September 8 , 2026 JOINT MEETING OF CITY COUNCIL AND SHORELINE REGIONAL PARK COMMUNITY

Video

Transcript

Segment 1

[00:04:41] Mayor Kamei: All right, good evening, everyone. Thank you for joining us for our closed session. Interim City Attorney Quinn will make a closed session announcement, and then we will welcome public comment on the items listed for closed session.

[00:05:01] Interim City Attorney Quinn: Forgot how to do that. Public employee performance evaluation pursuant to California Government Code Section 54957(b)(1). The title is Council appointees of the employees is Council appointees, City Clerk and City Manager. And then there will also be 2.2 Conference with labor negotiators pursuant to California Government Code Section 54957.6(a). The agency designated representative is our Vice Mayor Chris Clark, the unrepresented employees will be the City Clerk and the City Manager. And that is all.

[00:05:41] Mayor Kamei: Thank you. Would any member of the public joining us virtually or in person like to provide comment on the closed session items listed on tonight's agenda? If so, please click the 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 3 minutes.

[00:06:01] Mayor Kamei: Seeing no speakers. We will now take virtual speakers. Seeing no virtual speakers, we the Council will now recess to the Plaza Conference Room for closed session and return to the Council Chambers at the close to continue to the regular session.

Segment 3

[01:41:07] Mayor Ramos: All right, everyone. Good evening, everyone. Welcome to the joint meeting of the Mountain View City Council and the Shoreline Regional Park Community of September 8th, 2026. Please join me in the Pledge of Allegiance.

[01:41:25] Mayor 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.

[01:41:40] Mayor Ramos: Great job, everyone. The City Clerk will take attendance by roll call.

[01:41:47] City Clerk: Councilmember Hicks.

[01:41:48] Councilmember Hicks: Here.

[01:41:49] City Clerk: Councilmember Kamei.

[01:41:51] Councilmember Kamei: Here.

[01:41:51] City Clerk: Councilmember McAlister.

[01:41:53] Councilmember McAlister: Yep.

[01:41:53] City Clerk: Councilmember Ramirez.

[01:41:54] Councilmember Ramirez: Here.

[01:41:54] City Clerk: Councilmember Showalter.

[01:41:56] City Clerk: Vice Mayor Clark.

[01:41:56] Vice Mayor Clark: Here.

[01:41:57] City Clerk: Mayor Ramos.

[01:41:58] Mayor Ramos: Here.

[01:41:59] City Clerk: You have a quorum.

[01:42:01] Mayor Ramos: Yay. All right, 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 comments. 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 government code may be grounds for terminating a speaker's comment period.

[01:42:39] Mayor Ramos: Now I would like to take a moment to highlight a new tool the city is piloting to make our public meetings more accessible to our diverse community. The city has launched a pilot of Wordly, an AI-powered translation and captioning service that allows members of the public to follow meeting proceedings in their preferred language using their own device or headset. The service offers translation in more than 60 languages. Tonight marks the first City Council meeting where this service is available. Wordly is also being offered at the Environmental Planning Commission and the Rental Housing Committee meetings. This pilot is an important step in expanding language access and helping more members of our community participate in the civic process.

[01:43:25] Mayor Ramos: We encourage residents to take advantage of this new service and share their feedback as we evaluate the pilot. For those watching from home via Zoom, YouTube, the city website, or cable TV, Wordly translation service can be launched by scanning the QR code displayed on the screen or by clicking the direct links provided in the meeting agendas. For more information about the AI translation service, please refer to the AI translation service flyer/handout provided with today's meeting materials.

[01:43:59] Mayor Ramos: In addition, we are currently recruiting members to serve on our boards, commissions, and committees. So this is our call to action, call to service, call to community. We are accepting applications until 5 p.m. on October 2nd for the Bicycle/Pedestrian Advisory Committee, Board of Library Trustees, Downtown Committee, Environmental Planning Commission, Human Relations Commission, Parks and Recreation Commission, Performing Arts Committee, and the Senior Advisory Committee. Please visit mountainview.gov/bcc or contact the City Clerk's office for additional information.

[01:44:39] Mayor Ramos: Interim City Attorney Quinn, do you have a closed session report?

[01:44:44] Interim City Attorney Quinn: There's no closed session report this evening.

[01:44:48] Mayor Ramos: Yay. All right. Now we move on to item three, presentations. 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 are going to go to item 3.1, National Hispanic Heritage Month Proclamation. Now we are happy to be joined this evening by Maria Herny and Chris Sayago, graduates of our 2025 Spanish Language Leadership Academy to accept the proclamation. Maria and Chris, will you join me at the lectern?

[01:45:51] Mayor Ramos: Okey dokey. All right. The proclamation reads, whereas in 1968, President Lyndon B Johnson first introduced Hispanic Heritage Week to recognize and celebrate the independence of our neighbors in Central America and Mexico. And in 1988, President Ronald Reagan expanded the recognition period from one week to one month starting September 15th and ending October 15th of each year. And whereas Hispanic and Latino communities in Mountain View who call our city home and help Mountain View thrive represent a diverse group with roots throughout Latin America and beyond. And many Latino residents also trace their heritage to the original indigenous communities of Latin America.

[01:46:41] Mayor Ramos: And whereas in recognizing and celebrating the achievements of our Hispanic and Latino community, we honor them and recognize all they have helped to build in our state and city. They are leaders, community organizers, first responders, health care professionals, teachers, artists, athletes, entertainers, colleagues, and friends. And whereas the Hispanic and Latino communities make incalculable contributions to our neighborhoods and community in every sector of the economy and we are a greater and more vibrant city because of them.

[01:47:18] Mayor Ramos: Now, therefore, I, Emily Ann Ramos, Mayor of the City of Mountain View, along with my colleagues on the City Council, do hereby proclaim September 15th through October 15th as National Hispanic Heritage Month in Mountain View. Maria and Chris, would you like to say a few words?

[01:47:39] Maria Herny: Good evening Mayor Emily Ann Ramos, Council members, and guests. My name is Maria Herny and I am here today with Chris Sayago, both proud members of this community and graduates of 2025 Mountain View Leadership Spanish Academy. It is with great honor to accept this proclamation on behalf of the Latino community and the Academy.

[01:48:02] Maria Herny: It represents the rich history, the strong traditions, and heritage that connect us to our roots. It also recognizes the dedication and determination of Latino families and individuals who have helped shape the community of Mountain View, which is our Mountain View today.

[01:48:20] Maria Herny: Thank you for honoring the importance of our culture and for creating opportunities that allow people from different backgrounds and experiences to connect, learn, and participate in the life of our city, giving us another way to appreciate the diversity that makes Mountain View special. By coming together, supporting one another, and working as a community, we can continue to make Mountain View an even better place for everyone. Thank you.

[01:48:49] Chris Sayago: Ahora yo voy a hablar en español. Somos un grupo hispano orgullosamente representado aquí. Solo quiero decir que esta proclamación es en honor para y para la comunidad latina, que no mengüe la cultura, tradición y la hispanidad con toda su diversidad en este país. Que viva la comunidad latina, que viva la comunidad hispana, y que viva la gente. Gracias.

[01:49:20] Mayor Ramos: Thank you very much. Right, we're going to have... yes, both of them. Great. Thank you. And right here, and then we're going to take a group picture.

[01:49:56] Mayor Ramos: All right. We will now move on to item 3.2, that's a fun one, a certificate recognizing Sky Thompson for winning the Empower Silicon Valley Annual Scholarship Competition. So we are happy to be joined this evening by Cheyenne Lipp, Community Engagement Intern with Silicon Valley Clean Energy, to present the certificate to Miss Thompson. Cheyenne and Sky, will you join me at the lectern? Yes, hi. All right, Cheyenne, make your brief presentation.

[01:50:26] Cheyenne Lipp: Hi, I will also be introducing Juliette Pascual, who is the Community Engagement Specialist at Silicon Valley Clean Energy, and she will be making the comment.

[01:50:38] Juliette Pascual: Thank you. Just really briefly, Juliette Pascual, Community Engagement Specialist at Silicon Valley Clean Energy. We are the local clean electricity provider for Mountain View. We are a not-for-profit entity, and we serve our community by providing electricity and helping residents reduce their use of fossil fuels. So I would like to shout out Sky Thompson, who is here in the audience today, who participated in our recent Empower Silicon Valley art competition for local students to submit works in order to win a scholarship.

[01:51:14] Juliette Pascual: Our theme this year was powering communities, and it asked students to envision artistically how clean energy would improve their community and how it would work in the places where they go to school, local businesses, and where they live. So Sky submitted solar butterflies, a sticker design that we can give out at community events, that envisions a really beautiful depiction of made by watercolor and other mediums to just show, you know, how bright and beautiful a clean energy future can be. So with that, I think that we are ready for Sky to come up and accept her certificate.

[01:51:54] Mayor Ramos: Congratulations, Sky, thank you so much. Do we want to take a picture all together? Yeah, let me also give her this one too. Wonderful. Congratulations. High five. All right, and then we're gonna do a picture right in front here.

[01:53:10] Mayor Ramos: Okey dokey. Um, now, would any member of the Council like to say a few words? Seeing none. Oh. Oh. Go ahead, Councilmember Showalter.

[01:53:29] Councilmember Showalter: Yeah, I just wanted to say that, um, this is one of the many, well, first congratulations to Sky. We really think that your, um, your sticker is beautiful. And I know that a lot of people will enjoy it. So thank you so much for, um, taking part in this and for your talent, sharing your talents with us.

[01:53:49] Councilmember Showalter: And I just also wanted to share that, you know, at Silicon Valley Clean Energy, we are the energy... we do buy the energy for the area and we buy clean energy for everyone. And it's an important service and we take some of the extra profits that we get, well we're a non-profit, but we take some of the extra funding that we get with the difference between PG&E and other things and we put it back into the community with rebates to help people electrify like for heat pumps and for things that raise awareness about the importance of clean energy and this is one of those programs and I'm so glad that you took part and, and you won! We're gonna enjoy your sticker.

[01:54:45] Mayor Ramos: Thank you Councilmember Showalter. Anyone else? Seeing none, 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 submit a blue speaker card to the City Clerk. We will take in-person speakers first. Each speaker will have three minutes. Seeing none in person. We will now take virtual speakers. There looks like there's one raised hand. Madeline Musante.

[01:55:32] Madeline Musante: Yes, hello. I just wanted to confirm that it's all right to comment now on item six related to the Keeper Report?

[01:55:40] Mayor Ramos: Sorry, you're a bit early. We are still on item three.

[01:55:44] Madeline Musante: Ah, my mistake. All right, I will tune back in later then.

[01:55:48] Mayor Ramos: No worries. All right, and that seemed to be all the virtual speakers. We will now move on to item four, Consent Calendar. These items will be approved by one motion unless any member of the Council wishes to pull an item for individual consideration.

[01:56:07] Mayor Ramos: If an item is pulled from the consent calendar, it will be considered separately following approval of the balance of the consent calendar. If you would like to speak on these items or the next item, Oral Communications on Non-Agenda Items, in person, please submit a blue speaker card to the City Clerk now. Would any member of the Council like to pull an item? Oh, wow, okay. Councilmember Macias?

[01:56:31] Councilmember McAlister: Yes, I would like to pull items 4.4 and 4.5 for a briefing from our housing manager on that.

[01:56:42] Mayor Ramos: All right. Councilmember Ramirez.

[01:56:45] Councilmember Ramirez: Thank you, Mayor. I'd like to pull 4.11 for comment and action on the second recommendation specifically, 4.12, and 4.14.

[01:56:59] Mayor Ramos: All right. Councilmember Showalter.

[01:57:02] Councilmember Showalter: Okay, I have a few that I'd just like to comment on and I was going to also pull item 4.12 but that's already happened. So should I go ahead with my comments?

[01:57:12] Mayor Ramos: Uh, let's get everyone's... oh actually yeah, let's go with that since no one else is pulling. Okay.

[01:57:20] Councilmember Showalter: Alright, well, 4.7, that was an item on public engagement, putting together a public engagement plan. And I just wanted to say that I really appreciated this report and seeing all the ways that we engage the public. And this is something that changes a lot over time as social media evolves and different technologies are available. So we really have to evaluate it from time to time. Thanks to staff for doing that.

[01:57:48] Councilmember Showalter: And I hope that we may continue to add some things going forward like we'll talk about this a little later in the agenda, but maybe civility roundtables and maybe more surveys, but all in all I just wanted to say thank you to the staff.

[01:58:06] Councilmember Showalter: Then 4.13, we have two grand jury reports, one was about potholes and one was about the VTA. And I wanted to say something about the value of grand jury reports. The grand jury is a group of individuals who does an investigation on topics that are believed to be an issue in the county. And they get to choose what those topics are. And I think that it's always important to take a really good look at what they've suggested because they have the advantage of kind of looking from the outside in and maybe noticing things that those of us on the inside of the government don't notice, and particularly bringing to light better ways to communicate things or things that aren't communicated adequately.

[01:59:08] Councilmember Showalter: And that was a number of what this report was about. So I just wanted to kind of give a little commercial for the grand jury reports in general. I appreciated our responses to them. I thought they were very logical like for the potholes. I mean, we're gonna do some things to make our process clearer, which is good. We want processes to be clear. And then the other thing I wanted to say is that every year there's a call to serve on the grand jury and it's usually a one-year thing. It's a big time commitment, but it is a very good thing for public service. So if anybody out there is listening and thinks they might really like to dig into some issues, that's a good thing to serve on.

[02:00:03] Councilmember Showalter: And then 4.16, the Middlefield and Moffett sewer replacement, phase one of this project was started several years ago, and it was designed to avoid possible issues with our creeks and make sure that our creeks are kept as clean, you know, as a way to keep our creeks as clean as possible, and to make sure that our sewer practices are up to date. And it's really important that the city just keeps up with all this infrastructure. It's one of the things that we don't want to have to think about, but the reason we don't have to think about it is because we have good city staff that takes care of it. So I just want to say that I'm glad that this additional process phase two is going on and I look forward to hearing that it's completed and learning about as time goes on other infrastructure improvements that are needed. Thank you.

[02:01:07] Mayor Ramos: Thank you Councilmember Showalter. No other comments or pulls. We will now take public comment for the consent calendar, including the items that have been pulled. Would any member of the public joining us virtually or in person like to provide comment on the consent calendar listed on the agenda? 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 three minutes. I have Jaime or Jaime Arteaga.

[02:01:56] Jaime Arteaga: Good evening, Council members. My name's Jaime Arteaga and I'm with the Norcal States Carpenters Union. And today I'm here to speak a little bit on 96 West El Camino project. I have a little bit of a concern. The reason I have concerns is, in the city of San Jose, the general contractor for this... or the developer had two big projects and on those projects there were serious wage theft violations. I mean, serious enough which I believe you need to look into. I respectfully ask that you look into them.

[02:02:36] Jaime Arteaga: Also, I'm asking for the city to pull the vote or table the vote on this project so you guys can receive more information on the aspect or pertaining to what I'm talking about. If you guys are willing to, we'd really appreciate it. Just think of it like this. If your son or daughters were working on this project and they were victims of wage theft, how would you feel? Just because of lack of worker protection language or the compliance aspect of it? You wouldn't like it. I wouldn't like it if my children were victims of wage theft, sons or daughters, neighbors, whoever, constituents. So please, I ask you to please table the vote on this. Please, thank you.

[02:03:29] Mayor Ramos: Thank you. Next we have Harvey McKeon.

[02:03:43] Harvey McKeon: Hi, good evening Council. I'm also from the Norcal States Carpenters Union and we represent workers from, all across Norcal, up into the border, to the northern border. I want to thank the Council, you know, because we've spoken to several members of the Council ahead of this meeting about this project. And I want to emphasize that we're not, we're in favor of housing. You know, the carpenters are well-known housing advocates.

[02:04:15] Harvey McKeon: But the union has written to the city to inform that a recent Danco housing project in San Jose played host to a number of labor violation allegations that are still being investigated by numerous state agencies. And this isn't an isolated incident. There's Department of Labor records showing that wage and hour violations affected numerous workers on another Danco project. And it's worth noting that repeated violations like this are rare since wage theft is so seldom captured and punished by authorities. So this is really significant information we'd like you to know more about. And the recent project I referred to in San Jose even saw workers threatened with referral to ICE.

Segment 4

[02:15:00] Public Speaker: in the context of them trying to enforce their rights. Employers, it goes without saying, should not be leveraging the specter of immigration enforcement to have a chilling effect on workers simply trying to be treated properly. Councils should question um whether this type of track record represents public benefit. Is this the type of jobsite behavior that should be invited into the community? Now the project in question already has significant public funds both from the city and the county and the tax-exempt bonds would add yet another layer of public um subsidy on top of that. And as much as I'm a union organizer, I'm also a taxpayer. Um so I really want to question from two fronts whether a tax break is really merited here. In our view, this should not be the case at least until all stakeholders have had a chance to speak until assurances have been given as to the protection of workers. So I'd say tabling this until next meeting seems like a very reasonable thing to do. And uh as a reminder I think, you know, um Mountain View has some good wage theft policies, uh so does San Jose. That wasn't enough to stop what is alleged to have occurred from occurring. And uh TEFRA hearings are not rubber stamp procedures. Um you can look at other municipalities and public bodies where um electeds have voted no. We're not even saying vote no now, we're just saying table it so there's more time so you get full information. It's uh it's what the community deserves, it's what the project deserves and it's what workers deserve. And it's the day after Labor Day, so happy Labor Day. Thank you.

[02:16:45] Mayor Ramos: Thank you. Um... we will seeing no other in-person speakers, we will now take virtual speakers. Um, I see Rashmi.

[02:17:01] Rashmi Sahai: Hi, can you hear me?

[02:17:03] Mayor Ramos: We can hear you.

[02:17:05] Rashmi Sahai: Great. Um, yes, Rashmi Sahai, I'm a Mountain View resident and a member of Green Spaces. I'm calling um to speak about item 4.12, um the work plan for the Parks and Rec Commission. I would like to say that um it would be nice to see um the projects that are going to be implemented by the Biodiversity and Urban Forestry Plan um get a chance to be reviewed by the Parks and Rec Commission. We don't see that on their work plan right now. Um, April Webster sent a letter signed by me and many other folks and other organizations um outlining why this is important, mainly because if we want to be able to give input and review in a timely manner before the project gets too far along, then we need to be able to see it at that point. Um, Parks and Rec Commission as well. Before it um comes to Council, usually when projects come to Council, it's hard to make changes. If changes are made they're costly. So it would be really nice to see the projects that are planned for the next year to be uh the have the PRC get the opportunity to review. Uh the other thing I would like to say um is we had sent a letter to City Council this past summer with a concern about um trees dying on Franklin Street and there are trees dying in um Whisman Park, um over 20 trees on Franklin Street and Pioneer Park and over 20 trees in Whisman Park and across Mountain View. And um Green Spaces Mountain View is pretty concerned about this tree death, especially because the city has not yet identified the cause of death. And we'd like to see um that being addressed at a Parks and Rec meeting, so it would be great if that could be incorporated into the work plan as well. Um, that is all I have to say. Thank you so much.

[02:19:07] Mayor Ramos: Thank you. Next we have April Webster.

[02:19:12] April Webster: Thank you. Um, I'd like to start by of course echoing what Rashmi...

[02:19:17] Mayor Ramos: April, you're a little faint right now. Can you get closer to the mic?

[02:19:20] April Webster: You bet. Is this better?

[02:19:22] Mayor Ramos: A little better.

[02:19:24] April Webster: Okay, sorry. Um, I'll try to speak up. Um, it's just my laptop microphone. Um, so um I wanted to start off by um, you know, echoing what Rashmi had to say and also just thanking staff for all the work that went into the um the Biodiversity and Urban Forest Plan. And I think a lot of us are excited to see that put into practice. Um, but as she mentioned, um the concern that a number of us are having is that um the projects and standards that will actually implement it and determine what um those projects look like on the ground aren't showing up in the PRC which is also doubling up as the Urban Forestry Board work plan. So that includes projects like the Rengstorff grade separation, complete streets project, Evelyn, um you know, places projects where we're making decisions about things like tree canopy, biodiversity, native planting, shade, green stormwater infrastructure. Um the standard details update is another really important example, and um because those standards are going to shape how we design our streets and public spaces and that also includes um a lot of those elements I just mentioned in the other projects. So making sure that they're on the PRC's work plan so that they can be reviewed by those experts and advise the Council and then also giving an opportunity for the community to voice that early on before, you know, she pointed out, um it becomes baked in um and it becomes a lot harder um to make changes once it's presented to Council and and can mean, you know, going back and making a lot of changes which can cost, you know, take more time, blow out budgets, extend timelines and everyone becomes a bit more frustrated, um including the public. So getting it in early is really important. Um, and then there was just a second letter um that Rashmi didn't um talk to because it's from uh more the uh bike walk um Mountain View Los Altos group. And that is similarly um the standard details update which applies of course to a lot of those active transportation and complete streets projects. Um, it would be great to see that added to their um work plan as an action item and then have it be early enough that um you know, the uh you know the folks who are advising on this can actually provide feedback and then staff will have enough time to respond and incorporate that um feedback as well as the public's. Um we haven't consistently seen that with complete streets projects um in the past couple years. They've come to the advisory body when it's almost finished and then it's just an information item. So if you could take that into consideration we'd really appreciate it. Thank you.

[02:22:23] Mayor Ramos: Thank you. Uh next we have Hala Ashawani.

[02:22:32] Hala Ashawani: Hello, good evening. Can you hear me okay?

[02:22:34] Mayor Ramos: We can hear you.

[02:22:36] Hala Ashawani: Great. Uh good evening Mayor, City Council members, this is Hala Ashawani, a longtime resident of Mountain View. Um I am calling to support my colleagues from Green Spaces Mountain View and asking that you involve the um public input and um contribution to seeing how the Biodiversity Plan gets implemented. Um the PRC can definitely help with that. Um seeing that the projects uh on their work plan will enable them to you know have it actual implementation actionable items in there to have the plan uh become a reality. And then it's also a chance for us the public to attend these meetings and give input and get updates. And as the colleagues before me mentioned, when this happens uh during early on in the process, a lot of things can be improved and maybe uh can be done much more efficiently than if they you know uh are done towards the very end when the project evaluation and implementation comes to uh the end. Um I also would like to have the PRC get involved uh in the um investigation of the uh library trees that have disappeared. You know, the 26 or 28 trees that we lost all at once. Um we still don't know what the cause is. Um in fact the subject has not come up in the PRC since the uh removal of all these trees. I believe that was in July, uh July 8th or July 9th, that was about a couple months ago. And so I think it's really important for us to stay up to date on what's going on. Some of us are worried about the trees across the street or even in Eagle Park because those are very similar to the ones that we lost in front of the library. Um and we just don't want to see actions like that you know removing massive amount of trees without really knowing what's going on. Uh so one way for the public to be informed and to be able to get the information and give input is having this on the PRC agenda. So um I would like to urge the Council to give PRC more active role in what's going on in our city as far as um trees and uh Biodiversity Plan and so forth. Thank you very much.

[02:25:13] Mayor Ramos: Thank you. We will actually go back to one in-person speaker that we missed, Travis Cooper.

[02:25:32] Travis Cooper: My name is Travis Cooper. I'm a financial advisor for the California Municipal Finance Authority and we're the bond issuer for um the Danco project. Um I just want to add uh my two cents I guess, that um it's our understanding that those issues um with the project in San Jose are being worked out and they'll be uh worked out um within the next couple of weeks, finalized within the next couple of weeks. Um and just a reminder too that the TEFRA hearing itself and the TEFRA approval is approving CMFA to issue bonds for the project. This is a project that has applied to the state, to CDLAC, and received allocation in a competitive process. So the state has looked at the project and approved it to receive that that bond allocation. And the approval by the Council today will allow that um those bonds to be issued by the the CMFA. Um we have um done quite a few projects with with Danco um and and um uh they've been around for 40 years, a great company um to work with. So um that's all. Thanks.

[02:26:30] Mayor Ramos: Thank you. I will now bring this back for Council action and note that a motion to approve the balance of the consent calendar should also include reading the title of the ordinance and resolutions attached to consent calendar items 4.2, 4.3, 4.6, 4.7, and 4.9. Just as a reminder to everyone, 4.4, 4.5, 4.11, and 4.12 have been pulled.

[02:27:00] Councilmember Hicks: Wait what, which one?

[02:27:02] Mayor Ramos: 4.14 was pulled.

[02:27:13] Mayor Ramos: All right. And also 4.14 was also pulled. Do we have a motion for the balance of the consent calendar?

[02:27:26] Mayor Ramos: All right, Councilmember Hicks. Go ahead and have the fun reading.

[02:27:30] Councilmember Hicks: Yes I'm volunteering to read. But um, you're gonna have to help me as I go through them because I wrote the ones that are pulled on multiple pages. So um... So I motion that we adopt item number 4.2, adopt a resolution of the City Council of the City of Mountain View fixing the employer contribution at an equal amount for employees and annuitants under the Public Employees' Medical and Hospital Care Act with respect to a recognized employee organization group 001 Safety Fire, to be read in title only, further reading waived, and adopt a resolution of the City Council of the City of Mountain View fixing the employer contribution at an equal amount for employees and annuitants under the Public Employee Medical and Hospital Care Act with respect to a recognized employee organization, this time group number 002 Safety Police, to be read in title only, further reading waived. Also item 4.3, adopt a resolution of the City Council of the City of Mountain View: Number one, accepting and appropriating um $388,515 in 2022 through 2023 Permanent Local Housing Allocation, or PLHA, program funds from the State of California in the Permanent Local Housing Allocation subfund; Number two, appropriating $336,483 of the 2022 through 2023 PLHA program funds in the Permanent Local Housing Allocation subfund to the 96 West El Camino Real affordable housing project; And number three, appropriating a $142,036 in PLHA program funds in the Permanent Local Housing Allocation subfund to the Homeownership Assistance Pilot Program, consisting of the reappropriation of $110,000 in 2019, 2021 PLHA funds and the appropriation of $32,036 in 2022 through 2023 PLHA funds; And number four, authorizing the use of $74,132 in PLHA program funds for the eligible administrative costs consisting of the reappropriation of $54,136 in 2019 through 2021 PLHA funds and the appropriation of $19,996 in 2022 through 2023 PLHA funds; And number five, reducing the existing housing impact fund appropriation for the 96 West El Camino Real affordable housing project by $336,483 from $7,070,000 to $6,733,517 reflecting the replacement of these funds with 2022 through 2023 PLHA funds, to be read in title only, further reading waived. Um 4.4 and 4.5 have been pulled. So let's see if there's anything else I have to read. 4.6, adopt a resolution of the City Council of the City of Mountain View authorizing the City Manager or designee to reimburse the Mountain View Whisman School District a total of $941,571.05 as the City's share of the cost to install the restroom facilities at Castro, Ami, and Landels Elementary School, to be read in title only, further reading waived. And 4.7, adopt a resolution of the City Council of the City of Mountain View adopting Council Policy A-13b governing community engagement in public meetings, to be read in title further reading waived. And lastly item 4.9, adopt a resolution of the City Council of the City of Mountain View authorizing temporary closure of parking lots numbers 4 and 8 from 7:30 a.m. through 2:30 p.m. on select Sundays occurring between September 20th, 2026 and February 7th, 2027, not to exceed eight Sundays for use by the California Farmers' Market Association, to be read in title only, further reading waived.

[02:32:14] Mayor Ramos: Thank you Councilmember Hicks, and it is seconded by Councilmember Kamei. Do we have any comments on the balance of the consent calendar of everything that hasn't been pulled? Seeing none, let's get ready for the vote.

[02:32:32] Mayor Ramos: First vote back from summer break and it's unanimous. Yay us! Um... all right, so now we're gonna do the pulled consent calendar items. We're gonna start with 4.4. Councilmember McAlister.

[02:32:45] Councilmember McAlister: Um, thank you Mayor. Actually we can do 4.4 and 4.5 together cause it's a similar request and I should have mentioned it was not a, I shouldn't have pulled it, it just was comment but uh if you look at this this is for uh bonding and funding two projects in the City of Mountain View for a total of $125 million. And uh that's a great sum of money and it's only, we're only putting in $8 million to get these uh projects, for each one. So we're putting in 16 and we're leveraging to want 12 $125 million. So I thought that's very impressive for a city of our size to do that. And so I wanted to bring the gentleman that was helpful in this, our gaining this, the Director of Housing, to explain how this process works and how we are fortunate to be able to add 239 affordable units to the City. Sir.

[02:33:37] Wayne Chen: Good evening Wayne Chen, Housing Director. Thank you for the question. Uh yes, so um both projects involve City funding and City funding is necessary for an applicant, for a developer to apply for tax credits. Um traditionally tax credits have been the uh main source, the bulk of funding for affordable housing projects and both of these projects involve City funding, um tax credits, and then the accompanying uh tax-exempt bonds. Um so tonight's hearing, the TEFRA hearing allows the tax credit um um the tax credits and the um the bond financing to be issued so that the tax credits can be um completed and and awarded and paired with the with the bonds. So the um summary of that is the City's funding was able to uh significantly help leverage um extensive amount of funding in order to have two of our pipeline projects move forward, which is just one of several pipeline projects.

[02:34:31] Councilmember McAlister: Thank you. Um Mayor if you want I can make a motion to pass this if possible?

[02:34:34] Mayor Ramos: Before um Mr. Wayne uh steps away, um I would love to ask him some questions that he provided us ahead of time of the council meeting. Um, what are the the safeguards in place to help prevent wage theft in our city, especially when use of um our funds being used?

[02:34:54] Wayne Chen: Yes, thank you for the question. I appreciate the information provided by the Carpenters Union. It's an important issue. Um just using the uh project as an example, um we meet with our developers and we talk to them about the process going forward through the construction period uh for any project, but um also with the 96 West El Camino Real project and um Danco and our um developer partners are committed to uh complying with labor compliance. So that's the first part, um just making sure that we're meeting with them, ensuring that um they know and they're expressing to us their commitment to uh labor compliance. There are at least three things that we've done in uh terms of our projects to help mitigate these issues and really ensure compliance and make sure that the rules are followed. Uh the first is we have a labor compliance uh consultant. Uh for example for this project, 96 West El Camino, there'll be biweekly labor compliance um site visits. Um the second item is that we have a construction management consultant who will do monthly visits in addition to the labor compliance uh visits. And the third is the release of City funding. So the City will release funding only after it's been verified that the work being done is um complying with labor requirements and the amount of funding is only going to be released in terms of the progress being made towards the um construction of the projects. So we believe that with these um three sort of safeguard provisions, we'll really be able to make sure that the uh projects and the developers um are also working with their contractors and their uh subcontractors to uh meet labor compliance requirements.

[02:36:31] Mayor Ramos: Thank you Mr. Chen. I do have a a Councilmember... Councilmember Kamei. She has a question for you.

[02:36:39] Councilmember Kamei: Great, thanks. Um, thanks so much. Um, I just had a question cause my understanding too is when the city has projects on our website, we have a kind of a status page of how the projects are going. And so um, you know, I I think that information is readily available so hopefully people will be able to check back there in terms of status on the project if there's any types of concerns that pop up. But I also know that we've been working with the County, with the Office of Labor Standards Enforcement, and so maybe you can talk a little bit about that and um cause I think there's safeguards there that they help provide to to the city, the 15 cities in the County, um as we're looking at situations like this that may arise.

[02:37:26] Wayne Chen: Uh yes, absolutely. Uh starting with your second question first, this project is part of our Measure A MOU. So it's one of our pipeline projects there. Um we know that the County is very aware of this and is working also very closely with um this particular uh developer on on this project. I won't speak to the particularities of how they um sort sort things out there, but we know that they are very committed and they have their process there through the County. Um regarding the website information, uh this will definitely be online. Uh we're actually going through our Housing Department comprehensive website update where we are going to make the information um much more user friendly and we'll have uh information on projects as they move forward. So uh this project will be uh on our uh website as well.

[02:38:20] Mayor Ramos: All right. Thank you Mr. Wayne. Thank you Councilmember Kamei. Um, I'll just say that uh it's not out of the ordinary, well it is a little out of the ordinary for projects to be essentially um challenged or or flagged during a TEFRA hearing. Um famously Valley Palms in San Jose used a TEFRA hearing for their tenants to get um uh attention from their um property manager to fix things. Um so but otherwise I do hope that this provides a spotlight on the developer knowing that whatever they managed to attempt to get away with in San Jose, they're not going to get away with it in Mountain View cause we eagle eyes right us right there. Um, so with that, Councilmember McAlister, I see you made a motion. And you're gonna have to also read the item too.

[02:39:04] Councilmember McAlister: Can I do 4... 4 and 4.5 at the same or are they separate readings?

[02:39:12] Mayor Ramos: Uh as long as it's okay with the seconder.

[02:39:15] Councilmember Hicks: Yes it is.

[02:39:16] Mayor Ramos: It was pulled. Yeah.

[02:39:18] Councilmember McAlister: Okay.

[02:39:19] Mayor Ramos: All right. Go ahead.

[02:39:20] Councilmember McAlister: Okay, adopt a... thank you Mayor. Adopt the resolution of the City Council of the City of Mountain View approving the issuance of the California Municipal Finance Authority exempt facility bonds in an aggregate principal amount not to exceed, and so if I'm doing two of them should I say $125 million?

[02:39:36] Councilmember Hicks: I think just follow the script on the thing so it should be...

[02:39:40] Councilmember McAlister: Okay I'll read both of them then. For the purpose of financing or refinancing the acquisition, construction, improvement, and equipping of a rental housing project located at 96 West El Camino Real and certain other matters relating thereto 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 approving the issuance of the California Municipal Finance Authority exempt facility bonds in an aggregate principal amount not to exceed $75 million for the purpose of financing or refinancing the acquisition, construction, improvement, and equipping of 87 East Evelyn Avenue and certain other matters relating hereto to be read in title further reading waived.

[02:40:25] Mayor Ramos: Thank you Councilmember McAlister, and we are ready for a vote.

[02:40:34] Mayor Ramos: Motion passes unanimously. We will now move on to item 4.11. Councilmember Ramirez.

[02:40:42] Councilmember Ramirez: Uh thank you Mayor. Um first... I'd like to what what I'm going to do Mayor is I'm going to start with a motion and then for the remaining recommendation I'll give comments and then make a motion that is different from the staff recommendation. So first uh I'm going to uh move to uh designate Councilmember Kamei as the voting delegate and Mayor Ramos as the voting alternate for the General Assembly meeting at the 2026 Cal Cities Annual Conference and authorize the City's voting delegate or alternate to cast a vote at the Cal Cities Annual Conference to reflect the position adopted by the City Council and then after that motion I'll provide comments on the second recommendation if that's okay.

[02:41:30] Mayor Ramos: Uh Councilmember Kamei, did you want to speak on this or the part two of whatever he's planning?

[02:41:38] Councilmember Kamei: Um, well I'll I'll speak now if that's okay Mayor. Um, so in anticipation of perhaps what may be happening as the second part of the motion, I just was hoping that we could elevate our Peninsula Division Public Affairs Manager for our League of California Cities. His name is Montana Cruz. I believe he's watching in the audience. I asked him to be available if Council had questions um prior to this item. So, just like to make sure he gets elevated.

[02:42:12] Mayor Ramos: All right, I see him... Oh there he is. Tada. Did we want to handle this motion and then we can go onto part two and then you can ask Montana?

[02:42:18] Councilmember Kamei: Yes.

[02:42:19] Mayor Ramos: Okay, wonderful. All right, so we have a motion by Councilmember Ramirez and seconded by Councilmember Hicks. This is item 4.11 part one and a half.

[02:43:02] Councilmember McAlister: Could you just give me a AI summary of what the...

[02:43:06] Mayor Ramos: Staff recommendation on recs one and three. We we divided the question out for 4.11 so we're gonna do part eleven... part two of 4.11. This is supposed to be the non-controversial... well I wouldn't say controversial, but the easier part of the motion.

[02:43:28] Councilmember Ramirez: Thank you Mayor. Um, the, and thank you colleagues. The second uh recommendation uh is to adopt a recommended position regarding Cal Cities Annual Conference Resolution for 2026. And that resolution is League Resolution number one, a resolution of the General Assembly of the League of California Cities calling for a working group to consider a state constitutional amendment or other form of initiative to ensure final local authority over housing and land use decisions and the staff recommendation is to support this resolution. Um, and what I what I would like to do is persuade my colleagues to take a a position uh that is different. Um that we rather um oppose this resolution uh for a couple of reasons. Um I I have to say when I was reading the staff report I was very sad uh to see this this recommendation and and disturbed. And I've thought a lot about, it's hard not to become sentimental um, you know, at the conclusion of uh uh my time on on Council. And I think a lot about um why I ran. And a big part of that was uh to uh create housing opportunities for uh residents like me who grew up in substandard conditions and, you know, if I weren't in Mountain View, I probably wouldn't have been able to um enjoy the good fortune that I've been able to enjoy. And part of that is um like the kind of housing I grew up in, right? Um many of us probably have grown up or have lived in at some point um you know gentle density or missing middle types of housing. I grew up in a duplex that is technically illegal. Um and I think a lot about why it is illegal. It's illegal because many, many years ago, um decades ago, um a different community in Mountain View felt um that um they didn't um want to see that kind of development anymore. It was an exercise in local control. And what that local control was intended to do is make it harder for families like mine to move to Mountain View or to remain in Mountain View. That is how local control often is exercised. Um I'm not going to accuse any, well okay I am going to accuse some cities of being bad actors and Mountain View is not going to be one of them. But I think a lot about um some of our neighbors who are entitling a lot of housing, right? Our neighbor to the north, I think, please correct me if I'm wrong, um enjoys um I believe nine SB9 applications and 10 builder's remedy applications. Um I think we have zero SB9 applications and only five builder's remedy. Um but Palo Alto is entitling a lot of housing not because they want to but because the state is actually doing something for the first time in many decades about our housing crisis. And if an initiative or a constitutional amendment like this were to pass, then cities like Palo Alto would not have to build any more housing the way they haven't over the past twenty some odd years. And when other cities like Palo Alto or Cupertino or Los Altos or Menlo Park don't build housing, that's bad for our residents. It means that there is less housing for people who want to move here or remain here and that means prices go up. I was thinking a lot about um what staff had elevated in the report um that uh there is uh I think an effort to uh strive for balance and that this initiative would um allow for the enforcement of constitutional and civil rights, fair housing requirements, building and life safety standards and generally applicable environmental protections. But I don't think that local control has been used to erode any of those things. There aren't very many examples of cities saying we want to uh erode building and life safety standards, that we want local control so that way buildings are more dangerous, right? Or that we want local control so that way we can provide fewer environmental mitigations. That's not what local control is used to do. What local control is used to do is make it harder to build housing. Um so I I don't think that the balance that is referenced here is is actually the point. Um I think the point is for bad actor cities, uh many cities up and down the state of California, to continue to be bad actors, uh to continue to deny housing or to um, you know, downzone or take whatever actions that we've been taking for the past several decades that have led to a severe housing crisis and uh to among you know the worst homelessness crises in the entire country. So for those reasons and many others that I won't share, I think um that we should take um an opposition position and therefore I will uh move to uh let me see if I can find the language here uh move to adopt a recommended position of opposition uh regarding uh the Cal Cities Annual Conference Resolution uh for 2026.

[02:48:40] Mayor Ramos: Thank you Councilmember Ramirez. Councilmember Kamei.

[02:48:44] Councilmember Kamei: Yeah, thanks so much. Um, so I just thought it would be helpful because um I was asking um Mr. Cruz kind of how this came forward. It's been something that's been, I sit on the League of California Cities Board of Directors, um so there's been lots of different conversations that we've heard on the board. And so um now seeing the final agenda for the conference, I I asked Montana if he could maybe give some background and perhaps um some like just some information um on the item cause I had asked it's going to I think the housing committee next week is that right Montana? Yeah so maybe you could give a little and they cause there's no recommendation so usually I the the board will get a recommendation from the committee. Um and I was trying to get to see what that was. Um so I could inform all of you. Um but maybe you could give some background Montana? And I just thought it would be helpful context cause I myself was trying to understand um the the current status as it's been fast-moving. Thanks.

[02:49:50] Montana Cruz: Yes, thank you Councilmember Kamei and good evening Mayors and Councilmembers. Um, so as you know Cal Cities forwarded one resolution to its 2026 General Assembly and is asking each member city of the League of California Cities to take a position, um or its voting delegate to take a position. Um so my purpose tonight I'm just happy to give some background about who exactly has put forth this resolution and kind of the process behind it. Um so just for background, uh Cal Cities does have multiple policy making processes. Uh one of them is signing up to work on a policy committee, our seven policy committees. Um this is our annual conference policy making process where a city, uh plus five, so there has to be six cities that support whatever resolution they take, um can sign up to bring a resolution to the annual conference where it is then voted on by the General Assembly. So in terms of how much support this actually has, uh as of now uh there are eight concurrence letters, six from cities and two from individual mayors. Um it is a filing requirement, not a vote count, and it tells you, doesn't really tell you much about how the full membership of Cal Cities will vote at the General Assembly. Um has Cal Cities taken a position? Uh like Councilmember Kamei mentioned, not yet. Uh both committee recommendation lines in the packet you received are blank. Um the Housing Community and Economic Development Policy Committee will discuss virtually on September 17th uh and review the resolution and will make a formal recommendation to the Resolutions Committee. There will be public comment and advanced registration is required so if you'd like to tune in on that end um I'm happy to provide that uh to the Mayor and Council here. Uh so beyond that uh there is no uh formal recommendation on the Cal City side. There has um there's been little discussion um on the policy committee end. So I I think on our end uh we just really appreciate engagement of cities and and uh do appreciate Mountain View for taking this up um at the Council level and either supporting or opposing. But in terms of giving advice as to which uh which cities are voting where uh for this resolution, I don't have that information at the moment but I'm happy to answer any questions that that you may have.

[02:52:30] Mayor Ramos: Thank you Montana. Um next we have uh Councilmember McAlister.

[02:52:38] Councilmember McAlister: Thank you Mayor. Uh I will not be supporting the motion because you know Councilmember Ramirez kept saying all these bad actors. I've been on Council for 10 years and I have never heard the City of Mountain View being accused of a bad actor. If anything I've always heard Mountain View being a leader in building of housing. And so when that came up I go well Mountain View will do what's best for Mountain View residents. And uh there's two ways to do it, is by policies that we have done and the second is to elect people that have those kind of views and you can control local input on housing through your election. When I heard of local control, I think there's a lot of things just more than housing that could be involved and we get a lot of unfunded mandates how we have to do certain things because of other actions that the city or the state says we have to do and yet we don't, we taking money away from other important projects that we want to get done. And so we want to make sure that we have control of our budgeting and how we go forward. So in those ways that uh mentioned I I think Mountain View needs is able to take care of local control and satisfy a lot of people's needs and I'm very proud of what we've done in the past. So with that saying uh I think Mountain View should take care of their own issues. Thank you.

[02:54:05] Mayor Ramos: Thank you Councilmember McAlister. Councilmember Hicks.

[02:54:09] Councilmember Hicks: So I didn't hear Councilmember Ramirez calling Mountain View a bad actor, although I could have heard wrong, maybe he uh maybe that is what he said. Um I guess I'm I'm um I'm kind of uncomfortable with both sides of this. I'm uh uncomfortable with uh some of the examples that Councilmember Ramirez did give of building housing. I don't find the builder's remedy uh projects that that we have in our city to be um you know I'm all for building more housing, I actually lived in San Francisco and Oakland and was very wary of moving to thought thought that this city was not dense enough for me. So I would like taller buildings. But I what we're getting from builder's remedy is not and and I thought that a place generating as many jobs as Silicon Valley does would become denser and should become denser. However the builder's remedy projects we're getting where they are tall buildings with unchanged sidewalks that were designed to be adjacent to single family homes and probably will not, a building like that over time will not allow people to get out of their houses and walk down the street. Um I guess I'm a planner at heart and I need a little more local control than than we're getting and I don't think we're getting good solutions. So I would prefer a neutral position um as opposed to uh the current motion.

[02:55:51] Mayor Ramos: Thank you Councilmember Hicks. Councilmember Showalter.

[02:55:56] Councilmember Showalter: Well, I think this is a very interesting discussion. Um, I um, I ran the first time on uh to be pro-housing and I've continued to be pro-housing all all um you know all the time I've been on Council. I'm very proud of Mountain View's record for building and I think that um uh that's something we should be proud of. But I I do think that we we I remember initially thinking well we'll build housing and we'll do it right and we'll we'll inspire our neighbors to um come along. Yeah, you're laughing like well I was just very naive, that that inspiration that I I hoped to happen hasn't materialized. Now I do personally think that some of the um uh bills that have come through and the requirements involved in them go over the top and they need to be fixed. But I think the initiative process is kind of like doing surgery with a um machete. You know, I I just really feel like we need to talk to our legislators and say hey, this has gone too far, these are things that are wrong with it. I mean for one thing what do we get for being a pro-housing city? We worked very hard to get that designation and we don't get many kudos for it. Um, and there's no um and and in many of these legislation that have been passed recently, there isn't any carve-out if you're a pro-housing city, you don't get slightly more time to evaluate things, that kind of thing. So I um I do feel that these um uh some of the uh the legislation like SB9 have gone too far, but I just don't feel like the initiative process or a constitutional amendment is the appropriate way to fix it. And um you know we're the political leaders of the City of Mountain View and I think we're supposed to be knowledgeable about how governance how governance works and make it work for the best way for our community. And to me the best way for our community is to be talking directly to our legislators and saying okay these bills have been passed and now that they've been in place for a few years here are some things that need to be tweaked. I think that is a much better way to go. So that's why I am opposing this. I it's not that I don't think there needs to be some tweaks, I do, it's that I think that this methodology is not a good idea.

[02:58:53] Mayor Ramos: Thank you Councilmember Showalter. Councilmember Ramirez.

[02:58:58] Councilmember Ramirez: Uh well I see Vice Mayor Clark in the queue too so I'll be very brief. I just wanted to say I I really appreciate the way that you framed that Councilmember Showalter. I think we all um lament the reality that the housing crisis is regional, right? That even if we built a lot of housing, if none of our neighbors are building anything, then we're barely going to make a dent in in the problem. And I I I guess what I didn't mean to say was the builder's remedy is great, right? Obviously there are really terrible uh examples of misuse of the builder's remedy, right? The examples that you've brought up and then in uh in the county, right? On unincorporated county, you have farmland turning into hundreds of you know single family homes and that's not really the type of development that we don't want to contribute to sprawl. I guess what I mean to say is in the very narrow example of Palo Alto, a lot of projects are being proposed and entitled not because Palo Alto got religion and said we want to be pro-housing but because they had no choice. And every

Segment 5

[03:00:00] Councilmember Ramirez: multi-family development in Palo Alto, that is built is good for our residents, right? Cupertino didn't say, we want Valco to be redeveloped into, you know, 2,000 residential units, they didn't have a choice. Right? And if if an initiative like this passes or a constitutional amendment passes, that means that there no longer is pressure put on neighbors who aren't interested in developing to help address a regional housing crisis. And I think that's why this is so dangerous.

[03:00:41] Mayor Ramos: Thank you Councilmember Ramirez. Vice Mayor Clark.

[03:00:44] Vice Mayor Clark: So it was mostly a question. Um, so the league meeting starts on the 23rd. It sounds like based on what Montana said, thank you for the information, there's some meetings happening next week. Um, we have a council meeting on the 22nd, uh, but that packet will probably go out on the 17th, which is the day that some of these, uh, conversations are happening. So the that's a very long way of asking, you know, we've already designated our our delegates. Is this a question that we could punt to the 22nd when we have more information about what's going on here or is that just a bad idea and we should just dispose of it tonight. Dispense with, not dispose of, sorry. I don't know who's answering that question and it's okay if we don't have the answer.

[03:01:46] Christina Gilmore, Intergovernmental Relations Manager: Thank you Vice Mayor Clark. Christina Gilmore, um, Intergovernmental Relations Manager. I'm going to answer part of the question then ask, um, Montana just to verify my information. My understanding is that as part of the process for preparing for the conference and general assembly is that we have deadlines in order to submit both our voting delegate and alternate. Um, and so I don't believe that affects how they will vote. Um, so as long as I think we meet the deadline for submitting the names of the voting delegate and alternate, um, if the council were to decide to, um, take this item to to the next council meeting they could do that for discussion to provide direction. Is that correct Montana?

[03:02:38] Montana Cruz, City Clerk: That's correct, yes.

[03:02:39] Mayor Ramos: Great, thanks. Councilmember Kamei.

[03:02:41] Councilmember Kamei: Councilmember Clark is reading my mind because I also think as part of it and remind me Montana if this is correct, so Cal Cities has it go to the policy committees and then they actually discuss it as a full board on Wednesday when we meet. And I want to be able to vote on it when we meet and, um, so I I will likely abstain regardless because I want to make sure I have my Cal Cities vote and then, you know, the city's vote. But, uh, obviously I will vote however, you know, my colleagues would like me to. But I think but I would also want to highlight one of the things I've noticed in my four years on the board is that this conversation keeps bubbling up and coming up. And so I read this resolution, um, and which was the fine print which is that there it could be a working group or it could be, um, you know, uh, what does it say, or like a committee might be formed. And I I think that the idea was we wanted a seat at the table if there was going to be a working group or a committee. Um, there is a little bit of a Northern California Southern California dynamic going on related to this issue as well. So it's not just a a region specific. Um, you know, who knows if we're going to get quorumed even vote on it, um, when it comes forward for General Assembly, um, but I think it's the discussion keeps coming and the group is going to continue to find different ways. Um, and so I think that that was the the thought process, but um, I know that the full board will take a vote on on Wednesday, right, Montana? And I'd be interested to hear what the recommendation is out of the Housing Committee, which we won't know till the 17th. And that that vote would be the recommendation to the full board.

[03:04:13] Vice Mayor Clark: Got it. So, um, so I'll just say, you know, look the, if the question, if the question tonight is will I support a resolution un- to advance a state constitutional amendment or, you know, some ballot-based strategy, the answer is no. I don't think that is the right approach to address this. It's, um, you know, there are other ways to address this that are more appropriate. And they they do say it could be a legislative or policy based strategy, but it leads with the advancement of a state constitutional amendment. So I think I know who probably suggested this or can surmise who suggested this. So, you know, my preference is to get more information and have this on the consent calendar on the 22nd and and handle it then. If we really want to force the question tonight, then, you know, I'll figure out what I'm going to do, um, or I'll just, I I don't know, but, um, anyway, my my preference would be to see where this goes on the 17th. Um, even if that information can't be added to the packet, at least we'll probably be able to receive a verbal update as part of the consent item and we can make a decision then on that because we've already taken the vote to do the time sensitive thing, which is to designate our our voting delegates. Um, that's my preference, but I've put the cards on the table, so.

[03:05:37] Mayor Ramos: Thank you Vice Mayor Clark. Councilmember Hicks.

[03:05:39] Councilmember Hicks: So my previous, uh, so I generally agree with with what the Vice Mayor said. My previous, uh, comments did not mean that I thought a constitutional amendment would be, would be the best solution. Um, but I also wanted to register some, I think that some of the legislation has been very heavy-handed and is not leading, I like great cities. It's not leading to great cities. It's going to make people hate cities and move up to the hills if they can or out to the suburbs which are being developed at a very rapid pace. Um, so uh, and I could say more on that, but I won't take up your evening. Um, so I would prefer to p- I would prefer to put it off, and then excuse my na- as the Vice Mayor said. And then excuse my naivety, uh, do we have to take a position or can we trust our delegates to, um, you know, kind of surf the various, I mean, I think we've just chosen two very good delegates. Um, to kind of surf the conversation, um, and uh, and go their own way, not, um, I mean I would trust that. So just I'd like more information. Do we actually have to take a position? If we do I have to I'd like to take it with more information, and I would like more information whether we have to take a position or not. But do we have to s- do we have to tell our delegates how to vote?

[03:06:52] City Manager McCarthy: Mayor and Councilmember Hicks. So uh, no. You don't have to uh tell them how to vote, but I think typically when there have been issues of great interest or importance, um it wouldn't be unusual for council to weigh in um to publicly say uh whether they oppose, support, or neutral on an item. Um, for this item, as has been mentioned, we do packet the agenda on the 17th. So, um, you have designated your, your two voting delegates. Uh, we can wait and see what happens, we can continue this part of the item until the 22nd and then just receive an oral update about what happens on the 17th if council's comfortable with that. Um, but you do not have to, you're not compelled to take a position.

[03:07:45] Councilmember Hicks: Thank you. So I will, I prefer to wait for more information. And so for that reason I will not be supporting the motion.

[03:07:53] Mayor Ramos: Thank you Councilmember Hicks. Councilmember McAlister.

[03:07:55] Councilmember McAlister: I like the idea that the uh, Councilmember Hicks mentioned about a neutral if, and I don't know if it makes any, but to me if we took a neutral vote tonight, it would just leave us okay we got something on the table and then when more information came we could discuss it on that day and going forward. So I mean uh, I do like pulling it and waiting, but that way if we do a neutral, we do have it covered one way or the other, it covers all uh ideas, and then we can confirm it when we get back together. But I I do support giving our delegates direction on this particular item.

[03:08:41] Councilmember Ramirez: Uh, thank you Mayor. So I appreciating uh the likelihood that the uh September 22nd agenda might be pretty heavy and rather than relitigate this, I'm happy to change the motion. I clearly do not have the votes, um but I'm happy to change the motion to uh adopt a a neutral position, so that way we don't have to spend time on September 22nd with the consent of the seconder. Um, so that way we don't have to spend time on September 22nd to deliberate this further. Um, I'll share though I think like the, the challenge I have with a neutral position is I I personally because housing is a regional issue and I I like the idea of taking a a leadership role and saying, you know, we need to stand firm against something as dramatic. You know, we may not like SB 9, but a constitutional amendment is dramatic on the opposite end. Right, it means that there no longer is any way to pressure other cities that are not, you know, contributing to the solution, that are actively making the problem worse, there's no way to, there's no accountability for them either. Right, I think another I don't know if I've seen like oppose unless amended maybe that's one more, you know, option that we could consider where maybe the working group is fine, but we we want to take an initiative and a constitutional amendment off the table. Right? If you want to like, like as as Councilmember Showalter was suggesting, this is, maybe there are legislative fixes that we can we can pursue, you know, uh as a council or through the league, and that way we can we can find a a healthier balance and we're not committing ourselves to, you know, a constitutional amendment that that precludes the possibility further. So uh I would also be interested in hearing my colleagues' thoughts on oppose unless amended to strike initiative and constitutional amendment so that way we can pursue legislation or some other policy.

[03:10:34] Mayor Ramos: Councilmember Showalter.

[03:10:35] Councilmember Showalter: Well, I would question your ability to count, but given that, um you're counting, yes. Three and then some wiggle worm. But um, uh I uh, I do feel like we want to be really clear that we don't think that a constitutional amendment or an initiative process is appropriate. So I would like to make a friendly amendment that that's what we change the um uh motion to. And then we can, we can, you know, get some more information the next meeting if if it changes to that. I I I think that there is consensus about that. And um I also would like to ask the questions of my colleagues just for a hand raise. Has has everybody talked to their legislator about how they think these bills are a little too much? I certainly have. Haven't you all? I mean, really, I think these have been a a subject of conversation for the last two years and most of us have weighed in at least socially with our um uh our uh legislators about this because it's such a big deal. So um, so anyway, that's my friendly amendment, that we change this to we oppose the use of a constitutional amendment or initiative. And we would like to revisit um with new information at the next meeting. Is that acceptable to the maker of the motion?

[03:12:01] Vice Mayor Clark: Uh yes, if it gets us the votes.

[03:12:04] Mayor Ramos: All right, Councilmember Kamei.

[03:12:06] Councilmember Kamei: Oh yeah, and I think um Mr. Cruz can help provide an update once the meeting on the 17th happens and let us know, you know, I'd be curious if the housing committee might ask that be removed anyways, you know, I think that's what I'm interested to see um if that, if that happens, so.

[03:12:28] Mayor Ramos: City Manager McCarthy.

[03:12:29] City Manager McCarthy: Um thank you. So Council, I'm thinking too that another avenue we can pursue besides uh seeing how it plays out on the 17th, uh we can bring you the update on the 22nd is to also engage with our state lobbyist on this issue and work with them on a way that we can try, I don't want to use the word ensure, um but try to um advocate for Mountain View to have a seat at the table of whatever comes of this. So if it's, if it's clear that the council is not um open or isn't interested in a constitutional amendment or initiative but if there is some sort of committee or some sort of working group to discuss this issue, that at least Mountain View's voice could be heard. Um that's certainly something that we can also pursue with our our state lobbyists. However, this plays out after the 17th. Um so just wanted to tee that up for council as well that I think there's some other avenues beyond just this one position this one day. Um so it's that's the what I'm hearing sentiment from Council and I think that that could be a solution as well.

[03:13:44] Mayor Ramos: Thank you City Manager McCarthy. Councilmember McAlister.

[03:13:46] Councilmember McAlister: So what is there a revised motion presented at this moment?

[03:13:51] Councilmember Ramirez: So I'll I'll look to the seconder who I think made the bulk of the um, the amendments, but it's it would basically be oppose the use of a constitutional amendment or an initiative um, and then uh return on the 22nd with with an update, I guess if if there is an update to um that that may meaningfully influence our decision. Um and then um, I you didn't say this, but um uh the City Manager's suggestion that we we work with the lobbyists to if such a working group is convened that we ensure that the City of Mountain View is um a participant.

[03:14:30] Councilmember McAlister: Okay. Uh I will not oppose, I will oppose, I will not support this motion. The reason being is if push came to shove and we keep, they hear the constitutional amendment, I think there's going to be more room for compromise that people are willing to go, let's not go down that path, let's get some compromises then. And so carrying the big stick will might motivate others to come along and say okay let's find a solution. And so that's why I would rather keep that in there. Hopefully it goes down. To Pat's comment about talking with our local legislators, we've been talking for two years. I haven't seen too much movement on the builder's remedy and some other things so maybe that's a little slow process. So that's just something to think about. So thank you. That's it.

[03:15:19] Mayor Ramos: Thank you Councilmember McAlister. Councilmember Hicks.

[03:15:21] Councilmember Hicks: Yeah I'm weighing this. So um, you know, I may be in the minority. I I definitely oppose a constitutional amendment or initiative, um, and I like the additions of returning with more information and engaging with lobbyists. Um, I guess I'm not sure, and and trying to get a seat at the table. I guess I'm not sure why we're, so we're sending our delegates out with, with, we're we're telling them some, we're telling them some things we want them to do. But in my mind, we also as Councilmember Showalter said we want some tweaks to some of this legislation and we're not putting that into this motion in any way. So I'm a little uncomfortable with that that we know we need changes, just saying that we should you know when we're mingling and networking with our uh elected officials in Sacramento we should be talking to them is not quite enough for me because we're you know we're sending our delegates with um the views of the council and I feel like there's a piece of this that's being left out. Um...

[03:16:37] Mayor Ramos: Is that a sign? Yeah it looked like Councilmember Ramirez had a response to that. So I stopped waiting for his response.

[03:16:48] Councilmember Ramirez: I don't want to interrupt your train of thought, but I think I think implied in the direction is that we're not opposed to the convening of a working group. And I'm looking uh, so, so outside of the title um, which is you know uh, spec- so the title of the resolution explicitly says consider a state constitutional amendment or other form of initiative. So outside of the title, in the fine print it says or legislative policy and then that it says reiterates ballot based strategy. So I think what we're, what we're saying is once you take a ballot based strategy off the table we're not opposed to a working group. If a working group convenes we want to be at the table. But the working group would then be authorized to discuss legislative or policy solutions to this challenge.

[03:17:35] Councilmember Hicks: So I would like to be clear that that's what I'm voting for.

[03:17:40] Councilmember Ramirez: I think that's what you're voting for.

[03:17:43] Councilmember Hicks: Okay. Okay. Thank you.

[03:17:44] Mayor Ramos: All right. Are we clearing my queue? Yay! Um so I'm glad that we we managed to work that that all out. I'm happy we're such a great council. Um uh I'm happy to support the motion. I will also like to add in, I do find um, but honestly Councilmember Kamei is one of the most sophisticated council members in our region. I think um she she will be able to maneuver based on the direction that we will give her for the voting. Um or unless something goes wrong and somehow I'm magically there too. Um not as sophisticated but with good direction can work wonders. Um so uh I'm glad that we are taking the the major concerns that our my colleagues have had about the staff recommendation um and finding something that that fits what we all want because we're such a good council. So um seeing no other comments, we are ready to vote.

[03:18:37] Councilmember McAlister: Can I hear the motion again please?

[03:18:41] Mayor Ramos: Sure.

[03:18:42] Councilmember Ramirez: Um I'll I'll do my best Councilmember McAlister. So it it would be to oppose um basically a ballot based strategy so a constitutional amendment um or an initiative, but once those are off the table support a working group within uh the League of Cities that would pursue a legislative or policy fix. That was the first part. The second part was uh the City Manager's suggestion to work with our lobbyists to ensure that if a working group is convened that Mountain View would have a seat at the table. And then Councilmember Showalter you had another suggestion that those were the two? Okay.

[03:19:16] Mayor Ramos: All right. Now we're ready to vote.

[03:19:19] Mayor Ramos: Motion passes 6-1. All right, now to our next consent calendar item. Item 4.12, Councilmember Ramirez.

[03:19:27] Councilmember Ramirez: Uh thank you Mayor. I think I think multiple members of the council wanted to pull this for for different reasons. I will share my very narrowly scoped reason um and then I think the bulk of the discussion will occur with John over there. Um uh my reason for pulling it was uh to provide uh in addition to approving the work plans some direction for staff um not before the end of this year but you know when it's um when there's capacity uh to think about the roles and purviews specifically of uh the Planning Commission and the Downtown Committee. I think these are things many of us independently or in collaboration with members of uh those particular uh advisory bodies or hearing feedback from from the community, I think many of us have come to the conclusion that it might be time to rethink the the purviews and roles. Uh espe- plan- the Planning Commission I think other members of the council have uh observed um is uh particularly challenged with um uh you know changes in state law that uh sort of diminish their ability to meaningfully weigh in. And I think it might be good for staff to think through um how how we might want to uh reimagine the Planning Commission. Again not this year but but with the next council. Um and uh with the Downtown Committee uh one of the things that um I saw in I I like the fact that the staff in um in the agenda uh will sort of keep a um a list of items for review. And there are there's a long list uh so items currently on future agenda items uh on the Downtown Committee agenda. Uh there's a stand- it's a standing list, right? Vacant storefronts, parking plan update, art murals in downtown, precise plan update, school performances in the downtown, street signs, PG&E, retail coach report, next steps, bike parking, historical markers, busking ordinance, downtown parking strategy, downtown restrooms, downtown condos, compost and recycling bins, and fire department access the pedestrian mall. And I think what that told me was we might need to rethink how the Downtown Committee is is functioning. The fact that that list just grows and grows and grows, and I mean many of us read the agendas for the advisory bodies, not seeing those items come up um suggests maybe we need to think whether it's appropriately scoped. Uh we might need to rethink you know membership. We might want to you know consider focusing it explicitly on the uh economic vitality strategy implementation. I don't want to be prescriptive. I just want to make sure that um in the motion in in addition to approving the work plans, we authorize staff to to think about those two bodies in particular and return to the council in 2027 with recommendations for uh an updated and perhaps more appropriate uh purview and scope.

[03:21:57] Mayor Ramos: Thank you Councilmember Ramirez. Councilmember Hicks.

[03:21:59] Councilmember Hicks: Well maybe somebody wants to comment directly on that. I was going to move on to uh another component of of this agenda item. I guess we can if other people want to comment on what uh I agree with what Councilmember Ramirez said and if other people want to comment on that I guess they can do it after I talk. Um so what I wanted to bring up about this uh this item was the uh scope of the um Parks and Rec Commission uh work plan. Um I put in a a council question about this and I'm going to read from it so that I don't leave things out. So the public's been concerned about a bunch of aspects of tree planting in the city over the past several years including total amount of canopy, roll out of the new biodiversity and urban forestry plan, recent loss of city trees, and how the active transportation plan can include substantial tree planting um which I think is super important for pedestrians um probably bikers as well. So uh I asked uh I asked whether how how staff might recommend that we make sure those things are done well so that we don't just have a thick stack of plans that we don't uh implement and review. And staff proposed the following additions to the PRC work plan. I'm just reading them. That uh the PRC review and provide input on public works projects related to trees and biodiversity, also on relevant uh biodiversity and urban forestry plan action items such as landscaping standards guidelines and heritage tree ordinance updates, on relevant parks and rec uh strategic plan action plan items such as the review of the recreation finance assistance program, and on standard detail updates related to sidewalk and landscaping strips and green stormwater infrastructure. So that was staff's um recommendation uh addressing what has been a lot of community concern and we've received letters on, and I'm hoping we can just add it as add it to the motion as as staff outlined it because they seem to say that that was doable. Do you have Mr. Machon, do you have any comments on that?

[03:24:04] Jennifer Ng, Public Works Director: I do not. I'd like to thank you for um bringing up that uh recommendations. In addition I'd like to um make clear to you and also to the public um not only do we create the the Parks and Recreation work plan and over time sometimes it we bring in new ideas that aren't necessarily on the the work plan early in the process and roll them into the process over time. And then for both the biodiversity and urban forest plan, staff is working to create a public dashboard that's one of the things that we committed to as part of the adoption of both of the plans. And so we will be creating this public dashboard that will show every single one of the action items and then the public will be able to follow along with us where they are in progress and as they go through the next appropriate steps whether that's PRC, City Council um or being completed by staff. Some of them are staff um um actions that don't require any specific um formal action. And so the public, once we have that up and running, we're working on some software in the background um in order to make that happen the public once again will be able to to follow along as we go through those um those action steps. And each of you were given a an updated um work plan that incorporates the items that uh Councilmember Hicks had added to that. Thank you.

[03:25:28] Councilmember Hicks: So we already have an updated work plan with that? Oh I didn't know that. Right here. Thank you.

[03:25:35] Mayor Ramos: Thank you Councilmember Hicks. Councilmember Showalter.

[03:25:37] Councilmember Showalter: Okay well I was delighted to see this updated matrix on my um on the dais here. So I just want to thank you so much for that. Um I do think it's quite responsive to the letters and the comments that we've received which is is good. And and also I I um uh one of the things I thought was interesting is is kind of how we perceive different things. And when I you know I'm sort of inside the city I'm the on the City Council and when I saw that that was on the the list for June that you would have the you know the update of the annual report, I didn't assume that that meant that you were never going to talk about it at a PRC meeting before that. But I think it's better to have it written out like this so that it's clear for everybody because there were other people who didn't perceive it that way. I mean you can't, you know you, to develop a report you have to go through dra- normally you go through drafts and that's just part of the process. But so I think that um you know maybe having this a a little more um uh explicit an an an a better explanation really is valuable because these um this list is as it often is is kind of terse and and sometimes that that leads to misunderstandings. So thank you for that. I think the other thing this this really um just really mirrors is how excited the community is about this bio diversity and urban forest plan. People are really jazzed about it and they want and they love taking part in the development of it and they don't want to give that up in in the implementation. They want to take part in the implementation as well. So I think that um that we should view this interest uh as a very positive um part of the civic involvement of our community for um for biodiversity and for sustainability in general. And and we should you know we really should be proud that there are all these people in our community who care about it and want to help us work on it. So um I think we've resolved it. Great. Um I also wanted to uh talk a little about the um civility round tables and HRC. Um those were one of my favorite things, over the years they've been one of my favorite things and um I don't see them on the list this year. And I did ask a question about that and um uh the answer well the answer was just they were doing public outreach other ways and um I I just would would like to have the um I would like to have the HRC con- reconsider the idea of civility round tables.

[03:27:35] Mayor Ramos: Did I say the PRC? I did. I'm sorry. The HRC, the Human Relations Commission.

[03:27:41] Councilmember Showalter: Um consider uh civility round tables. I thought they were you know they were sort of a discrete event um that was maybe a little less elaborate than some of the ones that we've had um more recently, although they've been wonderful. Um and and and and they and we were able to have them on a variety of topics and I think that's really valuable. A number of us were at the Mayor's Innovation Project this summer and one of the things that we heard about was the importance of um of uh civic engagement and different ways to do that and essentially civility round tables were one of the things that they they um highlighted as a good practice. And another one was having regular um surveys. So anyway I just wanted to um to put in a plug for that. And um then another thing um I'm not sure if it's in here um we had a request from certain people to several people to have um the evaluation of um standard details associated with the um with traffic improvements and particularly curves um evaluated by the BPAC. And I just wanted to ask staff um is that is that something that is going to happen or um do we need to add it or is it part of the yeah. Nice to see you, Jennifer. Um what's this how would how would you expect that to be handled?

[03:28:46] Jennifer Ng, Public Works Director: Yeah good evening. Jennifer Ng, Public Works Director. So I have my cheat sheet here for standard details updates. So what we're looking at is updating a few standard details and creating some new standard details as part of this new project that was recently approved by um the last budget. Uh we're actually looking at kicking off that project right now um in September of this year. So we'll be looking at standard street cross sections, vehicle and bicycle lane widths, sidewalk and landscape strip widths um for various typologies of streets I should add. Driveway site visibility, speed humps, green stormwater infrastructure which is a new detail that we currently do not have, a duck out which is a new detail that we currently do not have, and bulb outs for corners which is also new. Um we do have in our work plan that we would be developing these standard details for about the next six or so months and then trips along the way before we get to approval um would include the Park and Rec Commission, uh the Bike and Pedestrian Advisory Committee um and the Council Transportation Committee.

[03:29:50] Councilmember Showalter: That's good news. Thank you.

[03:29:52] Jennifer Ng, Public Works Director: You're welcome.

[03:29:53] Councilmember Showalter: Okay. So um those are my comments.

[03:29:56] Mayor Ramos: Thank you Councilmember Showalter. I'll just uh mention uh very briefly. I don't have any prescriptive changes although I am supportive of all the prescriptive changes that my colleagues have brought forth. Um but I do want to kind of highlight that um this is a a big volunteer commitment that our community members have done and I want to make sure that they are doing the things that they want to do that they uh they aren't limited to to the work that they can provide to our city to their community. Um I don't know if this is something that the um w- as we look at our volunteer framework I I I view them as volunteers so I I feel like it should be covered under that kind of framework. Um the the things that they want to do and they want to be helpful to our city. So I I really hope that we we we find ways to to make that happen. So um Councilmember Ramirez.

[03:30:48] Councilmember Ramirez: Thank you Mayor. I'm going to go ahead and move to approve the updated uh work plan um as recommended by staff um and then to add uh direction to the city manager to return to the council or um in whatever capacity she deems appropriate with some recommendations for um maybe a uh revised uh purview and scope for the Planning Commission and for the Downtown Committee.

[03:31:16] Mayor Ramos: Uh at her discretion.

[03:31:18] Councilmember Ramirez: So 2027 probably.

[03:31:19] Mayor Ramos: Yeah but Chris will be Mayor.

[03:31:21] Mayor Ramos: All right. Are we ready to vote?

[03:31:23] Mayor Ramos: Oh and that was a motion made by Councilmember Ramirez and seconded by Councilmember Showalter. And it passes unanimously! Yay us. Um next we have Item 4.14. I actually did not pay attention who pulled that.

[03:31:35] Unknown Speaker: That was me.

[03:31:36] Mayor Ramos: Pat did?

[03:31:37] Councilmember Showalter: Pat did.

[03:31:38] Mayor Ramos: Councilmember Ramirez.

[03:31:39] Councilmember Ramirez: Thank you Mayor. This one um I will first I will th- thank the council for your indulgence this evening um and I appreciate staff putting some of these trickier items on this consent calendar because the the balance of the agenda is pretty light and I would hate to do this to you on a on a heavier evening. Um so I appreciate the the work of the Civil Grand Jury um and the City Attorney's office and and staff for um putting together the report and um the the response. Um I wanted to speak to I suppose it's um Civil Grand Jury finding seven and recommendation seven. That's uh VTA board appointing authority groups two through five have different processes for making board appointments and the cities represented in appointing authority groups two through five should agree on a uniform process for making board appointments. And I know that's going to be difficult especially by the stated timeframe. But one of the things that um I had asked a series of questions that didn't quite make it into this report um but I've I've uh long had interest in um challenges related to uh the Councilmember McAlister, we might have differences of opinion on this one too, um the group two cities working group uh which I understand includes the PAC members, right, the VTA Policy Advisory Committee members who are generally appointed by the mayors of each city. The problem I have with this group is that to the best of the city organization's knowledge, there was never actually an action taken to authorize uh the working group to to to for the city councils to delegate to those individuals the responsibility of selecting the group two cities uh board director representing group cities. Um I I have many different challenges with how the group two cities operates. It's there's no accountability, there's no transparency, it's not a Brown Act body. Um so I I I had a good conversation with the city attorney about this um earlier today. And I think that our more nuanced response than simply saying you know uh this requires further analysis is to uh at the very least make sure that the bylaws are reviewed and approved by the City Councils of each of the group two cities. Uh right now um no one has empowered a group of you know the these four to provide their own bylaws and then on behalf of us right to select the director who will represent us in really important multi-billion dollar votes. Um this is weird right? Um or like I I feel like this is especially for for that action to notwithstanding you know a kind of a throwaway line in the bylaws that the meeting shall be you know noticed and made public. The reality is it's really not, you know, there there are no um minutes right, there because it's not a Brown Act body there's no, like it's not really clear where exactly that meeting is noticed, how it's noticed, um how members of the public are supposed to go in and make public comment into like say actually I think it might be more appropriate for a you know board director to have this set of characteristics. Um I you know in an ideal world I think we the City Council, each of the City Councils would appoint the director um because that director is accountable to us you know and not to a random group of people whomever the mayor at a given point in time decides should be on the PAC. Um and then John will remember this I think there was also a a kerfuffle several years ago when a Los Altos rep inappropriately made that vote. But there's no transparency and there's no accountability so you know that they got away with it. Um so my my request would be uh again not this year there's a lot going on but um for um the uh and actually I'll invite the City Manager and the City Attorney to help me with this direction because I we talked about it but we didn't really quite figure out like the best way. We want to give staff some flexibility here. But I think it would be appropriate at the very least for the uh Group Two City Councils to review and approve the bylaws. Um and to have some formal action clarifying that we are delegating to the PAC member the ability and responsibility to select the director. That's basically what I would like some help figuring out how to direct.

[03:35:19] Councilmember McAlister: Having a little bit of knowledge on how this process works. I like to remind Councilmember Ramirez that the council does vote for the PAC member in the past when the mayor we approve the the we put up the names for nomination for the board director so from that then the PAC uh does vote for the board of director. So in essence when you nominate someone you are giving that person the power to do it from the council saying we want this person to be our representative.

[03:35:50] Councilmember Ramirez: Except you don't have to appoint that person right the bylaws also give the PAC members the ability to decline to point those those but the the deeper challenge though is that there was never actually a formal delegation of of that authority. Right for everything else you know we just voted in a public meeting right with the public's ability to participate to select our delegates to Cal Cities and to approve a position right that was done here. But the problem with the current process is there was never that delegation of authority to actually vote for a board director and that is a very important position as you can attest I've never been on the board of directors but you have right multi-billion dollar votes. Um at the very least right the public has a right to participate in a process where we review the bylaws and approve them and then formally delegate that responsibility to the PAC member.

[03:36:50] Councilmember McAlister: I cannot confirm that there never was authority because it's been going on for a long time so maybe at one point there was that authority given and we just continue to go forward with it. It's a process that has maybe not the transparency that you would like but it has worked trying to get four cities working together where everybody wants a piece of the power pie. So yeah maybe it's not perfect but it sometimes works and sometimes it works for Mountain View.

[03:37:19] Mayor Ramos: Thank you Councilmember McAlister. I'm also supporting uh this motion. Um largely because I joined you in the that Northern County ease and I remember when we did the vote now I don't think it would be any different but it did strike me kind of odd that it was in a meeting that I didn't I don't know if that was an actually a Brown Act group like like I literally like pop on on my phone sometimes on that I didn't know if that was like that that formal of a of a meeting kind of um you know process. I just I'd agree there should be more transparency in that process because it is a very big role our representative to that body um and maybe adding some more formal processes and transparency to the community and letting us kind of letting it have an open forum in that in in picking that that's a positive good step forward. So um I appreciate you flagging that and kind of opening up my eyes into what actually happened in the back room there.

Segment 6

[03:45:00] Mayor Ramos: the thing. And like I've seen like colleague uh not colleagues, counterparts in other cities uh either not show up or um unclear on who's technically showing up on their city, or that uh they're they're they're there and their camera is off. um so it I I can see and but then there's very important things happening in that meeting. Usually most of the time it is most of the time it is getting updates and and going over what's the next agenda for VTA. um but but there is that one meeting where we actually have to take some kind of formal vote. um and then which we did I think we we we voted for like um uh the mayor of well is it no, former mayor Weinberg uh to be like the delegate and then you were the alternate. And that seemed pretty straightforward to me, but like if we had a a council, a neighboring city's council that was a little bit more chaotic that we have seen in other cities, it could be a problem if we didn't have a a a more formal process. We're just very lucky that Mountain View is a very sane and and good and collaborative city. um Vice Mayor Clark.

[03:46:12] Vice Mayor Clark: I just want to clarify what we're voting on now. So 4.14, I just want to make sure we are submitting the response to the Grand Jury as drafted by staff and your side quest is a separate direction to staff.

[03:46:26] Councilmember Ramirez: Uh, thank you for the correction. Yeah, so a move to approve the staff recommendations and then the additional direction for staff to bring to a council subcommittee um the the bylaws for review and then take the other actions necessary to ensure that there's, you know, council formal support for the bylaws and an appropriate delegation of authority to the pack member if that's what the council wants for the selection of the group two cities board director.

[03:46:50] Vice Mayor Clark: Got it.

[03:46:53] Mayor Ramos: All right. And we are ready to vote.

[03:47:07] Mayor Ramos: And uh motion passes unanimously. Yay us. So now we have completed our wait, did we complete consent calendar?

[03:47:14] Unknown Speaker: Yes.

[03:47:16] Mayor Ramos: We completed our consent calendar. um it only took a couple hours. um All right, so we will now move on to item five, oral communications. This portion of the meeting is reserved for persons wishing to address the council on any matter not on the agenda. Speakers are allowed to speak on any topic within the city's city council's subject matter jurisdiction for up to three minutes during this section. State law prohibits the council from acting on 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. 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 three minutes. Next we will have uh so our first speaker will be Lowell Chatman.

[03:48:25] Public Speaker: Good evening Mayor, council members, it's Lonell Chatman actually. um yeah, it's an N instead of a W. But uh I am a facilities manager for a company called Ignite. We are on the corner of uh Middlefield, West Middlefield and Terra Bella Avenue. And the issue I bring before you is the RV parking that's along Terra Bella. um the ask is that the city takes action to address the permanent construction of of of the RVs particularly in front of our building. And um if you drive down Terra Bella you'll notice that all along the street the RVs are parked and they're packed in, right? And it's the same RVs. Now I do understand that there are rules regarding how long you can be parked in one particular location. um I don't know if other companies have addressed this with the city at all, but it is an issue for us and um we're hoping that the city can do something about that. A couple of concerns that we have, first and foremost is the safety of our employees. um folks exiting the parking lot, either on bike or by car, are the the view is obstructed um with the RVs being parked along the street right there along the side of the street there. So I've had many employees tell me that they've had issues at times with being able to see exiting the um the parking lot. So that's first and foremost for us. We want to make sure our employees are safe, they can get home safely. uh The other thing is the um the impact on employee recruiting, retention. um if you can imagine folks coming up to our building and you're seeing these RVs just parked along the along the road there, it does really kind of make for um, you know, not necessarily a pleasant view. Now I'm saying this understanding that, you know, for some of these folks it's home. So I'm not making light of that at all, but um for us as a company doing business in Mountain View, there is an issue there and we're we are hoping that it can be addressed. um We do have a couple of uh recommendations, but I do understand also that the ruling that was passed, a lot of these RVs on Terra Bella, I think it expires in February, at the end of February of next year. So I do want to understand if there's anything in place or if if the city plans to do anything beyond that or what what the plan may be or is there something that we can recommend or suggest that the city would take into account?

[03:51:26] Mayor Ramos: Thank you.

[03:51:27] Mayor Ramos: Uh Councilmember McAlister may have some questions for you.

[03:51:29] Councilmember McAlister: Uh I just had one question. Do you see unattached trailers in front of your property?

[03:51:33] Public Speaker: Absolutely. Yeah. They're they're unattached. And um I think the the ruling with that is three or 72 hours and um after 72 hours you have to move a certain distance. But a lot of these the some of the ones more particularly the mobile RVs are maybe moving 20 ft or something like that. But there are some that are unattached.

[03:51:58] Councilmember McAlister: Thank you.

[03:51:59] Public Speaker: Okay.

[03:52:00] Public Speaker: Thanks a lot.

[03:52:01] Mayor Ramos: Thank you. um next we have uh KVT.

[03:52:14] Public Speaker: Okay. um so I'm speaking to you on this because the survey is still up through the 11th, I believe. And um I just I don't like any of the alternatives either. I saw you guys had the meeting earlier. I missed the previous meeting where public could come in, and I saw that a lot of you were like, 'Well, I don't really like this one. I don't like that one. Can we combine them?' I have a completely different alternative that I would like to splice from alternative A. um our primary objective um is that Rock Street, that intersection is one of the most dangerous intersections on all of Rengstorff Avenue. I have to cross it with my young children, 6 and 8 years old, every single weekday. And one of the crossing guards, Mark, he actually agrees with me and we came up with this separately on our own, so like minds. um that that crossing has to be addressed in the plan, and it really isn't properly addressed in either of the alternatives. um if we could move on to the next slide, that'd be great. I can move on. So my very high tech labeling of the the plan is um the point I want to make especially is that Rock Street should be turned into a flashing red lights, which is also used on El Camino in Sunnyvale, so it's not unheard of. um that all vehicles must stop, because frequently vehicles go through 35 to 45 miles an hour, and frequently when Mark, the crossing guard, is trying to help us cross in the morning, uh he is literally putting his body out on the line and we are both of us are getting potentially almost hit. Because people either try to fly through because they don't want to stop or they literally try to turn left or to turn right in front of us or behind us. So I want it to be red flashing lights and also have it designated as an actual school zone with the appropriate fines and tickets associated with that. Next slide please. um for these other intersections I want to just maybe propose a simple addition of having flashing uh or not flashing, sorry, uh flags that people can use to help them cross and have the entire street be 25 miles an hour. You will not make the street safer unless it is slower, and people the it's 35 but people go 45, even 50. I'm not kidding you. It happens constantly and if a police officer was stationed right there on Rock right by that Rock Street and Middlefield, oh man, they'd get so much revenue. um and so I really want to extend this school zone from Old Middlefield Way all the way to Jane Lane. I want that to be a school zone because there are children crossing to Crittenden, there are children crossing to Monta Loma where my children go, and there are also tons of bike commuters that use that avenue, which is a designated bike avenue, to get to the different Caltrain Caltrain stations. So I really urge you guys, please consider that when you're looking at these alternatives because neither of A, B, and C are enough, and they don't actually address one of the most dangerous intersections which is at Rock Street. Thank you so much.

[03:55:14] Mayor Ramos: Thank you. um next uh we will now take virtual speakers.

[03:55:22] Mayor Ramos: Seeing none, that ends uh public comment and oral communications. What I'm gonna do is I'm gonna actually call us a break um and reconvene at 9:05.

[04:08:26] Mayor Ramos: All right. I'm gonna call this meeting back to order. It is 21:07. So now we're gonna move on to item six, 6.1 public hearing on downtown business improvement area number one. Council member Clark, do you have an announcement to make?

[04:08:45] Vice Mayor Clark: Yes, I am recusing myself from participating in any discussion or determination about the downtown business improvement area number one due to the proximity of my personal residence to the improvement area.

[04:08:58] Mayor Ramos: Thank you. Councilmember Hicks, do you have an announcement to make?

[04:09:03] Councilmember Hicks: Yes, I'm also recusing myself from participating in the discussion and determination about the downtown business improvement area number one because of the proximity of my personal residence to the improvement area.

[04:09:17] Mayor Ramos: Great. uh Economic Vitality Manager Amanda Rotella and Community Development Director Christian Murdock will present the item. If you would like to speak on this item, please submit a blue speaker card to the city clerk now.

[04:09:33] City Clerk: Thank you. Good evening Mayor, Council. Tonight we are holding the first public hearing for the annual renewal of the downtown business improvement area number two, or number one, starting with one. uh The second public hearing will take place on October 13th to approve the renewal. BIA number one includes all businesses along Castro Street and side streets between View and Franklin and Evelyn and El Camino Real. The BIA assessments uh generated from uh area one are used for specific programming and promotions to support the downtown businesses. And the annual report prepared by the Mountain View Chamber of Commerce is included as attachment three in your packet, and the 2027 projected revenues for BIA number one are $45,000. Tonight there are two recommendations for council consideration. First, to approve the chamber annual report for 2026, and second to adopt a resolution declaring intention to levy an assessment in business area business improvement area number one for 2027. And this concludes staff's uh remarks, and myself, Community Development Director Christian Murdock, and Chamber CEO Peter Katz are available to answer any questions. Thank you.

[04:10:48] Mayor Ramos: Thank you. Does any member of the council have any questions?

[04:10:58] Mayor Ramos: Any questions? Oh, Councilmember McAlister.

[04:11:03] Councilmember McAlister: I read in the report that the chamber decided not to raise fees. Is that correct?

[04:11:12] City Clerk: Excuse me. That's correct, fees are not being raised.

[04:11:15] Councilmember McAlister: Okay, is that the chamber's decision or is that the city's decision?

[04:11:19] City Clerk: We we work very closely with the chamber and um look at, you know, the fee structure each year. So I don't know if Peter would like to speak to it, but um, you know, we we collaborate with the chamber in preparation of this item and the annual renewal.

[04:11:38] Chamber CEO: Good evening. Peter Katz, CEO of the Chamber of Commerce. um, the fees are actually uh done by a vote of the members of the Downtown Business Association. So it's not something that the chamber would do unilaterally. It's something that we would call for a vote of the members.

[04:11:54] City Clerk: And if if I could just add. Sorry. um and and so given that there's quite a bit of um work that has to go into calling a vote, preparing the preparing the ballot for the businesses, the outreach. um we've decided in past years instead to pursue um a more comprehensive analysis of all of the assessments in the downtown. And uh the city is in the process of bringing on a consultant team to help us do that. So we're looking to take a more comprehensive approach that looks at how much uh what are the fees being charged, um what are they being used for, and and to um yeah bring forward some more comprehensive updates for the that will better serve the downtown, is our hope.

[04:12:36] Councilmember McAlister: So is the goal of this outside consultant to determine to raise fee what fees should be?

[04:12:43] City Clerk: um it would be a variety of things. We'd look at both the structures we have now in terms of the business improvement areas, the parking and maintenance district, um and we'd evaluate whether those are indeed the right structures that we should use, or if there are other types of assessments or improvement areas. um property-based improvement districts or business improvement improvement districts are kind of a newer model, um and we've seen jurisdictions around us utilize those. So we'd be looking to see um you know, is there a better way to achieve more of our goals. And and as we've seen and you've seen in this packet, you know, it's a relatively small amount that is raised each year. um both the chamber and the city have acknowledged that um this the resources we have uh do not match the the needs that we're hearing from the business community and the and the community at large in round downtown. And so we're looking at ways to better resource the downtown, and so we'll be looking at other models to do that.

[04:13:40] Councilmember McAlister: When was the last time the fees were thought to have uh been increased? Well, let's when was the last time the fees were increased?

[04:13:49] Chamber CEO: They have never been increased since they were first incepted.

[04:13:53] Councilmember McAlister: Okay. Okay. That's... Also, there was another line in the in the staff report where it says that the goal, the the responsibility of this chamber is to supply support. uh, who... is there a board of directors for the DBA?

[04:14:10] Chamber CEO: There is not a board of directors for the DBA. There is an advisory council. The DBA no longer is an independent 501(c)(3). That happened when uh during Covid actually when um they came to the chamber and basically said, 'We can't run it anymore.'

[04:14:28] Councilmember McAlister: So the chamber is the executive you're the executive director of the DBA?

[04:14:34] Chamber CEO: Seeing as the DBA is not an official entity, I don't know if that's a fair statement to make. What I can say is that the Chamber of Commerce is the body that is disseminating and using the funds that are collected by the BIA, and um what what actually has been happening in actuality is that the chamber has been using chamber resources to supplement some of the things that are specified in the BA BIA.

[04:15:00] Councilmember McAlister: And did I hear you say that the the the downtown businesses want more resources?

[04:15:09] City Clerk: um we we've heard uh in just outreach that the city and the the chamber team has done, and we just had a downtown business association meeting um this morning. um we've heard of a variety of items that we've heard from the businesses that they would like to see. And they fall into categories of additional programming in the downtown, um additional maintenance, um you know, various placemaking, infrastructure types items. So we have, we've um kind of compiled a list of things that we've heard from the downtown businesses and from the community um that that they would like to see for downtown.

[04:15:46] Councilmember McAlister: And are they willing to pay for them?

[04:15:48] City Clerk: Well, that that would be part of the...

[04:15:50] Councilmember McAlister: Did anybody say 'We're willing to pay for it'? Tell us how much.

[04:15:53] City Clerk: um we've had I have we I've had a number of conversations with businesses that have asked that or have have businesses uh similar businesses in other jurisdictions where they have things like a property-based improvement district and are paying a higher annual fee um and have expressed that they'd be willing to pay a similar amount. um that being said, you know, part of what we bring the consultant team on is to do that outreach and analysis. So not only are they looking at what models might be um appropriate here and and applicable to Mountain View, but uh assist us in in conducting that outreach and having those conversations of how much are you willing to pay and doing that analysis of this these are the needs and this is how much we can raise realistically, um and and helping the city navigate, you know, putting together a package that could uh that would most likely be supported by the most number of businesses or or property owners depending on the type of assessment.

[04:16:32] Councilmember McAlister: Okay. Thank you.

[04:16:35] Chamber CEO: Thank you. um I just wanted to add a little bit of history and perspective to this whole situation. And that is that when the BIA was originally formed, um certain conditions were in place and an independent body, the downtown actually it was the Central Business Association at that point, was formed, and it was put together to market downtown. And since 1996 I believe is the last uh it was when BIA 2 was put in place. There were actually two. It happened in two tranches, one in in the 80s, one in the 90s, and by the way, the second BIA was put in place because the first one wasn't doing enough. And so for years that was the way it operated. And part of the challenge is that because you need an entire vote of the downtown to uh downtown businesses in order to increase fees, it was easier to kind of kick the can down the road than it was to really try and go back to the back to the well, if you will. um during Covid when the CBA came to the chamber and basically said, 'You know, you guys tend to put on events better than we do. You tend to do more to support downtown than we do. You have uh more resources at your disposal. How would you feel about, you know, actually, you know, kind of helping to do the back the back end of running the organization?' And we said, 'You know, if you're uh actually looking to close it down and it's going to go away and the business is going to have no support whatsoever, yes of course we will step in.' And we did. um since that time we have tried to do um everything we can to resurrect the Downtown Business Association at the time that it came into uh um into our purview if you will. They had gone from a membership of about 20 to 3. They had um burned through the 40 grand with one advertising campaign and that was it. um because it's about 40 grand was how much they were uh receiving from BIA funds at that point in time. And so in the this the six years since, what we have been working very, very closely with, and again we do it with the city's support as well, is how can we do a better job of serving the downtown businesses, listening to the downtown businesses, making sure that they are secure and and growing, and of course with Covid thrown in there was a whole nother set of circumstances that had to be dealt with. But the most important point here is that I believe we're at a point, and um what uh uh Amanda has been saying is true in that uh, you know, we've talked to a lot of the businesses. We've talked to um them about what they could use, how they could better um be served, etc. And if you ask the average business on the street, you know, 'Are you a member of the DBA?' they'll probably say yes, because I'm a downtown business, not because they necessarily equate it with paying a fee. And if you ask them who runs the DBA or how does it work or whatever, I doubt many of them could answer that. And so one of the most important things that has to happen, both from the city and from the chamber's perspective, is education. Is really informing the businesses as to what the fact that you are paying something on your business uh uh renewal every year and what does that go towards, and what is the value of that. And that is one of the things that the consultants help with is that communication effort, that education effort.

[04:20:21] Councilmember McAlister: Who's gonna pay the uh consultant's fees?

[04:20:26] City Clerk: So the city um approved as part of our budget um resources to go towards that contract.

[04:20:32] Councilmember McAlister: Okay. Thank you.

[04:20:34] Chamber CEO: Thank you.

[04:20:38] Mayor Ramos: Thank you, Councilmember McAlister. Do we have any other questions from our colleagues?

[04:20:46] Mayor Ramos: All right. uh seeing none, 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 three minutes.

[04:21:02] Mayor Ramos: Any speakers?

[04:21:04] Mayor Ramos: No speakers. We will now take virtual speakers.

[04:21:07] Mayor Ramos: Seeing none. I will now bring the item back to for council for questions and deliberation. Please note that a motion to approve the recommendation should include also reading the title of the resolution attached to the report. And I see a motion has been made. Oh, I see uh Councilmember Showalter.

[04:21:09] Councilmember Showalter: Yeah, I just wanted to comment that this is very timely, very timely discussion because this coming weekend is the Art and Wine Festival which is when um kind of all of us go and celebrate in downtown. And I will be supporting the motion.

[04:21:26] Mayor Ramos: Thank you. And we have a motion made by Councilmember McAlister, seconded by Councilmember Kamei. Go ahead and read the resolution, Councilmember McAlister.

[04:21:36] Councilmember McAlister: Thank you, Mayor. Adopt a resolution of the City Council of the City of Mountain View approving the annual report of the downtown Mountain View business improvement area number one and declaring its intention to levy assessments for 2027 to be read in title only, further reading waived, and set a public hearing date of October 13, 2026.

[04:22:03] Mayor Ramos: Once again, that was seconded by Councilmember Kamei. We are ready for a vote.

[04:22:19] Mayor Ramos: Passes unanimously. Yay us. Now item 6.3, Fiscal Year 2025-26 Consolidated Annual Performance and Evaluation Report CAPER. Housing Officer Alec Vibriol and Affordable Housing Manager Julie Barnard 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.

[04:23:18] Housing Officer: Hello, Honorable Mayor Ramos, Vice Mayor Clark, and Councilmembers. I hope you're all doing well. My name is Alec Vibriol, Housing Officer, and I am joined by Julie Barnard, the Affordable Housing Manager. Today I will be giving a presentation on the Federal Fiscal Year 2025 through 2026 Consolidated Annual Performance and Evaluation Report, also known as the CAPER. The city receives grant funding on an annual basis from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, or HUD, for two programs, the Community Development Block Grant program and the HOME Investment Partnerships program, known as CDBG and HOME for short. To receive this funding, HUD requires that the city complete an annual report called the CAPER, which summarizes the accomplishments that were achieved using CDBG and HOME funding over a fiscal year and in alignment with the five-year goals established in the city's Consolidated Plan, and how effectively those funds are meeting the needs of the community. The Fiscal Year 2025 through 26 CAPER covers the period of July 1st, 2025 through June 30th, 2026, and reports on the accomplishments for the Fiscal Year 2025 through 26 Annual Action Plan, which is also the first year of the 2025 through 2030 Consolidated Plan period. Note that the CAPER is completed on a required template provided by HUD that includes predetermined questions and tables to be completed to describe the city's overall housing and community development initiatives. In addition, the city provides general fund grants to support additional public services, but these are not reported in the CAPER as it focuses on CDBG and HOME funds. As required by HUD, the CAPER...

Segment 7

[04:30:00] City Staff: process includes a 15-day public comment period and a public hearing. Public notices were published in the Palo Alto Daily Post and the Mountain View Voice to notify the community of these opportunities to provide input. Following tonight's public hearing, staff will finalize the CAPER and submit it to HUD by the September 30th deadline.

[04:30:22] City Staff: The annual action plan is typically drafted and approved before the city receives its actual annual CDBG and HOME allocations from HUD or receives program income during the year. Therefore, the initial funding anticipated and allocated often differs from the final amounts received or made available through the fiscal year.

[04:30:42] City Staff: After accounting for the final prior year unexpended funds and program income, the city had approximately 2.6 million in CDBG funding and 2.3 million in HOME funding available in fiscal year 2025 through 26. In total, the city's CDBG and HOME funded activities served 4,323 Mountain View residents, 84% of whom were extremely low-income.

[04:31:11] City Staff: HOME affordable housing capital funds were expended on the Lot 12 project, which began construction in March 2026 and is anticipated to be completed in 2028. The project will provide 119 deed-restricted rental units to households earning at or below 60% of the area median income, plus one manager's unit.

[04:31:32] City Staff: CDBG capital funds were carried over to the fiscal year 2026 through 27 for rehabilitation projects at MidPen affordable housing communities, which are anticipated to begin this October. The minor home repair program, administered by Rebuilding Together Peninsula, provides critical repairs at no cost to low-income homeowners who cannot afford to make repairs or modifications to their homes.

[04:31:57] City Staff: This reporting period, Rebuilding Together served five households. In fiscal year 2025 through 26, the Boost program operated by Upwards Care successfully launched in Mountain View. By providing technical assistance to eight microenterprise child care providers, the program helped to create jobs and expand child care opportunities in the city.

[04:32:22] City Staff: CDBG funding was provided to local nonprofits for public service programs which were successfully able to help 4,300 low-income residents of Mountain View over the fiscal year. These programs provide services that help seniors, people at risk of homelessness, and people with disabilities.

[04:32:41] City Staff: Staff recommends that Council hold a public hearing to receive public comment and approve the CAPER to be submitted to HUD by the deadline. This concludes staff's presentation. Thank you for your time and we are happy to answer any questions you may have.

[04:33:01] Mayor Ramos: Thank you. Does any member of the council have questions? Councilmember Hicks.

[04:33:07] Councilmember Hicks: So I asked this as a written council question, but I guess I have a follow-up question. The staff report said that the minor home repair program, um, had lower than anticipated utilization, um, and I asked can you reallocate that money and staff said that they could and they have in the past. I guess the follow-up question is, would you recommend doing that? You know, are there other, for example, homelessness prevention comes to mind. It just seems to me that if there's not much demand for minor home repair and there's a lot of demand for homelessness prevention, it might be good to move the money over. Is that something that staff would, um, recommend or support or recommend against?

[04:33:52] City Staff: I think when it comes to the funding levels for Rebuilding Together Peninsula, we like to try to get as close as possible to the amount that they're actually able to spend. Uh, for fiscal year 2026-27, we chose an amount of $100,000 because that was approximately the amount they were able to expend in fiscal year 2024-25. So based on historical data, that's our reasoning for choosing that number.

[04:34:15] City Staff: Uh, when it comes to taking funds perhaps from that program and moving it towards homelessness prevention, um, that is something that we would not be able to do because we already allocate funding to the maximum amount for public services as per the guidelines by HUD.

[04:34:34] Councilmember Hicks: So when the answer here says that, so that was clear. But when the answer here says that, uh, that in the that it has been reallocated in the past, that was to some other program that was not yet at its cap. That was not at its cap.

[04:34:50] City Staff: That's correct. If we were to reallocate funds from Rebuilding Together Peninsula, it would need to be towards an uncapped, uh, funding category, which might include capital funding or economic development.

[04:35:02] Councilmember Hicks: So do you recommend either of those or either or both? I just something that there's little demand for when there's if there's a lot of demand for other things, I wouldn't, I wouldn't want to give to things that there's not that much demand for.

[04:35:16] City Staff: I think, you know, staff are working very closely with Rebuilding Together Peninsula to try and identify more clients. Um, we're having a collaborative process and their staff are working really hard to get the word out and let people know about this great program that they provide. So, um, you know, as it currently stands, we're working hard to identify more clients so that they are able to fully expend their funds.

[04:35:43] City Staff: Good evening. Julie Bonard, Affordable Housing Manager. If I can just sort of maybe reiterate also, it's CDBG funding is a little tricky in that there's certain buckets that have thresholds and it's not as simple as sort of we can't spend enough here and just dropping it somewhere else. We have to find another program that would fit within like a capital project. And usually that's like in the form of like affordable housing. So, um, the sort of smaller amounts moving around doesn't really make a bigger difference when we're talking sort of $10,000 versus $400,000 that we have as like a capital project balance, so to speak. So it's it's it's very difficult to just sort of move things across categories, um, certainly not during a program year. Um, but from program year to program year we do work with our subrecipients that maybe aren't spending as much and then we would reallocate to maybe some of the other capital projects that we're contemplating for the specific program year.

[04:36:42] Councilmember Hicks: Okay. And it looks like maybe Mr. Chen has a comment as well.

[04:36:48] Wayne Chen: Good evening. Wayne Chen, Housing Director. Yeah, just to echo everything that Julie and Alec mentioned. Um, so the short answer is yes, there's the ability to do so. Uh, the more nuanced answer is there are various considerations regarding caps, whether any organization wants the funding, um, etc., etc. And so, um, in the past we've had, um, certain barriers to actually allocating funding to projects because folks may not have wanted to receive the funds.

[04:37:16] Wayne Chen: And so, um, that's another part of the equation, which organizations are interested in doing work and serving the residents of Mountain View, along with the other factors that Ms. Barnard and, uh, Mr. Viprell mentioned.

[04:37:28] Councilmember Hicks: Okay. Well, it's good to hear the background, that you're weighing lots of alternatives and, you know, maybe we'll see it reflected in the next, you know, in the next year sort of information on demand, whether you're able to drum up more demand or not. Thank you.

[04:37:46] Mayor Ramos: Alright, next Councilmember Showalter.

[04:37:48] Councilmember Showalter: Hi, I also ask a question and was interested about where the program income came from. And you responded that essentially it was the payback on loans. And the one you gave an example for essentially was a 30-year loan. And I just wondered if that's standard when we make a loan for affordable housing or do the periods change or could you tell us a little bit about how the, you know, the loan and the loan payback process works.

[04:38:18] City Staff: Um, yeah, thank you for the question. Um, our current loans in my tenure here in the City of Mountain View and maybe a few years preceding have been 55 years repayment. Um, I do think that like older loans like in the 90s, certainly with CDBG and HOME in my experience have been around 30 years.

[04:38:38] City Staff: Um, cities can structure each loan depending on what they may be, usually from 15 to 55 years, depending on the amount, depending on whether the type of loan it would be, and by that I mean is it an acquisition preservation type loans. I've seen those be generally shorter terms than for full construction.

[04:38:57] City Staff: I don't remember the loan that we were gave the example of, whether or not that was a acquisition preservation or whether or not it was new construction. But I think long story short, like generally the city could contemplate their own loan terms in terms of the duration of years for repayment or whether or not it's forgivable. Thank you.

[04:39:27] Mayor Ramos: Councilmember McAlister.

[04:39:29] Councilmember McAlister: Yeah, I had a clarifying question on page 12 that you listed, uh, leveraging. And you say the city separately allocated 171. So you got $239,000 to CDVG funds to nonprofits for public service. And then you separately allocated an additional 171,000 from the general fund to supplement. So you're not really supplementing, I mean, these, these examples here are great examples. So I'm just curious why how you classified putting those in the CDVG category even though they're general funds to do these, uh, do all these items. Should they, is this the correct place to present that? So help me understand.

[04:40:18] City Staff: So the CAPER, uh, presents an opportunity for the city to talk about all the various ways that we try to contribute to community development for our city. The main focus is on our CDBG and HOME funds, but the city chooses to go above and beyond and allocate a portion of general funds to, um, help more nonprofits with their public services and help to expand those services that are available to the city.

[04:40:42] City Staff: So in that specific section, um, HUD asks, okay, we know how you're using your CDBG and HOME funds now, tell us what else you're doing. So in that certain area of the report, we illustrate other ways that we were assisting residents, which in this case was through general fund public services.

[04:41:01] Councilmember McAlister: Oh, okay, that helps. Thank you.

[04:41:05] Mayor Ramos: Thank you. Uh, we will now move on to--so no other questions? No other questions. Alright, 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 or turn in a blue speaker card. A timer will be displayed on the screen. Each speaker will have three minutes. Uh, first we'll have in person Melissa Lukin.

[04:41:35] Public Speaker: Uh, good evening. My name is Melissa Lukin. I'm the executive director of Rebuilding Together Peninsula. Um, and I appreciate the opportunity to speak to you tonight on behalf of the residents of Mountain View who benefited from this year's funding. Um, CDBG funding has provided critical support for low and extremely low income residents, um, who would have nowhere otherwise to go, who live in the most cost-effective affordable housing that that already exists.

[04:42:03] Public Speaker: Uh, our mission is to repair homes, revitalize communities, and rebuild lives. And in real terms, we essentially ensure that, um, the peninsula's most vulnerable residents, those that are elderly, uh, who have a disability, and who have otherwise been marginalized don't have to choose between living in a safe home and buying groceries. But more broadly, we prevent displacement and also pride ourselves on preserving affordable homeownership and helping maintain the diverse fabric of the community.

[04:42:32] Public Speaker: Uh, over 100%, 100% rather were low income and extremely low income this past year. Uh, 67% of those homes that we served had a person with a disability, and 80%, excuse me, had a senior living in the home. Um, among the repairs that we provided were smaller but potentially life-saving, uh, installing fire prevention material and smoke detectors, grab bars. Others received repairs for leaks, fences, and fences and floors, gutters, and others got plumbing improvements and lighting, and one person even received a working stove.

[04:43:06] Public Speaker: Uh, given that we live in the most expensive area to provide, uh, construction, almost in the world, uh, it's no wonder that many of our homeowners indicated that we would otherwise be completely out of reach. And many of them have indicated the impact, uh, is significant. Over 70% said that they claimed that they feel safer as a result of the work. Almost 80% indicated that they feel more confident they can age in place. 80% reported that they have mental health improvements. And that many actually indicated they're most likely to invite people over. And you know that the, one of the social determinants of health is, uh, is isolation.

[04:43:42] Public Speaker: So while we're very proud of the work that we performed and grateful to the city for your acknowledgment of the need, we recognize that we need to up our game in terms of our outreach to ensure that, uh, folks are served and received enough applications to fulfill our deliverables. We received only eight last year. Uh, since October 1st towards our deliverables of 12 homes, we completed five as you heard. But this year already we have four in progress towards our six, uh, deliverables.

[04:44:06] Public Speaker: And as you can imagine, the need remains significant. But so too are the obstacles to spending CDBG funds. From the complexity, of the volume, of income eligibility documents, to for many garnering the courage to ask for help, for, or overcoming the suspicion that in the end free repairs, uh, is just too good to be true. We have some work to do, but we've already doubled down with the staff, as you've heard, to collaborate, to post in, uh, the local newspapers in the Mountain View Voice, um, in news...

[04:44:44] Mayor Ramos: Thank you so much. Alright, we will now move to, uh, virtual public comment. Uh, Melanie Favre from Upwards.

[04:44:59] Public Speaker: Good evening, Honorable Mayor Ramos, Vice Mayor Clark, and Councilmembers. My name is Melanie Favre with Upwards. Thank you for your continued support of Mountain View's family child care providers and our Boost program. Our Boost team works with low to moderate income family child care providers in Mountain View to strengthen their businesses and expand access to quality child care for local families.

[04:45:21] Public Speaker: We pair providers with experienced early childhood business coaches who help them develop personalized business action plans focused on marketing, enrollment, finances, staffing, and more. In other words, we help take some of the administrative burden out of running an in-home child care business so providers can spend more time doing what they do best: caring for children. Stronger child care businesses mean more stable providers, more local jobs, and more families able to find affordable quality care close to home.

[04:45:53] Public Speaker: Thanks to Council's past support, last year we partnered with eight Mountain View providers, helped create three new teaching assistant jobs, and supported providers in expanding care for local families. There is still a significant need, and we're excited to continue that work this year by partnering with 10 more providers and helping even more families find care that meets their unique needs.

[04:46:13] Public Speaker: To build on what we've learned through the Boost program, we've evolved the program this year into Boost and Learn, which combines our personalized one-on-one business coaching with a self-paced online learning library. The personal mentorship remains at the heart of the program, while the online resources give providers additional tools and training they can access whenever they need them, even after the program year ends.

[04:46:35] Public Speaker: Thank you for continuing to invest in Mountain View's child care providers. Supporting these small businesses is an important part of building a stronger, more accessible child care system for Mountain View's families. Thank you and good evening.

[04:46:49] Mayor Ramos: Thank you. Next up, we have Madeline Musante.

[04:46:58] Public Speaker: Yes, good evening. And thank you so much, uh, for funding all of these wonderful projects. So my name is Madeline Musante. I am the Director of Institutional Giving for Vista Center for the Blind and Visually Impaired, and I'm here to speak on behalf of our organization tonight.

[04:47:13] Public Speaker: With Mountain View CDBG funding, Vista Center has provided vision loss rehabilitation services, including case management and behavioral healthcare to 38 visually impaired Mountain View residents over the last year. This included helping clients adapt to vision loss, age safely in place, live independently independently, and overcome barriers to accessing other public services, such as getting to the doctor or getting connected to affordable food sources.

[04:47:38] Public Speaker: In the same way a person who has lost a limb receives physical and emotional rehabilitation care, Vista Center helps a person to adapt when they lose their sight and it cannot be medically corrected. Vision loss is the third leading cause of disability globally, and as our population ages, visual impairment has become more prevalent locally.

[04:48:00] Public Speaker: Visual impairment also leads to increased risks of falls and medication management, as well as other, um, mental health challenges. Despite all of these difficulties, Vista Center remains the only local provider of vision loss rehabilitation care following the closure of Kaiser's Low Vision Clinic last year. And over the past two years, we have lost $600,000 in annual federal funding. So we are extremely grateful for the city's ongoing support so that we can continue serving some of the most vulnerable people in our community.

[04:48:32] Public Speaker: With support from the city, we provide a whole person approach that helps each community member experiencing vision loss learn how to use a white cane, travel safely, navigate their homes, and complete other daily tasks and achieve goals that they have set out for themselves. Um, more broadly, 90% of our clients reported a two-point or more improvement on a five-point scale that measured their confidence and ability to conduct daily in-home tasks.

[04:49:00] Public Speaker: To better illustrate our work, I'd like to share a testimony we received from one of our clients last month. To protect her identity, I'm going to keep it anonymous. So thank you. She says, 'Thank you for the fact of Vista Center. My life has been so multi-changed in all the best ways. I have freedom now, options that I never imagined possible, and by an agency and agency staff and caretakers with no agenda except to facilitate the self-determination of clients like myself, all of which has enabled my confidence, growth, skill building, independence, and many fun opportunities to connect with others like me.'

[04:49:39] Public Speaker: Close quote. Regaining daily autonomy restores our client's dignity and alleviates burdens on caregivers and the local healthcare system. We are extremely grateful for ongoing CDBG support from the City of Mountain View. Thank you.

[04:49:53] Mayor Ramos: Thank you. Next up, we have Katrina Logan.

[04:50:01] Public Speaker: Uh, yes. Hi. Good evening, Mayor Ramos and City Councilmembers. Uh, my name is Katrina Logan, and I'm the Executive Director of Community Legal Services in East Palo Alto. Uh, we thank you for your trust in our ability to provide high-quality legal services to residents of Mountain View.

[04:50:20] Public Speaker: Through CDBG funding, our housing legal services program helped Mountain View tenants stay in their homes, fix dangerous conditions, and push back when landlords broke the law. Over the past grant year, our attorneys staffed the Housing Help Center clinics twice a month. Um, they took direct referrals from the Rent Stabilization Program staff and gave tenants legal information, advice, and legal representation.

[04:50:46] Public Speaker: Our goal was to serve 50 households, and we nearly doubled it, serving 96 households and reaching 229 Mountain View residents over the grant period. Um, about a quarter of our cases involved elderly clients, a third involved people with disabilities, and nearly 60% of our clients earned below 30% of the area median income.

[04:51:11] Public Speaker: Um, legal work involved no cause and just cause eviction notices, unlawful detainer defense, habitability, rent increases, tenancy disputes, and affirmative litigation. We provided advice or brief services in 90% of cases and provided extensive or full scope services in about 10% of cases.

[04:51:34] Public Speaker: Um, in terms of outcomes achieved, we enforced tenants' housing rights in about 54 cases. We prevented the loss of housing in 12 cases, negotiated seven soft landing move outs, giving family uh time or funds to find new housing instead of potentially becoming unhoused, and we were able to help enforce habitability protections for six clients securing safe and healthy housing. So, uh, we'd like to just thank the, um, city staff and, um, the City of Mountain View for your support of our legal services. Thank you.

[04:52:11] Mayor Ramos: Thank you. Next we have Angie at the Silicon Valley Independent Living Center. I assume that's what the acronym is.

[04:52:19] Public Speaker: You're correct. Can you hear me?

[04:52:21] Mayor Ramos: We can hear you.

[04:52:23] Public Speaker: Wonderful. Good evening, Mayor and members of the City Council. My name is Angelica Holguin, and I'm the Director of Programs with Silicon Valley Independent Living Center. It is a pleasure to be here this evening to share an update of the work that we have been able to accomplish in partnership with the City of Mountain View.

[04:52:41] Public Speaker: First, I would like to sincerely thank the Mountain View City Council and the City of Mountain View for your continued investment in our community and for supporting services that help residents with disabilities achieve greater independence, stability, and quality of life.

[04:52:57] Public Speaker: Through this program, SVILC was able to assist 39 low-income Mountain View residents with disabilities, including seniors and individuals with chronic health conditions. Our goal was to serve 38 consumers, and we are proud to have exceeded that goal by one consumer, achieving 103% of our service goal.

[04:53:19] Public Speaker: The individuals we served included residents experiencing homelessness, transitioning from nursing facilities, or living in unstable or temporary housing. Through housing workshops and individualized one-to-one housing counseling, consumers received education and support to help them identify affordable and accessible housing opportunities.

[04:53:41] Public Speaker: Our services include helping consumers understand housing eligibility requirements, identify appropriate housing resources, complete housing applications, and connect with community resources. Most importantly, we worked alongside with each consumer to help them build the knowledge, confidence, and skills that they need to pursue safe, stable, and accessible housing.

[04:54:06] Public Speaker: For many individuals with disabilities, finding housing is about much more than securing a place to live. Accessible and affordable housing is foundational to independence, health, safety, and the ability to remain connected to one's community.

[04:54:20] Public Speaker: We are grateful to the City of Mountain View for recognizing the importance of this work and for partnering with SVILC to ensure that residents with disabilities have access to meaningful resources and opportunities. Thank you to the City Council and the City of Mountain View for your partnership, your support, and your commitment to making Mountain View a more inclusive and accessible community for all residents. On behalf of SVILC and the consumers we serve, thank you for allowing us to be part of this important work. We appreciate you. Thank you.

[04:54:54] Mayor Ramos: Thank you, Angelica. Next we'll have Georgia Basile.

[04:55:03] Public Speaker: Good evening. Can you hear me?

[04:55:05] Mayor Ramos: We can hear you.

[04:55:06] Public Speaker: Uh, Mayor Ramos and members of the City Council, Georgia Basile, Directing Attorney of Senior Adults Legal Assistance, you know us as SALA. We provide free legal services to Mountain View residents 60 or older, targeting clients that are low income or at risk of abuse or loss of independence.

[04:55:28] Public Speaker: We provide our services locally at appointments at Mountain View Senior Center and by phone for clients that cannot leave their homes or with emergencies. We are a current CDBG grantee and we thank you for that support. Your funding supports expanded availability of our services to Mountain View residents.

[04:55:46] Public Speaker: We were also a CDBG grantee in 2025-26. A summary about our services is included in the staff report for the CAPER. Specifically, the CAPER notes SALA provided free legal services to 59 Mountain View residents 60 or older. I want to share some additional information with you about those clients.

[04:56:07] Public Speaker: 86% of these clients had very low incomes at or below 50% of the median income. They would not be able to pay a private attorney for the services we provided. 41% of these Mountain View clients were 75 or older, placing them at higher risk of abuse or loss of independence, per the Older Americans Act.

[04:56:30] Public Speaker: Um, under the Older Americans Act, our major funder, SALA cannot charge fees for our services or accept fee-generating cases. The primary way we support our services is through grants like Mountain View CDBG. Your funding helped us provide the highest level of service possible to Mountain View seniors last year, and it will continue to do that this year. We thank you so very much for your support. We truly appreciate it. Good evening.

[04:56:58] Mayor Ramos: Thank you. Next we have Alex Dursch.

[04:57:04] Public Speaker: Hi, City Councilmembers and city staff. Thank you so much. Um, I just wanted to commend you all for the funding that you gave specifically for homelessness prevention as well as expanding childcare access. We know how serious childcare deserts are in this Bay Area.

[04:57:22] Public Speaker: I live in a different city, but I think Mountain View leads the way on these issues, and I'm really excited to see you all continue similar funding that other cities can emulate. I also just want to thank staff for their excellent presentation. I think their professionalism and their quality of work is something I would love to emulate.

[04:57:41] Mayor Ramos: Thank you. And our final speaker tonight is Milton Cadena.

[04:57:52] Public Speaker: Good evening, Mayor Ramos and City Councilmembers. My name is Milton Cadena. I'm a Program Director for Senior Services of Catholic Charities. Um, being here tonight to represent and to say thank you on behalf of the Ombudsman Program, who is a beneficiary of the CDBG funds.

[04:58:15] Public Speaker: Uh, I want to say thank you to the City of Mountain View for the past and continuous support for this program. The Ombudsman is an advocate, well, for the most vulnerable citizens in your city, those who live in nursing homes and assisted living facilities. We advocate for the dignity, rights, and needs of seniors and disabled in those facilities.

[04:58:38] Public Speaker: This is an unduplicated service in Santa Clara County. No other program has a 24/7 access to residents in these facilities. All of them are required by law to have our information posted at their sites. The Ombudsman program is authorized by the federal and state Older Americans Act to advocate for the rights of seniors and disabled residents in those facilities.

[04:59:02] Public Speaker: The main function of the program is to investigate and to resolve complaints made by or on behalf of the residents related to issues of quality of care and abuse. Ombudsmen protect and help improve the quality of care for the lives of the frailest seniors in those facilities.

[04:59:21] Public Speaker: Living in a long-term care facility is no one's first choice. Many seniors and disabled adults don't have other option. And that's why it's very important for us to take care and to care for their rights and to see that they are protected. Uh, these facilities are now their homes, and uh many are being discharged because facilities don't like the problems with the families or because they prefer private pay over medical reimbursement.

[04:59:50] Public Speaker: The Ombudsman more often can stop these discharges if they are notified on time. In essence, the Ombudsman investigates elder abuse, resolves complaints, mediates, gives referrals, and witnesses advance health directives. Our services are free of charge for the residents in those facilities.

[05:00:09] Public Speaker: For the City of Mountain View, we oversee three skilled nursing facilities and five residential care, uh, facilities for the elderly, or RCFEs, uh, which covers a total of 409 beds in the City of Mountain View. And this year we completed our goal of serving 49 citizens, uh, residents out of your city.

[05:00:32] Public Speaker: On top of that, the program responded to 77 incoming calls and doing 91 general visits and, uh, to these 49 individuals that we serve. Thank you so much for support, and we really appreciate that we can continue to be in partnership with your city.

[05:00:52] Mayor Ramos: Thank you so much. I will now bring the item back to the council for questions and deliberation. Don't all hop in at once. Alright, we have a motion by Vice Mayor Clark with a second by Councilmember Kamei.

[05:01:09] Vice Mayor Clark: I move the staff recommendation.

[05:01:12] Mayor Ramos: Alright, are we ready to vote? Motion passes unanimously. Yay! Alright, we will now move on to item 8, uh, no 7. Council and Staff Committee Reports. Do we have any staff--okay. Councilmember Showalter.

[05:01:41] Councilmember Showalter: Alright, well I have sort of a two-pronged, um, part I want to talk about. One is, uh, uh, just my some of the things I've been to since we, we were together the last time. Um, I, I attended the Mayors Innovation Project summer meeting in Madison, Wisconsin, along with a couple of colleagues, and I'll talk about it too. It was, um, it was really interesting, and I, I learned a lot. And, um, they gave us a thumb drive with all the information on it. So if anybody would like to borrow that, I would, um, be glad to lend it.

[05:02:16] Councilmember Showalter: And, um, you know, I mentioned a couple of the things that we talked about, such as the surveys and civility round tables. At BAWSCA, we had a July meeting at BAWSCA. Uh, basically this was the end of the water, they reported at the end of the, um, the water year report, and our water situation this year is quite healthy. So that's always good to know.

[05:02:44] Councilmember Showalter: And, um, uh, Silicon Valley Clean Energy, there have been a number of meetings. The July meeting, uh, the standard meeting and the executive board meeting. But one of the things I really wanted to share with you is the new decarbonization roadmap. In fact, I, I had Heather distribute the presentation to everybody.

[05:03:05] Councilmember Showalter: Um, it's really, uh, in line with what we're working on in our Council Sustainability, uh, Committee. And one of the things that, um, it's kind of, it is a new way to look at it is, instead of just looking at, um, the, uh, the, uh, greenhouse gas reductions, we are looking at more what we need to do to get there.

[05:03:28] Councilmember Showalter: And, and keeping account of those things, such as how many heat pumps there are, um, are put in, how many, uh, electric chargers are put in, you know, various things that happen to, um, to reduce our greenhouse gases, in addition to the big one, which is that Silicon Valley Clean Energy buys us all clean, um, clean energy.

[05:03:53] Councilmember Showalter: And, and our goal is really to drive the Silicon Valley region to fully electrify every building and vehicle by 2045 and power it with clean energy. So I just wanted to share that with you.

[05:04:07] Councilmember Showalter: And then moving on to, um, uh, an ask. Um, I'm following up on a request by Representative Sam Liccardo. uh, Councilmember Kamei and I attended a Zoom, um, for electeds from his district a couple of weeks ago. And the request is to pass an emergency zoning ordinance to ban detention centers, um, as an allowable use in Mountain View.

[05:04:35] Councilmember Showalter: Um, there's a toolkit that is available about, um, uh, how to go about this. And, um, basically the idea, one of the ideas behind it is that, um, we don't really have, um, an operational detention center in our locality. We've all heard a lot about what's on the, um, on the news about the possibility of building one in Gilroy, and that is, um, you know, that is before the courts as we speak.

[05:05:10] Councilmember Showalter: And probably going to be, well we don't know what the outcome will be, but, but, um, but at the same time, uh, not building that facility or being able to, uh, adjust a, a, a building to it leads to the idea that they will be looking for, um, other locations in the area.

[05:05:38] Councilmember Showalter: And, um, so, uh, this toolkit has been put together which has a, um, has a, uh, master ordinance that we can, um, you know, we can, uh, rewrite to be appropriate for Mountain View. And, so, um, I wanted to bring this to everybody and suggest that we ask our staff to develop an urgency ordinance for our approval as soon as is practicable.

[05:06:09] Councilmember Showalter: And that would, of course, include them doing all of the legal analysis that is appropriate about, you know, is this the right mechanism, and, um, that sort of thing. So I just wanted, I wanted to start the discussion of that, and, um, uh, perhaps Councilmember Kamei has another comment as part of it.

[05:06:35] Mayor Ramos: Councilmember Kamei.

[05:06:38] Councilmember Kamei: Thanks, Mayor. Uh, thank you so much, Councilmember Showalter. So I, I want to voice my support for this, our first item in item seven. Um, coming, coming forward. Um, as Councilmember Showalter mentioned, on August 21st we attended a Zoom gathering from, uh, Representative Liccardo.

[05:07:00] Councilmember Kamei: Um, this was after he had held a press conference, uh, where he announced the creation of this, um, toolkit. And so, um, as part of that, he has put forward, um, basically a draft, um, an outline of a draft ordinance that would establish a 45-day temporary moratorium on the establishment, expansion, or change of use of detention and custodial facilities.

[05:07:31] Councilmember Kamei: Uh, this, the belief here is though it is, quote unquote, promising news that, um, we received earlier today that, um, the courts have continued to block the construction of a facility in Gilroy, the community has also expressed that that the Department of Homeland Security may look for alternative sites.

[05:08:00] Councilmember Kamei: We know that there's already thought to look at the City of Dublin. And, uh, the urgency is not alleviated because of the court's ruling, if anything, um, it may mean that it's even more imperative to act. So, um, we, uh, believe that the temporary pause will provide the city with an opportunity to review basically our existing land use regulations, assess potential impacts on our community, and determine whether additional development standards or safeguards are needed to address these uses.

[05:08:41] Councilmember Kamei: So we, uh, in the conversation that we had with Representative Liccardo, we also tried to voice that, you know, our biggest concern is the, you know, the federal land that is just adjacent to us with which we have no purview over, which is Moffett Field.

[05:08:58] Councilmember Kamei: And how, you know, the, that this urgency ordinance, um, is appreciated, but what can we do with the representative, um, related to that federal land and to understand, um, what we can do to protect our residents in our community.

[05:09:18] Councilmember Kamei: So, um, hopefully embedded into this motion will be to not only look at the 45-day, uh, temporary moratorium and the ordinance, um, but would also be to continue the conversations with Representative Liccardo's office, um, because he's very, he's very keenly aware of, um, Moffett being adjacent to us.

[05:09:41] Councilmember Kamei: And then wanted to also share the city, I guess they're, are some good things coming out of the City of San Jose, Councilmember Ramirez, and uh, they adopted the, uh, ordinance, um, or they, they gave direction last Friday to look at adopting the ordinance and we'll, we'll be reviewing that at their next, um, council meeting on, uh, the 15th, so that's in a week.

[05:10:06] Councilmember Kamei: So there is something that's out there, so as part of the council direction we could also include looking at, at modeling ourselves after that ordinance, which would be modeled after Representative, um, Liccardo's model in his toolkit. So, um, hopefully colleagues will be in support. But bouncing, I bounce it back to you, Councilmember Showalter. Thank you.

[05:10:30] Mayor Ramos: I'm going to take on this item. Uh, Councilmember McAlister, would you like to speak specifically on this item or would you like to hold off on your item? Go ahead.

[05:10:41] Councilmember McAlister: So staff, uh, we had quite a few items on the program that a lot of these council members that are going to be leaving us shortly want to get done. So if, uh, how much time you think is going to be needed to get this if this motion goes forward, to get an ordinance and to review it, and etc., and then the timeline of, if you present it then it's a 30 days, it has the the whole timeline, how does that come about?

[05:11:12] Interim City Attorney Quinn: Well we haven't had time to really put together a work plan or think about, um, what the timeline would be. So the urgency ordinance in and of itself is a, it's an actual work item, but it won't be as significant as the work to adopt an ordinance that would need to go to the Environmental Planning Commission and then to the council. And so that would take a little bit more time, um, and Mr. Murdoch might have some comments on that as well. So it would have to be a joint effort between CDD and the City Attorney's office to put this all together.

[05:11:49] Councilmember McAlister: But do you have a, you said, but you didn't give me a timeline, so...

[05:11:53] Interim City Attorney Quinn: So to bring an urgency ordinance that gives us the space to actually draft a routine ordinance for you, right? That we could do relatively quickly, like maybe we could do that in a meeting in October, and we would really like to see what transpires in, um, September, with the City of San Jose, September 15th. And then I noted in the email from Liccardo's office, they're planning on having another Zoom meeting on the 18th and also checking in with our neighbors about what they're doing too.

[05:12:25] Councilmember McAlister: So if you have something on the 18th, does it need a second reading or the the formality of it?

[05:12:31] Interim City Attorney Quinn: No, the the interesting part of an urgency ordinance is that it's it's introduced and adopted at the same hearing.

[05:12:39] Councilmember McAlister: Okay.

[05:12:40] Interim City Attorney Quinn: Just one meeting.

[05:12:41] Councilmember McAlister: Okay, so it's not a heavy load for the the city to take on?

[05:12:46] Interim City Attorney Quinn: We'd like to be able to to review the toolkit and and read it and think about it and research it and check in with our neighbors see what San Jose is doing but it's something that we could accomplish by a meeting in October. Possibly November.

[05:13:04] Councilmember McAlister: Possibly November. Okay. Reality. Okay.

[05:13:08] Mayor Ramos: Councilmember Ramirez.

[05:13:10] Councilmember Ramirez: I support the item, but I'm in for keeping.

[05:13:15] Mayor Ramos: Vice Mayor Clark.

[05:13:18] Vice Mayor Clark: So I would just note, and I can follow up separately, there might be another path which just through zoning text because we I think we already have categories for interim incarceration facility in the code. Um, so it might just be something of a definition, but maybe that takes longer than a I guess what I'm getting at is I just want to make sure um one size fits all toolkits typically aren't actually one size fits all, especially if they are geared more towards counties than cities. Um, I appreciate the toolkit, I'm not knocking it, I just think that we might already have some definitions that there might be a simpler path, but um I just wanted to call that out and um because there's public safety facility and then there's interim incarceration facility why that's in there I don't know but apparently it's in the zoning code somewhere.

[05:14:09] Interim City Attorney Quinn: And obviously we would look at our existing zoning code as part of any urgency ordinance just to make sure that we don't already have something that would fit the bill.

[05:14:24] Mayor Ramos: Are you still in the queue? Alright, um I'm supportive of, is is there even a motion? Oh, there is a motion. And okay, so a motion by Councilmember Showalter, seconded by Councilmember Kamei. Um, to, yeah, if we can if you can clarify what the motion is.

[05:14:49] Councilmember Showalter: Okay, I I was gonna make it very simple, which is to ask staff to develop an urgency ordinance for our approval as soon as is practicable. And I think it's

Segment 8

[05:15:00] Councilmember Showalter: appropriate with that to take into account all of the things that council member Kamei brought up about using the toolkit, seeing what's happening in um jurisdictions, comparing to you know what Vice Mayor Clark said about comparing to what we already have. I mean to me all of those things are sort of incorporated, you know staff to to look at this carefully and come back to us with what you think is appropriate.

[05:15:32] Mayor Ramos: Go ahead, Councilmember Ramirez.

[05:15:35] Councilmember Ramirez: So what's going to the San Jose City Council on September 15th is a land use moratorium. And there are, there's a fairly lengthy legal memo that accompanies it explaining why a land use moratorium is appropriate, right. There are legal restrictions and obligations that the city attorney can explain far better than I could, but you start with a 45-day moratorium and basically what that buys you is time to develop more precise zoning code amendments. Um the amendments that we would pursue are probably different from what San Jose would do. Um but if we need more time, I think it's typically you know the meeting before the expiration, staff could come back with an extension to the moratorium, right. And I think there's like a I forgot how long it is, maybe it's two years or something but there's like a there's sort of like a time limit to how long you can enact a land use moratorium. But that's what we're what I think we're voting on, please correct me if I'm wrong is staff would come back, the city attorney's office would come back with a land use moratorium for 45 days and then maybe some accompanying information about like what it would take to adopt more precise zoning code amendments that would you know be permanent, right. And then if we need we need more time staff could come back with a moratorium extension. That's that would be my understanding and that's presuming we're following sort of the playbook in San Jose.

[05:17:06] Mayor Ramos: Thank you Councilmember Ramirez. Councilmember McAlister.

[05:17:08] Councilmember McAlister: So I'm just trying to understand the reality of you put this moratorium on on the city of Mountain View but all the federal land around us would be exempt. And so what what do you hope to get the outcome of this if we put this moratorium in place? That ICE is not going to come to Mountain View and find a plot of land that's hard to find or office complex or like Shenandoah, well that's federal. That they would we would prevent them from building a facility in Mountain View?

[05:17:42] Mayor Ramos: So um I could probably take this answer. I actually just had uh uh Congressman Liccardo just had a North Santa Clara County leaders meeting earlier today, right before this meeting. Um and he met with the mayors, North County Mayors so it was me, uh Mayor Vinker, Mayor Meadows, and Mayor uh uh Baji. Um and so uh he we we asked I asked particularly that was a a concern for for me and and Tom Myers was also in that meeting with me we were like hey what about Shenandoah Square and what about Moffett Field. Um and the way uh Congressman Liccardo was kind of framing is that it's almost like creating like this um we are just covering the land that we can. Um and then we're gonna there are probably other mechanisms to fight um having Shenandoah Square and and Moffett Field but he's relying on there is that other federal agencies will be fighting for their own land kind of thing for what they want to use their own land and there's he's he's he told me the joy of bureaucracy will will be fighting for that but we need to create um the net on our own land essentially. Um I was also um I also went to the press conference that Congressman Liccardo uh Councilmember uh Kamei was also with me that was on August 5th where it was in San Jose right in front of their city hall um as they were releasing this um toolkit. Um they they are trying to make this easy for cities to to pass essentially and I'm sure that they will offer resources for us to figure that out. Um my understanding from the meeting earlier today um Los Altos will also be taking it up in a couple weeks. If if it's not clear I'm very supportive of said motion.

[05:19:41] Councilmember McAlister: Oh but I also heard the City Attorney say that she would like to gather information from other cities and get a better idea what's happening. So is the motion negating her being able to get more information? Okay. I just wanted because you're saying emergency and so bring it back and I just want to make sure that...

[05:19:59] Councilmember Showalter: Well I I said um for our approval as soon as is practicable. So to me that includes you know all the appropriate um research that our trusted staff feels they need to do.

[05:20:14] Councilmember McAlister: Okay. That's fair. Thank you.

[05:20:20] Mayor Ramos: I don't even uh Vice Mayor Clark.

[05:20:22] Vice Mayor Clark: It's just a I'm happy to support this. I just want to you you specifically said urgency ordinance and I just want to make sure we're giving the the city attorney's office the leeway to pursue whatever the most expeditious path forward is. And so I assume that will be some sort of urgency ordinance or moratorium. If it ends up being something slightly different I'm fine with that too. I just don't want to be so prescriptive that like they feel like they can only pursue this particular path even if it's not as expedient as we think it will be.

[05:20:52] Councilmember Showalter: No, I think I think we want to, you know what we're really asking is our staff to go and research this and come back with the appropriate thing. Okay. Um and I mean we could wordsmith it a little more if we wanted to but I think but I think but I think that you know I think we've had this discussion and that's that provides guidance. Right?

[05:21:20] Interim City Attorney Quinn: Yes, I understand that we have flexibility that if in our opinion that a moratorium isn't the best option for the city or there are multiple options we think are worth the council considering we can bring those. And just to clarify too that the moratorium is just the beginning of the process. So it's it's direction to staff to come back at a later meeting with the moratorium to start the process of enacting a permanent ordinance. And at that time we could give you the timeline for being able to complete that.

[05:21:58] Mayor Ramos: Councilmember Kamei.

[05:21:59] Councilmember Kamei: Great, thanks. Um and just to clarify cities are working on it but counties have already adopted it so San Mateo County, Napa County and maybe mayor via the clerk we can share the links to the toolkit and to the whole package if um colleagues haven't already seen it. Um the Representative Liccardo's office has been sharing widely but that way people can see all the different resources um that that are available and I would say the growing number of both cities and counties that are moving in this direction and taking steps.

[05:22:41] Mayor Ramos: Alright. uh with that I'm assuming Councilmember Ramirez this is not for this item it's for your alright. We're gonna uh take it to a vote. Passes unanimously, yay yes. Um Councilmember, are you done with your item 8 reports out or do you want to let's let's let Councilmember Ramirez go.

[05:23:06] Councilmember Ramirez: Very briefly I just wanted to uh also um like uh Councilmember Showalter and the Mayor I attended the Mayor's Innovation Project conference in Madison, Wisconsin and I think it was in July is that right July to uh yeah um it feels like an eternity ago um and uh like uh Councilmember Showalter reported um I found many of the um the presentations or the the panel discussions uh very enlightening and um I think you may have alluded to this uh the um was it the National uh Civic League I think provided a presentation that included uh a discussion about work that they've done with other jurisdictions on uh charter modernizations and charter amendments um and so I reached out to them and I'm trying to get some additional information that I could share with the uh city manager um in the event that the next council is interested in pursuing um more substantive modifications to the charter. Uh thank you.

[05:24:07] Mayor Ramos: Thank you Councilmember Ramirez. Councilmember McAlister.

[05:24:09] Councilmember McAlister: I would like to report that I walked in the footsteps of my uh fellow council members that have visited the Diablo Grande nuclear plant. I went down there and I enjoyed it and I got a very good education about the safeguards and what takes place there. But I also got a better understanding the importance of nuclear energy even though there's some drawbacks that it presides provides 9% of the electrical energy for clean energy for the state of California. And so that we got the awareness that we need to keep our minds open to how we get our clean energy and it was interesting how the federals have given them a 20 or 40 year license to go forward. But the coastal committee coastal commission might reduce their timeline so it's interesting how the different government agencies are playing kick the ball around and see how long it's gonna last. You heard it was supposed to shut down at one point but then Governor Newsom said ah you know we need this energy so keep going so as we look forward to the goal of clean energy and trying to get all these things done um we always gotta keep that mind uh in the back of us saying ok they've taken precautions there if something happens bad it's bad but Pat will probably Councilmember Showalter will say the waste that they had over 20 years how they contained it is what's supposedly the dangerous is it's interesting to see that it's not in a big area I mean it's like on the size of a tennis court where all 20 years of waste is put is presented. And then they also presented they also said some of the things that happen I asked about Japan how that happened they said well that you need to keep the cool the water flowing the generators were below the water level so when the tsunami came it took out the generators which prevented keeping the cooling going whereas they put all these safeguards so uh a lot of my preconceptions were oh answered so uh everybody should take the opportunity to go down there and see what's taking place it's interesting and enlightening and just keep an open mind afterwards. But that was a lot of fun.

[05:26:29] Mayor Ramos: Councilmember Showalter.

[05:26:30] Councilmember Showalter: Yeah um how did you arrange that? I went as a as with Silicon Valley Clean Energy. How did how did you get to go?

[05:26:39] Councilmember McAlister: Uh the PG&E new uh government relations person Maria I sat down with talked to her about it and I said hey she goes actually well you know we started talking about nuclear energy she said would you like to go?

[05:26:53] Councilmember Showalter: Oh well that's great well anyway I would just you're right I would I I'm glad so that there's a way for everybody else to go. Oh yeah. And I just want to urge everybody to go. I mean it really is um uh for one thing it's a beautiful part of the coast and um but it's fascinating. And then the other thing I wanted to say when you you guys always hear me talking about sea level rise right when I was there one of the things that really struck me was how high up all the facilities are. They're above all of the sea level rise projections for you know certainly for this century by many many feet. And I don't know too much about tsunamis but uh they said they were also you know they had considered tsunami issues. So I thought that was very important and then the other thing I think is amazing about that is this is a big piece of real estate it's 14 miles of the coast that is devoted to um kind of the area around this so um I I just think that it will be part of our energy system for you know maybe forever um but it's uh whether it's what's whether we have nuclear power there or or some other kind of power there but yeah it's it's really worth a visit.

[05:28:16] Councilmember McAlister: And I also want to add that my wife was allowed to attend. Yeah Steve went. So that was nice. And they are two chambers there or so they were design that area was designed for six towers they got two now so if need be they can expand that. Uh but it was yeah there was all kinds of fun facts that you can go with interesting also if you're an abalone diver it's protected there's abalone down there all over the place so.

[05:28:46] Mayor Ramos: Alright, Councilmember Kamei.

[05:28:48] Councilmember Kamei: How do you follow that? Alright, I know, I know but I have to disclose my conferences. So in July um I attended uh NALEO, the National Association of Latino Elected Officials annual conference. I had my Cal Cities uh board of directors summer meeting and then I also attended the um annual AAPI Lead, the Asian American Pacific Islander Lead conference. In August we our Cal Cities um met um so we had our our legislative um committee as well as the board meeting. I think for the just an update for everyone on the um the LAC meeting, it was trying to talk about a lot of the bills that were going to, you know going to come forward for the end of session um and just a preview for before Cities Association um this Thursday is um Montana who is here today is going to be presenting. Um there were quite a few bills that kind of went through this cycle and so having the peninsula division manager there plugged in um with our Cities Association board just to kind of talk about what the next cycle would look like um is of um interest to the group. And then um wanted to uh highlight um and not to steal the mayor's thunder but I just want to say a huge thank you to our city staff who helped organize um our 50-year celebration with our sister city Iwata City. It was a Herculean lift to um prepare as the mayor mentioned. There's a lot of protocol um thankfully we have our Silicon Valley Office of Protocol, we had our Mountain View Chamber but most of all our city staff who helped lead this delegation of how many was it in the end like 15 people something something like that and they had a full Mountain View day so on Monday August 24th um they got the full day big thank you to our partners Google and Waymo who helped host them so they got the full Silicon Valley experience. Um and I think it was beautiful to see um how this has been able to flourish um for 50 years. I feel you know personally I feel um very grateful to have relatives in my family have been founding board members of our sister city nonprofit um still involved and to to see that uh and we had a reception here to hear two generations of family members who are able to go through that program and hoping for the next generations to go through. Um was really moving and a testament to I think bilateral relations, international relations but I think just how you can create friendship that exceeds um language and culture and I love that about our city and that was on full display. So just wanted to make sure that I say have my sincere gratitude to staff. Thanks.

[05:31:04] Mayor Ramos: Yay. Alright, uh I'll close us out. Um it was a very uh busy bee summer uh we haven't been able to update all the wonderful things we were doing so on July 4th the new frontiers had a 4th of July celebration they used our and Councilmember Kamei was with me on that they used their um neighborhood grants fund for that and it was they were so it was I love that that community. It's it's wonderful. Um I also attended the Mayor's Innovation Project in Wisconsin. Um I got to do as Mayor I got to um present at the Mayor's Showcase where I presented about our Language Leadership Academies and everyone was so jealous of us as they should be because we're the best city. Um I provided the opening for the technology showcase panel they did a AI in small businesses panel that was kind of cool. Um there was National Night Out which I'm pretty sure most of us went to so that was also really really good. The Community Action Team our cat ice cream social. Um there was a ribbon cutting for the 25 West Gallery ribbon cutting and a good chunk of us were there too. Um there was also a ribbon cutting for VeloX uh Experience Center, a number of us were there too. I did the opening for Kidstock which was really fun. Um I I was I'm the alternate for ABAG and so I covered for Los Gatos Mayor Rob Moore um and one of the major items of that meeting was that they installed the new officers so the new uh the new president of ABAG or the new president of the executive board is uh Susan Adams uh she's a council member in Rohnert Park and then the the vice president is Wanda Williams who's a Solano County supervisor. Um then uh on August 22nd there was the old Mountain View ice cream social and as uh Councilmember Kamei uh mentioned on August 24th we hosted the Japanese delegation um and I did not uh cause an international incident which is yay us. Um but I also learned did you know that like Mr. Myers our CSA was a was a exchange student along with there are so many people who are involved in our community that were were products of that exchange program and they all said it changed their life. So it's really quite wonderful. And with that I have no more comments in the queue. The next city council meeting will be held on September 22nd. This meeting is adjourned at 22:33.

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