruiting for them later in the process. And that's sort of our thought process from a business perspective, why we don't identify them now. With that, I think I've talked enough about strategy, we should talk about design and I'll let Alex do that.

[05:14:52] Jonathan Stern: Good evening.

[05:14:53] Alex Sidell: Good evening, council members and thank you for your perseverance tonight. The site plan is on the screen now. We took the approach of putting the parking in the center of the site and ringing it with active uses at the grade level, as Jonathan mentioned, we're proposing 238 units, and in light of that density. We also wanted to really strive to get as much open space on the site as possible. So we've done increased setbacks on the pioneer wayside and towards the charity site, and included a number of amenities. The daycare faces pioneer, the child play areas there. There's a community room with outdoor area facing pioneer. And it also offered us the opportunity to preserve the existing mature trees as a foreground to the building next. So this gives you an overall sense of the two building scheme and the amount of open space on the site, the building on the right being primarily family units, with a large amenitized courtyard, the building on the left, serving special needs, and you can see the enlarged set bath that we propose toward the charity site next. This is a close up of the space between charities and ours. It's one vision, we thought it would be really nice to propose a major publicly accessible open space there. However, we also saw it as an opportunity to get into a master planning process with charities, and there could be other uses and designs for that space, but the space is there. So we also took a look at safe parking that could be phased, depending on which phase of the project went first. If the smaller West building proceeded, then the remaining site could provide about 77% of the current capacity that you have in safe parking. If the larger building proceeded first, You still would have about 40% of the safe parking as a potential availability next. Um, so this was the, the look of the building, working toward a really strong residential appearance for the building, creating a sense of place, activated ground level uses, and then the building being divided with base, middle, and top, the sixth floor being set back, trying to mitigate the height. Although, it turns out, we're one of the lower projects, but, um, really trying to activate the street frontage next. And this is a look down, Evelyn. Evelyn's a primarily residential frontage at the ground level with stoops, and porches, and entry plaza at the corner of Evelyn and Pioneer. I'll leave it at that.

[05:18:04] Mayor Alison Hicks: Thank you very much. They are available for questions. Thank you. So now we're open to counsel question. Are there any council questions? Are we running out of questions? Well, thank you. Thank you. So, our final presentation is from Core Eden Housing, represented by Rich Trumpler, Senior Vice President, the Core Companies, and Dixie Boss, director of real estate development for Eden Housing. Do you want to go first? Yeah, sure, no problem.

[05:18:51] Rich Trumpler: Good evening, Rich Trumpler, senior vice president of the core companies, and we will not be making our presentation. We just wanted to thank staff and city council for the opportunity to respond, and we wish you the very best of luck.

[05:19:06] Dixie Boss: Next, yes, I'd like to, um, Echo Rich's comments, you have wonderful, uh, thank you very much for your responsibility, opportunity to present our proposal to you. The selection of our wonderful partner, teams who have presented other proposals to you, and we will outlast and stand firm in fifth place. Good morning, and thank you so much for being a great partner to our company, Eden Housing.

[05:19:45] Mayor Alison Hicks: Well, thank you for sticking with us.

[05:19:49] Mayor Alison Hicks: Let's see. Um, I assume nobody no council members have questions. Um, so... Now it's time if any members of the public joining us virtually or in person would like to provide comments on this item. If so, please click the raised hand button in Zoom, or submit a blue speaker card to the city clerk. We'll take in person speakers first, and each speaker will have a minute and a half. We have, uh, Nell Stelander?

[05:20:41] Nell Zelander: Hello, city council members. My name is Nell Zelander. I'm a field representative of the local 405 Carvers Union. I would like to talk to you all about the importance of having apprentices and local hire at the 87 East Evelyn Avenue Affordable Housing Project. I graduate through apprenticeships with a carbage union, so I can tell you firsthand of the importance of having projects, having to include them. Having skilled and trained labor keeps projects safe, with minimum accidents ever happening. The apprenticeship programs, our apprentices go to teach the importance of working safe at all times, give them certifications in OSHA training, CPR, first aid, and certifications on many equipment that they use on the job daily. Not only does apprentices on the job make job sites safer. It also contributes to the growth of our community, giving the future generation, skills, and professionalism of our industry. We'd also really like to project this project to include local hire. It's a real saying that we can't work in projects in our own cities because some company from another state or region comes to build these projects and takes off right after. Leaving our community, construction workers on the roads for hours, who are just trying to provide for their families because our work is not in own backyards. having to go to where the work is, it should be here. And not only does it adds to way more traffic than we really need these days, but it also hurts in child's, uh, hurts that child of our community, because her his or her parents are not home in a reasonable time to take care of them. Let's make sure we have apprentices.

[05:22:28] Unknown Speaker: the time is up.

[05:22:29] Mayor Alison Hicks: Okay. Thank you so much. All right, have a good one.

[05:22:34] Unknown Speaker: Next, Mayek Award?

[05:22:38] Public Speaker: My K Award. Actually, that was me, and I'm going to forfeit my time.

[05:22:41] Mayor Alison Hicks: Okay, thank you. Uh, Tom Myers?

[05:22:48] Tom Myers: That one's me. Good evening, council members. Or, I should say, almost, good morning, council members. I won't take long. I just wanted to let you all know that the CSA Board of Directors is never taken the stance to endorse a housing development project, and we haven't in this case, but I could not let the evening go by without saying it's very special, thank you, to charities housing, alta housing, and most recently, to affirmed housing for reaching out to us, just this last week. But charities, housing, and alta housing, as they said in their proposals, really did spend a lot of time talking to us about our needs, and they deserve great kudos for that. And if affirmed is the choice. I'm very pleased that they did reach out to us this week too, and want to talk to us. Our services are definitely going out into the community. We do offsite food distributions at Castro School, Klein Park, Del Medio Park. We also provide case management services at the high school. We provide case management services out into the community for our seniors. Outward looking is the play to be. We love our home down on Sterling. It's right beautifully located in downtown Mountain View, but there is no doubt that the future of our services is out in the community. So thank you very much.

[05:24:16] Mayor Alison Hicks: Thank. Alex Brown? Oh, you have a question for Tom. Okay. I'm sorry, Tom. Come on back. Excuse me, sorry, Alex.

[05:24:28] Alex Brown: Sorry, I do have a few questions for you, Mr. Martin. Oh, sure, absolutely. Um, so how did the conversations with some of the, um, developers come about? Did they contact you and, I mean, how'd they hear about your needs?

[05:24:42] Tom Myers: Uh, I think that, uh, we've been pretty vocal about the need of our need for more space, uh, it has definitely gotten out there, uh, and we've seen support come in from a lot of different, uh, sources. Yes, they contacted us. And right from the very beginning, many of the people who are connected with those organizations are people who are connected to our community, and they know CSA, and they know our services. So, absolutely.

[05:25:15] Alex Brown: Okay. And um, about how much space are you looking for? Because there was a wide variety of proposals here.

[05:25:23] Tom Myers: Right. In the case of that particular space down there, I think that it's safe to say that we would be happy with what we could get. If we got 8,000 square feet, as is in the charities housing, proposal, we would be able to do a lot more. But that's not to say that we would not be able to do something with the 3,000 square foot that is in the affirmed or in the 2500 or 2,600 square foot that is in the alta housing. In all cases, we would be able to make things work. We're not only looking for space in that particular neighborhood. Now, that neighborhood, as we all know, is going to become much more strategic. There is a lot more affordable housing being built in that neighborhood, which means there's going to be a lot more CSA clients. in that neighborhood. So that's a very strategic location, but there are other parts of the city. We have this tendency to think that certain neighborhoods are where our populations of vulnerability live, uh, and that's becoming much, uh, much more spread out throughout the community. So we are continuing to look for other space, too. As I said, we do case management at the high school. We do case management in the homes of seniors. So it's about looking outward as we look forward into our future.

[05:26:47] Alex Brown: And if this was, um, a pantry. food distribution. Are you saying that it would be, you're sort of looking at having distributed sites throughout the city for that, as opposed to the one you have one now, right?

[05:27:02] Tom Myers: We have our site at Steerland, but we do three distributions out into the community. So if we were to get, so it would depend on how much space we would have at this particular site. We estimate that we would, you know, do distributions to many people in that particular neighborhood. But again, we're still going to continue our distributions at Castro and Mestral. We're still going to continue our distributions in other parts of the community.

[05:27:31] Alex Brown: Okay. And the folks who come to you for help, are they walking, biking, driving?

[05:27:40] Tom Myers: It depends on the service that they're getting. For instance, seniors, we do a lot of mobile services to seniors, because we're often dealing with the most frail and most vulnerable seniors. But for folks that are coming to our food center, because we're only a mile away from some neighborhoods, you know, a lot of them are walking, and you'll see them crossing Central Expressway to come over and see us. So, yeah, walking is a big thing, biking, sometimes, but as council member, show Walter has pointed out, we don't have enough bike parking as steerless, so we're hoping to rectify that in the future.

[05:28:19] Alex Brown: Yeah, absolutely. Thank you.

[05:28:22] Tom Myers: We are, I will say this, our steerland site is very strategically located. We're in downtown Mountain View. We're right across the street from the transit center. Caltrain, VTA. Everything is right there. So that's why we love that site. Thank you.

[05:28:38] Mayor Alison Hicks: Thank you. Council member committee.

[05:28:40] Councilmember Ellen Kamei: Sorry, I know. Good morning, good morning. Good morning. Um, and and I apologize. I we've been trying to connect. So, uh, it sounds like what I'm hearing is CSA would be happy with any space size space that could be available at 87 Evelyn. Will there be kind of more that CSA can share about your growth needs or other strategic areas or locations, as you're saying, that you're looking at, like, as a, as maybe a to be continued? I think it'd be very helpful and there's community, and I'm sure council interest on learning more about the plans that CSA has.

[05:29:21] Tom Myers: Absolutely. And in fact, I would be more than happy. You guys are major contributors to our facility upgrades that are going on at Steerland right now. I would be more than happy to come and do a presentation about that, and the future growth, if you guys would like me or someone else from the organization, to come and do that. But there are all kinds of things. Whether we're talking larger spaces, that are appropriate for food, We also are talking about other spaces where we need offices as well. You know, I was just talking to another nonprofit in the community that has some office space that might be available. Let's collaborate. One thing we do better than anyone, I think, is collaborate. So, yeah, happy to, happy to talk to anyone about that.

[05:30:12] Councilmember Ellen Kamei: Perfect. Yeah, maybe we can discuss it as a council at a later date where we can have that presentation, but I think that would be helpful to kind of understand just how much space CSA is looking for. Absolutely, absolutely. And I'd be more than happy to come and do that myself. Yeah. I don't have a further question. Can I go?

[05:30:35] Mayor Alison Hicks: Okay. Alex Brown.

[05:30:42] Alex Brown: Hi. I like the tall one. Thank you.

[05:30:51] Mayor Alison Hicks: Okay, so, virtually, we have James.

[05:31:02] James: Hello?

[05:31:04] Mayor Alison Hicks: We can hear you.

[05:31:07] James: Good evening, Mary, and Counselor, my name is James. For the last past year, I have lived at firm housing. Now, nearly developed in Northern California. Villa of Apartments. I am here to speak about the community, and I build an apartment for the families that do... part of the parking impact to the surrounding neighborhood. Villa has 84, 87 apartments, but they do, do not deal with 87 parking spaces. Instead, a firm, design, to project, I mean, the project, to houses, a maximum of terms, to who need, who do need the parking, and those that just need the, the place to live, and cannot afford the cost of a car. All residents or villains, apartments receive transit passes to ride the VA, to ride the VTA for free, which is... Oh, conveniently located right across the street. From Villa, because of this, I believe that, I believe that a firm will be a good community partner and come up with a parking plan that will inflict the right number of parking spaces along with easily accessible public transit options available to its residents. Thank you.

[05:32:57] Mayor Alison Hicks: Thank you very much. Okay, I see no more virtual public commenters. I'll now bring the item back for council deliberation and action, and note that a motion to approve the recommendation should also include reading the title of the resolution attached to the report. So, do we have comments from council members? Council member Ramirez.

[05:33:36] Councilmember Lucas Ramirez: Thank you, Mayor. I'll break the ice a little bit. So first, I'm very grateful to staff for the tremendous amount of time and work you've put into the RFQ RFP process. I'm very grateful to all of the development teams who have participated. I feel very strongly that we can't go wrong, that whichever development team that we select, we will end up with a very strong project, and I wish the Eden representatives were still here, because there is not a lot of distance between one and five. Um, it's not just 5th place. It's a very strong 5th place, and we have so much strong competition. They're all very close together, and it's, I think, you know, small, we have sort of the narcissism of small differences to distinguish between them. My top 2 are affirmed in charities. And I say the top 2 because I have very slight misgivings about each of them, and they're informed by what staff has shared with us. I had, I think, 2 briefings. There was one early in the summer, and then one more recently, that I found very helpful, and I'm grateful to you for spending the time, and allowing me to grill you, and also to all of the development teams I was able to meet with. It was very helpful for me to get a better understanding of what the proposals were and opportunities to maybe figure out where we can help address some of the concerns that the staff had identified. Uh, so, uh, charities does good work. And we're familiar with them. They've delivered. I've worked with them in other contexts, and I know that the project that they propose is achievable, and I'm confident that staff will do a good job, addressing some of the concerns that have been identified. The reason I do think the council should seriously consider affirmed, though, is because I trust the work that staff has done. Uh, and I think if the affirmed project proceeds and is delivered, it sets a very high standard for future affordable housing development in Mountain View. It's a remarkable subsidy request. It's not one that I think we should dismiss so readily as too good to be true. I think our staff have done a lot of work to, uh, investigate the, uh, have a high confidence in that proposal because they've done a lot of work to really thoroughly understand, uh, the viability of the request. I also appreciate the exploration of emerging construction technologies. That's not the most attractive element of the project to me, but it's something that I do think we need to consider also in our discussion. I also really appreciate the letter of commitment that you've secured from your childcare provider. That, I think, what it tells me is your, you're sincere in making this work, that you're very eager to work in the city of Mountain View, and that you've really done your homework and put in a lot of time and effort into your proposal. That said, if we proceed with charities, I would be very happy. I think, you know, I'm confident that the quality of the work will be strong, and I know that you've been very receptive to a lot of the ideas that the council has provided in individual briefings and also just in answering questions tonight. I'm not going to make a motion. I'm quite comfortable with either of the two. Um, I like the staff recommendation. I think it's something that we really ought to consider, and that if we don't proceed with a staff recommendation that it's because we've given a lot of thought and can articulate why, you know, affirmed me not be the right partner at this time. But I don't want to discourage other applicants who maybe don't have a history in Mountain View from participating, because, you know, we feel that maybe their project is too good to be true. That's the one thing I want to be very careful in expressing in our deliberation. So whatever way the council wants to go, I'm quite comfortable, but charities, and affirmed, are definitely my top two.

[05:38:01] Mayor Alison Hicks: Thank you. Council member Abicoga.

[05:38:06] Councilmember Margaret Abe-Koga: Thank you, Mayor. Actually, I had one question for staff before I get into comments. Can you remind me? I should have asked this earlier, but how much do we have in our affordable housing funds? Like, do we have $30000000 to award to a project? One of these projects?

[05:38:28] Unknown Speaker: I'll start and see if Dan has anything to add, but we have an uncommitted balance of, I believe, $36 million, but that's intended to be spread across our 9 project pipeline and when we factored in the overall funding gap for the pipeline. It also included the future land dedication sites. And so we don't have $36 million for one project. We have $36 million to try to spread across as many projects as possible.

[05:38:55] Councilmember Margaret Abe-Koga: Okay. Okay. Thank you. So, um, I will uh, echo council member Ramirez's uh, comments first. Thank you so much to staff for the hard work and then for all of the proposals, honestly, I think they were all great. We're very fortunate to have such a strong pool to select from and yes, I agree. I don't think 1st to 5th was that different. So, um, I, you know, I could say any of them that we go, we go with would be great. For me, I agree. I think the top 2 that we're recommended art would be the top 2 for me. Um, and then I will say that, um, so I had the opportunity. It was just coincidental, but to, um, tour the villas on the park project by affirmed, um, in the spring before I even knew they were competing for this. I was invited on a tour with a number of affordable housing providers. And so we had a tour and then we had a little discussion about affordable housing. And I was extremely impressed by the project. And, you know, affirmed as, you know, very nude. They don't, you don't have a project in Mountain View. But I was really impressed by the design, and the facilities inside were beautiful, the services that were being provided were great, and the folks who were living there, we got to meet some of the residents, and they seemed very happy. So I'm fortunate that I had that opportunity to see what an affirmed project is like. As I have seen charities and outside, and again, all of these developers do a great job. My well, a few things. I am concerned about the subsidy piece. I think, you know, that, um, yeah, we I remembered we have a lot of projects in the works and we had the $50000000 gap. And so I guess that is my concern is, um, you know, how are we going to fill that gap and, um, I wouldn't want to award a project that isn't, um, you know, that isn't funded or has such a huge funding gap that it might have to sit a while until we accumulate more affordable housing funds. So I think the affirmed, um, Project is strong in that sense that it has for the lowest subsidy. And one thing I remember in my, on my tour, in conversation with these other affordable housing, um, folks was that, um, firm, they, they had shared that a firm has a strong reputation of being very financially sound. So that was a big, um, obviously positive, something that I remembered from that, um, conversation. Um, and so, uh, that is, you know, definitely a plus I like the, um, you know, I really am attracted to the mass timber, um, build. I, you know, we have the Microsoft Building. I've toured the Google project. And at the University of British Columbia, where my in-laws live there. I watched the 18 story student housing mass timber project being built and it's standing and doing great. So it seems like mass timber is becoming more and more proven. And, um, because of the, the environmental benefits of it. I'm very much interested in in that. And then, you know, frankly, I like to try new things. you know, I want to be innovative. And so if that's something we can support. I am, you know, very much want to do that. I like the design of the project. I know that, um, and then I think, yeah, again, seeing a project, a firmed project helps in that regard. So yeah, so I guess I don't have as much concern, frankly, because even though they're new to our community. Um, and then the parking issue, uh, I think when I met and I met with almost all the applicants, but they mentioned stackers and, um, you know, I was in Japan recently and everything is stackers there. So that's become a proven technology as well. So I think that, you know, the parking issue could be resolved with that technology. So, for all of those reasons, I, and then, you know, staff has done its due diligence. So I'm very much comfortable going with staff recommendation. But if that if we end up going with charities, I'm perfectly happy with that too. But I do think that the subsidy issue. I mean, for me, is a real concern, because we do, we have a shortage, and we have a lot of projects, and I do want to be able to, you know, try to spread the money around. Thanks.

[05:44:19] Mayor Alison Hicks: Council member Ramos.

[05:44:22] Councilmember Emily Ramos: So, uh, I seem to be aligned with the previous 2 speakers in in many ways. Um, uh, in terms of my top 2 would be affirmed and charities as well. Although, um, I would say that the Alta housing had my favorite answer with, how are you going to work with the charity next door, and I thought that you had the best answer, and I felt that was worth a shout out. I think the thing that we're all trying to grapple with is the fact that, yes, a firm housing is new to our area. But they're new to our area. And also, they are presenting a few things that we have never really seen before in affordable housing. So it's like not just that they're new, but it's also like things we haven't seen, including the, the, the really low subsidy and then the really tall tower, which is not tower. It not a tower. It's just 12 stories, not a tower. Um, but, uh, we just haven't seen that in in an affordable housing development here in Mountain View either. And so, like, for example, if charities or Alda had submitted their proposal and said that their subsidy was $8 million, as opposed to the $30 million that they had, we would have been, okay, that's what they have. We've worked with them before, and then we trust that with a firm. That's why we're probably a little just more nervous and worried because we haven't worked with a firm, and they're providing us really good numbers, and really good, really bold uses of this plot of land. So I think that's why I'm a little bit more hesitant with a firm. I do really do want to push the envelope on what we can do with affordable housing, especially that's on our own land. And that is was the most appealing part of a firm, and obviously the subsidy, being a low amount, considering that we don't have a lot of that to go around. But there's also, we don't want to be left holding the bag. Um, and like, if they do come back saying, oh, we needed more subsidy, like we just don't want that to happen. And that's why you did the the preferred and the alternate. But I'm not entirely sure that's like even a strong enough. Stopgap, because we don't know exactly how that will work. We don't know when we hit, um, the PG word of saying this is the oh no point of where we know that like, oh, it's not going to be what we thought it was going to be. Um, and I don't think that covers in that preferred, uh, the preferred developer, alternate developer framework that we have to protect ourselves from. So I don't know how that will work because I imagine, like, if a piece of funding doesn't go through. We don't find out about that until a little bit later. Um, for example, um, the supernova was already, they, they already had their deadline. That was July, and then they're going to get awarded in, in, um, the winter is what I saw on the website, but does that mean they have to wait for the next super NoFA, and then we have to find out from there. If they get the 30000000 that they think they're gonna get from that, that's a long time for us to be waiting to know if that actually works out. Um, and so that's that's what left me worried. But then we have the charity site, which, what the strength of the charity site is that no one, no one has, charity, charities owns the land right next to it. That is a huge advantage, and that makes things a little bit more predictable for a lot of things. Um, So that is largely where my mind does that. I actually give a slight edge to charities, but a firm is very close.

[05:48:15] Mayor Alison Hicks: Thank you. Council member manager.

[05:48:17] Councilmember Lisa Matichak: Thank you. So I want to disclose that I met with 4 of the applicants, all about the last one. And, um, There are elements of the, of all of the proposals that I like, and there's things that I would like to see changed about all of them. I don't think any of them, is perfect. Um, I don't have concerns, um, about, uh, affirmed not having done a project in Mountain View. Um, I didn't even think about that. Obviously, they're an experienced developer, so that doesn't bother me at all. But I will say that's not my favorite proposal. Um, and, um, the reasons it's not is because of the, um, very, uh, low number of parking spaces for the people who are gonna live there. Um, and um, I would call it a tower. Um, I don't think that's a good fit with the surrounding neighborhood. And most of the buildings around there are just one story, and having a 12 story next to one story is a huge difference. And so, that is not what I would be looking for. I actually prefer the charities proposal. Um, you know, they, it's great that they could plan both sites. Um, I like that there's the eight story building, if I've read this right, close to the freeway, and the five stories are closer to, um, pioneer. And, um, the space for CSA is very long. And although I'd like to see it, um, in a different phase, so it's not on pioneer. Um, I kind of liked the child care that was on Pioneer and CSA more on the other side, but, um, I can't have everything, I guess. Um, I like the separate parking structure um, for charities. You know, we talk a lot about how, um, something is transit oriented, if it's within like a half a mile walking distance. And the transit center is much further than the parking structure. It's like, I would prefer a space in a parking structure than to drive around every night when I come home from work, looking for a parking space, and parking further away than the parking structure. Pioneer is always very congested with parking. I go by Pioneer a lot, and Evelyn a lot, because I live in the Wisman area, and those are my routes home. Dana, pioneer Evelyn. And I know quite a few of the businesses there. And it's always very challenging to find a parking space. I actually would like to see more parking for both charities and affirmed, even if it's in stackers. You know, we talked earlier tonight, quite a bit about equity, and for me, parking is an element of equity. Why make it harder for people who are struggling by not giving them a place to park, and making them drive around, trying to find a parking space? Just doesn't make sense to me. So, um, while charities is requesting more funding, um, you know, I kind of feel like the city could also say, we only have X million dollars to give, you know, you need to find other sources of funding. The other applicants have been able to do that. So, you know, I guess I would just challenge them to find other funding. Um, so, um, for me, um, I prefer charities over affirmed, but if we go with affirmed, I want more parking, and the shorter building on pioneer. Thank you.

[05:52:30] Mayor Alison Hicks: Thank you, Council member Kameh.

[05:52:32] Councilmember Ellen Kamei: Great, thank you. Thank you, Mayor. Well, I want to, thanks to have, for their time and attention to all the applicants with us and to the we morning. I want to disclose 2 that I met with 4 of the 5 applicants. The last applicant that left us did not meet with. And I feel very excited that we're finally having this conversation. I know it's hard to be excited at midnight. But, um, that, and that we are targeting 2 very important things for our community, which is, you know, supportive services via CSA and um, childcare daycare. We've been talking about that for a long time. So I'm very happy that this is going to come to fruition. I think of all of the, and I want to thank the applicants and their creativity. I think that in talking with them and seeing the proposals. People really tried to, I think, push the number of, you know, uh, rapid rehousing, um, PSA, IDD, like trying to do that, the studio, to to 3 bedroom, the mix, I really felt that it was not only in the site design, and, um, but it was also in the composition, and I really want to, um, be grateful for that because I know that that takes a lot of time and energy. Um, I don't feel as concerned about the parking. I feel like we're getting legislated via the state on the different parking restrictions that for better or for worse are considered near transit oriented development. And we saw last session that this happened, not this session, but the session prior. Um, so I think for myself, it's more about how we're going to best serve the people who already are there, which is there are, um, those who are in our safe parking, um, lot. I think it's about making sure that the childcare provider that is there. I'm open that people have pre-selected, but I really think that it's important that the people that live there have a preference for the childcare. I think that that is something that I really want to state. Um, I know that design can change, um, and other elements as we further refine the process. Um, and I, uh, Just wanted to state that. I want to be supportive of the staff, time and attention that went in for me, I do feel as many council have mentioned, it is very close between affirmed and charities. I think for 2 um, for me, it's also difficult a little bit because for charities, it's not just one sided's 2 sites. So, um, I'm really thinking about the, what might the request be to counsel, and the question came up, um, earlier of what the subsidy would be at that point versus the subsidy requests that we're getting now, um, and appreciate my colleagues saying we can we can challenge in terms of what, um, the city subsidy is. But I'm just wondering, in the end, no matter whom we choose, how much is this going to cost the city, to fully develop the site. So, would it be, and I guess to say, if we choose a firm, and we have the charity site, will it end up being close to the 30 million, that charities is asking anyways, I don't know. But that's the thing that I'm struggling with, and I just wanted to share with my colleagues, that that, for me, is the most difficult, because all of us want to see this happen as soon as possible. Being cognizant of the limitations of funding, we do have currently in the city. So, I feel comfortable moving forward with the 2 of them, how we do that, and where we end up. I guess we'll see as we hear from more colleagues. Thanks, Mayor.

[05:56:49] Mayor Alison Hicks: Vice mayor.

[05:56:51] Vice Mayor Pat Showalter: Well, this is one, I too, have met with all of the developers, except for the last one. I didn't get an opportunity to do that. And I also want to express my thanks for everybody who took part in this. You really did, um, you made beautiful applications and, um, lots of creativity and, um, just really good, solid designs and thinking about how, um, this fits into, um, our community. But the thing that we haven't talked about yet that I keep coming back to, aside from the cost, which, sadly, we can never neglect, cost is very real. We always have to care about it, is we're trying to develop a community here. You know, this is gonna be kind of a little neighborhood. And I just keep coming back to how, if it's one developer, and they're working, and they make it into one community, they, you know, everybody who lives on the site will have access to the same amenities. that that is better in the long term for the people that are going to live there. And also that it's hard for me to imagine that there aren't some economies of scale with respect to the services that are needed. Now, one of the things I learned when I served on the Alta board was how big a deal, providing services is. I mean, it requires a lot of time, and people, and expertise. I mean, you just can't pull somebody in from the street and expect them to be able to, um, you know, run these programs. It takes, you know, people who are really experts in this subject. And also very devoted to their clients, which we know from, frankly, from all of the affordable housing developers that we have worked with, they have all come through for that. But that's what I come back to. I just come back to. What about the community we're creating here? And, um, so, on the one hand, I'm really excited by the idea of mass timber, it is better for the environment, and, you know, I'm usually the first one saying, We got to do the good thing for the environment. So, I would kind of maybe want to challenge charities to think about that. Certainly, the subsidy, I just feel very uncomfortable with the incredible gap in the subsidy. I mean, we're not talking about 20% here, 10%. We're talking about, like, 2.5 times less. You know, I mean, it's just dramatically different. And, um, I, uh, I just, I just am very uncomfortable with that. The other thing is, I don't think that the 2.one acre site that we're looking at right this minute is that tough to build on. I mean, it's a little bit of a problem because Evelyn has too much traffic for housing, but, you know, that's the way it is. But that other side, that triangle site that's next to it, that charities currently has, is a very challenging site, because it's right, it right abuts to the off ramp. But when you expand, that, to be the whole, I guess it's, what is it, 4 acres now, okay, thank you. The 4 acres, a lot of those problems kind of, you know, fall out. For instance, putting that parking garage up against the off ramp, I mean, it buffers everybody who lives in that community from the off ramp. And that's a good thing. That will make it a much nicer place to live. And it seems to me that if, if, if that doesn't happen, then charities is gonna have to completely redo their development plan, which they're, they may, it seems like we never come through with the same development plan anyway. But that concept of having the buffer, of the parking between the exit ramp and the rest of the community. I really think that that's a very good feature. And it's one that doesn't work, if charities doesn't get this. So, I am going to be saying, on the side of community, I won't be upset. I mean, I won't be, you know, really upset if a firm gets it, but I think the decision, for me, really comes to those community factors. And so I, at this point, I'm going to be voting for charities.

[06:02:12] Mayor Alison Hicks: So I'll also disclose that I've met with four of the five applicants, and that I actually want to choose all of the applicants, some, you know, some very, I mean, I think these are better applications than we've gotten on other sites, a lot of good architects and good plans, which is important to me. But I think I will go with the staff recommendation for a number of reasons. Um, I do like the, and I can just run through them. I do like the use of mass timber. I would like to start trying that. I really like the green spaces and circulation. Um, although, I like that, and the, I liked that with several of the, the plans, several of the applicants, actually. I think, and this also was several of the applicants. I think that if we're gonna reduce car use and reduced parking, I think, having something like a food pantry on site is really important, because most people I know, if they're not going to school or work, they're using their car to pick up groceries. So if we're reducing parking, I think that's a good thing. For affirmed, I liked the child care that they chose, given the representative here, she really, with my little time in the child care field, she really said all the right things. She sounds like she knows what she's doing. Um, I actually think along Evelyn is a good place for height. I think that the light industrial near there may develop at some point and may add height as well, and besides that, it's next to Evelyn and the train, and I would want to live on the top floor, personally. Um, And, uh, and then I do share the concern about parking, I, um, and maybe lifts would be a good solution. I have to say, my main concern is that I have children who are now looking for jobs and said they would never drive a car, and they realize when they're looking for a job. You get 100 times the job opportunity when you have a car. So, I do have some concerns about leaving low income people who are trying to get jobs without, without good access to a car. But maybe lifts will work. So, um, so those are my reasons for backing the staff recommendation.

[06:04:48] Mayor Alison Hicks: So now we make a decision. Council member committee.

[06:05:01] Councilmember Ellen Kamei: Great, thank you. Well, um, I just had a question because, um, Council member Mata checks that if we were going in this direction, there was a couple things that maybe have some feedback for the applicant. And so before we do the vote, I'm just curious if the applicant wanted the opportunity to respond to some of the feedback given or not, I don't know. I was just curious. And then I will say when I met with the applicant, they did share that in some of their buildings, you have a rideshare program, isn't that correct for affirmed?

[06:05:35] Unknown Speaker: Yes, yes. Yes.

[06:05:37] Councilmember Ellen Kamei: Maybe you could share with the rest of the council on that piece.

[06:05:45] Unknown Speaker: Yeah, so we have 2 developments in which we have a on-site car share program, we fund the car, we pay for the insurance and everything, and tenants can utilize that car. Um, we equate it. I think we've looked at some analysis. It equates to approximately 15 to 20 parking stalls. Per car. So if we were to look at a couple of cars, that's also another option. The insurance aspects a little complicated, but we've successfully, you know, been able to figure that out.

[06:06:23] Mayor Alison Hicks: Council member Abi Koka.

[06:06:25] Councilmember Margaret Abe-Koga: Thank you, Mayor. I had a question about transportation. So when we did the other Evelyn project, Rome, down the street, I remember we asked them to provide like a shuttle for their, the children there to get to school. Is that happening and can that shuttle just swing around down the street and go to this site? Is it our community shuttle and just, oh, just, yeah, I wanted to...

[06:06:56] Unknown Speaker: Find out what happened to that. I think I was on the job. 2 weeks on the job at the time. So I don't have that particular project detail. I know you're trying to make a decision tonight, so maybe we can look real quick. Do you recall whether that was the part of the TMA or it was a private shuttle that they would operate?

[06:07:18] Councilmember Margaret Abe-Koga: I can't remember. I remember that, you know, Jerome said they would provide something, um, and I can't remember if that was by joining the TMA or not. But I believe there's our community shuttle runs through that area on one of the routes, right?

[06:07:38] Unknown Speaker: I will say that we've had conversations with public works, and public works director, an assistant director who staffed the TMA. We've initiated conversations about how we could have a programmatic approach for shuttle and shuttle routes for all affordable housing. We don't have an immediate response yet for that and how we would do it, but the conversations have started. So I think the bottom line is whatever developers selected, we would work with them on a robust TDM program, we would look at all the options, whether it's rideshare, innovative options, signage, timetables, shuttle routes, et cetera. So I think we would take the feedback that we've heard that active transportation is important, opportunities are important, and incorporate it with all of our conversations with the selected developer. And we would include that the shuttle conversation as well.

[06:08:35] Councilmember Margaret Abe-Koga: Thank you. Yes, yeah. If you can just, um, you know, send a memo or something about what happened to that, that shuttle request that would be helpful. And then I would mention, our VTA at our last meeting, we were talking about BTA properties and probably making it a future requirement that they offer. all the projects offer passes, transit passes. So that'll be required.

[06:09:05] Councilmember Margaret Abe-Koga: But I just going back then, do you want to ask the affirmed if they are able to? I mean, I'm fine to, you know, I could just make the motion, but I don't know.

[06:09:26] Mayor Alison Hicks: Yeah, the council member Mattachek. Do you have...

[06:09:34] Councilmember Ellen Kamei: I was I was just asking, you had said that if we were going in this direction, that you had some some changes, and so I just didn't know if you were going to ask for those changes, or if we were going to vote. That's the clarity I was looking for.

[06:09:48] Councilmember Lisa Matichak: So the 2 I mentioned are more parking, and I prefer the 8 story building, which when I met with affirmed, they said they could add more parking, either a level or stackers, and that they were open to the 7, 8 story building, they said. So that would be my preference. I don't feel like I need their comment on that, since that's what they said to me when I met with them.

[06:10:13] Mayor Alison Hicks: Great. Thank you. We don't know what they say when they meet with us. Thank you. Okay, great thing. So... Do we want to discuss the height?

[06:10:29] Unknown Speaker: I would prefer to stick with the 12 story, personally. That's my comment.

[06:10:36] Mayor Alison Hicks: Okay. Well, then let's see. I'm trying to find, why don't I just I'll make the motion? and then see where it goes. What's that? So I will make a motion to adopt a resolution of the city of Mountain View, declaring the city owns site at 87 East Evelyn Avenue to be exempt surplus land, pursuant to the surplus land act to be read entitled only for the reading, waived, and move staff recommendation. What does that work?

[06:11:12] Mayor Alison Hicks: So we have a motion and. Oh, we don't have a 2nd council member Ramirez.

[06:11:21] Councilmember Lucas Ramirez: Um, thank you, mayor. So one of the things, so sometimes we have differences of opinion. I would not support the affirmed proposal if it's modified. I would prefer to adhere to the proposal as submitted, and what I would request of the maker of the motion is, to the extent, I know the city attorney sure that we can't require, we can't make, or secure firm commitments, but that should staff find that there that affirmed us unable to retain the subsidy as they've proposed. Or if there were other substantive modifications that need to be made that we then proceed to the alternate developer, because I'm uncomfortable one with proposing something and ending up with something else. I just, I don't think that's fair to other applicants. And then if there are other substantive modifications, like a substantial reduction in height, or a substantial increase in parking, that means the subsidy request is different. And I think what is attractive about this proposal and the reason why I'm comfortable giving staff 90 days to negotiate is I think that's that allows us then to discern whether this is an expectation for future development. If I could ask one clarifying question,

[06:12:52] Unknown Speaker: We would expect the potential subsidy amount to change, possibly regardless of which developer we select, because we haven't had an opportunity to sit down with any of the developers besides the interview process, which is a very limited amount of time. So I, the clarifying question is whether there's some reasonable attitude in terms of that, if, um, it's part of a conversation, and there was some, uh, latitude in terms of the, uh, amount changing, or is the input here really looking at the $8 million as more of a fixed amount?

[06:13:30] Councilmember Lucas Ramirez: I'm not making the motion. So I'm curious to.

[06:13:34] Mayor Alison Hicks: I mean, I agree with you. I think that if there's a substantial change in the project that, um, it either come back to us or it go to the, the alternate, the 2nd place developer, um, And I guess, you know, then the question is what's substantial? I don't know. I mean, I guess I was going to ask, like, how much do stackers cost? And I don't think it's a huge cost. A couple. The city. I just want to make it work. The city manager also has a comment, I think.

[06:14:13] City Manager Kimbra McCarthy: Okay. Yes, thank you, mayor and council member Abbe Koga. So just to elaborate on what the housing director said. So these were submitted months ago. And we all know that even in our own construction projects that the longer time goes on, that price changes. So regardless of who you select tonight, I would put, I would wager any amount of money that that price is going to go up just because the cost of goods and construction. We all know this is the case right now. Um, so I would just, you know, say that that is going to be the case, regardless of who you select, that number is going to change. And I would also ask if we're kind of struggling with a fixed number versus giving some leeway to staff that if you all give direction that if staff is feeling like things are going a little sideways and there is a reasonable amount of increase that could be expected with any of them, whoever you end up selecting, but if it is becoming apparent, that things are not as they seem, or things are not as you all have been told this evening, or the cost is, increasing exponentially, then that would be when we would come to you all to discuss that, which we have to come in close session regardless. So we would talk to you all about that. And then at that time, you all could determine what steps you want to take. But I think ultimately, the numbers are gonna change for any of the 5 submissions. And as the director just pointed out, staff haven't even gotten to those conversations yet.

[06:16:00] Unknown Speaker: Yes, I agree. I think time is money. We're seeing that. Um, I also wanted to mention, um, some of the proposals had the Buffa money. I don't think a firm did if if the measure passes in November and, you know, we're right now looking at criteria, we want shovel ready projects. So the sooner we can make a decision and just get moving on this project and have it lined up, the better chance we would have for funding. So in light of all that, um, you know, I was thinking, well, could it be a percentage increase? We could do it that way. I don't think that if having a fixed cost really is realistic, to be frank. So, you know, if I don't know what's reasonable, if it becomes like a 30 or 40% increase in the subsidy, then then we can revisit it. But, um, given construction costs, I think we're gonna have to expect some increases.

[06:17:01] Councilmember Lucas Ramirez: I agree. So reasonable latitude makes sense. I just, I don't, I'm uncomfortable with the potential precedent of, you know, you come in with 8 and then later on we give 16, then, well, that's in line with several of the other proposals. So I, I, I think we, if somebody comes in with a low subsidy request. To the greatest extent we're able to, we should hold their feet to their fire. They propose that number, not us, right? So if I'm comfortable with trustee and staff on that, but reasonable latitude, but I think you understand the intent.

[06:17:40] Unknown Speaker: Yes, I think that makes perfect sense. And just to add, um, with the, uh, strengths of the firm project, the evaluation took account the financial subsidy request, um, as one factor, and, uh, the other elements of a firm also stood out. So even if they had come in initially with a similar ask, we would look at the firms as probably being a more responsive submittal anyway. So, um, we understand, though, what you're saying, in terms of reasonable, um, assessment, and we would certainly use our best professional judgment, and being very mindful of this conversation about the, the parameters, and, um, how council is feeling about this. So we would certainly understand that direction.

[06:18:32] Mayor Alison Hicks: Thank you. And this feels like a good time to disclose that I also met with four of the five applicants. Okay, so we have a motion and a second, and we can vote.

[06:19:02] Mayor Alison Hicks: It passes. So thank you, everyone, for staying so late. We are... we are now at item nine, which is council

[06:19:22] Mayor Alison Hicks: staff committee reports. Are there... Okay, Council member Mattachek.

[06:19:38] Councilmember Lisa Matichak: Thank you. So, um, I want to follow up on a statement I said at the last meeting, which was, um, I attended the Boston Board meeting, uh, and we were talking, I was reporting on, uh, the minimum purchase requirements, and I went back to my notes, and those minimum purchase requirements must be waived when we're in a drowsy situation. I wasn't sure if it was, they could wave them, or they had to wave them, but they have to waive them. So I just wanted to clarify that. And then, um, today, I attended a, um, strategic planning session for SVRIA, which is Silicon Valley regional interoperability authority. I'm the alternate to that. But the primary person couldn't attend. And since I've been on the board before, I thought, What the heck? Maybe I could add something. So, anyway, SVRIA, is the communication network for both voice and data, that is used by law enforcement agencies, fire departments, EMS, emergency management for critical incidents, and disaster response. And, um, our police and fire departments use SVRIA equipment. And the good thing about it is, and part of the reason it came about is because when there is a critical situation, an emergency that crosses jurisdictional, um, borders or, um, even, you know, between police and fire, you all need to communicate with each other. And so, um, this is, uh, throughout Santa Clara County that this system was built. And, um, it has taken a long time to build it, and, um, unfortunately, you know, as happens with technology. Now there's the next generation of technology that's out there. And so, SVRIA is looking at how do we fund the upgrade to the next generation of technology. So, um, I was gonna ask the city manager, if we could have the executive director of SVRIA come to a council meeting and do a presentation on what it is, um, and talk a little bit about why we need to upgrade our technology. I found the day absolutely fascinating. Even though I was on the board for a number of years, to be reminded of the history of the organization, how it came about, actually, Mountain View was one of the founding members, and our, one of our former city attorneys was the one who worked on the JPA. So, and actually, she's back to being, or maybe she never was. But anyway, she's now the attorney for SVRIA, Jenny Quinn. Um, so she was there. But to hear it all again was really powerful. And I thought it'd be useful for everyone to hear that. Um, and let's see. We had a meeting of the CPPC. And, That item will come to the council in November, October. Sorry. And that's it. Thanks.

[06:23:09] Mayor Alison Hicks: Thank you, council member Ramos.

[06:23:12] Councilmember Emily Ramos: So I wanted to report out that I went to California League of Cities, also known as Cal Cities. I was our voting delegate, but they canceled the vote, so I didn't have to vote, which was cool. But the overall event was really, really cool. Um, There was actually one point where, uh, a council member, Kame and I, we went and saw the, we went around the exhibit hall, and we ran into Jamboree, and it was the same people who, uh, who, uh, who were there at the, uh, Crestview opening, and we were able to talk about how wonderful our project was in front of other cities, and they were thinking, like, Oh, yeah, maybe we could do that, too. And so, it's always nice to spread. Some people like to say that I treat, I act like an evangelist for Mountain View, but it's like the gospel of Mountain View, just spreading around to the rest of the cities. I went to a bunch of great, um, uh, workshops and programs, um, that were very educational about, um, uh, encouraging uh, activation of diversity in our communities, um, and, uh, understanding the limits of public comment. Um, is all was was another fun one to do, and and they got to meet so many other elected officials, which were really, really fun. Um, and uh, I'll leave it to Council member Kame to take it. away because we, because there wasn't really a vote, but like, I understand there was like a vote ahead of time, there was a nice little upgrade to council member come in. And I'll let her cover that in her report. Also, not today. Thank you.

[06:24:56] Councilmember Ellen Kamei: You have to remind me what that is at 1 a.m. I was gonna give an update. Um, about Chak. And so I just wanted to share, um, I tried to send an update over the, um, summer recess, but wanted to share that I represent the city on the check JPA board, and we've recently convened, uh, a board task force. This is Task Force number 2 to explore options for fiscal sustainability. Actually, we just signed a contract with Jenny Quinn to review our legal implications as a JPA board. And so, uh, we wanted, I wanted to just share that, uh, we're still working with our Czech interim director, to work on solutions, and that colleagues may have heard that Czech received a $1000000 grant from the county. And that's to help stabilize the Czech workforce. Over the summer. They had to shut down the clinic, unfortunately. clinical services. And so right now, the organization is working to assess, you know, the options that are remaining for a standalone agency, partnering perhaps with another agency. So we've been going on tours of other agencies, um, or potential to merger and what the implications may to be to all of us as the JPA, particularly the building, which the JPA owns. So I just wanted to share that. And then, uh, at the, um, league of um, cities. I did attend, and I am the new president for our peninsula division. So that's the 36 cities within the 2 counties. So looking forward to that. Thank you, Mayor.

[06:26:48] Mayor Alison Hicks: Thank you, uh, council member Abikoga.

[06:26:52] Councilmember Margaret Abe-Koga: Thank you, Mayor. because of the hour. I'm not going to read the SVCE report, but I will ask the city clerk to circulate it to all of you. Um, I also wanted to mention at our last city's association meeting, uh, we did actually have a presentation from the county about a $20000000 uh, available for childcare facilities to do upgrades and expansions, and they're using ARPA funds for that. I don't, I can't, the deadlines really soon. So I don't know if it's already passed or it's coming, but that's something our new affordable housing developer might want to look into. And then we also voted to move forward the JPA agreement that our Jenny Quinn has been assisting us with as she's our legal counsel for cities association now too. And that should be appearing on our future council agenda. This is basically to form a JPA for the city's association, which has operated for over 30 years as a, I forget what they call it. It's a non-described entity. It's just been a loose organization. But because of that, we've had some challenges as you know, you've read about, and so the JPA is our effort to basically protect cities from any future liabilities. So that'll be on our future agenda. And then tomorrow I will be attending the Bafa Bay Area Housing Finance Authority meeting. We are coming to some decision points on how the funding will be distributed. So we will be doing that the next couple of months. There's still some, uh, there's still a lot of discussion to be had. So as, you know, I'm hopeful that something will come about and we will have some affordable housing fund opportunities in the future, but it's still being worked at on. Thanks.

[06:29:17] Mayor Alison Hicks: Thank you. Vice mayor.

[06:29:20] Vice Mayor Pat Showalter: Okay. Um, I'll try and be brief as well. Um, Friday, there was another sediment, um, Judge Sediment meeting for BCDC. You know, we're working on that because dredge sediments are really important for marsh restoration, and that's a huge part of our sea level rise protection program. is to, you know, get the, get, get what we're building, built, so we can breach that, breach those, um, levees, and get the marsh to grow. Monday, along with all pretty much all of us. I attended the school board meeting. And then I tended another one. It's like I couldn't get enough on Thursday, Thursday night, and I listen to their discussion of the joint use agreement, and they will, um, they're going to be sort of offering something that's a little different than what we wanted, but, um, we'll have to see when we get the actual written comments. Things are always... They always change a little bit in the translation, it seems like, from the last meeting to the written form. Then, Tuesday, I got to make a short appearance at our celebration of leaders. I hope everybody had a great time, but then, I went to the Palo Alto finance committee, um, where they were discussing their contribution for the low salt facility. And, um, they, uh, they were, they were interested in hearing why, we really wanted to go forward with this, because it's gotten so expensive, and our willingness to pay the construction costs, and, um, so, I, you know, I explained, um, how, uh, we really are committed to having a very high quality of recycled water that is good for all the uses that we, um, we hope to put it to. So they did make that recommendation, and it will be coming to the Palo Alto Council as a whole, to approve, I think, the first meeting in October. And then, Saturday, I had a great time attending Sunnyvale's state of the city celebration. It was really the opening of their new city hall. It was the first time they used their council chambers. And they just had it in crazy, an amazing celebration ad. They had this African, uh, music performance group that was just, um, you know, I mean, just vibrant, so much fun to listen to, and they also had a, um, uh, had a poem that was specially written by the, the county poet laureate. I didn't know we had a poet laureate, but we do. And then on Sunday, I had a great fun being the grand marshal at the 29th Stevens Creek Trailblazer Race. So that's my report for today. Thank you.

[06:32:24] Mayor Alison Hicks: I see no more Council staff and committee reports. We're now on item 10 of our agenda, which is the closed session report, City Attorney Logue. Do you have a closed session report?

[06:32:36] City Attorney Jennifer Logue: Yes, I do. Thank you very much. In close session this evening, city council took final action on item 2.3 on the closed session agenda, which was a conference with legal counsel regarding a liability claim filed by Manuel Garcia against the city of Mountain View. Mr. Garcia's claim demands $10 million in damages for injuries he sustained as a result of a trip and fall incident at Shoreline Amphitheater. Council voted with 7 eyes, 0 nose, and 0 abstensions to deny the claim. Thank you.

[06:33:10] Mayor Alison Hicks: Thank you. So now we're on item 11, Adjournment. The next city council meeting will be held on October 10th of 2023, and this meeting is adjourned at 106 a.m.

[06:33:25] Unknown Speaker: Ooh. record. Oh, wow.

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