Oct. 27, 2026 City Council Meeting

Video

Agenda

• 2.1 Conference with Labor Negotiators (Government Code §54957.6): Closed session announcement and recess. (00:03:16)
• 1. CALL TO ORDER/PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE/ROLL CALL: Pledge of allegiance and roll call. (00:16:32)
• 2. CLOSED SESSION REPORT: Report on closed session. (00:17:33)
• 3. PRESENTATIONS: Introduction to presentations. (00:17:55)
• 3.1 Simon Kensky, Elementary School Mayor for a Day Certificate of Recognition: Certificate presentation. (00:18:18)
• 3.2 Yichen Yang, Middle School Mayor for a Day Certificate of Recognition: Certificate presentation. (00:22:36)
• 3.3 Breast Cancer Awareness Month Proclamation: Reading of the proclamation. (00:22:45)
• 3.4 Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District Presentation: Presentation and Q&A. (00:29:43)
• 4. CONSENT CALENDAR: Approval of consent calendar items. (00:40:43)
• 5. ORAL COMMUNICATIONS FROM THE PUBLIC ON NONAGENDIZED ITEMS: Public comments. (00:42:02)
• 7.1 Public Art Strategy Adoption: Presentation, discussion, and adoption of the strategy. (00:48:22)
• 8. COUNCIL, STAFF/COMMITTEE REPORTS: Reports from council members and staff. (01:16:15)
• 9. ADJOURNMENT: Meeting adjournment. (01:19:15)

Transcript

2.1 Conference with Labor Negotiators (Government Code §54957.6)

[00:03:18] Mayor Emily Ann Ramos: All right. Good evening everyone. Thank you for joining us for our closed session. Interim City Attorney Quinn will make a closed session announcement, um, and we will then welcome public comment on the item for, uh, closed session.

[00:03:38] Mayor Emily Ann Ramos: Um, I don't have what she was gonna read. Oh, here we go. Um, the conference with labor negotiations Government Code 54957.6, agency designated representative Lindsey Bishop, Assistant Human Resources Director, unrepresented employee, City Attorney.

[00:03:57] Mayor Emily Ann Ramos: Public employee appointment Government Code 54957, uh, title City Attorney. Um, so thank you. Would any member of the public joining us virtually or in person like to provide comment on the item in the closed session item listed on today's agenda?

[00:04:13] Mayor Emily Ann Ramos: Uh, 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 three minutes. This is only for the closed session item.

[00:04:25] Mayor Emily Ann Ramos: And seeing no speakers, and I also see no speakers in the virtual. Um, so 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 regular session.

3. PRESENTATIONS

[00:17:55] System: This meeting is in a closed session. Regular Council session will resume shortly.

3.2 Yichen Yang, Middle School Mayor for a Day Certificate of Recognition

[00:22:36] System: CITY COUNCIL MEETING. This meeting is in a closed session. Regular Council session will resume shortly.

5. ORAL COMMUNICATIONS FROM THE PUBLIC ON NONAGENDIZED ITEMS

[00:42:02] System: This meeting is in a closed session. Regular Council session will resume shortly.

8. COUNCIL, STAFF/COMMITTEE REPORTS

[01:16:34] Mayor Emily Ann Ramos: Okay. All right. Good evening everyone. Welcome to the regular meeting of the Mountain View City Council of October 27, 2026. Please join me in the Pledge of Allegiance.

[01:16:51] Mayor Emily Ann 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.

[01:17:08] Mayor Emily Ann Ramos: Great job, everyone. All right. The City Clerk will take attendance by roll call.

[01:17:17] Heather Glaser, City Clerk: Councilmember Hicks.

[01:17:17] Councilmember Alison Hicks: Here.

[01:17:18] Heather Glaser, City Clerk: Councilmember Kamei.

[01:17:19] Councilmember Ellen Kamei: Here.

[01:17:19] Heather Glaser, City Clerk: Councilmember McAlister.

[01:17:21] Councilmember John McAlister: Yep.

[01:17:22] Heather Glaser, City Clerk: Councilmember Ramirez.

[01:17:22] Councilmember Lucas Ramirez: Here.

[01:17:23] Heather Glaser, City Clerk: Vice Mayor Clark. Mayor Ramos.

[01:17:26] Mayor Emily Ann Ramos: Here.

[01:17:27] Heather Glaser, City Clerk: You have a quorum with Councilmember Showalter absent and Vice Mayor Clark temporarily absent.

[01:17:31] Mayor Emily Ann Ramos: He'll get here. 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.

[01:17:44] Mayor Emily Ann Ramos: 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.

[01:17:54] Mayor Emily Ann Ramos: 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.

[01:18:06] Mayor Emily Ann 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 caption service that allows members of the public to follow meeting proceedings in the preferred language using their own device or headset.

[01:18:27] Mayor Emily Ann Ramos: The service offers translation in more than 60 languages. For those watching home via Zoom, YouTube, or 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.

[01:18:45] Mayor Emily Ann Ramos: To our next item, number two, closed session report. Interim City Attorney Quinn, do you have a closed session report?

[01:18:52] Jannie L. Quinn, Interim City Attorney: There is no closed session report this evening.

[01:18:55] Mayor Emily Ann Ramos: Thank you. We will now move on to item three, presentations. Please note these are presentations only. The city council will not take any action.

[01:19:04] Mayor Emily Ann Ramos: The 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.

9. ADJOURNMENT

[01:19:15] Mayor Emily Ann Ramos: So we will now move on to item 3.1. Simon Kenzy, Kensky, elementary school mayor for the day certificate of recognition. So,

Additional Content 1

[01:19:27] Mayor Emily Ann Ramos: A Mayor for a Day essay contest ran throughout the month of September. Elementary and middle school age Mountain View residents wrote about one problem they would like to solve if they were Mayor for a day. An elementary school and middle school winner were selected. We are happy to have Simon Kensky, uh Kensky, you could correct me on the pronunciation on that, um join us as the elementary school winner. Simon attends Landels Elementary School and is in the fifth grade. Simon, would you join me at the lectern over there?

[01:20:10] Simon: Should I read my essay?

[01:20:12] Mayor Emily Ann Ramos: You can, here, let's uh, you're gonna, let's have you stand right over here. Okay. So first, we're gonna take a nice little picture of you with your certificate over here. Picture! ... And then, uh, feel free to read your essay if you'd like.

[01:20:35] Simon: Alright, I'll read it. Wait, where do I, I'll just put the certificate here. Essay for Mountain View City Council, Elementary School: Affordable Housing. By Simon Kensky, almost 11, although now 11. Fifth grade at Landels.

[01:20:51] Simon: Upon careful consideration, there is not enough affordable housing. Many people search for homes where they can get a well-paying job; therefore, the Bay Area is a great place to live. There is one major downside. The housing is way too expensive for some people, so I think the city should make it more affordable really soon for those who don't have a lot of money.

[01:21:16] Simon: If housing doesn't cost enough money, it will run out fast. If the price is low and the quantity is high, many people can live here. First and foremost, in Mountain View, we want to welcome people to a better future. A great way to do that is to build an environment where affordable housing is bountiful.

[01:21:38] Simon: Furthermore, I think there are way too many homeless people, so what we can do is bring some light and joy to their lives by building housing that they can afford. We can do this by having a lot of it. As an illustration, we can have a retail on the first floor of many buildings with 3 to 8 floors of apartments on top.

[01:21:59] Simon: A great example of this already happening is the apartment building that is being built on 424 Bryant Street, Corso. One question you might be asking is, where do we put it? I think the best spots to put it are in parking lots and businesses. If you destroy the parking lot, you can have a parking garage in the building.

[01:22:19] Simon: If you destroy a business, you can put the business in the building too. A great example of that is a future building on 749 West El Camino Real, which will have the Chase Bank that the city will destroy before construction starts in the building.

[01:22:34] Simon: Lastly, one needs money to start making more money. We can make these apartments very affordable, so many people who don't have enough money to buy market-rate housing can still buy what they need to live and earn more money.

[01:22:51] Simon: Many people have almost everything they need to succeed, but they don't have the first step to success: housing. We can create a light at the end of their tunnels and let them succeed. Ultimately, I strongly believe that we need more affordable housing. I believe that if we continue to develop, then many of those people are bound to succeed in a better, more affordable future.

[01:23:34] Mayor Emily Ann Ramos: Thank you, Simon. Um, and now we will go to our item 3.2, Yicheng Yang, Middle School Mayor for the Day certificate of recognition. So, we are happy to be joined this evening by our middle school winner, Yicheng Yang, uh, who attends Graham Middle School and is in the sixth grade.

[01:23:57] Mayor Emily Ann Ramos: Yicheng, would you join me at the lectern? ... So, would you like to say a few words? You don't have to if you don't want to. Alright, let's take a quick picture here. And then we're gonna take a picture over here.

[01:24:29] Mayor Emily Ann Ramos: I will say that Yicheng wrote a wonderful essay about student safety on routes to schools. So... Alright, now we go to our next item... Oh, only for me to go back to the lectern after this, okay. Alright, we're gonna go to item 3.3, Breast Cancer Awareness Month Proclamation.

[01:24:54] Mayor Emily Ann Ramos: We are happy to be joined this evening by the Police Officers Association President Eric Nelson, Community Services Officer Jody Pierce, Deputy Chief uh Josh Coleman, and Mountain View Professional Firefighters Local 1965 Union President Ziad Abuta, uh to accept this proclamation. Now will you all please join me at the lectern?

[01:25:33] Mayor Emily Ann Ramos: Alright, so we have the proclamations here. And the proclamation reads: Whereas Breast Cancer Awareness Month is observed every October, and this year's theme is 'Every Story is Unique, Every Journey Matters,' and whereas a worldwide annual campaign highlights the critical importance of breast cancer education, early detection, prevention, and regular screenings, and whereas advances in early detection, medical research, and treatment protocols have significantly improved survival rates and quality of life for patients,

[01:26:11] Mayor Emily Ann Ramos: whereas this observance provides an opportunity to honor breast cancer survivors, support those currently battling the disease, remembering loved ones lost, and recognize the dedicated healthcare professionals, researchers, and caregivers.

[01:26:24] Mayor Emily Ann 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 the month of October as Breast Cancer Awareness Month in the City of Mountain View and invite the community to join in raising awareness, supporting education programs, and encouraging early detection and screenings. Would anyone like to say a few words?

[01:27:07] Ziad Abuta: Thank you, Council. On behalf of the Fire Department, we would like to thank the Council for joining our efforts in recognizing Breast Cancer Awareness Month and for supporting this important cause. On behalf of the Mountain View Fire Department and Local 1965, we are honored to accept this proclamation.

[01:27:34] Ziad Abuta: Breast cancer affects so many of our families, friends, and members of our community. Today is an opportunity to recognize those who are fighting, honor those that we have lost, and support the survivors. As firefighters, we dedicate ourselves to protecting our community, and we're proud to stand alongside everyone working to raise awareness, encourage early detection, and support breast cancer research. Thank you for your leadership and for helping bring attention to this important cause.

[01:28:01] Eric Nelson: On behalf of the Mountain View Police Department and the uh Association, uh I would like to thank all of you for being here, recognizing Breast Cancer Awareness Month and understanding its importance. Um, whether it's family, friends, or colleagues, we've all been touched and affected by cancer. Uh, so we appreciate everyone here and uh appreciate all of their support. Thank you.

[01:28:35] Mayor Emily Ann Ramos: Okay, thank you. I would also like to invite Fire Chief Brian Jones and the Station One personnel up for the photo. Along with my colleagues, I'm gonna tell you guys to come over here too. So, photo time! ... And PD too. Come join us for the photo. ... Our Council is short, you guys have to be here.

[01:30:26] Mayor Emily Ann Ramos: Okay. Alright, now we are at item 3.4, which is our final presentation, and we haven't forgotten you. So item 3.4 is a Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District presentation. We are happy to be joined this evening by Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District Board Vice President Karen Holman and Board Treasurer Curt Riffle for this presentation. You will see seven minutes on the clock.

[01:31:14] Curt Riffle: Good evening. Thanks for the opportunity uh to provide an... we were told 5 minutes, so 7 minutes probably is even better. Uh update for the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District, otherwise known as Midpen. I am Curt Riffle, Director of Ward 4, which includes Mountain View, Los Altos, Sunnyvale, and Cupertino. And joining me is Director Karen Holman, whose Ward 5 includes portions of Mountain View, Sunnyvale, Palo Alto, and East Palo Alto.

[01:31:51] Curt Riffle: Midpen's mission can be summarized in five words: preserve, protect, restore, educate, and enjoy. For our work on the San Mateo Coast, our mission also includes the protection and support for agriculture. Midpen's lands include approximately 73,000 acres, making us one of the largest open space districts in California. Our boundary is defined by the Bay to the east, Highway 1 to the west, Pacifica to the north, and Los Gatos to the south.

[01:32:24] Curt Riffle: Midpen is governed by a seven-member Board of Directors, who each represent wards of roughly 110,000 constituents across three counties. We protect in perpetuity an incredibly diverse landscape, from redwoods to grasslands to baylands, and over 77 miles of creeks and 100 bodies of water.

[01:32:56] Curt Riffle: Midpen has 27 preserves with over 260 miles of trails that are free and open every day from sunrise to sunset. We have 250 employees, and this year's annual budget just exceeded $100 million for the first time in our 54-year history.

[01:33:21] Curt Riffle: Some of our nearby preserves include, you guessed it, Rancho San Antonio, which should be popping up here soon. Picchetti Ranch, ... and Ravenswood Open Space Preserve. Here are some key projects and updates we thought would be of interest to you. Wildfire resiliency is always at or near the top of our list of ongoing projects.

[01:33:59] Curt Riffle: We are enhancing ADA accessibility and adding easy access trails to better serve the Bay Area's growing population of seniors. We are always looking for, to add talented staff. We recently held a job fair with several of our partners and, to our surprise, over 800 people attended.

[01:34:26] Curt Riffle: To help the public connect with our preserves, our public interpretation and education programs are offered by trained volunteer docents and are provided weekly throughout the year. We are making excellent progress towards construction of a Highway 17 wildlife undercrossing, ... and a nearby pedestrian overcrossing. This is all located, will be located near Lexington Reservoir. ... And we hope to begin construction in 2027.

[01:34:57] Curt Riffle: And finally, we continue our outreach and education with our neighboring landowners to eliminate the use of rodenticides that are harmful to wildlife. Before I wrap up, some examples of projects involving the City of Mountain View, and they include our ongoing agreement to operate the very popular Deer Hollow Farm at Rancho San Antonio, wildlife enhancement work at our Stevens Creek Nature Study Area just north of Google and Moffett Field, and contracting with the City of Mountain View for our ranger dispatch services.

[01:35:32] Curt Riffle: Finally, there are many ways to connect with Midpen, including social media, newsletters, volunteering, events and activities, and best of all, visiting one of our 27 preserves. So we wanted to thank you again for our partnership, your partnership with us, and your time and attention this evening. And if there's time, uh Karen and I would be happy to take any questions or comments that you have. And um, just for fun and extra credit, if anybody can name the bird in this slide, um we'll be happy to let you know.

[01:36:07] Mayor Emily Ann Ramos: Anyone with questions or know what kind of bird that is? Go ahead, Councilmember Ramirez.

[01:36:14] Councilmember Lucas Ramirez: Thank you, Mayor. Thank you very much for the presentation. Um, I, I, um, am curious to know the, the, you referenced, uh, the Measure AA bond. Um, I was curious to know the, the status of the utilization of those proceeds and whether... I, I do a lot of work, uh, with the Open Space Authority, uh, in my, my day job hat, and I, uh, really grew to appreciate the work that that...

[01:36:38] Curt Riffle: Yeah, congratulations on, on your Measure T.

[01:36:41] Councilmember Lucas Ramirez: Measure T. Well, that's, that's what I'm curious about, whether, um, uh, we might, um, uh, pursue something similar in the future and, and enjoy that, the, um, the utilization of those funds, uh, once Measure AA, uh, is fully exhausted or committed. Sorry, the question is, uh, the status of Measure AA, um, and if, if, once we fully commit or exhaust those funds, uh, whether we might, uh, pursue another revenue generation opportunity to, to be able to continue that good work.

[01:37:06] Curt Riffle: Yeah, well, this, Measure AA was our first opportunity to go back to the public, um, and, and so that was in 2014, so we're 12 years into it. Um, and, uh, we're thinking we probably will go back to the public, but probably more in about the 2040 uh, timeframe. Because it was a 30-year, it was a 30-year bond. Yeah.

[01:37:27] Councilmember Lucas Ramirez: Okay. Thank you very much. Good question.

[01:37:30] Mayor Emily Ann Ramos: Alright. No take... oh, go ahead, Councilmember Kamei.

[01:37:33] Councilmember Ellen Kamei: Any exciting things coming up that our Mountain View residents should know about? Events before the end of the year or things you want to highlight for them?

[01:37:41] Curt Riffle: Oh, good question. Um, and I'll, I'll look to, um, to our... my compatriot here. Um, probably the best thing to do would go to, I'm going to, I'm going to bail a little bit on you, is go to our website, and go to the uh the activities that we have because there's just so many things going on um that that's uh that's probably the better... And then the other thing is that you can kind of pick and choose which you want, uh, which would best fit what people are doing. Karen?

[01:38:14] Karen Holman: One thing that's great to do is we have both online and physical copies of our preserves guide. And it's, it's a great resource because you can find out what you can do and what preserve and where they are and how many acres and if they're dog-friendly, if you can bike, if you can take a horse, you know whatever. They're just, they're just great resources for you guys to explore. Just great. And by the way, that the hard copy of that has been so popular, we're in our third printing. Yeah, it's a great resource.

[01:38:44] Mayor Emily Ann Ramos: Councilmember McAlister, did you want to take a stab at what this bird is?

[01:38:48] Councilmember John McAlister: California Thrasher.

[01:38:49] Mayor Emily Ann Ramos: Oh, that was correct! Oh, congratulations!

[01:38:54] Curt Riffle: He gets a prize. ...

[01:38:56] Councilmember John McAlister: But I have a question for you. Hot topic for us is ebikes. What is the policy within your domain of on ebikes?

[01:39:06] Curt Riffle: Um, they are prohibited um, on our, on our trails. Now there are two or three exceptions to that. Um, one is the access to Deer Hollow Farm, um which is a paved access, and we thought that it would, we should allow el- electric bikes to be able to allow more people to get to Deer Hollow Farm, but it's on a paved, constricted area only. And in the Ravenswood, it's part of the Bay Trail, so a lot of people commute uh to Meta and so on, and so that portion, also paved, uh we're allowing uh electric bikes there, but no electric bikes on any of our other preserves.

[01:39:41] Councilmember John McAlister: No other on the preserves or so forth. Correct. What about the power assist, do you differentiate between the ebikes and power assist?

[01:39:47] Curt Riffle: Good, I'm glad you brought that up. Um, people that um have a physical disability that requires um help, um they can get a certificate, if you will, um that that allows them to go ahead and use um um electric assisted devices, of which electric bikes uh fall in that category. Right.

[01:40:12] Mayor Emily Ann Ramos: If I, I am really impressed. I only know two kinds of birds, which is the Burrowing Owl and the Egret, okay.

[01:40:20] Karen Holman: Well, look up the Snowy Plover, it's the most gorgeous bird. Um, just related, it may not sound like it to begin with, just related to the ebikes question, which Curt very ably uh responded to. People wonder like why you don't allow, why we don't allow ebikes, and there are environmental reasons for that and wildlife habitat reasons for that as well.

[01:40:43] Karen Holman: Sometimes people, and we see this in preserves all the time, is like, people wonder like, well I want to take my dog. My dog needs exercise, I want to take my dog. And some preserves are dog-friendly, on leash. But the reason, and some people get frustrated, it's like why can't I just bring my dog, it's because a lot of people not understanding the impact to wildlife and habitat take their dog, let it off leash, and dogs are going to do what dogs are going to do, they're going to chase things and they're going to go bounding.

[01:41:10] Karen Holman: And it just, it doesn't work. So the rules that we have um are there for a reason, and we ask that they be respected because this is how we, as Curt laid out to begin with, our mission is protect, preserve, and so that's how we do it, is we have to have stipulations.

[01:41:24] Mayor Emily Ann Ramos: Alright, any other questions? ... Well, thank you so much for your presentation. We appreciate the partnership we have with our city. So, as we close out our presentation items, uh, our my my uh meeting constant of having a call to action, call to service, call to community is... Oh, we should take public comment. Any public comment on any of our presentation items? I am seeing no public comment.

[01:42:01] Mayor Emily Ann Ramos: Any virtual public comment on our presentation items? Seeing no virtual public comment. So now I will go to my call to service, call to action, call to community is uh that we just finished with the presentation from Midpen, and they have a wonderful selection of volunteer activities that you can do. You can join for a single-day volunteer project, you can learn to volunteer as a docent, and you can learn to do their trails and stewardship programs.

[01:42:34] Mayor Emily Ann Ramos: So... Oh, and then you can also do a group volunteer project with them. So, it's a really quite exciting thing. Especially, uh most notably our partnership with them is Deer Hollow Farm in Rancho San Antonio. Um, it's really nice if you really like nature. Yes. Um, so thank you so much.

[01:42:51] Mayor Emily Ann Ramos: We will now move on to item four, Consent Calendar. Uh, these items will be approved by one motion unless any member of the Council wishes to pull an item for individual consideration. If an item is pulled from the consent calendar, it will be considered separately following the approval of the balance of the consent calendar. If you would like to speak on these items or the next item, oral communications on non-agendized 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? Councilmember McAlister?

[01:43:18] Councilmember John McAlister: I'd like to comment on 4.1.

[01:43:21] Mayor Emily Ann Ramos: Alright, we have a comment on 4.1. Do we have any other pulls? Um, alright. I'm gonna go to public comment and then after we do public comment you can do your comment on that and then we'll, we'll do the rest of the consent calendar. Does that sound good? Alright.

[01:43:43] Mayor Emily Ann Ramos: Would any member of the public joining us virtually or in person like to provide comment on these items? If so, please click the raise hand button in Zoom or submit a blue speaker card to the City Clerk. We will take in-person speakers first. Each speaker will have three minutes. I am seeing no in-person speakers. We will now take virtual speakers. I am seeing no virtual speakers.

[01:44:04] Mayor Emily Ann Ramos: I will now bring this back to Council uh for action and note that a motion to approve the consent calendar should also include the reading of the title of the ordinance and resolution attached to consent calendar items 4.1 and 4.2. Councilmember McAlister?

[01:44:22] Councilmember John McAlister: Yeah, so I wanted to comment on 4.1 particularly um concerning the uh allocation of the $1.6 million, and it brought up a a broader conversation that we need to address is for those who were at the last meeting, we allocated, uh there was a majority vote to allocate all the funds to affordable housing, and I just would like to make sure that my fellow council members always need to be aw- aware of the broad context of the decision and the impact that it has down... how it affects the community as a whole.

[01:45:01] Councilmember John McAlister: Uh, on today's list of council questions, I asked the question, does... how much does an affordable housing project have to pay for open space and park land? And basically the question, the answer was they don't have to pay any. The following, so I was saying okay, how does park land get their money in that case? And then somebody else asked a question on the following question about how many affordable units are going through the pipeline.

[01:45:32] Councilmember John McAlister: And from what I can gather, there is 1500 to 1600 units that of affordable housing that's going to be built into the city, that's going to add thousands of people to the city, and yet we're not anticipating or accounting for that they will need open space, they need uh availability to enjoy what we have, and the constraints that we're going to put on the existing count of the community, with all this new going in without adding a deficit of open space that we already have, we need to make sure that we're always looking at a broad context of... we're adding this, we also need to balance it with open space, facilities for uh relaxation and well-being.

[01:46:18] Councilmember John McAlister: And so that's why um as we go forward as council looks at this, please consider that there's more to just affordable housing, that it needs to be blended into the well-being of the city of Mountain View. And those are my comments. Thank you.

[01:46:30] Mayor Emily Ann Ramos: Thank you, Councilmember McAlister. Councilmember Ramirez?

[01:46:34] Councilmember Lucas Ramirez: Thank you, Mayor. I appreciate uh Councilmember McAlister's questions. And uh I'm going to move to approve the staff recommendations, and as I read through um the the resolution titles, I'm going to invite Assistant City Manager Arn Andrews to um answer a question in a minute.

[01:46:59] Councilmember Lucas Ramirez: Um but first, I will move to approve the staff recommendations including item 4.1, adopt an ordinance of the City of Mountain View approving a first amendment to the development agreement by and between the City of Mountain View and LinkedIn Corporation for the LinkedIn Middlefield campus on a 28.7-acre site located at 700 to 810 East Middlefield Road and 1100 to 1200 Maude Avenue, APNs 165-38-001 and 165-38-009, to extend the term by 5 years, to be read in title only, further reading waived.

[01:47:36] Councilmember Lucas Ramirez: And item 4.2, 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 $50 million for the purpose of financing or refinancing the acquisition, construction, improvement, and equipping of 334 San Antonio Road and certain other matters relating thereto, to be read in title only, further reading waived.

[01:47:59] Councilmember Lucas Ramirez: That next council is going to be so lucky that they will never have to read these again. Um, but uh I I would like to ask um a question of the assistant city manager. Uh so Councilmember McAlister, I agree with you. Um, and that's why we worked really hard uh as part of Measure G, the real property transfer tax, um to ensure that an ongoing uh a substantial uh percentage of the revenue generated will be allocated specifically for parks and open space.

[01:48:21] Councilmember Lucas Ramirez: And we're having a gangbusters year. Um, if possible, could you provide an update to the City Council and the community about the revenue generated thus far and um your projections and then also how much of that will be uh set aside for uh parks and open space?

[01:48:32] Arn Andrews: Uh, thank you for the question. And I'll get it started, and if our Finance Director wants to come to jump in later, she can. Um, so far to date, we've collected approximately 11.4 million. Uh, you might recall that this council, when you created your allocation plan, you put a cap of 12 million, at which point uh any additional revenues would be reallocated uh without the public safety component, which means more would then flow to parks, more would flow to affordable housing, and then more would flow to general government services.

[01:49:04] Arn Andrews: And so yes, so far it's a good year. Uh, regardless of whether or not we hit the cap, clearly we're above budget by somewhere in the vicinity of three, three and a half million dollars, and so we'll continue to track Measure G. If and when the time comes that we go above the cap, that would be presented when we come with the budget, similar to last year, when we had suggestions for how to allocate Measure G at that time.

[01:49:22] Councilmember Lucas Ramirez: Okay. So just to be very clear, right? Up to 12 million generated in revenue, a third is set aside for parks and open space. Beyond 12 million, 50% of revenue is allocated for parks and open space.

[01:49:36] Arn Andrews: I believe your numbers are correct. Yes. It's currently an allocation of 40-30-20-10. It would then jump to I believe, yes, 50-30-20 or 50-40-20.

[01:49:47] Councilmember Lucas Ramirez: Okay. Thank you very much. So, I just wanted to, so I I hear you, um, I know we we've had some challenges with uh, park fees and and the impact of uh residential development on, on the demand for parks and open space, but I think that's why um Measure G is uh such a critical source of revenue, uh and I will be forever grateful to the voters for approving it and also forever grateful to my friend Jim Zorski, uh with whom I conversed for many hours late into the night, and uh because of you I've lost probably a good 12 years of my life, but it was worth it because Measure G will generate so much revenue for not only parks and open space but other important community uh amenities. Thank you.

[01:50:27] Mayor Emily Ann Ramos: Thank you, Councilmember Ramirez. I see no other comments, I believe we are ready to vote. It was moved by Councilmember Ramirez, seconded by Councilmember Hicks. Item passes unanimously. If only all votes could be like this. We will now move on to item five, Oral Communications.

[01:50:54] Mayor Emily Ann Ramos: 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 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.

[01:51:21] Mayor Emily Ann Ramos: 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 on Zoom or submit a blue speaker card to the City Clerk. We will take in-person speakers first. Each speaker will have three minutes. And we do have some speakers, so we'll start out with Laura Connors.

[01:51:43] Laura Connors: Okay, this is my first visit to City Council. First off, I have a rhetorical question. Why do you call them Heritage Trees if you let developers cut them down? Secondly, and this is the more important question I have, is what is going on with the streets and those ping pong ball things all lining the streets? Who voted for that? This is not rhetorical.

[01:52:13] Laura Connors: We we can't reply back to open public comment that is not agendized, unfortunately. Oh, okay. Well, California Avenue is horrible looking. It's so tacky looking with those blue things there that look like garbage cans, they've got weeds coming out of them. What's the idea? I heard you can't even have the street cleaners come in and do the curbs there.

[01:52:43] Laura Connors: I don't know, I think it was a really bad move, they're everywhere, and they drive me crazy when I see them. And my very last issue with Mountain View is, and I've lived here for 50 years, I like the town, I love the town, is um, when do we stop building apartment buildings? Everywhere I look I see apartment buildings going up.

[01:53:09] Laura Connors: Hasn't Mountain View contributed enough housing for our tech society or whatever it is that we're housing here on the peninsula? It just seems like there's huge apartment buildings everywhere. I don't know if anyone else finds it disturbing, but I do. Thank you.

[01:53:30] Mayor Emily Ann Ramos: Thank you. Next we have Richard Wynn, and then we have Jiaojin Sun.

[01:53:43] Richard Wynn: I was running on a trail and I didn't run fast enough, old age caught up to me. Alright. I owe you an explanation. Um, you may be getting emails from City Council candidates regarding the R3 R2 transition zone for Star Way. A few neighbors and myself made presentations at the October 7th EPC meeting, and except for Paul Donahue, um, it didn't seem like our voices were heard or acknowledged.

[01:54:17] Richard Wynn: So after that, we got together and decided we'll ask City Council candidates who are eager to talk to us to review our position and, if appropriate, to give their support via an email to you. So we thought that as community leaders, uh they were better versed in housing issues and that their voices would have the credibility that ours seemed to lack.

[01:54:44] Richard Wynn: So, since then, an astute gentleman cautioned me that the Council might take this as stepping on their toes. And so therefore as the point person on that activity, I wanted to personally appear and say that it was 100% not our intent to step on any toes, it's just that it feels good to feel like you're being listened to and we thought this would be one way.

[01:55:09] Richard Wynn: Okay, so my second point tonight is brief, it's neighborhood compatibility and preserving the quality of life for residents are goals we all agree on. Um, I believe the transition zone that I've mentioned might be the only possible way to realize any measure of those ideals going forward for Star Way.

[01:55:28] Richard Wynn: And can we have more opportunities for housing development and a transition zone? Uh, I think yes we can, and as proponents of more housing, I'm asking to work with each one of you uh to that end. So that, that's it, I appreciate your time and all your good efforts. Thank you.

[01:55:56] Mayor Emily Ann Ramos: Thank you, Mr. Wynn. Next is Jiaojin Sun. I'm sorry if I'm not saying your name correctly, you can feel free to correct me on it.

[01:56:04] Jiaojin Sun: Thank you. Good evening, Mayor, and the members of the City Council. My name is J E, and I live on Gemina Avenue. About two months ago at 6:00 in the morning, I was about to leave for work, and when a woman with a dog came up to me and asked if I had been taking pictures of her RV, she started cursing at me and blocked my car with her dog and kept yelling until I drove away. I was scared. And the most unsettling part, she is still parked in front of my house and I still see her almost every day.

[01:56:49] Jiaojin Sun: I believe this confrontation happened because her RV had been towed, or maybe her friend's RV, just a couple of days before. I cannot say for certain, but that is my best understanding of what triggered it. That tow only happened because Councilmember Mac Alister personally came out to Gemina Avenue with the police, in 2 and a half years of living here, that was the first time I, you know that I have witnessed myself. I am truly grateful for that attention to this issue.

[01:57:20] Jiaojin Sun: Um, I'm a mom with a 9-year-old daughter, and all I did was report what I saw, but I feel my um sense of safety and my family's sense of safety is being threatened because of it. I do believe that RV dwellers deserve proper housing solutions as well, but right now, their housing is our street. And the impact on the people who share that street is very real.

[01:57:46] Jiaojin Sun: If this is the outcome, I think the city needs to find a different approach. Parking RVs in a residential neighborhood is not a solution. It simply moves the burden onto us. At the last council meeting, I heard uh some business owners speak about the RV issue as well. I hear them, I really do, but I wanted to say one thing. At least they don't go home to a street lined with RVs on both sides. People who actually live in this neighborhood like Gemina Avenue deal with this 24 hours a day, like there's no break.

[01:58:16] Jiaojin Sun: Here is the reality on Gemina Avenue. When officers come to chalk the RV's tires, RV dwellers rub off the mark or roll the vehicle just a few feet that way they can erase the mark. And then, you know, the time, you know, checking again from that point, essentially 72 hours. So that way they can stay for weeks or sometimes over a month. They go through our trash bins as well, and dump their own waste inside as well. This just happened, you know again, you know, recently.

[01:58:45] Jiaojin Sun: Generators run day and night, and when we report it, we are told Mountain View has no quiet hours officially ordained so there's nothing they can do. It's frustrating. And it's getting worse. Uh both sides of Gemina Avenue are increasingly lined with RVs, uh even at the moment there's one RV is parked in front of my gate, um and which means when I open my gate there are doors and there steps, you know, doorsteps are right there within my arm's reach. Is the city going to wait until this street is completely full with RVs and even then just chalk the tires and walk away? I respectfully but urgently ask you to take this seriously. We need more than just chalked tires, we need a long-term, real solution that protects the safety and well-being of the residents. Thank you for your time.

[01:59:11] Mayor Emily Ann Ramos: Thank you. That concludes uh our oral communications for public comment. Um, we will now move on to item seven, new business. Item 7.1, public art strategy. Community development director Christian Murdock and economic development strategist Kristen Heinz, Kirsten Heinz, 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.

[01:59:49] Christian Murdock: Thank you. Good evening Honorable Mayor, Vice Mayor, and members of the Council. My name is Christian Murdock, and I'm the community development director for the City of Mountain View. Tonight, staff is pleased to present the Mountain View Public Art Strategy for formal review and adoption by Council.

[02:00:08] Christian Murdock: This strategy is the culmination of a multi-year effort that included extensive community engagement, coordination across multiple departments, and input from community partners. It also sets forth the vision for an intentional, community-driven public art program, identifying important investments that the city can make to establish robust public art programming across the city, and recognizing the need for long-term care and stewardship of public art in Mountain View.

[02:00:28] Christian Murdock: For the next several minutes, economic development strategist Kirsten Heinz will guide us through the process to develop the public art strategy and provide an overview of the strategy being considered by the Council this evening.

[02:00:41] Kirsten Heinz: Thank you. Good evening Council, I'm Kirsten Heinz. I'm an economic development strategist in the community development department, and I am also the staff liaison to the Visual Arts Committee. I've had the pleasure of leading the preparation of the public art strategy for the past two years, along with the city's consultant, Art Builds Community, and we have Amanda Rawson uh joining, joining us in the crowd today.

[02:01:03] Kirsten Heinz: The last stage of the public art strategy development was launched in June 2025. Between September 2025 and February 2026, we engaged over 700 participants across 10 community events, receiving more than 300 surveys and nearly 3,000 vision board votes. From December 2025 on, we've synthesized feedback and research, established emerging themes, and drafted the strategy presented today.

[02:01:33] Kirsten Heinz: This strategy is the culmination of community engagement, regional benchmarking, and foundational guidance from the City Council and the Visual Arts Committee. We paired direct community input with targeted focus groups, including local artists, downtown businesses, and developers, to assess how Mountain View compares with regional and national peer cities, to ensure our recommendations reflect both community aspirations and operational best practices.

[02:02:04] Kirsten Heinz: The outreach and analysis revealed findings across two distinct operational areas. First is expanding public art opportunities. The city currently owns 52 public artworks and there are an additional 70 publicly accessible artworks on private property. Public art is concentrated in, or on certain city-owned land like the Civic Center Plaza and Rengstorff Park, and corporate campuses like North Bayshore.

[02:02:30] Kirsten Heinz: The community wants art distributed equitably into neighborhood parks and trail networks. There's a strong preference for functional art like custom seating and bike racks, and active downtown placemaking in paseos and alleyways. And our work also identified a need to shift from incidental installations to strategic, curated acquisitions.

[02:02:51] Kirsten Heinz: Second is administration and policy focused. Long-term sustainability of the public art program requires updating the city's foundational policies and procedures. This includes creating a dedicated pooled public art fund for strategic and equitable art distribution, standardizing policies such as for maintenance and deaccessioning or removal, and establishing tiered artist selection processes so routine projects can move forward quickly.

[02:03:19] Kirsten Heinz: Council direction shaped the public art strategy vision or where we want to go: to establishing Mountain View as an arts destination with public art enriching our innovative culture and vibrant community. The mission, or how we get there, focuses on cultivating an inclusive ecosystem that elevates livability and a sense of belonging.

[02:03:41] Kirsten Heinz: The strategy includes two primary goals and delivers seven core recommendations organized into two types of implementation tools. First are discrete action opportunities, or specific initiatives intended for implementation over the course of the strategy. Examples include offering a public art 101 workshop for local artists, creating temporary functional art like bicycle racks, utility boxes, or shade structures, and establishing a dedicated public art fund. And guiding strategies which serve as big-picture policies shaping the staff's day-to-day operations and partnerships. And examples of this include partnering with community groups on artist selection, seeking regional grants...

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[02:04:26] Kirsten Heinz: and finding ways to incorporate art into broader city improvement projects.

[02:04:37] Kirsten Heinz: Goal one is to expand the visibility, diversity and reach of the city's public art collection through a broad range of programming and public art commissions. It focuses on expanding programming through four recommendations: honoring diverse community stories, enhancing destinations like Downtown and Mountain View's parks, empowering local artists, and building public awareness. Key short-term actions include reviving the utility box mural pilot, mapping opportunity sites to resolve geographic disparities, and launching a Public Art 101 workshop series with partners like the Community School of Music and Arts and Silicon Valley Creates to help local artists navigate city contracting.

[02:05:22] Kirsten Heinz: Goal two is to modernize or align staffing, funding, and operational policies to support the long-term sustainability of the public art program. It establishes the city's operational public art program foundation through three recommendations: first, strengthening program administration, diversifying funding, and then adopting best practice municipal policies. Priority actions include creating a dedicated pooled public art fund to allow for flexible investments citywide rather than restricting funds solely to construction sites, updating the council policy K5 percent for art requirement, and adopting a collections management policy with clear maintenance and deaccessioning procedures.

[02:06:11] Kirsten Heinz: The implementation plan in Appendix G organizes all actions across phase timelines and scalable cost tiers. The implementation matrix is a flexible living framework, and project scopes, budgets, and schedules serve as baseline estimates. Staff will calibrate these actions each year through an annual work plan, allowing the city to adjust timelines, deploy quick wins, and remain nimble as new funding opportunities or regional partnerships arise.

[02:06:42] Kirsten Heinz: The draft Public Art Strategy was published to Collaborate Mountain View on October 1st for public review and comment, closing on October 18th. Community members expressed strong enthusiasm for the strategy's direction and reinforced key findings. Five core themes emerged across the feedback. First, residents strongly advocate for functional infrastructure, like art along bike and pedestrian routes, emphasizing climate-resilient art installations like shade structures and bus shelters, as well as some with interactive features. Second, engaging the community and tapping local youth, such as high school students, for art projects. Third, exploring destination programming, including temporary citywide installations alongside more downtown activations. Fourth, further streamlining permit processes and reducing barriers for artwork on private property. And finally, creating dedicated funding and rolling over funds year-to-year to support both landmark works and equitable investments in older, underserved parks. And all these points directly reinforce the priority actions that are framed within the strategy. And I will pass it off to Christian to introduce Stephanie Troyan.

[02:07:55] Christian Murdock: Thank you, Kirsten. So as we come to the end of our presentation, I also want to take the opportunity to introduce our new Public Art Administrator to the council and the community. Stephanie Troyan joined the city team at the end of September in this important role, and will be really the champion of both the Public Art Strategy and the city's formalized public art program more broadly. Stephanie brings years of experience performing the kinds of work envisioned in the Public Art Strategy, and we're so fortunate to have her on the Mountain View team. Stephanie, would you mind stepping to the lectern and taking a minute or two to introduce yourself and share a little more about your background?

[02:08:29] Stephanie Troyan: Good evening. I'm happy to be here and join the Economic Development team at such a pivotal time for the Public Art Strategy plan. I've spent much of my career working in the public realm, focusing on community, art, and placemaking. My background is in landscape architecture and design, and I have worked at varying scales integrating public art into capital improvement projects. My experience has been in both government and non-profit work, most recently including public art implementation in San Francisco and Marin County. I'm excited to learn more about Mountain View and work together to move this plan forward. Thank you.

[02:09:14] Christian Murdock: Thank you, Stephanie. And so the last point staff will make in tonight's presentation is to highlight our recommendation, which is for council to adopt the Public Art Strategy, with a few corrections that we noticed after publication of the agenda packet. Uh, these are three uh mostly minor edits. Uh, the first is to remove a duplicate action item on page 49 of the plan. Uh, the second is to replace correct text, uh the text in the published document reflects an earlier version on page 51. And then lastly to uh remove uh an action item that was in an earlier draft that we failed to catch in uh Appendix G on page 140. Uh so with those three corrections, staff respectfully requests council's um uh approval of the document tonight. And I'd like to thank you for the opportunity to present this evening, and let you know that staff and our consultant, Amanda Rawson from Art Builds Community, are available for any questions. Thank you.

[02:10:09] Mayor Emily Ann Ramos: Thank you. Does any member of the council have any questions?

[02:10:16] Councilmember Alison Hicks: I'm just going to report that I do not have any questions because I asked mine in writing. So if no one else has questions, maybe other people have questions, we don't just all appear speechless, we have asked questions.

[02:10:31] Mayor Emily Ann Ramos: Thank you, Councilmember Hicks. Anyone else? Before we go to public comment? Seeing none, we will now move on to public comment on this item. Would any member of the public joining us virtually or in person like to provide comment on any item, on on this item. Uh 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 no in-person speakers, we will now take virtual speakers. With our first one being Jessie. Go ahead, Jessie.

[02:11:08] Jessie (Public Speaker): Hello everybody. Thank you. Um, hope you can hear me all right. So this is a very solid base for a public art strategy, and I applaud everyone involved for for getting it this far. Um, I'm just speaking tonight to urge council to elevate the public art strategy into one of the strongest plans in California, um with a couple extra things. Uh first, to establish a mandatory percent for art ordinance on private development. Regional peer cities like Palo Alto and Sunnyvale enforce this dual-track model with in-lieu fees, which earlier Visual Arts Committee proposals recommended, to build a sustainable centralized art fund. Second, adopt measurable, quantitative benchmarks. Our strategy needs concrete metrics, such as tracking geographic equity quotas to ensure small neighborhood parks and underserved areas receive installations. Third, secure rolling revenue streams beyond CIP budgets. We need flexible funding mechanisms, um such as a public art fund that rolls over, um year-over-year, or a transient occupancy tax allocation, so that art revenue accumulates predictably every year.

[02:12:27] Jessie (Public Speaker): If we want to build signature art that defines Mountain View, like the Chicago Bean or the LOVE statue in Philadelphia, everyone knows it as the City of Love. Um, if we want to do monumental art like that, it doesn't make sense for the funding to disappear at the end of the year, when they have, you know, oh we have 500, we have 2,000 left at the end of the year. It just disappears every year, it resets to zero. If we want the combination of, you know, right time, right place, right funding, to to happen, to get some great artwork like that, it could take decades, and we should start saving up now. Um, fourth, we should invest in physical infrastructure for local creators. Our local artists consistently face a severe shortage of affordable workspaces. Let's commit to establishing a municipal art gallery space, artist studios, or youth maker spaces. Fifth, adopt immediate collection stewardship policies. Mountain View currently lacks dedicated maintenance funding and formal deaccessioning protocols, which are essential for long-term care and establishing clear rules to remove damaged artwork. You could see some of the most recently things that we've done in Mountain View, such as the uh new bollards downtown, they're already grimy, they're they have coffee stains, they have bird poop, and we should just care for the art that we pay to put in the community. And that means, you know, quarterly or every six months have have a maintenance guy go out there and clean it off with a power blaster, whatever they need to do. Um, but it's it's pretty simple, we just have to put that down. Um, and then the last recommendation I'll make is that the permit process should be completely free for art. Um, we've had attempts to rectify this. There was a policy to limit it to a few hundred bucks, but it just hasn't worked, um, and depending on who you contact in the permit department, you get wildly varying estimates up to the thousands. Um, so we just need to make it free.

[02:14:17] Mayor Emily Ann Ramos: Thank you, Jessie. And next we have Amy Lee.

[02:14:23] Amy Lee (Public Speaker): Hello, can you guys hear me?

[02:14:26] Mayor Emily Ann Ramos: We can hear you.

[02:14:28] Amy Lee (Public Speaker): Okay, great. Yeah. Um, so I am actually a stage 4 cancer survivor who personally benefited a lot from creative arts across all dimensions, music, dance, arts. Um, I picked up my art brushes after 12 years when I was um, you know, diagnosed with stage 4 cancer. I listened to music when I couldn't get out of the bed, when I was in chemo. Um, and then, you know, due to my severe compromised immune system, uh I wasn't allowed to go to the gym, um, and the only place that I could go to was at the cancer center and it just happened to be a music and dance program. Um, and after my cancer recovery, I learned that, you know, I am not the only person who can benefit from it, there's many patients, particularly um, you know, whether it's, you know, elderly people or people with chronic diseases stuck at home, or people who could um, you know, um, you know, attending classes online or in person, they can really benefit from it.

[02:16:27] Amy Lee (Public Speaker): And some of the clinical research I've indicating uh music, dance, and arts, particularly dance, had the potential to reduce the risk of dementia by 76%. Um, and there's also a UK study of 48,000 patients, but published by the University of Sydney, indicating um, you know, dancing reduced cardiovascular death by 46%. Um, and you know, and I started with a cancer program at Stanford. Uh, we launched this online telehealth platform uh called Dance for Healing. Um, and now we actually funded by NIH for a diabetes study, um, because majority of diabetes patients are, you know, uh not meeting CDC guidelines, 150 minutes of exercise per week. Um, so we're trying to combining both um, you know, online, um and also match them to intergenerational buddies, to both care for patients and caregivers. And so as a patient advocate and also social impact entrepreneur, I just really wanted to bring these uh clinically validated evidence-based benefits uh to your awareness that, you know, music, dance, and art can really make a huge difference, uh you know, not only in the public setting but also for those who left behind and isolated and stuck at home. And then intergenerational um have, you know, um long history of helping both the young and the old, right. And so we could also combine these all together that can benefit across the generations as well. So, thank you so much.

[02:17:22] Mayor Emily Ann Ramos: Thank you. We will now move the item back to the council for questions and deliberation. And a motion is in order. Councilmember Hicks.

[02:17:35] Councilmember Alison Hicks: Well, as we... this is something that's important I think to a lot of members of our community, but we only got two public comments. So I thought I would take the public comments from the the first speaker, uh Jessie, up, who was on the the Visual Arts Committee for a long time and I think kind of kicked off the public art strategy so many years ago, I don't even remember, probably more than 10 years ago I think. Um, he made um, five, he made six recommendations but honestly his audio was not excellent, so I didn't catch number six. Um, and I thought a lot of the recommendations that he's been caring about over the years are ones that you've incorporated into the um, into this current plan and I wanted to reassure him and other people who have cared about this plan over the years. So I'm just going to read several of them and if you have further comments and or you can tell me I'm wrong, they're not incorporated in here at all. Um, so one, which actually I think is one of the most important ones, is a centralized art fund, so that uh unlike in the past when capital improvement projects accrued money a certain percentage towards art, the art had to be had to be spent then and there. And I think that's that was a problem that I think has been corrected, but please tell me if I'm wrong. He also said he cared about geographic or locational equity, another is the rollover of funds, so that funds don't accrue and then just vaporize before they're spent well. Um, another was infrastructure for local creatives, and the last one that I heard, he had more but I didn't hear the last one, was long-term stewardship of the art so it doesn't just decay. Are those all do you care to make any comments? I think those are things that many people care about and are they incorporated in the new plan?

[02:19:37] Christian Murdock: Sure. Thank you. Yes, I believe they're all accounted for and addressed in one way or another uh in the proposed Public Art Strategy. Um, with respect to funding, um we are uh we have included uh exploration of a so-called percent for art from private development. Uh it's a potentially complex topic and so I don't want to get into the details of it tonight, but definitely looking at options to support the art program in the long run. Also understanding um the desire on earlier versions of a private development percent for art uh to minimize the the work that would be required, even though other surrounding communities have something uh adopted that's similar, but we have to do our own process, but it is accounted for in the strategy. Um in terms of uh funding flexibility and rolling over year to year, um we've accounted for that and recognized the need to be more flexible in um the allocation and spending of capital improvement program related funding and other other funding sources, not just to localize them on a given project site, but also to uh consider other factors like equity.

[02:20:28] Christian Murdock: Um on equity specifically, we have noted that uh we need to look more broadly across the city and um currently we have a high concentration in North Bayshore and in the downtown, but there's a need to find funding and pursue projects elsewhere across the city to make sure everyone's getting that appropriate exposure to public art and the well-being that it brings uh to their lives. Um and I think the other uh couple points I heard related to um space for artists, um we do recognize that that's a complex issue, but one that's um desired in the community, and so we do have uh an item to study that, uh and to determine how uh we would fund that and how we would locate and operate such a a space. And as well as uh better accounting for maintenance and all of the public art undertakings, um thinking about our current collection and also accounting for maintenance and funding uh for maintenance um for future acquisitions as well.

[02:21:23] Councilmember Alison Hicks: Thank you, so I just wanted to make sure that the public comments were addressed, and I know that I thought those were a nice summary of maybe a 10-year conversation. But um, I'm just gonna say I we have... I think this uh I could be wrong, other people other council members may uh prove me wrong, but I think that this is a highly supported plan uh among council. In fact, we already have a motion and a second. Um, but it probably merits a little more comment than that. Um, so I want to say there's a lot I like about this plan, man, and it's it's almost a hundred pages with appendices, so I'm not gonna be able to say all the things I like about it.

[02:22:27] Councilmember Alison Hicks: Um, but I'll I'll highlight two... one two things. One is the centralized art fund, which uh I think that has been a problem in the past, that uh that the the funding was generated through capital improvement projects and the amount that was generated and the it had to be the art had to be located in those places, and that was not that didn't end up to be ideal, because the the um it would be better to put the art where people gather and equitably across the city. So I'm just really glad to hear see that that, which people I know have been talking about for years and years, is is finally uh has a good solution, and that there are also other anticipated sources of funding or funding in development for um, you know, from uh possibly private developments uh and possibly other sources. So that just, that's one of the things I'm happiest about. And then just um, the other thing was just looking through it, and frankly the pictures that were selected, some are from Mountain View and some are from other cities, and I encourage everybody to look through the public art strategy, the draft public art strategy, because I think they're really encouraging, both showing the exciting kinds of things we can do, and also the kinds of things we are doing and the kinds of things we can do. Um, and then the last thing I'm just really excited that we uh finally have a uh public arts administrator to oversee so, thank you for being here and speaking to us, and that we finally have somebody... well, we've had people to administer this, but somebody absolutely dedicated to it. So all those things the staff has been great already.

[02:24:27] Councilmember Alison Hicks: Um, so all those things said, I have um, you know, I I have talked to people uh since I've been on council and before about our uh public arts strategy, and I do have a few a few uh as council traditionally does a few additional things I would like to add if the maker of the motion um would allow a few tweaks. I did uh talk to Mr. Murdock ahead of time, um and so I don't have to do them now because I don't want to monopolize conversation, but um at some point I hear you've you've taken the notes and and that you can project them up here so at some time I will ask the rest of council to um to look those over. But it doesn't have to be now, it can be after other people speak. Or it could be now, whatever people want. I might as well just do it now. Okay, if you can project those. We have the time.

[02:24:52] Mayor Emily Ann Ramos: We have the time.

[02:25:09] Councilmember Alison Hicks: Oh gosh. So uh, some of the things that I... these are I had a few suggestions and uh staff uh reviewed those and said here are the we can do some, we can't do others, or shouldn't do others, and made some suggestions for where the words uh could be fit in. So, um, one of them was location... location of art has been an important topic, so one of them is to um, develop guidelines to identify priority locations for murals so that they essentially so that they end up more often on blank walls and uh maybe walkable streetscapes that are barren as opposed to some of our currently, you know, most exciting places, as is traditional with murals. Next.

[02:26:13] Councilmember Alison Hicks: The the second one is that I hear that the pool of artists is sometimes very repetitive and small, so that but that we have sometimes invited participation from West Coast artists or a larger pool. Um, so that's another thing I would like to allow from time to time when appropriate. Next.

[02:26:40] Councilmember Alison Hicks: Um, another one is that there is talk about youth-centric art, but maybe not enough about um how we define youth. We usually define it I think as grade school, children and teens basically. And I think that sometimes young adults, um say 20-something adults and early-career artists are left out, so so um we had that sprinkled into in various places. Next.

[02:27:16] Councilmember Alison Hicks: Um, and this may be the last one, is this the last one? The last one is um, I think it's really important to make a distinction between um between public art and urban design. There can sometimes be an overlap, um so you know painting painting bollards, painting trash cans, but I think we we don't want to put all the um the urban design burden on public art. Sometimes you just want urban design. So a few a few words that make that distinction and and are mindful that those two things can sometimes be the same and and sometimes are separate. So those are if the motion maker will accept them.

[02:28:02] Councilmember John McAlister: I think those are excellent ideas and I like the first word on your first uh recommendation.

[02:28:12] Councilmember Alison Hicks: Oh, the first word on the first one.

[02:28:13] Councilmember John McAlister: The word 'reduce'.

[02:28:15] Councilmember Alison Hicks: Reduce. Okay. Okay, those are all my comments.

[02:28:20] Mayor Emily Ann Ramos: Thank you, Councilmember Hicks. Uh, Councilmember Ramirez.

[02:28:25] Councilmember Lucas Ramirez: Thank you, Mayor. Um, I appreciate the recommendations from Councilmember Hicks and support all of them. Thank you for uh doing a deep dive into the document and um uh working with staff to prepare uh these thoughtful additions. Um, I I have just some brief remarks. I I think it's a uh a very uh inspiring uh document generally, I'm I'm very pleased that uh we're finally at the point of adoption and I'm very proud to support it. Um, one of the things that um I I was uh looking for was the um the role of of the Visual Arts Committee in the um I think what we're describing as governance.

[02:29:27] Councilmember Lucas Ramirez: Um and the way I think about this is um I think it's it's long past the time that the the City Council ceased to be a uh a gatekeeper in determining what is appropriate public art. Um we're not technical experts in the field. Um uh and I I I'm hoping that uh over time there there's there are allusions to this in the Public Art Strategy, which I'm grateful for, um but uh ultimately empowering um our now staff, which is wonderful, um but also uh technical experts who will serve on the Visual Arts Committee to make the final determination. Uh I think is is a uh a good uh and thoughtful approach moving forward, just so we can spend our time doing things that city councils are adept at doing uh rather than reviewing uh and serving as uh gatekeepers for for visual art content. Right, I I studied music but I would never want to uh suggest that I know, you know, what the appropriate music that we ought to listen to as a community is. Um so uh I think that's that's a uh one of the elements or or action items that I'm uh most eager to see implemented, uh and uh I think it'll allow us to, you know, as my colleague on the council uh Councilmember McAlister says, to help you know, get us out of the way uh to to implement um uh the strategy and to see uh to facilitate the creation and placement of public art throughout our community without having to wait for the council to participate uh in every step. Thank you.

[02:30:32] Mayor Emily Ann Ramos: Thank you, Councilmember Ramirez. I see no one else in the queue, Councilmember Kamei.

[02:30:38] Councilmember Ellen Kamei: Great. Thank you. Um, well I just want to take a minute to thank staff, um as well as our our consultants that we worked with. Welcome Stephanie, we're so excited that you're here. Um I know that, you know, technically this is nine years in the making, but every idea and every item that gets onto a work plan is, it's even more than the nine years. So I just want to thank my colleagues on the council who may have championed this prior to my arrival, 'cause sometimes that happens too, right, Councilmember McAlister? Um so uh that their foresight and vision to make this happen, um just really excited and happy that we're a city that promotes this and is fostering this and has done um a really excellent plan between what we saw in 2024 and what we're seeing now. Um just some comments that I wanted to share, and staff was very good about telling me all the places where this exists in our documents, so I shouldn't be worried, which is um just as much as we're talking about a public art strategy to foster the and create an ecosystem of public art um and generating more opportunities, I want to make sure that the city is thinking about how we preserve that art that we do have.

[02:32:27] Councilmember Ellen Kamei: And so one of the things that I, you know, noticed and some of the, well I also want to highlight, you know, one of the really cool things that the city has done over the years is create that online catalog of all the art pieces throughout the city, so people can go online or on their phones or whatever device they want to go and see all of the, you know, over 100 pieces that we have, the history, the date. Um, but what I'd like to think about is like the sustainability of those pieces. So I I'm sure all of us remember the email we got from a resident talking about kind of the deterioration that they were seeing at our public library, of the Berlin Wall. And so, what are we doing in this plan and going forward to make sure that um we have we're thinking about, you know, overall sustainability but also maintenance. And so, um staff let me know that there's a couple places um in the strategy where that exists, um and they'll be in the actions we're adopting. So it'll be in part of the the, you know, the framework, kind of our overall framework, you know, for example action 1B2 talks about um maintenance responsibilities and long-term stewardship. Um 2B1 talks about um, and this kind of gets into what Councilmember Hicks was talking about a little bit, um the range of sustainable sites with capital projects, private development, how we're commissioning them but also the support and maintenance of the city's public art collection. So there I just want people, um colleagues and the public, to know that that's something that we we have received community feedback on and is embedded in the document we're adopting, both in actions one and actions two. I don't want to kind of enumerate all of them but just wanted to be able to highlight that. Um, because I think there might be a lifecycle too of the art pieces, right? Some of them um are quite aged, um, and might need some restoration. So I think uh looking at Councilmember Ramirez maybe there's like a a special fund or allocation we will do for that maintenance, that administrative maintenance that's so needed, um and staff has already forward thinking about that and including that, so that's very exciting. Um, so that's what I wanted to highlight. And um, lastly, just wanted to ask and staff could perhaps clarify. So I looking at this this document, it's kind of a, it's a strategy, but in a lot of ways it's kind of we're almost, I don't know, I feel like it's nuanced, it's kind of master planning, but it's also not within a set time frame period. So how do we make additions, keep it fresh? I know that we're we're looking at proj or um approaches in like the 1, 3 and 5 year plus time frame. Beyond those time frames, how might the public or future councils think about, you know, keeping the document evergreen?

[02:35:14] Christian Murdock: Sure. Thank you for the question. Um, so to start, the um structure of the document is such that there's a a combination of items. Um there are discrete action items that we discussed during the presentation that are things we can start and have a defined endpoint, that we accomplish and they're done and they're scratched off the list. And those vary in uh timeline as well as cost. And so those will be budget and staff resource dependent. And then we have other items that um are called guiding strategies that are essentially baked into our standard operating procedures from this point forward, um and there's no discrete start and endpoint, they are just the way that we do business or approach problems related to public art. And so um, as we work through implementation, um I think we will have the opportunity to report on that on our website, and as we are coming to the end of implementing those discrete actions, we will be able to check in with the council and say, we've reached this important milestone, we've done much of what we've set out to do, is there work that remains to be done, at that maybe five year or seven year point as we're coming to the end of this initial term and timeline for the strategy.

[02:36:18] Councilmember Ellen Kamei: I I mean that sounds good. And I think um perhaps too it's for the the Visual Arts Committee and future Visual Arts Committee to be able to provide that feedback as part of their, you know, future work plans or or such, but it's it's great to hear and I just want people, the public, to know um, you know, how they can continue to engage and how we're going to kind of report on certain milestones. Um so thank you. Thanks, Mayor.

[02:36:45] Mayor Emily Ann Ramos: Thank you, Councilmember Kamei. Councilmember McAlister.

[02:36:51] Councilmember John McAlister: Well, it's you know, I came back on council because of this art program. In 2015, there was a young man that was championing public art along with Lisa Matichak, former mayor. And we were working hard just to get anything out there. And Jessie, as a matter of fact, was chair of the Visual Art Committee. And back then, right Jess? There he is. He's taking credit. We were able through the the bureaucracy of this city to get I think it was five utility boxes painted, and that was a fantastic milestone. I don't know, have we gotten any other painted in the last 11 years? No. Okay. So to Councilmember Ramirez is we got in the way, didn't we? And here's an opportunity, and this document is great, but there's one thing that we really got to focus on. There's a lot of free talent out there, a lot of free talent that's willing to come to the city and say, hey, here's utility box, here's your guideline, go for it. Right Jess? Yeah. So and that's what we gotta, I mean, we have a lot of implementation programs and a lot of strategy to getting funding, but there's a lot of stuff that can get done for free. And that's where we gotta get out of the way, we gotta get GSD and get it going, and I'm glad you got this. It's a bedrock uh for those who didn't think that there's not going to be a champion.

[02:38:27] Councilmember John McAlister: There will be a champion for two more years for sure to get this through. Uh I'm not the smartest guy on here, but uh you know that I'm the persistent guy. And that's what I'm going to make sure that we get some art on the walls, on the streets, anywhere we can on the trails, we got a lot of opportunity. So we're opening up Pandora's Box in the good way, that here you are, let's just do it. I'm glad we have someone on board that's going to be a point person, and I look forward to working through you to get to her for City Manager, and that was for her. Um and I'm excited to get this. So I hope that we get something started before some of my illustrious members leave the the council so that they can see some of their work done. Um and so I'm all let's I'm very happy to see it going forward. And hopefully we get stuff not every 10 years that we get public art.

[02:39:27] Councilmember John McAlister: So I will be glad to read the motion, which is...

[02:39:32] Mayor Emily Ann Ramos: There's no motion to read.

[02:39:33] Councilmember John McAlister: Oh I thought there was.

[02:39:35] Mayor Emily Ann Ramos: You would move staff recommendation.

[02:39:37] Councilmember John McAlister: Well, ok. So, there is no motion.

[02:39:39] Mayor Emily Ann Ramos: I just wanted to make sure John that your motion includes the corrections that staff noted.

[02:39:44] Councilmember John McAlister: Well, they just said there was no motion.

[02:39:45] Mayor Emily Ann Ramos: I know, well you moved the recommendation...

[02:39:48] Councilmember John McAlister: Oh I recommend... see, there's a recommendation. Let's see if I get these words correct. Adopt the Public Art Strategy, okay that's the first part, including all the recommendations that were presented by Councilmember Hicks and Councilmember Ramirez, and the corrections to it by Mr. Murdock and his excellent team. Are there any other additions?

[02:40:20] Mayor Emily Ann Ramos: I see no other additions, so thank you for making the motion, Councilmember McAlister. I'll finish off with thanking staff and everyone who has worked on this. Welcome aboard. Um, and and thank you to the people who have been pushing for this for over a decade. I remember 2015. I remember uh things being pushed before some... like you guys are coming off of council. This is like even before you're on council, it's like bye, but um but thank you so much for your work on this. It really shows that we are prioritizing making our city even more beautiful with art. And with that, we're ready to vote.

[02:41:09] Mayor Emily Ann Ramos: Motion passes unanimously. Yay us! All right. We will now move on to Item 8, Council, Staff and Committee Reports. Do we have any Council, Staff and Committee Reports? Um, who wants to start first? Vice Mayor Clark.

[02:41:28] Vice Mayor Chris Clark: I just have what I think is a housekeeping item. Um, for the council members who aren't aware, the um the Appointments Review Committee um ended up um rescheduling its meeting until after the election. Um, just so we didn't bump into some of the um same things as uh as last time. Um, but uh part of that is if we want to um, if if we want the City Clerk to continue the recruitment um up until whatever deadline um before the meeting, we just need to provide that direction because because the Appointments Review Committee didn't meet, we couldn't provide that direction. So if if my colleagues are comfortable um, we would just provide direction tonight to the the City Clerk to um continue recruiting for the the open vacancies, and then if there are any new vacancies that occur within sufficient time before the uh before the CARC meeting, that those can be included too. Um, and I think that's essentially it. Um, existing applicants would be carried forward, um, but they would have the the ability to revise their applications or apply for additional slots if they wanted to. So it's it's basically just continuing the recruitment until that period of time, and they just need that um council direction. So um, I think we just kind of need a show of hands. I don't think we need a formal motion, but I just wanted to be to bring that up on behalf of the appointments review committee.

[02:43:00] Mayor Emily Ann Ramos: Do we need a show of hands now?

[02:43:02] Vice Mayor Chris Clark: I think so. If um those who are comfortable with that...

[02:43:06] Mayor Emily Ann Ramos: People are comfortable with what?

[02:43:09] Vice Mayor Chris Clark: If you're if you're uh basically we... the clerk needs direction to continue the recruitment period until the the rescheduled Appointments Review Committee meeting. Oh I thought we already voted on that. Okay. No that was for EPC. This is for everything else. Oh, this is for this is direction, or with the direction we took with EPC, uh the same issue would have happened with CARC. I see. So basically the meeting was pushed until after the election, so that we have um so we just need formal direction to continue the recruitment period up until that point. Um, so um is everyone comfortable with that? Are there four people okay with that? Okay.

[02:43:45] Mayor Emily Ann Ramos: So all in favor?

[02:43:47] Vice Mayor Chris Clark: Are there four people okay with that? Okay. Is that sufficient? Okay.

[02:43:56] Mayor Emily Ann Ramos: Any other uh uh council, staff or committee reports? I'll report out, you'll probably have to report out this too. I'll just report out for both of us. Uh we went to Japan! Uh, we celebrated our uh Sister City relationship 50 years, uh with our Sister City Iwata, Japan, and um, it was a really really great experience. They were really, really welcoming. Um, I'm saying really, really a lot, really. Um, but um it was a great opportunity for us to to um highlight the relationship of our sister cities. We saw the wonderful um tree that was planted at the start of our Sister City relationship that they will actually have to chop down shortly soon for the historic preservation, which is such a huge story. Um, but um they were looking at historic preservation like things that were like thousands of years old. Um, which is kind of crazy when you think about it and we're like looking at 50 years. But um, it was a really, really great opportunity. Um, they like I said, they appreciate our the partnerships that we have between our cities. It was also kind of interesting to see like the partnership happened 50 years ago, and so much of both our cities have changed over that time, but the relationship state the relationship stayed the same. And that was something really cool to reflect on. And they also were celebrating their relationship with uh Dagupan City in the Philippines, which coincidentally ends up being the mayor's, my mother's home city. So there was a lot of serendipitous um occurrences on our trip which I think only made all the participants that much more that much more moved by the experience. So it uh...

[02:45:27] Councilmember Ellen Kamei: Yeah, the the the mayor of Iwata his mind was kind of like blown because the the city attorney went on their trip from Dagupan City and she was my mom's classmate in high school. Yes. So it was like this weird kind of serendipitous kind of thing. Can I report after? Yes, go ahead. And then I have something to report after, which is just right after um I went to the uh International City/County Management Association annual conference in Long Beach to represent my colleagues' support of our incredible city manager, uh who won an inaugural award on Good Governance. Uh got to take the main stage with our former Police Chief Chris Hsiung and Simon Sinek and had a sold out like standing room well I guess...

[02:47:57] Mayor Emily Ann Ramos: Um, sure. So, we um... the Sister City relationship with Iwata um is 50 years old. They came in August and um to come visit us, and the majority I think our our entire council welcomed them in August. Yes, this is their official mas they have their own official mascot. This is Shippei, it's a little dog and it is everywhere throughout their community. Um, they also are home to their own soccer team, so this is the their mascot Shippei in the soccer uniform that I found for our mayor, um and just gave it to her. But I but um, the exchange used to exist where um students would come for one year here and then um our students would go there for one year. And now I think they're trying to augment the program where there won't be so much time between the exchanges, and that instead it'll be a week and a week, um consecutively. Uh, it was meaningful to be there because they the celebration included participants over the different decades. So they had participants speak from I think the first exchange which was in like the 70s, and then an exchange from the 80s, and then somebody from the aughts who came. Um, so it was a variety of different perspectives, but really talked a lot about like cross-cultural exchange, but also just how honestly life-changing the experiences were in every direction of the people's lives that they were sharing. Um, so it'll be exciting to see the the next 50 years, um which we discussed when they were here, and we were there. The history of the tree planting goes back to I think the initial relationship where there was a gift of trees from Iwata to us and then us to them. So it is a it is a long-standing tradition. So thank you to staff who helped us ship a commemorative bench, um that will be under the newly planted seedlings from the tree they have to chop down because they found out it was on top of a historic um, like temple shrine, um, dating back to yes like 2,000 years, so they um... but the mayors got to cut the seedlings and then plant them. So our new bench will will sit there. Yeah, they had these huge cicadas on them. They're like this big, like this big. It was huge. I've never seen bugs that big. But um, but yeah, it was it was a really great opportunity and um they like I said they appreciate the partnerships that we had between our cities.

[02:48:58] Mayor Emily Ann Ramos: And then I have something to report after, which is just right after um I went to the uh International City/County Management Association annual conference...

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[02:49:26] Councilmember Ellen Kamei: it was a, it was already a sold-out conference with over like 5,500 attendees, and um, there, after the keynote there was a breakout and that breakout was like standing room only. Um, so Mountain View is on the map and what's really exciting is that the city of Mountain View is on the map not because of, you know, being in Silicon Valley, but because we're models of good governance.

[02:49:45] Councilmember Ellen Kamei: And just want to share that and say how proud it made me feel to be part of Mountain View and to be able to celebrate the incredible leadership of our city manager. So a round of applause for our city manager.

[02:49:52] Mayor Emily Ann Ramos: Any other report outs? It's hard to top that, y'all.

[02:49:56] Mayor Emily Ann Ramos: All right, seeing no other report outs, I will the next, uh, call for item nine, adjournment. Next city council meeting will be held on November 10th. This meeting is adjourned at 20:04.

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