City Council Jan 21, 2025

City Council Meeting Summary

Time	Item	Item Summary	Motion Summary	Comment Summary
00:00:02	None: None	The meeting is called to order at 5:30 PM.	No Motion	0 Total: 0 In Favor 0 Against 0 Neutral
00:00:05	I: CALL TO ORDER, ROLL CALL, APPROVAL OF REMOTE PARTICIPATION BY COUNCIL & ADJOURN TO CLOSED SESSION - 5:30 PM	Mayor Cox called the meeting to order (00:00:05) and the roll was called. The council then adjourned to a closed session (00:00:22) to discuss items D1 through D3: conference with labor negotiator regarding the Sausalito Police Association, conference with legal counsel regarding existing litigation 'Yes In My Backyard versus the City of Sausalito', and conference with real property negotiator regarding 731 Bridgeway with Gene Hiller, Inc. as the negotiating party.	No Motion	0 Total: 0 In Favor 0 Against 0 Neutral
00:01:32	II: RECONVENE TO OPEN SESSION - 7:00 PM	The meeting reconvened to open session at 7:00 PM. Mayor Cox called the roll, with all councilmembers present. Morgan Pierce led the Pledge of Allegiance. Mayor Cox announced that there were no closed session announcements. Councilmember Hoffman announced that she would need to leave the meeting early between 9 and 9:30 PM due to travel plans and needing to get to the airport (00:04:45). Mayor Cox proposed a revision to the agenda, changing the order of items to accommodate Councilmember Hoffman's schedule (00:04:29). The revised order would be Item 5b (Mid-Year Budget Discussion), then Item 4a (Introduction of Amendments Relating to Accessory Dwelling Units), and then Item 5a (Sustainability Commission Presentation) (00:04:02).	Motion to approve the agenda as amended (00:05:23). The motion was seconded. The roll was called and passed unanimously.	1 Total: 0 In Favor 1 Against 0 Neutral
00:03:25 Babette McDougall was Against: Babette McDougall urged the council to be more open with citizens about the costs associated with the housing element, particularly regarding the lawsuit and the potential loss of control over the housing element.
00:05:46	1: SPECIAL PRESENTATIONS/MAYOR'S ANNOUNCEMENTS - 7:05 PM	Mayor Cox announced that there were no special presentations. She announced a community workshop for the Shoreline Adaptation Plan on Saturday, January 25th from 10 a.m. to 12 noon at the Bay Model (00:05:50.63). The meeting will include a presentation on Sausalito vulnerability and sea level rise adaptation strategies, followed by breakout groups. More information is available at sausalito.gov/shorelineplan.	No Motion	0 Total: 0 In Favor 0 Against 0 Neutral
00:06:35	2: COMMUNICATIONS - 7:08 PM	Mayor Cox opens the communications section, inviting citizens to address the council on matters within the city's jurisdiction but not on the agenda. The following is a list of speakers and a summary of their comments: Babette McDougall reads a collect from the Sausalito Women's Club, urging community unity and kindness, especially after the divisions of the campaign season (00:08:46). Aaron Roller shares a message about the Bridgeway Bike Lanes project and reports on a divisive message received by a committee member, emphasizing the need for respectful dialogue (00:11:57). Shelby Van Meter, founder of Sausalito Beautiful, highlights the organization's 10th anniversary and its partnership with the city in enhancing the town's aesthetics (00:12:35). Morgan Pierce, President of Sausalito Beautiful, shares the organizations acheivements and goals for the future (00:17:52). Fred Moore thanks the council for their work and suggests uploading public records of litigation to dispel rumors. He also hopes for less use of the Brown Act as a weapon against the council (00:18:20). Sybil Boutelier shares good news about Sausalito's Age-Friendly Building Permit Fee Waiver Program being recognized internationally (00:19:38). Damian Morgan requests that the Sausalito Police Department present RIPA data to the community, highlighting racial disparities in Marin County (00:21:11). Ava Krasamp follows up on Morgan's comments about RIPA data and brings up a longer record of bias against black individuals by the Sausalito Police Department. She also raises concerns about her removal from a public event and lack of answers from the city attorney (00:24:05). Sandra Bushmaker reiterates her request for a fire safety mailer to Sausalito residents, emphasizing the community's vulnerability to fires (00:27:18). Mayor Cox responds to Sandra Bushmaker, announcing the resurrection of the Community Disaster Preparedness Committee and inviting Bushmaker to join. She also mentions an upcoming presentation by Southern Marine Fire Chief Tubbs (00:29:19). Councilmember Walford adds that Southern Marin Fire inspections have been sending mailers with advice, and this needs to be renewed (00:30:20). Michael Dumont provides an update on the Sausalito Community Boating Center, announcing its soft opening and upcoming programming (00:31:11).	No Motion	10 Total: 0 In Favor 0 Against 10 Neutral
00:07:19 Babette McDougall was Neutral: Reads a collect from the Sausalito Women's Club, urging community unity and kindness. 00:09:13 Aaron Roller was Neutral: Shares a message about the Bridgeway Bike Lanes project and reports on a divisive message received by a committee member, emphasizing the need for respectful dialogue. 00:12:22 Shelby Van Meter was Neutral: Highlights the 10th anniversary of Sausalito Beautiful and its partnership with the city in enhancing the town's aesthetics. 00:15:07 Morgan Pierce was Neutral: Shares the achievements and goals for the future of Sausalito Beautiful. 00:18:20 Fred Moore was Neutral: Thanks the council for their work and suggests uploading public records of litigation to dispel rumors. He also hopes for less use of the Brown Act as a weapon against the council. 00:19:38 Sybil Boutelier was Neutral: Shares good news about Sausalito's Age-Friendly Building Permit Fee Waiver Program being recognized internationally. 00:20:54 Damian Morgan was Neutral: Requests that the Sausalito Police Department present RIPA data to the community, highlighting racial disparities in Marin County. 00:24:05 Ava Krasamp was Neutral: Follows up on Morgan's comments about RIPA data and brings up a longer record of bias against black individuals by the Sausalito Police Department. She also raises concerns about her removal from a public event and lack of answers from the city attorney. 00:27:15 Sandra Bushmaker was Neutral: Reiterates her request for a fire safety mailer to Sausalito residents, emphasizing the community's vulnerability to fires. 00:31:07 Michael Dumont was Neutral: Provides an update on the Sausalito Community Boating Center, announcing its soft opening and upcoming programming.
00:32:24	3: CONSENT CALENDAR - 7:25 PM	The meeting covered the consent calendar items, including adopting minutes from January 7 and 11, 2025, accepting the Marin ship park tennis courts reconstruction project as complete, requiring a multi-way stop at Spring Street and Woodward Avenue, establishing a no parking zone on Santa Rosa Avenue, receiving and filing the police department's crime and traffic report for 2024 Q4, amending the consultant services agreement with DeNovo Planning Group for housing element preparation, approving an encroachment agreement on Bonita Street, declaring computer equipment surplus, and approving an amendment to the lease with Jean Hiller, Inc. for Old City Hall. An amendment to item 3I was introduced by the city attorney to modify section 4.1 of Article IV rent to add language that would modify section 4.1 of Article IV rent to add the following language after the first paragraph, reading 'Effective March 1st, 2030, and each successive March 1st for the remainder of the term of this lease, the MMR shall be increased based on the rate that has been determined by the Consumer Price Index for the most recent 12-month period, not to exceed 5%.'	Motion to approve the consent calendar with the changes read into the record, motion seconded and approved (00:48:57)	5 Total: 0 In Favor 3 Against 2 Neutral
00:36:21 Ava Krasamp was Against: Ava Krasamp claimed the police department's crime and traffic report (item 3E) is incomplete and contains falsehoods, citing discrepancies in the reported number of citizen complaints and use of force incidents. She also brought up the settlement from the Portage case and alleged a failure to implement a required educational program and also called out Melissa Blaustein for demanding her arrest. 00:39:46 Cynthia Egging was Neutral: Cynthia Egging inquired about whether the fountain at Renship Park, near the renovated tennis courts, has been tested for human fecal matter. 00:40:21 Jeffrey Jacob was Against: Jeffrey Jacob seconded concerns about the police reports and the lack of local news coverage. He expressed concerns about bringing in consultants, referencing item 3F. He criticized the $102,479 allocated for a housing elements environmental impact report, calling it unnecessary. 00:43:17 Damian Morgan was Against: Damian Morgan expressed concerns regarding the police item, citing 32 years of data, along with two years of RIPA data, which he claims shows stark data for pulling over black individuals in Marin County. He requested the RIPA data be brought to the council for discussion. He also inquired about the implementation of a training or class related to a settlement from July 2024 and asked for diverse representation in the committee overseeing it. 00:46:52 Babette McDougall was Neutral: Babette McDougall expressed concerns about the lack of transparency in negotiating city property leases, particularly regarding the Sausalito Center for the Arts (item 3i). She requested the daylighting of these policies and an assessment of facilities.
00:49:42	5.B: First Mid-Year Budget Discussion and Provide Direction as Desired	Chad Hess, Finance Director, presented the first mid-year budget discussion. He reported that general fund revenues are exceeding the prior year by $589,000, a 7% increase, with building and planning revenues significantly contributing to this. Interest earnings are also up, although slowing due to Fed rate adjustments. Transient occupancy tax and contributions from the Friends of the Sausalito Library are below the prior year. Hess discussed general fund wages, which are in line with the budget, and total general fund expenditures, also aligned with the budget. He noted the MLK rentals provide a stable revenue stream and subsidize general fund operations. Parking fund revenues are up $153,000, but November and December showed a decline compared to the previous year, something that the city will continue to monitor (00:54:05). Hess detailed proposed budget adjustments, closing the original million-dollar deficit to approximately $34,000. Proposed revenue increases include property taxes (due to excess ERAF rebates), planning revenues, and building revenues. An interfund transfer increase includes $25,000 from the Gene Hiller Fund and $200,000 from the parking fund, the latter offsetting a reduction in pension expenses paid by the parking fund. Hess discussed departmental expense adjustments, highlighting engineering (to correct a position control issue and cover a traffic study) and the police department (UAL payment). Economic development would see an increase for PBID funding. A comprehensive fee study is underway to potentially increase service fees (00:57:23). The report also mentioned cost and revenue efficiencies in the care plan. The parking fund is performing well, and the Tideland Fund has a significant cash balance (01:00:27), encouraging council members to find ways to deploy those resources to benefit the community. Councilmember Walford noted a difference in the bottom line compared to a previous report a few weeks ago (01:00:48), and Hess confirmed, stating that he had been digging deeper to tighten the budget (01:01:00). Walford asked how often the council would recieve these reports and Hess stated quaterly and was open to feedback about their content and format (01:01:29). Councilmember Hoffman inquired about the impact of upcoming facilities assessments on revenue-generating capital assets like MLK and the Sausalito Center for the Arts. Hess anticipated the assessment will mainly affect the expense side, providing a better understanding of deferred maintenance costs. Hoffman inquired when the council could expect to see this information (01:04:46), and Hess replied he would bring the reports forward to allow for a 'hard discussion on how do we want to allocate our resources' (01:05:17). They also discussed ERAF funds, what they are, how they are being accounted for and if they are expected to continue to be awarded in the future (01:06:24). Councilmember Blaustein focused on the unfunded pension liability (UAL) of $37 million, asking about recommendations and strategy, and why a "don't panic" tone was used. Hess detailed the UAL payment, the normal cost payments, and what factors affected these aspects (01:10:32). They discussed various stategies to address that debt, including Section 115 trusts. The Mayor and Councilmember Sobieski thanked Chad for his presentation and clear answers.	No Motion	5 Total: 1 In Favor 1 Against 3 Neutral
01:21:17 Jeffrey Jacob was Neutral: Expressed concern about the limited public attendance at the meeting. He advocated for prioritizing sustainability over reliance on parking revenue, suggested that the dependence on police and fire services is a result of social problems, and criticized hidden jargon. He stated that the pension is not being handled appropraitely, and you can hire qualified individuals and pay them fairly without all the red tape and pension vulnerability. 01:24:34 Cynthia Egging was In Favor: Expressed optimism about balancing the budget. She suggested open-air art markets and leveraging the town's tourist destination status to increase revenue. Called for open air art markets and to market Sausalito in a way that it appears 'hot'. 01:25:15 Babette McDougall was Neutral: Thanked Chad Hess for improving the budget's understandability. She requested clarification on legal fees, including how they are accounted for, and expressed concern about double-dipping consultants in IT and telecommunications. McDougall reminded the council of past promises to not increase taxes and questioned revenue projections and general tax policty. She closed by asking for more transparency given not everyone understands wizardry of numbers. 01:27:40 Sandra Bushmaker was Neutral: Inquired whether down parking revenues were attributable to Ferry Landing Improvement Project and closure of Tracy Way. She inquired about elimination of duplication in the Internet and online promotion of the city. She asked for clarification about the 2.750 Million Dollar interfund transfer as it relates to labeling them 'revenues' when some of it is not current income. She closed by stating she is leary of transfers out of those funds at this present time. 01:30:52 Jacqueline Armikis was Against: Expressed concern about the decline in the pension fund's funding ratio and advocated for a more urgent approach to addressing the unfunded pension liability. Stated the funded ratio has gone from 83.1% to 64.8% and this should be a panic situation.
01:44:35	4.A: Introduction of Amendments to the Sausalito Municipal Code Title 10 (Zoning) Sections 10.44.080: Accessory Dwelling Unit Regulations, Section 10.44.085: Junior Accessory Dwelling Unit Regulations	Brandon Phipps introduces the amendments to the Sausalito Municipal Code Title 10 regarding Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU) and Junior Accessory Dwelling Unit (JADU) regulations. The updates are primarily due to new state housing policies, specifically AB 2533 and SB 1211, effective January 1, 2025, which address unpermitted ADUs/JADUs and replacement parking standards. Kristen Teichy presents the details, noting that the city's ADU regulations were last updated in 2023 and that the new bills necessitate updates to maintain conformity with state law. The proposed ordinance includes a reorganization of ADU and JADU sections, aiming for easier incorporation of future state requirements. The changes largely maintain the existing rules for R1 districts. AB 2533 limits the city's ability to deny legalization of non-permitted units installed before January 1, 2020. State law now prohibits requiring replacement of parking spaces (covered or uncovered) when a garage, carport, or driveway is replaced with an ADU or JADU and includes updated definitions for multifamily structures. The city can impose less restrictive but not more restrictive rules than state law. The Planning Commission recommended adopting the regulation but removing architectural requirements that ADUs match the primary residence's exterior. Staff recommends that the council approve the draft ordinance with or without modifications and continue it for a second reading on February 4, 2025. Mayor Cox notes the presentation was not attached to the agenda. Councilmember Walford raises questions about the over-the-counter permit process and the potential for the amendments to liberalize ADU construction. Staff clarifies that the rules remain largely the same except for state-mandated changes. The council discusses the Planning Commission's recommendation to remove architectural requirements. Mayor Cox raises concerns about fire safety and whether the city can require fire sprinklers in new detached ADUs. Staff clarifies that state law prohibits requiring fire sprinklers in ADUs if they are not required in the primary residence. Staff suggests the city does have to update its building and fire codes every three years and local amendments that increase or lower the threshold for what may be considered a significant improvement that requires retrofits is something the city could study and consider at that point. Councilmember Blaustein suggests ADU inclusion might send a negative message to HCD.	Motion to introduce and read by title only the proposed ordinance amending the Sausalito Municipal Code sections 10.44.080 and 10.44.085 with the exception of 10.44080 F8 architectural requirements, and to continue the proposed ordinance for a second reading to February 4, 2025, and authorize a summary of the ordinance to be published five days in advance of the second reading and for 15 days after its adoption (02:23:40). Motion Carries 4-0.	2 Total: 2 In Favor 0 Against 0 Neutral
02:20:39 Babette McDougall was In Favor: Babette McDougall supports ADUs as a way for Sausalito to address its housing element, emphasizing their smaller size and suitability for the community but would like to request that we do look seriously at the fire hardening of our community. She urges serious consideration of equitable distribution and affordability for homeowners to create ADUs. 02:22:17 Sandra Bushmaker was In Favor: Sandra Bushmaker agrees with adopting the ordinance and returning with recommendations. She wants a study for amendments that include fire-safe materials and an evaluation of the ADU/JADU's impact on evacuation routes due to increased density.
02:33:21	5.A: Sustainability Commission Presentation Regarding Proposed Priorities for Calendar Year 2025	Katie Thao Garcia introduces the Sustainability Commission, highlighting its establishment in 1993 and re-establishment in 2007. She notes the commission's subcommittees and the expertise of its members. Mark Palmer, Chair of the Sustainability Commission, presents the commission's 2024 milestones and 2025 priorities. Key achievements include climate adaptation efforts, such as community engagement for the shoreline adaptation plan and coordination with MCE on resiliency hubs (02:36:55). The commission has also worked on climate mitigation, improving the transportation footprint with the addition of four level 2 electric vehicle charging stations at City Hall (02:37:29). Additionally, the commission has collaborated on the Marin Countywide Electrification Roadmap and publicized rebates and incentives for heat pumps. Palmer also mentions the challenge of quarterly meetings affecting continuity and seeks council feedback. Asks of the council include considering consistency with the climate action plan and emergency resolution in every decision, adopting the countywide electrification roadmap, supporting green building reach codes, and agendizing upcoming appointments (02:41:42). The council discusses the legal implications of adopting green building reach codes (02:43:59), and the Marin County-wide electrification roadmap (02:46:29). Councilmember Sobieski inquires about the commission's involvement in vehicle electrification for the police department and public works (02:47:52). Walford asks about the commission's involvement in the second phase of the shoreline adaptation plan (02:50:22). Blaustein requests the council agendize the reach codes and green building standards (02:53:06). Katie Thao Garcia states that the Marin Climate and Energy Partnership can give a presentation to the council to dive into the electrification roadmap (02:54:27).	Mayor Cox recommends accepting the report and conferring with staff regarding the requests made by the Sustainability Commission, including scheduling interviews and appointments for commission vacancies and reappointments (02:52:13). Council Member Blaustein asks that the council agendize the reach codes and green building standards (02:53:06).	0 Total: 0 In Favor 0 Against 0 Neutral
02:55:06	6: CITY MANAGER REPORTS, COUNCILMEMBER REPORTS, CITY COUNCIL APPOINTMENTS, OTHER COUNCIL BUSINESS - 9:30 PM	Mayor Cox initiates the discussion for item 6, covering city manager reports, council member reports, city council appointments, and other council business.	No Motion	0 Total: 0 In Favor 0 Against 0 Neutral
02:55:22	6A: City Manager Information for Council	The City Manager reported on three items: a meeting with PG&E regarding outages in Sausalito and future improvements, a meeting with the Marin Municipal Water District regarding water supply infrastructure and emergency preparedness (02:55:27), and the completion of a report summarizing the January 11th city council meeting, which will be on the agenda for February 4th (02:56:47).	No Motion	1 Total: 0 In Favor 0 Against 1 Neutral
02:57:45 Sandra Bushmaker was Neutral: Expressed concern about the service and operational readiness of fire hydrants in Sausalito, particularly in light of issues in Los Angeles (02:58:21), and requested assurance that the fire hydrants are fully functional.
02:58:51	6B: Councilmember Committee Reports	Mayor Cox opened the floor for councilmember committee reports, acknowledging it's early in the year. Council Member Blaustein reported on attending the PBID meeting, noting fruitful discussions about the long-term board and RFP rules and that the business community seems enlivened by the PBID. She also attended the TAM Executive Legislative Committee meeting, where the Transportation Authority of Marin's legislative agenda in Sacramento was discussed. (02:59:03)	No Motion	1 Total: 0 In Favor 0 Against 1 Neutral
02:59:54 Babette McDougall was Neutral: Babette McDougall expressed regret for missing the PBID meeting due to a health appointment. She asked about the timeline for the PBID to become active and sustainable, and whether they are waiting for the plaza to be completed before planning the official rollout. (02:59:54)
03:00:30	6C: Appointments	Mayor Cox discussed the re-establishment of the Community Safety and Disaster Preparedness Committee, noting that it currently has three members appointed in December 2023: Elizabeth Carter Ward, Jane Kendall, and Gulnahal Kamak. The committee has five vacancies, including an alternate position. The Mayor intends to invite Bonnie McGregor, Janelle Kelman, Sandra Bushmaker, Rob Cox, and Tom Clark to apply for these positions and will interview and appoint additional members soon. The staff liaison will be Mike McKinley, the emergency office coordinator, with support from Chief Tubbs and Chief Gregory. Meetings will be held monthly, with Vice Mayor Stephen Woodside and Councilmember Melissa Blaustein as city council liaisons (03:00:34). Mayor Cox announced additional appointments, replacing Janelle Kelman on committees with Stephen Woodside, who will join the Housing Ad Hoc Committee and the Risk Management Committee (03:02:06). Councilmember Sobieski will remain on the Finance Committee and the EDAC Committee, while Councilmember Blaustein will also be appointed to the EDAC committee and will serve as the representative for PBID (03:02:40). Councilmember Blaustein is also appointed for disaster prep and MCE.	No Motion	0 Total: 0 In Favor 0 Against 0 Neutral
03:03:27	6D: Future Agenda Items	Mayor Cox opened the floor for future agenda items, noting that the council had already provided direction on sustainability, ADUs, and JADU ordinances. Councilmember Walford commented on the process of tracking and triaging future agenda items to ensure progress. Mayor Cox added that the list of future agenda items will be refined to include their status and referral information. Councilmember Sobieski requested an accelerated hearing for the appeal of the new owner of the Wells Fargo building, which is scheduled for February 18, and noted a quick resolution allows people to move forward (03:06:02). The Mayor then opened the floor for public comment. After public comments, Mayor Cox noted that local officials are required to undertake periodic ethics training and Sausalito public officials are fully compliant with the ethics training requirements by the state of California (03:08:31). Councilmember Walford added that he will be attending the California City's ethics training and that he voted for the Fair Political Practices Act when it was first presented in 1974 (03:09:14).	No Motion	1 Total: 1 In Favor 0 Against 0 Neutral
03:06:23 Babette McDougall was In Favor: Babette McDougall suggested including ethics standards and best practices in the city's real estate portfolio policy, arguing that ethics and best practices matter, and the city needs to stand firm to a standard (03:07:45) to ensure equitable deals for all parties.
03:09:56	6E: Other reports of significance	Mayor Cox announced that the Lunar New Year begins on January 29th and wished the city clerk a happy birthday for the following day.	No Motion	0 Total: 0 In Favor 0 Against 0 Neutral
03:10:15	7: ADJOURNMENT	Mayor Cox adjourned the meeting. (03:10:15)	No Motion	0 Total: 0 In Favor 0 Against 0 Neutral

City Council Meeting Transcript

Adrian Brinton

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Positive People for Sausalito

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Time	Speaker	Text
00:00:02.07	Mayor	Good evening, Mayor. It is now 5.30 p.m.
00:00:05.43	Mayor Cox	Thank you, Walford. I'll call this meeting to order and ask would you call the roll.
00:00:10.68	Mayor	Council member Blaustein.
00:00:12.62	Mayor Cox	Here.
00:00:13.99	Mayor	Councilmember Hoffman.
00:00:15.94	Mayor	Thank you.
00:00:15.99	Mayor Cox	HERE.
00:00:16.74	Mayor	Councilmember Sobieski.
00:00:18.54	Mayor	Thank you.
00:00:18.58	Councilmember Sobieski	Here.
00:00:19.77	Mayor	Vice Mayor Woodside? Here.
00:00:21.88	Mayor	and Mayor Cox.
00:00:22.68	Mayor Cox	Thank you, Wilfred. At this time, we will adjourn to closed session, and we will be hearing items D1 through D3. D1 is conference with labor negotiator. Agency designated representative is Charles Sakai. An employee organization is Sausalito Police Association. Item D2 is conference with legal counsel, existing litigation, name of case, yes, in my backyard versus city of Sausalito. And item three is conference with real property negotiator. Property is 731 Bridgeway. City negotiator is Chris Zapata and Lamour Bonilla. Negotiating party is Gene Hiller, Inc. Are there any...
00:01:04.17	Mayor Cox	Comments on closed session.
00:01:08.63	Mayor	Sorry, Mayor, there are no public comments. Also, do we have to have Councilmember Silvieski, okay.
00:01:15.48	Mayor Cox	No, his participation is already properly noticed on the front of the agenda. We don't need to take any out.
00:01:22.52	Mayor Cox	action. All right. With that, we will adjourn to closed session. Thank you.
00:01:29.81	Mayor Cox	You know when you're ready.
00:01:32.84	Mayor	Good evening, Mayor. We are...
00:01:34.73	Mayor Cox	Bye.
00:01:37.84	Mayor Cox	We're on.
00:01:38.19	Morgan Pierce	Yeah, we're all right.
00:01:38.70	Mayor	Yeah.
00:01:38.77	Morgan Pierce	you
00:01:39.76	Mayor Cox	Good evening, everyone, and welcome to the Sausalito City Council meeting for
00:01:46.97	Mayor Cox	Tuesday, January 21st, 2025. Walfred, will you call the roll?
00:01:53.53	Mayor	Councilmember Blalstein.
00:01:55.03	Mayor Cox	Here.
00:01:56.00	Mayor	Council member Hoffman.
00:01:57.46	Mayor Cox	Here.
00:01:58.70	Mayor	Councilmember Sobieski.
00:02:00.23	Councilmember Sobieski	here.
00:02:01.65	Mayor	Vice Mayor Woodside? Here. Mayor Cox.
00:02:04.79	Mayor Cox	Here, we're going to have the Pledge of Allegiance. Morgan Pierce, would you lead us, please?
00:02:13.02	Morgan Pierce	What do you mean?
00:02:14.24	Morgan Pierce	Thank you.
00:02:15.06	Morgan Pierce	United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.
00:02:18.81	Mayor Cox	stand.
00:02:19.69	Mayor Cox	One nation.
00:02:20.62	Jacqueline Armikis	Thank you.
00:02:25.65	Mayor Cox	Boom.
00:02:27.42	Mayor Cox	We held a closed session this evening. There are no closed session announcements. Is there any public comment on closed session items?
00:02:36.36	Mayor	We have Eva Krasanth.
00:02:44.80	Mayor Cox	Ava?
00:02:47.95	Mayor Cox	All right, I don't see anyone approaching the podium.
00:02:57.67	Mayor Cox	Okay, we're not there yet. This is closed session.
00:03:03.87	Mayor	Sorry for the confusion. So we have none.
00:03:06.97	Mayor Cox	Okay, none.
00:03:09.00	Mayor	Babette McDougall.
00:03:09.94	Mayor Cox	I don't know, Babette.
00:03:12.14	Mayor Cox	Okay.
00:03:12.44	Morgan Pierce	Thank you.
00:03:25.06	Mayor Cox	It's on.
00:03:25.72	Babette McDougall	No, yes. Babette McDougall, Gerard Avenue.
00:03:29.06	Babette McDougall	So regarding the closed session, once again, I'd like to implore this council to become much more open with the citizens.
00:03:35.53	Babette McDougall	in particular the constituent citizens, about how much money it is costing the city of Sausalito to try to do the housing element in a way that does not conform with the way the citizens of Sausalito feel that this should be run. Now we're being sued.
00:03:50.73	Babette McDougall	to have no control of the housing element at all. Please daylight this data. It is not helping to keep it quiet. Thank you.
00:03:56.59	Mayor Cox	Thank you.
00:03:58.68	Mayor Cox	Any other comments?
00:04:00.35	Mayor Cox	On closed session.
00:04:01.33	Mayor	See you then.
00:04:02.02	Mayor Cox	all right thank you we're going to move on to approval of the agenda i'm going to make a revision to the agenda so um the order in which we're going to hear items on the agenda is first is after our consent calendar we will first hear item 5b first mid-year budget discussion we will then hear item 4a introduction of amendments relating to accessory dwelling units and then item 5a
00:04:29.07	Mayor Cox	Sustainability Commission presentation, and that is to accommodate
00:04:32.78	Mayor Cox	the schedule of our esteemed colleague, Councilmember Hoffman.
00:04:36.65	Councilmember Hoffman	Thank you, Mayor. And at this time, I'd like to make a brief statement. I have some travel plans and my flight leaves after midnight, and I received a...
00:04:45.39	Councilmember Hoffman	a message today that they wanted us to check in two hours before boarding, which is at 1130. So I thought I was going to be in plenty of time and, uh,
00:04:55.21	Councilmember Hoffman	And anyway, based on that, I'm going to have to leave the chambers between 9 and 930. So I apologize. And I'm going to quietly excuse myself at some point between 9 and 930.
00:05:07.07	Councilmember Hoffman	Don't be alarmed when you see me quietly leave the dais. I'm leaving so that I can get home and get a ride to the airport so that I can make my flight. So apologies for that. I thought I had plenty of time, but it turns out not.
00:05:23.66	Mayor Cox	Thank you. And so with that, I will seek a motion approving of the agenda as amended. So moved.
00:05:29.13	Mayor Cox	Thank you.
00:05:29.18	Unknown	seconds.
00:05:29.45	Mayor Cox	Thank you.
00:05:29.97	Mayor Cox	Will you call the roll city clerk?
00:05:33.82	Mayor	Can someone blast him?
00:05:35.15	Mayor Cox	Yes.
00:05:36.01	Mayor	Councilmember Hoffman?
00:05:37.19	Mayor Cox	Yes.
00:05:38.04	Mayor	Councilmember Sobieski?
00:05:40.11	Councilmember Sobieski	Yes.
00:05:42.48	Mayor	That's what I'm ever saying.
00:05:42.73	Mayor Cox	You're on mute, council member.
00:05:45.18	Mayor Cox	Yes. Okay.
00:05:46.66	Mayor	Vice Mayor Woodside? Yes. And Mayor Cox?
00:05:47.76	Mayor Cox	Yes.
00:05:49.26	Mayor	Thank you.
00:05:49.31	Mayor Cox	Yes.
00:05:49.58	Mayor	Thank you.
00:05:50.63	Mayor Cox	All right, moving on. We have no special presentations. I do have one announcement, which is that we hope you will join us Saturday, January 25th from 10 a.m. to 12 noon at the Bay Model for the second community workshop of the Shoreline Adaptation Plan. The meeting will feature a formal presentation by our consultants on Sausalito vulnerability and sea level rise adaptation strategies, followed by moderated breakout groups and opportunities to connect with adaptation professionals. An event flyer is at the back of the room for those in person, or more information can be found online by visiting sausalito.gov front slash shoreline plan. We look forward to seeing you there.
00:06:35.23	Mayor Cox	All right. Next on the agenda is communications. This is the time for the city council to hear from citizens regarding matters within the jurisdiction of the city council that are not on the agenda. Except in very limited situations, state law precludes the council from taking action on or engaging in discussions concerning items of business that are not on the agenda. So with that, are there any communications? City clerk.
00:07:00.19	Mayor	Sorry, yes, we'll start with Eva Cressan.
00:07:02.65	Mayor Cox	All right.
00:07:03.02	Morgan Pierce	Thank you.
00:07:08.30	Morgan Pierce	All right. Who's next? City clerk.
00:07:10.53	Mayor	Babette McDougall.
00:07:19.47	Babette McDougall	Thank you, Mr. City Clerk. Babette McDougall, Gerard Avenue, Sausalito.
00:07:25.21	Babette McDougall	I'm going to read something into the public record.
00:07:28.77	Babette McDougall	It was written in 1904 by a woman in Colorado by the name of Mary Stewart.
00:07:34.09	Babette McDougall	Keep us, O Lord, from pettiness. Let us be large in thought, in word, in deed.
00:07:40.01	Babette McDougall	Let us be done with fault-finding and leave off self-seeking.
00:07:44.25	Babette McDougall	May we put away all pretense and meet each other face to face without self-pity and without prejudice. May we never be hasty in judgment and always generous. Let us take time for all things. Make us grow calm, serene, gentle. Teach us to put into action our better impulses, straightforward and unafraid. Amen.
00:08:06.99	Babette McDougall	Grant that we may realize that it is the little things that create differences, that in the big things of life we are as one.
00:08:16.17	Babette McDougall	And may we strive to touch and know the great common woman's heart in us all.
00:08:22.21	Babette McDougall	And oh Lord.
00:08:23.43	Babette McDougall	Let us not forget to be kind. I just want to point out for those that might find that a familiar refrain, this is called the collect or the collect that is read at the start of every Sausalito Women's Club meeting, followed by the Pledge of Allegiance. And I raise it here today within this council chambers because there is so much division in this community right now.
00:08:46.24	Babette McDougall	And we need to come together. So that big wedge that got driven during the campaign season, the us and them, the positives and the negatives, it's time to come together and heal. We are one community. We used to be one residential community. We can be that again. And I urge you forward in that regard. Thank you.
00:09:04.37	Mayor Cox	Thank you.
00:09:04.72	Babette McDougall	Thank you.
00:09:06.29	Mayor	Next we have Aaron Roller.
00:09:08.92	Mayor	Followed by Shelby Van Meter.
00:09:11.71	Aaron Roller	Welcome, Aaron.
00:09:13.57	Aaron Roller	Hello, I'm Aaron Roller, and I want a better Bridgeway. I appreciate following Pivet McDougal's because I have an announcement in the same spirit about the division of our community. As you know, I helped launch the Bridgeway Bike Lanes lanes project in 2018 did so with the guidance of everything I could find in the community that that made sense. First of all, driven by safety for the children that we were helping, uh, bike to school, uh, observations of, of other people using it. Um, but also the general and bicycle master plan, the PBAC charter council support,
00:10:01.98	Aaron Roller	Infrastructure maintenance needs and costs, suggestions to go find grant money, and we did so.
00:10:10.65	Aaron Roller	In July 2023, City Council guided us, well, approved unanimously to pay parametrics to do a study. And that's now been going forward. And in that, there were three bullets. Conduct public outreach for all residents. That there should be no specific action taken without public outreach for all residents that there's there's be no specific action taken without public outreach all design alternatives are to be examined by public safety so we
00:10:46.29	Aaron Roller	went out and have been doing outreach and really against our better judgment, we went out to next door.
00:10:56.52	Aaron Roller	And Kieran, now Pedestrian and Bicycle Advisory Committee Chair, received this direct message on Nextdoor from a prominent community member, Jackie Amrikos.
00:11:08.82	Aaron Roller	Kiran, you know nothing of Sausalito or me.
00:11:11.89	Aaron Roller	Your kids have a new school in Sausalito because of me instead of a condo development. Now I regret what I did because now you all are moving here and you want to ruin our town. I stopped the condo development single-handedly. I've been here for 25 years. I will stop the removal of the Bridgeway median until my last breath.
00:11:35.57	Aaron Roller	So will all of us older residents in this town.
00:11:39.43	Aaron Roller	Go move to Tiburon. We don't want you here or your young kids. This is an adult community. We do not want changes. We love Sauce Leader the way it is. We have run others out of town, of our town, who try to ruin our town.
00:11:57.89	Aaron Roller	This is thank you, Mayor Cox, for following up and taking action on that and giving the kind words. And to my fellow residents, please remember, we're volunteers. We're trying to do the best. It's okay to have differences. Thank you.
00:12:15.97	Mayor	Thank you. Next speaker is Shelby Van Meter. And followed by? By Morgan Pearce.
00:12:22.28	Unknown	Good evening, everyone. I'm Shelby Van Meter for Cloud View Circle. I have the privilege of being known as the founder of Sauce Little Beautiful. Of course, many others were involved.
00:12:32.34	Unknown	There's always more to the story, but here I am.
00:12:35.47	Unknown	It doesn't seem possible that January 2025 marks the 10th anniversary of the Soslita Beautiful, and 12 years since the beautification initiative began.
00:12:45.92	Unknown	it's been a productive first decade as we've watched the list of completed projects and community support grow when we came to the city with a list of resident complaints 12 years ago and called for action we offered to help you the city responded and beautification was named the first of 10 city priorities two years in a row can you imagine that
00:13:09.24	Unknown	It was the commitment we all needed to get busy.
00:13:12.38	Unknown	Over the past 10 years, the organization has been persistent in encouraging a community-wide sense of responsibility for how our town looks. Advocating for budget items, initiating and leading projects, and raising money for improvements. We and you know that beautiful, well-maintained landscapes are critical to the overall well-being of the community and essential to economic vitality and civic pride. pardon me Sauseleta Beautiful remains committed to the principle that well-being of the community and essential to economic vitality and civic pride. Pardon me. South Florida Beautiful remains committed to the principle that people made improvements should complement the area's natural beauty.
00:13:46.89	Unknown	The organization was built to last.
00:13:49.49	Unknown	and we think there's a good chance it will continue far into the future. We hope our public-private nature of our relationship with the city makes longevity certain.
00:13:59.83	Unknown	Aside from pointing out Susie Little Beautiful's anniversary, thank yous are in order. Thanks to you, Mayor, City Council members and City staff, past and present.
00:14:09.59	Unknown	for being our co-producers.
00:14:12.29	Unknown	Thank you to the dozens of volunteers who continue to generously donate their time and talent to fulfilling the mission. Board members, Green Thumbs, Adopt-a-Park leaders, project managers, fundraisers, and planting crews. Our gratitude extends to a growing list of donors we count as part of the team. A lot has been accomplished, and such a lot remains to be done.
00:14:35.91	Unknown	The need for landscape renewal and maintenance is never ending and demanding, as we so well know.
00:14:40.86	Jacqueline Armikis	I was going to appreciate it.
00:14:43.05	Unknown	But this we do know, that beauty is much more than an aesthetic.
00:14:47.71	Unknown	that stewardship is a responsibility, that partnership is a necessity, and that enthusiasm and fun are contagious. Thank you all, and best wishes for the new year.
00:15:00.78	Mayor Cox	Thank you, Shelby, and welcome, Morgan.
00:15:04.65	Mayor	Then followed by Fred Moore.
00:15:07.43	Morgan Pierce	Thank you very much, Madam Mayor. Good evening, Mayor Cox, members of council, members of staff, and members of our community, and Happy New Year. My name is Morgan Pierce, and I am here this evening as president of Sausage of Beautiful. We are excited to share with you that Sausage of Beautiful has reached its 10-year milepost as a local volunteer organization and as a successful and willing partner with the city, enhancing our public green spaces and streetscapes. streetscapes. These spaces include Southview Park, Caledonia Street, M.L.K. Park, Johnson Street, Tiffany Park, Bolinar Plaza, the O'Connell Seaton Poets Corner and Langendorf Park, to name a few.
00:15:42.26	Morgan Pierce	Over this decade, we've enjoyed a constructive working relationship with the city.
00:15:46.33	Morgan Pierce	specifically with the Department of Public Works. And we look forward to continuing the success as we move forward.
00:15:51.75	Morgan Pierce	Since our founding, we have also enjoyed the expertise of many volunteer board members, including founding president Shelby Van Meter, from whom you just heard,
00:15:58.36	Morgan Pierce	And in addition to our board, we have a roster of 350 local volunteers who should be recognized for their generous and tireless efforts in keeping our parks and public green spaces tidy in concert with DPW staff. In the past year, our volunteers have donated over 600 hours to these endeavors. And if you extrapolate that over a decade, it's a significant contribution. We've also raised hundreds of thousands of dollars through private donations that have been utilized in the improvements to these important spaces. And we are grateful to our many donors who share our passion for this community.
00:16:30.90	Morgan Pierce	Most recently, we provided $35,000 for street trees along Caledonia Street.
00:16:35.42	Morgan Pierce	and $30,000 to replace a disease hedge at Poets Corner, which includes $10,000 to construct a retaining wall that wasn't even part of the original scope.
00:16:44.03	Morgan Pierce	At this time...
00:16:45.02	Morgan Pierce	the dawn.
00:16:46.30	Morgan Pierce	of our next decade of advocacy, we would like to express our interest in continuing our successful partnership
00:16:51.55	Morgan Pierce	and shaping a vision for Sausalito that is green.
00:16:54.03	Morgan Pierce	Climate responsive, safe.
00:16:55.80	Morgan Pierce	welcoming and a global model for fiscal and environmental stewardship. And below are listed some of the ways we intend to do this.
00:17:01.76	Morgan Pierce	Through our green thumbs volunteers engage our volunteers and continued maintenance and improvements to our parks and public green spaces in collaboration with dpw staff. strategic partnerships collaborate with other like minded groups and individuals to extend our reach and increase our impact and work with dpw to assess issues with current street trees identified practical mitigation efforts and incorporate smart planting practices for new trees.
00:17:25.07	Morgan Pierce	Unification advocacy, lobby the city to support improvements in Salina's green infrastructure, and inspire our supporters to commit private funds
00:17:32.74	Morgan Pierce	for our public initiatives.
00:17:34.38	Morgan Pierce	We also have a lot of ideas under community design vision.
00:17:37.20	Morgan Pierce	working with the city.
00:17:38.30	Morgan Pierce	We're glad they have this design representative in the Department of Public Works. And we have a lot of goals for 2025, raising funds for Humboldt Street, raising funds for Ferry Landing and the Tracy Way landscape, raising funds for Marinship Park.
00:17:52.64	Morgan Pierce	and working with the city to share costs for new street trees along Bridgeway, Princess Street, and Caledonia Street, and working with the city to identify ideal locations for easily accessible public storage space for the tools used by our volunteers in maintaining these spaces.
00:18:06.80	Morgan Pierce	Thank you very much for your consideration, your advocacy, and for your collaboration as we work together to make Sausalito beautiful for the future.
00:18:13.75	Mayor Cox	Thank you, Morgan.
00:18:15.34	Mayor Cox	Next, we'll call Fred Moore.
00:18:17.58	Mayor Cox	And then Sybil Boutelier.
00:18:20.92	Fred Moore	Good evening, Mayor and Councilmembers. Again, I want to thank you for all the hard work you're doing and looking forward to the hard work that you'll continue to do in 2025. As you go through the various action items you have before you and looking at the website for the city, one suggestion might be to try to, in this digital world, upload the public record portions of litigation. I think that may help dispel some of the rumors and misinformation that's circulated around people by making assumptions of what's going on in that litigation. I've also noticed in the last four years a lot of references to the Brown Act. And it's been frustrating from the observer to see how that's used by groups and individuals as a weapon against what I see as very dedicated city council members doing the very best they can to comply with the law being overly transparent in all their actions and so I hope to quote the previous comment about being kind I hope in 2025 I don't hear the Brown Act brought up once by people who are trying to undermine some actions of the city council and again I appreciate all the hard work you do in the time you guys put in thank you and have a fun vacation
00:19:28.42	Mayor Cox	Thank you, Fred. Sybil.
00:19:31.68	Mayor Cox	And following Sybil will be Damian Morgan.
00:19:38.58	Sybil Boutelier	Good evening, Mayor Cox, Vice Mayor and Councilmembers. I want to give you a good piece of news. Recently, H. Fenton Lee Salisalito received a letter from...
00:19:50.36	Sybil Boutelier	somebody in Italy that represented a coalition of five countries that were developing best practices for age-friendly services throughout the European Union. And they were writing to say that they had included one program from the United States of America, and it was South Salido's Age-Friendly Building Permit Fee Waiver Program. And so they've published a map of the world with different programs. And there's Japan, all over Europe, different countries. But the only one in the United States is right here in South Salido.
00:20:32.12	Sybil Boutelier	And so I think we should be proud of the innovation that is happening here.
00:20:37.51	Sybil Boutelier	Um,
00:20:38.40	Sybil Boutelier	for healthy living and especially for older adults. Thank you so much.
00:20:44.46	Mayor Cox	Thank you, Sybil.
00:20:45.66	Mayor Cox	Damian Morgan and then Ava Krasamp.
00:20:54.76	Damian Morgan	Thank you.
00:20:54.77	Unknown	Thank you.
00:20:55.97	Damian Morgan	Good evening.
00:20:56.96	Damian Morgan	Thank you.
00:20:57.30	Damian Morgan	at the
00:20:59.35	Damian Morgan	beginning of the meeting,
00:21:00.93	Damian Morgan	We all read the pledge. At the end of the pledge, it ends with,
00:21:05.40	Damian Morgan	Justice for all.
00:21:08.10	Damian Morgan	Um,
00:21:09.98	Damian Morgan	something that
00:21:11.14	Damian Morgan	I'm very aware of is RIPA data. R-I-P-A. RIPA data.
00:21:17.32	Damian Morgan	Racial identity
00:21:19.22	Damian Morgan	Profiling Act, Racial Identity Profiling Act.
00:21:25.20	Damian Morgan	This, I don't think this community has
00:21:28.35	Damian Morgan	heard a report
00:21:29.77	Damian Morgan	from Sausalito Police Department, I don't think.
00:21:33.53	Damian Morgan	Salt Lake Police Department is...
00:21:36.34	Damian Morgan	Uh...
00:21:38.11	Damian Morgan	They have to, by law, keep this data
00:21:40.89	Damian Morgan	and gave it to the state of California.
00:21:43.09	Damian Morgan	but it's not coming before us.
00:21:45.53	Damian Morgan	I don't think.
00:21:46.56	Damian Morgan	Correct me if I'm wrong.
00:21:48.57	Damian Morgan	So,
00:21:49.53	Damian Morgan	What I'm getting at is
00:21:52.10	Damian Morgan	George Ford, there was an awakening, right?
00:21:55.81	Damian Morgan	so-called awakening.
00:21:56.97	Damian Morgan	Thank you.
00:21:57.87	Damian Morgan	some laws, policies been put in place,
00:22:01.46	Damian Morgan	The Department of Salcido is keeping this data, get into the state, but it's not coming before the residents to understand what's happening in our community. I'm born and raised in Marin City.
00:22:12.43	Damian Morgan	I'm here every day.
00:22:13.88	Damian Morgan	Most days, it's all my community.
00:22:16.88	Damian Morgan	Thank you.
00:22:17.38	Damian Morgan	What's happening in town with the RIPA data is very important, it's useful.
00:22:23.55	Damian Morgan	to help us understand what's happening with police stops. RIPA data, racial identity profiling act.
00:22:33.04	Damian Morgan	The county numbers for RIPA data,
00:22:35.80	Damian Morgan	County of Marin, all departments are off the charts.
00:22:41.20	Damian Morgan	Not surprising, I'm sure. Some of the worst numbers in the state of California are here in Marin County.
00:22:48.39	Damian Morgan	Surprise, surprise.
00:22:50.97	Damian Morgan	Marin County has always had some of the worst numbers
00:22:54.84	Damian Morgan	In the state of California, I'll wait till you guys are done.
00:23:00.42	Damian Morgan	The county in Marin has always had some of the worst numbers in the state, which is why in 2017, RaceCounts.com, the Advancement Project, deemed Marin County for a study, a report, the most inequitable county in California.
00:23:20.29	Damian Morgan	But why would anybody care? Because are you affected by being the most
00:23:26.14	Damian Morgan	Um,
00:23:28.54	Damian Morgan	in Equitable County, California.
00:23:30.90	Damian Morgan	Well, you probably think you're not, but you are.
00:23:35.71	Damian Morgan	in California, Marin County, the most inequitable county in California. So I asked you, Mayor Joan Cox, to have the Sausalito Police Department
00:23:47.05	Damian Morgan	present
00:23:48.16	Damian Morgan	RIP-A-DATA.
00:23:49.97	Damian Morgan	because this should be finished now from the previous year.
00:23:53.71	Damian Morgan	Thank you.
00:23:55.33	Mayor Cox	Thank you, Damien. And the last...
00:23:59.33	Mayor Cox	Comment card I have in the chambers is Ava Crescent.
00:24:01.76	Ava Krasamp	Well.
00:24:02.79	Ava Krasamp	Thank you.
00:24:05.49	Ava Krasamp	I do wanna follow on Mr. Morgan's comments. RIPA data is very important, but there's a longer record
00:24:13.34	Ava Krasamp	that I obtained from the district attorney in this county. It's 32 years of arrest referred to prosecution.
00:24:23.58	Ava Krasamp	And it shows a very, very steep
00:24:28.24	Ava Krasamp	bias against black individuals by the Sausalito Police Department. It's extreme. And for many years, I have come before the city council and the good, God-fearing white people of Sausalito, and I have asked them to at least agendize this. And it has not happened. So when you agendize the RIPA data, please do also
00:24:53.40	Ava Krasamp	agenda is uh
00:24:55.36	Ava Krasamp	the actual longer record, it's 1989 through 2020, and the numbers are shocking.
00:25:00.93	Ava Krasamp	Thank you.
00:25:01.59	Ava Krasamp	It makes, you know, it makes...
00:25:06.11	Ava Krasamp	counties and parishes across the Deep South
00:25:08.96	Ava Krasamp	look positively progressive.
00:25:12.18	Ava Krasamp	So anyway, the other issue, I was very happy to ride from the East Bay on my bike tonight in the cold to come and speak to you in person.
00:25:22.26	Ava Krasamp	Because I am still having difficulty getting answers from...
00:25:26.56	Ava Krasamp	your city attorney regarding the incident that took place on September 26, when I was violently removed for no reason at all by your police officers, apparently from the documents that I can find through CPRA at the behest of Melissa Blaustein.
00:25:47.60	Ava Krasamp	and the JCRC.
00:25:49.36	Ava Krasamp	Why was I removed?
00:25:51.67	Ava Krasamp	when I was only civilly trying to address a crowd after an event had already ended.
00:25:58.32	Ava Krasamp	And at a public event where I had every right to speak,
00:26:03.03	Ava Krasamp	I was trying to relay
00:26:06.12	Ava Krasamp	A question.
00:26:07.94	Ava Krasamp	about the cost of the war, which had not come up at the candidate forum.
00:26:12.75	Ava Krasamp	And for that reason, when I had only very mildly raised the issue
00:26:19.04	Ava Krasamp	And you can see it very clearly on the videotape at marincountyconfidential.substack.com.
00:26:24.98	Ava Krasamp	I was grabbed by two of your police officers.
00:26:28.53	Ava Krasamp	I've repeatedly submitted questions about this to your city attorney.
00:26:33.20	Ava Krasamp	because he does not wish to answer my questions and because Ms. Blaustein has provided no explanation and no apology for the way I was violently treated and the manner in which my First Amendment rights were violently abrogated.
00:26:47.15	Ava Krasamp	I am now in the position of having to sue just to get some answers.
00:26:52.18	Ava Krasamp	It does not have to be this way.
00:26:54.60	Ava Krasamp	But apparently,
00:26:56.02	Ava Krasamp	That is how.
00:26:57.85	Ava Krasamp	Um, Ms. Hoffman, I would appreciate it if you would pay attention.
00:27:01.18	Ava Krasamp	That is how
00:27:02.48	Ava Krasamp	We.
00:27:03.36	Ava Krasamp	are progressing.
00:27:04.43	Mayor Cox	All right, your time is up. Thank you.
00:27:08.79	Mayor	Online, we have Sandra Bushmaker.
00:27:15.56	Sandra Bushmaker	Good evening, council. Good to see you all again.
00:27:18.37	Sandra Bushmaker	And I just want to, I'm talking about fire safety and you know, the fires in Los Angeles are still raging. They're contained somewhat.
00:27:27.64	Sandra Bushmaker	Fires have broken out in San Diego County.
00:27:30.96	Sandra Bushmaker	And we are
00:27:32.87	Sandra Bushmaker	Sitting ducks, in my opinion.
00:27:35.18	Sandra Bushmaker	At the last meeting, I requested that the city work with Southern Marin Fire to get a mailer out to each and every citizen here in Sausalito about what to do with preparedness.
00:27:48.01	Sandra Bushmaker	what documents to get together. When you get your go bag,
00:27:51.85	Sandra Bushmaker	what you should have in your go bag. All of this information is already available. It just needs to be put together in one
00:27:59.57	Sandra Bushmaker	document or one mailer and sent to the residents. I did notice that Southern Maroon Fire
00:28:05.30	Sandra Bushmaker	in a posting on Facebook
00:28:07.51	Sandra Bushmaker	did have some of this information
00:28:10.21	Sandra Bushmaker	Bye.
00:28:11.36	Sandra Bushmaker	If people aren't looking at Facebook and looking specifically at the Southern Marine Fire Post,
00:28:17.52	Sandra Bushmaker	they're not gonna see it. I think it's important enough
00:28:20.44	Sandra Bushmaker	that we get this communication out to the residents while we have a teachable moment. I mean, with these fires on our website, on our view site, on the news almost every night, this is a time when people should be have an open mind to
00:28:38.73	Sandra Bushmaker	figure out how they're going to get ready in Sausalito, when and if, and I say when,
00:28:44.77	Sandra Bushmaker	the fire occurs. I'm hopeful it won't be.
00:28:47.96	Sandra Bushmaker	But nevertheless,
00:28:50.02	Sandra Bushmaker	We are sitting in a very, very vulnerable area, and I'd like to see the public
00:28:55.74	Sandra Bushmaker	uh,
00:28:56.79	Sandra Bushmaker	an outreach to the public to make them aware
00:28:59.81	Sandra Bushmaker	to make us aware of exactly what we need to do to get ready with an evacuation warning
00:29:05.06	Sandra Bushmaker	with an evacuation order.
00:29:07.17	Sandra Bushmaker	And I think that would be very helpful to the well-being of our community. Thank you.
00:29:11.81	Mayor Cox	Walford, before we move on, I'm going to exercise my privilege under the communication section of the agenda to briefly respond.
00:29:19.45	Mayor Cox	to statements made. I will speak more about this during committee appointments at the end of the agenda, but I do want folks to know that I am planning to resurrect the Community Disaster Preparedness Committee. We already have three members on that committee. I'm inviting various people to apply to join that committee, including former Councilmember Janelle Kelman, who has expressed interest, and I would like to take this opportunity to invite former Mayor Sandra Bushmaker to apply to join that committee. She was instrumental in 2018 at creating and disseminating the very type of materials that she's discussing this evening. And then I also want to let people know that on February 4th, Southern Marine Fire Chief Tubbs will be here in our council chambers to make a presentation to us on disaster preparedness and to update us on the impact of the fires in Southern California. All right. Thanks.
00:30:20.17	Walford	I could just add one thing. I know I've received mailers from Southern Marin Fire inspections at my home. I'm hoping that that's widely, those notices and advice materials are widely disseminated. And I know at our Saturday session we received a report from Chief Tubbs and his assistant on one of the things was that very fact. So I think the suggestion is a good one. I think it has been done, and it needs to be renewed, and we need to be as aware and up-to-date as we can be. So thank you.
00:30:59.89	Mayor Cox	Thanks, Walford. Who's next?
00:31:01.16	Mayor	Michael Dumont.
00:31:07.01	Michael Dumont	Good evening. Can you hear me?
00:31:09.60	Mayor	Yes.
00:31:11.18	Michael Dumont	Good evening. My name is Michael Dumont. I'm here on behalf of the Sausalito Community Boating Center to provide a quick update. I just wanted to let council and city staff and the public know that this past weekend we conducted the soft opening of our facility. We're now open for public water access from sunrise to sunset. We welcomed about 15 to 20 people who launched a wide variety of canoes, kayaks, paddleboards, et cetera, at our facility over this weekend, and another 40 to 50 individuals who visited the facility, learned about our site, and have future plans to launch their boats here for public water access to Richards Bay. Okay.
00:31:52.63	Michael Dumont	Next steps for us is that we are meeting with parks and recreation staff later this week to work on rolling out our initial batch of programming later this spring and early summer. So we'll have more updates on that in the future, but we wanted to quickly provide this update on the soft opening. And we'll be doing a grand opening celebration on opening day on the Bay, April 27th.
00:32:18.48	Michael Dumont	Thank you and have a great evening.
00:32:21.55	Mayor Cox	Thank you, Michael, and congratulations.
00:32:24.15	Mayor	No further public speakers?
00:32:25.73	Mayor Cox	Okay, with that we will close communications and move on to the consent calendar.
00:32:31.15	Mayor Cox	matters listed under the consent calendar are considered routine and non-controversial, require no discussion, are expected to have unanimous counsel support and may be enacted by the Council in one motion.
00:32:41.80	Mayor Cox	in the form listed below. So on our consent calendar this evening, we have 3A, adopt the minutes of the City Council meetings of January 7 and 11, 2025.
00:32:51.79	Mayor Cox	3B adopt a resolution accepting the Marin ship park tennis courts reconstruction project is complete at a cost of three hundred and seventy three thousand seven dollars from various funds and direct the city engineer to file the notice of completion.
00:33:05.27	Mayor Cox	3C, adopt a resolution requiring multi-way stop at the intersection of Spring Street and Woodward Avenue, pursuant to Sausalito Municipal Code Section 15.04.050, and directing installation of additional stop signs.
00:33:18.92	Mayor Cox	3D, adopt a resolution establishing a no parking zone pursuant to vehicle code section 22507 opposite the driveway of the Glen Grove Estates, 265 to 285 Santa Rosa Avenue.
00:33:31.53	Mayor Cox	3E, receive and file Sassalita Police Department's Crime and Traffic Report calendar year 2024, fourth quarter, and year-end report.
00:33:39.60	Mayor Cox	3F, adopt a resolution to amend consultant services agreement with DeNovo Planning Group.
00:33:44.32	Mayor Cox	for preparation of an amended housing element general plan amendments and rezoning documents preparation of the new eir for the amended sixth cycle housing element in an amount not to exceed 102 479 from the general fund
00:33:58.50	Mayor Cox	3G, adopt a resolution approving an encroachment agreement for a three-foot-tall retaining wall in the public right-of-way at 501 Bonita Street. 3H, adopt a resolution declaring certain computer equipment surplus and authorizing its disposition. And 3I, approval of First Amendment to City of Sausalito lease, Old City Hall, 731 Bridgeway with Jean Hiller, Inc. to add option for an additional five-year term on same terms and authorize city manager to execute. Before we move on to any questions on the consent calendar, we do have a slight revision amendment to item 3i and I will invite the city attorney to read that amendment into the record.
00:34:39.69	Mayor Cox	.
00:34:39.72	Unknown	Yes, thank you, Mayor.
00:34:41.55	Unknown	you
00:34:41.60	Mayor Cox	You're...
00:34:42.71	Mayor Cox	Voice is very muffled, city attorney.
00:34:44.74	Unknown	Okay, let me see if this is, can you hear me now?
00:34:47.74	Mayor Cox	Yes, thank you.
00:34:48.95	Unknown	Okay, so staff recommend a revision to the agreement that is in your packet to add a new section dealing with the minimum monthly rent provision.
00:34:58.91	Unknown	It would add new language that would modify section 4.1 of Article IV rent to add the following language after the first paragraph.
00:35:10.25	Unknown	The language would read.
00:35:11.77	Unknown	Effective March 1st, 2030, and each successive March 1st for the remainder of the term of this lease, the MMR shall be increased based on the rate that has been determined by the Consumer Price Index for the most recent 12-month period, not to exceed 5%. Consumer Price Index, used in this section, is the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers, CPIU, San Francisco, Oakland, Hayward, all items 1982 through 1984.
00:35:36.15	Unknown	Equals 100, not seasonally just as published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics Department of Labor.
00:35:36.52	Jacqueline Armikis	100.
00:35:41.54	Unknown	So that would be the additional...
00:35:43.97	Unknown	that would be added to this First Amendment.
00:35:46.38	Mayor Cox	Thank you, city attorney. It's my understanding that staff has conferred with the less sore and they have agreed to the addition of that language.
00:35:57.68	Unknown	Yes, my understanding is tenant Gene Hiller has agreed to that language.
00:36:01.63	Mayor Cox	Great. OK, at this point, I will open it up to questions from city council.
00:36:08.13	Mayor Cox	Okay, no questions. I'm going to open it up to public comment.
00:36:12.16	Mayor Cox	First speaker is Eva Corzonth.
00:36:21.68	Ava Krasamp	Thank you. I am referring to item 3E, receive and file Saucedo Police Department's crime and traffic report calendar
00:36:30.05	Ava Krasamp	2024 fourth quarter and year end report.
00:36:34.17	Ava Krasamp	You know, in other municipalities, there would be a table with a binder in the back where this report would be printed out.
00:36:44.24	Ava Krasamp	But I did take a look at it, and I believe it is incomplete, and thus it should not be on consent. It should be agendized.
00:36:51.30	Ava Krasamp	I understand that you are reporting only one citizen complaint. I know that to be false. I am noticing that you recorded only one use of force incident, which I know also to be false.
00:37:05.88	Ava Krasamp	If you approve this on consent, if you do not remove it from consent, you will be
00:37:12.64	Ava Krasamp	approving, essentially, receiving a report that has multiple falsehoods in it.
00:37:19.76	Ava Krasamp	I also want to point out that
00:37:23.63	Ava Krasamp	It is clear to me from reading the settlement, which you did not announce in any, you did not agendize the settlement from the Portage case
00:37:32.37	Ava Krasamp	The exorbitant $21 million claim against the city of Sausalito because they couldn't figure out
00:37:37.97	Ava Krasamp	how to conduct themselves or their police officers could not figure out how to conduct themselves um that uh case was settled for uh
00:37:48.52	Ava Krasamp	over $600,000 last June.
00:37:52.69	Ava Krasamp	And I reported on that. That was not reported in any other local media. It's at marincountyconfidential.substack.com. Now, the details of that settlement...
00:38:01.87	Ava Krasamp	include
00:38:03.57	Ava Krasamp	uh items that Melissa Blaustein you should have made available to the public Joan Cox you should have made available to the public
00:38:12.13	Ava Krasamp	The rest of you should have made available to the public. And now one of these items is a quote unquote educational
00:38:18.57	Ava Krasamp	program that you were required to implement. And I have asked your city attorney for information about that. He has not responded to me.
00:38:28.28	Ava Krasamp	And it appears that you are in violation of the terms of the settlement.
00:38:32.28	Ava Krasamp	Now, it is clear from the body cam from the September 26th incident that
00:38:37.14	Ava Krasamp	that you,
00:38:38.69	Ava Krasamp	not only didn't implement this program,
00:38:41.66	Ava Krasamp	But in the event that you had, it had little to no effect. The program was supposed to educate your white constituents
00:38:50.28	Ava Krasamp	How not to call police?
00:38:52.44	Ava Krasamp	on
00:38:54.43	Ava Krasamp	people who are not doing anything wrong.
00:38:56.97	Ava Krasamp	And in that event, you utterly failed, not only because the body cam shows multiple white
00:39:02.96	Ava Krasamp	residents of Sausalito complaining that I,
00:39:07.43	Ava Krasamp	was somehow in need of being arrested. I am...
00:39:11.73	Ava Krasamp	of Asian descent, I was advocating on behalf of other Asian people at the September 26th event.
00:39:19.53	Ava Krasamp	But also, apparently Melissa Blaustein was critical in demanding my arrest. Thank you.
00:39:22.33	Jacqueline Armikis	was critical.
00:39:24.13	Jacqueline Armikis	demanding my arrest.
00:39:26.23	Ava Krasamp	And so therefore the educational program has not- Please step away. Your time is up. Yes, I appreciate that. Time please step away. The educational program has not- This should be removed from the agenda. Thank you.
00:39:27.93	Jacqueline Armikis	Thank you.
00:39:27.95	Sandra Bushmaker	Your time is not.
00:39:30.85	Sandra Bushmaker	Thank you.
00:39:30.92	Mayor Cox	Hi.
00:39:30.95	Morgan Pierce	educational.
00:39:31.71	Mayor Cox	I'm going to go.
00:39:31.96	Mayor Cox	I'm going to have
00:39:35.68	Mayor Cox	All right, next is Cynthia Egging.
00:39:46.43	Cynthia Egging	Hello, greetings council and Madam Mayor.
00:39:48.79	Cynthia Egging	I just the topic I'm going to bring up is the completion of the renovation on the tennis court at Renship Park. I just want to know, has anybody tested the fountain if it's still testing positive for human fecal matter at that location? Thank you.
00:40:03.64	Mayor Cox	Thank you. Next is Jeffrey Jacob.
00:40:13.61	Unknown	you
00:40:21.76	Jeffrey Jacob	Madam Mayor, City Council, and
00:40:24.70	Jeffrey Jacob	Citizens of Sausalito.
00:40:28.68	Jeffrey Jacob	Thanks for this opportunity to talk with you.
00:40:33.74	Jeffrey Jacob	I will second the police reports and that it's very clear
00:40:40.02	Jeffrey Jacob	that we do not have enough local news sources now
00:40:45.03	Jeffrey Jacob	to be able to cover
00:40:46.77	Jeffrey Jacob	the council meetings, let alone the police stops and everything else going on in this small town.
00:40:54.35	Jeffrey Jacob	That my friend Greg Taylor here found a bunch of old newspapers. There used to be a few you can see still see Marin scope.
00:41:03.76	Jeffrey Jacob	building right next to the Taste of Rome.
00:41:08.66	Jeffrey Jacob	We do have a worker, Tabitha, the director of communications, that puts out a newsletter as well. But something that is free speech and free press.
00:41:21.67	Jeffrey Jacob	is very important.
00:41:23.74	Jeffrey Jacob	So I'll also talk about, this is 3F. 3F.
00:41:29.18	Jeffrey Jacob	I was so happy and I want to remain that way.
00:41:33.78	Jeffrey Jacob	about the lack of
00:41:36.40	Jeffrey Jacob	bringing consultants in.
00:41:39.03	Jeffrey Jacob	that
00:41:39.79	Jeffrey Jacob	when I talked with the city clerk, Walfred Solorzano, and he was giving me the information on why people would not be hired by Sausalito instead of being consultants, which is by far less transparent.
00:41:57.92	Jeffrey Jacob	To go and learn about your government, you guys make it a little easier. To learn about a corporation, working for the government, quite a bit harder.
00:42:09.26	Jeffrey Jacob	As we noticed in the inauguration, the governments and the corporations seem to be working together hand in fist now.
00:42:18.30	Jeffrey Jacob	This consent calendar item is
00:42:24.04	Jeffrey Jacob	$102,479.
00:42:28.73	Jeffrey Jacob	for housing elements environmental impact report. This is not for any proposal, you can correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think I am on this, to build an actual
00:42:41.27	Jeffrey Jacob	place for firefighters, policemen, workers here.
00:42:45.39	Jeffrey Jacob	This is just environmental impact report for any housing that they might build here.
00:42:51.98	Jeffrey Jacob	It is entirely unnecessary as almost all of these consultancies are.
00:42:57.89	Jeffrey Jacob	I think that to be an honest alternative
00:43:02.12	Jeffrey Jacob	to what's going on at a federal level, we have got to be honest with ourselves here first.
00:43:09.50	Jeffrey Jacob	Thank you very much.
00:43:10.99	Mayor Cox	Thank you. Next is Damian Morgan.
00:43:17.94	Damian Morgan	Thank you.
00:43:18.12	Damian Morgan	um
00:43:18.83	Damian Morgan	Thank you.
00:43:20.55	Damian Morgan	Regarding the police item, um,
00:43:25.24	Damian Morgan	there's a lot to unpack here, you know, with regarding the,
00:43:30.93	Damian Morgan	the PRA that was pulled from the DA's office,
00:43:36.06	Damian Morgan	32 years worth. It's true. I read it. I saw it. I have it. I've experienced it. I've lived it, actually. Lived experiences. Lived experiences.
00:43:44.70	Damian Morgan	The 32 years of data, along with the two years of RIPA data, 34 years, 35 years of stark, excuse me, of stark, stark data.
00:43:57.32	Damian Morgan	data
00:43:58.82	Damian Morgan	for pulling over black folk in Marin County.
00:44:01.98	Damian Morgan	Amen.
00:44:02.89	Damian Morgan	I'm not asking you to care. People say, why don't you care? No, I'm asking you to care.
00:44:07.03	Damian Morgan	I'm asking you to
00:44:08.82	Damian Morgan	Review it.
00:44:10.00	Damian Morgan	Look at it.
00:44:11.20	Damian Morgan	bring the RIPA data, two years of data, to this council. Let's talk about it.
00:44:18.76	Damian Morgan	I am also aware of the settlement of July of 24.
00:44:23.55	Damian Morgan	I did read that the document based on
00:44:27.07	Damian Morgan	The city, I imagine, along with the police department, having a
00:44:33.25	Damian Morgan	I don't know, a training or a class, I'm not sure exactly what it is,
00:44:38.23	Damian Morgan	But from my knowledge, it hasn't happened yet.
00:44:40.73	Damian Morgan	So I wanna know, I'm asking you, Mayor,
00:44:43.86	Damian Morgan	When will this take place?
00:44:46.24	Damian Morgan	I'm asking you not to have an all white, nicey-nicey folk on this committee. I'm asking you to have people, part of this, people with lived experiences who would tell the truth.
00:44:58.36	Damian Morgan	get into the weeds of this. I do understand. I'm not a fool. I do understand that
00:45:05.09	Damian Morgan	Nothing will change.
00:45:07.89	Damian Morgan	Yeah.
00:45:08.08	Mayor Cox	Pardon me. Hold my time, please. Could you close the door? There's a light shining in my eyes from outside.
00:45:08.72	Damian Morgan	Hold my time, please.
00:45:20.89	Damian Morgan	I do understand what's the meaning of insanity, right?
00:45:26.20	Damian Morgan	I do understand that not much will change.
00:45:30.29	Damian Morgan	unless we're forced to change. Legal action, lawsuits, the county.
00:45:35.94	Damian Morgan	So as we get into this class or whatever you want to call it, that's what you're supposed to put on based on that settlement. I have read it a few months ago. I'm just waiting to see what's going to happen. If we don't talk about it, it probably won't happen.
00:45:49.90	Damian Morgan	Hopefully,
00:45:50.89	Damian Morgan	This will happen soon.
00:45:52.06	Damian Morgan	And lastly,
00:45:53.83	Damian Morgan	even in Tiburon.
00:45:55.70	Damian Morgan	Tiburon and Mill Valley.
00:45:57.73	Damian Morgan	put policy together.
00:45:59.23	Damian Morgan	That's stated.
00:46:00.92	Damian Morgan	when white residents called the police
00:46:05.03	Damian Morgan	the police won't go. When they say, hey, there's a suspicious black person in my neighborhood on my street
00:46:10.48	Damian Morgan	Saucer Mill Valley and Tiburon won't go. They'll send them some paperwork because they know it's silly, it's ignorant, it's stupid, it's Klan-like, KKK-like. So I ask you to also
00:46:25.64	Damian Morgan	Think about putting a policy with the department
00:46:28.42	Damian Morgan	that if someone calls and says, hey, this is suspicious, there's Damien on my street.
00:46:33.49	Mayor Cox	Thank you, Mr. Morgan.
00:46:34.14	Damian Morgan	He won't go.
00:46:35.46	Damian Morgan	They won't show up.
00:46:36.71	Mayor Cox	Thank you.
00:46:37.82	Mayor Cox	And Babette McDougall.
00:46:52.72	Babette McDougall	Thank you, Babette MacDougall. I'm painfully aware of the time I was reminded that city
00:46:57.68	Babette McDougall	Convened a retreat on a weekend Saturday, and of the five hours invested, my public comment consumed 30 minutes.
00:47:05.16	Babette McDougall	I'm proud of that. I'll aim for a higher number going forward.
00:47:08.91	Babette McDougall	In the meantime, I want to look at this consent calendar. I'm sorry certain things really weren't pulled.
00:47:13.75	Babette McDougall	For example,
00:47:15.00	Babette McDougall	I'm glad to see that we are negotiating the city's property
00:47:19.06	Babette McDougall	And the real estate portfolio hopefully is growing and we are benefiting from that. But I wonder when the citizens get to see the official policy that was requested, I think, two years ago now.
00:47:31.05	Babette McDougall	And I still haven't even seen a draft of what is going to be this assessment of our facilities going forward. Is that ever going to be made available to the public?
00:47:40.01	Babette McDougall	That's correct.
00:47:40.34	Babette McDougall	Question one.
00:47:40.68	Mayor Cox	.
00:47:40.92	Mayor Cox	And that has to do with item 3. Walford, I can't hear her because you two are conversing. Would you please step out from behind?
00:47:41.80	Babette McDougall	I'm going to stop you for a moment.
00:47:48.38	Mayor Cox	Yeah, you can ask him after the meeting or send him an email.
00:47:52.39	Babette McDougall	Thank you.
00:47:52.43	Mayor Cox	Could we reset?
00:47:52.97	Babette McDougall	my time
00:47:54.64	Mayor Cox	We paused your time as soon as I stopped. No, he didn't. I'm sorry.
00:47:55.99	Babette McDougall	No, he didn't. I'm sorry.
00:47:57.40	Mayor Cox	Yes. Okay.
00:47:58.69	Babette McDougall	Okay, he's just reset it. Thank you, Walford.
00:48:02.59	Babette McDougall	Okay, so that has to do directly with item 3i. Every time something comes up about a real, whether it's the
00:48:09.35	Babette McDougall	Sausalito Center for the Arts or one of the other properties, it doesn't matter. I'm in favor of everybody being here who's here. I love Jean Hiller. I'm glad to see the Sausalito Center for the Arts try to become a center for us going forward. I am not opposed to this. What I am opposed to is the lack of transparency on how these leases are being negotiated.
00:48:28.99	Babette McDougall	We are citizens of this town. This is our money.
00:48:32.81	Babette McDougall	We are the people who are enfranchised to oversee the good health of this financial situation.
00:48:38.48	Babette McDougall	So I'm asking you to please daylight these policies sooner, not later. I think it's been two years, and we're still waiting for a draft.
00:48:45.62	Babette McDougall	Okay, so the other item has to do with things that really don't matter right now. I just want to thank you for your time. I yield back.
00:48:52.62	Mayor Cox	Thank you. Anyone online, city clerk?
00:48:55.71	Mayor	No further public speakers.
00:48:57.06	Mayor Cox	All right, so I will entertain a motion to approve the consent calendar unless anyone would like to make comment. So moved.
00:49:06.27	Unknown	Second.
00:49:06.61	Mayor Cox	Thank you.
00:49:06.68	Mayor Cox	Okay.
00:49:07.47	Mayor Cox	City Clerk, will you call the roll?
00:49:09.38	Unknown	And Mayor, that is approval of the consent calendar with the changes right into the record.
00:49:14.00	Mayor Cox	Thank you.
00:49:14.05	Councilmember Hoffman	I'm sorry.
00:49:14.14	Mayor Cox	Correct.
00:49:14.24	Unknown	Thank you.
00:49:14.29	Mayor Cox	Thank you.
00:49:14.32	Councilmember Hoffman	Thank you.
00:49:16.89	Mayor	Councilmember Blaustein.
00:49:18.45	Councilmember Hoffman	Yes.
00:49:19.45	Mayor	Councilmember Huffman.
00:49:20.80	Councilmember Hoffman	Yes.
00:49:22.15	Mayor	Council member Sobieski. Yes. Vice mayor Woodside. Yes. And mayor Cox. Yes.
00:49:26.32	Walford	Yeah.
00:49:26.40	Walford	Yes.
00:49:27.92	Mayor Cox	Yes, that motion carries five zero will now move on to item five be the first mid year budget discussion and provide direction as desired and we welcome Chad has our finance director.
00:49:42.79	Chad Hess	All right. Good evening, Mayor, Council.
00:49:46.15	Chad Hess	Um,
00:49:47.04	Chad Hess	members of the public. My computer looks like it had just froze as I
00:49:51.51	Chad Hess	press the share button.
00:49:52.93	Chad Hess	Are you guys able to hear me?
00:49:55.78	Sandra Bushmaker	Thank you.
00:49:55.80	Morgan Pierce	Yes.
00:49:56.26	Mayor Cox	Thank you.
00:49:56.57	Chad Hess	Okay, well, I've got to wait for my computer to unfreeze here. I apologize.
00:50:01.94	Mayor Cox	with the message.
00:50:02.51	Mayor Cox	This happens a lot, so we need to get you a better internet system, Mr. Hess.
00:50:03.75	Chad Hess	We need to...
00:50:06.95	Mayor Cox	Thank you.
00:50:06.97	Chad Hess	I think it's my computer. It's not the internet.
00:50:07.00	Mayor Cox	I think it's my computer.
00:50:09.97	Chad Hess	My computer is acting up.
00:50:11.46	Chad Hess	Jeffrey, can you share?
00:50:11.53	Unknown	Well, thank you.
00:50:13.08	Chad Hess	on your end
00:50:13.16	Unknown	on your own.
00:50:14.68	Chad Hess	Thank you.
00:50:16.05	Unknown	Mm-hmm.
00:50:36.62	Unknown	All right.
00:50:37.70	Chad Hess	You see it? All right. No, not yet. I can only hear you guys. But if you are on the general fund summary...
00:50:38.04	Unknown	All right.
00:50:44.15	Chad Hess	So,
00:50:45.36	Chad Hess	On this slide, you guys can see the first
00:50:48.03	Chad Hess	six months of the fiscal year for the general fund.
00:50:51.37	Chad Hess	Here you can see that revenues are exceeding the budget or exceeding the prior year, I'm sorry, by $589,000.
00:50:59.15	Chad Hess	or a 7% increase.
00:51:01.44	Chad Hess	Again, I want to draw your attention to building and planning revenues. Those are exceeding the prior year by over $230,000.
00:51:09.43	Chad Hess	for the first six months.
00:51:11.67	Chad Hess	Again, interest earnings are exceeding.
00:51:14.67	Chad Hess	the prior year, but are slowing down again based upon the
00:51:18.89	Chad Hess	lowering rate of the Fed.
00:51:21.49	Chad Hess	The two other revenue streams that are below the prior year would be transient and occupancy tax.
00:51:27.77	Chad Hess	as well as the Friends of the Sausalito Library under
00:51:31.99	Chad Hess	our contributions.
00:51:35.18	Chad Hess	All right, well, I've got my computer back. Can I share again, Alfred?
00:51:38.72	Mayor	Yeah, let me stop sharing.
00:51:40.32	Chad Hess	Thank you.
00:51:40.96	Chad Hess	Thank you.
00:51:41.66	Chad Hess	Sorry about this.
00:51:45.01	Chad Hess	All right. Has that come through?
00:51:47.44	Mayor	Yeah.
00:51:49.00	Mayor Cox	Not yet.
00:51:50.21	Chad Hess	Heck,
00:51:50.89	Mayor Cox	Okay.
00:51:51.31	Chad Hess	THE FAMILY.
00:51:51.41	Chad Hess	See?
00:51:51.55	Mayor Cox	it.
00:51:51.75	Chad Hess	Thank you.
00:51:51.97	Chad Hess	There we go. Okay.
00:51:52.84	Chad Hess	Thank you.
00:51:54.01	Chad Hess	All right, next, talking about general fund revenues, these are in line with prior years.
00:51:59.09	Chad Hess	Again, you can see that the large inflows take place in December and April.
00:52:03.61	Chad Hess	February is when we're going to see our business license dollars come through, January and February typically.
00:52:09.08	Chad Hess	And then again, the negative revenues.
00:52:11.78	Chad Hess	that you can see in August and October are from
00:52:14.88	Chad Hess	the reversal of our accruals from prior years.
00:52:18.51	Chad Hess	Looking at general fund wages.
00:52:20.15	Chad Hess	Here you can see the green line, which represents our current fiscal year, fiscal year 25.
00:52:25.06	Chad Hess	Those are trending in line with the budget as expressed as the dotted red line.
00:52:30.31	Chad Hess	Um,
00:52:31.20	Chad Hess	December wages are typically higher than other months due to the vacation payouts for several or for a couple of our
00:52:39.64	Chad Hess	labor classes.
00:52:41.28	Chad Hess	And then wages are in line with prior years.
00:52:43.84	Chad Hess	And it should be noted again that the 23-24
00:52:47.13	Chad Hess	has three payroll months in November and May.
00:52:50.27	Chad Hess	And that's why we have those spikes in those particular months.
00:52:54.74	Chad Hess	looking at total general fund expenditures,
00:52:57.56	Chad Hess	Um,
00:52:58.49	Chad Hess	Again, those things are in line with the budget.
00:53:00.87	Chad Hess	You can, again, see July is our...
00:53:03.89	Chad Hess	which is where we pay our insurance premiums as well as our pension payments.
00:53:09.37	Chad Hess	I think it's a great question.
00:53:11.97	Chad Hess	Thank you.
00:53:12.11	Chad Hess	All right, MLK Rentals.
00:53:13.74	Chad Hess	Um,
00:53:17.71	Chad Hess	Thank you.
00:53:17.83	Chad Hess	shoot.
00:53:18.18	Chad Hess	I got the wrong title in here.
00:53:19.67	Chad Hess	I apologize for this one. Here I've got the parking fund.
00:53:23.66	Chad Hess	So,
00:53:24.22	Chad Hess	The MLK revenues again represents a very stable revenue stream for the city.
00:53:29.01	Chad Hess	Um,
00:53:30.26	Chad Hess	Each month, the tenants pay timely
00:53:31.97	Chad Hess	And those rents are available to pay down the COPs.
00:53:35.49	Chad Hess	as well as
00:53:37.08	Chad Hess	subsidize some of the general fund's operations through a transfer its operating profits to the general fund.
00:53:43.83	Chad Hess	Looking at the parking fund, the parking fund revenues are exceeding the prior year by 153,000.
00:53:49.96	Chad Hess	I do want to draw your attention to the slides up here. We are seeing...
00:53:54.66	Chad Hess	slate.
00:53:55.29	Chad Hess	Decline in parking revenues for November and December.
00:53:58.41	Chad Hess	compared to the prior year.
00:54:00.66	Chad Hess	all prior month.
00:54:02.33	Chad Hess	of this fiscal year have exceeded the prior year with that exception.
00:54:05.90	Chad Hess	So I do wanna draw your attention to that. It is something that we will continue to monitor
00:54:10.44	Chad Hess	And we will inform counsel if this trend continues.
00:54:14.98	Chad Hess	Next, I wanna look at our budget adjustments that we're gonna bring forward.
00:54:19.07	Chad Hess	So on the slide here, you can see our original budget as it was presented.
00:54:24.18	Chad Hess	and adopted.
00:54:25.36	Chad Hess	for our 7-1.
00:54:26.93	Chad Hess	22.
00:54:27.55	Chad Hess	2024 fiscal year.
00:54:30.78	Chad Hess	As I update you today, we have closed that budget gap from our original million dollar deficit
00:54:36.16	Chad Hess	to about thirty four thousand
00:54:37.85	Chad Hess	And additional adjustments will be made as we bring this forward.
00:54:41.17	Chad Hess	in a future council meeting for your adoption.
00:54:46.08	Chad Hess	Here we can look at our revenues.
00:54:47.74	Chad Hess	Again, it should be no surprise that we are going to increase our property taxes by that $550,000. And that is, again, for the excess ERAF that is rebated from the county.
00:54:57.42	Chad Hess	The other changes that I am proposing, again,
00:55:00.34	Chad Hess	Planning revenues.
00:55:01.52	Chad Hess	and are building revenues.
00:55:03.13	Chad Hess	are doing very well this fiscal year.
00:55:05.57	Chad Hess	So I am recommending that we increase both of those budgets as well.
00:55:10.37	Chad Hess	Um,
00:55:10.89	Chad Hess	Here I have an interfund transfer, an increase.
00:55:13.79	Chad Hess	There are two components of this. The first one.
00:55:16.34	Chad Hess	is an increase of $25,000 from the Gene Hiller Fund or the Old City Hall Fund.
00:55:20.93	Chad Hess	to make the transfer in transfer outs reciprocal. I had a slight error in the previous budget.
00:55:26.33	Chad Hess	The other $200,000 represents the increase in the transfer from the parking fund.
00:55:31.90	Chad Hess	And now we're also going to see, if you read my staff report, I talk about paying all of the pension UAL
00:55:37.42	Chad Hess	out of the general fund rather than transferring it out of the parking fund.
00:55:40.61	Chad Hess	or payment out of the parking fund.
00:55:42.24	Chad Hess	So that increase in transfer in is offset by a reduction in expense.
00:55:47.36	Chad Hess	for the parking front. So at the end of the day, things will equal out
00:55:51.64	Chad Hess	between the two funds. It's just where we recognize that pension UAL payment.
00:55:57.01	Chad Hess	Now, looking at the expenses, here you have a very high level departmental change or a departmental view.
00:56:03.49	Chad Hess	You can see where those departments are at for the current year, current six months.
00:56:07.98	Chad Hess	their current budget, and again, their mid-year budget,
00:56:10.74	Chad Hess	Most apartments are making minor adjustments. There are a couple of significant ones that I want to draw your attention to.
00:56:17.85	Chad Hess	The first one here is the engineering.
00:56:20.78	Chad Hess	In this line item, I
00:56:22.66	Chad Hess	had a position control issue with my original budget.
00:56:25.71	Chad Hess	and I was missing a position in this category.
00:56:28.77	Chad Hess	So that brings that position back into the budget in addition to the benefits.
00:56:32.45	Chad Hess	And then there's also increase for professional services due to a traffic study that needs to be completed every so many years.
00:56:38.66	Chad Hess	and that was unbudgeted for.
00:56:41.29	Chad Hess	The other...
00:56:42.25	Chad Hess	item I want to draw your attention to is right here under the police department.
00:56:45.83	Chad Hess	This is that UAL payment that I was talking about on the revenue side.
00:56:49.59	Chad Hess	So we're going to increase the transfer in and we're going to increase the expense here.
00:56:54.05	Chad Hess	So it nets out.
00:56:55.34	Chad Hess	In the parking fund, I'm recommending we
00:56:57.76	Chad Hess	We increase the transfer out.
00:56:59.48	Chad Hess	but we eliminate that expense. So again, it balances out.
00:57:03.90	Chad Hess	The other item I wanted to draw your attention to is right down here under economic development.
00:57:08.02	Chad Hess	We're recommending an increase in the budget
00:57:10.38	Chad Hess	and this line item to accommodate the PBID funding under economic development.
00:57:17.01	Chad Hess	Um,
00:57:17.57	Chad Hess	Again, you can see here revenues are improving in the general fund.
00:57:20.59	Chad Hess	We are currently doing a comprehensive fee study.
00:57:23.73	Chad Hess	Once this is reviewed and completed, we'll bring it forward to council. At that time, it will be recommended for adoption. And again, that is to increase some of those fees for service.
00:57:33.99	Chad Hess	Um,
00:57:34.61	Chad Hess	for our community members that engage with permits and activities and so on and so forth.
00:57:40.32	Chad Hess	New information is learned. As we learn information, we're going to update this budget and we're going to continue to bring that information forward.
00:57:47.07	Chad Hess	And again,
00:57:47.91	Chad Hess	A couple of changes on the expense side, we talked about recognizing the UAL payment in the general fund rather than the parking fund.
00:57:54.91	Chad Hess	a budget error.
00:57:56.28	Chad Hess	in the engineering department.
00:57:58.10	Chad Hess	And again, the P bed.
00:58:00.03	Chad Hess	um,
00:58:00.94	Chad Hess	In addition, just a brief update on the care plan, cost and revenue efficiencies. The goal is to balance the budget through operating efficiencies. There are going to be small wins over time.
00:58:09.85	Chad Hess	And they're going to add up. Some examples are telecom and merchant services. We've been making very good progress on cleaning up some of those legacy expenses.
00:58:17.29	Chad Hess	evaluating purchase more carefully,
00:58:19.64	Chad Hess	And then again, we are restarting our police alarm billing.
00:58:22.52	Chad Hess	This is a revenue source that
00:58:25.05	Chad Hess	kind of fell off the cliff a couple of years ago due to turnover. We are bringing this back and it's going to generate revenue for the general fund.
00:58:32.24	Chad Hess	So some positive updates there.
00:58:35.28	Chad Hess	Next, I'm looking at the parking fund,
00:58:37.03	Chad Hess	The parking fund, again, is performing well.
00:58:39.99	Chad Hess	I am recommending a slight increase in the budget.
00:58:43.01	Chad Hess	and of 103,000 combined with interest earnings and parking revenues.
00:58:48.43	Chad Hess	Here you can see that change in the budget
00:58:51.38	Chad Hess	due to the retiree benefits or the UAL payment.
00:58:54.40	Chad Hess	And then here you can see the reciprocal transfer out.
00:58:57.35	Chad Hess	So those two net out, it's really for financial reporting, ease of financial reporting.
00:59:02.77	Chad Hess	So the parking fund is doing very well. I am recommending those slight adjustments.
00:59:08.20	Chad Hess	Over here on the MLK Fund, I'm
00:59:10.57	Chad Hess	really not recommending any changes. There was just a slight reclass between a retiree benefit and,
00:59:15.63	Chad Hess	and wages.
00:59:18.11	Chad Hess	And then on the Old City Hall Fund, this fund is performing as intended.
00:59:23.19	Chad Hess	Um,
00:59:24.01	Chad Hess	We are requesting additional dollars for the maintenance and repair items in that facility.
00:59:29.99	Chad Hess	The HVAC is being replaced. The roof has been replaced. We have doors that are being replaced.
00:59:35.35	Chad Hess	This is really an investment in this facility.
00:59:38.66	Chad Hess	to get it back up to a better standard.
00:59:41.63	Chad Hess	And then it will be.
00:59:43.20	Chad Hess	in much better shape for years to come for our tenant who is looking to engage
00:59:47.94	Chad Hess	in that tenancy for a longer time.
00:59:50.80	Chad Hess	Looking at the Tideland Fund.
00:59:52.79	Chad Hess	Um,
00:59:53.98	Chad Hess	We are making a slight budget adjustment.
00:59:56.78	Chad Hess	for interest earnings and rentals.
00:59:59.25	Chad Hess	to the tune of about 30,000.
01:00:01.58	Chad Hess	And then we are recommending that we make a slight budget adjustment.
01:00:05.54	Chad Hess	I think it's a great question.
01:00:06.49	Chad Hess	We're going to decrease some of our supplies and material.
01:00:09.90	Chad Hess	So overall, we are projecting a positive increase in balance of $442,000 for this fund.
01:00:17.29	Chad Hess	Again, the Tideland Fund generates significant revenues over time.
01:00:21.10	Chad Hess	And they again continue to accumulate.
01:00:23.36	Chad Hess	On one of the attachments, you can see cash balances by fund.
01:00:27.31	Chad Hess	There is over 1.3 million in that fund.
01:00:30.20	Chad Hess	So I encourage our council members to find ways to deploy those resources to benefit our community.
01:00:37.94	Chad Hess	At this time, I'll go ahead and open it up for discussion.
01:00:41.55	Chad Hess	and your questions.
01:00:43.24	Mayor Cox	Thank you. Any questions of Mr. Hess?
01:00:48.14	Walford	Just one. This differs in its bottom line, if you will, by about a couple hundred thousand from the last time we reported
01:00:58.87	Walford	A few weeks ago.
01:00:59.31	Chad Hess	Thanks.
01:01:00.18	Chad Hess	That is correct, yes. I've been digging deeper into things and really trying to make sure that we have a
01:01:06.31	Chad Hess	a really tight budget this year. I want to balance it and
01:01:10.28	Chad Hess	Yeah, it's going to happen. We will get there and then we're going to control our expenses
01:01:15.00	Chad Hess	at the departmental levels to really balance this budget this year. It's important to the community.
01:01:21.33	Walford	And you undertake this on a regular ongoing basis, as I'm understanding it, and you periodically report to the council.
01:01:29.90	Chad Hess	Yeah, my goal is to report quarterly to council. If these reports or these graphs that I'm showing are helpful or useful,
01:01:38.07	Chad Hess	please give feedback. I can produce them quarterly or monthly if, if, if required. My goal is to give you guys as much information as you need in a format that that's, that's usable. So,
01:01:50.14	Chad Hess	Anybody either on the Dias,
01:01:52.19	Chad Hess	or the community, please offer suggestions or comments.
01:01:56.73	Mayor Cox	Thank you.
01:01:57.93	Mayor Cox	Councilmember Hoffman.
01:01:59.18	Councilmember Hoffman	Thank you. Chad, so for these revenue generating, what we call, I think we call the enterprise funds, so, and this is going to be a collective question, but you can answer individually if that's easier for you. So for the MLK.
01:02:16.19	Councilmember Hoffman	what we call the enterprise funds. In other words, these are revenue-generating capital assets. So the MLK is the MLK facility at the other end of town that, you know, we charge rent for these things. These are buildings that we rent to people that they do require capital investments. In other words, we have to pay for their upkeep and so we're doing facilities assessments for these buildings that we rent all over town and they require as you said for the Jean Hiller the old City Hall which is the Jean Hiller building they require new roofs they require investments from us and so
01:02:59.49	Councilmember Hoffman	their revenue generating, as you said, and we're working on that. How do you expect we're expecting that assessment? I think at the first of February, I think the city managers told us, how do you expect that to affect these revenues that you just talked about? And we expect that
01:03:16.97	Chad Hess	Sure.
01:03:19.00	Councilmember Hoffman	evaluation.
01:03:19.12	Chad Hess	So the reports, they were in town either last week or two weeks ago doing the assessments of MLK
01:03:26.02	Chad Hess	The
01:03:27.25	Chad Hess	Saucolito Center for the Arts.
01:03:29.33	Unknown	And
01:03:29.39	Chad Hess	and the Tidelands facilities. I have seen a draft of the SCA building.
01:03:35.27	Chad Hess	And MLK is hopefully coming later this week.
01:03:38.32	Chad Hess	Those drafts are being reviewed by staff. We're offering comments and feedback, and we hope to bring them forward to
01:03:44.41	Chad Hess	Council as soon as we can in February.
01:03:47.23	Chad Hess	I don't envision these reports affecting the revenue side of the equation. I do project that it will affect the expense side. We will have a better idea of what is that deferred maintenance
01:03:58.66	Chad Hess	And what is the cost and a recommendation of when those costs should be incurred.
01:04:03.82	Chad Hess	and gives us a really nice timeline of what that cash flow investment will look like over the next
01:04:09.51	Chad Hess	10 to 15 years.
01:04:11.02	Chad Hess	Thank you.
01:04:11.04	Councilmember Hoffman	I know.
01:04:11.21	Chad Hess	I'm impressed with what we're seeing and I think you will be too.
01:04:14.55	Councilmember Hoffman	Okay. And that will also affect, I would assume our parking enterprise, we could that that also requires a capital investment to upkeep the parking lots. Yes.
01:04:23.16	Chad Hess	Yeah, so it is going to cost dollars to upkeep our parking lot. And then also, I think a discussion needs to be had on our parking technology, the infrastructure that we use to collect our fees for parking. I believe an investment there should be discussed as well.
01:04:40.84	Councilmember Hoffman	Okay.
01:04:41.59	Councilmember Hoffman	Thank you.
01:04:46.49	Councilmember Hoffman	So when do we expect to see this sort of assessment of, you gave us the bottom line of what we can expect to see with regard to revenue, but the capital reinvestment into these revenue-generating revenue streams...
01:05:04.55	Councilmember Hoffman	you
01:05:04.65	Chad Hess	you.
01:05:04.72	Councilmember Hoffman	Yeah.
01:05:05.77	Councilmember Hoffman	When do we expect to see that sort of balance sheet?
01:05:08.89	Chad Hess	As soon as I can get these reports in their final draft, I will bring them forward as a discussion and we can have that, that,
01:05:17.46	Chad Hess	that really hard discussion on how do we want to allocate our resources
01:05:21.36	Chad Hess	to get these facilities in a better shape so they continue to produce revenue well into the future.
01:05:26.91	Councilmember Hoffman	And that's part of the bottom line discussion that we should be having as a continuing conversation.
01:05:33.07	Chad Hess	I agree, yes. Yep, budget talks need to continue on. They need to evolve. I think we need to bring this forward
01:05:40.36	Chad Hess	you know, much more often. And I think the bringing back the finance committee is a great opportunity.
01:05:45.20	Chad Hess	And I welcome more discussions here at the full city council.
01:05:49.79	Councilmember Hoffman	And do you think that will be part of our discussion as we move forward with our, we've now had our mid-year budget, but then,
01:05:56.43	Councilmember Hoffman	some point
01:05:57.57	Councilmember Hoffman	We're going to start our 20...
01:06:00.59	Chad Hess	526th.
01:06:01.45	Councilmember Hoffman	Yeah, 2025, 26 budget discussion. And we usually start that in April. Is that what we're gonna start?
01:06:06.80	Chad Hess	We're having some preliminary discussions within our finance department on the wage side of things.
01:06:12.86	Chad Hess	So we're starting to gear up for that.
01:06:14.74	Chad Hess	And then we're going to bring in the departments very soon, but it'll be brought forward March, April is my goal.
01:06:20.78	Councilmember Hoffman	Okay, thanks. I had a follow-up discussion question to Mayor.
01:06:24.76	Councilmember Hoffman	So I had a question about these, the ERAF funds. And I'm gonna, I'm not gonna remember what that stands for. It has to do with property taxes. It has to do with-
01:06:30.61	Chad Hess	Thank you.
01:06:30.65	Unknown	Thank you.
01:06:38.26	Chad Hess	and education.
01:06:39.68	Councilmember Hoffman	Yeah.
01:06:40.86	Councilmember Hoffman	The educational property tax.
01:06:42.49	Chad Hess	Yeah, I'm not going to remember what ERAF stands for either. It's in the staff reports, but it's dollars that are taken out of our property tax settlements, put into a pool.
01:06:51.93	Chad Hess	They're allocated out to the schools within the county.
01:06:56.96	Chad Hess	And then once they're
01:06:58.41	Chad Hess	State basic need aid is met.
01:07:00.87	Chad Hess	the excess
01:07:02.20	Chad Hess	in that pool is redistributed back to the paying agencies or the contributing agencies.
01:07:08.08	Councilmember Hoffman	And so you're accounting for it in our budget
01:07:11.70	Councilmember Hoffman	this year.
01:07:12.97	Councilmember Hoffman	It was somewhat...
01:07:15.53	Councilmember Hoffman	It wasn't accounted for last year.
01:07:17.81	Unknown	Okay.
01:07:18.30	Councilmember Hoffman	No control over it, but you're, since we got it and we've gotten it in the past, we now know.
01:07:24.07	Councilmember Hoffman	But we really have no control over it, and we don't know if we're going to get it next year, but we assume that we are.
01:07:29.22	Chad Hess	So, yeah.
01:07:30.03	Councilmember Hoffman	It is.
01:07:30.49	Councilmember Hoffman	Thank you.
01:07:30.84	Councilmember Hoffman	Is that our first summary?
01:07:33.10	Chad Hess	So...
01:07:34.64	Chad Hess	We have not been budgeting for it from what I can tell. I went back to the past
01:07:39.04	Chad Hess	five years, and I don't believe we've been budgeting for it.
01:07:43.61	Chad Hess	we may have, and I'm just not seeing it in
01:07:46.25	Chad Hess	fire directors work papers.
01:07:48.68	Unknown	Yeah.
01:07:48.88	Chad Hess	I don't think we have been.
01:07:50.50	Chad Hess	This year I am bringing it forward as a budget item. It is revenue that we are receiving. We've received our first settlement of over $300,000.
01:07:59.55	Chad Hess	for excess ERAF.
01:08:01.87	Chad Hess	It is a topic in the state legislature that they may want to pull this back from the five counties.
01:08:07.78	Chad Hess	Maybe.
01:08:08.59	Chad Hess	Maybe not.
01:08:09.52	Chad Hess	But it is revenue we're receiving this year. I think we should count it.
01:08:12.96	Chad Hess	And I'm recommending that it's in our budget.
01:08:15.36	Chad Hess	We need to monitor this.
01:08:16.64	Chad Hess	I think we need to be very cautious and monitor it going forward. But
01:08:20.27	Chad Hess	It's a...
01:08:21.03	Chad Hess	I believe it's a secure revenue this fiscal year.
01:08:23.39	Chad Hess	and it should be in the budgets.
01:08:27.64	Councilmember Hoffman	Okay, I think that's all I have right now.
01:08:29.09	Mayor Cox	Thank you.
01:08:29.60	Chad Hess	Thank you, Councilmember.
01:08:30.24	Councilmember Hoffman	Yeah.
01:08:30.38	Unknown	Thank you.
01:08:31.52	Mayor Cox	uh,
01:08:31.57	Chad Hess	Thank you.
01:08:31.66	Unknown	Yep.
01:08:31.79	Mayor Cox	Vice mayor, he's just going to clarify something that he already mentioned last week, but was raised again tonight.
01:08:37.63	Walford	Yeah, and I just, with respect to ERAF, it's a revenue source that those five counties are entitled to under the current state of law and have been for a number of years. But periodically, as I know from personal experience, it's been...
01:08:54.14	Walford	questioned at times. So it's understandable if in the past it hasn't been
01:08:59.62	Walford	budgeted and now that you see it's coming in on a more steady basis from your perspective, you're willing to continue to see it as a revenue source.
01:09:10.57	Chad Hess	I believe it is. You know, with my discussions with the county, unless the legislature decides they're going to pull it,
01:09:16.73	Chad Hess	You know, I haven't seen that discussion at this point in this season.
01:09:21.14	Chad Hess	I think we monitor it.
01:09:23.04	Chad Hess	Do we want to flag it as a revenue source that's
01:09:26.32	Chad Hess	potentially volatile? I think so. I think a good exercise of going through all of our revenues and kind of assigning
01:09:33.08	Chad Hess	How, how volatile is this? You know, sales tax revenue is very volatile. You know, we've seen that with the pandemic.
01:09:38.62	Chad Hess	So this is one of those revenue sources I think we count.
01:09:41.50	Chad Hess	but we monitor.
01:09:44.05	Walford	Thank you, Director Hess. Thank you.
01:09:45.77	Chad Hess	All right.
01:09:46.03	Mayor Cox	and council member blaustein please
01:09:48.19	Council Member Blaustein	Thank you, Mayor Cox. So, Director Hess, thank you. I know you and I spoke earlier today, and I just wanted to reiterate and kind of get some background. I want to make sure that it's noted that it's...
01:09:59.91	Council Member Blaustein	The staff report, which I thought was very well put together, thank you so much for doing so much to make clear that you are putting a real emphasis on balancing our budget effectively this year. But you talked specifically quite a bit about the $37 million in the unfunded pension liability, and you also included in there the safety fire plan. Could you maybe talk a little bit about your recommendations and strategy and also why you inserted what I will refer to as a don't panic surrounding the $37 million and what you suggest we might do going forward to pay down that debt and put us in the best possible situation.
01:10:32.60	Chad Hess	Yeah, so you're correct in the staff report. I have several paragraphs that that
01:10:37.83	Chad Hess	that are around this pension debt or pension obligation.
01:10:41.58	Chad Hess	that the city of Sausalito has.
01:10:44.41	Chad Hess	And,
01:10:45.53	Chad Hess	As you read that, there are two primary components.
01:10:48.95	Chad Hess	there's the UAL payment,
01:10:51.22	Chad Hess	which is the unfunded actuarial liability, and then there's the normal cost payments.
01:10:56.18	Chad Hess	The normal cost is a projection that Kelpers projects.
01:11:00.16	Chad Hess	That's the contribution.
01:11:01.64	Chad Hess	that we pay each
01:11:03.23	Chad Hess	payroll.
01:11:04.11	Chad Hess	into the system. And that's helper's best estimate of
01:11:07.53	Chad Hess	If you contribute a dollar today,
01:11:09.62	Chad Hess	we can meet this pledge or this obligation to your employees in the future.
01:11:14.33	Chad Hess	And if everything works out, you know, with Kelper's assumptions on mortality, on investment returns,
01:11:20.97	Chad Hess	on cost of living adjustments into the future.
01:11:24.00	Chad Hess	this normal cost that we contribute each year should cover
01:11:28.22	Chad Hess	the obligation that we promised.
01:11:30.82	Chad Hess	Well, if anything goes awry, if we achieve less than a 6.8% return on our investments,
01:11:36.78	Chad Hess	Well, there's a change in our assumptions. Now we've created an unfunded liability.
01:11:42.21	Chad Hess	if our assumptions on mortality are wrong.
01:11:44.51	Chad Hess	That's a change in assumptions or a change in the actual experience.
01:11:48.15	Chad Hess	And all of these things affect pensions that are really outside of our control.
01:11:52.66	Chad Hess	Nope.
01:11:53.31	Chad Hess	The point that I want to make is,
01:11:56.44	Chad Hess	Each year we, we,
01:11:58.23	Chad Hess	Add on a new layer of amortization.
01:12:01.26	Chad Hess	There's always these changes. And if you look at that report, and I can pull it up on the screen if that's helpful, and maybe you could decide if that's helpful.
01:12:08.76	Chad Hess	Each year we add a new base or a new layer and there's a new amortization and this payment just keeps getting kicked out and reamortized.
01:12:17.43	Chad Hess	So will we have a UAL payment? Yes, we're always going to have a UAL payment because there's always going to miss their projections.
01:12:25.48	Chad Hess	Is it something to panic about? I don't think it is.
01:12:27.98	Chad Hess	It's in our budget right now at three, three, three and a half million.
01:12:31.84	Chad Hess	It's going to go up a little bit next year.
01:12:34.37	Chad Hess	But then we're going to see relief because Kelper's had a really positive year.
01:12:38.62	Chad Hess	So again, that's going to lower our UAL payment in fiscal year 26, 27.
01:12:43.60	Chad Hess	I think we have an opportunity at that point to really ask ourselves, how do we move forward?
01:12:49.22	Chad Hess	We've got a higher payment in our budget for this pension payment.
01:12:53.68	Chad Hess	Do we keep paying that higher amount and get aggressive at paying down that debt?
01:12:58.23	Chad Hess	or do we take those dollars and invest them elsewhere?
01:13:00.76	Chad Hess	But there are a lot of strategies that the city can deploy
01:13:04.81	Chad Hess	to manage that UAL payment.
01:13:06.99	Chad Hess	Section 115 trusts are a great example.
01:13:09.93	Chad Hess	doing advanced discretionary payments and being very strategic on what layers we pay off, we can affect
01:13:16.09	Chad Hess	what is that UAL payment in subsequent years?
01:13:19.65	Chad Hess	But,
01:13:21.11	Chad Hess	I don't think we need to panic. I think we need to be aware of it. We need to be aware of, okay, what are the next two years of UAL payments and focus on those, make sure we can manage those.
01:13:30.33	Chad Hess	and be aware of the changes that are happening regarding the CalPERS system.
01:13:35.73	Chad Hess	I don't think we need to panic, but I think we need to just be aware. And I think we need to have a broader discussion about pensions.
01:13:42.21	Chad Hess	So that was my way to maybe plant a seed
01:13:45.65	Chad Hess	for it to turn into deeper discussions on pensions and how we want to approach them.
01:13:51.10	Chad Hess	But again, I don't think we need to panic over it.
01:13:54.11	Council Member Blaustein	And at one point you had suggested that even if we had the opportunity to pay down the entire UAL, and it's in fact in the staff report, that would not be a recommendation that you would give because of the amortization.
01:14:03.10	Chad Hess	No.
01:14:05.06	Chad Hess	Yeah, I think a reasonable goal that the city should strive for in the future. I don't think it's something we can get to today or tomorrow.
01:14:11.84	Chad Hess	is around 90% funded.
01:14:13.87	Chad Hess	I don't think we should ever strive for 100% funded.
01:14:17.63	Chad Hess	Because if we get 100% funded and they have
01:14:20.55	Chad Hess	positive year, positive year, positive year.
01:14:23.32	Chad Hess	we would become super funded.
01:14:25.36	Chad Hess	And at that point, there's no getting dollars out of the CalPERS system.
01:14:28.67	Chad Hess	So I think getting us close to a 90% funded activity
01:14:32.11	Chad Hess	And then if we have additional resources, we want to put at this,
01:14:35.42	Chad Hess	I believe a Section 115 trust is the perfect spot for him
01:14:39.15	Chad Hess	once we reach that funded status.
01:14:41.96	Chad Hess	Right now we're paying 6.8% on our pension debt.
01:14:45.22	Chad Hess	which is much, much stronger.
01:14:46.49	Chad Hess	which is a higher rate of return than we're receiving in our section 115.
01:14:50.37	Chad Hess	So,
01:14:51.09	Chad Hess	I, I,
01:14:52.17	Chad Hess	I believe we should pay down the CalPERS system.
01:14:55.07	Chad Hess	and not invest more in our Section 115 trust at this point. But that's my opinion.
01:14:59.33	Chad Hess	And it's open for discussion.
01:15:01.52	Council Member Blaustein	Thank you.
01:15:01.54	Mayor Cox	Thank you. I appreciate that.
01:15:04.76	Mayor Cox	All right. Yes, Councilmember Hawkins.
01:15:07.02	Councilmember Hoffman	Jeff, man.
01:15:08.73	Mayor Cox	Thank you.
01:15:08.74	Councilmember Hoffman	Sure.
01:15:10.41	Councilmember Hoffman	Okay, thanks, Chad. So this is interesting. I just have a couple follow up just on that conversation. So, yeah, I've talked about this a lot and about the pension vulnerability that we have and in our past conversations have been that one of your highest concerns and highest risk for us has been our the amount of our unfunded pension liability. Mm hmm.
01:15:11.68	Morgan Pierce	Thank you.
01:15:16.74	Unknown	Yeah.
01:15:33.69	Chad Hess	Mm-hmm.
01:15:34.43	Councilmember Hoffman	um
01:15:35.66	Councilmember Hoffman	And so what I'm hearing you say, or has that opinion changed?
01:15:39.22	Chad Hess	It's still a risk. It is still a risk.
01:15:40.72	Councilmember Hoffman	is still a wreck. Let me make sure.
01:15:43.10	Chad Hess	I don't think it's panic button.
01:15:44.45	Councilmember Hoffman	And again.
01:15:45.14	Councilmember Hoffman	But I'm just saying, I haven't panicked in the past, but I'm just trying to...
01:15:49.84	Councilmember Hoffman	like risk prioritization, right? And so this is a very interesting conversation. So what I heard was on risk,
01:16:00.64	Councilmember Hoffman	risk prioritization and strategy-wise, what I heard was a goal of 90% funded
01:16:10.51	Councilmember Hoffman	And not put any more in the 115 trust.
01:16:10.96	Jacqueline Armikis	it.
01:16:11.01	Unknown	Thank you.
01:16:15.03	Councilmember Hoffman	And I think from strategy-wise, I think that's a good, you know, something...
01:16:21.20	Councilmember Hoffman	a good prioritization or something that we should really talk about. I think the returns, like you said, the returns have been very positive maybe.
01:16:30.65	Councilmember Hoffman	It looks like, you know, we always lag two years, right?
01:16:34.23	Councilmember Hoffman	And right in the CalPERS calculation.
01:16:37.09	Chad Hess	Yep.
01:16:37.83	Councilmember Hoffman	Thank you.
01:16:37.86	Chad Hess	Yeah.
01:16:37.98	Councilmember Hoffman	So that gives us some time to really hone in on the strategy.
01:16:41.62	Councilmember Hoffman	We can read it.
01:16:41.98	Chad Hess	respond. So yes, fiscal year 27 is going to be the year where we see that benefit of the positive year that just ended.
01:16:50.62	Chad Hess	So.
01:16:51.40	Chad Hess	We have time. We have some time to discuss it. And I would love that opportunity to do a workshop or a working group and we can discuss pensions. We can bring in experts to help us better understand pensions.
01:17:03.12	Chad Hess	our options.
01:17:04.14	Chad Hess	It is something we need to address, but I don't think it's our number one risk.
01:17:07.49	Chad Hess	I think our insurance is.
01:17:09.10	Chad Hess	at this point in time.
01:17:10.55	Chad Hess	Thank you.
01:17:10.58	Councilmember Hoffman	Yeah, good. Yeah. Okay. Okay. Yeah. Thank you for that.
01:17:10.60	Chad Hess	Yeah, good point.
01:17:16.56	Mayor Cox	Okay, I see no further hands raised. I'm going to...
01:17:20.06	Councilmember Sobieski	Oh, I'm sorry, Merrick, can I be recognized?
01:17:23.74	Mayor Cox	Yeah, you may. Can you speak a little louder, please?
01:17:27.22	Councilmember Sobieski	Yes, I will try to. Director Hess, are you still there?
01:17:32.15	Councilmember Sobieski	Yes, I am. Just a quick high level summary, just for the headlines. Well, one question, I wanna...
01:17:38.44	Mayor Cox	that this is not comment period. This is questions.
01:17:41.02	Councilmember Sobieski	Yeah.
01:17:41.24	Mayor Cox	Thank you.
01:17:41.80	Mayor Cox	Council member.
01:17:42.26	Councilmember Sobieski	Thank you.
01:17:42.64	Councilmember Sobieski	That is my question. Uh, I have a question. The, uh,
01:17:46.63	Councilmember Sobieski	feeding off of what we were just talking about.
01:17:48.99	Councilmember Sobieski	uh,
01:17:49.87	Councilmember Sobieski	whenever you have this UALB
01:17:52.89	Councilmember Sobieski	What is the email stamp?
01:17:54.59	Chad Hess	Yeah.
01:17:55.08	Chad Hess	I would.
01:17:55.25	Councilmember Sobieski	actuarial liability.
01:17:56.63	Councilmember Sobieski	Thank you.
01:17:56.80	Councilmember Sobieski	I find an actual liability. It's actually amortized over some number of years, right? Like something like- It is.
01:18:01.07	Chad Hess	It is.
01:18:01.80	Chad Hess	Yeah.
01:18:02.74	Chad Hess	Yes, it's amortized over
01:18:05.21	Chad Hess	Actually, let me share my screen because I think it's relevant.
01:18:09.86	Chad Hess	And I'll show everyone the amortization basis.
01:18:13.19	Chad Hess	But...
01:18:14.02	Chad Hess	Ian is correct.
01:18:14.88	Chad Hess	If there is a change
01:18:18.27	Chad Hess	assumption
01:18:19.30	Chad Hess	So here you can see on this chart here,
01:18:22.45	Chad Hess	Right here. Here's our net investment gain, 630.
01:18:25.74	Chad Hess	2021.
01:18:27.18	Chad Hess	This is the year that CalPERS had a very positive return.
01:18:31.41	Chad Hess	And you can see here on this amortization period, there's 18 years left.
01:18:36.19	Chad Hess	Now, if we go down, this is the last one on this report, 630, 2023.
01:18:41.35	Chad Hess	Here you can see that we had the investment gain or loss.
01:18:44.78	Chad Hess	And we added a positive layer there. They didn't meet their expectations.
01:18:48.76	Chad Hess	And there's 20 years left.
01:18:50.53	Chad Hess	But yes, you're right. Each year we add a new 20 year amortization and this thing
01:18:55.90	Chad Hess	Just...
01:18:56.61	Chad Hess	kind of keeps kicking out another year.
01:18:59.12	Chad Hess	Helpers did change their
01:19:01.60	Chad Hess	their methodology for amortization. They must be previously had much longer amortization periods.
01:19:07.20	Chad Hess	So that's why you see some of these longer bases.
01:19:09.89	Chad Hess	Up on the top half, you see 24, 25.
01:19:12.79	Chad Hess	Now their standard amortization is 20 years.
01:19:16.86	Councilmember Sobieski	Got it. So I know it's a very gross approximation, but it's much like
01:19:22.32	Councilmember Sobieski	if you have a
01:19:23.59	Councilmember Sobieski	a 30-year mortgage and you have a certain amount of principal on the mortgage, you could get a vague approximation of your
01:19:30.90	Councilmember Sobieski	annual obligation by dividing the principal by the number of years and taking a swag on the interest payment. So that's a rough amount.
01:19:36.90	Unknown	Thank you.
01:19:39.05	Councilmember Sobieski	it's not like the 37 million number which you just quoted is callable today right that's a
01:19:44.65	Councilmember Sobieski	the basis on which the
01:19:46.84	Chad Hess	Thank you.
01:19:46.88	Councilmember Sobieski	Yeah.
01:19:46.93	Chad Hess	Yeah.
01:19:48.80	Chad Hess	Yep. That's the present value.
01:19:50.78	Chad Hess	And we pay 6.8% interest on that each year.
01:19:53.86	Councilmember Sobieski	Yeah.
01:19:54.42	Councilmember Sobieski	And, uh,
01:19:57.48	Councilmember Sobieski	I, yeah, we'll end discussion. We'll talk more about that. The other, so just at the highest level, I wanted to make sure I understood
01:20:03.65	Councilmember Sobieski	Your mid-year adjustment headline statement is that we have about $518,000
01:20:09.46	Councilmember Sobieski	in
01:20:10.39	Councilmember Sobieski	New.
01:20:11.24	Councilmember Sobieski	expenses that we hadn't budgeted.
01:20:13.74	Councilmember Sobieski	But we have $1.5 million in new revenue
01:20:17.93	Councilmember Sobieski	We haven't.
01:20:18.81	Councilmember Sobieski	expected.
01:20:19.97	Councilmember Sobieski	Thank you.
01:20:20.04	Chad Hess	That is correct.
01:20:20.61	Councilmember Sobieski	so the
01:20:22.69	Councilmember Sobieski	initial projected deficit
01:20:25.23	Councilmember Sobieski	that we
01:20:26.50	Councilmember Sobieski	approved last year of a million dollars is now $33,000. And your commitment here tonight, you're saying is,
01:20:32.91	Councilmember Sobieski	that you're going to balance this budget.
01:20:35.53	Chad Hess	I'm going to balance this. It has to be balanced.
01:20:38.04	Chad Hess	It has to be balanced. I'm going to hold my departments to it. So,
01:20:41.47	Councilmember Sobieski	Thank you, Director.
01:20:42.04	Chad Hess	We'll get it balanced. Yes, sir.
01:20:42.06	Councilmember Sobieski	Well,
01:20:45.40	Mayor Cox	Boom.
01:20:48.12	Mayor Cox	Okay, thank you. I'm gonna open it up to public comment. The first speaker card I have is Ava Curzon.
01:20:56.50	Mayor Cox	And I don't see her.
01:20:59.51	Mayor Cox	The second speaker card I have is Jeff Jacob.
01:21:17.92	Jeffrey Jacob	Good evening again.
01:21:18.98	Jeffrey Jacob	Let's talk about money for a minute.
01:21:25.18	Jeffrey Jacob	The most important thing,
01:21:26.73	Jeffrey Jacob	In this council meeting...
01:21:29.77	Jeffrey Jacob	after having attended so many of them,
01:21:32.41	Jeffrey Jacob	is that these seats here are filled up.
01:21:36.73	Jeffrey Jacob	Right now, we are nowhere close to that.
01:21:40.92	Jeffrey Jacob	I'm not gonna say it's because there's two policemen there with guns.
01:21:44.35	Jeffrey Jacob	in the corner
01:21:46.32	Jeffrey Jacob	I understand.
01:21:47.84	Jeffrey Jacob	So this is a comment about the budget. Yes, this is going to be about money.
01:21:47.90	Mayor Cox	So this is a comment about the budget.
01:21:52.02	Jeffrey Jacob	We're gonna talk about money.
01:21:55.18	Jeffrey Jacob	The anchors.
01:21:56.33	Jeffrey Jacob	bridge is still there
01:22:00.07	Jeffrey Jacob	There are a dozen people
01:22:02.96	Jeffrey Jacob	who I don't understand exactly why you aren't discussing sustainability. I saw that on the agenda, but I guess I came in late.
01:22:13.23	Jeffrey Jacob	But the sustainable people are the poorer.
01:22:16.24	Jeffrey Jacob	The sustainable people are not the rich.
01:22:20.90	Jeffrey Jacob	every time that you
01:22:22.65	Jeffrey Jacob	decide that you're going to make money off of parking, you're encouraging people to travel by automobile, one to a car.
01:22:31.02	Jeffrey Jacob	Half of the money in Sausalito goes towards the police and fire.
01:22:38.58	Jeffrey Jacob	Retrained from calling out.
01:22:38.66	Morgan Pierce	Refrain from calling out.
01:22:39.83	Jeffrey Jacob	Thank you.
01:22:40.30	Jeffrey Jacob	I...
01:22:41.38	Jeffrey Jacob	Madam Mayor.
01:22:43.41	Jeffrey Jacob	that right now we are going to have to deal with something on a federal level. I would like to be able to understand this budget discussion, and right now I don't really.
01:22:56.64	Jeffrey Jacob	But in the same way,
01:23:00.27	Jeffrey Jacob	that a doctor might not have a thriving practice if people are well.
01:23:06.07	Jeffrey Jacob	There might not be as many police if there are people breaking laws.
01:23:12.36	Jeffrey Jacob	that a lawyer might go out of business if there's not criminals, and family dissolution, and people fighting amongst themselves.
01:23:22.39	Jeffrey Jacob	that war makes a lot of money.
01:23:25.07	Jeffrey Jacob	Peace.
01:23:26.22	Jeffrey Jacob	Not so much.
01:23:28.73	Jeffrey Jacob	So I want this to be understandable to the people
01:23:33.64	Jeffrey Jacob	I don't want this to be hidden behind words, amortization, unfunded liability, that right now the police chief, former police chief John Rohrabacher,
01:23:45.47	Jeffrey Jacob	is getting too
01:23:47.04	Jeffrey Jacob	Pensions.
01:23:50.05	Jeffrey Jacob	that he is no longer here, that the idea that Sausalito cannot hire people and has to hire consultants is because they would have to give pensions. That is not true.
01:24:02.90	Jeffrey Jacob	You can hire people that the amount of money that's being spent in Marin
01:24:09.00	Jeffrey Jacob	15 years has doubled.
01:24:11.87	Jeffrey Jacob	in every city and in the county.
01:24:15.53	Jeffrey Jacob	You are taking responsibility for things that people can be responsible for, Madam Mayor.
01:24:18.11	Mayor Cox	can be responsible for them.
01:24:20.49	Mayor Cox	I'll call on Cynthia Egging.
01:24:21.42	Jeffrey Jacob	Thank you.
01:24:24.71	Mayor Cox	you
01:24:24.76	Mayor Cox	Thank you.
01:24:24.96	Jeffrey Jacob	Thank you.
01:24:25.96	Jeffrey Jacob	To have people interested in this.
01:24:28.42	Jeffrey Jacob	Yeah.
01:24:29.97	Jeffrey Jacob	time to heaven forward.
01:24:34.07	Cynthia Egging	Hello, my darling town government. Yes, I'm really looking forward to balancing the budget. This town can make a lot of money.
01:24:39.91	Cynthia Egging	I noticed down there by the ferry park, it looks like they're opening things up. We can have open air art markets. We can make a lot of money. This town can make a lot of money.
01:24:49.33	Cynthia Egging	Yes, and we're a tourist destination. We're a worldwide destination. Let's look hot. Let's keep bringing it up. Thank you so much. I love you.
01:24:58.64	Mayor Cox	All right, thank you. Anybody online, city clerk?
01:25:01.60	Mayor Cox	Bye-bye.
01:25:01.90	Mayor	bad not do also.
01:25:03.01	Mayor Cox	All right, Babette McDougall. I did not get a speaker card for you. She filled out
01:25:07.98	Mayor	She filled that one speaker slip and put A through Z in, so...
01:25:10.79	Mayor Cox	Nope.
01:25:11.01	Babette McDougall	Thank you.
01:25:11.38	Mayor	All right.
01:25:13.02	Babette McDougall	Thank you.
01:25:14.20	Babette McDougall	Thank you.
01:25:15.82	Babette McDougall	So first of all, I'd like to say thank you, Chad Hess, for working so hard to make the budget more understandable to more of us. I really applaud the efforts. I still would like to ask for some clarification going forward. I don't know how to read how much we're spending on legal fees. I don't see how to pick that out as a line item yet. And I don't understand specifically how the legal fees, especially to two particular law firms in the last two years, I don't understand how that gets accounted for.
01:25:47.43	Babette McDougall	project by project, incident by incident, or is it just lumped under legal expenses? I don't know, but I sure would like to see how we're handling that because it's adding up, you know, just like the consultant fees are adding up. So that's question one.
01:26:00.15	Babette McDougall	But overall, I have found a much better, easier time of it this round than I have in previous rounds, so I appreciate that. The other thing that I can't quite figure out how to track over time are the telecommunications, IT, and other electronic software, hardware upgrades that are necessary to our community.
01:26:20.94	Babette McDougall	I know we pay some person by the hour, which is kind of like double dipping because every time they recommend a purchase, they get a commission.
01:26:28.77	Babette McDougall	So I mean,
01:26:30.32	Babette McDougall	The industry standard is for the professionals in the field to actually get paid on the bank and via those very nice commissions. The hourly thing is like double dipping.
01:26:39.93	Babette McDougall	So I still don't see that clearly defined on our budget. So I'd like to see more of that going forward if it's possible.
01:26:46.81	Babette McDougall	And then finally, I just want to remind this council that it was only last year after raising several taxes on the residents that there was a promise that there would be no new taxes going forward.
01:26:59.15	Babette McDougall	I believe it was last year's mayor who made that proclamation. Correct me if I'm wrong.
01:27:04.18	Babette McDougall	But now I hear all this talk about all the revenues that we're going to generate by increasing taxes on residents.
01:27:04.23	Jacqueline Armikis	but now,
01:27:10.72	Babette McDougall	Well, doesn't that just fly in the face of your campaign promises?
01:27:14.86	Babette McDougall	I don't know. I'm having a hard time following some of the logic and also some of the ability to just know how to better read a balance sheet.
01:27:15.03	Jacqueline Armikis	I don't know.
01:27:22.57	Babette McDougall	So I'm asking for, you know, just remember, not all of us are wizards with numbers. And thank you for trying to keep it simple for us. Thank you. Thank you.
01:27:31.01	Mayor Cox	Thank you.
01:27:31.80	Babette McDougall	Thank you.
01:27:32.27	Mayor Cox	Ah.
01:27:32.95	Mayor Cox	Anybody online? City clerk? Yes, anybody.
01:27:34.52	Mayor	Yes. First person we have online is Sandra Bushmaker.
01:27:34.97	Sandra Bushmaker	uh,
01:27:40.00	Sandra Bushmaker	Good evening again. I thank you for making this a little bit more understandable and I'm happy to see we're moving toward a more balanced budget. I've got a couple of things that may be better answered during our budget discussions, but I'm going to put them out there anyway for thought. My first question was the easiest one. Are parking revenues down due to the Ferry Landing Improvement Project and closure?
01:28:05.72	Sandra Bushmaker	of Tracy Way.
01:28:07.36	Sandra Bushmaker	That's one.
01:28:08.82	Sandra Bushmaker	And number two, there was considerable discussion last year during the budget cycle about
01:28:14.78	Sandra Bushmaker	Eliminating
01:28:16.59	Sandra Bushmaker	Duplication in the Internet and online promotion of the city.
01:28:21.13	Sandra Bushmaker	And I just would like to know how that project is coming because we have duplication. We're paying fees for services not necessarily received.
01:28:29.82	Sandra Bushmaker	And I think we need to clean up those expenses.
01:28:34.02	Sandra Bushmaker	And then the last one, which is the one I have the most trouble is that
01:28:38.74	Sandra Bushmaker	2.750 inter-fund transfer, 2.750 million inter-fund transfer.
01:28:48.28	Sandra Bushmaker	Now I recognize that, of course, my dog starts barking as soon as I start talking.
01:28:54.10	Sandra Bushmaker	Hang on a second.
01:29:00.82	Sandra Bushmaker	I just wanted to clarify something. We have these funds from which we have deposited
01:29:11.67	Sandra Bushmaker	enterprise receipts.
01:29:15.06	Sandra Bushmaker	Those funds also have money from prior years where previous funds have been, receipts have been
01:29:23.35	Sandra Bushmaker	deposited.
01:29:25.25	Sandra Bushmaker	So when we take a 2.75 million inter-fund transfer and call it a revenue,
01:29:32.51	Sandra Bushmaker	I get confused because I'm thinking income.
01:29:36.74	Sandra Bushmaker	And it's not necessarily income for the present year.
01:29:40.49	Sandra Bushmaker	So maybe this is something that can be just clarified
01:29:44.76	Sandra Bushmaker	through further discussion. In other words, when we take something from the MLK fund, I would like to know how much of that is current income for this current fiscal year and how much was sitting in the fund
01:29:58.07	Sandra Bushmaker	at the transfer. In other words,
01:30:02.49	Sandra Bushmaker	It is confusing to me to hear
01:30:05.63	Sandra Bushmaker	the 2.750 be labeled revenues when some of it is not current income.
01:30:11.54	Sandra Bushmaker	I guess it's the best way I can phrase that. It's not new money. Some of it is not new money for the current fiscal year.
01:30:19.81	Sandra Bushmaker	There, that's my question. I think that would be very helpful for us to know
01:30:24.08	Sandra Bushmaker	And also, as we're facing our
01:30:26.95	Sandra Bushmaker	facilities are
01:30:29.68	Sandra Bushmaker	assessment, we need to know what money is in those funds for that purpose and how much it's going to cost us. So I'm leery about transfers out of those funds at this present time. Thank you.
01:30:42.45	Mayor Cox	Thank you. Anything further, city clerk?
01:30:46.08	Mayor	Sorry, yes, we have Jacqueline Armikis.
01:30:52.88	Jacqueline Armikis	Hi, good evening, Council.
01:30:55.11	Jacqueline Armikis	Can you hear me?
01:30:57.39	Jacqueline Armikis	Yes.
01:30:58.32	Jacqueline Armikis	Okay, great. My concern is,
01:31:02.48	Jacqueline Armikis	the funding history of the pension, the accrued pension liability,
01:31:07.87	Jacqueline Armikis	on page 19
01:31:09.99	Jacqueline Armikis	Um,
01:31:10.85	Jacqueline Armikis	What I have noted is since fiscal year
01:31:14.52	Jacqueline Armikis	Uh,
01:31:15.28	Jacqueline Armikis	June 30, 2014,
01:31:18.23	Jacqueline Armikis	up until June 30th.
01:31:20.80	Jacqueline Armikis	2023.
01:31:22.47	Jacqueline Armikis	the funded ratio has gone from 83.1%
01:31:27.11	Jacqueline Armikis	the 64.8%
01:31:30.06	Jacqueline Armikis	And Chad had mentioned earlier,
01:31:32.91	Jacqueline Armikis	that he would like a goal of 90%
01:31:37.11	Jacqueline Armikis	funding ratio and
01:31:40.22	Jacqueline Armikis	My concern is
01:31:42.26	Jacqueline Armikis	How is that going to be achieved? And I believe we need to hit a panic button as far as this unfunded pension liability is concerned. Thank you.
01:31:56.65	Mayor Cox	Thank you. Anyone else, city clerk?
01:31:57.94	Mayor Cox	you
01:31:57.97	Mayor	No further public comment.
01:31:59.25	Mayor Cox	All right, thank you. I will close public comment and bring it up here for discussion. The action tonight is to receive the
01:32:08.97	Mayor Cox	and receive the report and provide direction for fiscal year 2024 2025 mid-year budget i will say that this is not the only time we're going to hear this this is the first time we're hearing this
01:32:21.85	Mayor Cox	Um,
01:32:22.74	Mayor Cox	So.
01:32:23.86	Mayor Cox	Go ahead, start, Council Member Black.
01:32:25.32	Council Member Blaustein	I'll see you next time.
01:32:25.41	Mayor Cox	start.
01:32:25.54	Council Member Blaustein	it i'll stick to my three minutes or under so please start the clock for all of us as well yeah walford will you do that please great so again i want to give a big thank you to director hess and the finance department for the excellent work and emphasis on truly balancing the budget this year i think that the staff report is evidence to the fact that you are hard at work to make that successful and i think for those of us sitting on the da, what we should really take away here is that it looks like we have an excess fund balance of $8.5 million, and we need to think over the next several meetings and before we balance and approve our budget in July, what is it that we want to do with these additional funds? So I think our strategic planning session that was very well facilitated by our mayor and our visiting facilitator last We'll be right back. with this these additional funds so I think our strategic planning session that was very well facilitated by our mayor and our visiting facilitator last week gave us some insight into that and we've had a lot of conversations about infrastructure about insurance and I appreciate that now knowing that we do have these funds I feel that the hard work falls to each of us to think about where do we fill in the gaps, how do we address some of our biggest concerns going forward, and what does that look like? So I'll just say I look forward to having that conversation with each of you. I appreciate, again, the attention to detail and commitment to balancing the budget and the hard work of staff to bring this forward. And I know we'll have a number of constructive conversations about how to spend the excess balance from the dais.
01:33:51.30	Council Member Blaustein	Thank you.
01:33:52.15	Council Member Blaustein	Councilmember Sobey,
01:33:53.02	Mayor Cox	Bieske.
01:33:55.96	Councilmember Sobieski	Thanks, Aish.
01:33:56.69	Councilmember Sobieski	going to use some of my time to actually ask
01:33:59.32	Councilmember Sobieski	Chad, a question.
01:34:01.51	Councilmember Sobieski	Director Hess.
01:34:04.18	Mayor Cox	Okay?
01:34:04.48	Morgan Pierce	Thank you.
01:34:04.50	Mayor Cox	Thank you.
01:34:05.17	Councilmember Sobieski	Are you still on, Director?
01:34:06.98	Morgan Pierce	Yes, sir.
01:34:07.30	Morgan Pierce	Thank you.
01:34:07.32	Chad Hess	Thank you.
01:34:08.13	Councilmember Sobieski	So the transfers that are part of the budget that were part of the budget last year and the year before
01:34:12.87	Councilmember Sobieski	and historically, are they operational profits from the enterprises or are they-
01:34:17.68	Chad Hess	Yeah.
01:34:18.02	Councilmember Sobieski	from previous years.
01:34:19.48	Chad Hess	It's current year revenues. So the parking fund has
01:34:22.52	Chad Hess	We transfer a
01:34:24.85	Chad Hess	big portion of the current year program
01:34:27.65	Chad Hess	profits, if you will, over to the general fund. There are additional revenues or profits that are kept within that fund.
01:34:35.24	Chad Hess	So we could transfer more if we wanted, but it is, the parking fund is still contributing or adding up in fund balance. So it's,
01:34:42.11	Chad Hess	It's current year earnings.
01:34:43.38	Chad Hess	current your profits that were transferring.
01:34:45.76	Chad Hess	Same with Gene Hiller.
01:34:47.82	Chad Hess	With the exception of this year, because we're spending a lot on the –
01:34:51.80	Chad Hess	repair and maintenance, but every other year it's been operating profits for that year.
01:34:55.56	Councilmember Sobieski	And in fact, before some changes you made,
01:34:57.65	Councilmember Sobieski	We were in the funding position, I believe, where most of the parking expenses were in the general fund, but all the revenue was in the parking fund. Is that right?
01:35:04.86	Chad Hess	Yeah, yeah. We moved the wages over to the parking fund.
01:35:08.22	Chad Hess	Thank you.
01:35:08.24	Councilmember Sobieski	And there were a lot of
01:35:08.44	Chad Hess	And there were a lot of other expenses, you know, like the credit card fees, they were being charged to the general fund. So we're trying to get better at.
01:35:08.94	Unknown	Bye.
01:35:15.59	Chad Hess	at tracking those expenses and we are getting better.
01:35:18.51	Chad Hess	But yeah, it's all current year income that we're transferring.
01:35:21.80	Chad Hess	or break.
01:35:22.14	Mayor Cox	Councilmember Sobieski, can I ask you to speak up, please? I have a hard time hearing you.
01:35:22.16	Chad Hess	I'll say,
01:35:26.07	Councilmember Sobieski	Yeah, okay. So the question that I think Chad answered was,
01:35:31.37	Mayor Cox	No, I heard the question and answer.
01:35:33.28	Councilmember Sobieski	So,
01:35:34.27	Councilmember Sobieski	So, Director Hess, this is just good news. So there's a lot of bad news out there in the world, and my comment is simply, it's nice to get some good news. So we've...
01:35:44.08	Councilmember Sobieski	two consecutive years of big surpluses, and here we look like we're on the path to a balanced budget, even though we had a big increase in our insurance expense.
01:35:52.21	Councilmember Sobieski	not just of course from our capital risk but also the personnel risk caused by that horrible incident with the parks and rec consultant and uh
01:36:01.29	Councilmember Sobieski	And of course, the encampment that created a bunch of other expenses. So staff has done an amazing job at covering our insurance risk, attending to problems.
01:36:10.27	Councilmember Sobieski	managing expenses. I know Director Hessio and your team had a big part of that.
01:36:14.45	Councilmember Sobieski	you've managed to
01:36:16.07	Councilmember Sobieski	uh,
01:36:17.39	Councilmember Sobieski	Get leaner.
01:36:18.64	Councilmember Sobieski	while at the same time getting better and generating a lot more revenue. So it's another sunny day and a good news
01:36:25.03	Councilmember Sobieski	for uh everyone who believes in the quality of our little town um it's good news so
01:36:30.87	Councilmember Sobieski	Congratulations to you and to the city manager. This is positive. We have a lot of blocking and tackling to do, and we're in the
01:36:37.99	Councilmember Sobieski	Happy position to
01:36:39.60	Councilmember Sobieski	need to figure out what to do with some of our challenges. I will point out though,
01:36:43.80	Councilmember Sobieski	Our deferred infrastructure bill, not just in parking and MLK, but across the whole city is really big and it's not going to be paid for from our operating budget.
01:36:51.38	Councilmember Sobieski	So we're going to have to.
01:36:53.28	Councilmember Sobieski	Figure that out.
01:36:55.41	Councilmember Sobieski	Thanks.
01:36:55.68	Mayor Cox	Thank you.
01:36:55.95	Mayor Cox	Thank you. Who would like to go next?
01:36:58.80	Walford	I'll just say tonight I'm not prepared until I hear much more from the public as to what the public thinks the priorities are to make any real comment about the direction. Although we did have a strategy session just a little while ago that I think was productive and will help us. And we had a lot of input from the public at that session. I do think that we're dealing with kind of three pots of money, so to speak. We've got a fund balance from last year. And that's a certain amount that has been now audited.
01:37:34.42	Walford	We have audited financials from last year to confirm that. We have now some good news that Chad is going to work hard along with everything else so that this year's current budget will be balanced. And then we have some funds that are unallocated that are in the bank, so to speak, but it's not a lot of money. So we're going to have a hard time, I think, prioritizing. We're going to struggle up here, and I think the community is struggling with
01:38:03.85	Walford	What are the priorities that we should spend first? And I will simply say, generally speaking, it's not just because the fires in L.A. have recently caused me to think this, but I've thought for a long, long time that we should prioritize in many of these individual cases the public safety impact of them. So, for example, do you pave the roads that are going to be most used in the event of an emergency before you pave roads that are lesser used? Maybe that's a way of looking at it rather than saying an index should be raised throughout the city to a level. I'm just giving you some of my preliminary thoughts as to how I would start looking at these things. But it's going to be tough. And we've got a few months, but not many, to really come to grips with our budget for next year.
01:38:56.99	Walford	And it's going to be a challenge for all of us to come together.
01:39:00.40	Walford	as well as we can. Thank you.
01:39:02.48	Mayor Cox	Thank you. Councilmember Hoffman, any comments?
01:39:05.87	Mayor Cox	Yeah, thank you. Thanks very much.
01:39:07.37	Mayor Cox	Thank you.
01:39:07.39	Morgan Pierce	you
01:39:07.96	Councilmember Hoffman	Yeah, I'd like to thank, you know, the finance department and Chad. Lots and lots of hard work, I know. And coming through a lot of columns of very small numbers. And really, really looking for money in lots of drawers. And let me just say, with some really antiquated systems. So thank you to him for all of his hard work on that and the challenges that he's facing and the challenges that we face ahead with our lots of challenges.
01:39:42.54	Councilmember Hoffman	aging infrastructure and aging facilities that we're desperately trying to get a handle on. And thanks to our staff and our public works staff for all of their hard work and looking at our infrastructure because it's just a huge job.
01:39:58.32	Councilmember Hoffman	And, you know, trying to get a handle on, you know, just a tremendous amount of work that we need to do just to see where we are, just to get where we are from ground zero and moving up. Yeah.
01:40:12.76	Councilmember Hoffman	I appreciate all the enormity of that job and where we're at and just building the context and presenting that to us and figuring out where we need to go from here. So I feel like we're close and we're getting there and the hard work that we're doing.
01:40:29.28	Councilmember Hoffman	and the shifting sands sometimes that we have to deal with.
01:40:34.11	Councilmember Hoffman	And I appreciate that.
01:40:36.10	Councilmember Hoffman	and where we're at now. So I feel like we're doing some good work.
01:40:39.74	Councilmember Hoffman	And we're getting there.
01:40:41.69	Councilmember Hoffman	And I'm cautiously optimistic. And so let's see. I think in the next few months, we're going to get a really great picture when we get the facilities assessment back. Hopefully, some of the assumptions, especially, you know, the ERAF, God willing, you know, that doesn't go away. That's a big chunk of, I think, the assumptions and the movement that we're moving toward a balanced budget. So hopefully that holds. Hopefully the facilities assessment isn't too, you know, not too much bad news. I completely agree with the vice mayor's comments and how we're going to prioritize, you know, the cost of some of these infrastructure things and the risk that we face. You know, the wake- call. I mean, there's always a wake up call, right? But the fires, you know, the storms that we have and the hillsides are always a risk here in Sausalito. So prioritizing public safety and infrastructure is, you know, is always, to me, one of our biggest priorities and it's costly. And so to me, that's, you know, $8 million doesn't really buy you much. And when you're looking at also the cost of facilities assessment, that's why my questions are always, we have a fund, what does that fund fund? You know, you have to look at that first and what's that gonna cost?
01:42:08.44	Councilmember Hoffman	That's my perspective.
01:42:11.06	Councilmember Hoffman	Thank you.
01:42:11.07	Mayor Cox	Thank you.
01:42:11.55	Councilmember Hoffman	Thank you.
01:42:11.61	Mayor Cox	Mm-hmm.
01:42:12.69	Mayor Cox	I'll echo the thanks from my fellow council members to our staff. Chad, boy, you really do a lot of good work to make the information you're providing more accessible and understandable to me and to you.
01:42:28.98	Mayor Cox	To the public and to the city manager and to the department heads. Thank you for really working hard to bring us the data we need to make intelligent decisions about how we best manage the city's future.
01:42:40.77	Mayor Cox	As we mentioned earlier, we are going to be receiving a facilities evaluation in March 2025. We're going to be receiving a storm drain assessment within the next several months. We already have other recommendations, such as from our landslide task force, our geologic hazard report, our ADA transition plan, and our pensions. So we are queuing up this information to be presented to the Council.
01:43:12.97	Mayor Cox	between now and the conclusion of preparing our budget for 25-26. And the city manager will be providing us some recommendations about how best to leverage the existing funds we have, the revenue stream that we know we will have from Measure O,
01:43:31.43	Mayor Cox	now Measure L.
01:43:33.69	Mayor Cox	And so how best to address in the long term these goals and to really utilize our various enterprise fund, the parking fund, the city hall fund.
01:43:45.07	Mayor Cox	the Tidelands Fund,
01:43:46.60	Mayor Cox	and various other funds so that we're not in a position of transferring
01:43:50.74	Mayor Cox	unused revenue.
01:43:52.37	Mayor Cox	at the end of each year, but we're actually utilizing those revenues in the best manner possible. So I'm really looking forward to embarking upon this big project that has really been in the works for a couple of years and bringing it to fruition this year. And so at this point, I agree with my fellow council members. The direction to staff is to continue to gather the data that allows us to best decide how to use the surplus from last year and the fund balance that we now enjoy.
01:44:27.68	Mayor Cox	All right, and with that, we'll conclude this item and move on to the next slide.
01:44:35.51	Mayor Cox	our Community and Economic Development Manager, Brandon Phipps, for introduction of amendments to the Saucedon Municipal Code Title X, Accessory Dwelling Unit Regulations, and Junior Accessory Dwelling Unit Regulations.
01:44:53.65	Unknown	Thank you.
01:44:55.91	Mayor Cox	This is the public hearing, yes.
01:45:00.18	Unknown	Mm-hmm.
01:45:00.90	Mayor Cox	I haven't yet opened the public hearing. We're gonna hear from Director Phipps.
01:45:06.17	Mayor Cox	And I'd appreciate if people don't call out from the audience, please. If you have a question, you can talk to the city manager or fill out a speaker card.
01:45:15.04	Brandon Phipps	Good afternoon, Mayor. Excuse me. Evening, Mayor, Vice Mayor, Council members, members of the public and staff. Happy to be here this evening, as always, this evening to introduce Council Item 4A that has been moved, as stated by the Mayor. Introduction of amendments to the Sausalito Municipal Code, Title 10, related to accessory dwelling unit regulations and junior accessory dwelling unit regulations. Another year has gone by, which means another year of new housing policy in the state of California. Changes to ADU policy this year have been primarily enunciated in two pieces of legislation, those being AB 2533 and SB 1211. These new laws went into effect on January 1, 2025, and makes changes to ADU and JADU policy, primarily as related to unpermitted ADUs and JADUs, as well as replacement parking standards. These updates also add new definitions into our code for clarity and ease of implementation, as well as restructures relevant code sections so as to be consistent with the similarly restructured state law. Principal Planner Kristen Teichy is present this evening to discuss details associated with this ordinance update. And with that, Ms. Teichy, thank you for joining us this evening, and I will give you the floor.
01:46:50.51	Unknown	Good evening, Council Members. Nice to see you.
01:46:54.27	Unknown	I think this is my first visit since the new year.
01:46:58.23	Unknown	So can we have the next slide, please?
01:47:01.32	Mayor Cox	Thank you.
01:47:01.34	Unknown	Thank you.
01:47:01.41	Mayor Cox	Thank you.
01:47:01.56	Mayor Cox	Thank you and welcome.
01:47:02.50	Unknown	Um.
01:47:04.14	Unknown	So tonight, the staff was requesting that the council conduct a public hearing on the proposed
01:47:09.31	Unknown	proposed ordinance amending chapter title 10
01:47:12.97	Unknown	Chapters 10, 4, 4, 8, 0, 8, 0 and 10, 4, 4, 0, 8, 5.
01:47:18.40	Unknown	addressing accessory dwelling units and junior accessory dwelling units.
01:47:23.26	Unknown	that after the conclusion of the hearing that you move to approve the draft ordinance as proposed or with modifications?
01:47:29.99	Unknown	and continue for a second reading on February 4, 2025. Next slide.
01:47:41.03	Unknown	So,
01:47:43.19	Unknown	The city's ADU regulations were last updated in 2023. This brought the city into conformity with state law and direction from HCD.
01:47:53.48	Unknown	In 2024, the governor signed yet two new bills into law, further amending the ADU and JDU regulations.
01:48:00.79	Unknown	These laws went into effect January 1st, 2025. Cities are required to bring their regulations into conformity with the new statutes or the state law will govern.
01:48:11.10	Unknown	Additionally, HCD has provided some direction and format and requires that the regulations be a standalone type document that we can't have internal references to other sections of our municipal code.
01:48:23.32	Unknown	Next slide.
01:48:26.09	Unknown	To comply with state law and HCD preferences, the city attorney prepared us a draft
01:48:31.27	Unknown	new ordinance for Council review.
01:48:33.41	Unknown	This includes a complete reorganization of 10-44080 ADUs and its merger with the JADU section, 10-44085.
01:48:43.53	Unknown	The new ordinance format will make it easier to incorporate future mandated requirements of the state if they pursue additional amendments.
01:48:51.99	Unknown	Generally, for the R1 districts, the rules remain largely the same. There's very little...
01:48:57.76	Unknown	change that affects them.
01:48:59.78	Unknown	Next slide, please.
01:49:01.91	Unknown	So what changed? AB 2533 further limits the city's ability to deny the legalization of a non-permitted
01:49:11.28	Unknown	ADU or JADU that was installed without permits from the city or any review.
01:49:18.35	Unknown	The new law is applicable to any non-permitted unit installed prior to January 1st, 2020. The prior cutoff date was in 2018.
01:49:28.02	Unknown	Next slide.
01:49:29.55	Unknown	So what changed the state law prohibits the city from requiring replacement of onsite parking when a garage or carport is replaced with an ADU or JADU. The amendment to this expands this to prohibit us from requiring non covered parking spaces like a driveway from being replaced as well.
01:49:49.95	Unknown	They amended definitions and added livable space to better regulate installation of new ADUs within existing multifamily structures. And they expanded the number of detached ADUs permitted on existing multifamily property from potentially two to potentially up to eight.
01:50:08.28	Unknown	Next slide.
01:50:11.27	Unknown	Additional amendments to comply with HCD direction for a standalone ordinance and as permitted under state law include the following.
01:50:19.30	Unknown	We expanded the definition section, 104480, to improve implementation of the provisions. We added zoning tables identifying permitted and required FAR, lock coverage, impervious surfaces.
01:50:32.40	Unknown	um we added a front yard setback of 10 feet and this is largely because we have a special setback along certain streets in sausalito and so we just acknowledged that as a blanket setback that's something the council can consider
01:50:48.06	Unknown	Next slide, please.
01:50:50.13	Unknown	Um, we added architectural requirements and we limited, um,
01:50:54.70	Unknown	A new ADUs to 50% the size of the primary dwelling unit.
01:50:58.67	Unknown	Next slide.
01:51:00.66	Unknown	So the city's authority with regard to the changes you can propose tonight, um,
01:51:05.71	Unknown	This ordinance, as drafted, largely mirrors state law.
01:51:10.25	Unknown	The city may impose less restrictive, more generous rules than the state law, but not more restrictive rules. In areas where the state law is silent, the city could impose regulation. And this is reflected by the inclusion of the zoning standards that I discussed earlier.
01:51:26.65	Unknown	Next slide.
01:51:28.96	Unknown	Examples to where the city may vary, we could allow a larger than 1,000 square foot maximum size for a unit, that's out of state law. We could increase the square footage of the permitted by right ADU. Currently, the city has to allow at least one
01:51:48.53	Unknown	ADU up to 800 square feet, depending on what fits on a property. We could remove or modify the front setback requirement we proposed tonight in the ordinance.
01:51:59.34	Unknown	Next slide.
01:52:03.57	Unknown	The city can change FAR lot coverage limits and impervious surfaces applicable to the ADU to be more lenient. We can waive any on-site parking requirement.
01:52:13.22	Unknown	Across the board.
01:52:14.52	Unknown	We could modify proposed architectural requirements, remove them, or be more stringent to some degree.
01:52:20.78	Unknown	And we can require an ADU permit from planning for units that are subject to building permit only.
01:52:26.32	Unknown	Next slide.
01:52:28.24	Unknown	It's acknowledged Sausalito does have a unique environmental characteristics and
01:52:34.40	Unknown	that the California's
01:52:37.22	Unknown	regulations being a sort of a one size fits all doesn't necessarily fit well with everything to do with Sausalito.
01:52:44.38	Unknown	and some of its limitations.
01:52:46.48	Unknown	However, the way this code is written, it doesn't provide us with a lot of opportunity for addressing and personalizing the ordinance to accommodate the city's unique characteristics.
01:52:57.89	Unknown	Next slide.
01:53:00.35	Unknown	So our recommendation tonight, oh, the Planning Commission recommended on December 11, 2024, adoption of this regulation subject to the removal of Section 1044.080.F8 architectural requirements. The Commission found that they were not supportive of requiring an ADU to match the exterior of a primary residence.
01:53:22.33	Unknown	They thought that it would disallow creativity and conflict with uniform building code if the existing materials on an older home were no longer permitted.
01:53:32.69	Unknown	Next slide.
01:53:34.61	Unknown	So at this point, staff recommends the council
01:53:37.70	Unknown	review the ordinance, hear from the planning of the
01:53:42.39	Unknown	members of the audience and move to approve a draft ordinance as drafted or subject to additional modifications.
01:53:50.39	Unknown	that we continue the ordinance for second reading to February 4th, 2025.
01:53:55.52	Unknown	You authorize that.
01:53:57.12	Unknown	a summary of the ordinance to be published five days in advance of the second reading and 15 days after its adoption.
01:54:02.81	Unknown	And if the council wishes to investigate options to implement more locally sensitive regulations, we still recommend that you adopt a draft ordinance tonight and that you further direct staff to investigate what we may be able to do. And if we can come up with some things that would be more personalized to Sausalito, we will return with amend.
01:54:23.03	Mayor Cox	amendments.
01:54:24.66	Mayor Cox	Thank you. Before I turn it over for questions, this presentation is such a helpful blueprint, but it's not attached to the staff report or to the agenda item. And so I'm unable to access it.
01:54:38.55	Mayor Cox	Is there a way someone can email it to us? And in the future, can we please include presentations as a part of the agenda when it's published on Wednesday?
01:54:48.41	Mayor Cox	No problem.
01:54:49.65	Mayor Cox	So I'm going to probably ask you to scroll through this, but maybe the city clerk can email it to us while we're sitting here.
01:54:56.45	Mayor Cox	Thank you.
01:54:56.78	Mayor Cox	Okay.
01:54:57.97	Mayor Cox	All right, I'm going to open it up to council questions.
01:55:02.89	Walford	Sort of first a big picture question.
01:55:07.20	Walford	What the current law and the new amendments essentially are saying to a city is that one can get an over-the-counter permit with no design review, planning commission review, council review, as long as you meet these criteria. Is that correct?
01:55:28.53	Unknown	That's correct.
01:55:29.09	Walford	That's your understanding. And what you're presenting to us is an update that I will say,
01:55:30.37	Unknown	And.
01:55:34.24	Unknown	Thank you.
01:55:34.26	Unknown	Mm-hmm.
01:55:38.29	Walford	I hesitate to characterize it as liberalizing the law, but it is actually making it easier a little bit to construct an ADU. It's removing some of the things that previously might have prevented. Am I understanding that correctly?
01:55:56.43	Unknown	I don't believe so, except for the updates that the state law required. We largely have the same rules that we had previously adopted,
01:56:05.27	Unknown	Um,
01:56:05.96	Unknown	You have to keep in mind that
01:56:08.55	Unknown	with the exception of the one ADU potentially up to 800 square feet,
01:56:13.27	Unknown	being sort of exempt from
01:56:15.31	Unknown	complying with all zoning standards.
01:56:17.83	Unknown	A lot of the time people still have to meet the zoning criteria of the district. So that does limit the number in potential for some ADUs beyond that one.
01:56:30.89	Walford	So depending on the zoning of the underlying property, that may determine if you can have one at all or how many might be permitted.
01:56:41.98	Unknown	Well-
01:56:43.16	Unknown	No, regardless of whether it will exceed the zoning, they can have one unit on most residential property.
01:56:52.67	Unknown	Uh,
01:56:53.47	Unknown	up to 800 square feet.
01:56:56.03	Walford	Okay.
01:56:57.80	Walford	And then there was a recommendation from the Planning Commission to, how was it phrased? I don't remember exactly what you had on the slide. Yeah, can you bring that back?
01:57:05.77	Mayor Cox	Yeah, can you bring that back up, Walford, that slide? It showed what the Planning Commission recommendations were.
01:57:12.33	Unknown	They'd like to remove the architectural requirements.
01:57:15.45	Unknown	Thank you.
01:57:15.47	Mayor Cox	That is, that the ADU resemble the other residents on the lot. Correct.
01:57:23.82	Walford	And the words might make a difference, because you just said resemble. And I think I remember the word match was on your slide. And what?
01:57:36.16	Mayor Cox	Thank you.
01:57:38.25	Mayor Cox	Yeah, it's not this one. It's go back...
01:57:40.40	Mayor Cox	Thank you.
01:57:40.55	Unknown	I think that's my personal writing. The way it's written is that it needed to utilize materials that were similar to the or the same as the existing residents, like roofing material siding.
01:57:41.00	Mayor Cox	That was just my...
01:57:55.97	Unknown	Thank you.
01:57:56.23	Unknown	to have a
01:57:57.00	Unknown	The language is in attachment four.
01:58:00.48	Unknown	It is the materials and colors of the exterior walls, roof and windows and doors must be the same as those of the primary dwelling.
01:58:07.97	Unknown	The roof slope must match that of the dominant roof slope of the primary dwelling.
01:58:12.98	Unknown	Um,
01:58:14.42	Unknown	There's other requirements related to roof slope.
01:58:18.01	Unknown	There's a requirement the exterior lighting must be limited to downed lights, or as otherwise required by the building or fire code.
01:58:25.52	Unknown	The ADU must have an independent exterior entrance apart from that of the primary dwelling.
01:58:30.13	Unknown	And the interior horizontal dimensions of the ADU must be at least 10 feet wide in every direction with a minimum interior wall height of seven feet. So those are the architectural design standards that the Planning Commission recommended be removed.
01:58:42.78	Walford	So with respect to same materials, if an owner wanted to put fireproof materials that did not match the existing structure, that would be out?
01:58:53.75	Unknown	We would have to meet uniform building codes.
01:58:53.89	Walford	Look.
01:58:56.03	Mayor Cox	Thank you.
01:58:56.06	Unknown	Thank you.
01:58:56.72	Mayor Cox	Well, but also you asked us to provide direction
01:59:02.36	Mayor Cox	about the city's ability to adopt ordinance language in line with state law that's subject to Sausalito's unique geographical characteristics.
01:59:11.27	Mayor Cox	So disaster preparedness could perhaps be one area where we could seek some
01:59:18.68	Mayor Cox	latitude in how we implement state law.
01:59:22.00	Unknown	And I will say one of the biggest challenges over the last two years is the state law has been modified to state explicitly that you can only impose objective standards.
01:59:33.09	Unknown	as part of your design regulations.
01:59:35.82	Unknown	Um,
01:59:36.68	Unknown	I think it was generally assumed that public agencies could only impose objective requirements because of the ministerial review, but now the law is even more expressed that they really do have to be objective and not require the application of
01:59:49.86	Unknown	you know, independent judgment by the
01:59:52.65	Unknown	Staff.
01:59:53.96	Mayor Cox	So, Walfrey, can you go to the last slide? Because that's really where staff says, if the council wishes to investigate options to implement more locally sensitive health and safety-based restrictions, we can give direction that the staff
02:00:06.50	Mayor Cox	UNDERSTAND.
02:00:06.72	Walford	I think that concludes my questions, but I'm sure we'll have a robust discussion about this very topic.
02:00:06.79	Mayor Cox	Okay.
02:00:12.42	Mayor Cox	Thank you.
02:00:12.49	Mayor Cox	All right, great. I saw that Councilmember Sobieski had his hand up and then.
02:00:12.90	Walford	Thank you.
02:00:13.05	Walford	Thank you.
02:00:13.11	Walford	I'm going to go.
02:00:13.54	Walford	Thank you.
02:00:17.84	Walford	Thank you.
02:00:17.86	Councilmember Sobieski	Thank you, Mayor.
02:00:20.62	Councilmember Sobieski	if we're staff is, if we want to accept the
02:00:25.60	Councilmember Sobieski	Planning Commission's recommendation.
02:00:27.91	Councilmember Sobieski	uh,
02:00:28.79	Councilmember Sobieski	what do we have to do to do that? Do you have language boilerplate or?
02:00:33.01	Councilmember Sobieski	Is the staff's recommendation not to accept it?
02:00:36.89	Councilmember Sobieski	What is the path forward to accept the record?
02:00:39.32	Unknown	So if the council wishes to introduce the ordinance with the recommendations of the Planning Commission,
02:00:46.85	Unknown	I would recommend that you introduce by title only ordinance number, I believe this one is 01.
02:00:53.97	Unknown	dash 2025,
02:00:57.02	Unknown	Um, what's the full title here?
02:00:59.98	Unknown	Um,
02:01:01.38	Unknown	And Oregon City County.
02:01:01.61	Mayor Cox	in a city house. You're happy if we get their city attorney.
02:01:04.47	Unknown	Yeah, sure. Yeah. So it's as set forth in attachment five, basically. So you have the ability to do that if we so chose here today.
02:01:11.47	Councilmember Sobieski	Thank you.
02:01:11.79	Unknown	Yes, absolutely. Thank you. That's all.
02:01:13.75	Councilmember Sobieski	Thank you.
02:01:15.25	Council Member Blaustein	Okay, Councilmember Blaustein. Thanks. This might be questions for Brandon.
02:01:18.77	Council Member Blaustein	I'm so maybe if you want to approach our 80 use a fundamental piece of our housing element strategy.
02:01:28.23	Unknown	They're part of it.
02:01:29.90	Unknown	Mm-hmm.
02:01:30.59	Unknown	I mean.
02:01:31.84	Unknown	I think identifying opportunity sites is more fundamental.
02:01:35.21	Council Member Blaustein	I mean, how much of a role would you, I mean, Brandon's been kind of, not to say that you don't know about this specifically, I just...
02:01:43.07	Brandon Phipps	So I appreciate the question, and yeah, I appreciate your sensitivity to this very important policy document that we're currently in progress on an amended version of. I will say as related to the way in which we satisfy our RENA, one of the ways that we do that is by selecting opportunity sites and allocating density to those sites. Another way that we do that is through, I think, I'll call it more ministerial housing development processes, such as those folded into ADUs and JADUs, so kind of smaller scale development that we generally see on lower density residential parcels. And with that in mind, the
02:02:25.33	Brandon Phipps	This is an important part of our housing element strategy as our ADUs, JADUs, and expected future ADUs and JADUs
02:02:36.32	Brandon Phipps	do...
02:02:38.59	Brandon Phipps	fulfill do take part in some of the units that were required, that RHNA number, that 724 number that were required to zone for by the end of the housing element cycle, or by the really the start and the outset of the housing element cycle, and that we must have it built by the end of the cycle. So short answer is yes.
02:02:56.85	Council Member Blaustein	Interesting.
02:02:57.92	Council Member Blaustein	And isn't it true that we receive significant public comments suggesting or encouraging that we might lean on the inclusion of more ADUs or encourage ministerial approach to ADU development as part of our strategy?
02:03:09.27	Brandon Phipps	Yes, yes. Appreciate your sensitivity to that as well. We want to support streamlined housing development to the extent possible and ADUs, JADUs is one relatively low hanging way that we can do that.
02:03:24.32	Council Member Blaustein	Karen Hollweg, And and if we move forward tonight and don't what happens if we, for example, don't adopt the recommendations from staff for the ordinance where does that leave us with regards to our local control around the ad use.
02:03:37.02	Brandon Phipps	So I think one primary thing will happen, and that is that our local policy will default to the blanket state policy. That's one thing. So we will be losing a form of local control there, our ability to essentially customize our local ADU ordinance. And I would say perhaps a second impact that is...
02:04:01.01	Unknown	of
02:04:01.60	Brandon Phipps	less subjective, which is that, you know, or maybe it is objective, on a piece of paper, it will show the city of Sausalito has not adopted our ADU updates, and that could be interpreted as cities' non-participation.
02:04:14.87	Council Member Blaustein	And when you were at the Planning Commission as they discussed the ordinance and made the recommendations with regards to the modifications or lack of requirement of modification for
02:04:26.44	Council Member Blaustein	color conformity, slope conformity.
02:04:28.94	Council Member Blaustein	was that
02:04:29.97	Council Member Blaustein	recommendation pursued by the Planning Commission in order to streamline the ability to more quickly have an EDU approved or built?
02:04:37.72	Brandon Phipps	I believe that that was part of the reason, Councilmember. I can also state, I believe, part of the justification, and I try not to speak for the Commission, but in this instance, I believe part of the justification was to guarantee design diversity.
02:04:53.90	Brandon Phipps	Yep.
02:04:54.94	Council Member Blaustein	Okay. Thank you very much.
02:04:56.29	Brandon Phipps	Thank you.
02:05:00.73	Mayor Cox	I had a couple of questions. There is a fire sprinkler aspect of this that says that the construction of an ADU does not trigger a requirement for fire sprinklers to be installed in the existing primary residence. But are detached ADUs required to have fire sprinklers?
02:05:24.09	Unknown	They can be. I think it states something to the effect that they can't be required if they're not required in the primary residence.
02:05:26.80	Mayor Cox	Okay.
02:05:31.02	Mayor Cox	So...
02:05:32.76	Mayor Cox	So it says fire sprinklers are required if they're required in the primary residence. Right. But, you know, a lot of the damage in the, the few homes that survived in the Palisades and in Eden were ones with fire resistant materials and fire sprinklers. And so my question to staff is, can we require that any new.
02:05:49.45	Jacqueline Armikis	And
02:05:56.57	Mayor Cox	New detached ADU include fire sprinklers.
02:05:59.88	Unknown	No.
02:06:01.43	Unknown	It's government code 66314.
02:06:02.46	Mayor Cox	It's government code 16.
02:06:05.58	Unknown	Um,
02:06:06.78	Unknown	D12 accessory dwelling units should not be required to provide fire sprinklers if they're not required for the primary residence. So unfortunately this is
02:06:13.87	Mayor Cox	Unfortunately, this is......for both?
02:06:16.94	Unknown	Um,
02:06:18.68	Unknown	So,
02:06:20.25	Unknown	The language of the law continues, the construction of an ADU shall not trigger a requirement for fire sprinklers to be installed in the existing primary dwelling.
02:06:27.54	Unknown	So,
02:06:29.60	Unknown	If...
02:06:31.18	Unknown	Under the fire code, typically for new construction, if the lot is empty,
02:06:36.09	Unknown	the primary dwelling would be required to have fire sprinklers. And so both the
02:06:41.43	Unknown	new construction,
02:06:42.98	Unknown	primary dwelling unit and the ADU would now be required to have fire sprinklers. But if you are building a ADU on a lot that has an existing dwelling, then typically the grandfathering provisions, you know, that would prevent a retrofit for the
02:06:59.62	Unknown	Primary dwelling unit will also prevent the city or any other agency from requiring sprinklers be installed.
02:07:07.87	Mayor Cox	So as part of this offer in the staff report recommendations that we can direct staff to assess the city's ability to address concerns associated with disaster preparedness and or health and life safety factors.
02:07:24.22	Mayor Cox	Can we ask that you research a way to require, you know, even if minor,
02:07:31.22	Mayor Cox	renovations are made to an existing dwelling that it include a requirement for fire sprinklers such that then if there were
02:07:39.31	Mayor Cox	a subsequent ADU application, that would also
02:07:43.46	Mayor Cox	because we are so densely populated and so close in proximity to one another that
02:07:51.14	Mayor Cox	Just because my neighbor decides not to have a fire sprinkler, my building might burn down.
02:07:56.20	Mayor Cox	And so I really think that's something is that something that we can ask staff to further explore?
02:08:03.30	Unknown	Yes, and I think that as a practical matter, the city does have to update its building and fire codes every three years and local amendments that
02:08:13.66	Unknown	increase or lower the threshold for what may be considered a significant improvement that requires retrofits is something the city could study and consider at that point.
02:08:23.55	Mayor Cox	Okay.
02:08:24.21	Mayor Cox	And then did you have an opportunity to look at the legislative history for this requirement that the ADU match in terms of the primary residence? because something that we often required as an eight-year planning commissioner myself was that detached ADUs or other accessory structures such as garages do match because it creates less visible massing on the site when you have matching materials rather than something that's, you know, something turquoise next to an otherwise beige background.
02:09:03.88	Unknown	I think that the concerns of the planning commission are valid with respect to the unavailability of certain materials and so using the same materials may
02:09:14.18	Unknown	be difficult, but I do think that there is
02:09:18.53	Unknown	you know, room for the council to adopt design requirements related to say color, which are generally pretty easy to replicate regardless of material.
02:09:28.49	Unknown	Or you can, you know,
02:09:31.44	Unknown	requires say like a panel of options. You know, either people use fire protective materials or
02:09:39.05	Unknown	they match the existing material would be like a potential alternative for the council to consider. And of course, I'm not a designer, but I'm sure that there's plenty of other choices you could consider and study as well.
02:09:44.60	Michael Dumont	Thank you.
02:09:44.64	Mayor Cox	And of course, I'm not
02:09:50.58	Mayor Cox	So rather than wholesale removing section 10.44.080F8, we could revise that requirement to match, you know, to the extent possible...
02:10:04.82	Mayor Cox	some sort of language that requires a close match. I'm not worried about architectural creativity for an 800-square-foot unit. So I personally don't think that's important, but I do think I would like to comport with state law where possible, you know, if feasible. So, and...
02:10:27.94	Mayor Cox	But with the provisos, that if the materials are no longer available or no longer permitted under, for example, updated fire protection regulations, that that would be an...
02:10:42.37	Mayor Cox	and alternative. So can we give direction to you if we so choose to modify that recommendation in the manner I'm describing?
02:10:52.12	Unknown	Yes, if you want to adopt with changes, we will need to read, either read language into the record today, specifically
02:11:00.73	Unknown	So you...
02:11:02.11	Unknown	introduce the ordinance with the changes you're proposing.
02:11:06.78	Unknown	Or alternatively, you can give direction to staff to come back with language and we will redo first reading.
02:11:12.84	Mayor Cox	So your staff report already says that we can adopt the ordinance as drafted and direct you to come back with some proposed revisions. So we can include that in the list of proposed revisions, language to...
02:11:23.51	Mayor Cox	accommodate the Planning Commission recommendation in a manner that is consistent with the
02:11:29.89	Mayor Cox	intention of the state statute.
02:11:33.02	Unknown	Yes, so basically with the process required under state law for enacting ordinances, you have to have a first reading.
02:11:41.35	Unknown	and a second reading. If you make substantive changes between first reading and second reading,
02:11:46.61	Unknown	You have to come back and redo first reading so the public has notice of the changes.
02:11:51.23	Mayor Cox	No, I'm aware of that. I'm suggesting that we undertake first and second reading as drafted.
02:11:56.31	Mayor Cox	but give direction.
02:11:58.05	Mayor Cox	to address these things that I've mentioned, such as fire sprinklers and
02:12:02.44	Mayor Cox	Um,
02:12:03.25	Mayor Cox	Not wholesale removing section 10.44.080, but modifying it in a way to accommodate a situation where existing materials are no longer permitted, for example.
02:12:17.22	Council Member Blaustein	I just-
02:12:17.57	Unknown	Okay, yeah, so this, to the extent that,
02:12:20.77	Unknown	Um,
02:12:22.45	Unknown	you would like to go that direction that is certainly something you can do.
02:12:25.68	Unknown	We would.
02:12:27.09	Unknown	if we
02:12:28.58	Unknown	Thank you.
02:12:28.61	Unknown	make further changes to the
02:12:31.41	Unknown	this legislation after council adoption, we would go back to planning commission.
02:12:35.60	Unknown	with our suggested recommendations and then come back to council
02:12:39.48	Unknown	and do revisions at a later date.
02:12:41.74	Mayor Cox	Right.
02:12:42.26	Mayor Cox	And so my last question has to do with the multifamily residents where they could allow between two and eight additional ADUs. Can you please advise how many existing residences in Sausalito would be eligible for that provision of the new statute?
02:13:04.30	Unknown	Yes, that is something that we would need to study with staff specifically to determine how many multifamily parcels exist within the city.
02:13:12.11	Unknown	And secondly, how many of them realistically have the capacity to
02:13:17.55	Unknown	expand and build up to eight ADUs without
02:13:21.08	Unknown	you know, addressing things like constraints by the site, the existing buildings, slope, topography, et cetera, because the reality is not every multifamily site, even though it's allowed by law,
02:13:33.70	Unknown	is going to be able to, in practice, develop at that density.
02:13:37.68	Mayor Cox	Okay, thanks. I know that Councilmember Blaustein had some follow-up on the Planning Commission recommendations.
02:13:44.09	Council Member Blaustein	Yeah, I just wanted to say I'd like us to have a conversation because that's not the direction I'm comfortable with giving. I really think that we need to do. Hey, we're in questions right now. We're about to have discussion. Okay. Okay. I just wanted to state because, all right.
02:13:51.97	Mayor Cox	Thank you.
02:13:57.69	Walford	Yes. If I can just follow up procedurally. If we like the ordinance overall, but we have three or four concerns, can it be introduced and we give general direction to come back with some changes, or how specific do we have to be now?
02:14:12.86	Unknown	Thank you.
02:14:23.82	Walford	So,
02:14:23.97	Unknown	So if there are issues that the council...
02:14:26.96	Walford	Thank you.
02:14:27.02	Unknown	wants
02:14:28.24	Unknown	studied and put into this ordinance prior to adoption.
02:14:32.17	Unknown	My suggestion would be
02:14:35.44	Unknown	you know, you would
02:14:37.84	Unknown	introduce this item
02:14:39.55	Unknown	and give direction to staff to make the revisions. And then we could redo first reading and then have council adopt.
02:14:46.46	Unknown	If you're generally comfortable with this and think that certain areas need study,
02:14:52.56	Unknown	such as the issue of the multi-family.
02:14:58.29	Unknown	I think, you know, you probably should adopt this ordinance as written because, you know,
02:15:04.13	Unknown	As staff have pointed out,
02:15:07.24	Unknown	We do need to get our regulations into compliance. So if you have some minor revisions that you would like to make this evening, you know, and we can make them on first reading and you want to adopt them, I think that's pretty straightforward.
02:15:20.82	Unknown	you know,
02:15:22.36	Unknown	bigger concerns that you want staff to study, go back to planning commission with, you know, big,
02:15:28.80	Unknown	big picture changes. Um,
02:15:31.10	Unknown	You know, I would suggest that we adopt this as written in the interest of expediency and then staff will continue the work.
02:15:33.46	Jacqueline Armikis	Thank you.
02:15:33.48	Walford	Mm.
02:15:38.88	Unknown	Hopefully that answers your question.
02:15:40.99	Walford	It does, and the mayor has asked me or asked the question that I had on the tip of my tongue, which is, is there a deadline?
02:15:51.77	Walford	Thank you.
02:15:51.79	Unknown	Um, the new state laws regarding, um,
02:15:57.37	Unknown	The new state ADU laws went into effect January 1st, 2025.
02:16:01.93	Unknown	So, yeah.
02:16:02.89	Unknown	I think there's not a specific deadline, but...
02:16:07.28	Unknown	Until...
02:16:08.83	Unknown	this ordinance is adopted, potentially, you know,
02:16:12.32	Unknown	interested individuals may try to argue that there is a loophole under state law.
02:16:17.91	Unknown	And so there is some
02:16:19.85	Unknown	You know, some time is of the essence to
02:16:23.51	Unknown	doing this work.
02:16:25.94	Unknown	Can I suggest something? I provided you with the original draft of the ordinance as well as the amended draft attached to the Planning Commission resolution.
02:16:35.71	Unknown	If you want to go through the original draft and just see if you can make some minor changes to the architectural section that would make you more comfortable.
02:16:43.14	Unknown	I think that would be acceptable as a modification for tonight's hearing.
02:16:48.13	Unknown	Thank you. And just bear in mind that it cannot be discretionary. We can't make discretionary. You can't assign staff the job of picking the material, or it needs to be an objective standard.
02:16:48.40	Morgan Pierce	Um,
02:17:00.25	Mayor Cox	Understood. And are we allowed to flat out remove the section of the state ordinance related to architectural requirements?
02:17:10.59	Unknown	I don't believe that was part of the state ordinance. That was something that they're silent on. And when I was working with the city attorney, she wanted to include it.
02:17:19.74	Unknown	to give you that option.
02:17:21.27	Unknown	Yeah, so the state allows local jurisdictions to set architectural standards, but doesn't require them.
02:17:27.82	Unknown	And
02:17:28.68	Unknown	The Planning Commission studied the language that is before you this evening.
02:17:32.78	Unknown	Thank you.
02:17:32.90	Unknown	made a recommendation that you remove it,
02:17:35.18	Unknown	So I think we've gone through the state planning zoning law requirements, the planning commission.
02:17:40.38	Unknown	Andrew Tuft, Render their recommendation on the proposed language and study the issue thoroughly so yours.
02:17:44.46	Mayor Cox	Your choice is yours. I didn't realize.
02:17:46.66	Mayor Cox	that you had presented to us something that was recommended by a city attorney
02:17:51.48	Mayor Cox	colleague and not required by the state.
02:17:54.43	Unknown	Right. When I was giving my presentation, I said to address the idea of having an ordinance
02:18:02.87	Unknown	that stands alone and to bring other areas into
02:18:06.87	Unknown	consideration we made the following amendments as well and sorry if i wasn't clear that that was something we included
02:18:14.25	Mayor Cox	I was clear about the FAR and setbacks. I wasn't clear about the architectural standards.
02:18:19.58	Mayor Cox	Councilmember Sobieski has his hand up.
02:18:22.34	Councilmember Sobieski	Thank you, Mayor. Just a question for you, Sergio. Was that Planning Commission recommendation unanimous,
02:18:29.84	Councilmember Sobieski	provided
02:18:31.02	Unknown	Yes, it was.
02:18:32.17	Councilmember Sobieski	Thank you very much.
02:18:35.76	Council Member Blaustein	question just in the process of this and in the interest of putting forth our best foot with regards to the housing element if we were to additionally amend to add further restrictions or to go back and make modifications would it send a negative message to hcd are they watching our adu ordinance is this something we need to be aware of as we're thinking about implementing our housing element as a whole
02:18:56.91	Unknown	So the answer is, is state law actually requires that after adoption, the city submit its ADU ordinance to HCD for review and that the HCD make findings and report back to the city. So, yes, they are watching it. Typically, the review process at this
02:19:14.02	Unknown	time
02:19:15.43	Unknown	Last year took months. So I anticipate it'll be a similarly lengthy review process by HCD. That being said,
02:19:26.37	Unknown	I don't have concerns about the limited architectural standards that are proposed in this ordinance.
02:19:32.60	Unknown	whether the council includes them or excludes them, I think that those are not going to be significant issues for HCD.
02:19:42.99	Mayor Cox	Thank you.
02:19:44.54	Mayor Cox	All right. I see no further questions. I'm going to open it up for public comment. Do we have any speaker cards?
02:19:50.97	Mayor	I have no speaker cards.
02:19:51.93	Mayor Cox	Thank you.
02:19:52.42	Mayor Cox	Okay. Anybody online?
02:19:56.20	Morgan Pierce	Sorry?
02:19:58.38	Mayor Cox	I don't have anything about the this is not on my agenda with, you know, open the public hearing, take comment, close public hearing. None of that is on the agenda.
02:20:10.67	Mayor Cox	So I'll go ahead and open the public hearing to the extent one is required city attorney.
02:20:15.83	Unknown	Yes, please. Thank you.
02:20:17.85	Mayor Cox	I see no public comment in the
02:20:21.74	Mayor Cox	Council Chambers, is there anyone online wishing to make public comments?
02:20:27.42	Mayor Cox	Okay, I don't have a speaker card for you, but please come forward. Please come forward.
02:20:39.89	Babette McDougall	I did submit one speaker card to the city clerk, so I apologize if it did not get passed along to you.
02:20:46.27	Babette McDougall	All right, Babette McDougall, Girard Avenue. I have an ADU on my property, and I have a lot of questions about it. I have made an appointment with our community development director to review my questions in the near future.
02:20:58.78	Babette McDougall	I agree that accessory dwelling units are a really good way for Sausalito to move forward to try to achieve
02:21:06.54	Babette McDougall	some mileage on this housing element thing, primarily because they are smaller and we are a small community. And we're lucky to have little corners to tuck a place in if we can. So I encourage it wholeheartedly. I would like to request that we do look seriously at the fire hardening of our community.
02:21:25.54	Babette McDougall	I think my house could stand some fire hardening, that's for sure. Even though it was built back in 1910 of old growth redwood, that's still not good enough. So I am encouraging us to look carefully at the ADU situation and proliferation of more ADUs. I think we have more little spots that we can tuck in. We have density issues to face, this densification word that we learned during the retreat period. So this densification thing is really something that Sausalito has yet to come to terms with. So I again want to urge you to think seriously about helping to promote
02:22:00.56	Babette McDougall	a more equitable distribution and helping
02:22:03.93	Babette McDougall	homeowners
02:22:05.92	Babette McDougall	actually be able to afford to create those ADUs.
02:22:10.60	Mayor	Thank you.
02:22:11.37	Mayor Cox	Is anyone online for-
02:22:12.54	Mayor	Yes, we have Sandra Bushmaker.
02:22:15.25	Mayor Cox	All right, Ms. Bushmaker.
02:22:16.37	Sandra Bushmaker	Thank you.
02:22:17.65	Mayor Cox	Thank you.
02:22:17.68	Sandra Bushmaker	I'll keep this quick. I do agree with adoption of the ordinance and coming back with certain recommendations. I would like to see the study
02:22:28.47	Sandra Bushmaker	be done for future amendments that include can the City Council or the city require objective fire safe materials and to
02:22:39.96	Sandra Bushmaker	Can there be some sort of
02:22:43.64	Sandra Bushmaker	I don't know exactly what the word would be,
02:22:47.98	Sandra Bushmaker	requirement that there be an evaluation of whether the ADU
02:22:53.22	Sandra Bushmaker	and the JADU have any impact on the evacuation routes?
02:22:58.91	Sandra Bushmaker	in the city.
02:23:00.34	Sandra Bushmaker	because we are adding more density by adding ADUs.
02:23:04.17	Sandra Bushmaker	And we're certainly adding more people even with ADUs and JADUs.
02:23:08.83	Sandra Bushmaker	So I'm concerned about the evacuation routes, and I'm wondering if the city can make any kind of objective
02:23:16.56	Sandra Bushmaker	requirements that would impact whether or not you approve
02:23:21.35	Sandra Bushmaker	ADU or JADU based on the evacuation routes.
02:23:25.71	Mayor Cox	Thank you.
02:23:26.58	Mayor Cox	Thank you.
02:23:28.76	Mayor Cox	Thank you. Any further public comment, City Clerk?
02:23:31.34	Mayor	No further public comment.
02:23:33.10	Mayor Cox	Okay, I'm going to bring it back up here. I'm going to go ahead and move that. I'm going to close the public hearing.
02:23:40.14	Mayor Cox	I'm going to recommend, I'm going to move that we introduce and read by title only the proposed ordinance amending the Sausalito Municipal Code sections 10.44.080 and 10.44.085 with the exception of
02:23:58.26	Mayor Cox	10.44080 F8 architectural requirements.
02:24:07.35	Mayor Cox	and that we continue the proposed ordinance for a second reading to February 4, 2025, and authorize a summary of the ordinance to be published five days in advance of the second reading and for 15 days after its adoption.
02:24:24.30	Mayor Cox	And then I'm gonna make a separate motion for direction to staff, but that's the- I'll make an alternate motion, but go ahead if you're-
02:24:31.10	Unknown	And Mayor, if I understand your motion correctly, you're voting to introduce the ordinance as it reads set forth in attachment five, the planning commission recommendations.
02:24:31.11	Mayor Cox	And,
02:24:39.69	Unknown	Yeah.
02:24:39.74	Unknown	Yes.
02:24:39.92	Unknown	you
02:24:40.02	Council Member Blaustein	Thank you.
02:24:40.73	Council Member Blaustein	With the exception of the architectural recommendations.
02:24:43.38	Mayor Cox	No, I'm adopting the Planning Commission recommended
02:24:47.69	Mayor Cox	ordinance.
02:24:49.63	Mayor Cox	removing the architectural recommendation.
02:24:51.23	Walford	That's your motion.
02:24:52.48	Mayor Cox	That's my motion.
02:24:52.51	Walford	That's my.
02:24:53.52	Mayor Cox	Does anyone want to second my motion?
02:24:55.89	Mayor Cox	you
02:24:55.97	Walford	Yes.
02:24:56.55	Mayor Cox	Me too.
02:24:57.14	Mayor Cox	Okay, so I'll take Councilmember Blaustein's second, and I will now open it for any discussion on the pending motion or an alternative motion.
02:24:58.62	Walford	TELL US ABOUT THE
02:25:08.24	Mayor Cox	And you're ready with the clock, city clerk?
02:25:12.20	Mayor Cox	OK?
02:25:12.97	Council Member Blaustein	wish to discuss the pending motion? I'll just explain why I was so passionate about the architectural review guidelines, which is that we are in a very serious housing crisis and a affordability crisis in Sausalito with regards to our housing supply. And one thing that we seem to be able to find consensus on as a community is that a widespread allocation of ADUs across neighborhoods and across different areas of the community is an appropriate solution.
02:25:40.34	Council Member Blaustein	way to start adding more affordable housing units in our community and more housing for our workforce, for our teachers, for our firefighters, for our city workers. And while I understand the compelling motive for ensuring architectural development
02:25:56.37	Council Member Blaustein	I don't know, making it look nice and match accordingly. The cost for building an ADU can be quite extreme. And there are a number of, for example, modular potential units you could buy that maybe are made from a different material but would make the cost more approachable. And I just want to advocate wholeheartedly for making it easier for us to provide and build more housing that will allow us to meet our RENA numbers and do that in the fastest way possible. And I also want to add, I completely agree with all of the disaster preparedness and fight. build more housing that will allow us to meet our RENA numbers and do that in the fastest way possible. And I also want to add, I completely agree with all of the disaster preparedness and fire concerns that were brought up. And not only do I think we need to consider this with regards to ADUs, but I would like to see us take up as an agenda item
02:26:34.27	Council Member Blaustein	And I notice, we'll get to this when we talk about electrification as well with the sustainability commission,
02:26:39.70	Council Member Blaustein	But we should really think about all of our building standards and perhaps take a step forward from a disaster preparedness angle of what can we across the board implement to be more fire safe. I've been reading a lot about the lack of funding for zone zero programs and how critically important the zero to five feet from your house to the road or to the fire area is. and whatever we can do in our building code to enforce, actively enforce zone zero, we'll be better positioned moving forward from it. the fire area is and whatever we can do in our building code to enforce actively enforce zone zero will be better positioned moving forward from a disaster preparedness lens so glad to see that we are going to move forward with this. I'm sure that people will present. I hope that people will present beautiful and diverse designs of 80 use in our community and I appreciate the concern from the dais and I appreciate the support for including
02:26:58.32	Jacqueline Armikis	your
02:27:29.67	Walford	I, um,
02:27:32.28	Walford	Agree with the motion and will certainly support it as the lesser of two evils. I think if we were stuck with the one size fit all of the state, we'd be much worse off than the proposed language that staff has worked so hard. I don't think it adequately addresses buyer safe concerns. I think, however.
02:27:54.90	Mayor Cox	I'm going to make a separate motion on that.
02:27:56.67	Walford	You're going to make a separate motion on that. That's great. So having said that, I'm prepared to vote yes on this. And I just hope people understand that just like the housing element itself, we are presented with a challenging choice. And we're not between a rock and a hard place. We're between a forest and an ocean. And it's not easy to accommodate all the need for housing in our community and certainly not under the state law as I read it generally. I'm not happy with the state law. I think it puts tremendous pressure on the staff.
02:27:57.67	Mayor Cox	on that.
02:28:12.31	Jacqueline Armikis	Yeah.
02:28:32.93	Walford	and on this city to respond to do what I think should be done, which is we do need to build more housing. We just have to do it sensibly, primarily for people who have a harder time affording housing today.
02:28:49.12	Mayor Cox	All right. I endorse that. Anything from you, Councilor? Yes.
02:28:52.04	Councilmember Sobieski	Councilor B. Yes, I was just going to say that I wanted to thank the planning commission for the work they put into this and it was influential to me that they were.
02:29:01.03	Councilmember Sobieski	voting unanimously on their recommendation. So I very much appreciate, Mayor, that you are taking this approach of adopting their recommendation and then providing an alternate direction in addition to that. So I support this motion as well.
02:29:12.88	Mayor Cox	All right, so I'm going to go ahead and call the question. Will you take role city clerk?
02:29:18.97	Mayor	Councilmember Hoffman is absent. Councilmember Blaustein?
02:29:23.93	Council Member Blaustein	Yes.
02:29:23.98	Mayor	.
02:29:24.27	Mayor	Councilmember Sobieski Vice Mayor Woodside and Mayor Cox
02:29:26.78	Councilmember Sobieski	Thank you.
02:29:31.59	Mayor Cox	Yes, that motion carries 4-0. Now I would like to, I'm going to frame this as directing staff rather than a motion. So I would like to direct staff to assess. So because the state ADU, JADU law is generally drafted as a one-size-fits-all set of regulations and does not provide for personalization to accommodate Sausalito's unique characteristics, as mentioned by our vice mayor, I would like to direct staff to assess the city's ability
02:30:05.36	Mayor Cox	to adopt ADU and JADU ordinance language in line with state law that is sensitive to Sausalito's unique geographical characteristics and infrastructure and assists the city in addressing concerns associated with disaster preparedness and or health and life safety factors that are applicable to certain areas of the city, including but not limited to consideration of the use of fire safe materials, consideration of fire sprinkler regulations, consideration of the accessibility of each property site by fire protection and rescue,
02:30:47.71	Mayor Cox	vehicles and the impact of any proposed additional units on the ability of that site or that neighborhood to evacuate. I would like the city staff to consider whether it's appropriate to impose further regulations on FAR, lot coverage, impervious surface tables, and required front yard setbacks. So that's my recommended direction to staff. And does anybody endorse or have anything further to add?
02:31:25.46	Walford	I don't know how you came up with all those so quickly.
02:31:29.68	Walford	You have to.
02:31:29.70	Mayor Cox	You haven't worked with me very much.
02:31:31.98	Walford	That's true. But I think you've covered the main things that I was concerned about. And I'm not terribly optimistic that we can thread that needle consistent with the state law as much as perhaps we would like if we had the independent authority. But I think if we can not overburden the staff, but take a good look at where can we go to protect on the issues you mentioned. And it's important that we do that. I also just want to say absolutely support a concerted effort to really take a hard look at these. We've got hopefully Chief Tubbs and staff coming to the same meeting where we're going to be talking about the housing element. And the confluence of these two issues, it's not a coincidence that right now, foremost in the mind of a lot of people, is how will Los Angeles rebuild?
02:32:28.10	Walford	How will Paradise rebuild? How will Hearts of Santa Rosa rebuild? And Glen Ellen, and the list goes on and on. And it's only going to be
02:32:38.99	Walford	worse if we don't protect ourselves against a catastrophe like that. So that's highly motivating, I think. And might cause the legislature
02:32:50.09	Walford	Sorry, I'm going too long, but I do support your direction.
02:32:55.31	Walford	Mayor.
02:32:56.01	Mayor Cox	Thank you.
02:32:56.84	Mayor Cox	Anybody else wish to weigh in on direction or?
02:33:01.01	Mayor Cox	Okay, I think we're good. Is that direction clear for staff? All right, I see Director Phipps raising his hand. Thank you so much. We're gonna move on to the next item and I really do wanna thank Katie Tho Garcia and the Sustainability Commission for your patience in our putting your presentation to
02:33:21.50	Mayor Cox	The end of the agenda.
02:33:23.52	Mayor Cox	And welcome.
02:33:25.34	Katie Thao Garcia	Katie Thao Garcia, City Councilman, No Problem. Good evening, Mayor, Vice Mayor, Councilmembers, members of the public. I'm Katie Thao Garcia, the city's resiliency and sustainability manager.
02:33:34.22	Katie Thao Garcia	I'm here to provide an introduction for the Sustainability Commission. In 1993, the Sausalito City Council established the Waste Management Advisory Committee, which was later named to the Commission in 1998.
02:33:48.75	Katie Thao Garcia	And in 2007 was
02:33:50.91	Katie Thao Garcia	Reestablished as a sustainability commission.
02:33:53.63	Katie Thao Garcia	Today, the Sustainability Commission is a seven-member voting commission with one alternate and one 94965 liaison. In 2023 and 2024, Councilmember Blaustein was our council liaison, and since taking on my role, I have served as the staff liaison.
02:34:11.87	Katie Thao Garcia	The commission is currently divided into several subcommittees, which include public outreach, electrification, transportation, water, and waste and reuse. The commissioner's expertise generally aligns with the subcommittees. However, the commissioners are able to join any subcommittee of their choice. Since serving as a staff liaison, I have been consistently impressed with the high level expertise on the Commission, and I've greatly appreciated their knowledge
02:34:43.59	Katie Thao Garcia	to complement my own and their willingness to serve their community.
02:34:47.56	Katie Thao Garcia	Mark Palmer, the Chair of the Sustainability Commission, worked with the City and County of San Francisco for nearly 16 years as their Green Building Program Manager and has now served on the Sustainability Commission for almost four years as our expert in building electrification and energy codes. Chair Palmer is here tonight to present the Commission's 2024 milestones and 2025 priorities and asks and considerations of the Council. Thank you, Mark.
02:35:17.63	Mark Palmer	Thank you, Katie.
02:35:19.33	Mark Palmer	Thank you.
02:35:19.52	Mark Palmer	Madam Mayor, Council members, staff and members of the public, Mark Palmer, Sausalito Sustainability Commission. It's my pleasure to bring you up to date on our annual report to the city council on our accomplishments for the last year and some of our goals for the coming year. Could you put the presentation up, please?
02:35:57.49	Mark Palmer	Thank you. Next slide, please.
02:36:02.85	Mark Palmer	Just as a quick introduction to the Commission, we, as Katie said, have a wide range of experiences and knowledge on our Commission and it's
02:36:10.58	Mark Palmer	My pleasure to serve as chair this year.
02:36:13.15	Mark Palmer	I also want to call out
02:36:15.24	Mark Palmer	Uh,
02:36:16.15	Mark Palmer	Councilmember Blaustein for being our.
02:36:18.38	Mark Palmer	City Council liaison for the last two years.
02:36:21.00	Mark Palmer	We've really appreciated her involvement, and she's also a former
02:36:25.94	Mark Palmer	sustainability commissioner. We're very happy about that.
02:36:30.14	Mark Palmer	Next slide, please.
02:36:33.18	Mark Palmer	So I wanna give you some milestones over the last year. Next slide.
02:36:40.22	Mark Palmer	David Daley- Climate adaptation is kind of on the top of everybody's mind right now Community engagement supporting the shoreline and adaptation plan that Katie is working so hard on in the face of sea level rise next next slide.
02:36:55.84	Mark Palmer	We also have additional moves in the realm of climate adaptation. Resiliency hubs, we're coordinating with MCE.
02:37:07.74	Mark Palmer	on
02:37:08.97	Mark Palmer	making sure that we have
02:37:11.30	Mark Palmer	the ability to provide power and emergency services during disaster preparedness.
02:37:16.97	Mark Palmer	Virtual power plants, battery storage,
02:37:19.75	Mark Palmer	And I've heard a lot tonight about resilient building design and passive sustainability. Next slide.
02:37:29.19	Mark Palmer	On the other side of the coin from adaptation is mitigation. And we're very involved in trying to improve our transportation footprint. Currently, 63% of the climate pollution that's produced in Sausalito is from transportation. We are very proud to announce that we have now four level 2
02:37:53.69	Mark Palmer	electric vehicle charging stations here at City Hall.
02:37:56.41	Mark Palmer	with more to come at Dunphy Park and Lot 2.
02:38:00.12	Mark Palmer	Um,
02:38:00.66	Mark Palmer	We are also about to receive some planning assistance from MTC for a minute municipal fleet electrification next slide.
02:38:10.80	Mark Palmer	Um,
02:38:12.35	Mark Palmer	Continuing on climate mitigation, talking about building energy, which represents about 27% of our,
02:38:20.60	Mark Palmer	climate pollution here in Sausalito.
02:38:23.91	Mark Palmer	We are
02:38:26.61	Mark Palmer	Very happy to see the base phase kickoff of the Climatec Infrastructure Modernization Program, as well as Katie's grant funded four heat pump water heaters now installed at City Hall and MLK.
02:38:39.76	Mark Palmer	Uh...
02:38:41.09	Mark Palmer	reducing lifetime climate pollution by over 200 metric tons, 100% grant funded. Thank you. Next slide.
02:38:50.12	Mark Palmer	Continuing on with building energy and climate mitigation, we have been collaborating for the last year and a half on the development of the Marin
02:38:59.94	Mark Palmer	Countywide Electrification Roadmap.
02:39:01.97	Mark Palmer	We're publicizing and getting the word out there on rebates and incentives that are available for heat pumps and modern heating and cooling systems. We also just on our last meeting received a report from community development on all the permits that have been issued for heat pumps and gas appliances in the last two years. Very interesting to see. You'll notice the photo on the bottom right-hand side is a floating home with heat pump for heating and cooling. Next slide.
02:39:33.96	Mark Palmer	As Katie mentioned, 32 years ago, our commission was established as a recycling advisory committee, and it's been one of our core competencies for decades now. We work very closely with Bay Cities Refuse, and we're currently assisting businesses in compliance with SB 1383, mandatory recycling and composting. We've also submitted environmental findings and how health findings on regarding since a possibility of a synthetic turf installation in in Sausalito next slide.
02:40:09.82	Mark Palmer	We're very happy to have Katie on board. None of this work or hardly any of it would be possible without her deep involvement and fundraising capabilities. She's brought a lot of funds in to further our cause. And we're very, very happy to be working with Katie. And she's doing a great job with our commission. Next.
02:40:32.50	Mark Palmer	So our focus areas coming up are collaborating on business outreach for big areas, the shoreline adaptation plan. Manitory recycling accomplishing for businesses, the county wide electrification roadmap.
02:40:48.48	Mark Palmer	and the Marin County Green Business Program.
02:40:52.01	Mark Palmer	We are also monitoring progress of the Climatex Utility Savings Project, and we look forward to subsequent phases. Next slide.
02:41:02.00	Mark Palmer	We will be recommending green building reach codes for the 2025 Sausalito building code update. This happens every three years. We get the chance to update in concert with the state code updates. So we'll be recommending some amendments, local amendments, in terms of green building.
02:41:21.54	Mark Palmer	We are collaborating on the daylighting of Willow Creek.
02:41:24.78	Mark Palmer	And we're considering to do research and advocacy
02:41:27.97	Mark Palmer	on recycling and composting, dock foam alternatives,
02:41:31.61	Mark Palmer	Low impact development and green infrastructure, native water use, green and healthy building codes, and carbon-free transportation. Next.
02:41:42.33	Mark Palmer	We have a challenge. One of our challenges is that the quarterly meetings that we've accepted this year, the commissioners are expressing a lack of continuity and momentum on our commission and city goals. We do look forward to city council receiving and filing our commission meeting minutes, and your feedback today would be most helpful. Next. Our asks of city council, um, you know, our, uh, climate emergency plan, uh, uh, resolution that was passed three years ago now, uh, calls for considering consistency with not just the general plan, but with the climate action plan and the emergency resolution.
02:42:28.06	Mark Palmer	And the devastation in Los Angeles serves as a stark reminder
02:42:32.06	Mark Palmer	of the challenges all climate vulnerable communities face. And so we ask you to please approach every decision you make as a triple line proposition, taking the economy, the ecology and the equity into full account. Next slide.
02:42:48.38	Mark Palmer	Furthermore, we're asking you to adopt the countywide electrification roadmap, a holistic plan to transition buildings equitably and rapidly to zero emission, all electric and more energy efficient future.
02:43:02.35	Mark Palmer	We also ask you to support community development and the chief building official working with Marin County to adopt green building reach codes as part of the 2025 green building reach code update.
02:43:13.61	Mark Palmer	And we have a couple of vacancies and some upcoming appointments or reappointments that we would like certainly to be agendized by the council to keep our good work moving forward.
02:43:28.73	Mark Palmer	Next slide.
02:43:30.77	Mark Palmer	That's the end. Thank you. Any questions?
02:43:33.16	Mayor Cox	Yes, thank you so much. I'll open it up to questions. I had a couple if no one does. OK. So.
02:43:45.33	Mayor Cox	I wanted to ask of staff,
02:43:47.98	Mayor Cox	Um,
02:43:49.43	Mayor Cox	Are we planning to adopt, I guess the city attorney, are we planning to adopt green building reach codes as part of the 2025 Sausalito building code update?
02:43:60.00	Unknown	So one of the issues is the, um, California restaurant association versus city of Berkeley case, which, uh,
02:44:07.47	Unknown	overturned the city of Berkeley's natural gas ban that was enacted as part of its reach codes. So we will definitely need to review any sort of energy efficiency proposals to make sure we're not running afoul of
02:44:24.90	Unknown	applicable federal law. It's not to say that all reach code proposals are going to be illegal, but we just need to be mindful that
02:44:32.36	Unknown	Um,
02:44:33.36	Unknown	we are doing things that are not likely to be overturned by courts. So yeah, that is something that I assume that I will be working with staff and the sustainability commission members to evaluate any proposals that they may have
02:44:48.66	Mark Palmer	Could I respond briefly?
02:44:52.12	Mayor Cox	Yeah.
02:44:54.11	Mayor Cox	No, we don't know. No, I'm we're considering your asks. So I'm, we're not going to be able to say yes or no to your asks tonight. Sure. You know, in terms of your ask regarding monthly to quarterly meetings, that's something we have to confer with staff about. Sure.
02:44:55.48	Mark Palmer	No.
02:44:55.72	Jacqueline Armikis	I'm not.
02:45:15.31	Mayor Cox	Thank you.
02:45:17.00	Mayor Cox	the
02:45:19.10	Mayor Cox	you know, approach every decision. I think with economy, ecology, and equity, we can certainly do that
02:45:24.66	Mayor Cox	I'm I don't know where we stand on the Marin countywide electrification roadmap so
02:45:30.38	Mayor Cox	Is there anyone who can provide me
02:45:33.74	Mayor Cox	Did you want to answer that, Councilmember Sobieski, or you're wanting to ask questions?
02:45:38.07	Councilmember Sobieski	No, I'm just in line to ask questions when my time is up. Okay, so.
02:45:41.97	Mayor Cox	Okay, so City Attorney, are you able to address the request that we adopt the Marin County-wide electrification roadmap? Or is that a similar answer to that?
02:45:51.79	Mayor Cox	the side.
02:45:52.01	Unknown	So I actually cannot answer that question because I have not seen that document and I
02:45:57.56	Unknown	Yeah.
02:45:58.93	Council Member Blaustein	Just...
02:45:59.40	Council Member Blaustein	Sure. Mr. Palmer is actually an expert in building electrification and very well versed on the Marin ordinance. So I don't know if he and Katie can answer that in together, but they have been closely following our status on it. I don't know. Yeah.
02:46:11.49	Mayor Cox	I don't want to put staff on the spot in terms of staffing and manpower resources by asking them tonight. I just wanted to understand to undertake this tonight. I just wanted to understand where we stand and what the level of effort required would be to do this.
02:46:27.55	Mark Palmer	Uh,
02:46:29.34	Mark Palmer	The roadmap is just that. It's a roadmap. There are 10 action items and none of them are mandatory, but it's a mission statement, if you will, that the city is in sync with the county in trying to achieve
02:46:46.21	Mark Palmer	Uh,
02:46:47.06	Mark Palmer	various actions toward total electrification. It ends up being over a period of years. There are short-term, medium-term, and long-term goals, but as I understand it, there's been a proposal made to have a formal presentation to city council by Christine O'Rourke with O'Rourke Communications who puts together the climate action plans and the greenhouse gas inventories for all municipalities in Marin County including the county itself and we're happy to to share more information about that going forward there's no deadline on it we want to put that in front of the council to consider its adoption and I understand that you don't have all the details right now but that's on our wish list
02:47:34.51	Mayor Cox	Okay, great. I'm going to turn it over to Councilmember Sobieski for questions.
02:47:38.93	Councilmember Sobieski	Yes, Mr. Palmer.
02:47:40.74	Mayor Cox	Again, we really have a hard time hearing you.
02:47:43.45	Councilmember Sobieski	Sorry, I'll try to speak closer. Can you hear me now?
02:47:43.47	Mayor Cox	Councilman.
02:47:45.97	Mayor Cox	Yes, thank you.
02:47:47.28	Councilmember Sobieski	Mr. Palmer, I just was wondering in your list of priorities,
02:47:52.03	Councilmember Sobieski	The city, we recently passed the budget for Climate Tech to be doing some work providing electrical charging stations for vehicles. And the city is going to be purchasing vehicles both for the police department and for the Department of Public Works near term.
02:48:08.09	Councilmember Sobieski	To what extent are you actually involved in helping
02:48:11.70	Councilmember Sobieski	those helping our city employees who are busy with many things and don't have necessarily expertise
02:48:18.74	Councilmember Sobieski	in the latest of
02:48:21.74	Councilmember Sobieski	vehicle management for electrification, at least know what's available so they can help make better choices.
02:48:28.78	Mark Palmer	Well, as I understand it, staff has been working with the chief of police and in talking about the latest proposed vehicle purchase that we heard about it previous Council meeting. We are
02:48:28.97	Councilmember Sobieski	Yeah.
02:48:47.33	Mark Palmer	encouraging the best we can to electrify all of our transportation. And it's kind of as you saw at a previous council meeting, it's sort of the chicken and egg, um,
02:49:03.05	Mark Palmer	proposition. Do we get the electric chargers first and then buy the vehicles or
02:49:07.90	Mark Palmer	If we buy the vehicles, we don't have the chargers first.
02:49:10.73	Mark Palmer	It seems to me it's really not the chicken and egg. You need the chargers first.
02:49:14.36	Mark Palmer	Thank you.
02:49:14.55	Mark Palmer	And so that's part of the Climate Tech program. We will be installing, as I understand it, several charging stations at the police department for their use. And we're certainly encouraging them
02:49:27.59	Mark Palmer	and giving them some alternatives to consider for their police vehicle purchases.
02:49:35.30	Councilmember Sobieski	What about the Department of Public Works, which also had several
02:49:38.98	Mark Palmer	To my knowledge, we haven't had a direct conversation with Public Works. Staff might have different information about that, but I haven't personally been involved with any discussion at Public Works yet.
02:49:53.16	Councilmember Sobieski	I don't know why I'm thinking this, but I have this recollection of seeing something somewhere that they need five new vehicles.
02:50:00.14	Councilmember Sobieski	I wanted to just make sure it's on you and your radar that,
02:50:03.92	Mark Palmer	We are expecting the MTC planning assistance very soon to help a holistic plan for the city to be able to accomplish this.
02:50:17.22	Mark Palmer	Thank you.
02:50:18.47	Mayor Cox	Okay, Vice Mayor.
02:50:20.83	Mayor Cox	Any questions?
02:50:22.05	Walford	Just a quick question. You have some very specific plans in place here, a very general one. In fact, it's coming up will be a second phase of the shoreline adaptation, sea level rise adaptation, et cetera. Do you foresee in this coming year that your commission will be extensively involved directly with that is a are there other specific things in connection with that that you're going to be bringing forward to us uh
02:50:27.58	Mayor Cox	IN THE CITY.
02:50:55.54	Mark Palmer	Well, yes, the commission itself is mostly involved in supporting the outreach that Katie is doing and getting people coming to the meetings and being a source of knowledge to share with community members at the meetings. So we are definitely involved with that. I believe it will be staff that will be coming to you with proposals on particular projects based on proposals that have been made by the consultants that are working on the project. We certainly are supporting all the efforts toward understanding how best to live with rising sea levels.
02:51:38.59	Walford	That helps me understand the scope of your work that you foresee, at least during the next few months. Thank you.
02:51:46.24	Mayor Cox	Okay, I see no further questions. I'm going to open it up for public comment. I have no speaker cards.
02:51:53.63	Mayor	And Carolyn Revelle.
02:51:56.43	Mayor	No, she back up.
02:51:58.76	Mayor	All right.
02:52:00.85	Mayor Cox	Anyone online?
02:52:01.32	Mayor	and he was.
02:52:04.14	Mayor Cox	No.
02:52:05.25	Mayor Cox	All right, I'm going to close public comment.
02:52:07.75	Mayor Cox	Bring it back up here.
02:52:09.10	Mayor Cox	The action is to receive and file the special presentation
02:52:13.32	Mayor Cox	and provide direction as desired. I'd like to recommend that we accept the report and that we confer with staff about the ability, so specifically with the city manager and with Katie Tho Garcia, regarding the ability to undertake some of the requests, specific requests made of city council. I can certainly direct staff to...
02:52:39.66	Mayor Cox	Calendar for us the interviews and appointments of an alternate a nine four nine six five liaison and timely reappointment for the upcoming expiring appointments
02:52:58.09	Council Member Blaustein	We still need a clock.
02:53:00.91	Council Member Blaustein	Thanks. If you didn't check out the slide, we have a new.
02:53:06.49	Council Member Blaustein	volunteering their time and just experts in the field so we're so blessed and of course katie leading the charge it's just been incredible i appreciate uh the mayor's recommendation i would go a step further and just ask that we directly agendize um the reach codes and and the green building standards i think it deserves
02:53:25.93	Council Member Blaustein	immediate action and a conversation. I don't know if that would be after we confer with staff, but I would really like the sustainability commission has been asking at least me as the liaison for this for a few years now. And I think that we can absolutely make it happen. And it's another opportunity for us to actually be ahead of what the state is already going to require us going forward. So we can be an example as we were with the single use plastics ordinance to the county and to others on some of the things in the electrification roadmap. So. us going forward. So we can be an example as we were with the single use plastics ordinance to the county and to others on some of the things in the electrification roadmap. So I would, I'm again, very supportive of the sustainability Commission's goals and vision, and would like to see us specifically agendize the electrification roadmap as well as the reach codes.
02:54:08.19	Walford	All of those sound good to me. With respect to green building, is that something that we would benefit from some sort of workshop where we could really take a look at what the alternatives are and that way the city attorney isn't just running blind?
02:54:13.87	Unknown	Thank you.
02:54:27.29	Katie Thao Garcia	if you want me to chime in here. Sure.
02:54:31.12	Katie Thao Garcia	The countywide electrification roadmap, we can have somebody from the Marin Climate and Energy Partnership
02:54:37.82	Katie Thao Garcia	present a presentation to to council to dive into that a little bit more and then start the preliminary discussions about what could be in the building codes when they become available
02:54:53.46	Council Member Blaustein	And that wouldn't be a burden on staff, correct? Because you would be able to get someone from the county to do it. Okay. Correct.
02:54:58.98	Mayor Cox	Thank you.
02:55:02.31	Mayor Cox	Okay, great. I think that concludes this item.
02:55:06.59	Mayor Cox	I'm going to move on to city manager reports, council member reports, city council appointments, other council business. I'll take first. We'll start with the city manager information for council.
02:55:22.03	Unknown	Thank you, Mayor, members of the council, members of the public. I'll be brief. I have three things to report on.
02:55:27.97	Unknown	One is the mayor, the fire chief, the police chief, the public works director, and I met with Mark Van Gorder of PG&E Friday ago to talk about the outages in Sausalito, to talk about what the future improvements might be, to talk about how we communicate better, and to get them to commit to meeting with our business community who were impacted by the last outage. So we a good response from them I thought that the interchange of information was pretty clear and pretty candid so that was a good first step but there are many more to follow I'd also like to point out that the Southern Marin Fire District invited the city managers of Mill Valley and Sausalito and the police chief of Sausalito and our public works staff to meet with the Marin Municipal Water District to talk about water supply infrastructure and things that we see happening in L.A. and further as it relates to Sausalito and our service area, how we would in fact have the infrastructure or not in place to deal with an emergency like a big fire. The news was not positive. A lot of old infrastructure in Marin City, a lot of need in Marin County. And so there is really, I think, a need to have more communication about what
02:56:47.22	Unknown	is realistically available to communities in times of big events like the ones in L.A. in Marin County, because right now my read on it was there's a lot of work to be done, some more investment that needs to be done if you're ever going to be able to deal with an event like that in the future. I'd also like to say that the city council meeting of September, or pardon me, January the 11th, was referenced earlier by a couple of council people. The report that was compiled and prepared summarizing that day, that positive and fruitful day, which lasted until 2 o'clock, is complete. We'll get that on the agenda for the council and the public to have on February the 4th. That concludes my report, Mayor.
02:57:30.60	Mayor Cox	Thank you. Any public comment on the city manager report?
02:57:36.86	Mayor Cox	Okay, seeing none. Anyone online?
02:57:39.26	Mayor	Actually, Senator Bushmaker.
02:57:45.55	Mayor Cox	Thank you.
02:57:45.59	Sandra Bushmaker	Thank you.
02:57:49.98	Sandra Bushmaker	Hi again.
02:57:51.36	Sandra Bushmaker	A thought has been occurring to me as I walk my dog in the hills of Sausalito and
02:57:56.93	Sandra Bushmaker	I am concerned about our fire hydrants.
02:57:59.85	Sandra Bushmaker	And whether our fire hydrants are serviced, are our fire hydrants ready to be
02:58:05.08	Sandra Bushmaker	operational? Do they need to be tested? Can we get the caps off?
02:58:10.34	Sandra Bushmaker	I haven't seen in almost eight years any service of fire hydrants in my neighborhood anyway. And I'm curious whether we can...
02:58:21.78	Sandra Bushmaker	Annette Haworthy- Work with southern marine fire, I just don't know whether these things need to be tested or what, but, as you know, we had issues in Los Angeles and San Diego with fire hydrant, excuse me, Los Angeles.
02:58:33.48	Jacqueline Armikis	MEETING.
02:58:33.53	Sybil Boutelier	Right.
02:58:33.68	Jacqueline Armikis	Thank you.
02:58:35.17	Sandra Bushmaker	with fire hydrants being non-operational for a variety of reasons.
02:58:39.74	Sandra Bushmaker	And I would just like the security to know that our fire hydrants are fully functional
02:58:44.33	Sandra Bushmaker	and ready to go.
02:58:45.68	Sandra Bushmaker	Thank you.
02:58:47.54	Mayor Cox	Thank you. Any other public comment, city clerk?
02:58:50.18	Mayor Cox	Thank you.
02:58:50.20	Mayor	Thank you.
02:58:50.24	Mayor Cox	See you next time.
02:58:50.39	Mayor	then.
02:58:50.64	Mayor Cox	Thank you.
02:58:51.20	Mayor Cox	Okay, we'll move on to council member committee reports. Any reports from council members regarding, it's the beginning of the year, so I don't know how many committee meetings there have been yet, so.
02:59:03.55	Council Member Blaustein	Okay. I mean, I attended the PBID meeting today. I was my first as the board representative there, and we had a fruitful discussion about incorporating the long-term board and the rules for RFPs, et cetera. There are a number of committees that are hard at work. It's a volunteer group, but the business community seems enlimined by the PBID. I also attended the TAM Executive Legislative Committee meeting where we talked a bit about Transportation Authority of Marin's legislative agenda in Sacramento, which is now going to be discussed at large with the board in a future agenda going forward.
02:59:35.87	Mayor Cox	Thank you.
02:59:37.17	Mayor Cox	Thank you very much.
02:59:39.26	Mayor Cox	Okay, seeing none others, I'm going to open it up for public comment. Babbitt McDougall.
02:59:53.35	Unknown	in
02:59:54.44	Babette McDougall	Thank you. I was sorry to miss the PBID meeting this morning. I had a health appointment I had to keep, but I want to just ask questions. Generally speaking, I'm glad to know that Council Member Blaustein was present. With regard to the items that you raised, do we see some clarity coming forward on how soon we actually see the PBID jumping into action and sustainable activity? or are we waiting to see the plaza be completed before we start to plan the plaza be completed before we start to plan the official rollout? Was there anything mentioned in this direction that can be addressed at this time? Thank you.
03:00:30.76	Mayor Cox	Thank you. Any other public comment? City Clerk? Anyone online?
03:00:33.90	Mayor	See you then.
03:00:34.76	Mayor Cox	Okay, we're going to move on to appointments. I mentioned earlier that I am resurrecting the Community Safety and Disaster Preparedness Committee. That committee currently has three members who were appointed on December 19, 2023, Elizabeth Carter Ward, Jane Kendall, and Gulnahal Kamak.
03:00:57.44	Mayor Cox	There are five vacancies, including an alternate. I am planning to invite Bonnie McGregor, Janelle Kelman, Sandra Bushmaker, Rob Cox, and Tom Clark to apply for those positions. We'll see who else may apply. It's my intention to interview and appoint additional members ASAP. The staff liaison will be our emergency office coordinator, Mike McKinley. I have spoken with Chief Tubbs and Chief Gregory, and they will be also staffing and attending these meetings, which will be held
03:01:40.91	Mayor Cox	monthly and the city council liaisons will be vice mayor Stephen Woodside and council member Melissa Blaustein.
03:01:52.66	Mayor Cox	I do want to make a few additional announcements of appointments tonight. I'm going to defer some until Council Member Hoffman can be with us. But in the meantime...
03:02:06.16	Mayor Cox	I'm going to replace Janelle Kelman, who's no longer on the council, on a couple of committees. So Stephen Woodside will join me on the Housing Ad Hoc Committee. And I'm also going to appoint Vice Mayor Woodside to the Risk Management Committee, which no longer meets with me, which no longer meets weekly but will meet at least monthly and will provide regular updates to the um city council um
03:02:40.38	Mayor Cox	I have retained Councilmember Sobieski on the Finance Committee, and I am retaining him on the EDAC Committee. I am appointing Councilmember Blaustein as the other EDAC committee.
03:02:56.88	Mayor Cox	Um,
03:02:58.10	Mayor Cox	liaison. So, and she's already mentioned, well, I'm pointing you to everything you ask for. So she is also the representative for PBID.
03:03:03.21	Cynthia Egging	Thank you.
03:03:03.23	Unknown	So, okay.
03:03:03.58	Katie Thao Garcia	Thank you.
03:03:03.60	Cynthia Egging	Okay.
03:03:03.99	Katie Thao Garcia	Thank you.
03:03:04.02	Unknown	She is awesome.
03:03:07.11	Mayor Cox	for TAM.
03:03:08.76	Unknown	Mm-hmm.
03:03:09.11	Mayor Cox	Thank you.
03:03:09.20	Mayor Cox	for disaster prep, I mentioned, and then MCE, Marine Clean Energy. So I won't appoint you to anything more. Nothing else, please. Okay, if you can undertake those appointments, that would be greatly appreciated. And that's all of my appointments for this evening.
03:03:12.79	Unknown	and
03:03:17.62	Council Member Blaustein	Yeah, nothing else.
03:03:27.73	Mayor Cox	All right, future agenda items. Any future agenda items from anyone? Yes.
03:03:35.15	Mayor Cox	We've already mentioned sustainability. Obviously, we've given direction on that. We've also given direction regarding addressing our ADU and JADU ordinances.
03:03:46.31	Walford	Just a comment about the process. Obviously, there are
03:03:51.66	Walford	There was or is a long list of, quote, future agenda items, and I know the mayor is interested in making sure that we not just track the list, but we make sure we assign follow-up.
03:04:04.74	Walford	so that we don't just have a list that grows without triaging it and making sure that we're making progress. So my understanding of the process is we can comment at this time and suggest future agenda items. That doesn't in and of itself set an agenda, except it's up to us to really monitor and move that forward as well as we can. So it's a process thing, but I know when this came up before, I really wasn't clear as a member of the public what that meant.
03:04:39.13	Walford	And now that I understand, I hope people understand that we have a lot on our agenda already.
03:04:44.90	Walford	So, um,
03:04:47.18	Walford	Enough said. Thank you.
03:04:48.41	Mayor Cox	Yes, so we do have attached to this evening's agenda a list of future agenda items. Many of those future agenda items are now going to be subsumed within the priorities that the council established.
03:05:03.49	Mayor Cox	at its January 11th strategic planning session.
03:05:08.05	Mayor Cox	Beyond that, we will be refining the future agenda items list to not only include what the request was, but what the status is. Are we referring it to the Finance Committee? Are we referring it to the Sustainability Commission? How are we moving forward with the requested future agenda items? I see Councilmember Sobieski has his...
03:05:30.29	Mayor Cox	Hand up.
03:05:31.56	Councilmember Sobieski	Yeah, I would just add a request or consideration for accelerating the hearing of the appeal for the
03:05:41.72	Councilmember Sobieski	new owner of the Wells Fargo building. The- Thank you.
03:05:45.04	Mayor Cox	Thank you. That is scheduled for February 18.
03:05:49.39	Councilmember Sobieski	Okay. Now, if that's as soon as we can do it, then so be it.
03:05:54.76	Councilmember Sobieski	Of course, if there's any opportunity to do it sooner, that's what I'm.
03:05:58.79	Councilmember Sobieski	would suggest in open forum.
03:06:02.47	Councilmember Sobieski	A quick resolution allows people to move forward
03:06:06.66	Councilmember Sobieski	positive or negative.
03:06:09.19	Councilmember Sobieski	Thanks.
03:06:10.07	Mayor Cox	Thank you. Any other future agenda items? Okay, I'm gonna open it up for public comment. Babette McDougall.
03:06:23.26	Babette McDougall	Thank you, Madam Mayor, for recognizing me, Babette McDougall, Gerard Avenue.
03:06:27.53	Babette McDougall	I would like to suggest two issues that somehow keep kind of falling off the edge of the table, it seems. We've spoken about it over the last couple of years since I began to regularly attend these meetings. The first is ethics. We don't seem to take any count on ethics. Standard empirical measures of best practices. when we first spoke about creating this policy governing the city's real estate portfolio and how to go forward for criteria for negotiation. best practices. When we first spoke about creating this policy governing the city's real estate portfolio and how to go forward for criteria for negotiating into the future,
03:06:59.76	Babette McDougall	It was suggested then that we consider including standards of ethics, empirical conduct regarding best practices, and it was acknowledged that at least the best practices part might be included. I realize that there's some disagreement on the quality or whether there's any necessity to adhere to a set of ethics. Even being a member of the Bar Association, you're required to stand by a code of ethics. So why not by representing the city of Sausalito? So I would like to please ask us to think about it.
03:07:31.88	Babette McDougall	Because we're living in times where ethics...
03:07:34.96	Babette McDougall	And best practices really matter. It cannot become a deterioration of a free-for-all like it has become in our town over the last year and a half.
03:07:45.80	Babette McDougall	We have to stand firm to a standard
03:07:50.39	Babette McDougall	And I'm sorry to see that none of you have a very interested look on your faces whenever I raise this question.
03:07:56.92	Babette McDougall	But it's an important question, and maybe you're a little too young, or maybe you feel a little too old to think about it now.
03:08:03.77	Babette McDougall	But there are the rest of the citizens in Sausalito that get left on the hook when the city blows it big time because they don't have their big kid pants on when it comes to negotiating a real estate contract.
03:08:15.97	Babette McDougall	And it has to be equitable for all sides. It can't just be a sweetheart deal for the people looking for a sweetheart deal. Thank you.
03:08:27.43	Mayor Cox	Any other public comment? City Clerk?
03:08:30.47	Mayor	See you then.
03:08:31.60	Mayor Cox	I'll just note that local officials in California, such as us, are required to periodically undertake ethics training offered by various organizations throughout California. New council members are required to do so within six months, and that Sausalito public officials are fully compliant with the ethics training requirements by the state of California.
03:08:55.95	Walford	I should just add, sorry, that I will be this Friday attending the California City's ethics training, so pretty early in that six-month period. And then also I'm old.
03:09:08.67	Mayor Cox	Ask that people not be commenting or step outside if they'd like to chat. Thanks.
03:09:14.76	Walford	And I'm old enough to say that I voted for the Fair Political Practices Act when it first was presented in 1974. And public officials have been subject to that act ever since. And the Fair Political Practices Commission has undertaken to adopt a huge volume of rules that we're all bound by and continue to be bound by, and it's important that we stay abreast. I think we all here on the dais agree with that and are in compliance to the extent we can be going forward. Thank you.
03:09:56.70	Mayor Cox	Thank you, Vice Mayor. Okay, with that, I'm gonna move on to other reports of significance. I'll just announce that the Lunar New Year this year commences on January 29th, next Wednesday. And I will close by wishing our city clerk a happy birthday tomorrow.
03:10:15.14	Mayor Cox	All right, and with that, this meeting is adjourned. Thank you, everybody.