Jun 23, 2026 Joint meeting of the Council, Shoreline Regional Park, & Capital Improvements Authority

Video

Agenda

• Closed Session Announcement and Public Comment: Closed session announcement and public comment before recess to closed session (00:02:18)
• 1. CALL TO ORDER/PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE/ROLL CALL: Regular session call to order, pledge of allegiance, and roll call (01:33:42)
• 2. CLOSED SESSION REPORT: City Attorney report on closed session (01:34:43)
• 3.1 National Immigrant Heritage Month Proclamation: Reading and presentation of the National Immigrant Heritage Month Proclamation (01:36:20)
• 3.2 100th Anniversary of the Kiwanis Club of Mountain View Proclamation: Reading and presentation of the Kiwanis Club centennial proclamation (01:41:32)
• 3.3 Proclamation Honoring City Attorney Jennifer Logue's Appointment to the Judiciary: Proclamation and remarks honoring City Attorney Jennifer Logue's judicial appointment (01:48:41)
• 4. CONSENT CALENDAR: Consent calendar discussion, public comment, and approval of the balance of items (02:19:00)
• 4.14 Council Policy A-13b Community Engagement (Pulled): Pulled consent item; consideration deferred to September (02:41:29)
• 5. ORAL COMMUNICATIONS FROM THE PUBLIC ON NONAGENDIZED ITEMS: Public comment on non-agendized items (02:43:09)
• 6.1 Biodiversity and Urban Forest Plan Adoption: Staff presentation, public comment, and unanimous adoption of the Biodiversity and Urban Forest Plan (02:50:23)
• 7.1 Adoption of Community Ownership Action Plan: Staff presentation, public comment, and unanimous adoption of the Community Ownership Action Plan (Housing Element Program 3.2) (03:48:21)
• 7.2 November Election and Transient Occupancy Tax Ballot Measure: Calling the November 3, 2026 election and placing a transient occupancy tax measure on the ballot (04:33:38)
• 7.3 Resolution Appointing a Retired Annuitant as Interim City Attorney: Appointment of an interim City Attorney under Government Code Section 21221(h) (04:46:21)
• 8.1 Residential Development Project at 333 Franklin Street: Public hearing and 6-1 approval of an 11-unit plus two-ADU State Density Bonus project at 333 Franklin Street (04:50:31)
• 8.2 Adoption of Fiscal Year 2026-27 Budgets, Fee Modifications, and CIP Funding: Public hearing and adoption of the FY 2026-27 budget, fee modifications, and capital improvement program funding (05:09:53)
• Council and Staff Comments: Closing council and staff comments and committee reports (06:05:05)
• Adjournment: Adjournment into summer recess (06:07:32)

Transcript

Closed Session Announcement and Public Comment

[00:02:18] Councilmember Emily Ramos: All right, everyone. We're going to get started. It is now 5 o'clock. Good evening, everyone. Thank you for joining us for our closed session. City Attorney Logue will make a closed session announcement, and then we will welcome public comment on the items listed for closed session.

[00:02:57] City Attorney Jennifer Logue: Good evening, Mayor, Vice Mayor, and Councilmembers. City Attorney Jennifer Logue. There are four items on this evening's closed session agenda.

[00:03:07] City Attorney Jennifer Logue: Item 2.1 is a meeting to consider appointment of a City Attorney pursuant to Government Code Section 54957(b)(1). Item 2.2 is a conference with legal counsel regarding existing litigation pursuant to Government Code Section 54956.9. The name of the case is San Francisco Baykeeper vs. City of Mountain View and City of Sunnyvale, United States District Court Case Number 20-cv-00824.

[00:03:34] City Attorney Jennifer Logue: Item 2.3 is a conference with legal counsel regarding two items of anticipated litigation pursuant to Government Code Section 54956.9(d)(2). And Item 2.4 is a meeting with legal counsel to discuss the initiation of litigation pursuant to Government Code Section 54956.9(d)(4). Thank you.

[00:03:58] Councilmember Emily Ramos: Thank you. Now, 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 raise hand button in Zoom or submit a speaker card to the City Clerk. We will take in-person speakers first. Each speaker will have a minute and 30 seconds. All right, we'll have Monica come up, and then Brandon after that.

[00:04:32] Monica Teyscher: Hi, my name is Monica Teyscher, and I have been a resident of Mountain View for over 27 years. Thank you for making sure our city remains a community for all. I commend City Council for drafting the no staging policy and presenting it to you in such short time. I also want to congratulate City Attorney Jennifer Logue for her appointment to serve as a judge on the Contra Costa County Superior Court.

[00:04:53] Monica Teyscher: I am speaking today to urge you to join the amicus brief with local jurisdictions throughout the Bay Area and Central Coast to support and strengthen the lawsuit filed jointly by Santa Clara County and AG Bonta to block the illegal development of the ICE facility near Gilroy. The amicus brief is being prepared by the County of Monterey with the Public Rights Project. They plan to file by the end of June, so you must act promptly.

[00:05:20] Monica Teyscher: Hollister, San Jose, Palo Alto, Alameda, and the Counties of Monterey, Santa Cruz, and San Mateo have already signed on. If you are here in support of filing this amicus brief, please stand up. Adelanto and California City are concentration camps, prisons for profit run by corporations that ICE uses to shuffle and hide detainees to deprive them of their legal rights. We need to block what will most probably become an enforcement and removal operations office in our vicinity. ICE continues to violate human and constitutional rights, and we should not allow them to do so in our county. Thank you.

[00:06:01] Councilmember Emily Ramos: Thank you. Next, we have Brandon.

[00:06:06] Brandon: Hey there, my name is Brandon. I've lived in Mountain View for more than 20 years. I'm here tonight to also comment on the proposed lawsuit against the Gilroy facility, and I'm asking the city to join in the amicus brief. I'm here to comment because I've seen what ICE and the federal government are doing to our neighbors, and I don't like it.

[00:06:23] Brandon: I don't know how to say this in a way that is... it just doesn't sound like it hasn't happened to me, it's so crazy, but the same agency that shot a poet in the face, a nurse in the back, and left a five-year-old boy in the snow to act as bait to grab his mother, wants to open a concentration camp in Gilroy, a place I previously had known for its garlic ice cream.

[00:06:50] Brandon: I'm glad that you passed the resolution recently to not help ICE with staging, and now I'm asking you to do more. As a citizen, I know what I'll be doing. I'm going to be there with my sign, and I'm thinking 'Garlic, not Gulags.' But since you are our elected officials, and I know you can do more, I'm here tonight to ask you to do more. Tonight, I'd just like to ask you to help our neighbors join this lawsuit. Thank you.

[00:07:20] Councilmember Emily Ramos: Thank you. We will now take virtual speakers, and I am seeing none. So Council will now recess to the Plaza Conference Room for closed session and return to Council Chambers at the close to continue regular session. To closed session we go.

1. CALL TO ORDER/PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE/ROLL CALL

[01:33:42] Councilmember Emily Ramos: All right, we're gonna get started again. Good evening everyone, welcome to the joint meeting of the Mountain View City Council, Shoreline Regional Park, and City of Mountain View Capital Improvements Financing Authority of June 23rd, 2026. Please join me in the Pledge of Allegiance.

[01:34:06] Councilmember Emily Ramos: I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

[01:34:25] Councilmember Emily Ramos: All right, the City Clerk will take attendance by roll call.

[01:34:30] City Clerk Heather Glaser: Councilmember Hicks?

[01:34:31] Councilmember Alison Hicks: Here.

[01:34:32] City Clerk Heather Glaser: Councilmember Kamei?

[01:34:33] Councilmember Ellen Kamei: Here.

[01:34:34] City Clerk Heather Glaser: Councilmember McAlister? Councilmember Ramirez?

[01:34:36] Councilmember Lucas Ramirez: Here.

[01:34:37] City Clerk Heather Glaser: Councilmember Showalter?

[01:34:38] Councilmember Pat Showalter: Here.

[01:34:39] City Clerk Heather Glaser: Vice Mayor Clark?

[01:34:40] Councilmember Chris Clark: Here.

[01:34:40] City Clerk Heather Glaser: Mayor Ramos?

[01:34:41] Councilmember Emily Ramos: Here.

[01:34:42] City Clerk Heather Glaser: You have a quorum.

2. CLOSED SESSION REPORT

[01:34:43] Councilmember Emily Ramos: Thank you. In recent weeks, the city along with a few of our neighboring elected decision-making bodies have been subjected to disruptive, racist, verbal attacks by anonymous callers during virtual public comment. The city of Mountain View is fully committed to racial, religious, and cultural equity and justice as we strive to create a welcoming, safe, and inclusive community for all. The council welcomes respectful, non-threatening public comments on matters within our jurisdiction. Comments deemed otherwise pursuant to the council code of conduct and the government code may be grounds for terminating a speaker's comment period. I will also say in advance that all public speaking comment periods tonight will be limited to 90 seconds or 1 minute and 30 seconds. So now we will move on to item 2, closed session report. City Attorney Logue, do you have a closed session report?

[01:35:34] City Attorney Jennifer Logue: Yes. Good evening Mayor, Vice Mayor, and Councilmembers. In closed session this evening, the City Council took final action on item 2.4 on the closed session agenda, which was a conference with legal counsel pursuant to government code section 54956.9(d)(4) regarding the initiation of litigation. Council voted with four ayes, zero noes, and two abstentions by Vice Mayor Clark and Councilmember McAlister to authorize the city to join a legal brief with other Bay Area local governments supporting a request for a court order to halt construction of a proposed U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facility in Gilroy.

[01:36:15] Councilmember Emily Ramos: Thank you, City Attorney. I do believe it was five ayes.

[01:36:18] City Attorney Jennifer Logue: I apologize, that's right. It's five ayes.

3.1 National Immigrant Heritage Month Proclamation

[01:36:20] Councilmember Emily Ramos: Thank you. All right, we will now move on to item 3. Please note these are presentations only. The City Council will not take any action. Public comment will occur after the presentation items. If you would like to speak on these items in person, please submit a blue speaker card to the City Clerk now. So we have item 3.1, National Immigrant Heritage Month proclamation.

[01:36:40] Councilmember Emily Ramos: We are happy to be joined this evening by Maria Marroquin, Executive Director of the Day Worker Center, to accept this proclamation. Maria, would you join me at the lectern?

[01:37:08] Councilmember Emily Ramos: All right. So the proclamation reads: Immigrant Heritage Month provides an opportunity to celebrate our origins as a society built on the strength and diversity of immigrants from every corner of the globe. And whereas generations of immigrants have courageously left their homes, lives, and loved ones in search of refuge, opportunity, and freedom in the United States, driving our economic innovation and enriching our cultural fabric.

[01:37:35] Councilmember Emily Ramos: And whereas immigrants continue to build businesses, strengthen our workforce, and create jobs, significantly contributing to the vitality and success of our community. And whereas this month allows us to celebrate this rich diversity, reflect on the essential contributions of newcomers, and reaffirm our commitment to creating a welcoming, inclusive, and equitable environment for all residents.

[01:38:00] Councilmember Emily Ramos: And now therefore I, Emily Ann Ramos, Mayor of the city of Mountain View, the best city, along with my colleagues on the City Council, do hereby proclaim the month of June as Immigrant Heritage Month in Mountain View and I encourage all residents to celebrate the diverse backgrounds, cultures, and contributions that make our community a vibrant place to live. Miss Maria, would you like to say a few words?

[01:38:28] Maria Marroquin: Most definitely. Good evening Madam Mayor and members of the Council. Thank you for this proclamation. Receiving this recognition during National Immigrant Heritage Month is a profound honor. But not just for me, but for the entire community I stand here representing.

[01:38:50] Maria Marroquin: The heritage we celebrate today is not just about the traditions we bring or the hard work we perform. It is about resilience. It's about the courage of who came before us, who sacrificed everything to build a foundation so that we could stand here today. But heritage is not just a gift from the past, it's a moral responsibility for the present. Do you remember the moral responsibility, Pat Showalter? I know you do.

[01:39:25] Maria Marroquin: As you move into today's agenda, you will have the power to make decisions that directly impact the stability and prosperity of our community's most vulnerable members. Those who are too often overlooked, but yet form the very backbone of Mountain View. We honor our heritage not only with words on paper, but with the legacy we leave for those who will come next.

[01:39:55] Maria Marroquin: Through leadership means ensuring that the doors of opportunity and stability remain open and secure. Therefore, I urge you, council, to honor our shared history by making choices tonight that protect, lift up, and guarantee the dignity of our community. Let's build a legacy that we all can be proud of. Thank you so much.

[01:40:29] Councilmember Emily Ramos: All right, we have lots of proclamations, lots of things to celebrate this evening. So item 3.2 is the 100th anniversary of the Kiwanis Club of Mountain View proclamation. Yay.

[01:40:45] Councilmember Emily Ramos: We are happy to be joined this evening by Marina Marinovich, the Foundation's Grants Committee Chair with the Kiwanis Club of Mountain View to accept this proclamation. Miss Marina, would you join me at the lectern?

3.2 100th Anniversary of the Kiwanis Club of Mountain View Proclamation

[01:41:32] Councilmember Emily Ramos: All right, so the proclamation reads: Whereas the Kiwanis Club of Mountain View was officially chartered on March 15th, 1926, beginning a century of service dedicated to improving the lives of children and strengthening the Mountain View community. And whereas the Kiwanis Club of Mountain View is part of Kiwanis International, a worldwide organization of volunteers committed to improving the world one child and one community at a time.

[01:42:00] Councilmember Emily Ramos: And whereas for nearly 100 years, members of the Kiwanis Club of Mountain View have volunteered their time, leadership, and resources to support youth programs, local nonprofits, educational initiatives, and community projects benefiting the residents of Mountain View and neighboring communities.

[01:42:20] Councilmember Emily Ramos: And whereas through the Kiwanis Foundation of Mountain View, the club has provided significant grants and financial support to dozens of local organizations each year, helping expand programs that serve children, families, and those in need. And whereas members of the Kiwanis Club of Mountain View have actively supported community engagement through events, partnerships, and volunteer service, including youth leadership development and programs that encourage civic participation and community pride.

[01:42:55] Councilmember Emily Ramos: And whereas the Kiwanis Club of Mountain View continues to bring together civic-minded volunteers dedicated to improving the community and creating opportunities for future generations through service, leadership, and fellowship.

[01:43:10] Councilmember Emily Ramos: Now therefore I, Emily Ann Ramos, Mayor of Mountain View, along with my colleagues on the City Council, do hereby proclaim Kiwanis Club of Mountain View Centennial Day in recognition of 100 years of service and commitment to the Mountain View community. We extend sincere appreciation to all past and present members for their lasting contributions to the well-being of the city and its residents.

[01:43:30] Councilmember Emily Ramos: Now before I ask you to say a few words, I'll use this opportunity for our Mayor's call to service, call to community, and call to action. So as you take the mic, please let people know how can people join and support the Kiwanis Club?

[01:43:52] Marina Marinovich: Okay, well thank you so much, Emily. I'm going to call a couple different members up for this. Didi is our president here. First of all, thank you so much City of Mountain View and everybody that served. We've all been to the Harvest History Festival and the City of Mountain View has helped so much collaborating with that. And anyway, come up, Didi. And thank you. Okay, just say a few words.

[01:44:19] Public Speaker: Hello and welcome. The Kiwanis Club of Mountain View is, as they said, a group of volunteers. We have been in service now for 100 years here. Kiwanis International is our umbrella group, thank you. And that has been in service now for 110 years. And Kiwanis is in over 80 countries around the world. And we do quite a bit of different things. I'm sorry, I'm not prepared for this.

[01:44:55] Public Speaker: But if you would like to join us, we would love to have more members. You can contact either myself or Marina. And we have a website, so you can go to that and find out. Yes, KiwanisMountainView.org. Yes. And we will be having a lunch meeting this coming Friday.

[01:45:15] Public Speaker: If anybody's interested and you'd like to join us, it will be held at Don Giovanni's at noon here in Mountain View on Castro Street. Yes. So if you're interested in joining, we will buy your first lunch there. It's very good. So please come out.

[01:45:42] Marina Marinovich: Robert. Our Vice President. Yes.

[01:45:47] Public Speaker: I'm the Vice President of the local chapter, and I'm just here to tell you about our century of service here in Mountain View, and our big celebration that's coming up. The Kiwanis Club of Mountain View is proud to celebrate its 100th anniversary in 2026. Since 1926, local Kiwanis volunteers have worked quietly behind the scenes to strengthen our community through scholarships, grants, youth leadership programs, service projects, and support for local nonprofits.

[01:46:25] Public Speaker: Over the years, we have given away more than $4 million to the community through these efforts. To commemorate this historic milestone, the club will host its 100th anniversary gala on Saturday, August 8th, 2026, at Don Giovanni's in Mountain View. We especially would love to hear from and celebrate with individuals and organizations that have been touched by Kiwanis over the years.

[01:46:55] Public Speaker: If your school, nonprofit, family, child, or community group has benefited from a Kiwanis grant, scholarship program, or volunteer effort, we warmly invite you and the entire Mountain View community to join us. This will be an evening of community, memories, and appreciation for the generations of volunteers who have helped make Mountain View a better place. And there will be a live band featuring Marina and her band. And her husband Jeff.

[01:47:15] Public Speaker: Okay, we will only be selling 100 tickets, so early reservations are encouraged. We hope to celebrate with many of our neighbors and community partners who have been part of our remarkable 100-year journey. Thank you, and we look forward to your attendance.

[01:47:28] Councilmember Emily Ramos: Shall we take a picture with the proclamation? Okay, come on. Oh, other Kiwanis. We got other Kiwanis here.

3.3 Proclamation Honoring City Attorney Jennifer Logue's Appointment to the Judiciary

[01:48:41] Councilmember Emily Ramos: All right. Now we're at our final proclamation of the night. It's item 3.3, proclamation honoring City Attorney Jennifer Logue's appointment to the judiciary. Yay. We are happy to be joined this evening by City Attorney Jennifer Logue to accept this proclamation. City Attorney Logue, would you join me at the lectern?

[01:49:10] Councilmember Emily Ramos: All right. The proclamation reads: Whereas City Attorney Jennifer N. Logue has been appointed by Governor Gavin Newsom to the Contra Costa County Superior Court and will conclude her service to the city of Mountain View on July 3rd, 2026. And whereas Jennifer has served the city of Mountain View for four and a half years as City Attorney. And whereas Jennifer earned her Juris Doctorate from Georgetown University Law Center.

[01:49:40] Councilmember Emily Ramos: And whereas Jennifer has dedicated her legal career to public service and Jennifer strengthened the City Attorney's office by building an experienced team of legal professionals, by incorporating new technology and best practices into the City Attorney's office. And whereas Jennifer has assisted the city in navigating complex legal issues with a calm demeanor, sharp intellect, and unwavering commitment to the city of Mountain View and its residents.

[01:50:05] Councilmember Emily Ramos: And whereas Jennifer possesses the rare combination of intellectual prowess and compassion that makes her uniquely qualified both as a Mountain View City Attorney and as a judge. And whereas City Attorney Logue leaves a lasting legacy and impact on the city of Mountain View and will always be appreciated by the City Council, executive team, and City Attorney's office.

[01:50:25] Councilmember Emily Ramos: Now therefore I, Emily Ann Ramos, Mayor of the city of Mountain View, along with my colleagues on the City Council, do hereby express gratitude and appreciation to Jennifer N. Logue for her exceptional leadership, service, and dedication to the residents of Mountain View. City Attorney Logue, would you like to say a few words?

[01:50:49] City Attorney Jennifer Logue: Yes, please. I wrote this down so I didn't forget or get nervous or cry or get overwhelmed. Thank you Mayor and Councilmembers for this incredibly meaningful proclamation. I am deeply honored to have been selected to serve as City Attorney for the city of Mountain View. Serving this community has been one of the greatest privileges of my career, and I have truly enjoyed the opportunity to work on behalf of the city, its residents, and its elected and appointed leaders.

[01:51:20] City Attorney Jennifer Logue: As I prepare to begin my new role, I am overwhelmed by the many warm wishes, kind words, and expressions of support I have received regarding my judicial appointment. They mean more to me than I can adequately express in words. I also know that whatever success I have had during my time here was only possible because of the remarkable people with whom I have had the privilege to serve and work with.

[01:51:45] City Attorney Jennifer Logue: I am especially grateful to my fellow appointees and city colleagues whose partnership, dedication, and friendship have made this work both rewarding and enjoyable. While I have been fortunate to work on many complex, challenging, and interesting matters during my tenure, I believe my greatest achievement has been helping to build a strong and talented legal team.

[01:52:10] City Attorney Jennifer Logue: I am confident that this team will continue to provide the city with outstanding legal representation and the support it deserves for many years to come. Leaving Mountain View is truly bittersweet. Although I am excited for the opportunity to serve the public in a new capacity, I will greatly miss the many people who have made my time here so meaningful, and there are many of you that I will not forget ever. Alex, I'm talking to you. Thank you again for this honor and for allowing me the privilege of serving as your City Attorney.

[01:53:34] Councilmember Emily Ramos: All righty. So, would any member of the council like to say a few words? Councilmember Hicks.

[01:53:43] Councilmember Alison Hicks: Well I'll keep it short and sweet and just say to City Attorney Logue, well deserved.

[01:53:54] Councilmember Emily Ramos: Thank you Councilmember Hicks. Councilmember Kamei.

[01:53:56] Councilmember Ellen Kamei: Great, thanks Mayor. I love all of our proclamations because I think it shows how our community for all, our community of immigrants, our community of community servants, and soon-to-be judges. It's very exciting. Congratulations, most especially to City Attorney Logue. It's hard to believe that half of our time has been together for, for some of us. And it's been so wonderful to work with you. I'm happy that you know me, and you know in case anything ever comes up I don't want to be on any side of that. But the hardest working person, the court is lucky to have you. Thank you.

[01:54:40] Councilmember Emily Ramos: Thank you Councilmember Kamei. Councilmember McAlister.

[01:54:43] Councilmember John McAlister: Here's a phrase that you'll probably enjoy for the rest of your life: Here comes the judge, here comes the judge! Thank you.

[01:54:52] Councilmember Emily Ramos: Thank you Councilmember McAlister. Councilmember Showalter.

[01:54:56] Councilmember Pat Showalter: It's been a pleasure to work with you. I've really enjoyed all of it.

[02:15:00] Councilmember Emily Ramos: all those explanations you've given me over the years. So thanks very much. We'll miss you. Thank you Councilmember Showalter. Uh, City Manager Kimbra McCarthy.

[02:15:11] City Manager Kimbra McCarthy: Thank you Mayor. So, uh, many of you may know and Council will know that when we have one of our executive team members or department head, uh, or someone who's been with the city a very long time, retire, they get the privilege of having their very own, uh, official street name sign. And, uh, we felt that even though this is not an official retirement, that you certainly have earned the right to have your own official street sign. So I just want to thank you on behalf of the whole organization. Thank you for your partnership, for all of your hard work, unwavering dedication to all of the residents, to the organization. It's just been a pleasure working with you. I'll, I'll tell everyone when I, uh, talked to, uh, one of the folks that that was vetting you and they asked, uh, what I thought you would be like as a judge. Um, and I just said that this role was suited for you. You know, your temperament, your your commitment to fairness, uh, to rigorous research of the law, and making sure that you're applying it in a way that, um, is fair to all and also with compassion and empathy. You're going to be absolutely fabulous. And let's hope none of us have traffic tickets in Contra Costa County or do anything else. So, without further ado, I want to congratulate you and present you with your sign. And you do have to open it in front of everyone because it's very fitting.

[02:17:00] City Attorney Jennifer Logue: If I may say, this is going up in chambers, for sure.

[02:17:06] Councilmember Emily Ramos: Our staff are so clever. Alright, um, Vice Mayor Clark.

[02:17:11] Councilmember Chris Clark: Just briefly say what a pleasure it's been to work with you. And when I was filling out the I received a, uh, similar feedback form, um, when we found out, um, that you, uh, that you were up for the appointment, it was really, really hard to fill that out knowing that it was basically, um, ensuring that you were going to move on to bigger and better things. But we were really going to miss you. But, but then, you know, it hits you that what a feather in our cap to have someone who not only has worked so hard for the for the residents of Mountain View, um, not just for for us, but for all the residents of Mountain View, to, um, you know, to be in a in a branch of government, um, to judiciary where I think you're just incredibly well suited because of all the characteristics that our City Manager articulated. You're going to do an incredible job and we're so proud of, we'll be able to say we knew you when. So, thank you so much for all you've done and good luck.

[02:18:10] Councilmember Emily Ramos: Thank you, Vice Mayor Clark. Any other comments? We are good. Congratulation again, uh, City Attorney Logue. Alright, um, we will now take public comment for the presentation items. Would any member of the public joining us virtually or in person like to provide comment on the presentation items listed on the agenda? If so, please click the raise hand button in Zoom or a blue speaker card to the City Clerk. We will take in person speakers first. Each speaker will have 90 seconds. Um, or one and a half minutes. Alright, we will take our only, uh, speaker in person, Alex Brown.

[02:18:52] Alex Brown (Public Speaker): Uh, Your Honor and Mayor, please the Council. Uh, congratulations. Thanks.

4. CONSENT CALENDAR

[02:19:00] Councilmember Emily Ramos: Alright, thank you. We will now take virtual speakers. Seeing none, this ends our presentation items. We will now move on to Item 4, Consent Calendar. So, these items will be approved by one motion unless any member of the council wishes to pull an item for individual consideration. If an item is pulled from the consent calendar, it will be considered separately following the approval of the balance of the consent calendar. If you would like to speak on these items or the next items, oral communication on non-agenda items in person, please submit a speaker card, a blue speaker card to the City Clerk now. Would any member of the council like to pull an item? Okay. It's a very large consent calendar y'all. Um, Councilmember Ramirez.

[02:19:48] Councilmember Lucas Ramirez: Thank you Mayor. Sorry, I have to pull 4.14.

[02:19:53] Councilmember Emily Ramos: Why do you do this to us? 4.14?

[02:19:57] Councilmember Lucas Ramirez: Yes.

[02:19:58] Councilmember Emily Ramos: Mhm. Councilmember Showalter.

[02:20:03] Councilmember Pat Showalter: Well, I'm not going to pull an item, but as is my, um, my custom, I do go over the consent calendar very, very carefully. And I, there were a mere 34 items this time. So I felt the need to make a chart. And I divided that chart into eight categories, which I'm going to share with you. So, uh, Clerk, can you open it up? And there are a few that I thought were particularly meaningful, so I made them red. Anyway, uh, every, every year at the end, the last session before we go into summer, there is just a plethora of consent calendar items. And that's because the the city staff needs to get things finished and they need to get approval for all of the contracts that they may want to carry out during the summer. So we expect to have a lot. Last year we only, I think the last, the most I have ever seen before is 28. So this is, this is a new record. Okay, next, uh.

[02:21:11] Councilmember Pat Showalter: This this also means that the city staff is and your city is doing a lot of work. Um, so the first category I made was ballot issues and and policy changes. And there are five of those. Um, and I think in particular the one that's probably of most interest to people is the prohibit the use of city property for federal civil immigration enforcement activities. Um, but there are other ones that are, um, uh, for instance, I think the last one, 4.16, Mountain View employee home buyer assistance. That's an idea to, um, allow, uh, employees to get loans to help them live closer. And that's for our retention, uh, program. Okay, next one is housing. We all care a lot about housing and we've been, um, we've been recognized as a pro-housing city. But this is, uh, the largest, um, affordable housing grant that we've gotten.

[02:22:09] Councilmember Pat Showalter: Um, the total award is, uh, from this program, which is for affordable housing and sustainable communities, is, um, is $50 million. And 35 million of it is for the Evelyn Avenue affordable housing project. And then 14 million is for sustainable transportation. That's pretty amazing. Then we go on to budget. This is the final, um, uh, meeting of the session and we will approve the budget later on, but there are some step, some separate budget items. Then public works. Public works took, took two screens. Um, lots of nine consent calendar items. Uh, the urban water management plan, which is a, a, a an important regulatory requirement. Uh, we do every five years. And, um, just all sorts of other things that we have to do to keep our, uh, our infrastructure in good working order.

[02:23:08] Councilmember Pat Showalter: So the next one, uh, next one, so some more thing, building plan checks. We one of the things that we do is inspect things and check plans and make sure that what we build in Mountain View is safe. And also we have to do things that, um, like keep up the, uh, uh, with, with getting our keeping our sewer mains repaired. Not necessarily sexy work, but very, very important. Next, transportation. We all care a great deal about transportation and in particular we talk about the importance of, um, repaving our streets, having active transportation, all that sort of thing. So $14 million of this grant that was, um, the 50 million grant goes to sustainable transportation. We also every year get a report on the North Bayshore, um, trip cap, and we're well within those thresholds.

[02:24:06] Councilmember Pat Showalter: Next category is sustainability and climate change protection. We do a lot of work on sustainability and climate change protection. We, we don't just plan, we actually do it. And so, um, the last three, uh, items on this are literally things that are related to our sea level rise protection program. And we completed, uh, the construction on Pond A2W. I hope most of you have gone out there and enjoyed the area and the new, um, and the new trail that's there. Next slide. Um, everybody in Mountain View seems to love parks and we don't think we have enough of them. Well, now we're getting two more. And that is really something to be to celebrate. One of them is the purchase of property, uh, 2.4 acres, um, on San Rafael Avenue in, in the Terra Bella area. And this is an area that's park deficient, but at the same time we're expecting to build some more housing there. So there'll be more need for a park. So this is, it's great news that we were able to purchase these properties.

[02:25:24] Councilmember Pat Showalter: And, um, for those of you who live in the area, you might want to think about taking part in the, um, the design of the park, which the Parks and Rec Department will be initiating, um, shortly. And then, this is one, uh, the wait back, back. Yeah. The other one I think is cause for a great deal of celebration is the city has made arrangements with Google to lease a facility on Clyde Avenue to make a new pickleball facility. And that is, um, pickleball has been something that this, uh, this community has been tossing around for three or four years about where we should do it. So we've come across, this facility has been identified and, um, we should have room for, I believe it's 12 or 20, um, pickleball, 12, up to 12. Uh, pickleball, uh, courts there, which, which should be great fun. And I couldn't resist saying pickleball pickle resolved. Okay. So then the last one is just administrative things. There are always administrative things. The minutes, the Youth Advisory Committee appointments, uh, we always have to advertise for, um, uh, legal things. And, um, this is the first, this land management assessment advisory service item. That is the first, uh, uh, consent calendar item of our new IT director, Michael Senor. So with that, I think that's more than enough. Thank you.

[02:30:01] Councilmember Emily Ramos: Thank you Councilmember Showalter. Councilmember Hicks.

[02:30:04] Councilmember Alison Hicks: So I'm not going to I am not going to pull anything. I do want to, uh, make a comment on 4.27. So Mayor just tell me when you would like me to do that.

[02:30:15] Councilmember Emily Ramos: We could do that after public comment. Alright. Would, uh, any member of the public joining us virtually or in person like to provide comment on these items? If so, please click the raise hand button in Zoom or submit a blue speaker card to the City Clerk. We will take in-person speakers first. Each speaker will have 90 seconds. So our first speaker is Alexander Amoroso.

[02:30:59] Alexander Amoroso (Public Speaker): Let's see. Evening, uh, Madam Mayor, evening Council. Um, so I only really had, uh, a couple thoughts regarding, um, items 4.7, 4.8, and 4.13. So in regards to, uh, 4.7, um, I very much enjoyed the strategic energy innovations and the climate core, um, strategy set out as. And even what representative or sorry Councilmember Showalter said about, like you know, this being a sustainable, um, city, let's keep going in that direction. And I would actually suggest when plans are made on these items, let's look towards regenerative agriculture because we have the guidance for it. We have the local, um, the local, uh, that's what I'm looking for, um, farmers market folks to work with, and let's keep going in that direction. Now a couple concerns I would say for 4.8 is, um, when we're looking for, uh, development towards, like you know, these parking structures and these parking areas, there has been some complaint and some constraints over where folks are going to park in places like the spot in front of 24 Hour Gym. So maybe we can work on possibly helping folks find better parking in that sense. And also when it comes to the Mountain View GO, uh, missing the mark on that, uh, contractor's, uh, contractor's, uh, deadline, let's see what we can do proactively to prevent that happening in the future. Thank you.

[02:32:31] Councilmember Emily Ramos: Thank you. Seeing no other in person, oh, we have an in-person. Uh, Ms. Joan.

[02:32:48] Joan (Public Speaker): Hello. I live at Sunset Estates, a mobile home park for seniors on Sylvan Avenue. We always are uneasy about our stability since we own our homes, but we just rent the space that they sit on. What are we going to do if Mountain View one day allows our spaces to be sold from under us? So, on page 18 of the COAP, the Community Ownership Action Plan, uh, that is included.

[02:33:23] Councilmember Emily Ramos: Ms. Joan, this is the wrong item. That, that item is, uh, Item 6 point, 7.1. We're still on Consent Calendar.

[02:33:36] Joan (Public Speaker): Okay. I will come back then.

[02:33:38] Councilmember Emily Ramos: No problem. Thank you Ms. Joan. Um, now we will have, we will take virtual speakers and we have one online, Bruce England.

[02:33:48] Bruce England (Public Speaker): Thanks Mayor. This will be really quick. I just wanted to call out the item, um, 4.15, just Pat already brought up. Prohibition on the use of city property for federal civil immigration enforcement activities. It might be a no-brainer to approve that, but I just want to at least voice one person's support for your approving that. Thanks.

[02:34:09] Councilmember Emily Ramos: Thank you so much. We will bring the item we will, uh, now bring this back for council action and note a motion to approve to a motion to approve the consent calendar should also include reading the title of the ordinance and resolutions attached to the consent calendar items 4.2, 4.3, 4.4, 4.5, 4.6, 4.8, uh, through 4.18, not including item 4.1, uh, 4.14 and 4.22. Please note that the adoption of items, uh, 4.4 reflect the updated policy text attached to the council Q&A document and posted online. I see, um, I see a motion by Councilmember Ramirez, seconded by Councilmember Kamei, and I will let you be a masochist. Oh. Oh, Councilmember Hicks, go ahead and have your, uh, comment.

[02:35:13] Councilmember Alison Hicks: Thank you, Mayor. Um, so I just wanted to bring, I wanted to thank first, uh, Councilmember Showalter for bringing some of the, among these 30 some, uh, consent items. There were some that were, I think, um, really notable and that, uh, members of the community have been, uh, very interested in or would be including the the large, um, $50 million grant and the two parks. I was just going to bring, I will be, um, voting for this motion and accepting everything including, uh, 4.27, but I wanted, which is the North Bayshore trip cap monitoring where we count how everybody is using, how everybody is going into, uh, North Bayshore. I did however, want to bring up, um, I wanted to bring that to people's attention as well, um, because since 2015, um, transit use is down by half, biking is down by two thirds, carpooling is down by one quarter, and single occupancy vehicle cars are up, by use is up by one third. So at the same time there's a lot of change going on in the transportation arena. You know positive things like micro mobility, electric cars, there's also automatic vehicles, which you may deem positive or not positive. Um, so and also I believe that our Stevens Creek trail use is way up. So I just wanted to bring the trip cap, not continue to ignore, I mean, I'm sure you're all reading it. But not ignore the trip cap monitoring. I think it's really time for some creative thinking around this to turn those numbers around. Um, you know, I think that, uh, we should incorporate that into future agenda items. And with that, I'm ready to, um, I'm ready to vote.

[02:37:11] Councilmember Emily Ramos: Alright. And that brings us to Councilmember Ramirez. Take it away.

[02:37:15] Councilmember Lucas Ramirez: Thank you Mayor. I have to read a short Steinbeck novel, so if you have to use the restroom, now is your chance. Uh, I move to approve the balance of the consent calendar, including Item 4.2, adopt an ordinance of the City Council of the City of Mountain View, amending Chapter 2, Article 8 of the Mountain View City Code to add section 2.86.25 governing the selection of arguments for City ballot measures, and to make other clarifying modifications to be read in title only, further reading waived. Item 4.3, adopt a resolution of the City Council of the City of Mountain View establishing the Fiscal Year 2026-27 appropriations limit to be read in title only, further reading waived.

[02:38:01] Councilmember Lucas Ramirez: Item 4.4, adopt a resolution of the City Council of the City of Mountain View modifying City Council Policy A-11, Financial and Budgetary Policy to be read in title only, further reading waived. Item 4.5, adopt a resolution of the City Council of the City of Mountain View adopting the City of Mountain View 2025 Urban Water Management Plan to be read in title only, further reading waived. And, adopt a resolution of the City Council of the City of Mountain View adopting the City of Mountain View Water Shortage Contingency Plan to be read in title only, further reading waived. Item 4.6, adopt a resolution of the City Council of the City of Mountain View adopting the recommended Fiscal Year 2025-27 Capital Improvement Program, including all amendments to existing projects, excluding the Shoreline Regional Park Community to be read in title only, further reading waived,

[02:38:51] Councilmember Lucas Ramirez: and adopt a resolution of the Board of Directors of the Shoreline Regional Park Community adopting the recommended Fiscal Year 26-27 Capital Improvement Program for the Mountain View Shoreline Regional Park Community, including amendments to existing projects to be read in title only, further reading waived. Item 4.8, adopt a resolution of the City Council of the City Council of the City of Mountain View authorizing temporary closure from public access to Parking Lot Number 11 for a minimum of 66 consecutive months beginning October 2026, to be read in title only, further reading waived. Item 4.9, adopt a resolution of the City Council of the City of Mountain View authorizing the City Manager or designee to amend the Professional Services Agreement with Optony Incorporated to increase compensation by $32,950 for technical and financial advisory support services for municipal solar and battery storage projects for a total not to exceed amount of $285,950, to be read in title only, further reading waived.

[02:39:39] Councilmember Lucas Ramirez: Item 4.10, adopt a resolution of the City Council of the City of Mountain View finding that the action taken and activities approved herein are not projects subject to California Environmental Quality Act procedures and authorizing the City Manager or their designee to: 1. Enter into a Memorandum of Agreement with the Resilient Facilities Coalition, or RFC, a multi-organization coalition for climate and community resilience projects. And 2. Apply for grant funds available under California Proposition 4 and related programs in an amount estimated to be a maximum of $35 million, including as a lead or partner agency for a not to exceed amount of $285,950 to be read in title only, further reading waived. Uh, 4.11, adopt a resolution of the City Council of the City of Mountain View declaring that the City is authorized to accept and incur an obligation of the Affordable Housing and Sustainable Communities grant funds and enter into and execute standard agreements to 13 with the California Department of Housing and Community Development for a total not to exceed amount of $285,950 to be read in title only, further reading waived.

[02:40:12] Councilmember Lucas Ramirez: Um, 4.12, adopt a resolution of intention of the City Council of the City of Mountain View to vacate the public street and street easement known as Gamel Way in its entirety to be read in title only, further reading waived, and set a date for a public hearing to consider the vacation for September 8th, 2026. 4.13, adopt a resolution of the City Council of the City of Mountain View authorizing the Public Works Director to execute program supplement number F027 to administering agency-state agreement for federal-aid projects number 04-5124F15 with the California Department of Transportation for the City of Mountain View Transit Center Mobility Hub Pilot Project 23-27 to be read in title only, further reading waived. Uh, 4.15, adopt a resolution of the City Council of the City of Mountain View adopting Council Policy A-24 prohibiting the use of city property for civil immigration enforcement activities to be read in title only, further reading waived.

[02:40:31] Councilmember Lucas Ramirez: 4.16, adopt a resolution of the City Council of the City of Mountain View amending City Council Policy D-13, Mountain View Employee Homebuyer and Relocation Assistance Program to be read in title only, further reading waived. 4.17, adopt a resolution of the City Council of the City of Mountain View appointing 15 members and nine members at large/alternates to the Youth Advisory Committee for the 26-27 school year term to be read in title only, further reading waived. 4.18, adopt a resolution of the City Council of the City of Mountain View authorizing the acceptance and appropriation of a Cannabis Tax Fund grant from the State of California in an amount up to $498,397.20 contingent upon award and receipt of the grant funds to help reduce and mitigate the impacts of impaired driving in Mountain View, and authorizing the City Manager or designee to take all steps necessary to receive the grant funds to be read in title only, further reading waived.

[02:40:47] Councilmember Lucas Ramirez: Uh, and 4.22, adopt a resolution of the City Council of the City of Mountain View: 1. Approving a special event permit and sound amplification permit for the Octoberfest special event, subject to conditions. 2. Approving the closure of certain public streets in the downtown area on Saturday, October 10th, 2026, at 2:30 a.m. through Sunday, October 11th, 2026, at 10 p.m. for the Octoberfest special event pursuant to California Vehicle Code Section 21101E. And 3. Delegating authority to the Community Services Director for future Octoberfest events to be read in title only, further reading waived. And I think I forgot to include the staff recommendation for Item 4.4. This is Council Policy A-11, Financial and Budgetary Policy to include that last underlined sentence under 4G, the use of proceeds from the sale of excess city-owned properties shall fund this reserve as directed by the City Council.

[02:40:54] Councilmember Emily Ramos: Thank you Councilmember Ramirez. I hope people record that for their own ASMR. Um, alright, and it was seconded by Councilmember Kamei. We are ready for a vote for the balance of the consent calendar. The balance of the consent calendar has passed unanimously. We will now move on to Item 4.14, which was, uh, pulled by Councilmember Ramirez.

4.14 Council Policy A-13b Community Engagement (Pulled)

[02:41:29] Councilmember Lucas Ramirez: Uh, thank you Mayor. Uh, and I'd like to remind the public that the charter requires us to read all of these things, so if you don't like that, do something about it in November. Um, so Item 4.14, um, is, uh, Council Policy A-13b governing community engagement in public meetings. I, uh, was conferring with the City Manager and City Attorney earlier, um, I think there needs to be a little bit more time to, um, review the language and the policy. So I will re, I will request that we, uh, defer consideration until, um, September. I think that was, okay, that would be the motion.

[02:42:07] Councilmember Emily Ramos: We have a motion by Councilmember Ramirez, seconded by Councilmember Showalter. Uh, let's take it to a vote. Motion passes unanimously. We have now completed our consent calendar. Thank you so much everyone. We will now move on to Item 5, Oral Communications. This portion of the meeting is reserved for persons speaking wishing to address the Council on any matter not on the agenda. Speakers are allowed to speak on any topic within the City Council's subject matter jurisdiction for up to three minutes during this section. State law prohibits the Council from acting on non-agendized non-agenda items. If you would like to speak on this item or the next item in person, please submit a blue speaker card to the City Clerk now. Spanish translation services are available for this item. We will hear from our interpreter.

5. ORAL COMMUNICATIONS FROM THE PUBLIC ON NONAGENDIZED ITEMS

[02:43:09] Interpreter (Public Speaker): Muy buenas noches. Para las personas que necesitan interpretación en persona, tenemos auriculares disponibles. Hoy ofrecemos interpretación en persona y de manera virtual. Para aquellos que necesitan interpretación mediante Zoom, favor de hacer click en el botón de interpretación y después elija el idioma de su preferencia. También estaremos ofreciendo interpretación durante los comentarios públicos en persona y virtuales. Las personas que necesitan interpretación consecutiva, por favor hablen en bloques de tres oraciones, luego toman una pausa para nosotros interpretar y así consecutivamente poder interpretar todas sus ideas. Muchas gracias.

[02:43:59] Councilmember Emily Ramos: Thank you. Would any member of the public joining us virtually or in person like to provide comment on this item? If so, please click the raise hand button in Zoom or submit a blue speaker card to the City Clerk. We will take in-person speakers first. Each speaker will have 90 seconds or one and a half minutes. So, um, we have, our first speaker, I'm going to start listing them all so you can go run right after the other. So, Eric Poicon is our first speaker, then Deborah Tabeloff, uh, Jie Eunjin Sun, and Elizabeth O'Grady. So Eric, please make your way up to the podium.

[02:44:44] Eric Poicon (Public Speaker): Good evening Mayor Ramos, Vice Mayor Clark, and Councilmembers. My name is Eric Poicon. I'm a member of the HRC as part, and part of the Rapid Response Network. Here as myself along with IPEN and many community leaders. First, I want to thank Councilmember Kamei for leading the no enforcement zone conversation. It has meant a great deal for impacted community members and it's the kind of leadership we need right now. Many others and I are glad to see this policy passed onto tonight's consent calendar, keeping the city property off limits for immigration enforcement, uh, protecting our neighbors and our city employees. And we're grateful the council took this step. If anyone in the audience who supports this work could stand with me for a moment.

[02:45:31] Eric Poicon (Public Speaker): And there's so many more who couldn't be here tonight, but emailed you to say the same thing. We all stand with you in these decisions. We are also here to thank the council in joining the amicus brief supporting the lawsuit from Santa Clara County and the Attorney General to stop the ICE facility near Gilroy. This one matters. It's not one of a symbolic gesture, it adds real legal weight to a case that could keep the facility from ever opening. And it tells people in our community something they need to hear, that Mountain View isn't going to stay quiet while families in this region are under threat. When the city signs onto that brief, immigrant families here know the city is standing with them. As many already know, our community is living in fear of losing their families. With facilities proposed in both Gilroy and Dublin, that fear is going to grow in Mountain View whether we want to or not. Cities and counties across the region are

[02:46:18] Councilmember Emily Ramos: Thank you Eric. Alright, next we have Deborah followed by JE, and then followed by Elizabeth O'Grady. Deborah? Okay, uh, we'll go back to you Deborah. Uh, Jie Ogin or JE Sun? Oh. So do I have like three minutes or like one and a half? You have uh, 90 seconds.

[02:46:51] JE Sun (Public Speaker): Okay. Um, hello. Um, I'm here to talk about a problem on Gemini Avenue that keeps getting worse. Uh, Gemini Avenue is one of the roads where the oversized vehicle are allowed to park, but still 72 hour parking rule applies, um, which meaning, uh, they're not allowed to park in the same spot more than 72 hours. But this is not the reality. Um, RVs are sitting in the same spot for over a month. Um, so last week, you know, there is an RV parked directly in front of my own front door. It was so close I could almost touch it. So, it took like more than five days to re, to move. So this morning when I was leaving my house for work, another RV parked right in front of my neighbor's house as well.

[02:47:32] JE Sun (Public Speaker): I have lived here, uh, for two years, but it keeps getting worse. Here's what enforcement looks like. Um, they come, uh, to check the tires, uh, once or twice a week, but the RVs don't move. I've talked to the officer in charge myself, but after more than a month, the city finally posted a, a towing warning. I was told from the officer, it's the first observational violence after a month. So this is the happening on Gemini Avenue. Gemini Avenue is a quiet street of family homes. It's a 100% pure, uh, residential area. How did it end up like this? And why is the city not just failing to enforce its own rule, but actually adding more RVs parking spots, um, making rooms for RV dwellers, not listening to the residents who actually live here, who own these homes, uh, rent these homes and pay taxes here? I know a lot of this comes from the Navarro settlement which is set to expire in early 2027, but will it really end

[02:48:24] Councilmember Emily Ramos: Thank you so much for your time. Next we have Elizabeth O'Grady. And then, uh, we'll bring it back to Deborah, if she is still there. Elizabeth? Um, is Deborah here? Okay, we'll what we'll do is that we'll move on to our virtual speakers, um, and then from there we'll try back to Elizabeth and Deborah. Um, so our first virtual speaker is, um, uh, Bruce England.

[02:49:02] Bruce England (Public Speaker): Good evening Mayor. Bruce England, Wisman Station Drive. Very quickly, just want to uh, voice my support for Eric's point he made earlier in person.

[02:49:14] Councilmember Emily Ramos: Thank you. Um, we're gonna circle back to our in-person speakers, Elizabeth and Deborah. Are, are you here? If not, we're going to have to move on to Item 6. Oh, wait, wait, wait, we have... Jason. Feel free to, you'll have 90 seconds.

[02:49:43] Jason (Public Speaker): Yes, thank you very much, um, Mayor and Council Members. I just wanted to say that I live near Sunset Estates Mobile Home Park, near Evelyn, the new Evelyn Park that was made. Um, it's a wonderful park, but I mentioned earlier too there is no parking. So no parking for people to visit the park, it's surrounded by a private residential building, and there is no, um, no parking whatsoever and also when cars unload, they block the bicycle lane, which I've also mentioned a couple times. So I really wish you would consider doing what Sunnyvale has done, make that road a one-lane road at that part, and to be able to allow temporary parking for people who visit the park and for vehicle loading and unloading when trucks come to move people in and out of the facility. Thank you.

6.1 Biodiversity and Urban Forest Plan Adoption

[02:50:23] Councilmember Emily Ramos: Thank you. Um, that ends our oral communication on non-agendized items. We will now move to Item 6, 6.1, the Biodiversity and Urban Forest Plan Adoption. Assistant Community Service Director Brenda Silvia and Senior Management Analyst Lindsey Wong will present the item. If you would like to speak on this item in person, please submit a blue speaker card to the City Clerk now. And we are ready for your staff report.

[02:50:56] Assistant Community Services Director Brenda Silvia: Thank you. Good evening Mayor, Vice Mayor, and Councilmembers. My name is Brenda Silvia, Assistant Community Services Director and project lead for the Biodiversity and Urban Forest Plan. I'm joined this evening by Lindsey Wong, Senior Management Analyst, John Marchant, Community Services Director, and Russell Hansen, Urban Forestry Manager. Also joining us virtually this evening are Celina Pang, Environmental Scientist, and Sasha Heath, Senior Ecological Scientist, both with the San Francisco Estuary Institute (SFEI), which supported the development of the plan. Tonight, staff is bringing the updated draft plan forward for Council adoption, following the April study session and subsequent refinements.

[02:51:35] Assistant Community Services Director Brenda Silvia: The Biodiversity and Urban Forest Plan updates and expands the City's 2015 Community Tree Master Plan into a larger and broader, more integrated framework. The plan focuses on biodiversity, urban forestry, habitat connectivity, climate resilience, and community well-being. It is intended to serve as a long-term policy and implementation framework to help guide future city projects, programs, investments, and decision making. The plan also supports the City's broader sustainability and resilience goals, while helping foster a healthier, more connected and climate ready urban environment. The plan was developed in partnership with SFEI and a cross-departmental city project team through a multi-year planning process.

[02:52:16] Assistant Community Services Director Brenda Silvia: The process included technical analysis, interdepartmental collaboration, and review by both the Parks and Recreation Commission and Environmental Planning Commission, as well as City Council review at the April 2026 study session. The project also included extensive public outreach and engagement through community workshops, multilingual engagement opportunities, pop-up events, surveys, a stakeholder meeting, and neighborhood based activities. On April 28th, 2026, City Council held a study session to review the draft Biodiversity and Urban Forest Plan and provide feedback and direction. Council expressed overall support for the plan and gave input related to implementation, accountability and staffing, adaptive management reporting, integration of plan concepts into city projects and green infrastructure efforts, expanded native planting where feasible, and support for partnerships, volunteerism, and community-based implementation.

[02:53:15] Assistant Community Services Director Brenda Silvia: Council also directed staff to consider input from community partners and stakeholder organizations and emphasize that the plan should serve as a foundational city policy document to guide future projects, programs, and investments. In response to Council feedback and additional stakeholder input, staff and SFEI refined the plan for ease of review. Updates made to the draft plan are highlighted in yellow throughout the attached document. In response to Council feedback, the implementation framework was strengthened to support long-term coordination, accountability, monitoring, and adaptive management. The updated plan identifies a designated staff lead to oversee the city implementation team and coordinate plan efforts across departments.

[02:53:59] Assistant Community Services Director Brenda Silvia: Annual reporting was also expanded beyond the Parks and Recreation Commission to include City Council and the public, along with additional community-facing engagement opportunities. The adaptive management approach was further reinforced to support adjustments and responsiveness to evolving funding opportunities, scientific knowledge, community priorities, and lessons learned over time. The revised plan further clarifies its role as a foundational city policy document intended to guide future projects, programs, investments, and decision making. Updates also support incorporating plan concepts into future objective standards, roadway design approaches, and green infrastructure strategies where feasible and appropriate.

[02:54:35] Assistant Community Services Director Brenda Silvia: The plan also recognizes opportunities to incorporate greening, urban forest, and green infrastructure improvements into future capital improvement program projects and broader infrastructure investments over time. Overall, these refinements are intended to support long-term coordination and alignment across departments. Revised language places additional emphasis on the use of native and regionally appropriate species, including refining definitions to better clarify ecological compatibility and regional applicability, while continuing to balance site conditions, maintenance considerations, species diversity, and long-term resilience. Refinements also underscore the protection and retention of mature trees, habitat features, and ecological resources alongside future enhancement efforts.

[02:55:24] Assistant Community Services Director Brenda Silvia: You may recall the discussion of the term 'near-native' during the adoption of the Parks and Recreation Strategic Plan. Staff subsequently updated the Biodiversity and Urban Forest Plan in response to that direction. After receiving additional public input following publication of the Council agenda materials and draft plan, staff is recommending several refinements to the definition section to improve clarity and better distinguish native species. We will discuss those refinements shortly. Overall, these updates are intended to support a healthier, more resilient, and ecologically connected urban environment over the long term. The updated plan strengthens language recognizing the important role that community partnerships and volunteer efforts can play in supporting implementation and stewardship throughout the city.

[02:56:14] Assistant Community Services Director Brenda Silvia: As implementation moves forward, staff will explore funding opportunities to support these collaborations and stewardship efforts. The revised language also acknowledges opportunities for community science and biodiversity monitoring efforts, including the use of publicly contributed ecological data where appropriate. Staff also considered and incorporated select recommendations from community partners and stakeholder organizations that were received during the study session process. Following publication of the Council agenda materials and draft plan, staff received additional public input and is recommending the following refinements for Council consideration as part of the adoption action.

[02:56:48] Assistant Community Services Director Brenda Silvia: We removed the definitions of near-native species and non-native species from the native species category. We added the term 'biodiversity anchors', as defined in the Parks and Recreation Strategic Plan, to the native species section. And we replaced the term 'near-native species' with 'functional species' to better describe species that provide biodiversity benefits. This slide shows the specific updates made to the definitions section. Native species are now defined by a given species' status as being native to or having a long evolutionary history within a specific locale. Native species can contribute to biodiversity anchors (defined in the Mountain View Parks and Recreation Strategic Plan) supporting ecological relationships and functions in native ecosystems.

[02:57:33] Assistant Community Services Director Brenda Silvia: Functional species are not included in the native species category, and are defined by species that are not regionally native, but are native to a nearby, ecologically similar region. Functional species as defined in this plan, particularly those closely related to regionally native species, can be selected for planting to provide specific desired functions, such as climate resilience, pest resistance, urban compatibility, or native biodiversity support. These revisions clarify terminology, incorporate the concept of biodiversity anchors, and more clearly distinguish native species. Staff believes these changes improve clarity and consistency while maintaining the intent of the plan.

[02:58:10] Assistant Community Services Director Brenda Silvia: Following plan adoption, staff will establish the city implementation team to support long-term cross-departmental coordination. Early efforts will focus on advancing actions identified as 'In Progress' and 'Upon Plan Adoption' while continuing to incorporate plan concepts into ongoing city projects, programs, and initiatives. Staff will also begin developing baseline metrics, monitoring approaches, and reporting procedures to track progress and support adaptive management. In addition, Council will also consider a CIP funding request this evening to support the development of a web-based tree selector tool in partnership with SFEI. The tool is identified in the plan as an early implementation action and will support future city projects, development review, and community tree planting and educational efforts. In summary, the Biodiversity and Urban Forest Plan establishes a comprehensive long-term framework to guide biodiversity, tree and habitat preservation and enhancement, and climate resilience efforts throughout Mountain View. The plan supports coordinated implementation across city departments and programs, while advancing partnerships and community stewardship. That concludes our presentation. We are available for any questions.

[03:00:00] Assistant Community Development Director Lindsey Hagen: projects, partnerships, and future planning efforts while advancing broader sustainability and well-being goals. The updated draft plan reflects extensive community engagement, technical analysis, interdepartmental collaboration, advisory body review, and council direction. This plan positions Mountain View as a regional leader in biodiversity and urban forest planning and helps establish a strong foundation for long-term environmental resilience and stewardship. Staff is recommending that council adopt the Biodiversity and Urban Forest Plan, including the additional refinements outlined in this presentation. We appreciate your time and consideration and we are happy to answer any questions. Thank you.

[03:00:45] Councilmember Emily Ramos: Thank you. Does any member of the council have questions? Councilmember Hicks.

[03:00:54] Councilmember Alison Hicks: Okay. Thank you very much. So my only question is, I, like you, have been contacted by a number of local and regional groups, to numerous to name right now. And I just want to make sure that with, I really appreciated the slide on refinements and the recommended... our staff recommendation, I just want to double check because I've been contacted so many times, that in your refinements, the native is only used with regards to regionally native and California native now?

[03:02:18] Assistant Community Development Director Lindsey Hagen: Correct.

[03:02:19] Councilmember Alison Hicks: And near native no longer is in the plan, instead you are using functional species.

[03:02:25] Assistant Community Development Director Lindsey Hagen: Correct.

[03:02:28] Councilmember Alison Hicks: That's what I was told to check for. Thank you. Um, and you also have modifications regarding the biodiversity anchor. Is that true or not true?

[03:02:38] Assistant Community Development Director Lindsey Hagen: We added that on slide, what's that, slide 10. It highlights how things will be laid out in the plan. Native species is now defined as a given species status as being native to or having a long evolutionary history within a specific locale. Native species can contribute to biodiversity anchors, defined in the Mountain View Parks and Recreation Strategic Plan, supporting ecological relationships and functions in native ecosystems.

[03:03:25] Councilmember Alison Hicks: Okay. Thank you very much.

[03:03:26] Assistant Community Development Director Lindsey Hagen: You're welcome.

[03:03:28] Councilmember Emily Ramos: Thank you, Councilmember Hicks. Councilmember McAlister.

[03:03:33] Councilmember John McAlister: So I have a couple of simple, self-centered questions. So, if I wanted to improve the butterfly population that once was here when I grew up, what plants would I grow and would that information be in this plan?

[03:03:51] Assistant Community Development Director Lindsey Hagen: I'm going to let SFEI specifically answer that. They're on the line virtually. Um, they're going to give you a better list than I can.

[03:04:10] Councilmember Emily Ramos: If you are there, please raise your hand so that our city clerk can bring you up. Oh, here we go.

[03:04:24] Selena Pang (Public Speaker): Thank you. Hi, this is Selena Pang at the San Francisco Estuary Institute. I'm sorry, I didn't realize I had to raise my hand. So, um, yeah, thank you for that question. Um, I think the plan does address the, um, biodiversity benefits, um, for insects and pollinators, um, but we do not, it does not get as specific as, like, telling you exactly which, um, plants you would want to plant. And as Brenda highlighted, um, the next step of this work is to look at, um, a virtual plant selector tool, which is highlighted in several, um, actions out of the plan. And, um, yeah, the work on that, it hasn't been funded, so, um, it's not quite underway, but, um, but that tool would be, um, I think, the next step in answering your question.

[03:05:55] Councilmember John McAlister: So it is coming.

[03:05:59] Councilmember Emily Ramos: Council's voting on that tonight.

[03:06:01] Councilmember John McAlister: Oh, okay. Well, okay. Hopefully it's coming. And my next question is, which is a long stretch, so on Arbor Day we get free trees we can request. Can we apply that type of a program to the plants? So if somebody wanted to put in native plants, that the city have some stockpile or options to be able to go down to the city MOC and say, okay, I want a few plants to put in their yard to be part of this, uh, program?

[03:06:33] Assistant Community Development Director Lindsey Hagen: Well, we currently don't have the space or the funding for that, but we can certainly explore it. I like the idea.

[03:06:40] Councilmember John McAlister: Well, I mean, you're doing trees, and so, you know, this is implementing the program faster than if we relied, everybody would have a piece of an opportunity to do that. So.

[03:06:50] Assistant Community Development Director Lindsey Hagen: When we do the tree program, we take requests and then we go purchase the trees and deliver them right away.

[03:06:56] Councilmember John McAlister: So is that what you're saying you're going to implement? You'll purchase the plants?

[03:06:59] Assistant Community Development Director Lindsey Hagen: We will take a look at that and look at our space and capacity and resources for that.

[03:07:05] Councilmember John McAlister: Okay. I'm looking forward to it. Thank you.

[03:07:08] Councilmember Emily Ramos: Councilmember McAlister, you could join me in volunteering with the pollinator habitats, they always have wonderful plants.

[03:07:15] Councilmember John McAlister: I'd like to do that in my front yard. So thank you, you could come by because we used to have the bees and the caterpillars in my front yard and the butterflies and all the other birds. So let's see if we can get that going. So.

[03:07:29] Councilmember Emily Ramos: All right. Councilmember Showalter.

[03:07:32] Councilmember Pat Showalter: Yeah. I'm going to go back to these definitions. I'm a little confused about what would be a functional species. Can you tell me an example of a tree you know about that we use a lot that's a functional species?

[03:07:47] Assistant Community Development Director Lindsey Hagen: Sure. I'm going to defer to SFEI and possibly our Urban Forest Manager on that.

[03:07:54] Councilmember Emily Ramos: And SFEI, you're able to unmute now.

[03:07:58] Selena Pang (Public Speaker): Thank you. Um, I'd like to invite Sasha to answer that question. Um, she has a very strong ecology background, stronger than mine.

[03:08:08] Sasha (Public Speaker): Hi, thank you. Do you have me? Okay. Um, so what we mean by functional species was specifically these used to be the near native species. And so these are, um, excuse me, cats in the way. Um, species that aren't regionally native, but that might provide a similar function to a species that's either phylogenetically related, bi-genus, or is near and, um, from an ecosystem that is similar to the ecosystems in Mountain View. So specific species, um, are listed in the tree selector tool, um, or I'm sorry, in the tree plant list and in another Santa Clara Valley, or Santa Clara Valley plant list that could provide some options. Um, it would be a species that would provide fruits, um, nectar, um, that is associated with, that has been demonstrated to be associated with some of the butterflies that another council member mentioned. Um, support for bird nesting, um, might help improve soils in a particular habitat by bringing water into the area, um, acts as a refuge for bird migrants during migration because of the foliage and the insects that might, um, be foraging on the tree. So functional species meaning it is still providing some of the functions that a native species would provide, but, um, is planted, is not a regionally native species and is planted perhaps because of, not, a difficult growing conditions or that sort of thing. Does that make sense?

[03:10:17] Councilmember Pat Showalter: Well, you're not quite getting to what I'm interested in, so I'll try and ask it a different way. When I think about the plants that we plant here, we talk about native plants, we talk about low water tolerant plants. Those are things that we often try and promote the planting of. Um, the low water tolerant plants are often from, uh, New Zealand and Australia. They're not near... they're not near at all. And that doesn't mean we're saying you should never have these in our area, but they're not near native to a close-by area. We're not, and we're not trying to necessarily get rid of them, except maybe eucalyptus because they, you know, they're like, they burn. But, um, so I'm having a little trouble with this. And then the other thing is the truth of the matter is, um, the fruit tree cultivars that we've used in agriculture for decades aren't native anywhere. Um, they're, you know, they are produced plants that, um, humans morphed over many, many generations into things that were wonderful agricultural producers, like orange trees and apple trees and that can have blossoms, etc., etc. So this inclusion of the word native in here, I think is a little... I mean, I'm confused by it. What, um...

[03:11:58] Assistant Community Development Director Lindsey Hagen: I'm going to have our Urban Forestry Manager Russell Hansen take this question.

[03:12:02] Russell Hansen (Public Speaker): So thank you. First and foremost, Russell Hansen, Urban Forest Manager within CSD. Um, yeah, we could get into a lot of different species, but just to kind of put a few examples out there, when we talk about our native coast live oak, Quercus agrifolia, that we have within our community, um, where I go to when we talk about these functional species is I go to like Quercus canbyi. It is not native to California, but it is from, I'll say the southern desert areas, from Arizona, New Mexico, Mexico, on over even into Texas. We have several other species of oak trees that we can draw upon that we feel will be adaptable to our climate, and it's about getting them here, trying them out, making sure that they absolutely will survive within our community for the life expectancy that we're really, truly looking for. And so that's the first example. I could come up with a lot more, but you're absolutely correct, the hybridization of our fruit trees, of all of those other types of plants that we have done over time, has shown that they do adapt to our climates, that they do provide some benefits or otherwise, and that's where we're going with the functional species.

[03:13:53] Councilmember Pat Showalter: But they're not native.

[03:13:55] Russell Hansen (Public Speaker): Not native to California, correct.

[03:13:57] Councilmember Pat Showalter: Well, they're, you know, those hybridized trees are really aren't native anywhere. You know, they're, they're an agricultural product, which is great, I love them. But, but they're not native. So I think that that term in here is, um, I think it's misplaced.

[03:14:21] Assistant Community Development Director Lindsey Hagen: It's not, it's not under the native species category.

[03:14:26] Councilmember Pat Showalter: It says... yeah, it's not under the category, but 'are native to a nearby ecologically similar region'. That's not necessarily a requirement. You want functional trees, but they don't have to be native. Um, you want trees that are going to do well here. When we get to this functional species, we're kind of out of the native category. We're talking about other things. And that's okay, you know, there's lots of great trees, but I just, um, I think that when we keep this native nomenclature in here, we, um, it's just, it's just strikes me as as incorrect. And this, and I have to say, I am so excited by this plan. You know, I've read it a couple of times, and I've been working in restoration work for many, many years, and we are doing a great job. This is the only thing that's kind of sticking in my, and I just feel like this utilization of the term native here is unnecessary and kind of negative. So I would, in the functional species part, everywhere else, we want to have it be at the forefront. Um, thanks. That's my comment.

[03:15:58] Councilmember Emily Ramos: Thank you, Councilmember Showalter. I see Councilmember Hicks, you're back in the queue.

[03:16:04] Councilmember Alison Hicks: Yes. So I'm going to ask Councilmember Showalter, because this is kind of the core of what a lot of these organizations are getting at, maybe they will speak up for themselves after our questions. But I know not all of them could be here tonight. So I want to make sure that I understand the change you're asking for. In, so what you're asking for is on slide 10 under, in the small print under functional species, that it's... you're hoping that it would... that when it says functional species as defined in this plan, particularly those closely related to regionally native species... I'm not sure what word you want taken out of that, because it seems that it's saying functional species are not regionally native, which you are also saying. Oh, you want the part that says 'but are native to a nearby ecologically similar region', you want that half of the sentence taken out?

[03:17:14] Councilmember Pat Showalter: Yes.

[03:17:16] Councilmember Alison Hicks: Okay, that sounds fine to me. If it's fine with staff, I just wanted to make sure I know what you're saying, because it is kind of the core of what a lot of people have been asking about.

[03:17:25] Assistant Community Development Director Lindsey Hagen: I'm going to also, SFEI just chimed in, they'd like to address that and answer a few questions now that they said that they better understand what you're asking for. So if we can go ahead and have Sasha on the line.

[03:17:35] Councilmember Emily Ramos: All right.

[03:17:38] Sasha (Public Speaker): Hi, thank you. Yes, I think I understand the reason we have 'native to another region' in that section is just to point out the idea that nativity is defined by the region it is native to, right? So we are defining native species to the for the Mountain View Biodiversity Plan as being those that are either within California or those that are regionally native. And so when we use that term in the way that you're describing in the functional species section, we're saying these individual... these species may be native to another region. So like Russell explained, maybe south of California and Mexico, they might be able to move further north, that sort of thing. They're native there, they're not native here. I do understand your point that the horticultural trees like fruit trees are so long from being native from a given place, but they did originate let's say in Asia or Europe, that sort of thing. So when we're using the word native, we're saying, you know, everything is native to its location wherever it happens to be. We're just differentiating between what's native here regionally versus elsewhere. But if that's confusing, um, I'll leave it to Brendan to decide whether to change that.

[03:19:29] Councilmember Pat Showalter: Well, I guess my question would... my additional question would be what are we trying to do with this functional? We're trying to say that there's other trees that aren't or species that aren't native that are still valuable here, right? Isn't that really what we're trying to say?

[03:19:44] Assistant Community Development Director Lindsey Hagen: That's exactly what we're trying to say. There are other... the plan is called a biodiversity, the word diverse is in there. So we're trying to say that there's other species that may not be native regional or California that provide functions that support biodiversity.

[03:20:01] Councilmember Pat Showalter: Stop. That's it. Just say that.

[03:20:04] Assistant Community Development Director Lindsey Hagen: No, it says...

[03:20:05] Councilmember Pat Showalter: No, it says... you got it. Yep.

[03:20:08] Assistant Community Development Director Lindsey Hagen: Near native.

[03:20:09] Councilmember Pat Showalter: Get out... yeah. That's... you got it.

[03:20:12] Councilmember Emily Ramos: All right. I saw you coming up to the podium, Mr. Marchant, was there anything you needed to add? Or you're good? Okay. Um, is that it, Councilmember Showalter, on your end?

[03:20:22] Councilmember Pat Showalter: I think so. Yes. Thank you.

[03:20:24] Councilmember Emily Ramos: Uh, Councilmember Hicks, you're back in the queue?

[03:20:28] Councilmember Alison Hicks: Oh, no. I just didn't... but I'm fine with taking out that half sentence, but that's a comment.

[03:20:35] Councilmember Emily Ramos: Okay. So do we have any more questions? Questions? Councilmember Kamei.

[03:20:41] Councilmember Ellen Kamei: Thanks, Mayor. So I... apologies, I'm just seeking clarity. So this will come up when we take an action. If there's an edit to, you'll clarify for us before we take the...

[03:20:55] Councilmember Alison Hicks: Yes.

[03:20:56] Councilmember Ellen Kamei: Okay. All right. And just to further clarify, it's... the... the... kind of nomenclature of the word, it's not the use of these trees, that's... it's more... okay. Thank you.

[03:21:13] Assistant Community Development Director Lindsey Hagen: I have: species that can be selected for planting to provide specific desired functions, such as climate resilience, pest resilience, urban compatibility, or native biodiversity support. Simple.

[03:21:25] Councilmember Pat Showalter: I think that's much better. Thank you so much.

[03:21:28] Assistant Community Development Director Lindsey Hagen: You got it.

[03:21:28] Councilmember Emily Ramos: All right. Do we have any more questions from my colleagues? Questions? Questions? Seeing none. As um, some of the members of the public seen that back and forth of questions, please let us know in your public comment if we are in a good place. Uh, so we will now uh, would any member of the public on the line like to provide comment on this item? If so, please click the raise hand button in Zoom or press star nine on your phone. A timer will be displayed on the screen. Each speaker will have 90 seconds or one and a half minutes. We are going to start with our in-person speakers first. Uh, Robert Cox, followed by Daniel Shane, followed by Tracy Faria.

[03:22:10] Robert Cox (Public Speaker): All right. Thank you, Mayor, Vice Mayor, and Councilmembers. For the years of work that have gone into putting this plan together. I recently completed for the second time our local Loma Prieta Sierra Club environmental sustainability program. At our last spring session this year, one of the program directors announced, Mountain View is the first city in our chapter area that has a biodiversity plan. This plan is one more example of how our city is leading the Bay Area in the adoption of programs that support and sustain our environment. In particular, I appreciate the parts of the plan detailing the ecosystem surrounding the Stevens Creek Trail near my home. I would like to add my support to the letter sent by Shani Kleinhaus from the Silicon Valley Bird Alliance and a host of local environmental groups, recommending some final changes to the plan document that you've just discussed. In particular, I do support removing the reference to near native species and support strict advocacy for true local native species. The near native language could be used as a loophole, excusing us from using truly local native plants while planning our biodiverse environment. But I appreciate the discussion that you just had, and I think you're all on the right track, so just keep going. Thanks for listening to my concerns and thanks once again for a great job on this biodiversity plan.

[03:23:35] Councilmember Emily Ramos: Thank you, Mr. Cox. Uh, Mr. Shane.

[03:23:40] Daniel Shane (Public Speaker): And I agree with Mr. Cox, you've done a great job on this plan. Um, I'm really happy to see that the planning of trees and public spaces for increasing urban canopy was expanded to incorporate private lands and developments. That was really, really great to see. Thanks. Uh, the plan will hopefully increase the chances and opportunities to protect, preserve, and enhance natural urban forest ecosystems by requiring developers to consider these important natural resources early in the planning and design phase of proposed housing, commercial, and transportation projects. And sometimes it's not just the tree that's important, most times it's not what's most important, it's the ecosystem that they're in. And so native trees and plants provide the food and the shelter, sources of food and shelter for native animal species, and that's one of the key things about why we are promoting native species maybe over other types of species. But I agree with Councilwoman Showalter that, you know, I love fruit trees too, and we should, uh, be very diverse in how we think about planting more trees. Thank you.

[03:25:04] Councilmember Emily Ramos: Thank you, Mr. Daniel. Miss Tracy.

[03:25:12] Dr. Tracy Faria (Public Speaker): Okay. Um, Dr. Tracy Faria, I'm a Mountain View resident. And um, I just want to say these revisions, they really created a clearer and more transparent framework and preserved the distinction between native and non-native plants that helps ensure that biodiversity anchors remain focused on supporting local ecological relationships and food webs. Now that we have a plan, or hopefully will soon have a plan, and I like the wording. Um, I just want to say that I think this is going to help us to have a city where the next generation will be able to sit underneath the trees, enjoy the birds and butterflies with Councilmember McAlister. And uh, I want to thank all the staff, the council, the commissioners, and all the people who had input on this. And um, Councilmember McAlister, uh, in the bottom definition of native plants that they had here, they have Calscape, and you can put in your, you can put in Mountain View, you can look up all the plants that are in Mountain View, and they will list the butterflies that are, uh, that will use those plants as host plants. So it's by the California Native Plant Society. Thank you all.

[03:26:40] Councilmember Emily Ramos: Thank you so much, Dr. Tracy. Uh, we will now move on to our virtual speakers. We have Dasha Leeds.

[03:26:53] Dasha Leeds (Public Speaker): Hello, my name is Dasha Leeds. I'm the Conservation Coordinator for the Sierra Club Loma Prieta Chapter. I just like to thank staff and council for all your work on this plan. Uh, we do appreciate the recent modifications that have been made, and we just hope that as you proceed forward that you do everything you can to ensure that we're prioritizing the use of native plants locally wherever possible. Um, native plants have vastly superior biodiversity benefits as opposed to non-native, even functionally non-native plants. Uh, so we hope that where wherever you have the discretion to use native plants that you do so. Uh, thanks, and we look forward to revisiting this in a year.

[03:27:31] Councilmember Emily Ramos: Thank you. Uh, we will now move on to Bruce England.

[03:27:38] Bruce England (Public Speaker): Hello, Bruce England again. Can you hear me okay?

[03:27:40] Councilmember Emily Ramos: We can hear you.

[03:27:41] Bruce England (Public Speaker): Great. Okay. Uh, short, but I got a couple of questions. I know you can't answer them directly, but I'm going to raise them anyway. So, the question about turf, artificial turf versus natural, um, wondering what the changes are that we should be looking for, because a lot of times the discussion around turf doesn't make it clear whether they're talking about plastic, fake grass or natural grass, and even if it's natural grass, whether the grass choice is appropriate for our area, just like the native plants and trees discussion that, um, you already have been talking about. Second is, um, just not sure if you're going to refer over to the plan from the Active Transportation Plan as well as the Parks and Rec plan, which was mentioned. As you know, Green Streets are called out in that plan as it stands, Active Transportation Plan that is, and they do cite the Biodiversity Plan there, but with no explicit direction regarding tree choices, at least that I'm seeing. So are they shooting for something more explicit in the Parks plan to point that out, I'm sorry, in the Active Transportation Plan. Just wondering about that. Thanks.

[03:29:09] Councilmember Emily Ramos: Thank you, Mr. England. Uh, Ronit Bryant.

[03:29:17] Ronit Bryant (Public Speaker): Yes, thank you very much. Uh, Mayor, Councilmembers. This is a culmination of a long process to position our city as a place where people and nature can thrive together. Biodiversity means supporting our native wildlife, birds, butterflies, and all forms of life that call California home. Not planting a wide range of plants from across the entire globe. And so biodiversity anchors must be based on native plants, preferably locally native plants, or else they will not be supporting biodiversity. I thank staff for clarifying the definitions and listening to the community and making changes even at this late stage. I'd like to say that functional species provide environmental benefits such as canopy and water and soil retention, but not the kind of biodiversity that native plants can supply because our local wildlife has evolved with native plants, not with functional plants from elsewhere. Uh, so I hope that that helps the discussion that council had earlier. And I look forward to next year's PRC meeting to hear how the plan has been implemented and what adaptive changes might be necessary. So, thank you very much.

[03:30:57] Councilmember Emily Ramos: Thank you, former Mayor Bryant. Um, next we have Rashmi.

[03:31:06] Rashmi Sahai (Public Speaker): Hi, can you hear me?

[03:31:07] Councilmember Emily Ramos: We can hear you.

[03:31:08] Rashmi Sahai (Public Speaker): Great. Thank you. Yeah. Rashmi Sahai, um, member of Green Spaces Mountain View. And I just want to echo something, um, some of the things other folks have been saying. Uh, thank you so much to staff and council for moving this plan forward. And staff, all your hard work and um incorporating feedback along the way. Um, I really have seen that, and appreciated it especially in this late stage process. And I, um, I strongly support the changes in the definition, and like Ronit said, um, the reason we're focusing so much on native is that they provide, they provide the biodiversity of all the other life, um, within, within Mountain View. So, it's less about diversity of plant species but diversity in the ecosystem that we have. And we just want to make sure that when we're saying native, we're, we're, we're talking about protecting biodiversity, that's what we mean. And we're not confusing it with other functions that plants can provide. Um, and, uh, yeah, I don't have too much else to say. I wanted to say one more thing for Councilmember McAlister, um, the library has seeds, and there's native seeds there, so maybe if the city is not giving out plants, you can always get seeds at the library to start your garden, um, once you look at that plant list. So, hopefully with that that'll get you started. Um, thank you so much and looking forward to, um, seeing the plan implemented.

[03:32:35] Councilmember Emily Ramos: Thank you. And our last virtual speaker is April Webster.

[03:32:42] April Webster (Public Speaker): Hi. Thank you. Um, I also like the other speakers want to um give a huge shout out to staff, um, and consultants for putting in all the work to integrate um the comments from all the various um community groups um into the final um into the final buff plan. Um, the final plan is a lot stronger for it, um, and, um, yeah just really excited about it. Um, I also just related to the previous letter, uh the draft that was sent in, um, I want to uh say that I appreciate that the plan now more clearly recognizes um this document as a foundational city policy document. That Action 1 better integrates biodiversity and um urban trees into transportation and capital improvement projects. That Action 17 now includes a shade goal for active transportation corridors, not just parking lots. And that Action 22 creates a stronger annual implementation and reporting framework. Um, I also uh support the joint letter around the definitions for um native. I think that's really important as well. And um, just finally I want to say, you know, moving forward I think um the focus should be implementation, um, and I hope that um this plan and its goals can be considered early in transportation and parks and public realm projects. Um, thank you so much.

[03:34:14] Councilmember Emily Ramos: Thank you, April. And that was our speakers. I will now bring the item back for council deliberation and action. Uh, Councilmember Ramirez.

[03:34:26] Councilmember Lucas Ramirez: Thank you, Mayor. I'll allow uh another councilmember the privilege of making the motion to um approve uh the plan, but I did want to share a few uh hopefully quick uh reflections. Um, first, uh and I think every council member uh will agree with this, um, this is remarkable work. And it would not have been possible without uh the persistent advocacy from our very well-informed community, uh and also um the remarkable work by our staff who I feel have been very proactive in working with our community, including right up until the very last minute uh to address some of the concerns that we've been hearing. Um, uh, you know, we take all the credit sometimes as council, um, but but really I think the credit goes to to all of you who have been engaged uh in the development of this plan for for so many years. And it's been a privilege to sit here and watch you all do the work. Uh, and I'm grateful I have the opportunity to to vote yes before I disappear uh at the end of the year. Um, there are a couple of things in the plan that I did want to uh elevate though. Um, I think members of the council will talk about the different forms of advocacy that we've seen, but I love to call out my friend Daniel Shane who I've met with over the years, many of us have met with. Um, there are, I feel the plan meaningfully incorporates a lot of the specific concerns I've heard from you and from others that you've worked with. Um, and I plucked out uh sections and put it on a Word document. Um, one of the actions uh includes a specific uh commitment to reviewing the general plan, um, the municipal code, and capital project requirements to identify opportunities to codify plan commitments uh such as pursuing canopy cover uh or landscaped area targets. And I think that's remarkable that to have objective standards that go beyond the things that we've historically included like setbacks. Um, but uh now objective standards uh and roadway design approaches, green infrastructure strategies that incorporate biodiversity elements too. That's really cool. Um, and worthy of emulation, so I'm excited for uh future councils to implement this plan uh and and I think help Mountain View become even more of the role model that we already are in doing this work. Um, uh in incorporating objective standards that apply to private property as well. Um, the biodiversity strategies that we've worked very hard to bring to fruition. Um, I don don't want to belabor the points, there's a lot of cool stuff, but two other things that I thought were really neat. Um, uh I this strikes me as a really hard thing to do, but uh so important and wonderful if we could achieve it. There's a line item here about Permanente Creek and Stevens Creek. Uh and the plan uh includes recommendations uh to pursue restoration efforts like daylighting stream sections, softening channels, planting trees, and building green infrastructure. Uh, that would be great to see. I would love to see it uh in my lifetime. I know that's not easy to do, um, but I would love for us, you know, for the future council uh as you implement the plan to consider uh opportunities to to elevate that that action item. And I think we once upon a time had a part of that in a development proposal from a major employer in the area, and unfortunately that didn't move forward, but that's the kind of innovative thinking that I think we ought to to to to continue to explore. Um, and the last thing I'll leave you with is um, there are a lot of interesting opportunities uh that more clever people than I uh hopefully can help realize, and that's looking at um challenging properties or or private properties where we've long had an interest in finding, you know, useful ways to uh to make that property uh valuable to the community. Uh, Cuesta Annex comes to mind, I think that's hard work, but with a lot of community outreach, I think we could find something that has lasting value that helps fulfill the strategies in this plan. Um, but also I think about the Francia property which some of you on the council for for many years have been looking at, how can we do something, that's a lot of land, uh and it's in a strategic location where there will be some growth probably in the near future. And uh wouldn't it be wonderful to see that land utilized for some purpose that helps achieve the goals in this plan. Um, and there are, I wrote a few other examples down, but I think the long and short of it is, um, as the staff report, I think I put it away now, but I think there was a commitment to ensuring that this becomes a foundational document, it's not a regulatory document per se, but it helps influence a lot of the work that we will do in the next few years, right? So when there is private property that's redeveloped, biodiversity elements are incorporated, or when we look at strategic property acquisitions, uh or partnerships with governmental agencies or or developers, we can help achieve many of the goals and the action items that we have listed here. So, I'll stop there. Very exciting. Um, kudos to everyone except for me. I've done nothing except vote yes. Um, but uh very excited for you, and and those of you who are um who will replace me on this council to see this work to fruition. Thank you.

[03:36:03] Councilmember Emily Ramos: Thank you, Councilmember Ramirez. Councilmember Showalter.

[03:36:07] Councilmember Pat Showalter: Yeah, I am very excited about this plan. It has been a long time coming and you've done a really good job of it. Um, uh, you've brought together a very diverse group of experts to work on it, both in our community and in the staff and our consultants, and it just shows. It really shows. And I really appreciate your, just a few minutes ago, correcting that definition that had really been bugging me for a long time. So thank you for that. Um, kind of ditto to everything Councilmember Ramirez said, and um, I um, one of the things that I'm really happy about with this is to see the impact it's already having. Uh, we um, for instance, one of the things that was on the consent calendar of the 34 items was um, some actions related to the public safety building, and one of those was that um, instead of going with the selection of plants that had been made initially, that that many people working on the biodiversity plan had said, no, we don't like that, um, a new process was put in to send that list back to the PRC and come up with a list that is much more in line with what we are doing with the biodiversity plan. That's just perfect. I mean, that's really the kind of thing that we're supposed to be doing and integrating these programs. So I'm so pleased to see that. The other thing I think that's important to recognize is this kind of science is really kind of new. I mean, for cities it's new. And so it isn't going to um, everything that we have in this plan and that we we want to um the actions we want to take, they're not going to all go just as planned. We're going to learn a lot as we go through, and so I think the fact that we've built in this adaptive management which means that we will bring back every every year or every few years to the PRC to to look at how the plan is going, that's just really healthy from a point of view of our uh of our transparency as a community, and it's also just based scientific principles. So I'm really delighted to see that going on, and I think that it will be a wonderful way for um, our the experts in our community to stay involved. And and kind of make sure that we we keep on task with this. Um, and uh, then I I guess I feel the same way in a sense that my colleague uh Mr. Ramirez does, we we've sat back for years and watched this go on and not really done very much, so um, uh, we recognize that that that there are other people who really really um, working hard and that's just very appreciated. Thank you.

[03:39:21] Councilmember Emily Ramos: Thank you, Councilmember Showalter. Do we have any other comments from my colleagues? Councilmember Hicks.

[03:39:27] Councilmember Alison Hicks: So I'll just say very briefly, a deep thanks to all the staff and all the community members who've worked so hard on this. I remember when I first heard about uh the possibility of having a biodiversity plan, um, it seems almost counterintuitive to have a biodiversity plan within an urban place. Um, but but uh, I have I have read that with agribusiness and heavy use of pesticides actually urban places are some of the best places to make sure we have biodiversity, not only of plants but of the small creatures that keep keep everything going for us. But one of the things that I liked best reading in the plan was it said it's not just for uh habitat and species wellbeing, that it's also for community wellbeing, because I think it does come I think people thrive, not just small creatures, but larger creatures like ourselves thrive more when we have um when we have live among diverse plants and tree canopy. Um, so thank you again. I hope I understand uh Councilmember Showalter what the actual motion you're making is, because you made a few changes.

[03:40:32] Councilmember Pat Showalter: Um... yes. It's it's just to uh to approve the um, the plan. That's what we're supposed to do, isn't it? So as on the last slide.

[03:40:50] Councilmember Emily Ramos: On the last slide.

[03:40:51] Assistant Community Development Director Lindsey Hagen: We actually updated the slide based on the recommendation that council was looking for. Recommendation to adopt the Biodiversity and Urban Forest Plan including the additional refinements outlined in this presentation with a revised definition of functional species that reads species that can be selected for planting to provide specific desired functions as climate resilience, pest resistance, urban compatibility, or native biodiversity support.

[03:41:18] Councilmember Pat Showalter: That's it.

[03:41:19] Assistant Community Development Director Lindsey Hagen: Okay. Thank you.

[03:41:22] Councilmember Emily Ramos: Thank you, Councilmember Hicks. So we have a motion made by Councilmember Showalter, seconded by Councilmember Hicks. I will also like to echo the thanks of that my colleagues have made to staff and the community at large. Um, there are a lot of items that go before council, it's not a reasonable expectation of all seven of us to be absolute experts at all the things that come before our council. Um, we rely so heavily on the experts in our community for this and we rely on you to care very strongly to go through the rigmarole of government bureaucracy uh to to get something quite amazing through. This is a a a plan that has been um really really worked through through community engagement, I thank staff for their work and their willingness to incorporate so many of the suggestions from our community, like um, I've had the opportunity with a number of the people who volunteer with the pollinator habitats Green Spaces Mountain View, uh I I have not met with uh Mr. Shane, that is not his fault, that's my fault, um, and but I see your emails, and I read your emails, and then try to reread it again to understand it, and I still have to reread it again to understand it. Um, but it is because uh people like that in our community are just so um determined to making sure that this plan is something truly special and truly worthwhile for essentially the best city. And um, essentially true, very much so. Um, but thank you so much to our community for for getting us through this finish line, to through the very end because there were changes uh right there at the end, and thank you to staff for your work on this. So with that, um, we are all ready for a vote.

[03:43:42] Councilmember Emily Ramos: And that motion passes unanimously. Congratulations, everyone. And with that, I'm actually going to call a 10-minute break. Um, and we will reconvene back at 8:51. And I have a surprise for my colleagues and council in the break room.

7.1 Adoption of Community Ownership Action Plan

[03:48:21] Councilmember Emily Ramos: All right, let's head back to our seats, y'all. We have one, uh, no, we are not going to, we have one, two, three, four, we have five items left tonight. Let's, let's get this done before 1, 1:00 AM tomorrow. Let's go. Oh, we lost our quorum. Oh. So if you all can make your way back to your seats, uh, we're calling this meeting back to order. I really like using that. Um, alright, we are item seven, 7.1, adoption of the Community Ownership Action Plan, housing element program 3.2. Spanish translation services are available for this item. We will now hear from our interpreter. Interpreter? We're back. Oh, but they're not going to make an announcement. Oh, there we go. Thank you.

[03:49:08] Interpreter (Public Speaker): Para las personas que necesitan interpretación en persona, tenemos auriculares disponibles. Hoy ofreceremos interpretación en persona y de manera virtual. Para aquellos que necesitan interpretación mediante Zoom, favor de hacer clic en el botón de interpretación y después elija el idioma de su preferencia. También estaremos ofreciendo interpretación durante los comentarios públicos en persona y virtuales. Las personas que necesiten interpretación consecutiva, por favor hablen en bloques de tres oraciones, luego tomen una pausa para nosotros interpretar y así consecutivamente poder interpretar todas sus ideas. Gracias.

[03:49:44] Councilmember Emily Ramos: Thank you. Uh, Housing Director Wayne Chen will present the item. If you would like to speak on this item in person, please submit a blue speaker card to the City Clerk now. Miss Joan, this is the item. Um, go ahead, we're ready for your staff report, Mr. Chen.

[03:50:01] Housing Director Wayne Chen: Uh, thank you very much, uh, Mayor and Council. Uh, Wayne Chen, your Housing Director. Um, I'm very pleased to be here tonight after a two-year process to present the Community Ownership Action Plan or the COAP, uh, for your consideration. Um, I'd also like to note that, um, our consultant, uh, David Driskell with Community Planning Collaborative is also on the line in case questions come up. I'd like to thank him and his team, along with Echo Northwest, the joint consultant who helped us get, um, to this stage here today. Um, I'd also like to recognize the COAP Advisory Committee who spent many hours of their time to participate in, uh, advisory committee meetings, as well as meeting individually and with other stakeholders to talk about and provide input about, um, how we can be successful in supporting, uh, groups to achieve successful community-owned projects. Sorry, this mouse is very scroll-y. Um, just very quickly, an overview of the recommendations is, um, for your consideration to adopt the COAP, uh, to consider additional, uh, project funding, to consider additional capacity-building funding, and to, um, authorize the City Manager or designee to establish a more streamlined funding process to, uh, meet the requirements of acquisition-preservation projects. The, um, as a reminder, the COAP is part of housing element program 3.2, which is the City's comprehensive tenant displacement response strategy. And the, uh, goal or the requirement in the housing element is to facilitate the acquisition and preservation of at least 50 community-owned housing units. And as discussed with the council in previous meetings, um, the focus of these 50 units would be on, uh, units covered under our Community Stabilization and Fair Rent Act, or CSFRA units, because those, um, have been the units that are most susceptible to, um, uh, market rate development pressures and redevelopment causing tenant displacement. Uh, just a brief overview of the timeline. Um, shortly after the housing element was adopted in 2023, we held a study session with Council in early 2024 to talk about the COAP and other items. Um, that's where we also recommended the, um, allocation of $4 million of funding, which was later appropriated, um, in October of that year. Um, we started the process with our consultant team, convened an advisory, uh, committee, um, and then brought back guiding principles and vision and an initial $75,000 to support, um, technical assistance grant funding, uh, last year. Since that time, we've been working to develop the COAP, um, and other, uh, program requirements, and here, uh, we are tonight for your consideration.

[03:51:38] Housing Director Wayne Chen: The COAP has five sections. Um, it is informed by Council direction and the COAPAC, the advisory committee, uh, input, and I'm going to go over, uh, each one very briefly. The first section is essentially an overview of, um, how we got here and the process, um, talking about the underlying reasons and causes for the need for this type of, uh, plan, which, to our knowledge, is really one of a kind at the local level and the redevelopment pressures that exist because of the strong economy here. Um, the COAP can help, uh, create more market stability and stability for residents, and it's part of a larger response by the City, including production, preservation, and protection. Um, the notion is that the COAP can lay a foundation and a framework to not just achieve 50 units, but with, um, all the extensive work that is being done, it lays a foundation for scaling up, uh, potentially well beyond, uh, 50 units, uh, pending, uh, funding availability and really developing the capacity of the system to do this work. Section two is focused on people-centered housing and further explaining what that means. Um, the concept was presented and unanimously supported by Council back in September of last year, but it is really about starting with people first and figuring out the financing needed to make it sustainable over time. Um, three levels of change, uh, at the household level, um, integrating the community and finding new ways of doing things, and so that's the system-level change. And, uh, the notion that community well-being, health, and these other items that are typically not part of real estate, um, conversations is really central to this type of real estate, um, development, this type of housing, uh, development. It's guided by six key principles and conditions for success. Those six guiding principles, um, are shown here, with the first three—decommodification, resident roles in governance, and community stewardship—as definitional to what community ownership housing means in Mountain View. The remaining three items are key ways in which we would need to undertake in order to make community-owned housing successful. That includes capacity building, systems transformation, and continuous improvement. Uh, the conditions needed for success are somewhat straightforward, but we need, um, a lot more funding. We need the funding to be more flexible. We need to build up the capacity of the organizations, mission-driven organizations who want to undertake projects, and the ecosystem of the partners and other organizations that help support that process. Um, we need to have, um, sort of a new way of looking at, um, what compliance and accountability might mean because these projects might be operated differently from the traditional affordable housing projects that we may be used to. Um, the partnerships and ecosystems are foundational, and resident education and participation is critical. Um, most folks, um, as residents may have never participated in, uh, governance or making policies about the housing that they live in. Um, that's both an amazing opportunity and also an area that will need to be supported.

[03:53:25] Housing Director Wayne Chen: Section three defines community-owned housing, and one of the things that really stood out certainly for me is that as we went into this research and talking with folks, um, is that there's not one form of community-owned housing, and many folks use community-owned housing or even referring to organizations like community land trusts or co-ops interchangeably and in different terms. And so what we wanted to do with the COAP is to create a framework that we understand what these terms mean in Mountain View. Um, at the core, it's the three core elements of decommodification, resident governance, and community stewardship. The actual housing project can be structured in many different ways. It can involve different organizations. Um, and there are generally four models that I'll go over in just a moment. Um, but the COAP is intended to be flexible and allow organizations to propose the type of housing project that generally would fit into one of these four models, but variations can also be supported. Uh, so the COAP is intended to be clear but flexible. The four common models overall, um, there's sort of a rental model, and then, um, there are many types of, um, ownership models that we, we came across. So, um, largely speaking, ownership has been a focus of these community-owned housing projects. Um, in Mountain View, the conversations that we've had have really been centered on having a rental project and certainly want to be able to support that. And even having rental projects that could evolve over time to become ownership units. By ownership, we mean the residents' ownership in the building, whether it's the individual units or shares in the building, um, if it's numbers two, three, and four.

[03:54:59] Housing Director Wayne Chen: Section four is talking about making community-owned housing work. Um, the importance of having organizations that can undertake a project for the entire lifecycle and all the aspects needed to acquire, own, operate for the long term are really key. And gaps in any one of those areas can, um, really impact the viability of a project. Um, the ecosystem for this type of work is very nascent. There's a lot of interest. There are projects throughout the region. But as a percentage of all the types of housing that is being done, it's very, very small. And so, um, this requires some sustained long-term investment. And the City has already taken the roles of being a convener, a funder, capacity builder, and policy leader. And the recommended goals and actions will continue to support those, those roles. I'll talk about the funding in a moment. Very briefly, these are the different categories and areas that we see as the project lifecycle and a mission-driven organization that wishes to do this work. If, uh, they are requesting City funding, is to be able to demonstrate the ability to execute on these different functions, um, over time. We did want to note that, um, we felt that it was very important to be able to support different types of organizations, whether they are locally created, informed, and, uh, founded in Mountain View, which are community-based organizations and are very key, um, they bring much of the relationships, the trust with the local community and tenants. Um, but they may be new to development. And wanted to note community-oriented organizations who may not have developed in Mountain View to that extent, but are oriented in a way where they do projects elsewhere that have the values of, um, the COAP. Um, they could bring a lot of technical knowledge and expertise of the various parts of a project lifecycle that can really help support building up our ecosystem. And the recommendation is to have the COAP be able to support both types of organizations. Regarding the project funding, a couple of years ago when staff made and Council approved the recommendation to allocate $4 million in project funding, that was based on this idea that it would require $20 million of subsidy to be able to achieve the 50 units. And we recommended this 4 to 1 ratio. Um, last year, when we came to Council, that amount had increased to $25 million, and we didn't make any changes to project funding at the time. Tonight, we're recommending increasing that amount by $1 million for a total of $5 million to achieve and maintain that same 4 to 1 ratio. And we would continue to undertake efforts to, um, fundraise, establish partnerships, or apply for grants in order to try to achieve, uh, growing that fund.

[03:56:58] Housing Director Wayne Chen: The capacity-building efforts, the recommendation tonight is to increase the initial $75,000 by $425,000 for a total of $500,000 to support capacity building. Um, after the meeting last September, we had identified three additional options besides providing grants to mission-driven organizations to build up their capacity and identified partnerships as being really critical for transferring knowledge and supporting projects, and that requires more resources. Section five are five-year goals and an action plan. Um, the intention for this is to provide, again, a clear actionable framework but provide some flexibility to allow us to, um, be able to implement, see what works, modify, or update as needed and iterate over time. Um, we, along with our partners, are doing this really for the first time in this region and in the city, and there will be learning involved. And so we, um, have provided this clear and hopefully flexible framework, but with clear actions that we would implement over time. And it is intended to be a five-year timeframe. Uh, these are the goals where we hope to have, again, very sort of clear goals. But the first one is achieving at least 50 units by the end of the five-year period in partnership with our local organizations and our regional organizations, and to create the ecosystem that can allow us to increase that over time. Is to continue to build the Community-Owned Housing Fund to try to achieve the $25 million. Um, building capacity within organizations and our partners and the broader ecosystem with a goal of being able to stand up at least one organization locally formed and founded in Mountain View to be able to stand up projects on their own. Um, number—goal four is to transition from City-led leadership of this process into a more shared and regional process. We would remain a vital part and play a leadership role, but it would be more sustainable to do this if the regional—if the leadership were shared. Goal five is that once a project is up and running, that there would be metrics and accountability measures to monitor if the projects are being operated according to the COAP requirements.

[03:58:46] Housing Director Wayne Chen: Uh, regarding recommendation four for streamlined funding approvals, um, last September, we had made a recommendation to identify and work with a third-party agent to allow us to transfer the funds, allow that party to be able to receive funding requests, and underwrite and approve the requests. Because of the nascent nature again in our county, we have not been able to identify an organization that could fulfill all of those roles. So we will continue to look. Um, however, we are also recommending to allow staff to identify another option, which is to keep the funding process within the City and identify a more streamlined process that could meet the timing and the needs of community-owned housing. Um, and to delegate that authority to the City Manager or designee to identify and then to approve projects and funding requests. Um, we would recommend in doing so that there would be the appropriate safeguards and transparency measures, and be able to provide very current updates to the public and to the City Council if a funding recommendation is made.

[03:59:22] Housing Director Wayne Chen: In terms of next steps, we would update and finalize the COAP, any identified cleanups, um, but also updating the funding amounts, um, should Council approve them tonight. And then we would begin implementation and continue to convene the COAP at least for a period. Again, these are the recommendations here, and that concludes staff's presentation and very happy to answer any questions you may have. Thanks very much.

[04:07:51] Councilmember Emily Ramos: Thank you. Does any member of the council have questions? Staring you all down. Seeing no questions, we can move on to public comment. Would any member of the public joining us virtually or in person like to provide comment on any item, oh, on item 7.1? If so, please click the raise hand button in Zoom or submit a blue speaker card to the City Clerk. We will take in-person speakers first. Each speaker will have 90 seconds. So our first speaker, Joan Berdoski.

[04:08:51] Joan (Public Speaker): Thank you, Council. Um, as you know, I live at Sunset Estates, which is a mobile home park. And, uh, I was already telling you about how uneasy we are, which isn't very uneasy, but it's always there, uh, about the fact that we only own our homes and not the land under it. And then I saw on page 18 of the COAP, the Community Ownership Action Plan, that is included in today's agenda. Uh, the mobile home community ownership is actually mentioned specifically as eligible for support under this plan, and I thought, that's really great. So that's what I'm here to say. Um, it might not apply to us because as I understand this, all of this is, uh, for new housing, not for what's already there like us. But in any case, thank you very much, City Council, for remembering that mobile home parks are a place where a lot of people live. And, uh, we hope that you make this plan work for us mobile home owners or renters. Thank you.

[04:10:05] Councilmember Emily Ramos: Thank you, Miss Joan. Uh, Jason Clark. Followed by, I'm assuming Alex Brown.

[04:10:14] Jason (Public Speaker): Yeah, thank you, Council. So, uh, before moving from New York and Washington DC, I think we have never seen home ownership on rental property, and hope we can end it in favor of housing stability. Um, I too live in the mobile home park, Sunset Estates. Uh, rent increases without justification with no positive changes into the park have been happening. Um, I do thank you for your work to reducing the annual increases. But let's work to have all 1,130 mobile home owners in our six parks own the land. Um, current problems, fixed incomes. I live in a 55 plus park, I'm supporting my mother. Fear of park sale, fear of retaliation and eviction. Mobile homes are considered affordable, yet the owner is able to raise rents annually and when sold, substantially. Currently Sunset Estates has many homes for sale with rents that make it harder, impossible for 55 plus often retired buyers. Many applicants fail to meet the income requirements of the owner. Some have returned to work to help cover their rents of more than $2,000 a month. Ownership would stop unnecessarily for profit rent increases if we owned it. Um, it would also support owner-renter conversations. We have had no input in any decisions that affect our park. For example, we have wanted a ADA automatic door and accountable restrooms and have been denied that. Since rent control, the owner has been able to pay for a monthly magazine, the directory, the annual holiday party, which was hosted by his family for 50 years. I'm thankful Neighborhood Grant has helped us to continue to offer that free, and um, and for a summer bash. So thank you for that.

[04:11:49] Alex Brown (Public Speaker): Hi friends. Uh, Alex Brown, resident of Santiago Villa Mobile Home Park, North Bayshore. Uh, guy who does stuff sometimes, I guess, for the Mountain View Mobile Home Alliance. Uh, thank you for including us in the process. I really appreciate being a part of the COAPAC. Uh, I'm excited to see this come to Council and to, like, have progress because knowing that we have the support of the city is huge. Uh, it helps people feel much more secure. Uh, we've had a lot of fear in the mobile home communities, uh, that the parks are going to get sold for redevelopment, that people are going to get forced out, and this gives us a much stronger chance to be able to use that as an opportunity to make it better, to actually take control of our homes, our lives. Uh, so thanks. And also thanks to the consultants who are, I assume on the call, uh, for putting up with me in all the meetings.

[04:12:46] Councilmember Emily Ramos: Thank you, Mr. Brown. We will now move on to virtual public comment. Um, Sandy Perry.

[04:12:58] Sandy Perry (Public Speaker): Hello. Thank you. Um, my name is Sandy Perry, I'm Vice President of the Board of South Bay Community Land Trust, and we were privileged to be part of the Community Ownership Action Plan Advisory Committee in Mountain View. South Bay Community Land Trust was the first CLT, uh, that was formed in Santa Clara County, and we're very happy to be joined by now, not just one, but two—we have Mountain View CLT and SV CLT, uh, that are emerging in Mountain View. Uh, we're very pleased to support this, uh, Mountain View Community Ownership Action Plan initiative. Um, last week in San Jose, we just closed on a $6 million rehab loan from the City of San Jose for our second property, which is an 18-unit apartment building in East San Jose. Preservation creates affordable housing by taking unsubsidized affordable housing units permanently off the speculative market, which prevents people from being displaced and prevents those units from being lost as affordable housing when, uh, rent increases, uh, drive up the rents and make them unaffordable. Preservation is more economic, uh, than new construction. Uh, it's much faster and it's easier to win over public support. And I'm running out of time. It's also an opportunity for ownership. Thank you.

[04:14:29] Councilmember Emily Ramos: Thank you, Sandy. Next we have Bila.

[04:14:43] B Hansen (Public Speaker): Yes, I'm here. Can you hear me?

[04:14:44] Councilmember Emily Ramos: We can hear you.

[04:14:45] B Hansen (Public Speaker): Uh, hello Council. Uh, this is B Hansen from the Mobile Home Alliance. Uh, and I'd just like to start by thanking you for directing City staff to work on COAP over two years ago. Uh, their current task is to find funding and develop processes to implement COAP for Mountain View residents who are most vulnerable to displacement, and I hope you'll direct staff to continue that work. Uh, as you know, Mountain View's six mobile home parks are naturally affordable housing, but have a large proportion of residents who are seniors living on fixed incomes. Some have heard rumors that one of our parks might be sold, and two years ago, another one did sell. Uh, our carefully crafted MHRSO, which passed in October 2021, helped our entire community immensely, but it's time to start thinking about future challenges. Because our ordinance could be weakened by a future council, having a co-op housing model in one or more of the parks would assure mobile home residents that they won't be displaced. One of the current, well, uh, goals starting with, uh, 50 CSFRA units is a good start, and I hope you'll keep COAP moving forward by approving all of the recommendations in the council report. Thank you.

[04:16:07] Councilmember Emily Ramos: Thank you, B. Uh, and our final speaker online is Anna Marie Morales.

[04:16:17] Anna Marie Morales (Public Speaker): Hi, can you guys hear me?

[04:16:18] Councilmember Emily Ramos: We can hear you, Anna Marie.

[04:16:20] Anna Marie Morales (Public Speaker): Thank you so much. Good evening, Mayor and Council members. Um, my name is Anna Marie Shiher, from the Mobile Home Alliance as well. I'm definitely going to echo what B and Alex, um, just said. I'm a lifelong resident of our beautiful city and I'm speaking in strong support of the Community Ownership Action Plan being adopted tonight. I hope all of it, in its entirety. I appreciate the direction and goals outlined in this plan. I also deeply appreciate that our mobile home communities received due consideration throughout this process. It matters to see us recognized as a vital part of Mountain View's housing landscape. This plan represents a crucial step towards greater stability for our neighborhoods. Mountain View residents of all incomes and all types of housing deserve to live with stability and dignity. For many of us, the goal is simply to stay in our homes without fear of displacement. Please give us the resources and support we need to be active partners in shaping the future of our homes. Whether through ownership or other models of community control, we want to ensure that our communities have security, dignity, and a real say in where we live. Thank you so much for your leadership on this critical issue.

[04:17:38] Councilmember Emily Ramos: Thank you, Anna Marie. That was the last of our speakers. I will now bring the item back for Council questions and deliberation. Please note that a motion to approve the recommendation should also include reading the title of the resolutions attached to the report. Uh, do we have any deliberations? I know that we have a motion, uh, by Councilmember Kamei, and it's seconded by Councilmember Ramirez. I will let Councilmember Kamei go first.

[04:18:07] Councilmember Ellen Kamei: Great. Thanks, thanks so much, Mayor. Okay, well, estamos aquí. We're very exciting, we're here. Um, and I, um, it's, uh, feels so apt that the second or is Councilmember Ramirez because I feel like this work, um, was motivated by the very painful experience happening in our community where we saw, um, naturally affordable units getting demolished, our residents displaced, and real frustration on our council on what we could do, um, to, to help our residents, um, stay in Mountain View, but also how do we, how to preserve housing affordability generally overall in our city. And over these seven and a half years we've been grappling with that, and part of that, um, comes to fruition tonight with our Community Ownership Action Plan. I think similar to the biodiversity and urban forestry plan, you know, these are plans, but it's all about the actions that cut that go along with it, um, to bring it into reality. But I think that, um, what we can really be, I think, excited about is a start. And the incredible work of Mr. Chen and his team and how he has really tried to, um, not only bring, I think guiding principles, but also the five-year goals, um, and I appreciate how, um, the the different models, it starts, you know, one of the models is is rental, but there's also, you know, three opportunities for potential ownership, which I think we've often heard as a council are residents' goals. So, um, very excited, um, that we're here tonight. I want to thank the COAPAC and, uh, our residents for their input, their collaboration on, um, how we can both preserve and create more affordability, um, in the City of Mountain View, um, while putting our residents first. So it's just very exciting. So I just wanted to add that. Thanks.

[04:20:24] Councilmember Emily Ramos: Thank you, Councilmember Kamei. Uh, and you were the one that made the motion, seconded by Councilmember Ramirez. Councilmember Hicks.

[04:20:33] Councilmember Alison Hicks: Yes, I will be supporting the motion. And I just want I wanted to thank staff and, and everybody who worked on this. I I also wanted to say that so in in another life before, uh, before I lived in Mountain View, I worked for a community land trust for 10 years, and so going over this work, um, you know, it's really heartening to see that, for example, the guiding principles are very much speak to the work I did in the past. So I think we're really on the right path in particular. I will not read all six of them, but decommodification, resident roles in governance, etc., you know, these are all the things that I worked on successfully in the past, and did see that preservation can be more affordable than starting from scratch. So I hope that will happen here as well. Um, I also wanted to highlight another thing that seems like going on the right path is, um, I asked in our Council written questions whether, uh, uh, staff or community-based organizations have been talking to any potential, um, community-oriented organizations or developers. Because I think that's really key, and the answer I got was that, it's a long answer which I won't read, but, um, that, uh, staff has spoken with at least three community-oriented developers who've expressed interest in supporting this. So that's another thing that tells me we can be on the road to success. So I will be supporting the motion.

[04:30:00] Councilmember Emily Ramos: these, which has always been the squishiest of the Ps. Um, a lot of us know the production, a lot of us know tenant protections, um, and we, we've also led on that. We have records of leading that. Very few cities lead on preservation because it's hard to do. It's, it's hard to grapple with.

[04:30:18] Councilmember Emily Ramos: Um, and this is where, where Mountain View is leading. This is an incredible framework that other cities have not even looked at, that don't even know where to even begin. We are beginning it, and I'm really proud of the work of our staff and our community because there's no way we can make this happen without the community pushing. Very similar to the item before this, the um, the biodiversity strategy. This is where, not necessarily the, we're relying on our community to be experts, but we're relying on our community to really carry a significant amount of work to make this happen.

[04:30:58] Councilmember Emily Ramos: And so I am, I'm really grateful to having the community do that. Particularly, I'm also highlighting this does cover the mobile home parks. So it's not new development, it's, it's existing. So all our wonderful mobile home parks are, uh, would be under this framework. So, um, I remember a long time ago, there was a, a great documentary about how vulnerable our mobile home parks, um, just in general, because it wasn't, it was a national doc, it was a documentary that covered mobile home parks nationally. However, they did do a focus on some of our parks here in Mountain View and interviewed some of the residents there.

[04:32:12] Councilmember Emily Ramos: This was before we had our, our rent stabilization program for the mobile home parks, but the, it did cover not only getting protections that, but the next step. This is that next step of the possibility of the mobile home park residents owning their park, what kind of system that would take, and there are resources out there on a national level, but it is so important to really highlight how much our city is looking at putting that investment ourselves. We are taking that step forward, so I'm really glad that this is a big step forward for everyone in our community to really addressing, um, preservation and protecting our naturally occurring affordable housing. So with that, let's take it, oh, oh, yes. Councilmember Kamei, to make that motion.

[04:32:20] Councilmember Ellen Kamei: I am so sorry. Adopt a resolution of the City Council of the City of Mountain View to transfer and appropriate $1 million from the Below Market Rate Housing Fund to the Acquisition and Preservation Sub-Fund to help fund community-owned housing projects as part of the Community Ownership Action Plan, to be read in title only, to be read in title only, further reading waived, and adopt a resolution of the City Council of the City of Mountain View to, to appropriate 425,000 from the General Housing Fund to fund capacity building efforts as part of implementing the Community Ownership Action Plan, to be read in title only, further reading waived.

[04:32:58] Councilmember Chris Clark: And just a quick, the motion also includes the, the items you didn't have to read, just the, it's the staff recommendation plus those two items.

[04:33:06] Councilmember Ellen Kamei: Correct. Yes, correct. I just didn't read the things that we need to read right now, but pretty soon, not.

[04:33:14] Councilmember Emily Ramos: Next year. Yep. The voters can decide that this fall. Um, alright, so let's take it to a vote.

[04:33:26] Councilmember Emily Ramos: And that motion passes unanimously. Thank you, everyone, for your work on this.

7.2 November Election and Transient Occupancy Tax Ballot Measure

[04:33:38] Councilmember Emily Ramos: Alright, so we have our next item, Item 7.2. Call for a municipal election for November 3rd, 2026, and place a measure for the transit occupancy tax on the ballot. Assistant City Manager Arn Andrews will present the item. If you would like to speak on this item in person, please submit a blue speaker card to the City Clerk now. And we are ready for your staff presentation.

[04:35:06] Assistant City Manager Arn Andrews: Good evening. Thank you, Mayor, Vice Mayor, and City Council. Tonight's item is the culmination of one of Council's strategic priorities. The fiscal years 2025-26 and 26-27 Council Work Plan included a priority item, which was pursue a 2026 revenue measure to seek additional funding for priority community projects and services. To that end, in September of last year, the Council approved a 2026 Revenue Measure Ad Hoc Subcommittee and assigned the members of the Council Finance Committee to meet to review revenue measure options. The subcommittee met five times between October 2025 and June of this year, and tonight is the culmination of their deliberations with the recommendation that's coming forward this evening.

[04:35:59] Assistant City Manager Arn Andrews: One of the other things that have transpired since the ad hoc committee has been meeting is we also wanted to engage our community and let them know that this was a conversation that the Council was going to have. And to that end, we did a mailer to about 40,000 of the homes in Mountain View, to which we actually got, from a marketing standpoint, a pretty good response. We actually received over 1,200 online responses and about 300 write-in responses. So we actually heard from about 1,500 of our residents. In addition, uh, the finance director sent an email to all 19 of the hotels in the city. We have heard from two of them. Uh, basically their responses to us was they would be interested in meeting and speaking at some point. And so we've offered to meet with any hotelier that decides they would like to meet with us.

[04:36:51] Assistant City Manager Arn Andrews: From the resident survey, we asked them to look at six different priorities and rank them, and so you can see that the responses from residents, a lot of interest in streets and roads, a lot of interest in public safety, affordable housing. We just heard the item before us, the interest in maintaining affordability in Mountain View. And then local parks, either the addition of new ones, the maintenance of existing ones. And then we also heard quite a few people just talk about infrastructure in general. There was the ability for residents to also just add other. And so we had a lot of residents that talked about other issues, including oversized vehicles, commercial vacancies, appliance electrification, parking, pickleball, we heard about that this evening as well. And then interest or lack thereof in road diets.

[04:37:43] Assistant City Manager Arn Andrews: So the item before you is a recommendation to update our transient occupancy tax or what we refer to as TOT. A TOT is a tax that is assessed on hotel or motel room occupancy. Some call it a hotel room tax. The city's transient occupancy tax was last amended in 1991, and at that point it was increased from 8% to 10%. Since that time, almost all of our neighboring jurisdictions have updated their TOTs to rates higher than where we currently are. So as a result, we have one of the lowest rates in the surrounding area and also just looking at other large tourist and hospitality destinations in the state. The proposed increase because of how low we are would likely not have any impact on our competitiveness in the hospitality industry.

[04:38:38] Assistant City Manager Arn Andrews: And you can see that in the table that was included in the staff report and also before you here. Our 10% is clearly one of the lowest in the area. And so the recommendation before you this evening, which we'll get into a little more detail later, is an up to recommendation, which provides first the electorate to decide in November if this is something they want the Council to have the latitude to do. And then if they agree, then ultimately the Council could decide what they think an up to increment could be between the current 10 and up to 15%.

[04:39:14] Assistant City Manager Arn Andrews: Staff went ahead and did some analysis on what this would have meant retrospectively and what it could have also what it could mean prospectively. One of the takeaways if you just look at the baseline TOT from 2023-24 to the current estimate, you can see that it's increased from about 8 million to 11 million, which shows that we do have strength in the hospitality sector coming out of COVID going from the 8 million to 11 million. And retrospectively if somewhere between the 2% or a 15% rate were in effect, it would have been an addition of about 1.6 million to about 5.5 million. And prospectively that same analysis any increase from 12% up to 15% would be an addition uh estimated revenue of about 2.1 million to about 5.4 million.

[04:40:09] Assistant City Manager Arn Andrews: I mentioned that we're recommending what's referred to as an up to model. So you can see the recommended ballot question, which talks about the areas that the community mentioned were of importance to them. And then compodes to what is known as an up to model. And you can see the language actually authorizes the city Council to increase that at a point in the future. Working closely with the city attorney on this ballot language.

[04:40:37] Assistant City Manager Arn Andrews: So next steps. Uh, August 7th is the last day for resolutions calling a measure. At a date to be determined, there will be a deadline for submitting primary arguments in favor of or against a measure. August 12th would be the last day to amend or withdraw a measure. A date to be determined would be the deadline for submitting rebuttal arguments to primary arguments in favor of or against the measure. And at a date to be determined that would be the deadline for submitting an impartial analysis by the new interim attorney. And then as I mentioned, in the November December timeframe depending on the outcome of the election, staff would return to Council to see what, if any thing, action Council would like to take to move from the current 10% to something up to 15%.

[04:41:25] Assistant City Manager Arn Andrews: So before you tonight you have four actions. Adopt a resolution of the City Council of Mountain View, first calling a general municipal election and ordering consolidation with the statewide general election for the purpose of submitting to the voters a ballot measure to amend Mountain View City Code Section 33.2 to authorize City Council to increase the City's transient occupancy tax. The second, authorizing members of the Council to author an argument for the ballot measure. The third is directing the City Attorney, as I mentioned, to prepare an impartial analysis. And then finally, authorizing the City Clerk to contract with the County of Santa Clara for services to be performed in connection with the general municipal election to be held on Tuesday, November 3rd, it's supposed to say 2024 instead of 202, to be read in title only, further reading waived.

[04:42:20] Assistant City Manager Arn Andrews: 26. Thank you. I'm still back with Measure G for brains. So that concludes our presentation and with that we're available for any questions.

[04:42:30] Councilmember Emily Ramos: Thank you. Does any member of the Council have questions? Staring down. Staring down. I am seeing no questions. So we will uh go to public comment. Would any member of the public joining us virtually or in person like to provide comment on any item on the consent calendar? If so, please click the raise hand button in zoom. Oh, sorry. Would any uh person like to provide comment on this item? If so, please click the raise hand button in zoom or submit a blue speaker card to the City Clerk. Each speaker will have 90 seconds or one and a half minutes. I am seeing no speakers in the queue. I am seeing no speakers online. So I will bring it back to the Council uh for questions and deliberation. Please note that a motion to approve the recommendation should also include reading the title of the resolution attached to the report. I see um Councilmember Ramirez.

[04:43:24] Councilmember Lucas Ramirez: Uh thank you Mayor. And I appreciate Councilmember McAlister making the motion so I don't have to read it. Um but there are two quick things. Uh first um I want to uh express um my appreciation and I'm confident this is true also of the uh other ad hoc committee members. Um the appreciation to uh staff and the City Attorney's office for the quick pivot. I know there was um a lot of work down a particular direction and um I think that was that was important work and I think that will have lasting value. But I know the the TOT increase was was not the thing that we were contemplating when we first started this journey. Uh so thank you for for putting this together in a relatively quick uh period of time. Uh and then second uh for uh the motion uh part two is authorize members of the Council to author an argument. Um I would request uh if the other members of the uh ad hoc uh uh revenue subcommittee would would join me, so uh I would request the Councilmember McAlister to include um Mayor Ramos, Vice Mayor Clark, and and myself as uh the members of the Council who would be authorized to um prepare that argument for the ballot measure. Thank you.

[04:44:36] Councilmember Emily Ramos: Alright, seeing no other speakers, Councilmember McAlister.

[04:44:41] Councilmember John McAlister: Well, you know Councilmember Ramirez, you worked so hard on it, I I think it's a disservice for me to read it. I think you should take the motion and and that's your honor to have it if you like.

[04:44:55] Councilmember John McAlister: Thank you. You can take it.

[04:44:56] Councilmember Lucas Ramirez: Is the seconder okay with that? Okay, thanks Councilmember. Um, I will move to approve the staff recommendations including, uh, adopt a resolution of the City Council of the City of Mountain View, one, calling a general municipal election and ordering consolidation with the statewide general election for the purpose of submitting to the voters a ballot measure to amend Mountain View City Code Section 33.2 to authorize City Council to increase the City's transient occupancy tax. Two, authorizing uh, Mayor Ramos, Vice Mayor Clark, and I, uh, to author an argument for the ballot measure. Uh, three, directing the City Attorney to prepare an impartial analysis. And four, authorizing the City Clerk to contract with the County of Santa Clara for services to be performed in connection with the general municipal election to be held on Tuesday, November 3rd, 2026, to be read in title only, further reading waived.

[04:45:54] Councilmember Emily Ramos: Thank you for the motion, Councilmember Ramirez. It has been seconded by Councilmember Hicks. Uh, thank you to my colleagues on the ad hoc uh, revenue measure committee, whatever it's called. I look forward to trauma bonding with you on the election campaign on the election, uh, campaign trail. Um, with that, let's bring it to a vote.

7.3 Resolution Appointing a Retired Annuitant as Interim City Attorney

[04:46:21] Councilmember Emily Ramos: And that motion passes unanimously. We're going right through these. Um, so now we will move on to item 7.3. Resolution appointing a retired annuitant as interim City Attorney under Government Code Section 21221h. Human Resources Manager Lindsey Bishop will present the item. If you would like to speak on this item in person, please submit a blue speaker card to the City Clerk now. And we are ready for your staff presentation.

[04:46:55] Human Resources Manager Lindsey Bishop: Alright, good evening Mayor, Vice Mayor, members of the City Council. Uh, the item before you this evening is a resolution appointing Jannie Quinn as interim City Attorney. Earlier this evening, Council recognized current City Attorney Logue, uh, for her service and her appointment to the judiciary. At the direction of Council, city staff is working with Terry Black and Company to identify a successor and to fill the position. Recruitment is underway for an anticipated appointment in the fall and onboarding of a new City Attorney, excuse me, in this calendar year. Until the vacancy is filled, the City needs to point to appoint an interim City Attorney. Jannie Quinn retired in 2019 after 24 years of service with the City of Mountain View. In addition, Ms. Quinn served as the interim City Attorney in 2022 during the recruitment search that resulted in Ms. Logue's appointment. Ms. Quinn is available and possesses the knowledge, skills, and experience necessary to serve as interim City Attorney until Council makes a regular appointment. Government Code 21221h permits the City Council to appoint a CalPERS retired annuitant to a vacant position during a recruitment, with several restrictions, which include the following. The interim assignment is required to be a single appointment and may not exceed 960 hours in a fiscal year. The proposed interim assignment complies with all applicable CalPERS requirements. Staff recommend appointing Ms. Quinn as interim City Attorney with an hourly rate of $179.66 effective July 6th, 2026. This concludes my presentation and Human Resources Director Maxine Gulo and I are available for any questions. Thank you.

[04:48:34] Councilmember Emily Ramos: Thank you. Does any member of the Council have questions? Seeing none. We are moving on to public comment. Would any member of the public joining us virtually or in person like to provide comment on this item? If so, please click the raise hand button in zoom or submit a blue speaker card to the City Clerk. We will take in-person speakers first. Each speaker will have 90 seconds or one and a half minutes. I am seeing no public comment. And I am seeing no virtual public comment. So we will now bring this item back for Council questions and deliberation. Please note that a motion to approve the recommendation should also include reading the title of the resolution attached to the report. Councilmember Showalter.

[04:49:17] Councilmember Pat Showalter: Yes, um, I uh, had the pleasure of working with um, Ms. Quinn for many years, um, in earlier terms. And she was a delight to work with, um, very knowledgeable about the city and the law and very good at um, explaining um, to anybody who needed, um, explanations and that's a major part of her job. Um, how uh, how how that we could best go about doing things. So, um, I think that it's wonderful she's been willing to step up and and join us for a few months in this in our time of need. And um, so I'm very pleased to uh, to um, move the staff recommendation, which is to adopt a resolution of the City Council, the City of Mountain View, appointing Jannie Quinn as an interim City Attorney under Government Code Section 21221h to be read in title only, further reading waived.

[04:50:15] Councilmember Emily Ramos: Thank you, Councilmember Showalter. And it looks like it was seconded by Councilmember McAlister. Uh, with no other speakers in the queue, uh, we will now take it to a vote.

8.1 Residential Development Project at 333 Franklin Street

[04:50:31] Councilmember Emily Ramos: And we are just zooming right through this, y'all. Um, we will now move on to item 8, public hearings. Public hearings. Alright, so we have item 8.1. Residential Development Project at 333 Franklin Street. Would any council members like to make disclosures? No disclosures? I met with an OK. Um, oh. Planning Manager George Schroeder, and Senior Planner Philip Brennan will, uh, present the item. If you would like to speak on this item in person, please submit a blue speaker card to the City Clerk now. And we are ready for your presentation when you are.

[04:51:47] Planning Manager George Schroeder: Okay, uh, good evening honorable Mayor and members of the City Council. My name is George Schroeder, Planning Manager, and I'll be presenting a residential development project for your consideration at 333 Franklin Street. The project site is located midblock on Franklin Street between California and West Dana Street in downtown Mountain View. The general plan land use is for Medium-High Density Residential, which allows for 26 to 35 dwelling units per acre. The project site is located within the downtown precise plan, and specifically it's within Area B of the Franklin Street Residential Transition Area. The project site is 7,500 square feet in size, and currently the site is vacant, but previously contained an eight-unit apartment building. The surrounding land uses consist of single family and multi-family residential buildings. The applicant, Silicon Valley Custom Homes, is requesting a Planned Community Permit and Development Review Permit to construct a three-story residential building with 11 apartment units and two two-story detached accessory dwelling units, or ADUs. The applicant also requests a Heritage Tree Removal Permit to remove two heritage trees from the site.

[04:53:11] Planning Manager George Schroeder: The site is comprised primarily of the residential building fronting the street and two ADUs located at the rear. The site is accessed from Franklin Street along a shared driveway with the adjacent multi-family development located at 325 Franklin Street. Along the south property line is a pedestrian walkway to allow for access to the units. At the rear are two detached ADUs with parking spaces located beneath the ADUs. The project is providing eight below market rate, or BMR units, comprised of seven low-income units at 80% of the area median income, or AMI, and one very low-income unit at 50% AMI. This exceeds the city's 15% BMR requirement, and the project also meets SB 330 replacement unit requirements for the eight previous rent stabilized units. Uh, I want to note that the city red tagged the previous apartment building in 2024 due to unsafe conditions. The city's tenant relocation assistance and right of first refusal provisions do not apply to previous tenants of the project site because of the timing of the formal planning application submittal, which was submitted after the previous building was already vacated, and because the city's previous tenant relocation assistance ordinance, or TRAO, that is applicable to the project exempted displacements due to a city enforcement order, such as the red tagging.

[04:54:40] Planning Manager George Schroeder: Aside from the concession requested, which I'll go over in a moment, requested for the unit distribution between the the main building and ADUs, the project complies with all the other requirements of the BMR ordinance. The project is eligible for a 50% density bonus because it provides more than 24% of the base units for low income households. The applicant is requesting one concession under the State Density Bonus Law to locate two BMR units in the ADUs in lieu of the main apartment building as required by the city's BMR ordinance. The applicant also requests five waivers that would otherwise preclude the construction of the development for open space, floor area ratio, landscape planting, building eave height, and trash enclosure dimensions.

[04:55:28] Planning Manager George Schroeder: The design of the project is considered contemporary craftsman designed in conformance with the downtown precise plan design guidelines. Traditional building elements include horizontal and vertical cement plaster siding, a street-facing gable roof, and angled dormers integrated into the roof form. The design intentionally integrates the third floor massing in the roof dormers to serve as a better transition between downtown and the surrounding single family neighborhood. Here is a view of the project from the shared driveway showing the main apartment building to the right and the detached ADUs to the left with parking spaces located beneath the ADUs. The site contains two heritage trees, one redwood and one silver maple tree. The project will require removal of both trees to accommodate the new buildings and site improvements. The applicant is proposing a total of four 24-inch box replacement trees to offset the loss of the two heritage trees. The new tree replacements are anticipated to increase the on-site canopy coverage by 6% at full maturity.

[04:56:35] Planning Manager George Schroeder: Auto parking is not required for residential uses located within the downtown precise plan. The applicant is voluntarily providing two parking spaces on site, one electric vehicle, or EV, parking space, and one accessible space located at the ground level beneath the ADUs. The project is categorically exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act, or CEQA, under the Class 32 infill development exemption. And several public meetings have been held for the for the project. The project was reviewed at the Design Review Consultation Meeting in May 2025 where the applicant made some design changes in response to the DRC's recommendations. The applicant also held a neighborhood outreach meeting in February with 12 members of the community attending. And lastly the Zoning Administrator reviewed the project on May 27th and recommended its approval to the City Council.

[04:57:30] Planning Manager George Schroeder: In conclusion, the project is found to be consistent with the applicable objective development standards and achieves General Plan and Housing Element goals by increasing affordable housing opportunities in the city within close proximity to downtown and major transit routes. Therefore, staff recommends that the City Council adopt a resolution conditionally approving the Planned Community Permit, Development Review Permit, and Heritage Tree Removal Permit pursuant to the conditions of approval for the project. And this concludes staff's presentation, and Community Development, Housing, and Public Works staff are present here tonight to answer any questions. Thank you.

[04:58:09] Councilmember Emily Ramos: Thank you. We will now hear from our applicant, CEO Jenny Kang and Chief Architect Hao-Ching Liao with the Silicon Valley Custom Homes Inc. You will have seven minutes on the clock.

[04:58:24] CEO Jenny Kang: Okay. Um, I think most of the topics are well covered by George, so I'm just going to take a couple minutes just to reiterate some of the highlights of the project. So I just want to mention that this project replaces um deteriorated building that was old and unsafe and structurally um unsafe and with a a very safe and modern and code-compliant uh building for the Mountain View downtown area. And this project also increases the housing supply from existing eight units to 13 units, which I believe it's making um more efficient use of the uh valuable downtown site. And more than 2/3 of the units are affordable and the affordability levels ranging from low-income to very low-income, which I believe is going to be contributing to the housing um issues in in the in the city and the Mountain View downtown.

[04:59:26] CEO Jenny Kang: And the site is located within the walking distance from the downtown Mountain View and uh less than half mile um from the Caltrain station and which I believe is going to make excellent transit-oriented housing project. And this is um uh in a nutshell the project turns in my opinion safety concerns into a community asset and which uh also provides affordable housing and uh supporting local businesses and boosting the vitality of the downtown um. And with that, I encourage the Council to uh support the exciting and responsible housing production project in Mountain View. Thank you. Any any questions, I'll be here to answer.

[05:00:18] Councilmember Emily Ramos: Thank you. Does any member of the Council have questions? Uh Councilmember Showalter.

[05:00:25] Councilmember Pat Showalter: Yes, um, I was just wondering why um you chose to build ADUs at the back instead of making the building larger? It just seems like an unusual decision.

[05:00:39] CEO Jenny Kang: Um, I think the idea was that the city would allow detached ADUs, but in the new development, George can correct me wrong, but um, the attached ADUs has limitations of adding that in the new development.

[05:00:58] Councilmember Pat Showalter: So it just allowed you to have a little more development?

[05:01:00] CEO Jenny Kang: Only in the det a detached building the ADUs were allowed. That's how you were we were able to add more units.

[05:01:09] Councilmember Pat Showalter: Okay. So you couldn't have just made the other building larger?

[05:01:13] CEO Jenny Kang: No, then it becomes attached ADUs, which is not allowed in a new development.

[05:01:17] Councilmember Pat Showalter: Okay, thank you. I get it now.

[05:01:19] CEO Jenny Kang: No problem.

[05:01:23] Planning Manager George Schroeder: And Councilmember, just to clarify the the main building is limited by the limitations on the allowable density by the General Plan. And then the ADUs, the state ADU law essentially gives more uh density with the just uh through the ADU development.

[05:01:39] Councilmember Pat Showalter: So in other words they took advantage of the um the amount that they could build on with the regular building and the ADUs are additional to that.

[05:01:48] Planning Manager George Schroeder: Correct. They they've maximized what the General Plan density allows and then plus 2 ADUs.

[05:01:52] Councilmember Pat Showalter: Yeah. That's what I thought. But okay, thank you.

[05:01:56] Councilmember Emily Ramos: Alright, thank you Councilmember Showalter. Councilmember Hicks.

[05:01:59] Councilmember Alison Hicks: So I'm just curious with 13 units and two parking spaces on site, how will you determine who gets those spaces?

[05:02:07] CEO Jenny Kang: So, those two, thanks for the question. Those two spaces, one for ADA parking and the other one is EV charging. So there is no tenant parking on site. And um, there has been some concerns raised around the lack of tenant parking spaces and um, the because of the ROI of the project and also we looked into the options of putting in a basement parking and because of the narrow width of the lot, um the clearance that requires to have a cars go in and out with a ramp down it was not only not feasible from the um layout perspective, but uh it it was very uh difficult to pencil um in the project just because of the um the affordability level that we had to take into consideration.

[05:02:56] Councilmember Alison Hicks: So maybe I missed something, but who will get the who will get the parking spots?

[05:03:00] CEO Jenny Kang: So the ADA parking will be more of a first come first serve for the handicap individuals. Um, and then the um EV parking charging station will be available for any tenant who wants to charge their vehicle.

[05:03:17] Councilmember Alison Hicks: So the charging one will be rotating and the ADA one will be if there's a disabled person, otherwise to be determined. Okay.

[05:03:28] CEO Jenny Kang: Correct. Yes, thanks.

[05:03:30] Councilmember Emily Ramos: Thank you Council thank you Councilmember Hicks. Um, do we have any other questions from Council? Um, seeing none. Um, would any member of the public on the line or on the line like to provide comment on this item. Please, if so please click the raise hand button in zoom or press star 9 on your phone. A timer will be displayed on the screen. Each speaker will have 90 seconds or one and a half minutes. I am seeing no speakers. And I am seeing no virtual speakers. So we will now bring this item back for Council questions and deliberations. Please note that a motion to approve the recommendation should also include reading the title of the resolution attached to the report. Councilmember Ramirez.

[05:04:18] Councilmember Lucas Ramirez: Uh, thank you Mayor. I am happy to move to approve the staff recommendations, including uh adopt a resolution of the City Council of the City of Mountain View, conditionally approving a Planned Community Permit and Development Review Permit to construct a three-story multi-family building with 11 apartment units and two two-story detached accessory dwelling units, or ADUs, on a vacant site which previously contained a multi-family building, utilizing State Density Bonus Law, and a Heritage Tree Removal Permit to remove two heritage trees on a 0.172 acre site located at 333 Franklin Street APN 158-12-069, and finding the project to be categorically exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act, or CEQA, pursuant to CEQA guidelines Section 15332 Infill Development Projects, to be read in title only, further reading waived. And I'll only add, appreciation to staff for their work on the project, and also to the applicant, I think all of us are impressed with the high percentage of affordability uh in the project, uh which is always good to see. Uh and I'll also note that um the project uh if it's constructed will help achieve our AFFH goals, affirmatively furthering fair housing, um which is uh one of our critical housing element uh programs. And if memory serves, there's a specific call out for downtown um uh above and beyond lot 12. So uh this is a a project that will help us achieve that housing element program as well. Thank you.

[05:05:49] Councilmember Emily Ramos: Thank you Councilmember Ramirez. Councilmember Hicks.

[05:05:54] Councilmember Alison Hicks: I will be supporting the motion and I I agree with the merits that of the project that uh Councilmember Ramirez mentioned. I do want to say the one thing I'm disappointed about is that even though, despite the low level of parking provided, the much of the site is driveway and hardscaping on on all sides. So I'm hoping that in the future we can get some objective design standards that can maybe reduce that, um, because I I personally don't want housing all surrounded planted in concrete in our our downtown or anywhere else in the city for that matter. Thank you.

[05:06:37] Councilmember Emily Ramos: Thank you Councilmember Hicks. Councilmember McAlister.

[05:06:40] Councilmember John McAlister: Yeah, uh, this project, when I look at a project, I always like to see how it enhances the neighborhood, it benefits the neighborhood, it doesn't impose anything on the neighborhood. And unfortunately, this unit, this project does not supply parking for those units. So they're going to have to be parking on the street. And they go, oh, we got all this transit. Well, if we're looking at the demographics that are going to move in there, most of them will probably need cars to get to work. And so it's just going to be an additional burden when Lot 12 opens up that there are more people are going to be parking on the street and it's going to detract from the neighborhood. It's not going to make the street safe because visibility will be impacted. And I gotta get a kick out of it that they're going to have an EV in there. And again, looking at the demographics, I don't don't, I could be wrong, is that they're going to be buying EV vehicles to park in that area. So because of that, I'm not going to support this motion. Um, I know it's it's, they're allowed not to do it, but they were also allowed to do it. And going forward, I will always continue to make sure that the neighborhoods are protected from unnecessary burdens and you may think of parking as not an unnecessary burden, but I think it is because it affects the quality of life for the people walking around and just looking for the visual aspects of seeing, well, we're talking about urban forest and so forth, all the cars out there and and not actually to see some open space.

[05:08:09] Councilmember Emily Ramos: Thank you Councilmember McAlister. I am not seeing anyone else in the queue. Um, so thank you staff for your work on this. I am, like Councilmember Ramirez, I am actually impressed by the percentage of affordability on this. I'm a little annoyed about the um, the tenants who were evicted because of the red tag that don't have that right of first return and that our the recently adopted TRAO that we had doesn't affect them because we passed it a little later, uh, too late for these residents to uh develop that. That's, that's, that's on us, not on our, not on the applicant. Um, but uh, I will be supporting this development. Um, and with that, let's bring it to a vote.

[05:09:03] Councilmember Emily Ramos: And that motion passes 6-1, with Councilmember McAlister dissenting. Um, it did is it 10 o'clock now? Oh, it's right there, 10 o'clock. Let's go. Um, do we have, uh, I'm assuming Councilmember Clark, I already seconded it. Um, uh, go ahead and make your motion.

[05:09:23] Councilmember Chris Clark: Yes, we only have one item left and it's a really important one, so I'll move that we continue past 10 p.m.

[05:09:30] Councilmember Emily Ramos: Thank you Councilmember Clark. I will second that, um, unless we don't want to do our budget. That's always an option. Alright, we'll take it to a vote.

8.2 Adoption of Fiscal Year 2026-27 Budgets, Fee Modifications, and CIP Funding

[05:09:53] Councilmember Emily Ramos: And that motion passes 5-2 with Councilmember McAlister and Councilmember Ramirez not wanting to have a budget. Alright, we will now move on to item 8.2. Adoption of fiscal year 2026-27 budgets, fee modifications, and funding for fiscal year 2026-27 capital improvement projects. City Manager McCarthy will kick us off, and Finance and Administrative Services Director Derek Ramponi, and Assistant Finance and Administrative Services Director Grace Jen will present the item. If you would like to speak on this item in person, please submit a blue speaker card to the City Clerk now.

[05:10:35] City Manager Kimbra McCarthy: Thank you, Mayor. I'm sure glad that you uh voted to go past 10 since we are legally required to have a budget by July 1st every year. So, uh, with that, this is the culmination of many months uh that Council has considered the budget, provided uh good feedback to staff, and so tonight is the official adoption of the budget um, and various regulatory things that we have to uh pass with the budget. So with that I'll turn it over to our Finance Director Derek Ramponi to walk you through uh the changes that we've made and all the elements of this budget.

[05:11:13] Finance and Administrative Services Director Derek Ramponi: Alright, good evening. Thank you City Manager McCarthy. Uh good evening Mayor Ramos, uh Vice Mayor Clark and Council members. Derek Ramponi, your Finance and Administrative Services Director, and joining me is Grace Tseng, the Assistant Finance and Administrative Services Director. Um, the item you have before you tonight is the last step in the recommended budget process for 26 fiscal year 26-27. Uh the recommended budget is structurally balanced. Uh we have some new ongoing staffing requests that are limited and targeted. The budget focuses on maintaining strategic service levels and advancing Council priorities. Investments are also included in the budget to improve operations and support economic vitality. Overall, this budget really balances fiscal sustainability with strategic investments in city services and priorities.

[05:12:07] Finance and Administrative Services Director Derek Ramponi: This slide provides a high-level overview of the fiscal year 26-27 budget development process. The process really begins each November with the budget kick-off and department budget request development. Throughout the winter, the budget team works closely with departments and the City Manager's office to review requests, evaluate priorities, and develop funding recommendations. In February, we presented the midyear budget update to Council, followed by the preliminary review of the recommended budget in April. The recommended budget was then published in May, providing the public and Council time for review. On June 9th, the City Council conducted the budget public hearing, and tonight represents the final step in the process, with consideration of the CIP budget and adoption of the operating budget as well.

[05:13:00] Finance and Administrative Services Director Derek Ramponi: As a reminder, the General Operating Fund budget has an operating balance of 145,000. This is down slightly from the last time you saw this item, which was at 150,000. That's due to the additional $5,000 of expenditures that are being appropriated for increased multicultural engagement programming, which was discussed on June 9th and will be further discussed later in this presentation.

[05:13:28] Finance and Administrative Services Director Derek Ramponi: This slide shows the 5-year General Operating Fund forecast. Fiscal year 26-27 is uh structurally balanced with the projected operating balance of 145,000. Looking ahead, staff does project some modest operating deficits beginning in fiscal year 27-28 as expenditure growth does outpace revenue growth. The forecast does return to a positive balance in 2030-31, and that's largely due to some projected reductions in pension costs, and that's as of today.

[05:14:00] Finance and Administrative Services Director Derek Ramponi: Um, there were three adjustments since uh that were made after the recommended budget hearing on June 9th. The first one is to appropriate $100,000 for lease payments for property located at 485 and 495 Clyde Avenue, which was approved in item 4.31 this evening. The second one is to finalize the increase in the per term stipend that council members receive from $3,800 to $5,000 per term as also discussed at the June 9th meeting that has a cost of $12,000. And then the third one is the $5,000 increase, ongoing increase in multicultural engagement programming that was discussed at the June 9th meeting.

[05:14:45] Finance and Administrative Services Director Derek Ramponi: Before concluding, I'd just like to thank the City Council for their guidance throughout the budget process and for the opportunity to present the fiscal year 26-27 recommended budget this evening. I'd also like to state thank the many staff members across the...

[05:15:00] Assistant City Manager Audrey Seymour Ramberg: organization who contributed to the development of this budget, um with special recognition to the budget team for their hard work and dedication throughout this process. All recommended budget actions are detailed in the staff report before you tonight. Staff respectfully recommends that you approve these actions and adoption of the 26-27 budget with the related appropriations. And with that, we are happy to answer any questions.

[05:15:30] Councilmember Emily Ramos: Thank you. Does any member of the Council have questions? Let's bring it home, y'all. No questions. No questions. All right. So now we'll move on to public comment. Would any member of the public on the line or in person like to provide comment on this item? If so, please click the raise hand button in Zoom or press star nine on your phone or turn in a blue card. A timer will be displayed on the screen. Each speaker will have 90 seconds or one and a half minutes. So it looks like we have uh two in-person speakers. Uh Lauren Hatton, followed by Daniel Kelly.

[05:16:16] Lauren Hatton (Public Speaker): Good evening, and thank you so much um for the opportunity to speak. My name is Lauren Hatton. I am the Managing Director of Peninsula Youth Theatre. We are a resident company of the Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts and have been with MVCPA for decades now. Um, in the last few years, our expenses at MVCPA have increased astronomically, and as part of this budget plan, you are projecting further increases, including increases to our patrons by eliminating the tiered facility use fees. We are doing everything in our power to absorb those increases and keep our programs accessible to our community. But when those fees go up on the side of the center, we have no control over that. So we are asking that you please reconsider the facility use fee elimination at the $2 level, um, and to just keep in mind how these fees impact um the organizations in your community. We are effectively being priced out of Mountain View by the raising fees over the last several years. And we want to stay. We love it here. It's our home. Um we love the center. We love Mountain View. But um the fee increases have been really, really detrimental to our organization. Thank you.

[05:17:48] Daniel Kelly (Public Speaker): Hi. Uh thank you. Uh my name's Dan Kelly. I'm a longtime Mountain View resident. I'm a board member of PYT. I want to echo much of what Lauren said and add that I think PYT is a real asset to the community. My children participated. They're too old now, um but they got a lot out of the program and I think many, you know, they we serve a lot of children over the course of the year and they all get a lot out of the program. Um the The Center for the Performing Arts is a is a beautiful resource that the city has, and the city can choose who uses it, and in the choices they're making they're pricing PYT out of using that space, which I think is a real shame. Um that's all. Thank you.

[05:18:39] Councilmember Emily Ramos: Thank you. Um I see no other in-person speakers in the queue. Um we will now take virtual speakers. I am seeing none. We will now bring the item back to for Council questions and deliberations. Please note that a motion to approve the recommendation should also include reading the title of the resolutions attached to the report. Um so it looks like we do have a motion and a second. Uh before we get to that, I do have a question because I do want to address what was just in public comment. Um it might be too late to do any action at least for this upcoming budget, but is there um is it is it something that we can look into?

[05:19:24] City Manager Kimbra McCarthy: Uh Mayor, I would ask that we hear from our Community Services Director about about this. Um I know the participants uh pay to participate in PYT.

[05:19:39] Community Services Director John Marchant: Good evening Council. John Marchant Community Services Director. And I first want to start by thanking PYT for being here and bringing this up. Um they certainly are a valued client and user of our facility and have been for a long time, and we want to continue uh that relationship um over over the time. So what we are recommending is that there is basically, it's called a facility use fee, think of it as a convenience fee. So we, the city, pays to have um as charges go through for the purchase of a ticket, we have to pay for that service through the software company that provides that service. So previously, the what we are um recommending to eliminate, which was discussed, the that tier, any ticket that was under $30 would pay $2 as that convenience fee. Any ticket over $30 would pay a convenience fee of $3. What we're recommending is that everybody, no matter what the price of the ticket, to pay that $3. This fee has not been raised since 2009. So 17 years of not increasing that fee of which our costs go up. And that's why we're making that recommendation.

[05:21:03] Councilmember Alison Hicks: So what are we talking in term in terms of like if we for example, if we kept it at $2, what would we be talking about per year? In terms of...

[05:21:14] Community Services Director John Marchant: I don't have that math in front of me and I'm sorry. Um I also wanted to to highlight that uh as you're probably aware, PYT offers a number of matinee programs for students and we do not charge that fee on on those tickets. Um and so it is just the tickets that are available to the general public.

[05:21:35] Councilmember Alison Hicks: Okay, so nobody knows, like even roughly per year whether we're talking several thousand, 10,000, 50,000, like nobody...

[05:21:44] Community Services Director John Marchant: I I just don't have the volume off the top of my head, I'm sorry.

[05:21:50] Councilmember Emily Ramos: Uh Councilmember McAlister, do you know the rough fee?

[05:21:55] Councilmember John McAlister: No, I don't. But uh I have a question for... So that's a pass-through fee, right? To the consumer?

[05:22:04] Community Services Director John Marchant: Correct. That is that is at the consumer is charged that, not not PYT as an organization.

[05:22:13] Councilmember Emily Ramos: I'll one other follow up question to that. So the public comment speakers were talking about increased fees. So it was more than just this fee. Was there another fee that is affecting them in the increase?

[05:22:26] Community Services Director John Marchant: So over the past couple of years several actions have been taken with that program of which, yes, there have been some uh fee changes to bring us in line with what the market um average is, um or even below. But we have been making changes so that we can staff appropriately. And when you staff appropriately, we're passing on some of those costs which is the the greatest impact that they're they're seeing right now.

[05:22:54] Councilmember Emily Ramos: Okay. Uh Councilmember Kamei.

[05:22:58] Councilmember Ellen Kamei: Great, thank you. Could it be possible for council to get an off-agenda memo with the information on maybe in aggregate what we've been doing related to the different fees and cost and things like that? I think it'd just be helpful for all of us to have that information, if that's okay.

[05:23:18] Community Services Director John Marchant: Sure, absolutely.

[05:23:20] Councilmember Ellen Kamei: Wonderful, thank you.

[05:23:21] Councilmember Emily Ramos: Thank you Councilmember Kamei. I didn't know how I was gonna go with that. Um so we do have the motion by Councilmember McAlister and is seconded by Councilmember Showalter. Did you already read the thing? Oh he did not read the thing. All right. I figured I'd give him a break 'cause I saw the length of this and I go, do I really want to make the motion on this one? But, you want me to read it now for you?

[05:23:41] Councilmember John McAlister: All right. I figured I'd give him a break 'cause I saw the length of this and I go, do I really want to make the motion on this one? But, you want me to read it now for you? Okay, to memory of Lucas. Oh I'm sorry, the wrong line. Adopt a resolution of the City Council of the City of Mountain View, one, adopting the fiscal year 2026-27 city budget. Second, appropriating funds to cover expenditures approved by said budget. Three, authorizing the City Manager or designee to execute funding agreements consistent with the non-profit funding appropriations in the adopted budget. Four, adjust the budget license tax amount by the annual CPI. And five, authorize the Finance and Administrative Services Director to adjust appropriations in various funds as needed to align with actual reserved, earned, and received as specific specifically set forth herein. Make final adjustments to the Community Stabilization and Fair Rent Act and Mobile Home Rent Stabilization Ordinance budget and fees. Adjust appropriations related to the Graham Middle School site based on bill invoices and determine final budget amounts based on council direction to be read in title only, further reading waived. And adopt a resolution of the City Council of the City of Mountain View amending the City of Mountain View master fee schedule to be read in title only, further reading waived. Adopt a resolution of the City Council of the City of Mountain View amending the fiscal year 2025-26 salary plan for hourly employees and adopt a physical 2026 salary plan for regular and unrepresented hourly employees to be read in title only, further reading waived. And as acting as an acting as a Mountain View Shoreline Regional Park Community, adopt a resolution of the Board of Directors of the Shoreline Regional Park Community. One, adopting the fiscal year 2026-27 Shoreline Regional Park Community budget. Two, appropriate funds to cover expenditures approved by said budget. And three, authorize the Treasurer to adjust appropriations as needed to make payments in accordance with the tax sharing agreement with the Santa Clara County and the Educational Enhancement Reserve joint powers agreement. To align appropriations with actual reserves earned and received as specifically set forth herein and determine final budget amounts based on board direction to be read in title only, further reading waived. And acting as the City of Mountain View Capital Improvement Financing Authority, adopt a resolution of the City of Mountain View Capital Improvements Financing Authority, MVCIFA, adopting the fiscal year 2026-27 budget for the debt service payments, appropriating funds to cover expenditures approved by said budget and authorizing the MVCIFA Treasurer to make budget adjustments and determine final breathing amounts based on MFCIAFA board directions, to be read in title only, further reading waived.

[05:26:49] Councilmember Emily Ramos: Thank you Councilmember McAlister and that has been seconded by Councilmember Showalter. I see Vice Mayor Clark on the queue.

[05:26:55] Councilmember Chris Clark: It was just the same thing again. Um the just to clarify the motion covers all of the recommendations printed in the staff report, including those that you read. Um for a few of these it's... you didn't do anything wrong. It's it's just the um um the staff recommendation includes things in addition to what what was read. So just just clarifying we're approving the staff recommendation plus everything you read.

[05:27:19] Councilmember John McAlister: Hey I'm this is what I this is what I was told to read by the Mayor, so I did, so.

[05:27:23] Councilmember Chris Clark: It's it's in the record, that's what...

[05:27:24] Councilmember John McAlister: It's in the record.

[05:27:26] Councilmember Emily Ramos: All right. Um, with that, I see no other people in the queue. Let's get this vote on. Passes unanimously. Woo, we have a budget, y'all. All right. Now we will go to Item 9, Council, Staff, and Committee Reports. Do we have any Council, Staff, and Committee Reports? I see Councilmember Showalter.

[05:27:56] Councilmember Pat Showalter: I'm gonna let everybody else talk about all the fun stuff in Mountain View, but I wanted to share with you that last week on Monday and Tuesday I traveled to New Mexico as your representative from Silicon Valley Clean Energy to take part in the celebration of the completion of the SunZia wind farm and um transmission uh project. This is the largest wind project in the United States. It's literally um three times larger than the next two largest wind farms combined. It's huge. It includes um 3,650 megawatts, 900 um 916 um wind turbines that are spread over 90 miles, and 550 miles of high voltage direct current line that enables uh this this power to be transmitted over such a far distance. Normally, when you use AC um lines, you lose a lot of power as you know over over time. But with the use of this AC um I mean use of the DC, that that those power losses are are much, much, much smaller. And so this was new technology um was developed in Sweden. It's been used there, but it hasn't been used here before. And um so it uh it goes 550 miles from New Mexico to Arizona, then it switches over into AC and it goes into California. And we and um uh Silicon Valley Clean Energy and a number of other CCAs are early customers in this. And one of the things that makes this so cool is that, well, the time. You know we're in a time when wind power isn't really popular with everyone, so to have um to have completed this project is quite, you know, quite quite an accomplishment. It took 16 years uh to get through all the permits, the financing, a mere $11 billion of financing, and construction for three years. Um and it's really a fabulous proof of concept that huge quantities of clean energy can be transmitted many miles from where they're produced to where they're used. Which is which is just vital for us to transform into a clean energy country. Which is one of the things I think most of us want to do. So um so I wanted to share that with you and say that really we should all be proud that we're part of this CCA movement that has been so effective at at um inspiring clean energy projects to be produced. And this is just a great example.

[05:31:13] Councilmember Ellen Kamei: Thanks Mayor. Um, so I just wanted to um clarify when we were talking about item 7.1 about our community ownership action plan, I failed to highlight Councilmember McAlister's advocacy that we the we, the city, should own our own housing units. Um and and I I really um I'm so sorry that I omitted that and I've tarnished his legacy related to uh the city owning housing because I forgot. Is that good? Are you happy now? Okay. Um and now that he has his flowers. So um on June 10th um Microsoft invited uh the council to and I attended um their data center grand opening. On the 11th, I attended the Cities Association um annual summer meeting. It was related to uh resiliency, really fascinating, really great. I think a majority of us attended. On the 16th, we had our Council Transportation um Committee, and on the 18th I um attended the Future Proof Your Business, a collaboration with like VTA and the chambers. And then this past Saturday, we had our Pride. Thanks, Mayor.

[05:32:41] Councilmember John McAlister: Uh, well I guess I'll since she didn't mention a couple items, I did attend the Cities Association and that was interesting to hear uh the mer- response uh emergency response. Uh we had a CTC meeting where we went over the ATP and I thought we gave some very valuable information uh our some of our thoughts on that one. And I also was uh honored to be with my fellow council members. Most of them. Except... Uh and that was that was my first attending to that meeting and it was quite impressive to see the the uh activities and how it was set up. So, but I also wanted to bring up an item 9 uh that uh it's been kicking around for a while but we haven't addressed it. Um I responded to a customer's con- constituent's concern about RV parking over on Gemini. So I went over there to look at it uh to talk to the lady and unfortunately it was interesting uh that when I was there, the the NEP? NES. NES. The neighborhood the event services the services were there uh checking on some of these RVs. And uh I got a glimpse of what was actually taking place and what they did and how they went in there and tagged 'em. But what was interesting is that there was about three unhitched trailers there. And I asked 'em, what can you do? And I said since they don't move. And they said, well, that's not part of your ordinance so we uh we can really can't do much maybe except registration or something like that. And I go well that's that's interesting. And uh I said, are we getting a lot of those? And they said yeah, we're getting a lot of them coming from Palo Alto and other cities. And I go oh, um because they're they're putting in regular relations to do it. In fact, there was one trailer that was sitting about 5 feet away from a fire hydrant and I said, can we do something about that? And um I left at the time so I'm not sure exactly what took place. But I'm bringing this up now because uh we are increasing with a lot of unhitched trailers are coming along and I think that we and also we just got a report from our assistant city manager uh giving us an update on the memo that we asked about going down and I was wondering is the council feels like should we adopt some new regulations to fill in the gap, especially like the van lords that it was interesting how they said the police said well I said can you tag the register registrat- owner of the RV or the trailer and they said no we have to go after the the we we tag the person that lives in there. And I go well how do you tag the person if they're not around? And there was a cat and mouse range that was always confusing on who was going to be responsible for moving the RV. And so but since it wasn't in one of our agreements and I could be soft on that idea but I go, okay, whatever. But it would be interesting to maybe consider having staff again spend about an hour or so writing up a memo of potentially doing something about the unhitched trailers and the van lords. So I'm just opening it up for discussion. And if I mean I was just wondering maybe, you know, if we maybe should we ask the staff to look into some uh ordinance going forward with the unhitched trailers?

[05:36:59] Councilmember Emily Ramos: I'm not entirely sure how we move forward on this. Um I guess this is a question, if we want to add something to our work plan essentially, um in this last six months now. Um do we want to take a straw poll to add an item onto our work plan? Will we have to remove items from our work plan in order to move this forward? What is a stat- Okay. We want a memo. Councilmember Hicks.

[05:37:35] Councilmember Alison Hicks: So I'm just a little unclear on what a memo a memo that is an action plan, how that's different than putting it on that's putting it on the agenda. Maybe you can spell out what somebody can spell out what that is.

[05:37:51] Councilmember John McAlister: Oh okay, my thought is well because we're gonna be coming up on February and I'd rather have something in place that everybody has an idea what's happening. The people out in the RV parks and the the in the trailers that they're all of a sudden they don't move something happens but here they're they're giving 'em opportunity to give input to what's going on and understand what's happening out there.

[05:38:18] Councilmember Emily Ramos: Vice Mayor Clark.

[05:38:20] Councilmember Chris Clark: I think what would be helpful and I'm curious for feedback, um after reviewing the memo that we received and thank you for all the time and effort that went into that. The one thing that I'm most concerned about um having some sort of semblance of either conversation or at least knowing what our options are is what exactly happens in February when the settlement expires? Because I don't think unless I missed it, because I have I I um I might have missed it in the memo, but I think understanding exactly what happens in February, you know one assumption is that basically we go back in time to what August of 2022 where Measure C governs and um the settlement expires and we're we're basically transported back in time then to when what the voters passed governs. I'm not sure everyone sitting at the dais necessarily wants that to happen, um and but maybe I'm wrong. Uh as to what actually happens then. But I think understanding from a legal perspective what will happen if we take no action between now and February would be helpful for us to know. And that can be a confidential memo maybe if it if it pertains um to the settlement. But I that aspect of it is kind of what I'm most curious about because that assuming we don't want to just sit here and do nothing and have everything expire and have an outcome we don't want, then we probably should start thinking about that. And I assume we probably don't necessarily need to authorize staff time, we would naturally I would hope as a proactive city think about these things in advance. But um I see Audrey, so I'll stop talking.

[05:40:08] Assistant City Manager Audrey Seymour Ramberg: Uh thank you, Vice Mayor Clark, um uh Mayor Ramos, members of the Council. Audrey Seymour, Assistant City Manager. Um what will happen at the end of February when the Navarro settlement agreement expires is that there will no longer be a requirement that the city maintain at least three miles of street where the parking of oversized vehicles is not prohibited. And we will no longer be required to provide a map that shows parking restrictions throughout the city and those segments where there are no restrictions that limit oversized vehicle parking. Nothing else, well and there are some noticing requirements regarding when the city does um its uh street cleaning program and also if a vehicle is uh oversized and parked um illegally in an area covered by the Narrow Streets Ordinance or the Bike Lane Ordinance, there are special noticing requirements for um how the police interface with those vehicles, letting giving them a copy of the map, for example, and not immediately citing. Those are the things that will discontinue with the expiration of the the settlement agreement. There will not be any so and that will mean that the Narrow Streets Ordinance and the Bike Lane Ordinance will continue to be enforced and in place. Um and nothing else will change in the areas that aren't covered by those two ordinance um absent uh further additional direction from Council. So there were some things that happened around the same time as the Navarro um settlement agreement that related to specific criteria adopted by the Council for where there would be the posting of no 2:00 AM to 6:00 AM parking. And um that criteria resulted in some changes to where that restriction um would apply, and there were signs removed in the areas where there once had been signs. That does not revert back to anything um automatically as a result of the the settlement agreement expiring.

[05:42:30] Councilmember Chris Clark: Okay that makes sense. Okay. Yeah, I I think if there's a general understanding that it's okay for us to have conversations with staff and to start thinking about this before February without, you know, a giant study session or work plan, I think that's one thing because that's, you know, I don't necessarily desire that, but I I just don't want to be in a world where we've really kicked the can down the road to the point where we've created a mess for um we've just created an enormous amount of uncertainty for folks who are on our streets and living in streets and who who deserve to know what is or isn't happening on what timeline. And that's that's my concern. And which I think Councilmember McAlister probably shares too.

[05:43:18] Councilmember Emily Ramos: Uh so that was Vice Mayor Clark. Councilmember Ramirez.

[05:43:24] Councilmember Lucas Ramirez: Thank you Mayor. My my preference right now would be um uh what the city manager was suggesting. I think there's there's I I feel like there's a substantial amount of work that is occurring sort of at an operational level on this, including some preliminary investigations of policy approaches. Um some of I think van lording was mentioned if I'm not mistaken in that memo. Um I I have a different perspective about the van lording proposal um in part because of the practical matter, right? When San Jose looked at it last year, the ordinance it was ostensibly about van lording, but it's it's very difficult to enforce and the primary enforcement mechanism is basically a prohibition against living in RVs. So like I I think it it is not a good thing and I don't think we should be encouraging it, but you know moving too far down the road basically is just it's it's a de facto RV ban and I think that's something that the council can consider, you know, I'm not going to be on the council for very much longer. But I I personally would be reluctant to you know suspend existing work to elevate that. That's just my opinion.

[05:44:43] Councilmember Emily Ramos: Councilmember McAlister.

[05:44:44] Councilmember John McAlister: I guess I had a question, I'm kind of so the Navarro uh settlement, that didn't include the unhitched trailers, did it?

[05:46:16] City Attorney Jennifer Logue: In include them in what in what in what way? The Navarro settlement didn't really it just defined oversized vehicles and and references oversized vehicles, so it didn't really um I wouldn't when when you say did it include the unhitched trailers, do you mean in specifically allowing them to park or...

[05:47:00] Councilmember John McAlister: Well, do they have the same 72 hours because it's a trailer and not an RV, not a vehicle? I'm a little confused if that there may be some part of a thing, but it's not part of enforcement or they have their own type of enforcement, so I wasn't sure how that actually worked.

[05:47:15] City Attorney Jennifer Logue: So the Navarro settlement did not impact the 72-hour parking requirement. That was left intact even as a result of the settlement agreement and um I'm not certain why unhitched trailers are not subject to the same 72-hour rule. I believe they are.

[05:47:38] Councilmember John McAlister: Well here somebody might know.

[05:47:40] Police Chief Mike Canfield: Madam Mayor, Vice Mayor, Council. Uh Mike Canfield, non-sworn Police Chief. To answer the question specifically related to uh unhitched vehicles, they are required to follow the same 72-hour enforcement as vehicles with motors or if they were hitched. There is no exception.

[05:47:59] Councilmember John McAlister: What about notifying the the person in it or the the registered owner of the vehicle? Is there some confusion on how they somebody gets notified who is in it or rents it and so forth?

[05:48:10] Police Chief Mike Canfield: There is challenge associated to it, specifically if it is rented it becomes harder to move, you have to find somebody that's then able to move it. Um but the the complexity is more in the application of enforcement than the the law itself. But there is no carve out that that protects un unattached unattached trailers.

[05:48:32] Councilmember John McAlister: Yeah, I was confused a little. That's why I'd asked for clarity because what there is more complicated to do whatever you have to do then with it.

[05:48:40] Police Chief Mike Canfield: Enforcement is a challenge, has its challenges.

[05:48:43] Councilmember John McAlister: Okay, thank you.

[05:48:48] Councilmember Emily Ramos: Vice Mayor Clark.

[05:48:49] Councilmember Chris Clark: I think if it's clear, if it's clear that we're um individual council members or um a group short of a Brown Act is is okay to explore concepts or things that came out of the memo more deeply with staff, especially um concepts like um you know there there are more than just enforcement actions, you know there are um uh there are incentives that I think other communities have explored. Um as long as I think there's an understanding that it's okay to do that, as long as we're not taking up so much staff time that we're taking them away from other things and other priorities and that they are very much authorized to say to close the door in our face and say we we've got other things to do. That's that's all I'm asking for. And maybe that's always been implied, I just want to make sure that that's okay and we don't I don't get my hand smacked by my colleagues at some point later on. But um I try not to do that anyway.

[05:49:54] Councilmember Emily Ramos: All right, uh City Manager McCarthy.

[05:49:56] City Manager Kimbra McCarthy: Thank you, Mayor. So, so staff has an obligation to be preparing for the end of this settlement as it as it is now. So there's only a few months left. Um as you all are aware, as you've heard from our Assistant City Manager, uh we have been uh working with and have been contacted by various uh businesses and residents, and so we are working with uh various people um to try and help solve some of the challenges that we're facing. So that will continue, and we do have our Human Services Division um obviously our Police Department um is also working via the the Neighborhood and Event Services division, so this this work will continue because we have to be prepared for what's happening um in February. So we don't necessarily need Council direction for that. I believe that uh if there is interest in seeing what other options there are, that is something that staff can can work on. I don't necessarily see this as a work plan item because it's it's just part of, you know, kind of some of the day-to-day things that staff's having to address along with multiple other things that that we're working on. Um if there is a desire tonight for Council to give specific direction though, for staff to look at anything specific, then I would ask that you take a straw poll. But otherwise, just know that uh I think what the Vice Mayor has suggested, um, could also work and staff is already uh working on uh various actions.

[05:51:38] Councilmember Emily Ramos: Thank you, City Manager McCarthy. Councilmember Hicks.

[05:51:43] Councilmember Alison Hicks: Well maybe what I was going to say is redundant at this point as several other people have spoken. But since I pressed my speaking button, I'll go on. Um so I I think it's pretty clear that things are not going to go on they're not going to continue the same. There are multiple things that we're facing that are very different. The expiration of Navarro, a pretty big change in council, and uh legislative changes that are having, you know, having vehicles uh lived-in vehicles stream into Mountain View. So I think for all those reasons we we all know there's going to be changes. And increasing comments from uh residents and companies here. And so I just encourage, although I don't want to displace items that um are on the our work plan for the next six months, I also don't want to, I think coming next year we're going to be seeing some changes and should be preparing for that. And um, so the the various things that people have mentioned to move that on and and be informed so that we can ramp up to those changes and and make those changes in a thoughtful way that I think our next council council should be engaged in. I think and also the comment that was made that the people living in vehicles on our street, I mean this is the vast majority of our homeless individuals, that they should have some hint as to what's coming so they can prepare because everything will not stay the same.

[05:53:18] Councilmember Emily Ramos: Thank you, Councilmember Hicks. Councilmember Kamei.

[05:53:23] Councilmember Ellen Kamei: Great. Thanks, Mayor. Um so I just had two questions. Kind of one, what what what did did we decide on anything yet? Okay. I don't know. No? Okay. Um the second is I I did want to follow up on one of the items. It had been of interest when um we spoke about this back in 2019 was the um kind of the predatory practices that we're seeing related to those who um are unstably housed. I mean lack of a better word and in the memo it, you know, van lords. Um I know that there's three cities that have taken action against that type of predatory behavior. I think the like state legislature had like looked at maybe a bill or two about regulating that. Just kind of not sure um where we are with that. I think to me it's just kind of bifurcating the the issue a little bit. I think one of them is obviously related to the the three miles of parking, but the other is kind of more predatory practices and I think one of the actions we took this evening talking about, you know, um community opportunities for people to to purchase and um the the Co-op. Um you know I think this is another area I personally have been interested in trying to protect folks who are in um these situations where they're being um in these domiciles which cannot move and adhere to the 72 hours, um and they're the ones getting the you know notices and and perhaps ticketed. And so I just I don't know how other colleagues feel about that. I think that's one of the things that the councils, whether this one, the ones prior haven't been able to tackle. Um and I'm not sure as February approaches if that might increase. I don't know, you know, I don't know what could happen as people may feel um the strain of Navarro coming to an end. I don't know. I don't know how how else the council can tackle that, but that's one of the things that had been on my mind back in even 2019 that we've never spoken about.

[05:55:48] Councilmember Emily Ramos: Um about any of it. Um my general preference is to not displace any of our existing work items right now. Um did you want to make a memo... Well I don't I don't know. I mean I think there's many different ideas getting floated, and that's the and so I'm just bringing it up. There are cities which which have already had that. I don't know if other people are curious for more information. I only saw a par- you know a short paragraph in our briefing. I don't know if there's more there if people are interested in that. I think that, you know, obviously there's another issue um which we're talking about is like the sunset of the settlement. So...

[05:56:26] Councilmember John McAlister: So were you interested in exploring how to prevent the van lords taking advantage? Okay. Because there are examples. You know, I know some people are concerned about the work plan but if we already have examples I ask the city managers if they look at other uh cities, what what they do with their van lords. That what you'd like to explore or get some an get some answers on? I I I'm I'm with that too. Yeah, 'cause that is, people are being taken advantage of and some of those units, if you look at 'em, and theyre rented. You go, how can anybody live in those things?

[05:57:08] Councilmember Alison Hicks: Uh so I don't know whether the previous two council members who spoke are you talking about an expanded off an another off agenda memo with more detail on that particular issue?

[05:57:28] Councilmember Ellen Kamei: It can be. I just I think that councilmember McAlister started the conversation with a with quite a few different topics and this is the one I of interest to me which is you know we have made a lot of our work as a council protecting the most vulnerable and I have been out because residents and other businesses have reached out to me so I have been out in different parts of the community and I have seen it. I went this morning. Um and so it is something that concerns me. We do have three cities that are examples. There wasn't a lot of information in the off agenda memo so we could get more. But I don't know how other people feel, but out of the different topics that councilmember McAlister put forward, um you know it sounds like staff's preparing for February and the sunset, but this was one topic that the an a council has never tackled, this council or prior iterations.

[05:58:32] Councilmember Lucas Ramirez: Thank you Mayor. My preference right now would be um uh what the city manager was suggesting. I think there's there's I I feel like there's a substantial amount of work that is occurring sort of at an operational level on this, including some preliminary investigations of policy approaches. Um some of I think van lording was mentioned if I'm not mistaken in that memo. Um I I have a different perspective about the van lording proposal um in part because of the practical matter, right? When San Jose looked at it last year, the ordinance it was ostensibly about van lording, but it's it's very difficult to enforce and the primary enforcement mechanism is basically a prohibition against living in RVs. So like I I think it it is not a good thing and I don't think we should be encouraging it, but you know moving too far down the road basically is just it's it's a de facto RV ban and I think that's something that the council can consider, you know, I'm not going to be on the council for very much longer. But I I personally would be reluctant to you know suspend existing work to elevate that. That's just my opinion.

[05:59:54] Councilmember Emily Ramos: Um about any of it. Um my general preference is to not displace any of our existing work...

[06:00:00] Councilmember Emily Ramos: workload. Uh, that's kind of first and and foremost because a lot of the workload, if if if we add this into a workload, it's going to change just by the nature of we're we're losing people on our council that may have different ideas about it. Um, I don't know when when this item will come back to council relating to the Navarro settlement. I'm assuming it will eventually. Um, and we could probably guide some feedback to staff um as um council Vice Mayor Clark was mentioning um about like things that the policies that were in the off agenda memo that we recently had. And there are still more policies that uh city staff are exploring when it eventually comes back to us. Um, and we probably are hearing from our counterparts in other cities about the different policies there, which we could also direct staff to consider when it comes back.

[06:00:59] Councilmember Emily Ramos: I don't anticipate it coming back anytime soon. Well, I mean, I guess it depends on what you mean by soon. Um, I think uh if if if something is coming back to us, I wouldn't mind looking into vanlording. Particularly what I'm kind of interested in vanlording is how how prevalent it might be. I've been hearing different stories about it um from different contacts. I've been hearing from when we we did a while back, um I I was with Vice Mayor Clark. I don't know if I was Mayor yet at that point, where we were just hopping into a van and uh with the MVPD on a ride-along. Um I don't remember when that happened, but like it was a year ago, um where there was discussion about vanlording. And there were some stats that uh MVPD gave us. I don't think it was in the memo about the stats of like the percentage of how many RV residents uh the RV residents were um renting the van from renting the RV from someone.

[06:02:05] Councilmember Emily Ramos: Uh I've heard different numbers from like the Law Foundation on how actually prevalent it is. Um, and there are different numbers. Um so it it would be kind of interesting uh to understand that when it becomes something. Um I see council member, um not council member, um City Manager McCarthy on the line. Save us.

[06:02:30] City Manager Kimbra McCarthy: Yes, thank you Mayor. So, um, to be clear about what's going to happen in February. So what will happen in February is everything will revert revert back to what the status quo was before. So the terms of the settlement that we're under now, we will no longer be under the terms of those settlements. Um that also means that the city could explore options like looking at the predatory practices, um looking at the unhitched trailers which um are problematic uh for reasons that the police chief said. And and also um the restrictions that were under and providing warnings and then if no one's there, you don't even know who you're giving a warning to, who the owner is, who has it there. And we could have our officers spending hours or even days chasing down trying to figure out who a trailer belongs to.

[06:03:28] City Manager Kimbra McCarthy: So I think there is some low-hanging fruit there that would be more uh simple ordinances um that wouldn't displace the work that you all have prioritized for us to do. We are still working on all of that work plan and and that will not stop because of this. Um but I think just uh realistically from an operations level as uh folks have mentioned, uh we just have to be prepared for um the messaging, the noticing, uh some sort of transition plan so no one is caught off guard um and especially those that are the most vulnerable.

[06:04:05] City Manager Kimbra McCarthy: So perhaps what the easiest thing might be is for you all to just provide a general, you know, thumbs up or agreement um that staff will continue uh to work on options um that are related to the settlement ending. And then as far as timing goes, I think that can be uh a conversation that that I have with council members um and what's realistic um with what the work plan is versus how long some of these things might take. Because we are still in the settlement until February. So um we can be working on things but there's still some things we just cannot change at this point. So if council's comfortable with giving that direction, um it could be kind of a medium between what all of you have said knowing that we're going to be working on uh these items and then um coming back to you all at some point in the future.

Council and Staff Comments

[06:05:05] Councilmember Emily Ramos: Does that does that sound good to people? Great. Okay. Uh, so uh next um I guess if if that uh um council member Kamei, you're still in the queue. Should we do this? Oh, go ahead.

[06:05:21] Councilmember Ellen Kamei: Thanks. Um thanks City Manager McCarthy. Thanks Mayor. I think that sounds fine. I just want to be explicit and clarify that my interest in and even discussion of vanlords was not to was not the same purpose as it sounds like perhaps the city of San Jose, council member Ramirez. You know, I just wanted to, I think it's really important to to clarify that. I think mine is specifically related to predatory practices I am seeing firsthand and how we're helping all of our residents, housed or unhoused, who are the most vulnerable. And I just wanted to clarify that. It's not to offensively do what other jurisdictions may have done. Thank you.

[06:06:07] Councilmember Emily Ramos: Thank you, council member Kamei. Um, with that, should we thumbs up on on what uh City Manager McCarthy? All right. All right. We have mostly thumbs up. Um, which is good enough. And uh with that, I don't see um anyone else in the docket for item nine. Um so with that I will uh report out that I um I went to the public art ribbon cutting. Um there's a new public art at our transit station. Yay us. And I probably suffered from heat stroke and this is why I don't go outdoors.

[06:06:49] Councilmember Emily Ramos: Um then after that I joined uh several of my colleagues for the Cities Association Santa Clara County where we went over like emergency response essentially. Um and then I went to the wagon wheel ice cream social, which was partially paid for by our neighborhood grants, and they are very appreciative of that. On the 18th, I went to the ABAG General Assembly. Um and then on the 20th, we had our Together in Pride event with these lovely T-shirts that are being modeled spectacularly by my two colleagues right next to me. Um, and then we had a another ribbon cutting for the breakfast club, um which is delicious. We ate so much food. RIP my diet.

Adjournment

[06:07:32] Councilmember Emily Ramos: Um, and with that, um thank you so much for joining us. Um, the council will enter summer recess, so our next council meeting will be held on August 25th, 2026. And this meeting is adjourned at 11:05. And we are halfway through my Mayoral Administration.

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