City Council Jun 4, 2024

Jun 4

City Council Meeting Summary

Time	Item	Item Summary	Motion Summary	Comment Summary
00:00:26	None: None	Vladislava Skaricha announced that the meeting is being held at Hotel Europe, Sarajevo. Staff and members of the public are participating through Zoom, and the meeting is broadcast live on the city's website and cable TV channel 27. (00:00:40)	No Motion	0 Total: 0 In Favor 0 Against 0 Neutral

00:00:50	I: CALL TO ORDER, ROLL CALL & ADJOURN TO CLOSED SESSION	The meeting was called to order, and roll call was taken. Councilmember Blasian clarified the requirements for participating via Zoom, specifically regarding the presence of minors and the need for a vote. City Attorney Sir Duke clarified that a vote is not needed unless participating under just cause or emergency circumstances. Director Hess recused himself from the first closed session item due to the proximity of his residence to the subject matter. The council then adjourned to a closed session to discuss real property negotiation regarding the MLK school site at 100 ebb tide, and anticipated litigation (00:01:28). They planned to return at 7 p.m. (00:02:20). Upon returning from the closed session, it was announced that there were no closed session announcements (00:02:30).	No Motion	1 Total: 0 In Favor 0 Against 1 Neutral
00:02:00 None was Neutral: No public comments were made on the closed session items.
00:03:08	1: SPECIAL PRESENTATIONS/MAYOR'S ANNOUNCEMENTS	Cheryl Pop, representing the Sausalito-Cascais Sister City Program, provides an update on the program's activities. She recounts the history of the twinning agreement signed 10 years ago, highlighting the gift of calzada stones from Cascais that were used to create the Prascha de Qashqaix plaza in Sausalito. She mentions the visit of the President of Portugal to see the completed plaza. Pop also discusses the replication of the Bolinar statue, a gift from Sausalito to Cascais, and its upcoming dedication ceremony in Cascais on July 12th, which will be attended by city officials. She details the Sister City program's youth sailing exchange program and adult tours, thanking the council for their support. (00:05:21) Mentions the city gifted their land and citizens raised over $200,000 to improve the area. (00:07:51) Mentions Mayor Sosbysky and Councilwoman Hoffman will be at the dedication ceremony.	No Motion	0 Total: 0 In Favor 0 Against 0 Neutral

00:10:11	2: ACTION MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETING	The council is considering the adoption of the draft minutes from the May 21st meeting. Councilor Hoffman proposes to amend the agenda to flip items 5A (Downtown Sausalito Property Business Improvement District) and 5B (Fiscal Year 2025 Budget Review), arguing that the funding request in 5A should be considered in the context of the current budget situation (00:10:14). Director Hess suggests polling the audience to see how many people are present for each item (00:11:16). A poll reveals that more people are there for item 5A (00:11:28). Councilmember Kelman supports the proposed change to get a big-picture look at everything before proceeding (00:12:04). Councilor Hoffman compromises by suggesting to delay action on the item 5B (P bid) until after the budget presentation and public comment (00:12:59). Mayor Melissa prefers to keep the agenda as is, emphasizing the need to dispatch with the business improvement district quickly to allow more time for budget discussions (00:13:23). Councilmember Kelman wants to change the agenda for a broader discussion (00:14:08). Ultimately, the council votes on the motion to amend the agenda.	Councilor Hoffman motions to amend the agenda to hear the P bid after the budget discussion (00:14:17). The motion is seconded, but the vote fails. Councilmembers Blostein and Cox vote no, while Councilmembers Huffin and Cummins vote yes (00:14:44).	0 Total: 0 In Favor 0 Against 0 Neutral

00:15:37	3: CONSENT CALENDAR	The City Council will vote on the consent calendar items together, but any member can request an item to be removed and heard later. The consent calendar includes: 3A, Alzheimer's Brain Awareness Month Proclamation; 3B, adopt a resolution calling for an election to fill three City Council seats on November 5th, 2024, consolidated with the general municipal election, and request the Marin County Registrar of Voters to conduct the election; 3C, adopt a resolution authorizing the City Manager to approve the downtown parking study agreement funded by $110,000 of state grant funds; 3D, adopt a resolution amending parking regulations to establish a no parking zone.	No Motion	0 Total: 0 In Favor 0 Against 0 Neutral

00:16:26	3.D: Adopt a Resolution Amending Parking Regulations to Establish a NO PARKING ZONE Fronting 115 Third St., APN 065-264-28, and opposite the driveways of 22 Atwood Ave., APN 065-203-02 & 101 Prospect Ave., APN 065-193-08	This agenda item concerns a resolution to amend parking regulations to establish a no-parking zone on Third Street and opposite driveways on Atwood and Prospect Avenues. Councilmember Blasian requested to pull the item due to the correspondence received (00:17:31). The council then decided to take public comment first (00:17:41). Many residents voiced concerns about the impact on already limited parking in the area, particularly on North Street. The owner of 22 Atwood argued that the garage design makes it difficult to enter when cars are parked opposite the driveway, and establishing the no-parking zone would ultimately lead to a net savings of parking spaces (00:36:06). Director Hess recommended pulling the item from the consent calendar and referring it to the Planning Commission for consideration (00:43:43), which was supported by Councilmember Blasian (00:44:30). Councilmember Kelman suggested examining the signage in the area to determine who is parking there and if commercial businesses are negatively impacting residents' parking (00:44:35). Ultimately, the council agreed to refer the item to the Planning Commission and instructed staff to provide a date certain for when this item will be heard (00:45:44).	The council agreed to refer the item to the Planning Commission (00:45:44).	14 Total: 1 In Favor 10 Against 3 Neutral
00:19:10 Unknown was Against: A resident of the 2nd Street stairs, living with her elderly mother and daughter, requests the item be removed from consent and the parking restriction be refused. They rely on street parking due to their location and the limited parking available, especially with rental units in the area adding to the demand (00:19:23). 00:21:05 Ted Barton was Against: A resident of 2nd Street who has no garage and limited access to parking, is against the new no parking zone. He read from the Planning Commission's 2014 resolution approving the Atwood redesign, highlighting that the project was designed to maintain traffic safety and ease of movement and to not impact existing on-street parking. He views the garage as 22 Atwood's choice and feels the design was improved to keep on-street parking (00:21:10). 00:23:32 Unknown was Against: A resident of 213 North Street and documentary filmmaker, opposes the parking restriction, stating that parking is already at a premium. They sarcastically suggested driving lessons for the residents of 22 Atwood (00:23:32). 00:24:52 Karen Maddox was Against: A resident of North Street, asks for the item to be removed from the consent list due to the difficulty of parking on their street. Many residents have injuries or are older and have to walk long distances up steep hills to park (00:24:52). She thinks it is unfortunate the residents don't know how to back out of their driveway (00:25:51). 00:26:42 Mary Carey was Against: A Sausalito resident since the 1970s, speaks against the parking restriction on North Street, where parking is already scarce due to construction projects. She is concerned about the impact on residents and her own ability to carry equipment as a musician (00:26:42). 00:28:01 Beth King was Against: A resident of 209 North Street, whose family has owned property there since the 70s, says that parking on North Street is very difficult. They conducted a survey and found that 14 people on North Street depend on street parking, and 29 people including those on 2nd Street, need to park on North Street. There are also people on Atwood who need to park on North Street due to lack of parking (00:28:01). 00:29:38 Charles Terlinsky/Hamilton was Against: A resident of Bridgeway, argues that the issues on North Street, like the garage, are irrelevant and that the design was approved for a particular reason and a use case and changing it now wouldn't make any sense (00:29:38). 00:30:59 David Carey was Against: A resident of 209 North Street, reiterates the points made by others about the parking shortage. He notes that they've met the new owners of 22 Atwood and have nothing personal against them, but they may not realize how the parking restriction affects the rest of the street. He says when they can't find parking, they park near Southview Park, leaving park visitors to seek parking on North Street (00:30:59). 00:32:22 Jeffrey Jacob was Neutral: A resident across the channel, commends the people speaking on the issue. They mention that there's no sidewalks and no public transportation above Bridgeway, and suggest that to have even one bus or van would relieve the parking problems greatly. They also discussed the parking study and license plate readers and hiring consultants (00:32:22). 00:34:49 Bill Goldman was Neutral: A resident of Channing Way, speaks about safety problems on Prospect Avenue due to it becoming practically a single-lane street obstructed by workmen. They are concerned about emergency vehicles being able to get through (00:34:49). 00:36:06 Unknown was In Favor: The owner of the property at 22 Atwood, argues that the design of the garage makes it difficult to enter when cars are parked across the street. He says that even then you can only get a single car in, so there is a net saving of a single parking space if they are able to park two vehicles in the garage (00:36:06). 00:38:26 Bonnie McGregor was Neutral: A resident of 90 Princess Street, discusses results from the parking downtown parking survey. She notes that over 50% of the cars parked from the parking meters to the Presbyterian church do not have an Area B sticker (00:38:26). Recommends to make the signs say residents only 24/7 in the area B sticker (00:40:11). 00:40:40 Alice Merrill was Against: Comments on how parking is so hard here and to take out a place is tough, any place. She knows someone who lives on North Street and she can't visit her because she can't park there (00:40:40). 00:41:38 Jonathan Leon was Against: A resident of Third Street, says that parking is at a very high premium in the neighborhood and states there is a pressing need for this. He suggests the building was designed to access from Princess, not North Street and that to limit the amount of parking is to privatize the space (00:41:38).
00:47:02	3: CONSENT CALENDAR	The council is voting on the consent calendar items. Items 3A, 3B, and 3C, 3E, 3F, and 3G are up for a vote. Items 3H and 3I were pulled from the consent calendar for later discussion. A motion was made and seconded to approve the mentioned items.	Motion to approve items 3A, 3B, 3C, 3E, 3F, and 3G of the consent calendar (00:47:30)	0 Total: 0 In Favor 0 Against 0 Neutral

00:47:57	2.A: Adopt the Draft Minutes of the May 21, 2024 City Council Meeting	The council realized they had skipped item 2.A and needed to go back to it to adopt the minutes from the May 21, 2024 meeting. Councilmember Kelman made a motion to approve the minutes, which was seconded. A roll call vote was conducted, with Councilmembers Blossy, Hoffman, and Kelman, Vice Mayor Cox, and Mayor Sobieski all voting in favor.	Motion to approve the minutes from the May 21, 2024 meeting, passed by roll call vote. (00:48:15)	0 Total: 0 In Favor 0 Against 0 Neutral

00:48:38	4.A: Conduct Public Hearing Pursuant to Article XIIID, Section 6 of the California Constitution on the Proposed Sanitary Sewer Fees For Fiscal Year 2024/25 through FY 2026/27; Introduction and Waiver of First Reading of Ordinance No. 03-2024, An Ordinance	The City Council conducted a public hearing regarding proposed sanitary sewer fees for fiscal years 2024/25 through 2026/27. Rick Simonson from HF&H presented a rate study plan for the sewer system, highlighting that sewer rates were last studied five years ago and the last increase was in July 2023 (00:52:30). The proposed charges consist of a fixed charge and a volumetric component based on winter water use (00:53:18). The rate study aims to provide sustainable revenues, conform with legal constraints, and maintain prudent reserves (00:54:41). Expenses are expected to increase from $3.5 million to $4.5 million by 2028/29, necessitating rate increases and the use of reserves (00:55:38). A plan with 5% revenue increases and reserve utilization was presented to meet needs over the next three years (00:58:01). The average single-family customer may see a slight decrease in their annual bill for 2024/25, followed by 5% increases in subsequent years (01:00:08). Councilmember Hess clarified that the council is only adopting three years of rate increases, despite a five-year projection, due to potential consolidation with the Sausalito-Marin City Sanitary District (01:02:18). Councilmember Kelman inquired about the budget context and how the rate increase would address key infrastructure projects (01:03:43). Vivian Housen explained that the program addresses critical sewer repairs identified through a TV survey, aiming to complete repairs within a 7-year timeframe (01:10:02). Director McGowan noted the city offers a $1,000 grant to residents for lateral repairs (01:17:03). Director Hess emphasized that the volumetric rates are based on water usage during the rainy season, so reduced water usage can lower rates (01:17:49).	Motion to find that no majority protest exists and introduce and waive the first reading of Ordinance Number 2024-03, an ordinance of the City Council of Sausalito, setting fees for sewer services for fiscal year 2024-25 through fiscal year 26-27 (01:19:22). The motion carried unanimously.	3 Total: 1 In Favor 0 Against 2 Neutral
01:13:01 Amy Svenberg was In Favor: Representing Pogeo and Copita, she expressed support for infrastructure improvements. She provided data showing that businesses contribute significantly to tax revenue and requested that the council vet the numbers carefully. 01:14:32 Georgette Asserman was Neutral: A resident of Sausalito Boulevard, she questioned where the money from sanitation and sewer fees is going, given that homeowners are responsible for repairing their sewer pipes. 01:15:50 Babette McDougall was Neutral: A resident of Girard and Litho, she echoed the previous speaker's concerns about the high costs, especially since residents must pay for their sewer lateral repairs.
01:20:21	5.A: Adopt a Resolution of Intent to Establish The Proposed Downtown Sausalito Property Business Improvement District Pursuant to Property and Business Improvement District Law of 1994 and Initiate Balloting	Director Phipps presents item 5A, concerning the adoption of a resolution of intent to establish the proposed Downtown Sausalito Property Business Improvement District (PBID) and initiate balloting. The presentation outlines the history of the project since February of the previous year, noting the hiring of New City America Incorporated as consultants, the endorsement of the proposed district boundary and budget by the City Council in December, and the drafting and endorsement of a management district plan (MDP) (01:21:00). The petition process showed that of the 27 responses received from property owners, 26 were supportive and one was opposed, which equates to 61% support based on assessed property value (01:22:15). Next steps involve initiating the mail-in balloting process leading up to a public hearing scheduled for July 30th, and if successful, adopting a resolution of formation. Director Phipps also notes the fiscal impacts, highlighting a projected net increase in city revenue by approximately $156,000 over the first five years, and potentially up to $624,000 if the city reduces spending on overlapping activities (01:24:40). Councilmember Kelman questions the lack of response from 20 property owners and requests the financial projection slide to be reposted (01:26:59). Councilor Hoffman reiterates a request that slideshows be attached to the agenda beforehand, and Councilmember Blasian notes that public comments are appearing in the wrong place in Granicus (01:29:03). Councilmember Kelman proceeds to go through the financial projections and questions the projections of 1% increase in TOT, sales tax, and parking fees, and asks what the biggest opportunity is (01:30:08). Director Phipps states the biggest opportunity for revenue generation lies in increasing parking revenue. Councilmember Kelman continues to question elements of the financial projections, such as Visit Sausalito, and the CDA Contract (01:34:45). Director Phipps and Councilmember Blasian discuss the formation of a non-profit to track smart metrics, but Councilmember Kelman has some concerns. Councilmember Blasian gets into the revenue assessment broken into 4 areas: demand creation, infrastructure improvements, administration management, and contingency reserve. Scott Thornburg weighs in with how EDAC and those involved in the discussions were under the impression that the PBID would likely be moving forward and EDAC did not push forward or advocate for those types of contracts (01:41:07). Councilmember Blasian further questions the city's options if the improvement district does not work. Councilmember Hoffman follows up about the CDA contract and Destination Sausalito. Scott Thornburg and Councilmember Hoffman have some disagreement regarding an EDAC budget for 2024. Councilmember Kelman says there are many financial concerns and Sausalito needs a dramatic increase in revenue (01:51:02). Cass Green stated the downtown businesses and landlords support the creation of Pbid and also many of the residents. A P-BID is a good financial step for Sausalito, and one of the rare opportunities that Sausalito has to actually increase city revenues (01:53:41). Next Steps is the establishment of a PBIT is a unique opportunity for Sausalito to increase revenues. Councilmember Hoffman said her comments did not reflect poorly on anyone's efforts, her view is on the current fiscal impact to the city and deficit spend. Director Hess said the DOT increased from 12 to 14 percent and there was an agreement between the businesses that the city would use these funds to promote tourism, and to support the business community. Councilmember Blasian also asks Mark Flaherty how he feels like the city's been doing and how the PBID would help. A discussion ensued regarding the TOT and the calculation of revenues. Councilmember Hoffman states that it is an anomaly for a city to pay 50% of the costs for a business improvement district, and Director Phipps agreed (02:05:30). Several members of the public spoke in favor of the PBID, while others spoke against it. Alice Merrill states the item should come after hearing about the budget and points out the Mayor has a pending FPPC investigation and should recuse himself. Sharna Brockett notes these types of improvement districts thrive in many communities and provide visual appeal. The FPPC investigation caused many issues during public comment. Councilmember Kelman notes an interest in the project being presented, and also the city's contribution to the funding. Councilmember Blasian wants to support the project and also show how they are doing to the public. She says that because they committed to the DOT increase years ago, what we need to do is also give them a percentage of that again for the PBID. This is an opportunity to do some healing (02:07:54).	A motion was made that the city council adopt a resolution of intention to initiate the balloting process for the downtown Sausalito property business improvement district (03:24:28). A second motion was to direct staff to continue to explore the safeguards that we have enunciated this evening, including potentially a potential assessment on the district based on certain pre-established performance parameters, smart metrics to ensure rigor and accountability in the way the money is spent, a requirement that the governing body be a Brown Act committee with open meeting requirements and an annual report to the city detailing the previous year's performance and expected performance over this over the following year (03:24:41).	15 Total: 12 In Favor 2 Against 1 Neutral
02:13:22 Unknown was In Favor: A member of EDAC whose family has been in Sausalito for 120 years, expresses strong support for the PBID. They believe it is common sense and will pay off. They emphasize that the only long-term solution is to expand the city's economic pie and express empathy for the tough decisions faced by the council. 02:14:51 Carolyn Revell was In Favor: A member of Sausalito Beautiful, urges the council to adopt the resolution. Drawing from her experience with the Bethesda Urban Partnership in Maryland, she highlights the benefits of a downtown management organization in enhancing streetscape amenities, organizing events, and providing visitor assistance. She emphasizes the importance of ongoing structure and management in responding to community needs, as demonstrated during COVID. 02:17:10 Adrian Brinton was In Favor: A Sausalito resident, believes that this can pay for itself and that this is a good investment. The parking is a huge thing, with the open spaces there is lost revenue and increased parking revenue will help the city greatly. 02:19:14 Yoshidome was In Favor: The owner of Sushirang who has been to Sasariro ownership for 38 years, says this is the best way to promote in society law, business community, I believe best for the residents also. 02:21:19 Carly Tobberg was In Favor: Notes the certainty of taxes and supports co-investing with business owners through the PBID. She highlights the potential for high returns on investment and the fact that the PBID outperforms the risk-free rate, and urges the council to trust the businesses. 02:23:23 Amy Svenberg was In Favor: The chair of the Chamber of Commerce, reiterates strong support for the PBID and thanks the council for their time and consideration. She emphasizes the need for businesses to drive revenue and for the city to support this effort. 02:24:21 Alice Merrill was Against: States that the item should have come after the budget and mentions a pending FPCC investigation about whether our mayor lives within the PBID district 02:26:08 Bonnie McGregor was In Favor: A member of Sausalito Beautiful, expresses support for the PBID, highlighting its potential to enhance the town's beauty through more trees, flower boxes, and lighting. She emphasizes the need to invest in order to expand and attract more visitors, contributing to the town's vibrancy. 02:27:26 Steven Woodside was Neutral: Addresses the FPPC investigation, stating that they adopted a rule, “If you're within 500 feet, You're presumed to have a conflict, but Let's take a look at it.” He states that there are FPPC opinions both in favor and against, and in 2023 he decided to become inactive and cannot give legal advice, he is just a member of the public. 02:37:07 SPEAKER_41 was Against: Suggests continuing the matter or having the mayor recuse himself until the FPPC investigation is resolved. Cites concerns about budgetary issues and the city's financial commitment, opposing the PBID at this time. 02:39:05 Adana Angelino was In Favor: Argues that the PBID is the city's highest priority, as it is about generating revenue. They invest rain shine pandemic no pandemic visitors no visitors, they are here constantly supporting the community. 02:48:24 Ines Ponyer was In Favor: Member of the Chamber of Commerce, states the property owners of downtown, that district, and they are, the majority, are willing to pay a little extra for their 50% of the city is going into partnership with them. It's not a gift. 02:49:56 Charles Wilson was In Favor: Feels the FPPC comments are a tactic and has faith in those who are elected, He feels that it is not a distraction of derailing procedures. As a Sausalito resident who has stayed in hotels and paid the taxes, he supports this investment because it means a more vibrant and accessible downtown that helps increase the revenue. 02:52:05 Peter van Meter was In Favor: Says Public-Private partnerships work, and it will increase the enhancements of the business district. 02:53:03 Sharna Brockett was In Favor: Is traveling up to Bend and noticed how business improvement districts is what helps the other towns be vibrant. Supports continuing on with the process and says she can see many people wanting to spend money when there's something beautiful to do or look at.
03:27:15	5.B: Fiscal Year 2025 Budget Review	The council discussed the timeline and logistics for reviewing and adopting the Fiscal Year 2025 budget. The finance staff has prepared a draft budget book with trending information. A special meeting was already planned for the 25th to discuss the budget, economic reserve policies, and insurance. Councilmember Kelman confirmed availability for the 25th. The special meeting was scheduled for 6 p.m. to avoid a closed session prior. The council agreed to hear item 3H on charter cities, but defer the employee retention issue to a later meeting to coincide with the budget discussion. Councilmember Blasian inquired about 5C, but it was moved to the planning commission and will not be heard at this meeting. Council also decided to defer another item and open the floor for public comment on the budget review, although no action would be taken at this time. (03:27:22) Hess recommends the council review the budget book.	No Motion	0 Total: 0 In Favor 0 Against 0 Neutral

03:30:48	5.C: Introduction and Waiver of First Reading of Ordinance No. -04 - 2024 An Ordinance of the City Council of the City of Sausalito Amending Sausalito Municipal Code Section 2.58.040 Relating to Residency Requirements on City Boards, Commissions, and Commi	The council is considering an ordinance amending the municipal code regarding residency requirements for city boards, commissions, and committees. The agenda item is for introduction and waiver of the first reading of the ordinance. The clerk, Melissa, opened the floor for public comment and, after seeing no one wished to speak, closed the public comment period (03:30:49).	No Motion	0 Total: 0 In Favor 0 Against 0 Neutral

03:31:46	3.H: Receive and File Report Regarding Becoming a Charter City; Provide Direction to Staff Regarding Becoming a Charter City	The council discussed the report regarding becoming a Charter City. The city attorney deferred to the council for direction. Director Hess summarized the report, highlighting the resources and costs associated with becoming a charter city, including the need for an election, but also noted the potential financial advantages (03:32:24). He directed staff to continue exploring the process (03:32:54), including a timeline and cost analysis specific to Sausalito (03:33:10). Councilor expressed agreement with further exploration (03:33:22). No other council members had comments.	No Motion	0 Total: 0 In Favor 0 Against 0 Neutral

03:33:54	6: COMMUNICATIONS	The Communications section of the meeting included public comments on parking issues in Sausalito. Alice Merrill spoke about the need for rational parking solutions for city employees and business owners, especially regarding the impact on workers and businesses due to parking restrictions and costs (03:34:18). She mentioned that employees are struggling with parking tickets (03:35:00) and the revenue generation through parking tickets should consider the impact on workers (03:35:53). Babette McDougall complimented the council's engagement with the public and advocated for reinstating democracy in council chambers (03:36:20). She also raised concerns about ethical standards, referencing a previous discussion with Councilwoman Cox (03:37:00). Ines Ponyer addressed the parking charges on holiday weekends, stating that the $25 flat rate is affecting her revenue and sending the wrong message to visitors (03:38:27). Ponyer requests that the council reconsider the high parking fees on holidays and its impact on local businesses (03:39:27).	No Motion	3 Total: 0 In Favor 1 Against 2 Neutral
03:34:18 Alice Merrill was Neutral: Advocated for rational parking solutions for city employees and business owners, highlighting the negative impact of current parking policies on workers and businesses. 03:36:17 Babette McDougall was Neutral: Complimented the council's public engagement, promoted reinstating democracy in council chambers, and raised concerns about ethical standards, referencing a past discussion with Councilwoman Cox. 03:38:25 Ines Ponyer was Against: Addressed concerns about the $25 parking fee on holiday weekends and its negative impact on local businesses and visitor perception.
03:40:08	7: COUNCILMEMBER COMMITTEE REPORTS	Councilmember Kelman reported that the city was granted $250,000 from the SB1 Ocean Protection Council for an assessment of Gate Five and that they are exploring a $1-5 million grant from the California Department of Energy for a virtual power plant (03:40:14). Councilmember Blasian reported on the Marin County Councilmembers and Mayor's Committee meeting, highlighting the Bay Area Affordable Housing Bond (BAFA), which could provide up to $20 billion for affordable housing and emphasized the importance of city involvement in the fund's deployment (03:41:21). They also mentioned a presentation from the new PG&E Vice President about community engagement in Sausalito and suggested an update on that (03:42:11), as well as a potential presentation from the County Equity Director (03:42:29). Finally, they provided an update on the Transportation Authority of Marin (TAM) and legislative issues, specifically mentioning SB 1301 and its potential budget repercussions for Marin County (03:42:45).	No Motion	0 Total: 0 In Favor 0 Against 0 Neutral

03:43:26	8: CITY MANAGER REPORTS & OTHER COUNCIL BUSINESS	The City Manager provided an update, noting that a letter outlining reasons for the city's acceptance into the PRISM insurance pool has been sent to the underwriting committee. He mentioned a meeting with PRISM scheduled for the next day and expressed hope for a positive outcome. He also reported that the second candidate offered the risk management position had declined, returning the search to square one. He is considering short-term contract options or referrals to fill the gap until a full-time hire can be made. (03:43:36) Councilmember Blaustein emphasized the criticality of the risk management position and suggested posting it as a remote position, referencing the success of Chad as a remote director. She recommended considering a more aggressive search, possibly using a recruitment firm, if changing the posting doesn't attract suitable candidates. (03:45:22) Director Hess agreed on the importance of the risk management position, but suggested that the candidate should have a monthly presence in Sausalito due to topography and geography. (03:45:59) Councilor I'm confused agreed with Director Hess, stating that the risk assessment person needs to spend more time in Sausalito due to the city's unique topography and ongoing issues. He inquired about the possibility of sharing a risk assessment person with Mill Valley. (03:47:13)	No Motion	0 Total: 0 In Favor 0 Against 0 Neutral

03:48:07	8B: Future Agenda Items	During the Future Agenda Items discussion, Director Hess requested a policy requiring all agenda materials to be attached within a specific timeframe, citing difficulty following presentations without printed materials (03:48:14). She also raised concerns about parking policies during holidays and their impact on local businesses (03:49:00). Councilmember Blaustein reiterated the need for an employee parking plan, especially for those on Caledonia, and suggested more disaster preparedness exercises and a presentation on Marin County's equity programs (03:49:47). Councilmember Kelman requested the Monship Blue Economy Innovation District Initiative be placed on the June agenda (03:50:27), specifying the June 18th meeting after discussion with Director Hess and Mayor. The Mayor also requested information on a ballot initiative related to Marinship (03:51:55). Councilmember Mayer Hoffman requested a proclamation for Gun Violence Awareness Month (03:52:34), and the Mayor confirmed that the Alzheimer's proclamation would be read at the next meeting (03:53:13).	No Motion	0 Total: 0 In Favor 0 Against 0 Neutral

03:53:35	8C: Public Comment	During the public comment period, three individuals addressed the council. The first commenter, Steven Woodside, expressed concern about the potential lack of public input regarding an item possibly being placed on the ballot in June, warning that it could be a 'disaster' if rushed. The second commenter, Scott Thornburg, referenced a discussion from an EDAC meeting led by Councilmember Hoffman, emphasizing the need for council direction to staff for the implementation of the Dixon parking study recommendations and advocating for a group, potentially led by the mayor, to promptly address parking issues. The third commenter, Alice Merrill, seconded the Blue Economy Initiative and advocated for promoting the Marinship area as a vital part of the city, expressing that she cares about Marinship more than parking.	No Motion	3 Total: 2 In Favor 1 Against 0 Neutral
03:53:35 Steven Woodside was Against: Expressed concern about the potential lack of public input on a ballot item being planned for June, stating it could be a 'disaster' if the item is rushed. 03:54:19 Scott Thornburg was In Favor: Referenced Councilmember Hoffman's EDAC meeting discussion, emphasizing the need for council direction on the Dixon parking study and advocating for a group led by the mayor to address parking issues promptly. 03:55:13 Alice Merrill was In Favor: Seconded the Blue Economy Initiative and advocated for promoting the Marinship area as a vital part of the city.
03:55:59	9: ADJOURNMENT	The meeting was adjourned by Melissa, wishing everyone a good evening and announcing the next meeting in two weeks. (03:56:02)	No Motion	2 Total: 0 In Favor 0 Against 2 Neutral
03:55:59 Alice Merrill was Neutral: Expressed her appreciation for the meeting. 03:56:11 Scott Thornburg was Neutral: Expressed his gratitude.

City Council Meeting Transcript

Adrian Brinton

City Council Jun 18, 2024

Time	Speaker	Text
00:00:26.20	Vladislava Skaricha	being held at Hotel Europe, Vladislava Skaricha 5, Sarajevo 7100, Bosnia and Herzegovinova,
00:00:37.70	Vladislava Skaricha	Here's a govina.
00:00:39.03	Vladislava Skaricha	Thank you.
00:00:40.08	Vladislava Skaricha	Staff and members of the public are also participating through Zoom. This meeting is broadcast live on the city's website and on cable TV channel 27.
00:00:50.74	Melissa	Thank you very much, city clerk. Will you please call the roll?
00:00:55.97	Melissa	Thank you.
00:00:56.21	Melissa	Thank you.
00:00:56.27	Vladislava Skaricha	Councilmember Blastin.
00:00:59.11	Councilmember Blasian	Here and do I need to note city attorney that there is no one
00:01:02.81	Councilmember Blasian	under the age of 18 in the room with me and then I'm participating via zoom do we have to take a vote I just want to make sure we do this right
00:01:09.13	Sir Duke	Normally you would if you were participating for just cause or under emergency circumstances, but you are not.
00:01:15.97	Councilmember Blasian	So thank you just want to clarify.
00:01:18.82	Vladislava Skaricha	Thank you.
00:01:18.97	Vladislava Skaricha	Thank you.
00:01:19.19	Vladislava Skaricha	Councilmember Huffman.
00:01:21.18	Councilmember Blasian	Here.
00:01:22.18	Vladislava Skaricha	Council member coming.
00:01:23.56	Councilmember Blasian	Thank you.
00:01:23.58	Vladislava Skaricha	Present. Vice Mayor Cox. Here. And Mayor Sobieski.
00:01:28.00	Melissa	And I am here today we're going to adjourn into close session where we will cover conference with real property negotiator MLK school site 100 ebb tide of negotiating parties are at least a friend saying and conference with legal counsel anticipated litigation pursuant to paragraph 2 of subdivision section 54956.9. This is vice mayor.
00:01:51.79	Director Hess	Thank you, Mayor. I will be recusing myself from the first item you announced due to the proximity of my residence to the subject matter of that item.
00:02:00.20	Melissa	And we will now open it up for public comment on closed session items only. Is there any public comment?
00:02:04.89	Vladislava Skaricha	If any of the members would like to comment on any of the closed session items only, you can fill out one of those slips or if you would like just kind of go up to the podium. Anybody would like to comment on closed session items?
00:02:17.09	Vladislava Skaricha	All right. And then seeing none on Zoom.
00:02:20.41	Melissa	Okay, we will close closed session. We will adjourn to close. I'm sorry, closed public comment. We will adjourn to closed session. We'll be returning at 7 p.m.
00:02:30.32	Melissa	Go ahead and begin. We have returned from closed session. There are no closed session announcements. We're going to begin the meeting with the recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance.
00:02:57.29	Melissa	We'll begin the evening with a special presentation on the statue gift to Sausalito's sister, City Kachkach, and who is doing the honors?
00:03:08.56	Melissa	Welcome.
00:03:12.37	Cheryl Pop	Okay. Click.
00:03:28.74	Cheryl Pop	That's it.
00:03:30.72	Cheryl Pop	Hello dear city council. I know that you all know me, but for the benefit of those who don't know me, who are listening to this presentation, I'm Cheryl pop. I am a,
00:03:39.76	Cheryl Pop	Long time resident of Sausalito.
00:03:42.66	Cheryl Pop	a local business owner, that little bookstore on the waterfront. But tonight I'm wearing one of my many volunteer hats and I am representing the Sausalito-Cashkash Sister City Program, which I have chaired for the last eight, nine, ten years, whose county?
00:03:59.01	Cheryl Pop	And here with me, my colleague who refuses to stand up, but the boss, Mr. Jim Meyer, is also here to answer any questions you might have. So we're here to give you a quick but exciting update on our Sister City program.
00:04:15.52	Cheryl Pop	As you may recall, 10 years ago, thank you, Herb Weiner, Sausalito and Qashqai signed a twinning agreement between the two cities forming our sister city program.
00:04:26.20	Cheryl Pop	which made a huge amount of sense based on all the Portuguese heritage and history that we have here.
00:04:34.69	Cheryl Pop	Five years, sorry for the clicks. Five years later, Sausalito, I'm sorry, five years later, Cache Cache granted and gifted Sausalito with tons, and I mean tons, of calzada stones
00:04:39.85	Unknown	Five years later,
00:04:47.92	Cheryl Pop	traditional stones, a classic
00:04:50.35	Cheryl Pop	Compass Rose mosaic design.
00:04:52.75	Cheryl Pop	and the artisans who they sent over
00:04:55.44	Cheryl Pop	to construct this beautiful new plaza which we have downtown, the Prascha de Qashqaix.
00:05:01.25	Cheryl Pop	Here you see the groundbreaking ceremony, then the dedication ceremony with our then Mayor Joan Cox, with the Prime Minister of Portugal.
00:05:11.90	Cheryl Pop	Look.
00:05:13.86	Cheryl Pop	And as you know, this is the beautiful finished product, a true gift to the city of Sausalito and tribute to our friendship.
00:05:21.95	Cheryl Pop	And as you may recall, it was a very novel public-private partnership. The city gifted their land to the project, provided some in-kind services, but we, the citizens, raised over $200,000 in cash to underwrite the project, another gift to the city which vastly improved the appearance of that area.
00:05:43.62	Cheryl Pop	Even the president of Portugal came to see our handiwork just a few years ago, a very charming man. I got to walk through Gabrielson Park holding his hand. The...
00:05:53.75	Cheryl Pop	Secret Service and the photographers were going nuts. But it's thanks to the really wonderful relationships we have forged with our Council Generals in San Francisco,
00:06:04.41	Cheryl Pop	We have been so fortunate to welcome a prime minister, a president of a foreign country to our little village, and I'm not sure many presidents or prime ministers have graced our shores.
00:06:18.42	Cheryl Pop	Fast forward to 2023, last year, our official 10-year anniversary.
00:06:24.34	Cheryl Pop	Is this the right slide? I'm not sure.
00:06:26.98	Cheryl Pop	Yes, I think so. OK.
00:06:29.54	Cheryl Pop	It was our official 10 year anniversary with Kashkash, and in return, we gifted to them a replica of the Bolinor statue that you see here to commemorate this milestone.
00:06:41.94	Cheryl Pop	You likely know and recognize this landmark in the north end of town. It was created by the very talented Sausalito artist, John Liberton, who you see standing there.
00:06:53.23	Cheryl Pop	John's very artistic stainless steel contemporary rendition of these sails seemed a very appropriate gift based on the nautical maritime heritage that the two cities share.
00:07:05.25	Cheryl Pop	And bolinar is a Portuguese word for close to the winds.
00:07:11.27	Cheryl Pop	Of course, we had a big party. Sausalito likes to party with lots of visiting dignitaries to celebrate this anniversary. Melissa, you see there, who was mayor last year, and Francisco Cray, who is a Portuguese dignitary representing the city and accepting this gift.
00:07:11.56	Unknown	We had a big.
00:07:20.64	Unknown	FOR THE FAMILY.
00:07:20.75	Unknown	Thank you.
00:07:20.77	Unknown	and say,
00:07:29.04	Cheryl Pop	And what was last year a grand plan, today, I'm excited to say, is a reality.
00:07:34.31	Cheryl Pop	Bolinar has been replicated and produced in Portugal. Jim was just there overseeing all the final details. He saw it with his own eyes. It really exists.
00:07:44.84	Cheryl Pop	Once again, we have funded a very important public project with private donations. And on Friday, July 12th,
00:07:51.89	Cheryl Pop	There will be a formal dedication ceremony in Kashkish. We will be there, our Mary and so Biosky will be there, councilwoman Jill Hoffman will be there, and many, many Portuguese political and civic leaders.
00:08:05.96	Cheryl Pop	Here's an aerial view of where the Bola Nair will be located, for those of you who are familiar with Qashqai. And I just want to say, every one of our city and council members has been to Qashqai, and that means so much to us. I don't think that's ever happened before, but all of you have been there, so you kind of know the lay of the land and the landscape here.
00:08:27.97	Cheryl Pop	It's a five minute walk from City Hall. It's right in the heart of downtown Qashqai. It's on the waterfront and here's another view.
00:08:36.03	Cheryl Pop	Click, it's right on the marina.
00:08:38.36	Cheryl Pop	by the Club Naval Yacht Club, which hosts our sister city youth sailing exchange program with our Saucido Yacht Club Junior Sailors. So it's a perfect location. It's got great visibility. It's close to where everybody comes.
00:08:53.89	Cheryl Pop	Look at that.
00:08:55.61	Cheryl Pop	The program itself, if you're not familiar with it, is an internationally recognized USAILING EXCHANGE program. We've been doing this for eight years now. It's an incredible life-changing opportunity for these kids, an invaluable educational, cultural experience for them. The students stay with Portuguese families. They go back and forth between Club Naval and Sausalito Yacht Club every other year.
00:09:20.77	Cheryl Pop	And it's not just the kids that get to have fun. Our Sister City program also offers an adult tour. And here are some delegates and ambassadors from previous years. And we've got another great group going with us this year.
00:09:34.96	Bonnie McGregor	.
00:09:36.08	Cheryl Pop	So to conclude, here is the upcoming calendar of events for this exciting accomplishment. And we are here to thank you for your time, thank you for your support and enthusiasm for everything we've done with the Qashqai Sister City program. And especially this wonderful gift of Bolinar from the city of Sausalito to the city of Qashqai. So.
00:09:57.59	Cheryl Pop	Any questions?
00:10:01.02	Melissa	Any questions?
00:10:02.86	Melissa	Congratulations. We'll see you in Portugal. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
00:10:11.19	Melissa	We'll be on to the next item. We're gonna adopt the draft minutes from May 21st. Excuse me, Mayor.
00:10:14.89	Councilor I'm confused	Excuse me, Mayor. Sorry to interrupt. But we used to have a portion on the agenda where we would do approval of the agenda, and we would talk about whether or not we wanted to propose changes to the agenda. That ceased to be a part of our agenda, I think, in April of this year. And so I would like to propose a change to the agenda for tonight's agenda that we flip business items A, which is the adopt a resolution of intent to establish the proposed downtown Sausalio property business improvement district and the item B 5b which is a fiscal year 2025 budget review become item a and that item a become item B I think it's important to understand and look at that program in the context of our budget which is item B so it doesn't make sense to me to look at this type of an expenditure without understanding or knowing it within the context of our current budget or proposed budget so that's my first pair
00:11:16.13	Director Hess	Mayor would it be OK to pull the audience and find out how many people are here to speak to item a and how many people are here to speak to item B because I I would like to make sure we accommodate our public sure of our public.
00:11:28.48	Melissa	Sure, how many people here in the audience are here for item 4A, the I'm sorry, 5A, the proposed downtown property improvement business improvement district. And 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, how many are? 11, how many are here for the fiscal year 2025 budget review?
00:11:54.72	Melissa	We'll have Chad has yesterday. Okay, that's the poll.
00:11:55.75	Jonathan Leon	Thank you.
00:11:59.58	Melissa	So yeah, I'm inclined to keep the please. I'm sorry.
00:12:04.36	Councilmember Kelman	Oh, I mean, I'm inclined to honor the council members request. I'm happy to get a big picture look at everything before we do anything else. And it is, I think, the most important item on this agenda. Be great to have more people here all about it and hear where we are on our budget. So I actually think it's a really great thing. We have so many people here, so I'm happy to honor my colleagues request.
00:12:27.80	Councilmember Kelman	What about
00:12:27.85	Councilor I'm confused	What about compromise? What about compromise?
00:12:28.27	Councilmember Kelman	I'm...
00:12:29.38	Melissa	What do you think?
00:12:29.70	Councilmember Kelman	about.
00:12:31.78	Melissa	Sorry Melissa.
00:12:32.45	Melissa	Thank you.
00:12:32.77	Councilor I'm confused	Oh, sorry.
00:12:35.34	Councilmember Blasian	Oh, I didn't have my hand raised. Oh, okay. I'm happy to... I'd like to hear Councilmember Hoffman's compromise.
00:12:36.38	Melissa	Oh, okay.
00:12:39.39	Melissa	this.
00:12:42.88	Melissa	Oh.
00:12:43.61	Melissa	I just feel like
00:12:45.31	Councilor I'm confused	Oh, my compromise. Why don't we? We had other are you guys here for item five B?
00:12:52.42	Melissa	Yes, sir. That's we're going to get to that in just a second. Actually, you know, the
00:12:59.84	Councilor I'm confused	The compromise was why don't we just delay the action until after we hear the budget, right? So we can hear the presentation, we can hear a public comment, and then we can just delay our discussion on item 5B until after.
00:13:15.15	Councilor I'm confused	or,
00:13:16.26	Councilor I'm confused	Or if it makes more sense, just flip all of it. I mean, people who are here, they could leave and come back when it's cooler.
00:13:23.35	Melissa	Well, I mean, we have five discussions of the budget. We had two meetings, we have this meeting, we have another meeting, we may have a special meeting. It's definitely, obviously, critical and required. I would hope we could dispatch with the business improvement district in short order. And then have the rest of the evening to deal with the discussion in the budget, when the key pieces of information we still don't have. Because tomorrow is the critical meeting with the insurance carrier. So we won't even know a really material piece of information about the budget until our next meeting, actually.
00:13:58.82	Councilor I'm confused	Well, I think I think that
00:14:03.27	Melissa	The President.
00:14:08.91	Councilmember Kelman	the change and have a broader discussion.
00:14:13.75	Melissa	I'd like to keep it as is. I'd like to keep the agenda as is.
00:14:17.04	Councilor I'm confused	Should I make a motion then? So I make a motion to amend the agenda tonight to hear the P bid, which is a request for funding, a five-year request for funding, that we hear after we have the budget discussion so that we have a full understanding of the context of this in our current budget situation, which is quite serious. I will second that.
00:14:44.43	Melissa	There's a motion made and seconded. This is to a quick vote. Please since we.
00:14:49.21	Vladislava Skaricha	Councilmember Blostein
00:14:53.07	Vladislava Skaricha	Thank you.
00:14:53.09	Eva	I respectfully know.
00:14:53.97	Vladislava Skaricha	you
00:14:55.30	Vladislava Skaricha	Okay.
00:14:56.80	Vladislava Skaricha	It was a no vote.
00:14:57.88	Vladislava Skaricha	Councilmember Huffin.
00:14:57.95	Eva	Thank you.
00:14:57.98	Eva	Uh,
00:14:59.67	Vladislava Skaricha	Yes.
00:15:00.70	Vladislava Skaricha	Councilmember Cummins.
00:15:01.78	Vladislava Skaricha	Yes.
00:15:02.59	Vladislava Skaricha	Vice Mayor Cox
00:15:09.26	Director Hess	No.
00:15:10.59	Vladislava Skaricha	Thank you.
00:15:11.57	Melissa	They also vote no so we'll keep the agenda as is. So moving on to the consent calendar item.
00:15:17.73	Director Hess	about five feet.
00:15:19.77	Director Hess	Thank you.
00:15:20.46	Melissa	5B, I'm sorry.
00:15:22.60	Director Hess	You said you were gonna address that.
00:15:24.12	Melissa	Thank you.
00:15:24.14	Director Hess	Thank you.
00:15:24.16	Melissa	I'm sorry, the consent calendars first we have a consent calendar and I'm going to explain to everybody. I think some people are here for one of the consent calendar items so the consent calendar.
00:15:24.78	Director Hess	I-
00:15:25.34	Director Hess	Essentially.
00:15:25.71	Director Hess	The consent.
00:15:34.23	Melissa	generally are considered non-controversial items, though apparently one of them is not.
00:15:37.86	Melissa	at least, and can all be voted on together. Any city council member can ask for an item to be removed from the consent calendar and it will be heard later in the meeting. The consent calendar items are 3A, Alzheimer's Brain Awareness Month Proclamation. 3B, adopt a resolution calling for an election to fill three seats on the city of Sausalito City Council to be held.
00:16:01.55	Melissa	and consolidated with the general
00:16:03.95	Melissa	the municipal election scheduled for November 5th, 2024, and request that the Marin County Registrar voters conduct the election.
00:16:11.17	Melissa	3C, adopt a resolution authorizing the city manager to approve the downtown parking study agreement funded by 110K of state grant funds. 3D, adopt a resolution amending parking regulations to establish a no parking zone fronting
00:16:26.12	Melissa	115 Third Street and opposite the driveways of 22 Atwood Avenue and 101 Prospect Avenue. 3E approve flock license plate readers agreement for $70,000 for two years utilizing state grant funding.
00:16:42.93	Melissa	3 F adopt a resolution authorizing the city manager to sign the agreement with the
00:16:48.82	Melissa	Will the group for the comprehensive user fee study and development impact fee study. 3G adopt a resolution approving an encroachment agreement for the exterior renovations in the public right away adjacent to 241, 253 Glenn Drive. 3H receive and file report regarding becoming a charter city. And then 3I receive and file the employee retention and recruitment update. And that item actually I'm going to ask to be pulled and put at the end of the agenda.
00:17:18.10	Melissa	Any other requests to pull anything?
00:17:21.35	Jeffrey Jacob	Public comment.
00:17:22.32	Melissa	We're going to get the public comment. I'm just letting people know if anything is equal. I have my maybe get another opportunity.
00:17:25.91	Jeffrey Jacob	Bye.
00:17:25.93	Councilmember Blasian	I have my...
00:17:27.24	Councilmember Blasian	I have my hand raised.
00:17:28.15	Melissa	you
00:17:28.61	Melissa	Oh, sorry.
00:17:29.44	Councilmember Blasian	I have my hand raised, Mr. Mayor.
00:17:31.09	Melissa	Thank you.
00:17:31.11	Councilmember Blasian	Sorry.
00:17:31.41	Melissa	Thank you.
00:17:31.60	Melissa	Thank you.
00:17:31.65	Councilmember Blasian	I would I would really like to pull item 3D just given all of the correspondence that we received on this issue. I think we owe it to the public who have weighed in. We've received many letters.
00:17:41.45	Melissa	Could I propose that maybe we take public comment and then we could ask to pull it off the agenda that way they can make public comment on it now while they're here. And then we have another way to leave it on consent, but we might pull it off consent based on public comment on the consent calendar.
00:17:50.36	Morgan Pierce	Sure, I would support that.
00:17:58.17	Director Hess	And then mayor 3 H says in the title receive and file a report provide direction to staff. The recommended action at the end of the staff or is
00:18:09.26	Director Hess	Receive and file, but I think this is an important item and I would like to provide direction to staff regarding pursuing whether or not to become a charter city and so I think we need to pull it off to be able to give direction to staff.
00:18:21.24	Melissa	Okay.
00:18:22.34	Melissa	So we'll pull 3 H off 3 H and 3 I will do 3 I first because it tags with the budget item and then 3 H. Anything else? All right, so for those so we will hear now hear public comment on the consent counter items 3 A through 3 G. Still preserving the right as per customer blessings request to potentially pull one more item off the agenda or kick it to a future meeting. So public comment please on the consent counter for those items only.
00:18:49.68	Vladislava Skaricha	Okay, I'll call them, I'll call people by the order that I've received their cards. If you want to speak, please fill out one of the speaker cards and then return them over to this area. Thank you so much. First speaker is Nora Waddell followed by Ted Barton, then Charles Hamilton.
00:19:10.32	Unknown	Hello, good evening everyone.
00:19:12.63	Unknown	This is my first time at City Council. I grew up in Sausalito, so I'm very happy to be here. Thank you.
00:19:18.53	Unknown	I would like to speak to the parking restriction.
00:19:23.68	Unknown	across from 22 Atwood and request that it be removed from consent and also to refuse that parking restriction. I live on the 2nd Street stairs with my elderly mother, she is 89, and my 5 1⁄2 year old daughter. We have parked on the street for 50 years. My mother continues to park on the street. Parking on North Street is very challenging.
00:19:53.92	Unknown	um,
00:19:55.37	Unknown	We rely on that parking since we are on the public stairs. Those two parking spots and that one parking spot in particular at 301 North Street
00:20:05.50	Unknown	is one of the closest ones to our house and so we would have to go up on outward or all the way up to the park it's already a hardship um also we have four rental units on second street my father was an architect and established those units three of those have one off-street parking that means there's three people parking cars on the street one unit has no off-street parking that means that's one or two cars on the street. So one off street parking, that means there's three people parking cars on the street. One unit has no off street parking, that means that's one or two cars on the street. So we really are already beyond capacity in our neighborhood with parking. So removing that parking spot at 22 Outwood would be
00:20:47.36	Unknown	further encroaching upon the public good that has been continually encroached upon in our neighborhood over the years that I've lived there. Thank you so much.
00:20:58.81	Vladislava Skaricha	Ted Barton?
00:21:05.47	Ted Barton	Hello. Thank you.
00:21:10.13	Ted Barton	My wife and I own the house at 317 2nd Street on the stairs down from North Street. We don't have any street access, no parking, no garage. Parking is limited in our area and it is a premium. It fills up quickly as most streets in Sausalito do. I can see it as like having a view here in Sausalito. If someone tries to block your view, you fight for every inch and parking kind of feels that way.
00:21:36.38	Ted Barton	The previous owners of 22 Atwood
00:21:39.71	Ted Barton	We're longtime South Dakota residents and appreciated the value of available street parking.
00:21:44.50	Ted Barton	They kept that in mind when they rebuilt their home and put in a garage on North Street.
00:21:49.09	Ted Barton	I'd like to read from the Sausalito Planning Commission resolution
00:21:52.30	Ted Barton	NUMBER 2.
00:21:54.27	Ted Barton	2014-XX about the 22 Atwood redesign, which says right here, I'll get right to it, proposed entrances, exits, internal circulation and parking spaces are configured to provide an appropriate level of traffic safety and ease of movement.
00:22:14.67	Director Hess	Can you speak up? I cannot hear what you're saying.
00:22:16.73	Ted Barton	Okay, I'm just going to read what the Planning Commission said at this time. The project is designed to meet current building codes to ensure adequate health and safety. The project is required to meet current public improvement and engineering standards to facilitate traffic safety and ease of movement.
00:22:32.04	Ted Barton	A new two car garage will be provided on North Street.
00:22:35.46	Ted Barton	which has been designed not to impact existing on-street parking
00:22:39.55	Ted Barton	and is set at an angle to facilitate ingress and egress. Therefore, the project will not create adverse impacts to traffic circulation and safety.
00:22:52.81	Ted Barton	This design was improved
00:22:54.87	Ted Barton	to keep on-street parking
00:22:56.63	Ted Barton	And that was part of the reason why I believe you gave it a green light in the first place.
00:23:00.91	Ted Barton	My house is on stairs is what it is.
00:23:03.33	Ted Barton	But I chose that.
00:23:05.28	Ted Barton	22 Atwood's Garage is what it is, and they chose that.
00:23:09.59	Melissa	you
00:23:09.60	Ted Barton	We got time, sir. Thank you.
00:23:11.58	Vladislava Skaricha	Next speaker, Charles Hamilton. Very helpful. Oh, okay. Great.
00:23:13.01	Director Hess	A Hamilton?
00:23:17.97	Alice Merrill	Balford, who is it?
00:23:19.02	Unknown	Thank you.
00:23:19.04	Vladislava Skaricha	Thank you.
00:23:19.09	Unknown	Thank you.
00:23:20.22	Charles Terlinsky/Hamilton	Charles. Tertlinski.
00:23:21.92	Charles Terlinsky/Hamilton	Okay.
00:23:22.19	Unknown	Thank you.
00:23:22.21	Charles Terlinsky/Hamilton	Hilton.
00:23:22.82	Charles Terlinsky/Hamilton	Oh, Charles Hamilton. Which one?
00:23:24.98	Unknown	I'm not sure.
00:23:25.16	Vladislava Skaricha	I'm not sure.
00:23:25.25	Unknown	Thank you.
00:23:25.45	Unknown	.
00:23:26.04	Vladislava Skaricha	.
00:23:26.28	Unknown	Thank you.
00:23:26.78	Vladislava Skaricha	Thank you.
00:23:27.29	Vladislava Skaricha	you know.
00:23:27.34	Charles Terlinsky/Hamilton	Yeah.
00:23:27.37	Vladislava Skaricha	Yeah.
00:23:27.83	Charles Terlinsky/Hamilton	Go ahead. Thanks, Charles. The floor is yours. Thanks.
00:23:28.35	Vladislava Skaricha	Thanks, fellas.
00:23:32.05	Unknown	Good afternoon, everybody. And I'm also speaking to this parking on North Street.
00:23:40.67	Kieran Cargan	Well,
00:23:41.60	Unknown	Well, Atwood.
00:23:45.97	Unknown	I'll keep this brief. Just I want to add, I know that my other neighbors have the exact numbers of houses and parking spots needed and everything.
00:23:58.09	Unknown	But myself and my partner that live at 213 North Street
00:24:03.72	Unknown	I'm a documentary filmmaker, Academy Award winning. I have a lot of film equipment at times and it's very difficult to park. So it is at a premium. The
00:24:20.63	Unknown	Yeah, I think I'll just leave it at that. And then also, if they have any trouble maneuvering in and out of their garage, I do have a list of about six or seven driving schools that I'd be happy to recommend them.
00:24:22.05	Unknown	And then,
00:24:39.58	Unknown	Thank you.
00:24:40.83	Vladislava Skaricha	Next speaker, Karen Maddox, followed by Mary Carey, then Beth King.
00:24:52.12	Karen Maddox	Hello, esteemed council members and neighbors. I'm here to ask for your consideration to remove this from the consent list because parking is really tough on our street. We have several people who have injuries or who are older folks, and we only have a few spots, and they get taken up. And when they are, we often have to draw it. We often have to walk several blocks away up steep hills, sometimes almost by the women's club. It can be that bad. And so I personally travel for work with luggage and and this is a couple times a month. So getting just running my normal life and my business and having it, you know, be able to go get my car and
00:25:46.07	Karen Maddox	bring it closer to the house is a really big deal. These neighbors have a two-car garage.
00:25:51.87	Karen Maddox	It's unfortunate that they don't know how to back out of their driveway.
00:25:59.59	Melissa	sir sir please do not interrupt the speaker you will have an opportunity for your own public comment
00:26:04.65	Karen Maddox	You will have an opportunity.
00:26:07.67	Karen Maddox	I will arm wrestle you after.
00:26:09.93	Melissa	I don't know.
00:26:09.98	Karen Maddox	I'm sorry.
00:26:10.30	Karen Maddox	So,
00:26:12.70	Karen Maddox	I'm just asking for some consideration for the folks in the neighborhood. I've lived in this house for 16 years. We have a really special group of people, a really loving bunch of people.
00:26:25.56	Karen Maddox	And, you know, our lives matter, too. I don't know if the people that moved into that house even live here.
00:26:31.58	Karen Maddox	full time, and we all do. Thank you.
00:26:37.05	Vladislava Skaricha	All right, next speaker is Mary Carey.
00:26:41.91	Mary Carey	I...
00:26:42.36	Mary Carey	My name is Mary Carey. Thank you for listening to us. Thank you neighbors. We've been in Sausalito since the 1970s and North Street has been part of the family. We're talking about the same street here.
00:26:57.03	Mary Carey	And we have names for the sections of parking. It's so hard to park. We have the nosebleed.
00:27:03.49	Mary Carey	We've got the bamboo, which they're trying to take from us now.
00:27:07.81	Mary Carey	And we've got the Rockstar, which is already taken away all the time for people doing construction projects. So right now the North Street Stairs Rockstar has been taken away. And I play in bands. I have to carry my guitars from the nosebleed way down in. I'm about to turn 65. It's scary to us, the idea of losing parking spaces, especially when the garage was built to allow people to easily go in and out. The former owner who built the house didn't have any trouble with it. Sausalito approved it so that we could get in and out. We only found out about this morning, so I'm a little bit upset. Anyway, thank you.
00:27:53.73	Vladislava Skaricha	All right next speaker Beth King followed by Charlie Tulinski and then David Corey.
00:28:01.09	Beth King	Hello, I'm Beth King. I live at 209 North Street. My family has owned the property since the 70s. North Street is, as Mary just said, it's a joke. It's always, you know, if you get a parking place, you've won the lottery because it's very difficult to park on our street. I'm actually here to present to you
00:28:26.95	Beth King	just a survey that we did today. We addressed how many people who live on North Street who actually need to park on North Street because they have to park a car on the street.
00:28:39.66	Beth King	and who else impacts our street?
00:28:43.26	Beth King	And what we found out is that there are
00:28:46.87	Beth King	14 people on North Street that depend on parking on the street.
00:28:50.92	Beth King	But there are 29 people altogether because this includes 3rd Street that is, if I'm saying that right, 2nd Street, I'm sorry, 2nd Street that is just below us, all the people that live on the stairs that need to park on North Street.
00:29:06.71	Beth King	And then we also have people on Atwood that don't have parking that need to park on North Street. So it's a very, very tight situation. And there's old people, there's young people, there's all different ages, but it is extremely difficult, no matter what day or time of the day it is. So thank you for your consideration.
00:29:33.68	Vladislava Skaricha	Charlie Klinski.
00:29:35.87	Charles Terlinsky/Hamilton	I'm Charles Terlinsky.
00:29:37.96	Charles Terlinsky/Hamilton	you
00:29:38.40	Charles Terlinsky/Hamilton	Thank you for making some time for the comment on this. I live on 317 Bridgeway, 317 and 319. And I think a couple points that were made here were irrelevant.
00:29:49.57	Charles Terlinsky/Hamilton	the address of the actual
00:29:52.76	Charles Terlinsky/Hamilton	that we have to
00:29:54.30	Charles Terlinsky/Hamilton	of the parking garage that we're talking about,
00:29:58.48	Charles Terlinsky/Hamilton	is Atwood. We're talking about North Street.
00:30:01.17	Charles Terlinsky/Hamilton	So I think it's important. Maybe this never got considered, but
00:30:05.62	Charles Terlinsky/Hamilton	Atwood.
00:30:06.67	Charles Terlinsky/Hamilton	is using North Street. I'm on Bridgeway. I've got other people on the steps on Bridgeway in that area. That we don't have immediate, I don't have parking. I don't have private parking and that's perfectly fine.
00:30:19.48	Charles Terlinsky/Hamilton	as you've heard.
00:30:20.69	Charles Terlinsky/Hamilton	parking is at a premium and therefore losing an extra spot for
00:30:25.69	Charles Terlinsky/Hamilton	for purposes that I think that research was very useful and very helpful. And thank you for diving into that because I think that says it all.
00:30:33.20	Charles Terlinsky/Hamilton	There was a
00:30:34.33	Charles Terlinsky/Hamilton	The entire design was
00:30:36.20	Charles Terlinsky/Hamilton	was approved for a particular reason and a particular use case and changing it now.
00:30:41.85	Charles Terlinsky/Hamilton	uh,
00:30:42.83	Charles Terlinsky/Hamilton	Wouldn't make any sense and
00:30:44.37	Charles Terlinsky/Hamilton	We'll hope you do not do that. Thank you.
00:30:50.12	Vladislava Skaricha	All right, we have a David Corey followed by Jeffrey Jacob then Bill Goldman.
00:30:59.84	David Carey	Hello, David Carey. I live at 209 North Street. It's a privilege to address you this evening. I largely just want to reiterate everything's been said so far. It's been my experience as well. I do want to say that we have met Fred and his wife who now own 22 Atwood and they're lovely people and our opposition is nothing personal. They may not realize how it affects the rest of us who do depend on North Street parking.
00:31:30.52	David Carey	And, um,
00:31:32.39	David Carey	I know it was touched on, but I think it's really important that when we can't find parking on North Street, our first option is to go up a block farther
00:31:42.05	David Carey	opposite Southview Park.
00:31:45.66	David Carey	Since the park has been renovated, there's even less spaces available. So we're parking overnight, and now people that want to come and use the park, they're looking for a place to park on North Street opposite the park,
00:31:57.15	David Carey	and the residents of North Street are now parked there where they could have
00:32:00.96	David Carey	parked below. So it's an interference to the public good in that way.
00:32:05.72	David Carey	So, you know, parking is truly a premium. Our experience is that. And hopefully you can agree with us and remove this from the consent calendar. Thank you.
00:32:21.43	Vladislava Skaricha	Jeffrey Jacob.
00:32:28.22	Jeffrey Jacob	Hello, Mr. Mayor, City Council, citizens of Sausalito. My name is Jeffrey Jacob, 27 foot sloop.
00:32:35.37	Jeffrey Jacob	Now across the channel, but I'll be in Sausalito waters soon enough.
00:32:39.66	Jeffrey Jacob	that I'm here to talk first
00:32:45.24	Jeffrey Jacob	in commendation of the people that are
00:32:47.81	Jeffrey Jacob	Speaking about parking, there's three parking places for every car in California.
00:32:55.49	Jeffrey Jacob	that there's no sidewalks once you get above Bridgeway.
00:32:59.91	Jeffrey Jacob	So people do not walk.
00:33:02.62	Jeffrey Jacob	There's no public transportation up there. To have even one bus or van
00:33:08.51	Jeffrey Jacob	which would relieve the parking problems greatly.
00:33:13.66	Jeffrey Jacob	that
00:33:14.79	Jeffrey Jacob	There is now $110,000
00:33:18.05	Jeffrey Jacob	to a, this is item 3C.
00:33:22.70	Jeffrey Jacob	for a parking study. This isn't making a new parking lot. It's not putting black asphalt, which by the way, reflects a lot more heat than white asphalt.
00:33:32.21	Jeffrey Jacob	Poured right now on Bridgeway.
00:33:34.82	Jeffrey Jacob	Avenue.
00:33:36.36	Jeffrey Jacob	and Caledonia.
00:33:38.42	Jeffrey Jacob	that
00:33:39.16	Jeffrey Jacob	It is known that the cities become hotter
00:33:42.21	Jeffrey Jacob	when they pour
00:33:43.90	Jeffrey Jacob	Pavement.
00:33:45.76	Jeffrey Jacob	So that's $110,000 for a parking study. There's $70,000. This is for license plate readers.
00:33:54.50	Jeffrey Jacob	as if there's going to be another person looking at every person that enters and exits Sausalito.
00:34:01.45	Jeffrey Jacob	There's also a, I didn't get the price for this, but there's a consultant
00:34:06.80	Jeffrey Jacob	This is item number 3F. It's being hired
00:34:10.58	Jeffrey Jacob	to hire consultants.
00:34:13.38	Jeffrey Jacob	Do we get the irony of this?
00:34:15.51	Jeffrey Jacob	So,
00:34:17.18	Jeffrey Jacob	Shema Yisrael Adonai Eloheinu Adonai Echad and Shema the Palestinians too.
00:34:24.37	Jeffrey Jacob	that we are here for something bigger.
00:34:26.81	Jeffrey Jacob	than money
00:34:28.42	Jeffrey Jacob	Thank you.
00:34:30.88	Vladislava Skaricha	Bill Goldman followed by Frederick O. Lewis and then Bonnie McGregor. So Bill Goldman.
00:34:49.83	Bill Goldman	Council, thank you for hearing us. My name is Bill Goldman.
00:34:54.59	Bill Goldman	I live at Channing Way and I'm speaking to you about not an access problem or a convenience problem or a congestion problem, but a safety problem. Prospect Avenue, because it is now become from a single, from a double lane street to practically a single-lane street that is obstructed every time there are workmen in pickup trucks addressing the,
00:35:28.39	Bill Goldman	renovations that are continual on the street.
00:35:33.13	Bill Goldman	And my concern, and I hope you can
00:35:36.37	Bill Goldman	take it very seriously.
00:35:38.72	Bill Goldman	is the safety issues because how could
00:35:41.97	Bill Goldman	Emergency vehicles.
00:35:44.27	Bill Goldman	Fire trucks, emergency medical vehicles get through this maze to reach the people along Prospect and Channing Way. That is worth serious consideration. Thank you.
00:35:59.96	Vladislava Skaricha	Thank you.
00:36:00.57	Vladislava Skaricha	Frederick Lewis.
00:36:06.83	Unknown	Good evening, everyone. I'm the owner of the property at 22 Atwood.
00:36:11.12	Unknown	When I purchased the property, the owner of the property said the biggest mistake he made was
00:36:16.20	Unknown	was the design of the garage. And if you come down North Street from up top, you cannot enter when there's a car parked across the street. If you back up and turn maybe seven, eight times,
00:36:30.46	Unknown	you can get in. Even then, at that point, you can only get a single car in. As it is, we parked two vehicles on North Street.
00:36:37.02	Unknown	Thank you.
00:36:37.05	Unknown	So there would be a net savings of a single parking space if we're able to park two vehicles in the garage.
00:36:42.51	Unknown	Currently, it's very difficult to get in.
00:36:44.50	Unknown	And I would challenge anyone if a car is parked across the street
00:36:48.01	Unknown	It is impossible to turn inside the garage.
00:36:50.74	Unknown	without making at least 8, 9, 10 turns and
00:36:54.55	Unknown	Most instances, you're worried about hitting the car across the street.
00:36:58.82	Unknown	So
00:36:59.99	Unknown	The idea is currently we have two cars parked on North Street.
00:37:03.73	Unknown	There is a net savings if we can remove the car from across the street
00:37:07.89	Unknown	the and the areas as
00:37:10.10	Unknown	one parking space is removed.
00:37:12.74	Unknown	now we will no longer have to park 2 cars on North Street so there is a savings.
00:37:18.09	Unknown	And if anyone were to see the design, they would completely understand what I'm saying. It's impossible to pull your car in.
00:37:29.87	Unknown	No, no comments. Please. No comment. Let's not
00:37:30.53	Melissa	No comments, please. No comments. Please, no comments. That's why I never parked there. Let's please not have this dialogue.
00:37:35.07	Unknown	The other owner never parked there. The other owner parked on Atwood. He's the one that personally told me that was a mistake that he made, was the design of the parking space. Maybe you get one car in, but you'll never get two cars in. And the one car, you'll have to come from the opposite direction. And that's the only way you're going to get it in.
00:37:52.20	Unknown	So there would be a net savings of a single parking space. If they were to deny it, we'll continue to park two cars on North Street, and there will be an additional parking space at the Louvre's.
00:38:08.38	Melissa	Please don't have, yeah, nobody asked you. These outbursts are not helpful to the dialogue, please. Next. In regard of time, sir. Thank you very much. Thank you.
00:38:09.70	Unknown	Yeah, nobody asked you.
00:38:14.84	Vladislava Skaricha	Next. You're out of time, sir. Thank you very much. Next speaker, Bonnie McGregor, then followed by Alice Merrill.
00:38:26.98	Bonnie McGregor	Thank you.
00:38:27.67	Bonnie McGregor	I'm glad it's cooling down a little bit.
00:38:27.92	Vladislava Skaricha	But it's cool.
00:38:31.32	Bonnie McGregor	Thank you.
00:38:31.45	Bonnie McGregor	Well, I'm here to see Bonnie McGregor. I live at 90 Princess Street. And I've lived there now for 15 and a half years.
00:38:40.61	Bonnie McGregor	And I'm here tonight to discuss or hope to see some wonderful results out of the parking downtown parking survey that's being done.
00:38:50.38	Bonnie McGregor	Well, I've kept track of it. I used to actually write it all down and take pictures and I just started drowning in the information. I'm going to say over 90% of the time between where the parking meters end and up to the Presbyterian church. And there are, Oh, probably 15 spaces along there.
00:39:09.17	Bonnie McGregor	Over 50% of the time, I say about 90% of the time, over 50% of the cars parked there do not have an Area B sticker.
00:39:17.50	Bonnie McGregor	And what I've noticed is that people who are willing to spend a tremendous amount of money to come downtown and eat dinner, which we appreciate, but they want free parking.
00:39:28.57	Bonnie McGregor	Also, the bed and breakfast next door has their guests park along there. And you've got the vendors, merchants, and also the employees trying to park along there.
00:39:42.34	Bonnie McGregor	So meanwhile, I usually spend, when I first moved in there, it was 15 to 20 minutes, and that was not too bad. The average wait time now, and has been for the last year or two years,
00:39:44.08	Unknown	Excuse me.
00:39:54.51	Bonnie McGregor	45 minutes to an hour. I waited an hour today in the middle of the day to get a parking place.
00:39:59.91	Bonnie McGregor	So I hope we can get something done about it. My recommendation is the signs from the parking meters to the Presbyterian church should say, excuse me, that's from smoking when I was a kid.
00:40:09.78	Unknown	Thank you.
00:40:11.15	Bonnie McGregor	They should say residents only 24 seven in the area B sticker. That's all it needs to say. Simple for people driving by to read. They don't get confused.
00:40:21.91	Bonnie McGregor	You know, run into another car because they're trying to read all the verbiage on the sign. So that's why I'm here.
00:40:29.83	Vladislava Skaricha	Alice Merrill.
00:40:40.78	Alice Merrill	Hello, and my name is Alice Merrill. So here I am chiming in on something that just parking is so hard here. And to.
00:40:54.06	Alice Merrill	I don't know what this situation is, but to take out a place is tough, any place.
00:41:00.68	Alice Merrill	I have a friend who lives on North Street, and I can't go visit her. I can't ever park there. And if you wanted to go to the park,
00:41:09.37	Alice Merrill	WE NEED TO COORDINATE OUR THINKING WHEN WE DO THINGS. AND YOU GUYS ARE TRYING.
00:41:16.28	Alice Merrill	everybody is, but
00:41:18.55	Alice Merrill	I feel for the people who live there who are losing a spot.
00:41:24.15	Alice Merrill	who are there.
00:41:25.33	Alice Merrill	and have been there.
00:41:26.68	Alice Merrill	all the time. Thank you.
00:41:30.73	Vladislava Skaricha	We have, we have a speaker on zoom and Jonathan.
00:41:38.14	Jonathan Leon	Hi, can you hear me?
00:41:40.01	Jonathan Leon	Thank you.
00:41:40.03	Vladislava Skaricha	Yes.
00:41:40.84	Jonathan Leon	Thank you. Hi, my name is Jonathan Leon. I live on Third Street. I used to live on the Second Street stairs. I've been in this neighborhood for 30 years.
00:41:50.19	Jonathan Leon	Parking is at a very high premium. The people have made clear the reasons for that in this neighborhood, both the renovation of the park, the fact that there's only Atwood is not a stickered area.
00:42:05.59	Jonathan Leon	So people who work on Bridgeway park there during the day, as well as along North Street.
00:42:11.23	Jonathan Leon	Um,
00:42:12.01	Jonathan Leon	This house was designed
00:42:13.86	Jonathan Leon	to be able to access, like his neighbor,
00:42:17.12	Jonathan Leon	at an angle coming from
00:42:19.63	Jonathan Leon	Princess and along Atwood down on
00:42:24.58	Jonathan Leon	to get to the garage.
00:42:26.28	Jonathan Leon	not to come down North Street from the park.
00:42:29.42	Jonathan Leon	That's what the angle of the garage is.
00:42:31.80	Jonathan Leon	And the engineering study that was done with this building said there wasn't going to be any problems.
00:42:38.67	Jonathan Leon	If you do feel the need, which is not, I don't see the pressing need for this,
00:42:44.42	Jonathan Leon	But to...
00:42:46.58	Jonathan Leon	limit the amount of parking. It should be a reduced size of what's going on here. This is eliminating more than a full space.
00:42:54.36	Jonathan Leon	If to add the garage that was two houses up,
00:42:57.74	Jonathan Leon	years ago.
00:42:59.09	Jonathan Leon	only a portion of like five, six feet was designated red instead of a full parking space to get out of a garage.
00:43:07.86	Jonathan Leon	So this is an existing condition.
00:43:10.58	Jonathan Leon	It was reviewed by the Planning Commission. It was approved from this engineering study.
00:43:14.22	Jonathan Leon	there's so little parking. So many of these units on North Street and on the Second Street stairs don't have off-street parking.
00:43:21.38	Jonathan Leon	that to privatize the space and there are already cars parked in this garage, by the way, it shouldn't be
00:43:29.87	Jonathan Leon	taking space from the general public
00:43:32.18	Jonathan Leon	for private use.
00:43:37.33	Melissa	Thank you all right and I know for the public speakers. Okay, we'll close public comment.
00:43:38.34	Vladislava Skaricha	Ross.
00:43:42.22	Melissa	Mayor. Vice Mayor.
00:43:42.30	Director Hess	May I...
00:43:42.98	Director Hess	Thank you.
00:43:43.10	Director Hess	I would like to make a novel suggestion as a former planning commissioner and because
00:43:48.94	Director Hess	There were several references made to the Planning Commission decision that approved this garage this this Issue begs a site visit it is impossible to imagine this in a vacuum I as eight years on the Planning Commission I could never make a decision if I hadn't actually seen the site with my own eyes and understood the geographical constraints So I would like to recommend that we pull this off our consent calendar and refer it to the Planning Commission for consideration. I'm not sure why this didn't go to the Planning Commission in the first place.
00:44:23.85	Melissa	Looking at Council Member Blasstein, since you made the first inquiry on this, are you good with that suggestion? How about my colleagues?
00:44:30.11	Councilmember Blasian	I'm comfortable with that. I think it deserves additional review of certain.
00:44:33.76	Melissa	Anyone else?
00:44:35.75	Councilmember Kelman	Yes, thank you. And thank you everybody for coming. Flashbacks to planning commission. Thank Jonathan and I were actually on the planning commission during the 2010 approval of this. Um, I, so there you go. I want to add an additional, um, I support the vice mayor suggestion, but I also want to ask the city manager to help us take a hard look at the signage in that area. I thought Ms. McGregor's comment is very well received in terms of how are we signing this area? Who is able to park here? Is this for residents? As our commercial businesses using the parking to the detriment of our residents? I think that's worth a hard look. And sometimes signs go up that aren't necessarily applicable for that particular use case. So I'd like to add that if my colleagues agree.
00:45:21.45	Director Hess	I would endorse Councilmember Kelman's suggestion. I listened with great interest to Jonathan Leone's comments about people who work on Bridgeway parking on residential streets during the day when there are lots available for that very purpose. So I would endorse that recommendation.
00:45:43.50	Director Hess	I agree.
00:45:44.85	Melissa	Okay, that's the direction on this item to the staff then. And we will not hear that that item is disposed of. So we're going to now it'll be referred to the Planning Commission.
00:45:55.11	Director Hess	And can we just thank everybody for showing up to alert us to this issue so that we can make a rational, well-reasoned decision. We appreciate it.
00:46:04.36	Councilmember Kelman	May I make one more suggestion, Mayor? Is that the city manager turned to us at the next meeting indicating a date certain for this. I mean, we can't give a date certain from the dias appear for planning commission. We don't know their calendar and their schedule. But I think we should have an awareness as to when this will be heard and conveyed to the planning commission that we feel is to be a priority to be heard. But I don't know what else they have on the planning commission.
00:46:26.03	Director Hess	Well, what I'd like to suggest is the city clerk has the speaker cards. And so I would like, uh, when this goes to the planning commission, I would like every single speaker who spoke tonight to receive notice that it's going to be heard by the planning commission and on what date.
00:46:41.40	Vladislava Skaricha	For the record, not everybody puts their contact info on the speaker cards.
00:46:46.07	Melissa	we might invite members of the audience who wish to be kept informed to write their name and number down on a sheet of paper and hand it to the city clerk before you leave.
00:46:53.89	Director Hess	or email the city clerk it's just city clerk at Sausalito.org
00:46:58.24	Director Hess	Thank you.
00:46:58.26	Melissa	of.
00:46:59.93	Director Hess	.gov..gov, sorry,.gov..gov.
00:47:02.93	Melissa	Thank you.
00:47:03.35	Melissa	All right, so item 3D is dispensed with. So we're going to vote on the consent calendar items 3A, B, and C, 3E, F, and G. All right.
00:47:14.07	Melissa	Can I get a motion to approve those items?
00:47:18.29	Unknown	I hear you think that again, Mayor.
00:47:18.46	Melissa	I'm gonna get mayor we're rooting like you're voting to accept items 3 a b c e f and g items 3 h and i are pulled off the consent counter for later in the program.
00:47:30.76	Director Hess	So moved. Second. I'll second.
00:47:33.20	Melissa	Second on neighbor roll call, please as one of our members is out of the
00:47:33.83	Director Hess	All in favor.
00:47:37.61	Vladislava Skaricha	Thank you.
00:47:37.63	Melissa	Thank you.
00:47:37.64	Vladislava Skaricha	Councilmember Blasting.
00:47:38.52	Melissa	Thank you.
00:47:38.55	Vladislava Skaricha	Thank you.
00:47:39.91	Councilor I'm confused	Yes.
00:47:40.78	Vladislava Skaricha	Uh, sorry. Councilmember Huffman?
00:47:43.72	Councilor I'm confused	Yes.
00:47:46.87	Vladislava Skaricha	Council member, uh, coming.
00:47:49.17	Councilmember Kelman	Yes.
00:47:49.47	Vladislava Skaricha	Thank you.
00:47:49.89	Vladislava Skaricha	Vice Mayor Cox? Yes. And Mayor Sobieski.
00:47:50.81	Councilmember Kelman	.
00:47:53.10	Melissa	Yes, all right, moving on now to public hearing items.
00:47:57.96	Vladislava Skaricha	We never voted on the minutes.
00:48:01.99	Melissa	Okay, we'll go back to item 2a. Thank you very much for catching that city clerk. This is adopting the draft minutes of the May 21, 2024 city council meeting. Can I get a motion to approve those minutes?
00:48:15.41	Councilmember Kelman	So I moved. I'll make a motion.
00:48:16.66	Sharna Brockett	Thank you.
00:48:17.05	Melissa	Thank you.
00:48:17.06	Sharna Brockett	I'm going to get it.
00:48:17.18	Melissa	Thank you.
00:48:17.76	Melissa	Yes, okay. And Melissa, but because I can't okay. Seconded all, let's do roll call, please again.
00:48:19.43	Councilmember Kelman	Second.
00:48:24.27	Vladislava Skaricha	Thank you.
00:48:24.30	Melissa	Thank you.
00:48:24.32	Vladislava Skaricha	Councilman Blossy?
00:48:26.51	Councilor I'm confused	Yes.
00:48:27.12	Vladislava Skaricha	Council member Hoffman.
00:48:30.73	Councilor I'm confused	Yes.
00:48:31.42	Vladislava Skaricha	Councilmember Kelman?
00:48:33.40	Councilor I'm confused	Yes.
00:48:33.77	Vladislava Skaricha	Thank you.
00:48:34.39	Vladislava Skaricha	Vice Mayor Cox.
00:48:36.22	Councilor I'm confused	Thank you.
00:48:36.23	Vladislava Skaricha	Yes.
00:48:37.35	Vladislava Skaricha	And Mayor Sobieski.
00:48:38.95	Melissa	Yes, all right, public hearing item 4A, public hearing on article.
00:48:44.77	Melissa	Well, that's a number X 3D. I'm not good on my Roman numerals, so I'm not sure what number that is. Section six of the California Constitution on the proposed sanitary sewer fees for fiscal year 2425 through 2627. Introduction and waiver first reading of ordinance three 2024, an ordinance of the city council in the city of Sausalito setting fees for sewer services for fiscal year 2425 through 2627. Director McGowan, you have the floor.
00:49:12.03	Kevin McGowan	Good evening, Mayor, members of City Council. This evening we have a short presentation from HF&H. I'm not sure if Rick Simon is going to give the presentation or Gabe Sasser. We also have Vivian Housen who should be in the audience if we have any questions about the capital program as well. So with that, I'll probably turn it over to...
00:49:31.52	Kevin McGowan	Great. And we do
00:49:35.36	Kevin McGowan	I'm looking at our lovely clerk to see if she found the presentation. There we go.
00:49:39.82	Rick Simonson	Thank you.
00:49:41.08	Rick Simonson	No.
00:49:42.10	Rick Simonson	Thank you.
00:49:43.72	Rick Simonson	.
00:50:08.62	Melissa	Thank you.
00:50:08.64	Rick Simonson	Please go right ahead.
00:50:10.75	Rick Simonson	Here we go excellent well good evening and Rick Simonson senior vice president with HF and H consultant we've been working with staff over the last 4 or 5 months to develop the rate study plan for your sewer system we were first in front of you in April to get approval to mail notices to each customer of your sewer service area and we're here tonight for the protest hearing
00:50:34.56	Rick Simonson	And next slide, please.
00:50:37.97	Rick Simonson	So they had
00:50:40.03	Rick Simonson	So the agenda will give you a little brief background for those members of the public that may not have been in attendance at the April meeting.
00:50:47.64	Rick Simonson	go through our rate study objectives and the process,
00:50:52.43	Rick Simonson	Describe the revenue requirement. Those are the expenses necessary to operate your sewer system, the proposed rates, bill impacts that customers can expect, and a comparison to some neighboring agencies.
00:51:04.97	Rick Simonson	We'll pause for some feedback from council to ask any questions and move on to the staff recommendation for tonight's hearing.
00:51:15.30	Rick Simonson	A brief background, your sewer system is run as a sewer enterprise fund in the city, and what that means are that the rates and the revenue that's generated from those rates can only be used for the sewer collection system. The sewer collection system costs are not funded by any general fund monies, nor can the revenues generated from the rates for the sewer services be used to fund any general fund activities. The revenues must stay within the enterprise. What that means in years in which revenues exceed expenses, those are held in reserves for future expenses.
00:51:55.70	Rick Simonson	Next slide.
00:51:58.50	Rick Simonson	So there can be some confusion with the city's collection system. The city provides sewer collection services to all customers in the cities, except for floating homes. The collection system is owned for floating homes and operated by the slot Sausalito Marin city sanitary district.
00:52:20.52	Rick Simonson	For the city collection operations for all other residents and commercial businesses in the cities, they're charged on the tax roll.
00:52:30.47	Rick Simonson	Sewer rates were last studied five years ago in 2019, where the council adopted a five-year rate plan. The last increase for that five-year rate plan was effective July 1 of 2023. That was a 4% increase.
00:52:45.44	Rick Simonson	Now the wastewater that is collected from your customers within your collection system is sent to the Sausalito Marin City Sanitary Conveyance System, which brings it down to their treatment facility.
00:52:58.69	Rick Simonson	So the services we're discussing tonight and the rates for services do not include treatment
00:53:04.87	Rick Simonson	which is billed by SMCSD also on the property tax bills. So customers will see two charges on the property tax bills, only one of which we're here tonight to speak to.
00:53:18.89	Rick Simonson	Next slide. Thank you. What are those charges? Just briefly, they're made up of two different components. First, there's a fixed charge. That's the same per dwelling unit for different customer classes. So all single family customers are charged one fixed charge per dwelling unit, duplexes, two based on their fixed charge amount, and multifamily is also charged a fixed cost per dwelling unit. There's also a volumetric component to make up the total charge. And that's based on average winter water use from the previous winter. So that is used as a proxy to estimate how much wastewater
00:54:03.71	Rick Simonson	is generated on the properties and sent to the treatment facility. That's the reason the industry uses winter water uses. There's less irrigation.
00:54:12.96	Rick Simonson	We're trying to capture only that which goes into the sewer system.
00:54:17.41	Rick Simonson	For commercial customers, they also do have a fixed charge, but it's based on how much flow they have as it relates specifically to an equivalent dwelling unit of the single family. So they have a multiple of more than one EDU per property. They also are subject to a volumetric charge.
00:54:38.79	Rick Simonson	Next slide.
00:54:41.51	Rick Simonson	So our rate study objectives when we undertake this process, first and foremost, we need to provide for sustainable revenues for your operations, maintenance of your aging system about 80, or my apologies,
00:55:01.27	Rick Simonson	about 20 miles of sewer pipe and four pump stations to maintain those facilities
00:55:07.01	Rick Simonson	Also, we need to conform with legal constraints and the rate setting best practices. First, rates need to be cost-based.
00:55:14.84	Rick Simonson	equitable among your customer classes no one customer class can subsidize a number another you cannot increase your commercial rates to help alleviate the pain on your residential rates they must be equitable
00:55:27.85	Rick Simonson	and also to maintain prudent reserves in cases of emergencies and emergency repairs and day-to-day cash flow.
00:55:36.40	Rick Simonson	Next slide.
00:55:38.04	Rick Simonson	What's the first step in the rate study is to understand their annual revenue requirements. So working with staff, looking over the next five year period, we see expenses to operate the facility increase from this current fiscal year, 23, 24,
00:55:53.75	Rick Simonson	of about 3.5 million are increasing to about 4.5 million by the end of the fifth year in 2829. It's made up of general operating and maintenance costs and admin overhead is the bulk of your expenses in addition for large repairs that were made in the past with the debt issuance they're still paying off debt and that's the light green bar you see there. And next in the blue bar we see the capital expenditures that are projected over the next five year period. About five million dollars in capital repairs are needed for the aging infrastructure based on an assessment by the city's contract engineer of repairing aging pipes that
00:56:36.75	Rick Simonson	A majority are over 80 years old.
00:56:39.91	Rick Simonson	We've also indicated in the solid black line your current revenue at current rates. If rates were not to change over the next five year period you'll see we can't keep up with the capital expenditures and by the end of the fifth year couldn't pay all the debt service that is required to pay back that bond issuance. We know some sort of rate increases necessary that can be a combination of rate increases or use of reserves.
00:57:04.81	Rick Simonson	Next slide.
00:57:07.41	Rick Simonson	So this chart here just summarizes in working with staff and getting a reasonable increase in how we may
00:57:16.12	Rick Simonson	approach increasing your revenues, also making use of reserves. So the bottom part of this graph with the solid and dotted green line shows your projected fund balance, both without rate increases, the dotted green line. By 28, 29 you'll be nearly out of reserves and well below what we call a minimum
00:57:35.84	Rick Simonson	minimum reserve level indicated in that red line. That's necessary to keep your day-to-day operations as you need to pay operating and capital costs on a day-to-day basis, but because you bill in the tax roll,
00:57:52.50	Rick Simonson	You basically receive your revenues in two large chunks in December and April of each year. So you need a minimum level of reserves.
00:58:01.88	Rick Simonson	What we've devised here with help with staff and committees is a reasonable plan I've highlighted just these first three years. That's what we're here to discuss today, approving just the next five years of rate increases. With 5% increases in revenues and making use of reserves, which is indicated by the sloping solid green line going down towards the target blue line, we can meet your needs over the next three year period. So again, a combination of rate increase and also using reserves that have been built up within the fund.
00:58:36.39	Rick Simonson	So what's that mean? Next slide. To your rates, this is an indication of first your fixed charges. Again, that differs from customer class by customer class, and also your volumetric charge, which is paid by every customer class equally on the same per 100 cubic feet rate.
00:58:57.25	Rick Simonson	I'll note in the 24-25 column, though we're increasing or projected increase revenues by 5%, it's not just a 5% increase to your current rates. With the cost of service study, as I mentioned, it needs to be equitable and there's a realignment of your rates with the cost of service. So you'll notice the fixed charges are going down and there's a shift from fixed to variable revenues. And you'll see the variable charge increasing. Again, this will net a 5% increase in your,
00:59:28.69	Rick Simonson	revenues.
00:59:30.48	Rick Simonson	The two preceding years, 25, 26 and 26, 27, those will be uniform 5% increases to those realigned rates.
00:59:41.43	Rick Simonson	Next slide.
00:59:44.47	Rick Simonson	Here's a small chart of some sample bill impacts over the next three year period, broken down by customer class. I'll just briefly review the single family, your largest customer class. And the average single family customer, winter water use is 125 gallons per day. So this depicts the annual bills on the first line,
01:00:08.18	Rick Simonson	currently would be $807.85 for a year that would actually decrease slightly under the new rate structure for 24 25 to 806 79 or savings of a dollar six on the property tax bill which equals about nine cents per month thereafter a 5% increase for 25 26 and 26 27 and through the realignment of the cost of service rates, you'll see there is a different impact to each of the customer classes. Again, this is based on average water use and every customer uses water differently.
01:00:45.66	Rick Simonson	So the impacts on the tax bills will differ from customer to customer.
01:00:50.45	Rick Simonson	Next slide.
01:00:51.95	Rick Simonson	We're also asked, how do we compare to our neighbors? So we've plotted here, many of the city of Sausalito's neighbors where
01:01:01.89	Rick Simonson	The current and the proposed city of Sausalito rates are depicted with the green bar on the bottom, which is the charge by
01:01:09.41	Rick Simonson	to treat water from the SMC SD and the yellow bars are the rates that we're discussing today. So overall, based on the recent rate increases SMC SD and what we're proposing here tonight, the average single family tax bill for both collection and treatment.
01:01:29.92	Rick Simonson	would increase about $33 for the year. Again, that includes both collection and treatment, though we're here tonight just for the collection as SMCSD has already increased their rates.
01:01:42.83	Rick Simonson	So you don't move relative to the other neighboring jurisdictions.
01:01:49.41	Rick Simonson	And I can pause there next slide is for actions for tonight I will pause if there's any questions from Council that I can answer now before we move on.
01:01:59.35	Melissa	Yes, but I was informed by our city attorney that I need to say some magic words, which is we are opening the public hearing on this matter. Go right ahead, Vice Mayor.
01:02:08.83	Director Hess	Thank you. Can we go back to slide eight?
01:02:12.31	Director Hess	year-end fund balance projections. Yes. With that downward. So,
01:02:14.72	Cheryl Pop	Yes.
01:02:18.65	Director Hess	I just want to clarify, we are adopting, if we pass the proposed
01:02:28.51	Director Hess	We are adopting three years, even though you have five years in that chart.
01:02:34.04	Rick Simonson	That is correct.
01:02:34.85	Director Hess	So you kept making reference to five years, but tonight we're only adopting three years. This is a five-year projection of what our
01:02:44.89	Director Hess	uh,
01:02:45.53	Director Hess	fund balance will look like, but we're only adopting three years.
01:02:51.12	Rick Simonson	That is a great clarification. That's why we've highlighted those first three years. The full study was a five-year outlook just to look into the future and how these next three years adopted rates would play out.
01:02:56.84	Director Hess	Right.
01:03:03.42	Director Hess	But the notice that went to ratepayers only gave them notice regarding the upcoming three years.
01:03:09.16	Rick Simonson	That is correct.
01:03:10.12	Director Hess	And one of the reasons for that is that it is a city council priority to
01:03:15.49	Director Hess	possibly consolidate with Sausalito-Marin City Sanitary District
01:03:20.03	Director Hess	certainly in less than three years, and so we need not
01:03:24.79	Director Hess	tie their hands
01:03:26.37	Director Hess	in terms of how they will manage
01:03:28.45	Director Hess	the entirety of collection and treatment should that
01:03:32.26	Director Hess	consolidation occur.
01:03:34.29	Rick Simonson	Accurate. Yes.
01:03:35.45	Director Hess	Yeah.
01:03:35.67	Director Hess	Okay.
01:03:36.18	Director Hess	Those were my questions, Mayor. Thank you.
01:03:38.20	Melissa	Thank you. Other questions, please.
01:03:41.73	Melissa	Councilmember Kelman.
01:03:43.06	Councilmember Kelman	Sure, since we have the benefit of our Director Hess here, I'm wondering if you could help us with this, Director Hess, into context with some of the budget.
01:03:52.51	Councilmember Kelman	information we're gonna see in one of the items tonight
01:03:55.21	Councilmember Kelman	Anything you want to flag or we should know or direction you want to give?
01:04:03.53	Chad Hess	Good evening, Mayor, Council, General Pollack. In the fiscal year 24 budget, we are using their updated rates. So I am accounting for this increased rate in our fiscal year 25 budget.
01:04:15.97	Chad Hess	Thank you.
01:04:16.15	Chad Hess	So...
01:04:16.88	Unknown	Yes.
01:04:24.46	Melissa	Any other questions, please?
01:04:27.68	Councilmember Kelman	I'm sure.
01:04:27.97	Councilor I'm confused	Thank you.
01:04:28.03	Councilmember Kelman	I'm sure it'll come up.
01:04:28.56	Melissa	Okay.
01:04:28.56	Councilor I'm confused	Okay.
01:04:28.91	Councilmember Kelman	Thank you.
01:04:28.95	Melissa	Go ahead, Councilor Merrill.
01:04:31.53	Councilor I'm confused	I have a question that was relayed to me by a resident that I forwarded to our city manager, and I hope that it made it to you. It was a question for the consultant. The question was that the rates, as they appear, there's a single-family rate, and that rate doubles for duplexes. But then when you look at multifamily units, it's not a clear per unit cost. It unit cost that's the same as the single family residents, even though the multifamily units may be the same size as the single family residents. And so the question was, why is that? And can that be adjusted so that, you know, that the percentage rate, I suppose, is the same for the duplexes for the other multifamily?
01:05:20.09	Rick Simonson	So if we go to slide nine, I'd like to just point out. So if you look in the 24-25 column, the cost of service, single family is 637 as a fixed charge. And it is less as you go down the list as the difference in water use and the fixed capacity that those customers need. And this is on a per dwelling unit basis.
01:05:43.97	Rick Simonson	So each dwelling unit is charged that fixed charge. So it does decrease if you're in a duplex, your piece of the duplex, one resident within the duplex is 378, which is less than the single family rate.
01:05:59.73	Councilor I'm confused	And so I'm sorry. And so with when you go down to the multifamily per dwelling unit, it's the same price per the dwelling unit.
01:06:05.96	Rick Simonson	price.
01:06:08.20	Rick Simonson	For each dwelling unit, but less than a full single family or duplex because they typically use less water on average and need less capacity in the system.
01:06:09.00	Councilor I'm confused	I'm not used to one.
01:06:21.20	Councilor I'm confused	Okay, thank you.
01:06:22.03	Director Hess	Thank you.
01:06:22.06	Rick Simonson	Does that help?
01:06:23.11	Councilor I'm confused	Thank you.
01:06:23.16	Rick Simonson	Thank you.
01:06:23.21	Councilor I'm confused	I think so.
01:06:23.86	Rick Simonson	Okay.
01:06:25.06	Councilor I'm confused	Thank you.
01:06:25.08	Director Hess	Please.
01:06:25.62	Councilor I'm confused	Thank you.
01:06:26.24	Director Hess	The other part of the question was can we make an adjustment. We've already published these rates to our ratepayers so we're not able to adjust those rates tonight without re noticing the rates to our ratepayers is that right.
01:06:39.36	Rick Simonson	That's correct, these are the maximum rates. You cannot do anything higher on any one of the rates listed here.
01:06:46.41	Rick Simonson	But these rates for cost of service are based on the analysis of water demand patterns by each customer class. So these you can't put your thumb on the scale and say well I want to charge a little less to this customer class versus this one. So these are all cost based based on the demand patterns of each of the classes.
01:07:04.04	Director Hess	Thank you.
01:07:05.39	Unknown	Mayor but yes city manager some clarity on this one if I could get into it because you speak into your microphone please if you could indulge me have a question for the consultant so 5% is a maximum but they could go to 4 or 3 if they chose to
01:07:06.37	Rick Simonson	Yes, city manager.
01:07:19.33	Rick Simonson	Thank you.
01:07:19.92	Rick Simonson	These are the maximum you could do something less.
01:07:22.69	Rick Simonson	Yeah.
01:07:23.11	Melissa	I want to make sure that was clear. Thank you city manager. Follow up on that.
01:07:26.23	Director Hess	follow up on that.
01:07:27.89	Director Hess	If you go back to slide eight, which is the prior slide,
01:07:31.74	Director Hess	If we do less, we're going to be in the red sooner. We need these rates to maintain the, to not go into a negative fund balance in the fourth or fifth year, is that right?
01:07:42.99	Rick Simonson	To maintain the reserves at a reasonable level and to put monies towards the capital needed, needed capital projects to repair and replace the 80 year old pipes. This is the recommended increase.
01:07:59.53	Director Hess	And when you initially came to us, you gave us the option of a more aggressive capital improvement program, which would have cost us $1.7 million per year, rather than the average annual cost these rates reflect, which is $787,000 per year. Is that right?
01:08:16.82	Rick Simonson	That is correct.
01:08:17.52	Director Hess	I'm sorry.
01:08:17.70	Director Hess	And so we purposely adopted a more conservative rate increase in order to be respectful of the impact of rates on our customers and still be respectful of the consent decree that continues to exist from the EPA.
01:08:31.76	Rick Simonson	That is correct. There's needed improvements and we looked at different scenarios for spreading that out over time and things looked much worse. The first scenarios that we presented.
01:08:44.33	Babette McDougall	Thank you.
01:08:46.80	Rick Simonson	Okay.
01:08:47.08	Melissa	We will now open public comment.
01:08:48.47	Councilmember Kelman	Sorry, Mayor. Go ahead. Council Member. I'm trying again with Director Hess in the room.
01:08:48.92	Melissa	Thank you.
01:08:49.04	Melissa	Go ahead, Councilman.
01:08:53.95	Councilmember Kelman	So what I...
01:08:56.16	Councilmember Kelman	thank you we i'm on the committee so some of this we've gone over so forgive me um but to the vice mayor's point what i want to make sure is that we're not in the red right i want to make sure that the community knows exactly what it is they were noticed of and what we are going to be um potentially approving but i also want to get a sense you said uh it puts us enough money in the reserves that we can pay for key infrastructure projects. And I don't know, uh, director McGowan's also here. I'm trying to get my head around what some of those key infrastructure projects are going to cost, how much of this rate increase is actually going to allow us to remedy or address some outstanding, uh, key infrastructure projects, just some, something to piece it all together. So I'm not just looking at the comparison on the chart, but I'm thinking of it in the context of our overall budget and how we're actually getting the work done.
01:09:45.11	Councilmember Kelman	whether it's director McGowan and your capital program or what. So if somebody could kind of bring it down a level and just help us understand what exactly this enables us to do, I think that would be great. Or maybe Vivian. Yeah. Hi.
01:09:56.98	Kevin McGowan	It's probably best to bring Vivian up to address that specific question. Thank you.
01:09:59.19	Councilmember Kelman	to the
01:09:59.22	Vivian Housen	It's specific.
01:09:59.48	Councilmember Kelman	So,
01:10:00.19	Vivian Housen	Thank you.
01:10:00.93	Vivian Housen	THANK YOU.
01:10:01.03	Councilmember Kelman	Thanks, Vivian.
01:10:02.92	Vivian Housen	I've been house and be to be house and associates your question is what does this program specifically allow us to do.
01:10:09.48	Councilmember Kelman	Within the context of the fact that we're going into a deficit budget and that we have a long list of capital improvement programs and we want to reduce our risk profile.
01:10:21.92	Vivian Housen	So we looked at the capital, the city completed inspection of its
01:10:27.03	Vivian Housen	gravity sewers a couple of years ago. So we have data about the condition of the existing sewers.
01:10:32.59	Vivian Housen	And we took that data and we looked at what needed to be repaired. What are the critical repairs?
01:10:37.75	Vivian Housen	and identified critical repairs and the cost of those repairs came out to be between four and a half and five million dollars.
01:10:45.44	Vivian Housen	In order to implement a program that would address those repairs, we had to look at the risk. What's the risk of leaving them unfixed versus fixing them faster?
01:10:55.30	Vivian Housen	This program that's proposed will fix them in about a 7 year timeframe which is within industry standard of acceptable timeframe for addressing these types of repairs.
01:11:06.37	Vivian Housen	If we went with a lesser program, it would extend the program out further and could increase risk to the city of potential failure because these defects will get worse over time. So we do need to take care of them in a certain amount of time.
01:11:21.29	Councilmember Kelman	Excellent. Thank you. Exactly what I was looking for. I knew I had seen it in our presentations for the subcommittee, but I couldn't exactly remember what it was. Thank you.
01:11:28.54	Director Hess	Can I do one clarifying?
01:11:30.58	Director Hess	Vivian, the survey we did was a TV survey. So we actually did closed circuit TV looks into the pipes to understand their condition. Yes, that's correct. It's a very thorough, time consuming, expensive survey to really effectively reduce our risk.
01:11:40.76	Vivian Housen	Yes, that's correct.
01:11:49.33	Vivian Housen	Yes, yes. So we looked inside just about every pipe with a camera and have documented the defects.
01:11:49.74	Director Hess	Yes.
01:11:54.56	Councilmember Kelman	That's right, and then this money is going into the sewer fund that can only be used for maintenance of sewer. So it's not general fund money, it can't be used for any other infrastructure projects. It must be used for this increasing level of service for this particular item.
01:12:07.96	Vivian Housen	Yes, that's correct.
01:12:11.10	Melissa	Okay, we will now open.
01:12:12.03	Kevin McGowan	public comment. Oh, Director McGowan. One other item before you open up to public comment. We have received one written protest on this rate increase. Just for the record, you should know that. Thank you.
01:12:25.38	Director Hess	Well, can we just make it clear that in order to prevent us from taking action on this tonight, we would have had to receive
01:12:33.81	Director Hess	protests from 50% of our affected residents. Is that correct?
01:12:37.93	Kevin McGowan	Thank you.
01:12:37.95	Melissa	That's correct.
01:12:38.39	Kevin McGowan	Exactly.
01:12:38.52	Melissa	Thank you.
01:12:40.70	Director Hess	Thank you.
01:12:40.78	Melissa	We will now open public comment city clerk.
01:12:44.97	Melissa	All right.
01:12:45.05	Unknown	All right.
01:12:45.14	Melissa	Thank you.
01:12:45.31	Vladislava Skaricha	Anybody would like to speak on this item? You can go up to the guys.
01:12:48.48	Melissa	Please just come up if you're in the audience. If you don't have your slip,
01:12:54.27	Melissa	If you have a slip, hand it to the city clerk.
01:12:56.41	Amy Svenberg	Thank you.
01:12:57.51	Vladislava Skaricha	Thank you.
01:12:57.52	Amy Svenberg	Thank you.
01:12:57.96	Amy Svenberg	Thank you.
01:13:01.46	Amy Svenberg	Mayor, council, nice to see you this evening, and thank you for opening the window. So I represent Pogeo and Copita, and we support the infrastructure and the betterment of the infrastructure of the town. It's important to know that the businesses do carry a large portion of this, so I wanted to give you some data. So Copita in 2023 paid $10,000 in water bills, So that's just money that we pay to MMWD. But the sewer, well, actually, I'm so sorry, it was $7,900. But our sewer tax is $10,000, and our sanitation tax is $19,000. So businesses really do support a huge number of this tax revenue, which is, you know, greatly needed. And so I just want to express that and say thank you for taking care of our town. But do vet these numbers. We, when we do capital projects, we get multiple bids, and we try to get the best deal around around and we contribute so much to this that we really ask that you take that into consideration, so thank you.
01:14:13.04	Vladislava Skaricha	Thank you.
01:14:15.17	Vladislava Skaricha	Sorry, on Zoom we have Georgette O.
01:14:25.38	Vladislava Skaricha	Thank you.
01:14:25.81	Vladislava Skaricha	Georgette, if you can unmute yourself.
01:14:32.60	Georgette Asserman	Sorry, I was muted.
01:14:34.56	Georgette Asserman	My name is Georgette Asserman. I live at 370 Sausalito Boulevard. I have a single family home.
01:14:42.30	Georgette Asserman	Right now my bills are
01:14:45.20	Georgette Asserman	For this, $811.98. For sanitation, $1,940. It's a lot of money.
01:14:54.33	Georgette Asserman	And here's my question to you. I was told several years ago that
01:15:01.02	Georgette Asserman	Should anybody in this town do any project over a certain dollar amount? I think it was at the time 40 or 50,000.
01:15:10.06	Georgette Asserman	They were subject to a sewer inspection and any repairs had to be done by the homeowner.
01:15:16.07	Georgette Asserman	which means that a lot of the homes that are up in the hill with these old pipes are pairing them themselves. So my question is, where is all this money going?
01:15:27.83	Georgette Asserman	I mean, this is a lot of money to pay for sanitation and for sewers.
01:15:34.18	Georgette Asserman	Thank you.
01:15:36.49	Vladislava Skaricha	No further public comment.
01:15:37.80	Vladislava Skaricha	All right, we will close public comment. Actually, we have Babette McDougal. Sorry.
01:15:38.09	Melissa	you
01:15:39.20	Melissa	The climate.
01:15:46.90	Babette McDougall	Can you hear me now?
01:15:48.89	Melissa	Yes, we can go ahead, Ms. McDougall.
01:15:50.80	Babette McDougall	Thank you. So thank you for allowing me to speak. I live at the corner of Girard and Litho, and I have to echo what the previous speaker just said. I know that our sewer lateral,
01:16:03.20	Babette McDougall	is probably well over 100 years old by our reckoning, and it's finally starting to break down. So of course, it needs to be repaired, replaced, and so on. And we already have been informed that each and every resident can expect to reach into their individual pocketbooks to underwrite these costs. Now, I think realistically speaking, we all know that we all have to bear some personal responsibility, but I would just like to applaud and echo the previous speakers comments, because this is a lot of money on top of what we are already reaching into our pockets to pay. Thank you.
01:16:41.20	Melissa	We will now close public comment and I'm is there a motion to be made?
01:16:44.69	Director Hess	May I ask a question? Please. In response to public comment, City Manager, do we have a program for residents to be able to finance their sewer lateral repairs so that they don't have to bear the brunt of that expense all at one time?
01:16:45.91	Melissa	Please.
01:17:03.85	Kevin McGowan	Good evening again, Kevin McGowan, Public Works Director. Yes, we do. There is a limit to that as well. In other words, those who are repairing their laterals can apply for a $1,000 grant from the city itself in order to help them repair that system.
01:17:19.20	Director Hess	And further question for you, director McGowan, when we bid these projects out, we are as a general law city right now, are we not required to take the lowest bid that comes in when we competitively bid these repair projects for for construction.
01:17:35.93	Kevin McGowan	Yes, that's correct. The most responsible bidder, you bet.
01:17:40.11	Director Hess	Okay, and my final question might be for the consultant, but
01:17:43.93	Director Hess	I thought I heard you say that the
01:17:49.28	Director Hess	manner in which rates are calculated is a combination of fixed and volumetric-based rates. And the volumetric-based rates are based on the volume of water used by a residence or a
01:18:06.74	Director Hess	And that volume of water used is measured in the fall when it's in the rainy season, and so there's less water likely being used for irrigation or other things.
01:18:18.23	Director Hess	services to make that assessment more fair. But one way that a business or a residence can cut down
01:18:26.48	Director Hess	on their potential rates is by reducing their overall use of water.
01:18:30.82	Director Hess	Do I have that right?
01:18:32.22	Rick Simonson	That is correct.
01:18:33.02	Melissa	Thank you.
01:18:33.07	Rick Simonson	Thank you.
01:18:33.73	Director Hess	Thank you.
01:18:34.37	Director Hess	Those were my questions in response to public comment.
01:18:37.44	Melissa	Is there emotion?
01:18:42.82	Councilmember Kelman	Where's the motion?
01:18:48.74	Melissa	whoever looks it up first.
01:18:49.55	Councilmember Kelman	for.
01:18:49.64	Councilmember Kelman	Thank you.
01:18:49.87	Councilmember Kelman	Time.
01:18:52.51	Councilmember Kelman	Sorry, I'm looking for the ordinance title.
01:18:58.04	Councilmember Kelman	Vice Mayor, do you want to do it?
01:18:59.65	Melissa	We are looking at the language of the correct motion.
01:19:03.17	Unknown	Thank you.
01:19:03.19	Director Hess	Yeah, but it's, here we go.
01:19:11.29	Director Hess	the actual motion isn't in the staff report.
01:19:13.47	Director Hess	Bye.
01:19:17.06	Melissa	City Attorney, do you have a form of the motion that you could put into the record?
01:19:22.60	Sir Duke	Yeah, I would suggest that you vote to find that no majority protest exists and introduce and waive the first reading of Ordinance Number 03-2024, an ordinance of the City Council of Sausalito, setting fees for sewer services for fiscal year 2024-25 through fiscal year 26-27.
01:19:44.55	Director Hess	I will adopt that motion with the correction that the ordinance we have in our packet is actually entitled Ordinance Number 2024-03.
01:19:56.40	Melissa	Emotions on the table, is there a second?
01:19:58.13	Director Hess	you
01:19:58.15	Councilmember Kelman	Hold a second.
01:19:59.82	Melissa	Let's call the question. Can you please call the roll? City clerk.
01:20:02.84	Melissa	Thank you.
01:20:02.93	Vladislava Skaricha	Councilman Blossett.
01:20:04.61	Councilmember Kelman	Yes.
01:20:04.97	Director Hess	Thank you.
01:20:05.41	Vladislava Skaricha	Councilmember Hoffman? Yes. Councilmember Cummins?
01:20:07.23	Director Hess	Yes.
01:20:09.19	Vladislava Skaricha	Thank you.
01:20:09.20	Director Hess	Yes.
01:20:09.69	Vladislava Skaricha	to America.
01:20:10.03	Director Hess	Thank you.
01:20:10.08	Vladislava Skaricha	Thanks.
01:20:10.18	Director Hess	Thank you.
01:20:10.28	Vladislava Skaricha	Thank you.
01:20:10.30	Director Hess	Thank you.
01:20:10.57	Director Hess	Yes.
01:20:11.38	Melissa	and uh mayor sobieski yes motion carries unanimously we'll now move on to item 5a adopt a resolution of intent to establish the proposed downtown Sausalito property business improvement district pursuant to property and business improvement district law of 1994 thank you Vivian
01:20:21.69	Unknown	Thank you.
01:20:21.71	Director Hess	Thank you.
01:20:28.05	Director Hess	Thank you, Vivian.
01:20:28.88	Melissa	and initiate balloting.
01:20:31.77	Director Phipps	Thank you very much, Mayor.
01:20:32.76	Director Hess	Thank you, HFNH.
01:20:35.56	Director Phipps	And good evening to you, Vice Mayor, Council members, members of the public and staff. Nice to see you all again and pleased to be here to discuss item 5A regarding the adoption of a resolution of intent to establish the proposed downtown Sausalito Business Improvement District and initiate the mail-in balloting process. I first, oh, and yes, I believe I have a presentation. Thank you, Mr. City Clerk. Next slide, please.
01:21:00.47	Director Phipps	Great. First, I'd like to go through the history on this project, which extends back to February of last year, almost a year and a half ago, when the City Council authorized the release of an RFP for consulting services associated with the potential formation of a Sausalito Property Business Improvement District, or PBID. As you can see here, we've come a long way since then. Through the interviewing and selection of a firm, New City America Incorporated, retaining the selected consultant for an initial district investigation, an expansion of their services to include formation relating services and the creation of a proposed district boundary and budget, which was endorsed by City Council in December of last year.
01:21:40.43	Director Phipps	We've come even farther since then, drafting and endorsing a management district plan associated with the proposed district and initiating and completing a petition process to more formally assess the support for the PBID. And thank you, Council, for your continued support throughout this process. That brings us to the item before City Council this evening, the consideration of adopting of a resolution of intent to establish the proposed PBID, which will initiate the balloting process for the district. And this is really the
01:22:10.79	Director Phipps	Penultimate step to district formation. Next slide, please.
01:22:15.95	Director Phipps	As touched on in the previous slide, on March 5 of this year, Council endorsed the Draft Management District Plan, or MDP, associated with the proposed PBID and authorized the City Manager to initiate the petition process. So since that time, we have collaborated with our consultants, New City America Inc. We have distributed a petition to property owners within the proposed PBID boundaries, and we have received the results of that petition which are summarized here. So I'll first note that the information you see here is only reflective of responses received from non-city property owners. In other words, city owned parcels are excluded from this data. Of the 27 total responses received from owners within the district, 26 were supportive and only one was in opposition.
01:23:02.83	Director Phipps	This level of support based on assessed property value equates to 61% of supportive responses, 1% of opposing response, and 37% of no response.
01:23:14.20	Director Phipps	Next slide, please.
01:23:17.46	Director Phipps	This is good news.
01:23:18.96	Director Phipps	The results of the petition are positive. They indicate that the city has received more than sufficient levels of support to adopt a resolution of intent to form the PBID.
01:23:28.92	Director Phipps	Next slide, please.
01:23:31.31	Director Phipps	Though if council chooses to adopt the aforementioned resolution of intent, next steps for the city are shown here, which will start with the initiation of the mail-in balloting process leading up to a public hearing, preliminarily scheduled for July 30th of this year, where ballots will be opened and counted by city clerk. After the tallying is complete, if there is no majority protest, the council may adopt a resolution of formation, which legalizes and formalizes the formation of the district. And if and when this step occurs, the first meeting of the interim board of directors will be held, where certain elements of the district will be discussed and voted on, including the election of interim officials or officers, the selection of a name for the district, the approval of bylaws, as well as some incorporation related steps, such as the filing of incorporation papers with the California Secretary of State and the submittal of approved bylaws to the IRS. And finally, the interim board will work to enter into a contract with the city of Sausalito to administer the day to day activities of the district. Next slide, please.
01:24:40.35	Director Phipps	Thank you. Now, of course, if City Council chooses to form the district following a successful ballot measure, there will be fiscal impacts associated with that decision. So with that in mind, in collaboration with the Director of Finance, thank you, Mr. Hess, CDD staff have prepared a five-year revenue projection associated with the PBIDs formation and the first five years of its operations, and that's attached to this agenda item. The results of the revenue projections indicate that, although the city will incur costs equal to assessments of approximately $650,000 over the first five years of the district, the increases in city revenues as a result of district related activities in transient occupancy tax, sales tax, as well as parking fees will result in a net increase in city revenue by approximately $156,000. And just to clarify, that is net of the assessment amount of $650,000. Moreover, if the city chooses to reduce its spending on activities that may be taken on by the district, such as marketing,
01:25:42.69	Director Phipps	website management and maintenance, as well as certain lighting programs,
01:25:47.36	Director Phipps	Net gains to the city could exceed 624,000 in total over the first five years of the district, representing a significant positive financial impact to the city.
01:25:58.58	Director Phipps	Finally.
01:25:59.61	Director Phipps	If we add in the additional assessment revenues that will be provided by the district's property owners equal to what the city will be assessed, $650,000-ish, we can see that increases in the city's revenues and non-city monies invested that overall support the vitality of our downtown will increase to approximately $1.3 million. dollars. So as indicated in by and in this financial projection, the formation of the downtown Sausalito Business Improvement District $1.3 million. So as indicated by and in this financial projection, the formation of the downtown Sausalito business improvement district will result in a positive financial return to the city.
01:26:34.17	Director Phipps	Next slide, please.
01:26:35.98	Director Phipps	So with all that said, staff's recommendation this evening is that Council move forward with the adoption of the resolution of intent, which will initiate the balloting process for the downtown Sausalito PBED.
01:26:46.69	Director Phipps	Next slide, please.
01:26:48.31	Director Phipps	Thank you. I am available to answer any questions before I give the floor to Mr. Thornburg and Ms. Green.
01:26:59.44	Councilmember Kelman	Mayor? Great. Yeah, thank you very much, Director Phipps. Quick question on the survey results, and I also see, Mayor, that Councilman Blasian has her head up. So the survey results, 26 yays, one no, but 20 no replies. That seems to be a significant lack of interest in this program. What attempts were made to engage these 20 and how can we be sure that their interests will be what will be represented? Are they participating? What is what's the breakdown? I mean, that's of concern, I would think.
01:27:01.10	Councilor I'm confused	Thank you.
01:27:01.14	Unknown	Yeah.
01:27:01.21	Unknown	.
01:27:01.36	Director Phipps	Thank you.
01:27:09.80	Unknown	Thank you.
01:27:37.96	Director Phipps	Yeah. So thank you for the question, council member.
01:27:40.34	Director Phipps	I will say a no response does not necessarily indicate a lack of interest in the district, first and foremost. But I will also agree with you that there were some challenges associated with reaching out to certain property owners in the district. I'd say for two reasons. Reason number one, we're on a reduced timeline. We're trying to meet the timeline needed for us to put this item on the November ballot, which will allow us to begin district operations January 1, 2025. So that's resulted in a reduced petition process timeline, which I think has impacted our ability to get responses. Number two.
01:28:18.81	Director Phipps	Some people are hard to reach.
01:28:20.62	Director Phipps	And we don't have their contact information.
01:28:22.63	Director Phipps	.
01:28:23.69	Director Phipps	I think I'll leave it at that. What I will say, and I think Cass and other members of the steering committee who assisted in getting these results, they can kind of speak to some of the challenges that they experienced in going through this process. But I believe that, again, as mentioned, we've received more than sufficient responses and support in order to move to the next step.
01:28:45.16	Councilmember Kelman	Okay, and can you pull up your financial projection slide so we can parse that carefully?
01:28:51.50	Director Phipps	Certainly.
01:28:53.04	Director Phipps	And I just request we repost it.
01:28:58.32	Councilor I'm confused	Are these, sorry, excuse me, are these slides attached to the agenda?
01:29:01.90	Councilmember Kelman	I don't see them.
01:29:02.72	Councilmember Kelman	No.
01:29:03.97	Councilor I'm confused	Okay, I would again reiterate my request that whenever staff provides a slideshow, that they'd be attached to the agenda within enough time for the council members to look at them before. Because there's information contained, as I said before, there's information contained in the slides that's part of our assessment and sometimes it's interesting information that we need time to look at.
01:29:08.58	Unknown	you know.
01:29:26.53	Councilmember Kelman	The financial protection slide, please.
01:29:26.82	Councilor I'm confused	Thank you.
01:29:28.61	Director Phipps	Yeah, and I'll just I'll just note that to appreciate the comment, Council member, I'll just note that more detail is provided in the attachments associated with the agenda item than is contained in this PowerPoint.
01:29:41.15	Councilmember Blasian	I also just want to add on that point, Councilmember Hoffman, because that this public comments associated with this item are appearing in the wrong place on the agenda in Granicus at this time. So if you look at our business items versus our public hearing, all the public comments for this item, business, are appearing under public hearings. So those letters are there just so that members of the public and council can see those, because I know we received a lot of correspondence while we're on the topic of that.
01:30:08.10	Councilmember Kelman	Okay.
01:30:08.60	Councilmember Kelman	So I'm going to run through this and director has knows some of the questions that we talked earlier today. Okay. I just want to make sure I understand this. The five-year assessment estimate of 65715 is as to all contributors, right?
01:30:10.60	Melissa	Please proceed, Kel.
01:30:26.56	Director Phipps	No, that is a city's contribution only.
01:30:29.07	Councilmember Kelman	Okay. Um, the increases in city revenue, uh, you believe are going to come at a rate of 1%. Is that the smart goal that you are attributing to TOT sales tax parking fees?
01:30:43.70	Director Phipps	That is the SMART goal, excellent acronym. I will say that, you know, this revenue projection was meant to be practical, both practical and conservative. And what I am attempting to communicate with this revenue projection is that even in a conservative scenario where we're only,
01:31:03.94	Director Phipps	Increasing to T by 5% over 5 years where we're only increasing sales tax within the district by 5% over 5 years and we're only increasing our parking revenues by 5% over 5 years still results in positive financial return to the city.
01:31:19.02	Councilmember Kelman	Okay, and so based on your background, you're a community and economic development director, what do you think is the biggest opportunity here for us to actually achieve 1% gains?
01:31:33.47	Unknown	Hmm.
01:31:35.53	Director Phipps	I think the formation of this district would be a great first step.
01:31:39.15	Councilmember Kelman	Okay, so let's just take it down to the level that my question is about, which is within the district, TOT sales tax, parking fees, how, which of those do you think holds the biggest opportunity to achieve that 1% gain?
01:31:53.70	Director Phipps	Well, just based on sheer numbers,
01:31:59.78	Director Phipps	1% of increase in parking revenues actually is greater than a 1% increase in TOT by about 5,000. Interestingly enough, increases therefore in parking, at least by the numbers, represents the largest opportunity. So that's one thing for consideration. But I would also say, and I would kind of defer to some of the business experts who have been a part of the steering committee and have helped us through this process, because they're the ones who are in the trenches every day, and they're the ones who are
01:32:33.14	Director Phipps	Joining hands with the city to help us in increasing vitality in this downtown district and rooting additional economic activity there, but I would also say there's great opportunity for to to generation. And growth.
01:32:44.23	Councilmember Kelman	And on the parking side, does your 1% projection take into account the loss of parking from the ferry project?
01:32:53.83	Director Phipps	It does not. It is all else equal. So this model does not take into account any rate increases that could occur.
01:33:02.16	Unknown	Mm-hmm.
01:33:02.40	Director Phipps	So that could actually result in greater increases if we were to account for that. And it also doesn't account for any loss of parking.
01:33:09.91	Councilmember Kelman	Interesting.
01:33:10.77	Councilmember Kelman	Um, okay. And do you have any suggestions as to how a regular strategic plan could incorporate that and how we might monitor the successful achievement of these goals?
01:33:28.64	Director Phipps	I think the board will be and the nonprofit formed as a result of the district formation will be the mechanism and the body that will, you know, essentially track these things. And I'm happy to discuss kind of the governance of the bid as appropriate. But I mentioned an agreement or I think I refer to it as a contract in my presentation that the nonprofit will enter into with the city.
01:33:55.17	Director Phipps	Let me just refer to a certain element of my notes so that I can provide an appropriate response.
01:34:03.96	Director Phipps	So yeah, the contract, as mentioned, will actually be in the form of a disbursement agreement, which will essentially have the city approving its allocation of received assessment revenues to the district. So those funds can be used as stipulated in the management district plan. And other elements of the agreement could include, or actually are required to include, Brown Act and open meeting requirements. as well as a commitment from the district to present to the city on an annual basis, detailing previous year performance, as well as expected performance and activities over the following year. And at least from my perspective, if I'm the interim board, I want to back into some smart metrics that we can provide city council on an annual basis.
01:34:49.88	Councilmember Kelman	Yeah, now if I'm a council member, I want that. So let me ask one more question. Yes, Scott knows this. So just to clarify as well, so the five year assessment estimate 650K and change, you're saying that we could see $624,000 in city revenue increase over the same time period. So we almost make all our money back, but not quite.
01:34:56.81	Amy Svenberg	Bye.
01:35:20.98	Director Phipps	That's actually net of the assessment dollars. So, and I would refer to it more as an economic gain because it's not purely an increase in revenue. It's also a reduction in city spending as a result of being able to move some of our current expenditures, marketing, website management, maintenance, lighting programs, from the general fund into this 501c3 that will ultimately, you know, manage the assessment revenues.
01:35:45.94	Councilmember Kelman	Okay, I'm just trying to do the accounting in my head because we've already decided that, for example, the CDA contract was not going to be reinvigorated. So that's not included in your assessment of the potential upside, are you?
01:35:56.47	Director Phipps	So at the time of the drafting of this financial projection, the CDA marketing contract was still in full force.
01:36:05.39	Director Phipps	Projection as it stands does account for those revenues.
01:36:08.82	Councilmember Kelman	I see, I see, okay. And then we've also had some conversation about doing something with destination, visit Sausalito, merging or somehow facilitating
01:36:17.61	Director Phipps	Yep, yep. So that represents about 15,000 of this 90.
01:36:23.40	Councilmember Kelman	Okay, okay, I think I have more questions. Thank you very much.
01:36:26.91	Melissa	Thank you.
01:36:28.29	Melissa	Councilmember Blaston.
01:36:30.55	Councilmember Blasian	Thank you very much. And thank you, Brandon, to your department and to everyone who's been involved in the outreach on the PBID and also.
01:36:37.91	Councilmember Blasian	to all of the members of the public that we've already heard from on this issue. This is not the first time we're hearing about it. So some of these questions might be duplicative. And for that, I'm sorry if you've already been tuning into the PBID conversations. But a couple of kind of general setting questions. Brandon, I know you worked closely with our consultant on this. Can you maybe just give an overview of
01:36:58.75	Councilmember Blasian	The evidence you saw for other business improvement districts that there could be an up to 1% or more revenue generation on these types of programs.
01:37:06.56	Director Phipps	Oh, certainly. I mean, I don't have any case studies that I can reference, you know, in the moment at current, but what I will say is,
01:37:15.17	Director Phipps	Business improvement districts are a good economic development tool, period. And they have demonstrated themselves to be strong, useful, agile tools in downtown areas that
01:37:26.98	Director Phipps	have a want, a need to root additional economic activity there. And part of the reason why they're so successful is because we put some of the fate of the district in the hands of the people who have most to gain and lose, the property owners and the business owners in the district. So speaking from a very high level, it has been proven, I'd say time and time again, that this tool can be very valuable for downtowns looking to increase their vitality, financial success, and ultimately levels of rooted economic activity. And again, I'd say,
01:38:04.65	Director Phipps	The revenue projections that I've provided,
01:38:07.28	Director Phipps	are conservative.
01:38:08.88	Director Phipps	Some business improvement districts, like certain ones in San Diego, little Italy have been wildly successful and have, I think, blown the, these 1% metrics out of the water. So I would, I would just say that it's very possible, um, that the district in its success will exceed what is shown on these revenue projections.
01:38:31.78	Councilmember Blasian	And also just to clarify sort of the role of the business improvement district. This is the businesses saying they'd like to tax themselves to be able to further contribute to the work that the city is doing essentially.
01:38:43.83	Director Phipps	Thank you for the question. And I will agree with you with the slight clarification that it's primarily property owners who are pushing this forward. However, you know, it's important to note that business owners often act as and in partnership or act as proxies for and in partnership with property owners in the district. So in many cases, the business owners and the property owners are working hand in hand, and it is up to the property owners are working hand in hand, and it is up to the property owner to decide to what extent they want to pass on these assessments to these partner businesses.
01:39:17.68	Councilmember Blasian	And the Chamber of Commerce was very involved in your discussions around the PBIB and as well are a number of businesses.
01:39:23.50	Director Phipps	Absolutely. And I'd just like to thank the chamber for all of their support and participation in this process up till now.
01:39:30.07	Councilmember Blasian	Okay, and then I wanted to get into the revenue assessment because I think it's important to have this conversation so that we are being
01:39:35.45	Councilmember Blasian	fiscally responsible about how we are choosing to spend our money for potential future revenue. So just to put this into context, and maybe these are questions for Tad, but if you look at the four areas that the PBIT's been broken into, we have demand creation, which includes marketing, outreach, etc.
01:39:52.51	Councilmember Blasian	infrastructure improvements, administration management, and contingency reserve. Chad, could you maybe just give us an idea of how much we're spending now on demand creation, how much roughly we're spending on infrastructure improvements for the PBID, and how much roughly we're spending
01:40:06.48	Councilmember Blasian	potentially on administrative and management, just to give a window into what we might be able to see resolved as a result of these projections.
01:40:15.65	Chad Hess	Thank you, Mayor, Council Members. My name's Chad Hess, Finance Director. Our current spend for this type of demand creation is right around $90,000. So in the past, it's been 75,000 for the CDA contract and about $15,000 for Destination Sausalito. Those are our two primary marketing efforts of our community.
01:40:38.21	Councilmember Blasian	What about infrastructure improvements? How much did we spend on lighting, for example?
01:40:42.01	Chad Hess	Yeah. So two years ago, the members of the community raised about 30,000, 35,000 for lights being installed. Last year, the maintenance, the city contributed is about 2,500 to replace several strings of lights on those trees that they, they decorated.
01:40:42.48	Councilmember Blasian	Thank you.
01:40:58.86	Unknown	Chat the city council put $10,000 into that lighting program as well.
01:41:03.66	Chad Hess	Thank you. I was not aware of that.
01:41:07.10	Councilmember Blasian	Okay, great. That's helpful for putting it into context, the potential funds that might be saved. And then just so we're clear, because I understand that the marketing contract was not considered in our outgoing or our proposed budget that we're going to hear this evening. I recall that in our prior conversations, the EDAC and those involved in these discussions, and perhaps this is a question for Scott, were willing to not push forward and advocate for those types of contracts because they were working so aggressively on the PBID and were under the impression, based on our prior discussions as a council, that the PBID would likely be moving forward. Scott, can you maybe weigh in on that? I don't know if, or Brandon. Brandon.
01:41:47.14	Scott Thornburg	Thank you for that. Yeah, our plan was, as you'll recall, we submitted no budget requests this year. We believe that many of the activities that EDAC has been pursuing,
01:41:56.41	Scott Thornburg	in partnership with staff and community members, could be taken over by the bid going forward. That includes marketing, that includes some events, that includes lighting programs that we were, members of our committee were instrumental in making those things happen. So yes, our plan was to support the bid and encourage those activities to fall there. Thank you.
01:42:19.31	Councilmember Blasian	But how much did you previously, how much did EDAC previously request and how much was EDAC previously allotted over the past two years on these types, just generally as a committee, since I understand you haven't asked for any funding this year?
01:42:30.09	Scott Thornburg	Yeah, we've never had a, as far as I know, we've never had a budget that's set aside for EDAC specifically, but we, in partnership with staff, will execute specific events, and then through staff, we fund those. So if that's an event like Holiday by the Bay or Wednesday Night Live, where we were specifically looking to increase off-season and midweek support for businesses, then it's a few thousand dollars to bring in a band or to bring in tenting, things like that. So low expenses generally. The only other one would be the marketing budget, which as you know, the city moved forward with and then asked EDAC to help to manage.
01:43:16.31	Councilmember Blasian	Okay, great. I thought, I think I remember that there was a budget item specifically for EDAC upon its formation. I'm not sure what the exact amount was. Chad, do you maybe know?
01:43:26.34	Chad Hess	I'm not familiar with that, no.
01:43:27.95	Councilmember Blasian	Thank you.
01:43:28.43	Councilmember Blasian	And.
01:43:28.80	Councilmember Blasian	All right. But with the marketing budget, it's upwards of 100,000 plus, probably if we include all of the events and I've been mentioned.
01:43:34.59	Unknown	I can respond to that if I you like. Yeah, I'm hearing counsel. Yeah, post COVID the City Council had a lot meant to the businesses which the EDAC folks manage and it was $227,000 is my recollection.
01:43:37.20	Councilmember Blasian	Yeah, please.
01:43:49.37	Councilmember Blasian	OK, great. Yeah, that's what I wouldn't. I think that's the number that I was looking for in the context of this conversation. Thanks for that. OK, and then my last question is,
01:43:56.78	Councilmember Blasian	What if the improvement district doesn't work? What if
01:44:00.35	Councilmember Blasian	there is not a potential expectation of revenue resolved. What if we don't get to 1%? What are our options? And perhaps that's a question for Director Phipps, and maybe you can talk us through that.
01:44:11.36	Director Phipps	Sure. Yeah, I believe, well, first and foremost, many of these projections look to five years ahead as five years is the time at which we can, the city and the nonprofit can consider dissolving the district. If it's not working, you can vote to dissolve it. I also believe that the city has an ability through an alternative means to potentially dissolve the district through a vote before the five-year and
01:44:43.34	Director Phipps	However, I believe that that's a little bit more of a more challenging than than the review at the five year timeline.
01:44:55.10	Melissa	And sorry. Dr. Bostini, you're muted. Can you unmute yourself? You're speaking.
01:44:55.49	Director Phipps	And sorry.
01:44:58.94	Councilmember Blasian	Thanks. Sorry. Thank you. But essentially, if there were a situation where the city needed to make a decision in a budget emergency, for example, that would be a feasible under the pay bid.
01:45:12.28	Director Phipps	Yes.
01:45:13.71	Councilmember Blasian	Okay. Thank you, Director Phipps. I really appreciate your effort and your presentation.
01:45:17.07	Director Phipps	Thank you, council member.
01:45:18.39	Melissa	Thank you.
01:45:19.15	Melissa	Are there?
01:45:20.49	Melissa	There is more presentation, right?
01:45:22.27	Director Phipps	Yes, we have Mr. Thornburg and Miss Green here, but I am available to answer questions as needed before they speak.
01:45:28.48	Melissa	Yeah, so did you want to ask Director Phipps some questions? Okay. Please go ahead.
01:45:34.15	Councilor I'm confused	And I'm going to follow up on the CDA contract and the use of that for the $154,000
01:45:41.67	Councilor I'm confused	156,333 revenue that's listed on your attachment four as the PBID and it's listed somewhere on your slides. I just don't know which slide it's on. And so that number is based in large part
01:45:58.99	Councilor I'm confused	On the CDA contract, right? That's $75,000 or that 156? Correct. And we all acknowledge and agree that that contract was not renewed by the city, correct?
01:46:04.17	Director Phipps	Correct.
01:46:10.39	Director Phipps	I'm not sure if we all do, but I do.
01:46:12.23	Councilor I'm confused	Okay. Anybody not? I mean, that contract is no longer, that contract was not renewed by the city. Well, we renewed it for six months through March. It's, yeah, but we didn't renew it after that.
01:46:17.99	Unknown	Thank you.
01:46:18.04	Director Phipps	So.
01:46:23.17	Councilor I'm confused	So that's not, anyway, that contract is no longer in play. Whatever happens later happens. So, and also with regard to, again, and this is a question that council member Komen asked, the 15,000 for the destination Sausalito, we've talked about that being a redundant website and that that should go away as well, correct?
01:46:44.84	Director Phipps	I do recall discussions of that nature.
01:46:47.38	Councilor I'm confused	Okay, and I have a follow up actually for Mr. Thornburg.
01:46:51.48	Councilor I'm confused	So, and my follow-up is, I'm surprised that now...
01:46:57.37	Councilor I'm confused	in response to Councilor I'm confused.
01:47:00.29	Councilor I'm confused	with Councilmember Blaustein that you're saying that you didn't ask for any budget
01:47:05.69	Councilor I'm confused	for this year, but but you and I talked, you sent me an email and you want to discuss the EDAC budget for 2024. You you agree, right?
01:47:15.97	Scott Thornburg	I sent a letter a few weeks ago where I specifically said that we were not requesting any budget. This was after you and I had a conversation. And yes, in our conversation, I recommended that the city consider
01:47:27.16	Scott Thornburg	a few expenses. This was also before we knew about our insurance liability. Once we learned about the insurance liability and the city's situation financially, we recommended that we not make any expenditures on the EDAC front. So our recommendation is that we were not putting forward any recommended budget requests for staff.
01:47:50.26	Councilor I'm confused	So part of that was that you sent me an attachment to prepare for our meeting that said proposed EDAC budget fiscal year 2425, correct?
01:48:01.21	Scott Thornburg	Yes.
01:48:02.97	Councilor I'm confused	Okay, and part of that was there were
01:48:07.07	Councilor I'm confused	first line is crossed out, but there's lines.
01:48:11.22	Councilor I'm confused	343 line three was product brand project and that was $7,500 line for CDA marketing $75,000 line five is place making and signage updates for $5,000. Number seven holiday by the bay for 5,000 and nine is Wi Fi improvements parking and that was for 5000.
01:48:38.00	Councilor I'm confused	Correct.
01:48:39.69	Scott Thornburg	We put forward a several recommendations of ways that we believed that the city could invest and generate a revenue return. And as a part of that discussion, I was recommending proposed budget items for consideration.
01:48:54.98	Councilor I'm confused	Okay. And so,
01:48:56.38	Councilor I'm confused	It's
01:48:56.97	Councilor I'm confused	That's why I was confused by the question by Councilmember Blasting. So you did actually propose a budget and we did discuss it. And, you know, based on feedback from maybe from me and maybe whoever else you talked to, the decision was not to go forward with your request. Is that like I got that?
01:49:15.07	Scott Thornburg	I mean, Councilmember, with all due respect, I didn't really get any feedback from you.
01:49:19.92	Scott Thornburg	Oh, you had a lot.
01:49:20.59	Councilor I'm confused	In our conversation,
01:49:22.43	Scott Thornburg	In our conversation, you did not provide any feedback about the suggestions that I was putting forward. I heard from other council members
01:49:30.52	Scott Thornburg	that said,
01:49:31.44	Scott Thornburg	Given the state of city finances, we should not put forward. And I'm going to be honest, as a volunteer, as the new chair of EDAC for only a few months, it would have been really helpful to have that council in our discussion.
01:49:44.57	Councilor I'm confused	Well, I think, okay, I'm shocked that you would say that I didn't provide any feedback. I think my feedback was,
01:49:52.49	Councilor I'm confused	I'm not clear that
01:49:55.44	Councilor I'm confused	EDAC should expect to have had a city
01:49:58.41	Councilor I'm confused	Funded budget.
01:49:59.74	Councilor I'm confused	and that we needed to look at it in the context of our overall budget, which as I understood it at the time was going to be a deficit budget.
01:50:07.93	Councilor I'm confused	So.
01:50:07.99	Scott Thornburg	I don't recall us having that direct conversation. I do recall you expressing concern about the state of the city's finances.
01:50:15.42	Scott Thornburg	And there was no at the time recommendation that you'd actually not put forward any budget recommendations or proposals for staff to consider as part of its budget.
01:50:32.94	Melissa	I don't think move on to the rest of the presentation or
01:50:33.44	Councilor I'm confused	I don't think
01:50:37.17	Councilor I'm confused	Yeah, I'm just looking through my notes and see if I have anything pertinent to this line of question. I don't think I have anything
01:50:42.64	Councilor I'm confused	Thank you.
01:50:42.65	Melissa	at this point. Let's move on to the rest of the presentation. Director Phipps, please.
01:50:50.16	Director Phipps	Next part of the presentation is a few words from Mr. Thornburg and Miss Green.
01:50:57.40	Unknown	Welcome back.
01:51:02.35	Scott Thornburg	Mm-hmm.
01:51:02.97	Scott Thornburg	Thank you, Council, for your attention to this matter this evening. I'm really excited about this. Councilmember McCallmon mentioned earlier, given the business response, what does this tell us? Well, in my two and a half years volunteering with the city officially, I've worked with a lot of businesses, and I've always been very pleased to see that our business community really cares about Sausalito and I think this is a great example of that. We've seen a really profound turnout from the business community with established business leaders that care about Sausalito that are committed to the long-term health and vitality of our community and want to do more and I really appreciate that as a resident and taxpayer here in town. As Council Member Hoffman said to me earlier today in a conversation about our budget, you know, we do have some financial concerns and Sausalito needs a dramatic increase in revenue. I believe that the P bid is just that.
01:52:04.95	Scott Thornburg	It's a first of its kind program for Sausalito. It's a test. It's a creative solution to a real challenge.
01:52:13.19	Scott Thornburg	And in fact, improvement districts were mentioned 15 times in the general plan that was approved unanimously by this council. And I think that's a recommendation that we should continue to care for.
01:52:28.48	Scott Thornburg	Tonight, EDAC Vice Chair Cass Green will be speaking to the business support and next steps for this initiative. But before she does that, I just want to say thank you to Cass and our other volunteers that have collectively spent hundreds of hours researching and sourcing feedback from the business community to prepare this tonight. On behalf of EDAC, they are volunteers, and we really appreciate their time. So thank you for your attention tonight, and I'll welcome Cass to the mic.
01:52:56.66	Cass Green	Thank you.
01:52:58.65	Cass Green	Thank you, Scott. And I want to reiterate what Scott just said.
01:53:01.45	Scott Thornburg	Thank you.
01:53:01.47	Melissa	Could you please move your microphone down?
01:53:02.73	Cass Green	I WANT TO REITERATE WHAT SCOTT JUST SAID. MY COMPUTER JUST WENT DEAD ON ME.
01:53:03.38	Scott Thornburg	Thank you.
01:53:11.27	Cass Green	Yeah, I'll just go from the screen. There we go. It's coming back. All right. So and I want to thank all the volunteers because everybody has been just incredible. So next slide, please.
01:53:12.10	Unknown	I'll just go from the screen.
01:53:25.28	Cass Green	I want to make four different points tonight from what our work has brought together.
01:53:30.44	Cass Green	is that we've all worked together, including you guys, and I thank you for all the help and the support that the council has provided.
01:53:38.69	Cass Green	to create the P bid.
01:53:41.63	Cass Green	The downtown, what we found out from the survey is that downtown businesses and landlords support the creation of Pbid. And as we'll hear tonight, and you've heard in the past, so do many of the residents.
01:53:54.51	Cass Green	Um,
01:53:55.44	Cass Green	The establishment of a P-BID is a good financial step for Sausalito, and the P-BID is one of the rare opportunities that Sausalito has to actually increase city revenues. Next slide.
01:54:07.81	Cass Green	So why do we pursue the P bid? Why did he pursue it? One was you told us to.
01:54:13.37	Cass Green	The second is that it's part of the general plan.
01:54:17.80	Cass Green	As Scott was saying, it's mentioned several times, so it's part of the direction of the general plan. Then in 23, you guys told EDAC this is your top priority.
01:54:29.30	Cass Green	And over the last year and a half, and through six city council meetings, including tonight,
01:54:34.48	Cass Green	The council has consistently supported each step forward
01:54:37.93	Cass Green	towards the creation of a P bid, including hiring the consultant, the percentage split between private and city landowners, the management plan and the benefit category
01:54:47.07	Cass Green	percentages, the engineers report and inclusion of two city staff on the eventual PBID board.
01:54:55.24	Cass Green	Next slide.
01:54:56.76	Cass Green	So to number two, the downtown landowners and the
01:55:00.71	Cass Green	And the businesses support the PBED.
01:55:02.89	Cass Green	We,
01:55:03.64	Cass Green	49 petitions went out in April, in late April. And we are, as Brandon was saying, we are in a very tight timeframe right now.
01:55:13.09	Cass Green	61% of the private landowners, 61% of their assessed value,
01:55:19.07	Cass Green	came in in support of the P.B.D. So that is 11% more than we needed.
01:55:23.71	Cass Green	And the support is great.
01:55:25.70	Cass Green	You're right, we couldn't find some people. The ballots were sent to their legal addresses. We followed up with phone calls. There's some people that have just disappeared into thin air.
01:55:37.44	Cass Green	But I want to point out that of the responding landlords, 98% of them support the PBID. So we have strong business support. And as you have heard in the past and will hear tonight, we also have strong support from residents. Next slide.
01:55:55.27	Cass Green	So this is a representation of just some of the companies and businesses. Many of the businesses, yes, it is a landlord initiative, but many of the businesses, including Michael Lappert, went to all of his seven landlords and told him, pass the P bid assessment onto me.
01:56:13.42	Cass Green	And so they voted for it. And so we even did that in above tide rents, one of the apartments in the building next to us, we called up our landlord and said, we'll pay for that. Besides our own assessment, we're going to pay yours too. So many of the businesses did that. And so this isn't just a landlord initiative. This is the businesses and the landlords of Sausalito.
01:56:36.09	Cass Green	Next slide.
01:56:37.84	Cass Green	So the next, and Brandon's been explaining this, I think in quite detail, but establishing a P bid is financially good for the city of Sausalito.
01:56:47.36	Cass Green	Without a vibrant and flourishing business community and the parking fees it's generated, Sausalito residents would be paying higher taxes and assessments for the city to operate its current operational levels. The P bid will be an equal,
01:57:01.31	Cass Green	public-private partnership, which we really welcome
01:57:05.14	Cass Green	which will build demand and increase business tax and parking revenues. Creating increased demand for Sausalito's businesses enhances the city's abilities to serve its residents because so much of the revenue of the city of Sausalito is based on its business taxes and its parking fees. The next slide.
01:57:28.13	Cass Green	As we mentioned, if my eyes, I've mentioned before, it doesn't require and his brand in slides just showed in his staff report showed the business, the P bid does not require new city net expenditures. The P bid is going to pay for itself even under really conservative assumptions. So we are asking.
01:57:46.91	Cass Green	that we'd be able to tax ourselves and join in a partnership with the city.
01:57:51.67	Cass Green	to create a vibrant P-Bid. If you look at Petaluma,
01:57:56.39	Cass Green	Downtown Redwood City,
01:57:58.13	Cass Green	Little Italy and San Diego, they're all examples of widely successful CP bids. These things work.
01:58:06.57	Cass Green	But more importantly, the P bid will generate new and much needed revenue to the city of Sausalito
01:58:14.01	Cass Green	And that's
01:58:15.48	Cass Green	what I understand is a very critical need. Next slide.
01:58:19.53	Cass Green	So this is a consolidation of Brandon's slides, the staff report,
01:58:24.22	Cass Green	Bottom line.
01:58:25.79	Cass Green	that the net total revenue
01:58:28.71	Cass Green	will be $624,698. That's under really conservative assumptions.
01:58:37.21	Cass Green	The businesses in Sausalito believe that the assumptions in the
01:58:41.52	Cass Green	staff report are very conservative and that we will easily exceed and give you smart results and smart metrics.
01:58:52.54	Cass Green	Next line.
01:58:54.02	Cass Green	And then finally,
01:58:55.91	Cass Green	The establishing a PBIT is a unique opportunity for Sausalito to increase revenues. The opportunities to increase revenues in the city are very limited. Property taxes increases are severely limited by statute. Business tax rates cannot increase without losing customers and businesses to competing neighborhoods, other communities.
01:59:19.84	Cass Green	Filling unused business capacity in all Sausalito sectors will increase business act revenues and allow for more services to revenants. To make money, you need to invest money. And I want to give an example of that. Before COVID, my brothers and I decided to invest $2 million into our hotel.
01:59:37.37	Cass Green	We finished the investment with all of our $2 million loans and we ended up and it COVID hit.
01:59:42.91	Cass Green	And that was a scary time. We had no revenue.
01:59:46.60	Cass Green	We had bid off, you know, this big investment, but we,
01:59:51.53	Cass Green	We're always competent.
01:59:53.20	Cass Green	that we were going to make money.
01:59:54.65	Cass Green	because we knew what we were doing as business people as do the other businesses in Sausalito.
01:59:59.78	Cass Green	Today, last year in 2023, that investment we made, which was for two new beautiful suites,
02:00:07.41	Cass Green	generated over $80,000 in TOT tax to the city of Sausalito. So I remind you that we pay over $900,000 a year in TOT tax.
02:00:19.04	Cass Green	Next slides.
02:00:20.83	Cass Green	So the sources of the revenue for the city of Sausalito are few.
02:00:26.48	Cass Green	and business tax revenues make up 56%.
02:00:32.66	Cass Green	You've got the charges for services, and I want to point out that that includes $2.7 million in parking fees, and we're looking for the P bed to generate more parking fees.
02:00:42.49	Cass Green	Next slide. If we just look at the tax revenue,
02:00:45.77	Cass Green	57% of that is business tax revenue. It's sales tax. It's GOT. It's franchise taxes. It's business license taxes. All these taxes can increase with the establishment of a P bid.
02:00:59.81	Cass Green	Next slide. We see and we look forward to determining what our tasks will be.
02:01:06.52	Cass Green	But the most important task for us is to fill the capacity of this city in the off months and in the midweek.
02:01:14.93	Cass Green	Lots of occupancy on the weekends, and especially the weekends in the summer. But I'll tell you, the winters are rough.
02:01:21.83	Cass Green	They are really rough. They're rough for everybody, not just the hotels,
02:01:25.56	Cass Green	but the restaurants and you look out the parking lots are empty.
02:01:28.90	Cass Green	And so our biggest goal
02:01:30.59	Cass Green	is to be able to take that capacity that exists and make it earn revenue.
02:01:36.58	Cass Green	Next slide.
02:01:37.94	Cass Green	So finally, I've said this before, a rising tide lifts boats. All boats. We want to join together and lift all boats. You know, sure, I could take our assessment,
02:01:47.99	Cass Green	for the end above tide and just invested back into the end above tide. But I want to invest it into the city of Sausoleo because I think
02:01:55.06	Cass Green	This will be effective for the city of Sausalito and it will
02:01:58.89	Cass Green	increase the revenues and it will help the city and it will help the residents. I was married here. I put myself through college work in here. I love this city.
02:02:08.14	Cass Green	So,
02:02:08.86	Cass Green	We request
02:02:11.21	Cass Green	that we be allowed to make this work.
02:02:14.29	Cass Green	that the businesses be allowed to help the city of Sausalito in the fiscal problems that you have, that you trust us. These are the companies that made it through COVID that are long established COVID companies. My company, my family's company has been in this town for 60 years and we've been successful here and we will continue to be successful. So please adopt the resolution of intent. We urge you to do so. Thanks very much.
02:02:43.25	Cass Green	And then Scott, did you want to summarize? Questions? Other questions please?
02:02:43.91	Melissa	Thank you. Do you want to summarize? Other questions please? It's a final round of questions before public comment. Any questions? Councilmember Hoffman.
02:02:54.25	Councilor I'm confused	Thank you, thank you for being here tonight. I appreciate it. We all appreciate it. We appreciate all the work. And let me just be clear.
02:03:01.02	Councilor I'm confused	that my comments
02:03:03.05	Councilor I'm confused	I hope they don't, I hope nobody feels that they reflect poorly upon
02:03:07.77	Councilor I'm confused	the motorcycle passing, but also the efforts that everybody has gone to on this. My view is the current fiscal impact to the city and the situation that we're in with our deficit spend.
02:03:22.39	Councilor I'm confused	Let me ask you, first off, so can you tell us what the percentage is for in above tide for the bid? I have it in my notes that's 1.65%. Is that about what you think it is? That's right.
02:03:32.95	Cass Green	That's right, I think it's going to be about $4,500 a year.
02:03:36.61	Councilor I'm confused	Okay, so that's fine. And then you offered to pay for somebody else's?
02:03:40.63	Cass Green	Yeah, our next-door neighbor.
02:03:43.11	Councilor I'm confused	Okay. And who's that?
02:03:44.49	Cass Green	Oh God Mark he's still here.
02:03:47.92	Cass Green	Kytec.
02:03:49.03	Councilor I'm confused	And what's the percentage for that?
02:03:51.16	Cass Green	If they're on El Portal,
02:03:52.76	Councilor I'm confused	I mean, Mark's going to know better than I am.
02:03:57.08	Councilor I'm confused	So 1200 you said, so that's like.
02:03:59.15	Mark Flaherty	Thank you.
02:03:59.27	Mark Flaherty	Thank you.
02:03:59.93	Mark Flaherty	12 to 16, they're 26,000 dollars.
02:04:02.58	Councilor I'm confused	I'm sorry, I can't hear you. 26 El Portal and it's
02:04:04.22	Mark Flaherty	to the next day.
02:04:06.40	Councilor I'm confused	Thank you.
02:04:06.41	Scott Thornburg	12 to 1600
02:04:09.01	Councilor I'm confused	Okay, an additional 12 to 600. Okay.
02:04:20.00	Councilor I'm confused	And you would agree, Cass, that there's nothing to preventing the district to form without the city. Right.
02:04:27.57	Cass Green	the district wouldn't form without the city.
02:04:29.85	Councilor I'm confused	And that's because the district wouldn't want to form because it wouldn't have the city's 50% funding?
02:04:36.41	Cass Green	That's part of it, most definitely. But I think what you're seeing is what the businesses want. They want a public-private partnership.
02:04:46.32	Cass Green	57% of the city's taxes.
02:04:49.51	Cass Green	You know, $2.1 million every year in TOT from the four hotels. There's a, they make huge investments into the city. And what we want to move forward with is a community that is a public private partnership.
02:05:10.54	Councilor I'm confused	I have a follow up question, but it's for Brandon, if that's okay. I'll pass.
02:05:15.45	Melissa	Let's do a, each person ask all their questions and we'll move on and then we'll do public comment. Okay, gotcha. So, one request that I have
02:05:19.99	Councilor I'm confused	Okay, gotcha. One request that I have is that we've seen other slides here. I would request that those be attached to the agenda as well. Is there any problem with that? Thank you. Thank you.
02:05:27.98	Councilor I'm confused	Okay.
02:05:28.37	Melissa	Thank you.
02:05:28.41	Cass Green	Okay.
02:05:29.39	Cass Green	Thank you.
02:05:29.98	Councilor I'm confused	So...
02:05:30.77	Councilor I'm confused	Brandon, I think we've discussed this, you and I, directly, but it is an anomaly among business improvement districts that the city would be at 50% or over 50%.
02:05:41.86	Unknown	Thank you.
02:05:41.94	Unknown	you
02:05:42.14	Director Phipps	you
02:05:42.33	Director Phipps	Yes, yes, I would agree with that.
02:05:44.03	Councilor I'm confused	And most business districts are
02:05:46.70	Councilor I'm confused	Thank you.
02:05:46.87	Councilor I'm confused	on the range or order of this, and this was also confirmed by our consultant, on the order of 15 to 20 to 25%.
02:05:53.87	Director Phipps	I agree.
02:05:55.09	Councilor I'm confused	And so.
02:06:04.76	Councilor I'm confused	I think that's all I have for you right now.
02:06:07.57	Melissa	Thank you councilmember. Thank you for the questions. Councilmember Blaustein, any questions?
02:06:08.67	Director Phipps	Thank you for the questions.
02:06:12.32	Councilmember Blasian	Yeah, I have a couple of questions. Thanks Cass for being here and Scott and I really appreciate your passion for this topic. I wanted to just, cause you've been a member of the business community for a long time Cass and you've seen a lot of different iterations of city engagement and.
02:06:25.92	Councilmember Blasian	You know, going back to when we had the Business Advisory Committee before EDAC,
02:06:30.71	Councilmember Blasian	And I remember from what I recall during those times, there was a big push from the business community and a big ask for,
02:06:37.17	Councilmember Blasian	Well, there was an ask from the city, the business community around the TOT. I mean, could you just kind of give refresh our memories about that? Because I know that had a lot to do with our relationship with the business community now.
02:06:50.05	Cass Green	Uh, you want to ask that I might be better to refer this to Mark because he was more involved. Mark. Yeah, sure. Yes, please.
02:06:55.09	Councilmember Blasian	Yeah, Mark, sure. Yes, please.
02:06:57.22	Councilmember Blasian	Thank you.
02:07:02.89	Councilmember Blasian	Hi, Mark.
02:07:06.35	Mark Flaherty	Thank you.
02:07:06.37	Councilmember Blasian	So,
02:07:06.48	Mark Flaherty	So,
02:07:06.92	Melissa	Could you identify yourself with the records, please?
02:07:07.02	Mark Flaherty	Could you identify yourself with the records, please? So specifically, what were you asking? The, sorry.
02:07:08.98	Melissa	What were you...
02:07:10.08	Melissa	the...
02:07:12.46	Councilmember Blasian	Justice.
02:07:12.58	Mark Flaherty	I was asking about when we previously. Mark Flaherty, the gentleman at the end above tide.
02:07:12.61	Councilmember Blasian	I was asking about when we previously
02:07:17.27	Councilmember Blasian	I was asking about when we previously increased the TOT rates and your involvement and the business community on that.
02:07:22.48	Mark Flaherty	Thank you.
02:07:22.97	Mark Flaherty	The DOT increased from 12 to 14 percent. At that time, the city requested that we buy into that increase, which we did with the proviso that the city would make specific and very substantial attempts to fund promotion of the town using those DOT funds.
02:07:23.09	Councilmember Blasian	Yeah.
02:07:50.43	Councilmember Blasian	And I'm sorry, go ahead, please.
02:07:52.49	Mark Flaherty	No, no, no. You can continue.
02:07:54.66	Councilmember Blasian	Just in your assessment as a business owner, after that increase, did you feel like the city kept its end of the bargain on that agreement?
02:08:04.89	Councilmember Blasian	No.
02:08:07.71	Mark Flaherty	No, our assessment was that the city was not as good to their word as we thought they should be.
02:08:18.86	Councilmember Blasian	And how do you feel like the city's been doing? I know we have a new CEO at the chamber who's really working with the city on a regular basis to re-enrich the relationship between the business community. So what would the PBID mean for you in terms of the way the city partners with businesses? So just I would love to hear from you as someone who runs a business every day.
02:08:37.07	Mark Flaherty	I think it would be, well, I really appreciate the energy that the Chamber has dedicated to this particular effort for the PBID formulation. But I think that the city...
02:08:55.43	Mark Flaherty	needs to buy into this. They really need to step up, I think, and make good on their word to support the business community. With that increase in TOT funds, we always felt that we We were left without a real purchase in the city. And I think that the PBID will be a nice group of both businesses and city representatives that will be able to really give some vitality and oomph to the promotion of Sausalito as a destination and as a place for residents and visitors to enjoy alike.
02:09:48.20	Mark Flaherty	but it requires funding. It requires funding. We have over 50 restaurants in the town of Sausalito. Our residents can't support those many, many restaurants. We have to make the town a vital place for everyone, regional visitors, faraway visitors, and certainly the residents to enjoy. And the city needs to help the businesses in making that happen.
02:10:19.20	Councilmember Blasian	Thank you so much. And so just to wrap up on that, a director has a question for you about the TOT.
02:10:29.81	Councilmember Blasian	And this may require a little bit of on the fly computing. So I apologize. I know we didn't get to connect today, but I was wondering, you know, do you have record of what year we initiated that 2% TOT increase? Oh, good question. I don't know off the top of my head, but I can- Why don't we just do it this way?
02:10:47.19	Councilmember Blasian	Assuming right now we have a 14% DOT, how much additional revenue do we make than if we had a 12% DOT? Just looking at the numbers as an accountant who is very savvy.
02:10:55.53	Chad Hess	Yeah, I don't do mental math.
02:10:58.15	Chad Hess	Yeah, yeah, yeah. So 2% of like 2.1 million. 2% of a million is what 200,000?
02:11:05.76	Councilmember Blasian	So what you're saying is if we're paying $126,000 into the Business Improvement District, that increase of the 2% annually,
02:11:13.08	Chad Hess	It's a small percentage, Joe.
02:11:14.02	Councilmember Blasian	percentage of.
02:11:15.36	Councilmember Blasian	Thank you.
02:11:15.37	Chad Hess	Yeah, it's a very small percentage.
02:11:15.56	Councilmember Blasian	It's a very small percentage of that.
02:11:17.92	Chad Hess	Yeah.
02:11:18.14	Councilmember Blasian	Okay, so it's a small percentage of the,
02:11:20.82	Councilmember Blasian	Thank you.
02:11:20.84	Chad Hess	And, uh,
02:11:20.88	Councilmember Blasian	that,
02:11:20.98	Chad Hess	of the whole TOT that we collect. I mean, we collect over 2.1 million.
02:11:25.04	Chad Hess	in TOT and if they're asking for
02:11:25.87	Councilmember Blasian	if they're out.
02:11:27.59	Chad Hess	165,000 back in return. It's a pretty small percentage.
02:11:31.51	Councilmember Blasian	And it's less than the 2% increase that we agree to in partnership with the business community, just looking at the broad numbers. Yeah, I would agree.
02:11:37.28	Chad Hess	I agree.
02:11:37.41	Melissa	We know.
02:11:37.48	Chad Hess	Thank you.
02:11:37.53	Councilmember Blasian	Thank you.
02:11:38.41	Councilmember Blasian	Okay, great. Just wanted to reflect that. Thank you very much. Thank you.
02:11:42.15	Melissa	Councilmember Kelman or Vice Mayor? Any questions? No questions from the answer to Kelman? Vice Mayor, any questions?
02:11:48.77	Melissa	Thank you.
02:11:48.84	Councilor I'm confused	I have a follow-up question.
02:11:49.44	Melissa	Okay, last question, then we'll go to public comment.
02:11:51.47	Councilor I'm confused	Sure, this is based on the questions, and this is for Director Hess. Is he still in the room? Where'd he go? There he is. So transient occupancy tax, we talk a lot about that, it seems. What, can you give us a quick definition of what that is?
02:12:08.21	Chad Hess	It's a tax that is levied upon a temporary occupancy of a space, less than...
02:12:14.81	Councilor I'm confused	Thank you.
02:12:14.82	Kevin McGowan	30 days?
02:12:15.11	Councilor I'm confused	Right.
02:12:15.25	Kevin McGowan	Thank you.
02:12:16.61	Councilor I'm confused	I don't know.
02:12:17.03	Chad Hess	Less than 30 days.
02:12:18.35	Councilor I'm confused	And is that a fee that's passed, that's paid for by the tenant of the unit?
02:12:24.01	Chad Hess	Yeah, it's typically passed on to the renter or the occupant of that space.
02:12:30.43	Councilor I'm confused	I can see it on your bill, in fact. Yeah, it's a line item. I've perused my bill.
02:12:31.53	Chad Hess	Yeah, it's a line item.
02:12:34.20	Chad Hess	I've looked at hotel bills as well. Yes. Yeah.
02:12:36.37	Councilor I'm confused	Thank you.
02:12:36.41	Chad Hess	Thank you.
02:12:36.85	Councilor I'm confused	All right.
02:12:38.75	Chad Hess	So it's typically paid by the individual leasing that room.
02:12:42.36	Chad Hess	It's collected by the business.
02:12:44.15	Councilor I'm confused	Like by this and then pass to us. Remitted to us.
02:12:46.04	Chad Hess	Remitted to us, correct.
02:12:47.68	Councilor I'm confused	And are you aware that the San Francisco transient occupancy tax is also 14%?
02:12:55.24	Chad Hess	I am not.
02:12:57.79	Chad Hess	I am now.
02:13:00.17	Councilor I'm confused	You learned so many things at a city council meeting. Okay, thank you.
02:13:04.54	Melissa	Thank you. Thank you. We'll now open public comment, city clerk.
02:13:11.12	Vladislava Skaricha	And first one we have that up sorry done that low.
02:13:19.10	Vladislava Skaricha	And then after it's Carolyn and Ravel.
02:13:22.04	Unknown	I'm a member of EDAC and my family has been involved in different roles in Sausalito for now about 120 years. I've worked here for the last 16. I've lived in three different neighborhoods here. I am passionately in support of the approval of the PBID for a variety of reasons. Number one is I think it's common sense. I think it's going to pay off all my intuition and from what I've seen.
02:13:44.55	Unknown	SUGGEST THAT IT WILL.
02:13:46.34	Unknown	I also think that the danger in public administration
02:13:50.51	Unknown	when we have bad years where there are economic pressures that you guys frankly have to deal with that are very, very tough, and you have a lot of tough decisions to make, it's easy to fall into a pattern of fighting over how a limited size of pie is divided
02:14:07.52	Unknown	and lose track of the fact that the only long-term solution is to make the pie bigger.
02:14:12.81	Unknown	so that there's more for everybody. And then we can scrabble about the bigger pie, which is a lot easier.
02:14:18.48	Unknown	I know that you are facing very tough challenges here, but I do believe that this is something where five years from now you will be very glad you approved it. San Rafael just renewed theirs. There's all these other success stories. So my message is, number one, to convey I have a lot of empathy for the tough calls you're having to make right now, and I do not trivialize that. But for the future sake of the city and our ability to do things and grow and move positively ahead, I respectfully submit. I deeply believe that this needs to be done. Thank you very much.
02:14:51.27	Carolyn Revell	Carolyn. Good evening, I'm Carolyn Revell with the
02:14:55.85	Carolyn Revell	It's also a little beautiful, as you know.
02:14:58.02	Carolyn Revell	asking you to adopt the resolution to establish a downtown property owners business improvement district and initiate balloting.
02:15:04.79	Carolyn Revell	I've joined the steering committee meetings over the past year and have been impressed by the willingness of the property owners and business community to tax themselves in order to provide a higher level of services than otherwise available.
02:15:17.72	Carolyn Revell	I'm also familiar with a long-established downtown management organization called the Bethesda Urban Partnership. It was created in line with the sector plan that I co-led in Montgomery County, Maryland. And we can learn from the experience of that downtown management association.
02:15:33.27	Carolyn Revell	Bethesda Urban Partnership, like the one we're proposing here, maintains and enhances streetscape amenities such as planter boxes and street trees, oversees trash collection, organizes art festivals and concerts, has a team wearing t-shirts that say, ask me to advise visitors and help with maintenance,
02:15:50.30	Carolyn Revell	It runs a circulating shuttle and
02:15:52.21	Carolyn Revell	shuttle bus and assist with transit and parking.
02:15:55.57	Carolyn Revell	because it had an ongoing structure and management
02:15:59.04	Carolyn Revell	during COVID,
02:16:00.22	Carolyn Revell	Bethesda Urban Partnership could respond rapidly
02:16:02.89	Carolyn Revell	to help struggling restaurants by transforming two closed streets into outdoor seating
02:16:07.94	Carolyn Revell	for any adjacent restaurant to use.
02:16:10.03	Carolyn Revell	attracting 72% of people surveyed
02:16:13.02	Carolyn Revell	They came several times a week.
02:16:15.16	Carolyn Revell	at least once a week.
02:16:16.73	Carolyn Revell	The Bethesda Streetery, so-called, had a ripple effect across the community, becoming a place of connection and vibrancy and a boon to local businesses.
02:16:25.84	Carolyn Revell	Like the proposed Sausalito bid, Bethesda Urban Partnership has to be reauthorized every five years. The leadership develops a strategic plan, and the county's Office of Oversight measures BUP's achievements against the plan. Last fall, it reauthorized the partnership for its seventh five-year term, a testament to its success. The Sausalito City Council has a similar ability to have input into the planning for the Sausalito PBID and a future council can decide whether to reauthorize it. I urge you to adopt the resolution. Thank you so much.
02:16:56.50	Vladislava Skaricha	I urge you to adopt the resolution. Thank you so much. The speaker Adrian Brinton followed by Yoshi Tensei.
02:17:05.21	Vladislava Skaricha	Sorry.
02:17:10.56	Adrian Brinton	Hi, Adrian Brinton. I'm a resident here in Sausalito. Some great discussions tonight. You know, a lot of talk about the budget and the impact on the city finances, which is super important. And we should be thinking really carefully how we invest in our city. And it was great to see the numbers back and that this can pay for itself and that this is a good investment. There were concerns that other cities pay.
02:17:32.24	Adrian Brinton	less or pay differently, those different models for pbids.
02:17:35.43	Adrian Brinton	you know, what do we want to do? What do we want to do for our city and what's right for our city? And I think investing with the businesses makes a ton of sense. You know, we heard from our business owners, you know, about the taxes they pay, about the different things that have happened in the past. All that stuff aside, this is a great investment for the city, and it's really good to see that. You know, we can't bury our heads with our budget deficit. We've got to take action to build our revenues. We've talked about that in the budget meetings. This is a great opportunity to do that.
02:18:03.70	Adrian Brinton	The parking is a huge thing, right? We have a ton of spare capacity in non peak times. Right now, if you go in and you look in the parking lot on Monday and there's 50 open spaces, that's $75 a day in a revenue that we're not getting. If we start doing events and we bring people into town on off peak weekends and off peak days, that's money in the bank for us.
02:18:22.28	Adrian Brinton	When we remove those spots, we remove the 31 parking places that $75 a day on peak days that we lose. That has an impact for sure, but we can more than make up for that.
02:18:35.42	Adrian Brinton	by adding more capacity when people are not parking. So I think that's a great opportunity here.
02:18:41.13	Adrian Brinton	You know, driving the off peak demand is great.
02:18:43.44	Adrian Brinton	If the businesses come in with a pivot and they want to generate peak demand,
02:18:46.97	Adrian Brinton	You know, it's a mess down there on the peak weekends when the parking lots are full, it's ugly.
02:18:50.85	Adrian Brinton	So we don't want to be bringing more people in when the city is already full, but we have a ton of days where the city is not full and being that in will help our finances substantially. Thank you very much.
02:19:04.60	Vladislava Skaricha	Yoshi.
02:19:07.49	Vladislava Skaricha	Sorry, I didn't get your last name correct.
02:19:10.07	Yoshidome	I'm sorry for my beautiful handwriting, Tomei.
02:19:12.97	Yoshidome	I'm not.
02:19:14.14	Yoshidome	My name is Yoshidome, owner of the Sushirang, Caledonia Street. I've been to Sasariro ownership for 38 years. And also, I do remember 2002, first time they raised the TOT tax 2%. They started having hospitality committee. I'm sitting there with Mark J. Spiraz, other people, 13 years. Now, this time it raises 2% tax again. That's where it started EDUC.
02:19:41.69	Yoshidome	But...
02:19:42.57	Yoshidome	whatever reason did not work well the other way speak this month another long time restaurant shutting down after covid effect downtown san francisco got a really very bad reputation visitor tourist is not coming to bay area wine country and around here it's really really risk we're facing. You know the keep vitality of the South Lilo business community restaurants surviving. This is the best program I've seen long time. I was a chamber board of directors for 12 years and also sitting at the hospitality committee. This is the best way to promote in society law, business community, I believe best for the residents also. The talk about all the budget, everything else we have. Again, 50 plus restaurant will not survive just for the local residents, local business people. We rely on all the visitors. Without them, we are dying. Downtown San Francisco, more than 30% restaurant already shutting down.
02:20:59.57	Yoshidome	Please accept this program and let Sarselil keep survive and keep salty. Thank you.
02:21:08.53	Vladislava Skaricha	Carly Tobberg.
02:21:15.16	Vladislava Skaricha	And followed by Amy Svenberg.
02:21:19.52	Carly Tobberg	Hey, everybody. Just so you guys know, Yoshi is my Japanese grandfather. If it wasn't for Yoshi, I wouldn't be alive. My parents met at Sushiron, where my dad was with his two kids, and my mom was on a date with another guy. So thank you, Yoshi.
02:21:41.52	Carly Tobberg	You know, there's only two things that are certain in life, death and taxes. And to me, the property owners voting to tax themself is means they have a lot of certainty.
02:21:46.28	Unknown	to do.
02:21:46.33	Unknown	and then,
02:21:53.87	Carly Tobberg	So what does that really mean? It means we should tax ourselves and just live it up till we die. So the idea about co-investing with business owners in this P bid is a good one. If I could raise in any of our operating businesses a revenue stream by one percent and get over the term of that investment, over 100 percent return on that investment, I would be ecstatic. You guys should be, too.
02:22:17.77	Carly Tobberg	Um...
02:22:18.82	Carly Tobberg	you know obviously the 10-year treasury is at at 4.34 percent today um in the worst year of the p bid with the worst estimations it does better than the risk-free rate why wouldn't you do that um
02:22:30.85	Carly Tobberg	You know,
02:22:31.71	Carly Tobberg	This unlocks the vision of a highly motivated group of people. And the people who've sat forth here tonight and who've supported this initiative, you guys know can change the way the city operates for the better and make it beautiful,
02:22:46.66	Carly Tobberg	and sustainable and wonderful. Um, the last thing I'll say is, you know, you guys are all very accomplished and you don't need to be an amazing EPA attorney, a nonprofit and startup maven, a cracking municipal attorney, a wonderful, brilliant military attorney who served her country or even an aerospace engineer, um, to know this makes sense. And for the aerospace engineer, it's not rocket science. Uh, trust the businesses. This is going to work.
02:23:18.01	Vladislava Skaricha	Amy Svenberg followed by Alice Merrill.
02:23:23.75	Amy Svenberg	Thank you, Carlito. You are so great. Of course, I represent Poggio Copita and I'm the chair of the Chamber of Commerce. Just to reiterate, we really do believe this program. Cass did an incredible job explaining every aspect and all the months, years of hard work. But I'd like to thank you as well, members of the council because you have taken the time to meet with us individually. We hear you and we understand your concerns, but we believe in this.
02:23:53.85	Amy Svenberg	as businesses need to drive revenue, and we need to drive revenue that is going to trickle down to you. So we implore that you adopt the resolution of intent, and we thank you for your consideration, and look forward to moving forward on this next steps.
02:24:13.63	Vladislava Skaricha	Alice Merrill.
02:24:15.98	Vladislava Skaricha	Followed by Bonnie McGregor.
02:24:21.46	Alice Merrill	Hello, my name is Alice Merrill and
02:24:26.25	Alice Merrill	There are two things. I think that this subject probably should have come after we heard about the whole budget.
02:24:34.83	Alice Merrill	I'm hearing glowing things. I hope they're true, but I still think this should have come after we knew about what the budget really has in it before we start connecting ourselves.
02:24:47.43	Alice Merrill	The second thing is there is a pending FPCC, FPPC investigation about whether our mayor lives within the PBID district
02:25:01.12	Alice Merrill	the area of what however you guys recuse yourselves. There's been a lot of conversation about who recuses for what reason and where are they and why are they there and et cetera.
02:25:14.47	Alice Merrill	This is actually under investigation. And so I would
02:25:22.92	Alice Merrill	I would say that until this is resolved, that our mayor shouldn't be voting. I believe that he shouldn't even be in the conversation if he's within that district of recusal. I know nobody else is going to bring this up, but it's...
02:25:45.89	Alice Merrill	It's a thing and we need to follow the rules and be transparent and be a really, really thoughtful city government. Please. Thank you.
02:25:59.44	Vladislava Skaricha	Bonnie McGregor.
02:26:08.40	Bonnie McGregor	Once again, I am Bonnie McGregor, 90 Princes,
02:26:11.74	Bonnie McGregor	Thank you.
02:26:12.94	Bonnie McGregor	And I don't know as much about this particular project as Carolyn Revelle is, and I can't possibly follow up and add to much of what she has said. We are both on the board for Sausalito Beautiful, and that is our purpose in that group is to make Sausalito more beautiful. And I think this program,
02:26:33.39	Bonnie McGregor	We'll provide more opportunities for us to plant more trees and do flower boxes and more lighting and what have you to make the town.
02:26:40.99	Bonnie McGregor	more interesting to the people who live here to come down and shop and eat.
02:26:45.79	Bonnie McGregor	as well as the opportunity to expand
02:26:48.59	Bonnie McGregor	bringing in people from all over the state, all over the country, and we get a lot of Europeans.
02:26:53.49	Bonnie McGregor	And Asians here too.
02:26:55.14	Bonnie McGregor	So I'm very much in favor of moving forward with this.
02:26:58.91	Bonnie McGregor	We do have to invest in order to expand. And I'm sure we can figure out some way
02:27:05.60	Bonnie McGregor	to handle the deficit situation we're facing right now and including the insurance problem to jump off the little cliff and move forward with this project
02:27:18.04	Vladislava Skaricha	Steven Woodside.
02:27:26.28	Steven Woodside	I'm sorry if I interrupted I was on remote and I just decided to come down. To my friend Alice I understand there are
02:27:34.72	Steven Woodside	Many times conflict questions raise when someone lives within 500 feet of a potential project or a district or a zone.
02:27:44.70	Steven Woodside	That is a 500 feet rule created by the FBPC.
02:27:48.92	Steven Woodside	in order to say there's a presumption of a financial interest
02:27:53.43	Steven Woodside	but it is rebuttable.
02:27:55.57	Steven Woodside	And I can't think of a way
02:27:57.97	Steven Woodside	that somebody living
02:28:01.02	Steven Woodside	400 feet from this district who doesn't have to pay the tax Who doesn't have a business has a financial interest? So I think it is a
02:28:10.88	Steven Woodside	such from my perspective.
02:28:13.59	Steven Woodside	that you should go forward.
02:28:15.91	Steven Woodside	The person who raised this served with me on the landslide task force. She lives within 200 feet of the worst landslide we have seen recently.
02:28:28.63	Steven Woodside	200 feet.
02:28:30.47	Steven Woodside	never disclosed.
02:28:33.02	Steven Woodside	No presumption.
02:28:34.74	Steven Woodside	Nobody complained.
02:28:36.38	Steven Woodside	BECAUSE SHE DID A GOOD JOB.
02:28:38.37	Steven Woodside	She has no conflits.
02:28:40.21	Steven Woodside	Neither does our mayor.
02:28:41.42	Steven Woodside	So I just wanted to make that clear.
02:28:44.97	Steven Woodside	You have some brilliant people in the community who've looked at this. I have experience with a few others that have been phenomenally successful.
02:28:54.91	Steven Woodside	throughout the state.
02:28:57.28	Steven Woodside	There's almost never a failure. And in this case, I think we have room for optimism. So thank you.
02:29:05.64	Director Hess	May I ask a question of Mr. Woodside?
02:29:08.49	Director Hess	I'm going to put you on the spot because I know you're the former county council of the county of Marin and you've encountered these types of issues before you previously wrote to us about this. Can you if you recall speak about the public generally exception, yes, the F P PC guidelines yeah.
02:29:23.27	Steven Woodside	Yes.
02:29:26.17	Steven Woodside	Yeah.
02:29:26.41	Steven Woodside	Let me just put it this way. I'm old enough to have voted for the Political Reform Act in 1974.
02:29:34.85	Steven Woodside	That act was adopted in the wake of Watergate, in the wake of all kinds of stuff. The then young Governor Jerry Brown was a supporter as well as Common Cause and others. It says
02:29:49.72	Steven Woodside	You cannot have a financial interest in something
02:29:54.41	Steven Woodside	distinguishable from the public generally. That's the act.
02:29:59.89	Steven Woodside	Now the FBPC had years of trouble trying to figure out how to enforce it.
02:30:04.63	Steven Woodside	So they adopted a rule. If you're within 500 feet,
02:30:08.65	Steven Woodside	You're presumed to have a conflict, but,
02:30:11.92	Steven Woodside	Let's take a look at it.
02:30:14.71	Steven Woodside	And in this case, if the mayor had a business
02:30:21.51	Steven Woodside	Maybe it's arguable.
02:30:22.81	Steven Woodside	That he has a financial interest. So anyway, I haven't done a complete analysis. I don't know what the FPPC staff will do, but
02:30:33.59	Steven Woodside	You know, you're often faced with these problems.
02:30:38.18	Steven Woodside	This is a small town.
02:30:40.15	Steven Woodside	Most of you live within 500 feet of something.
02:30:44.37	Director Hess	Bye.
02:30:44.63	Director Hess	Thank you.
02:30:44.71	Director Hess	Thank you.
02:30:45.62	Director Hess	And and as the County Council and obviously having litigated various cases would you agree that anybody can file a complaint about anything it doesn't mean the complaint has merit.
02:30:57.94	Steven Woodside	Oh, absolutely. I had to defend a few of those. Thank you.
02:31:02.11	Councilor I'm confused	Thank you. I have a follow-up question for Mr. Woodside based on those questions. Mr. Woodside, I have a couple of questions for you.
02:31:08.39	Councilor I'm confused	Sure.
02:31:09.79	Councilor I'm confused	You were aware that there's a there's an ethics advisory from the FPPC directly related to P bids to business improvement districts and that ethics advisory from the FPPC clearly stated that a member of a city council meeting a member of a city council is
02:31:28.75	Councilor I'm confused	in that case, who live within 500 feet of
02:31:31.96	Councilor I'm confused	the district did not live in the district, but he lived within 500 feet
02:31:35.71	Councilor I'm confused	he had an ethical conflict and could not vote. Were you aware of that advisory opinion?
02:31:40.30	Steven Woodside	The one that I'm aware of I think comes from Menlo Park and it
02:31:44.57	Steven Woodside	the opposite result.
02:31:47.17	Councilor I'm confused	I'd like to well, then I'll ask our city attorney because that's been provided to our city attorney as far as I know that There is an ethics and I can for for certainly forward that to you as well but I I'm
02:31:57.83	Councilor I'm confused	I can assure you that there is an ethics opinion squarely based on a,
02:32:02.84	Councilor I'm confused	on a business improvement district.
02:32:04.76	Councilor I'm confused	that related to
02:32:06.33	Councilor I'm confused	a renter.
02:32:07.74	Councilor I'm confused	a council member who rented
02:32:10.42	Councilor I'm confused	in the district.
02:32:11.62	Councilor I'm confused	who had a conflict and could not vote
02:32:13.57	Councilor I'm confused	And the other part of the opinion was that the other council member owned a property within 400 feet of the district and also was prevented from voting.
02:32:13.79	Unknown	And the other,
02:32:24.19	Steven Woodside	Okay, the one I'm aware of had someone living up the hill from a district
02:32:30.82	Steven Woodside	And the FPPC said he was up the hill sheltered by trees had no financial interest and there's no conflict and
02:32:38.08	Unknown	I'm happy.
02:32:38.26	Steven Woodside	You're going to find an opinion on both sides of this issue. All you have to do is look and Google it.
02:32:38.30	Unknown	You're gonna find.
02:32:38.97	Councilor I'm confused	Fine.
02:32:41.60	Councilor I'm confused	All you have to do is
02:32:44.02	Councilor I'm confused	I'm happy to provide that to you, sir, so that you can have that for your future.
02:32:47.53	Steven Woodside	Okay, now I just want to make a full disclosure here.
02:32:50.92	Steven Woodside	In 2023, I decided to become inactive. So I'm no longer able to give you legal advice. I choose not to.
02:33:01.52	Steven Woodside	But I'm happy to argue it because we elected...
02:33:04.05	Councilor I'm confused	Selected.
02:33:04.96	Councilor I'm confused	.
02:33:05.03	Steven Woodside	All five of you, all five of you to serve us.
02:33:08.67	Councilor I'm confused	You and I are always happy to argue with each other. I'll just let's just stipulate to that. No, we don't have the other the other the other portion is under the that ethics exception that you just talked about. There's also an exception that if if the council member is the proponent of whatever, whatever is before the council that that exception does not apply. Were you aware of that section under the FPC guideline?
02:33:11.67	Steven Woodside	No, we don't have to.
02:33:33.09	Steven Woodside	I'm not sure I understand what you're saying.
02:33:35.20	Councilmember Kelman	Would the colleagues be okay? Sorry, Mr. Jones, I'm going to interrupt. I'm not comfortable with a member of the public providing or not providing legal advice. Not providing it. Right, of course. I'm just a member of the public. Of course, yeah. I want all five.
02:33:42.62	Steven Woodside	I'm not providing it. I'm just a member of the public. I want all five of you to vote, please.
02:33:45.75	Councilmember Kelman	Thank you.
02:33:45.86	Councilmember Kelman	I have a few of you to vote, please. So maybe instead, just our city attorney, who I hope is still with us, just would want to weigh in on what the practical impacts might be.
02:33:54.77	Councilmember Kelman	Thank you.
02:33:54.94	Councilmember Kelman	We leave Mr. Woodside of the podium, thank you for your involvement. But Sir Duke, can you maybe just chime in and direct the conversation a little bit for us?
02:34:03.83	Sir Duke	Yeah, I mean, ultimately the decision as to whether to participate when you think there's a potential for a conflict of interest resides with the individual member who has the potential for a conflict of interest. So this is not a decision that the members of the public get to make for our participating council members. It is not a decision the city attorney gets to make for our council members. It's not a decision other council members get to make for our council members. So, you know, ultimately, you know,
02:34:31.86	Sir Duke	this issue has been raised with respect to the mayor, the decision is the mayor's to make. With respect to the,
02:34:38.31	Sir Duke	FPPC opinion.
02:34:40.98	Sir Duke	There are two, one of which I have seen related to
02:34:46.99	Sir Duke	Um,
02:34:48.59	Sir Duke	which was mentioned by Councilmember Hoffman. Additionally, one was mentioned just now by our
02:34:54.46	Sir Duke	um public commenter um that opinion uh actually appears to deal with the city of mountain view um not the city of menlo park but that came out just this year uh actually that came out late last year um
02:35:11.62	Sir Duke	And it also deals with Pbid.
02:35:14.44	Sir Duke	So I do think that there is probably some potential
02:35:19.03	Sir Duke	on both sides of this issue. Additionally, there was discussion about whether public generally applies. You know, again, that is gonna be
02:35:27.86	Sir Duke	something that the FPPC would look into. Ultimately, again,
02:35:33.58	Sir Duke	you know,
02:35:34.22	Sir Duke	The mayor has stated on the record he's received legal advice on this issue and that he's going to follow his legal advice, you know, that he received from his outside counsel. The decision is his and, you know,
02:35:45.24	Sir Duke	Typically the process
02:35:47.47	Sir Duke	You know, if there is an enforcement action by the FPPC, it would typically occur after the decision, not before. And there's not any sort of requirement that the City Council wait or delay in making a decision while waiting for the FPPC to decide whether or not it wants to take any sort of action on this.
02:36:06.13	Melissa	Okay, thanks city attorney. So let's move on.
02:36:07.17	Councilor I'm confused	I have a problem.
02:36:08.12	Councilor I'm confused	ON THE
02:36:08.54	Councilor I'm confused	I have a follow up on that with the city attorney. As a follow up city attorney, what's the effect on the vote that's taken if there's found to be a conflict?
02:36:19.51	Sir Duke	None. At least not necessarily any particular effect. Typically, if there is a conflict of interest that is found by the FPPC,
02:36:29.74	Sir Duke	The most usual result is a fine of the affected council member who has participated wrongly.
02:36:36.52	Sir Duke	There can, in very rare instances, be some sort of litigation to invalidate
02:36:42.61	Sir Duke	a decision but again it's a high burden for that litigant to prove that the action would not have been taken in the absence of the conflicted council members participation
02:36:54.27	Melissa	Thank you.
02:36:55.57	Melissa	Can we continue with public comment, please city clerk.
02:36:58.39	Vladislava Skaricha	All right, next person, Senator Bushmaker.
02:37:06.24	SPEAKER_41	Hello, everybody.
02:37:07.50	SPEAKER_41	Yes, I think that given this discussion with the conflict that it's prudent to
02:37:14.08	SPEAKER_41	either continue the matter of this business improvement district or for the mayor to recuse himself until we have resolution from the FPPC.
02:37:22.67	SPEAKER_41	of this particular investigation.
02:37:25.98	SPEAKER_41	I'm also concerned just as an aside,
02:37:29.22	SPEAKER_41	The comments for the
02:37:31.75	SPEAKER_41	PBED were placed under the sewer item on the agenda. And I hope that can be corrected.
02:37:38.23	SPEAKER_41	And I want to say with regard to the PBID, I do not oppose PBIDs.
02:37:43.19	SPEAKER_41	Oh, before I get into that, I just want everybody to know I was a 30-year
02:37:49.35	SPEAKER_41	business owner and manager of a business here in Sausalito.
02:37:54.08	SPEAKER_41	I know very much what it's like to own a business and function here in Sausalito.
02:37:59.33	SPEAKER_41	uh so with regard to the pbid i do not oppose pbids generally i just opposed this one at this time i'm very concerned about our budgetary issues
02:38:10.01	SPEAKER_41	This is going to cost the city over five years, $650,000 and an un
02:38:15.59	SPEAKER_41	quantified amount of city staff
02:38:19.19	SPEAKER_41	and city administrative fees, which are mentioned in the staff report, but not quantified.
02:38:25.67	SPEAKER_41	I think that I also oppose the city being a 50% owner in this business improvement district.
02:38:31.98	SPEAKER_41	Given the fact that we have budgetary issues and we have insurance issues, I think this is not the highest priority for the city at this time.
02:38:42.19	SPEAKER_41	And as I said, I can support
02:38:44.58	SPEAKER_41	Business improvement districts generally
02:38:47.18	SPEAKER_41	But this one is not one that I can support. Thank you.
02:38:52.70	Vladislava Skaricha	All right, next person, Teresa Ancona.
02:38:59.30	Melissa	Ms. Zancona, you need to unmute yourself.
02:39:01.58	Unknown	Thank you.
02:39:02.30	Melissa	Thank you. Can you hear me now? Yes, go ahead.
02:39:05.71	Melissa	Thank you.
02:39:05.73	Adana Angelino	I'm sorry I couldn't be there this evening. I was here at work.
02:39:09.37	Adana Angelino	I'm Adana Angelino at 621 Bridgeway. So I'm the owner, operator and property owner here.
02:39:16.39	Adana Angelino	And, uh,
02:39:17.76	Adana Angelino	with all due respect to Ms. Bushmaker actually I feel like this is probably the city's highest priority because what we're discussing tonight is actually about generating more revenue for the city
02:39:30.23	Adana Angelino	when the city needs more revenue.
02:39:33.10	Adana Angelino	So that to me seems like the highest priority.
02:39:36.42	Adana Angelino	for the city council.
02:39:39.44	Adana Angelino	know and we're talking about the city actually investing with and in the business community every day the business owners and the property owners come down here and we invest rain shine pandemic no pandemic visitors no visitors we are here constantly supporting the community and now we're asking the community to come back
02:40:03.34	Adana Angelino	and supports the businesses as well.
02:40:07.19	Adana Angelino	to be a mutual partner
02:40:09.35	Adana Angelino	in this project.
02:40:13.03	Adana Angelino	And you know,
02:40:14.51	Adana Angelino	That pretty much sums it up.
02:40:16.25	Adana Angelino	Thank you.
02:40:18.88	Vladislava Skaricha	All right, next person, Babette McDougall.
02:40:22.34	Babette McDougall	Can you all hear me?
02:40:23.59	Vladislava Skaricha	Yes, please.
02:40:24.03	Melissa	Go ahead, Ms. McDougal.
02:40:24.87	Babette McDougall	All right.
02:40:25.48	Babette McDougall	Thank you very much. Well, first of all, I'd like to say that I have sometimes prefaced my remarks by saying,
02:40:31.62	Babette McDougall	I classify this as tough love. I'm going to say this is probably
02:40:36.21	Babette McDougall	biggest example of tough love for yours truly because
02:40:39.52	Babette McDougall	If you check the record and if you just think back, I have actually spoken in favor of the PBID since its inception.
02:40:46.64	Babette McDougall	you
02:40:46.83	Babette McDougall	I am not opposed to it. However, I have to tell you that
02:40:51.49	Babette McDougall	Surprisingly, even though I am not an elected official, but I have had a business in Sausalito since the late 1990s,
02:40:58.10	Babette McDougall	and I reside in Sausalito also since the 1990s.
02:41:02.40	Babette McDougall	I think I moved to Sausalito in 80 something.
02:41:05.07	Babette McDougall	come to think of it. So I was here as a resident longer than when I finally moved my business over.
02:41:10.11	Babette McDougall	All right, so here's the point.
02:41:12.26	Babette McDougall	The point, I have three points to make. First of all, I'd like to thank Alice Merrill for bringing the issue of
02:41:17.81	Babette McDougall	Mr. Sobieski's current investigation for conflicts of interest
02:41:21.71	Babette McDougall	It was my understanding that not only do you have a residence nearby, but you have a rental property, which I believe if that is true, then that would classify you as a vested interest partner in this. So again, this is something that I have supported from the beginning. But I think we have to be very realistic about our standards of ethical conduct.
02:41:40.34	Babette McDougall	And it's disappointing to see that once again, our mayor fails to rise to that standard. So moving on to the issues of the PBID itself.
02:41:49.48	Babette McDougall	I have to tell you, shockingly, even though I'm not even in California and haven't been for a while,
02:41:54.46	Babette McDougall	I'm actually going to try to count
02:41:57.03	Babette McDougall	Almost 15 telephone calls!
02:41:59.91	Babette McDougall	from people in Sausalito saying,
02:42:03.12	Babette McDougall	What are we doing? We're broke. Why are we looking to shell out so much money? And I specifically asked the city, for those very reasons, to do a cost-benefit analysis as any good marketing person would do. You don't just look at the opportunities, which is all I have heard from the city. We also look at where we could explode and this whole thing could go horribly wrong.
02:42:28.33	Vladislava Skaricha	Next person, Eva.
02:42:39.47	Eva	Thank you. Yeah, with regard to the FPPC investigation, I don't know if you guys remember, but one of your more illustrious residents, Kate Sears, had a case before the FPPC and,
02:42:55.45	Eva	Excuse me. Um,
02:42:57.52	Eva	You know, in that case, the determination appeared to be very political.
02:43:03.75	Eva	It was disappointing that it happened that way. But I think it's important to remember that sometimes the outcomes of these
02:43:12.85	Eva	These cases are highly politicized.
02:43:16.49	Eva	or can be if they're higher profile.
02:43:19.11	Eva	It is
02:43:21.45	Eva	It is remarkable that this wasn't considered before.
02:43:25.49	Eva	I...
02:43:26.41	Eva	I also find it a little interesting because
02:43:29.10	Eva	When I follow, when I try to follow coverage of Sausalito in, say, the Pacific Sun, I think the last article they did
02:43:39.05	Eva	was a kind of
02:43:42.38	Eva	tough job on Mayor Sobieski. And it seems like, you know, there's a kind of confusion about
02:43:52.72	Eva	what needs to be looked at, what's worth investigating, and
02:43:58.00	Eva	It is, you know, this is a highly credentialed council and it's worth asking if there wasn't a little bit of arrogance
02:44:08.05	Eva	in how you handled some prior issues
02:44:12.15	Eva	Um,
02:44:13.63	Eva	that's come back to bite you in the hindquarters. But it is, you know, I think the...
02:44:21.97	Eva	the FBPC investigation, it's not chopped liver, but it's also the outcomes of those are not always, you know, they're not always just.
02:44:39.06	Vladislava Skaricha	All right, and Morgan Pierce.
02:44:45.91	Morgan Pierce	Thank you.
02:44:47.87	Morgan Pierce	Good evening, Mayor Sobieski.
02:44:49.52	Morgan Pierce	Vice Mayor Cox, commissioners, numbers of staff, and my fellow, Sauce Leidens.
02:44:53.30	Melissa	Can you hear me okay?
02:44:54.35	Melissa	Yes, we can. Go ahead.
02:44:55.90	Morgan Pierce	Great. My name is Morgan Pierce, architect and landscape architect, past chair of the Planning Commission, past chair of the Historic Preservation Commission, and current president of the South Slido Beautiful.
02:45:04.96	Morgan Pierce	I would first like to thank you for your foresight in supporting the study of the PBID.
02:45:08.83	Morgan Pierce	and for your fortitude in helping to shepherd it through the gauntlet of approval necessary
02:45:13.64	Morgan Pierce	Um,
02:45:14.95	Morgan Pierce	to reach this point. As you know, the PBID is a creative mechanism to leverage both private and city funds for the shared maintenance and improvement of our downtown business district.
02:45:25.74	Morgan Pierce	and creates a unique partnership between the city and its commercial property owners to achieve long-term enhancements
02:45:31.98	Morgan Pierce	coupled with an establishment of a collaborative partnership.
02:45:35.49	Morgan Pierce	It is through forward-thinking efforts such as this,
02:45:38.87	Morgan Pierce	backed by Saucena's cadre of tireless volunteers
02:45:42.14	Morgan Pierce	that our community will truly be able to achieve the distinction it deserves and serve as an inspirational model for successful business and government collaboration.
02:45:51.20	Morgan Pierce	This is not a financial burden to our community.
02:45:53.83	Morgan Pierce	but rather an investment in it.
02:45:55.74	Morgan Pierce	I implore you.
02:45:56.94	Morgan Pierce	to continue using court for the P-Bid
02:45:59.30	Morgan Pierce	Doc this resolution.
02:46:00.77	Morgan Pierce	And imagine a sauce leader that is welcoming
02:46:03.40	Morgan Pierce	solvent.
02:46:04.35	Morgan Pierce	and beautiful.
02:46:05.61	Morgan Pierce	Thank you.
02:46:10.39	Vladislava Skaricha	All right, Kieran Culligan.
02:46:14.49	Kieran Cargan	Hi there, Kieran Cargan, Sassadou resident. I'm really saddened to see this FPPC topic.
02:46:20.21	Kieran Cargan	being weaponized to further a political agenda. I just looked up the FPPC case list, and there's no active case shown for this. So there could be a complaint, and anyone can make a complaint about anything, you know, God bless America. But it would be inaccurate and a misrepresentation to say that there's an investigation, as we heard from a couple of speakers. On to more important topics. I'm not a business owner, but i'm really interested to see the town thrive and to have a more resilient budget um you heard a little bit and heard some questions on the regular revenue uplift models in my business consulting days i would have explained that to you as a simple break-even model so it's what you would have to believe for this to make sense it could be more a lot more it could be less but it's really about looking at something together seeing if it can make sense um what do you have to make sense. It could be more, a lot more, it could be less, but it's really about looking at something together, seeing if it can make sense. What do you have to believe? We've heard from EDAC, business owners, city staff, they think it looks good.
02:47:14.23	Kieran Cargan	I would trust their voices. They should carry a lot of weight. I hope you agree with me. There's also a question around where the best lever to pull, like is it parking or sales tax or TOT? These aren't independent variables. The programming that would happen with the P bid is going to impact all of these things. It might be with different mixes, but it all works together. We heard about rising tide lifting all boats. That's what I would have said too.
02:47:36.86	Kieran Cargan	And it really is interesting how business owners are equally incentivized for off-peak demand, which means parking capacity isn't the issue here. So if you're losing a few spots in the ferry landing, that's not the issue. The issue is empty parking lots.
02:47:48.38	Kieran Cargan	um,
02:47:49.19	Kieran Cargan	The best level we have is to do stuff.
02:47:51.50	Kieran Cargan	Demand generation is a contact sport. Generate ideas, prioritize, put things in motion, measure, learn, react, do it again. The city's not going to do that. I think it's very clear. So let's take advantage of this co-investment opportunity and make it happen. Thanks.
02:48:06.44	Vladislava Skaricha	Thank you.
02:48:06.50	Kieran Cargan	Thank you.
02:48:09.80	Vladislava Skaricha	Nope.
02:48:10.54	Vladislava Skaricha	No further public speakers.
02:48:12.12	Melissa	Last one, N.S.
02:48:16.21	Melissa	You're the last speaker.
02:48:17.66	Councilmember Blasian	I see Charles Melton's hand is raised in the in the attendee and so is Peter Van Meter's in the online
02:48:23.03	Melissa	More comments.
02:48:23.97	Councilmember Blasian	Go ahead, man.
02:48:24.73	Councilmember Blasian	Thank you.
02:48:24.75	Ines Ponyer	Hello, I'm Ines Ponyer, Sox Alito, and I'm also on the board of Chamber of Commerce. There seems to be, maybe I'm,
02:48:33.76	Ines Ponyer	I don't understand it, but from what I understand, is that we're taxing the property owners of downtown of that district, and they are, the majority, are willing to pay a little extra. And from what I understand,
02:48:50.60	Ines Ponyer	This 50% of the city is going into partnership with us. It's not a gift. They own 50% of the property in the downtown area. So why shouldn't they be a partner with us? I mean, this is not just like money coming out of nowhere. This is their property owners. They pay the tax for this bid. We're partners together. So I think there's some miscommunication misunderstanding and I misunderstood or everybody's misunderstanding things I don't know but I think that's what's fair the city needs to contribute 50 percent as the property owners are
02:49:28.67	Ines Ponyer	contributing. So if
02:49:32.13	Ines Ponyer	Am I correct about that?
02:49:35.88	Ines Ponyer	This is not a gift. This is what the community is doing. This area is doing. This is not coming out of a
02:49:42.05	Ines Ponyer	A budget.
02:49:44.40	Ines Ponyer	Thank you.
02:49:47.25	Vladislava Skaricha	All right, Charles Melton.
02:49:56.26	Charles Wilson	good evening my name is charles wilson i'm a south leader president thank you for the opportunity to provide comments tonight um as the previous speaker said i shared sentiments i'm pretty concerned about the comments about regarding the fppc uh to be used as a tactic to distract the delay and derail the proceedings of our city council um maybe call me a pollyanna but i truly believe that everyone sitting behind the dais is acting in the best interests of our city i elected and voted for each you there. I know many of our residents did and believe that you are acting with the best regards to this. Ethics is important but also having trust in our government and trust in our city councils is also critically important and I do not endorse the weaponization of such aspects to try to derail processes like the ones and any of the processes our city council goes through. In regards to the P bid, I cannot think of a better priority for the city in regards to getting its financial record back on track. I appreciate the robust discussions of our city council and the staff and outside consultants and studies and mass reporting to model this and to inspect this and think about all critical aspects about this. I really appreciate the diligence of this. There was a comment in regards to the TOT tax and actually who pays that. As a Sausalito resident, I've stayed in a hotel in Sausalito while being a resident. I paid that tax myself as a taxpayer. I couldn't think of a better way for my TOT taxes that I've contributed to the city to go to reinvest back in our downtown area to make it more vibrant and accessible and a better downtown that contributes more tax revenue back to our city. I really think that the best way for a city to get its financial plans or financial health under control is to make very smart decisions. And this P-Bed is a very smart decision. It's an investment by the government. It's investment by our businesses and it's investment by our community that benefits everyone.
02:50:41.43	Unknown	I mean,
02:51:47.53	Charles Wilson	us saving our way to prosperity. Saving does not solve the problem. It simply kicks the can down the road for someone else to address. Please don't have change and please vote for the PBIT tonight. Thank you.
02:51:59.97	Vladislava Skaricha	And then Peter van meter.
02:52:05.78	Peter van Meter	Yes, good evening.
02:52:07.92	Peter van Meter	You've heard all the reasons why the P bid is a wonderful thing for Sausalito.
02:52:12.91	Peter van Meter	I'm not going to repeat them.
02:52:14.74	Peter van Meter	I'll just capitalize on what Morgan said earlier.
02:52:17.99	Peter van Meter	public-private partnerships work
02:52:20.78	Peter van Meter	This is a great opportunity to move that forward
02:52:23.65	Peter van Meter	as a concept.
02:52:25.11	Peter van Meter	for the positive financial benefit of Sausalito.
02:52:28.79	Peter van Meter	and the increased enhancement of our downtown business district. So please move this resolution to a formal vote.
02:52:37.82	Peter van Meter	That's going to be when you get your final decision as to what the people in town want to do.
02:52:42.60	Peter van Meter	what the businesses and property owners want to do.
02:52:45.15	Peter van Meter	Please take it to that next step.
02:52:46.97	Peter van Meter	by passing that resolution here tonight. Thank you.
02:52:51.07	Vladislava Skaricha	And we have Sharna Brockett.
02:52:57.31	Melissa	Hi, can you hear me?
02:52:59.03	Melissa	Yes, we can use bracket.
02:53:00.47	Sharna Brockett	Okay, great.
02:53:03.20	Sharna Brockett	Thank you so much for everything you do.
02:53:07.57	Sharna Brockett	Zooming in from Bend, Oregon, I'm on vacation and I couldn't stay awake.
02:53:11.62	Sharna Brockett	but all my travels up here to, to, to bend and,
02:53:15.57	Sharna Brockett	through different towns and, you know, through California and through Oregon.
02:53:19.35	Sharna Brockett	you know, I just keep noticing that there's these
02:53:22.05	Sharna Brockett	these vibrant downtowns, a lot of them have business improvement districts.
02:53:26.14	Sharna Brockett	I see that they're thriving, they're
02:53:29.10	Sharna Brockett	They're bustling with visitors, there's unique retailers, there's outdoor restaurants.
02:53:34.05	Sharna Brockett	They have clean sidewalks. They have hanging baskets or planners.
02:53:37.93	Sharna Brockett	They maintain their street trees and a lot of them have like unique art, artwork and benches throughout.
02:53:43.48	Sharna Brockett	and um you know i'm sure as a lot of us embark on our summer travels we're going to see the same things and
02:53:48.16	Sharna Brockett	I often ask myself, like, wow, you know,
02:53:50.69	Sharna Brockett	Our town town, you know,
02:53:52.54	Sharna Brockett	I think we all agree there's a lot of potential there and,
02:53:56.02	Sharna Brockett	But after all, we're Sausalito. We're the jewel of the bay.
02:53:58.89	Sharna Brockett	And we're known for our arts community. Why aren't we doing these things? Why don't we have more murals and artwork?
02:54:04.31	Sharna Brockett	and planters and hanging baskets.
02:54:06.94	Sharna Brockett	So,
02:54:07.95	Sharna Brockett	And so this is really our chance to do something.
02:54:11.36	Sharna Brockett	And I'm so excited to see that a majority of our businesses downtown are wanting to self-tax themselves.
02:54:17.28	Sharna Brockett	to create the PBIRD.
02:54:18.60	Sharna Brockett	And I really ask that the city council vote today to continue the process and meet them halfway.
02:54:24.13	Sharna Brockett	I truly believe that people want to come and spend money in places that are beautiful and visually appealing.
02:54:30.56	Sharna Brockett	and new businesses, new businesses who we really want to come and fill these empty storefronts,
02:54:35.56	Sharna Brockett	They wanna set up shop.
02:54:37.01	Sharna Brockett	in places that are clean and well-maintained.
02:54:39.39	Sharna Brockett	And the PBID can help that. They can complement what the city's doing and go beyond what the city's doing to really make it nice.
02:54:45.25	Sharna Brockett	So please move forward with
02:54:47.57	Sharna Brockett	this next step and following the staff recommendation to support the PBIT. Thank you.
02:54:54.34	Vladislava Skaricha	Right and I think we're no more public speakers.
02:54:56.55	Melissa	Are we done?
02:54:57.78	Melissa	Okay, we'll close the public comment then bring it back up for maybe one comment from all of us each. I'll just go first since there were some people questioning ethics and bringing that up. It's hurtful and disappointing to hear, but I honor and respect the integrity of those who are asking that question. I asked it too. Maybe I'll preface my remarks by just saying I'm not in this job to make money. I have waived my city council salary that saved the city more than $10,000 of the last three years. I'm working something like 40 hours a week for free for the benefit of the town that I love. I am not perfect and I don't know all the answers, but my motivation in my heart is clear and clean. And I know in my heart, I have no conflict of interest. But of course, there's a matter of the law. And so at my own expense, I spent thousands of dollars to hire an attorney to look at the law, to look at the multiple cases, the one that the complainant, Ms. Bushmaker, filed to the FPPC, upon which I should digress to say there is no investigation. There's simply a complaint filed. And those cases were looked at, as well as more than a half dozen other relevant FPPC cases that take into account things like whether you live up a hill, whether there's vegetation, whether, for example, in my particular case to get to the point in the most direct path humanly possible, because humans can't fly, it is 2,000 feet to the point that as the bird flies is 500. These are all relevant considerations in the adjudication of an issue of whether we have a conflict of interest. As a public official, I need to make that decision so I can actually participate. The easiest thing is to not. But then that would obviate the whole reason I got into this business, which is trying to bring to bear my life's experience to help Sausalito.
02:56:51.13	Melissa	Now, I don't know much about the law, so I had to hire a lawyer, but I do know a lot about making money.
02:56:56.94	Melissa	And I know in my startups that when they start cutting, because business isn't going well, they're in what we call the death spiral. It is all well and good, and my colleagues, I will be with you, joined at the hip to scrutinize our spending to be more efficient. But the way we get out of our fundamental problems as a town,
02:57:15.87	Melissa	The way we level up our level of service, the way we fix our $100 million perhaps plus,
02:57:22.94	Melissa	Infrastructure deficit?
02:57:25.14	Melissa	is not to clip around the edges, it's to grow revenue.
02:57:29.62	Melissa	That may be other taxes, but I am not a taxer. I would prefer to grow the incredible assets Salceleta has. Our unfair competitive advantage is our geographic location.
02:57:40.69	Melissa	and our capacity to service it.
02:57:43.72	Melissa	We're like an airline.
02:57:45.57	Melissa	That.
02:57:46.52	Melissa	It's packed in the summer months.
02:57:48.61	Melissa	And we're still flying the planes empty in the winter.
02:57:51.80	Melissa	And a lot of gnashing of teeth is about whether we should get a bigger plane so we can carry a couple more people in the summer without cognizant of the fact that in the winter then we'd be flying that plane just as empty.
02:58:02.97	Melissa	What we want to do is figure out strategies to fill the airplane all year round.
02:58:08.28	Melissa	Now,
02:58:09.13	Melissa	I can't need to tell you that government is not very nimble and fast.
02:58:13.57	Melissa	This model of public private partnership allows the people in the trenches.
02:58:17.82	Melissa	to operate nimbly, quickly, with local knowledge.
02:58:21.83	Melissa	local control.
02:58:23.25	Melissa	to benefit themselves, the incentive is aligned. And when they benefit themselves, they benefit the city by filling our parking lots. TOT tax is big.
02:58:32.42	Melissa	I mean, it's a 10% tax. A visitor to Sausalito has to spend $600 on ice cream cones or t-shirts.
02:58:39.28	Melissa	be equal to the revenue the city gets from one hour of parking.
02:58:43.52	Melissa	The business model of the city is parking.
02:58:46.27	Melissa	We have an enormous remnant inventory that's going to waste perishable goods thrown out every day into the dumpster because we don't have a business approach.
02:58:55.81	Melissa	And.
02:58:56.85	Melissa	My interest in participating in this matter from the get go,
02:59:00.09	Melissa	When I was on EDAC,
02:59:01.75	Melissa	All along has been to carry that message and that flame. And I hope it's persuasive to my colleagues because again, I will be with you in the budget discussion we'll have after this and in the next several meetings in scrutinizing our spending because there are places to cut. But one place I wouldn't suggest cutting is laying off all our parking enforcement officers. That would save some money.
02:59:22.77	Melissa	but it would impact revenue. And one place to invest are in things like this PBID, where it's community driven, filled by a room of people who we enjoy and trust and are part of our team, and who have brought enormous effort to this effort. I don't know for sure if it will be successful, but it's off to a good start from what I see here in this room and what I hear in the community. So those are my comments, and I would like to recognize anyone else who wishes to speak.
02:59:54.99	Melissa	Councilmember Kelman.
02:59:55.98	Councilmember Kelman	Sure. Thank you, Mayor. Appreciate that. I really want to thank everybody for coming to the number of meetings we've had on the PBIN. Scott and Cass, thank you for your hard work, and Brandon and Chad and the City Manager as well. I actually think this was a very fascinating exercise because I take it in the context of the number of different initiatives that we've had that have been focused on the downtown area.
03:00:21.44	Councilmember Kelman	and i think everything is about narrative everything's about storytelling everything's about perspective
03:00:26.05	Councilmember Kelman	And I think that if we were to do it again,
03:00:29.53	Councilmember Kelman	Um,
03:00:30.34	Councilmember Kelman	looking at CDA Bank of America and the ferry lands on improvements and the P babe, we probably should attack with the P bid first. Um, and here's why, and I see Don shaking your head. I thought your comments were great. Thank you. Um, here's why this is, um,
03:00:45.66	Councilmember Kelman	It's a really interesting program.
03:00:47.26	Councilmember Kelman	I think a PBIT is quite an interesting opportunity. I agree in moving forward with new revenues. I will point out, however, that
03:00:57.24	Councilmember Kelman	This conversation has gotten skewed because of those other topics and the ways that we spent money. We spent $341,000 simply planning to talk about the fairyland side improvements. 341,000 just to talk, right? And so it's been feeling like we've been spending a lot of money on things without
03:01:14.94	Councilmember Kelman	And being told, we're going to see more revenue. We'll see more revenue without any SMART goals aligned. I know not everybody in here likes when I talk about SMART goals. They're intended to bring discipline to our actions so that you can hold us accountable. That's what they're intended to do. Okay? So I just want to point out that I think the issue here has been the city's contribution. Somebody asked about the city being a property owner. They, of course, are. But the map was drawn to include non-revenue producing city owned properties. So when you put the map on a park, that's never gonna produce revenue, it becomes a crazy consternation. And also I just wanna mention,
03:01:52.28	Councilmember Kelman	Bethesda.
03:01:53.95	Councilmember Kelman	Urban partnership, an excellent example, is funded primarily by revenue generated from the Bethesda parking lot district fees, in addition to the commercial urban district property tax, not by the city. City of San Diego, that is actually funded by parking dollars as well, through various city programs, including the transit occupancy tax, and from city parking meter revenue, not 50% from the city. So that's really what we're here to talk about. We're here to talk about why are we putting 50% of this to the city? And I would say that, man, I wish we had talked about this as the first downtown improvement item and not the very last, because I think it's getting an unfair critique because of that. So my recommendation is, first of all,
03:02:38.71	Councilmember Kelman	All of you stay for the budget conversation so you can understand the further context. So please, that's an invitation. Please stay for the budget conversation.
03:02:49.22	Councilmember Kelman	I also think we gotta clean up that financial projection slide. If we don't have 31 parking spaces, I don't want 31 parking spaces in that analysis. I understand that was an older number, so totally fair.
03:03:01.15	Councilmember Kelman	Quantify the city's contribution, right? It's very loose.
03:03:05.05	Councilmember Kelman	in the staff report, just have some more rigor around what it is we're funding and why and what we expect from this process. Every single bid example that somebody has mentioned, whether it's San Diego, Bethesda, has that in the strategic plan. There's a rigor to the way the money is spent and there's accountability for the elected officials and members of the public who promoted it.
03:03:27.69	Councilmember Kelman	I think in retrospect, I suspect there's already three votes, so I'll add my fourth to support it. But I will just put this on the record. In retrospect, the 50% is out of line given the way the jurisdiction is drawn. I know we've already made that recommendation, so I'm not re-litigating that. We probably should have done something like a declining into a rev share. So 40% the first year, 30%, 25%, and then it's supposed to be doing its job, right? Let's pull the additional revenue from additional parking lot, from additional TOT, right? So then everybody has to get in the game to see that it works. That's how this actually probably should be funded. So that's kind of where I see this. I also just say, I think there's a lot of healing to be done with the business community and the city. You know, having sat through all of these meetings and hearing the tremendous amount of consternation and concern on both sides. And so I think
03:04:26.28	Councilmember Kelman	I want to welcome this as a beginning towards that conversation. But I really think it needs to be on the record that this 50% is pretty extraordinary and really out of the ordinary. And if there's any interest from my colleagues to adjust that payment schedule so that it years four and five are actually hinging on a rev share, I think that would be maybe a fair middle ground for how we achieve our goals. So thank you and look forward to seeing you all for the budget conversation.
03:04:58.13	Melissa	Who would like to go next?
03:05:02.25	Councilmember Blasian	I'll go. I'm happy to go next if that's helpful. Mayor Sobieski, just on the heels of some of Councilmember Kelman's very thoughtful comments, which I appreciate. And I also want to acknowledge and appreciate your comments and say that I know that we are all
03:05:03.21	Melissa	Ready to go next.
03:05:03.97	Mary Carey	at the
03:05:16.42	Councilmember Blasian	uh,
03:05:17.08	Councilmember Blasian	in many ways volunteers and give a lot of our time and you and in particular mayor sobieski have a very big heart and and i appreciate your comments and candor regarding that and i hope that we can all be respectful of each other and our commitment to service here from the dais but with that said
03:05:27.64	Unknown	and then,
03:05:31.17	Councilmember Blasian	I, I,
03:05:32.38	Councilmember Blasian	I've always appreciated
03:05:34.58	Councilmember Blasian	our business community, but I appreciate so much more their willingness to engage in a public private partnership.
03:05:40.40	Councilmember Blasian	I think it's really exciting
03:05:42.24	Councilmember Blasian	that our business community wants to provide
03:05:45.60	Councilmember Blasian	their own funds to support an initiative that can potentially help our revenue streams grow. And by all intensive,
03:05:53.65	Councilmember Blasian	purposes for our revenue projections, that's the case, because these revenue projections, as mentioned by both Chad and Brandon,
03:06:00.16	Councilmember Blasian	are considered to be conservative assessments. So we might actually expect to make even more money from our business improvement district. However, I do want to acknowledge, and of course I'm in favor of the business improvement district, but I want to acknowledge and address some of the comments from Councilmember Kelman in just saying,
03:06:17.41	Councilmember Blasian	that thinking about this from an important fiscal perspective of how we can justify the 50 percent going forward
03:06:24.88	Councilmember Blasian	I appreciate and I'm open to your suggestions around
03:06:28.71	Councilmember Blasian	how do we decide where this money comes from? I think one of the things that's great about the PBIT and how confident I am in the PBIT success is that we will see those increases in the parking fund and we can demonstrate that. And I think it might make sense for us going forward if we wanna create additional transparency for the community
03:06:42.79	Councilmember Blasian	just to show that like look how much more parking revenue we have and if we didn't make it we should be checking in on each other and we should also set benchmarks in this five-year period as i've mentioned and as we've all discussed that demonstrate
03:06:55.80	Councilmember Blasian	how we are doing and how our revenue projections I expect are not only meeting, but exceeding the 1% and how that might be applied to the way we make these payments out. Um, because I think where we did let the business community down,
03:07:08.22	Councilmember Blasian	is that they committed to that additional TOT increase several years ago, and we're asking for a percentage of that. And now they're asking for a percentage of that again
03:07:16.67	Councilmember Blasian	to go towards this PBIT. And so this is an opportunity for us to do some healing, as Council Member Kelman pointed out, with our business community, to work together in a partnership with our business community that potentially benefits both of us. And also that allows us the opportunity to really look at our revenue streams and assessments and make this a proof case that we can say, look at how much money we're generating because we made this decision. And also to challenge each other to say really candidly if it's not working and have that conversation as well. So I'm really excited about what our Pbid will bring forward. I'm confident about it. I can see and feel the passion of our business community and their commitment to making this
03:07:53.48	Councilmember Blasian	but I also appreciate
03:07:55.13	Councilmember Blasian	and the request for transparency and consideration of our budget. So I think it's important to go forward and make sure we do have benchmarks and we respect those requests as well. So that's where I stand. And of course, I will be voting in favor of the resolution.
03:08:09.39	Melissa	Thank you. Who wants to go next?
03:08:11.38	Councilmember Blasian	Also, I apologize for any background noises. I am in Bosnia, so it is 7 a.m. here.
03:08:15.09	Melissa	So it is 7 a.m.
03:08:18.96	Melissa	Councilmember Hoffman?
03:08:20.56	Melissa	Thank you.
03:08:25.37	Melissa	Okay, we have a face off.
03:08:28.05	Melissa	Yeah.
03:08:32.47	Melissa	Your microphone's off. Go ahead, Ms. Hart.
03:08:34.92	Councilor I'm confused	What's that?
03:08:35.29	Melissa	Thank you.
03:08:35.75	Melissa	No, no.
03:08:36.90	Councilor I'm confused	Right?
03:08:37.50	Councilor I'm confused	Thank you.
03:08:37.98	Councilor I'm confused	Thank you.
03:08:38.43	Councilor I'm confused	Okay. All right. Well, since the vice mayor has pulled rank on me, I guess I'll go. Okay. So no, no surprise here. You know, the really disturbing thing is a financial analysis that we were given because I can't, I'm trying to figure out
03:08:52.88	Councilor I'm confused	You know, we have a revenue over assessment line, which says 156,000, but admittedly that was based on the assumption that we were going to.
03:09:02.38	Councilor I'm confused	we still had in contract with CDA and then we were still going forward the destination Sausalito so
03:09:08.42	Councilor I'm confused	That's you know 90,000 should it be backed out of that.
03:09:12.05	Councilor I'm confused	Under any of the combination that we were presented with tonight,
03:09:16.33	Councilor I'm confused	It.
03:09:17.51	Councilor I'm confused	the return on our investment
03:09:19.25	Councilor I'm confused	doesn't make it to our investment. So even our investment, right? So our investment from the, the,
03:09:26.54	Councilor I'm confused	The total investment from the whole district is supposed to be about 1.2 million per year. And
03:09:35.17	Councilor I'm confused	uh,
03:09:36.51	Councilor I'm confused	this this revenue production that we've been provided with doesn't even make it to that. So as one of the caller said, this is viewed as at best a break even budget, you know, for this effort. So.
03:09:49.64	Councilor I'm confused	when we're looking at our current environment, our current fiscal environment. So we started this, let's go back to the chronology a little bit because, you know, I always hesitate when we start these, we start these assessments for whatever effort that we're doing here in Sausalito and you think, well,
03:10:10.75	Councilor I'm confused	you know it comes up to the City Council level and
03:10:14.30	Councilor I'm confused	we're going to say, Well, let's look at it. Let's explore it. Let's let's get some further information. And then when it comes back to us, it's just continually, you know, or harangue because we approved it at some prior point.
03:10:26.97	Councilor I'm confused	The point is, it constantly comes back to us and we reevaluate. And so that's what we're doing today. The new you know, we looked at this for the first time on December, December 19th of 2023.
03:10:38.95	Councilor I'm confused	And it came back to us in March of March 5th of 2023.
03:10:45.80	Councilor I'm confused	In the intervening time, we were provided with a budget assessment. Our first meeting in May.
03:10:51.00	Councilor I'm confused	that showed very clearly
03:10:52.87	Councilor I'm confused	that we're going to be a deficit from two to four million per year
03:10:57.21	Councilor I'm confused	at least this absolutely this year and that's because our insurance premiums are going up dramatically.
03:11:02.44	Councilor I'm confused	The best case scenario is that
03:11:04.47	Councilor I'm confused	They're going up 1.7 on top of the 1.7. We already pay. So our premiums are doubling.
03:11:11.79	Councilor I'm confused	we are going to be in a serious financial
03:11:15.22	Councilor I'm confused	SITUATION,
03:11:16.52	Councilor I'm confused	I think it's fair to say it's a crisis since it's almost 10% of our total budget.
03:11:21.75	Councilor I'm confused	And this conversation that we're having, we're adding to
03:11:26.42	Councilor I'm confused	the city's deficit spend. So when you talk about who's investing and whose money we're talking about, we're talking about the residents of Sausalito.
03:11:34.47	Councilor I'm confused	And the reason that I wanted to look at this in the context of our total budget
03:11:38.76	Councilor I'm confused	is to do the cost analysis of
03:11:41.19	Councilor I'm confused	the moving the money from Sausalito from our
03:11:45.61	Councilor I'm confused	our budget, our unallocated budget, which is essentially what we're doing.
03:11:49.69	Councilor I'm confused	to
03:11:51.11	Councilor I'm confused	A further our deficit spend so we're digging a bigger hole in our in our You know bigger hole in our budget than what we currently have So I mean this is this is a serious thing We should be looking at this in the context of our total budget we should be looking at this in the context of our
03:12:10.26	Councilor I'm confused	OUR STRATEGY,
03:12:12.44	Councilor I'm confused	for reducing our
03:12:16.35	Councilor I'm confused	biggest risk right now, which is our insurance payment. Our second biggest risk is our unfunded pension liability. And our third risk is our infrastructure. But our infrastructure goes back to why we have such, why we lost our insurance.
03:12:30.19	Councilor I'm confused	And the number of lawsuits that we have, the high number of lawsuits the city of Sausalito has against it is also one of the increased risk factors
03:12:38.76	Councilor I'm confused	by which we use we lost our insurance. So when you're looking at what is our strategy for Sausalito to attack these big risks that we have,
03:12:49.28	Councilor I'm confused	This doesn't fit into a priority on that. I'm sorry, it just doesn't. And when you look at this as a break even effort,
03:12:55.50	Councilor I'm confused	where we're getting we're getting we may get a return on investment. It's a pretty rosy picture. But if we don't perform, you know, and that we're not even close to
03:13:04.58	Councilor I'm confused	even a break even which which
03:13:07.72	Councilor I'm confused	I can't even understand why a break even effort by the city of Sausalito and the people of Sausalito
03:13:13.02	Councilor I'm confused	would justify this spin at this time.
03:13:15.43	Councilor I'm confused	As I asked, I believe it was cast green who was up there. There's nothing that prevents the district from
03:13:22.28	Councilor I'm confused	the property owners from going ahead and forming their district. And as I discussed with the chamber, with both the executive, the executive director and the president of the chamber,
03:13:33.27	Councilor I'm confused	You know, there's nothing wrong with forming a district, with creating some credibility, with getting a track record and coming back to the city.
03:13:40.85	Councilor I'm confused	and and asking us to partner on whatever project or maybe even partner on the actual bid
03:13:47.58	Councilor I'm confused	at a later time.
03:13:49.00	Councilor I'm confused	The two strategies we could have at this time is to pause until we get through
03:13:52.91	Councilor I'm confused	our budget assessment, which I think would be the most responsible thing,
03:13:56.17	Councilor I'm confused	or Pause it for a longer period to give the give the effort a chance to gain traction the most disturbing or one of the most disturbing things about this was the you know was the effort to
03:14:09.25	Councilor I'm confused	and intention to boost the city's contribution to 50%, which is an outlier and an anomaly in business districts. So if you're looking at this and you're looking at it for red flags,
03:14:21.26	Councilor I'm confused	Credibility that's that's a pretty big one at least in my book the other one is that we're we're getting further into a deficit spend by approving this and finally let me just address a
03:14:32.06	Councilor I'm confused	Um,
03:14:32.84	Councilor I'm confused	the FPPC issue and I you know after reading all of these uh
03:14:37.16	Councilor I'm confused	I'm reading out a lot of these.
03:14:39.86	Councilor I'm confused	opinions.
03:14:41.29	Councilor I'm confused	The practice and pattern of a lot of cities is that the first thing that's done when something comes before the city council is that the city attorney
03:14:51.55	Councilor I'm confused	sends in a request to the FBPC for a written opinion. That's how why we have all these written opinions.
03:14:57.41	Councilor I'm confused	I would like the city to adopt that pattern and practice, where if we have whatever it is that's coming up to the city council, that the city attorney just writes in, just requests an opinion from
03:15:08.90	Councilor I'm confused	from the FPC and then we don't have to have this kind of conversation, which I think is which is unfortunate, given everybody's hard work and the respect that we all have for each other up here on the diet. So I personally am adopting that from this point forward. And I think I think that we should just all do as a pattern of practice. So those are my thoughts. I don't think this is the time to increase the city's deficit spend. I think this is a time that we really need to drill in.
03:15:37.13	Councilor I'm confused	on a strategy going forward
03:15:39.55	Councilor I'm confused	and how we're going to attack those things. And if we don't fit into that specific criteria, whatever it is we're looking at,
03:15:45.49	Councilor I'm confused	Then it's a great idea, but we're gonna have to hold it until we can get ourselves back into a balanced budget
03:15:52.78	Melissa	Vice Mayor.
03:15:54.01	Director Hess	Thank you, Mayor.
03:15:56.27	Director Hess	I also appreciate all of the effort that went into this to get us this far. This is not our last meeting. We're going to have one more meeting on this if we move forward this evening, so.
03:16:07.86	Director Hess	Thank you all for staying the course. This has been a challenging and intellectually challenging
03:16:15.90	Director Hess	process but I'm I think I was impressed with a lot of the data that
03:16:21.55	Director Hess	that we heard this evening especially from Cass. 61% of private landowners voted in support of the PBID. Businesses and landowners support the PBID. 98% of responding landlords support formation of the PBID. And that's without counting any feedback from the City of Sausalito. As Ines points out, we own 50% of the affected property.
03:16:45.39	Director Hess	I was inspired by comments from many of you and by a letter we received from Carlo Berg regarding sprinkling some magic dust on our beloved Sausalito.
03:16:55.43	Director Hess	I was also impressed by Don Daglo's and the mayor's comments about the danger in public administration of falling into a pattern of fighting over a limited size of pie.
03:17:05.51	Director Hess	that is divided.
03:17:06.55	Director Hess	and ignore the long-term solution of making the pie bigger.
03:17:11.55	Director Hess	So I'm an eternal optimist and I am being optimistic about the prospect of this undertaking. I am envisioning a hub of activity downtown with shops instead of vacant storefronts, restaurants and lively businesses everywhere.
03:17:27.73	Director Hess	Um,
03:17:29.13	Director Hess	PBIDs have been successful for our neighbors. They're not a panacea, but look at Petaluma, look at San Rafael, look at at least eight
03:17:41.08	Director Hess	PBIDs in San Francisco, Civic Center, Polk Community, Fisherman's Wharf, Japantown, Mid Market,
03:17:48.44	Director Hess	Moscone, Noe Valley, Yerba Buena,
03:17:51.37	Director Hess	Changes reaped in these neighborhoods have included increased cleanliness of the sidewalks, garbage cans, retail spaces, particularly when comparing the areas inside and outside of those district lines.
03:18:05.04	Director Hess	P bids allow for the hard work to take place that make places sparkle with civic pride, economic dynamism and solid sales and property values.
03:18:14.54	Director Hess	I am persuaded that investing 133,000 from the city into the P bid is a sound investment. We are only increasing our deficit if there's no return on on our investment, but I believe our benefits in approving the P bid are considerable increased to T sales tax business license tax and parking revenue to name just a few.
03:18:37.02	Director Hess	I also believe that boosting our local economy will have a ripple effect throughout Sausalito. That is why it is not surprising that there were 15 references to the PBID in our general plan
03:18:48.55	Director Hess	including direction to encourage creation of BIDs in appropriate areas.
03:18:55.33	Director Hess	I have reiterated many times my interest in creating revenue opportunities for the city, and I am persuaded this is one of those opportunities.
03:19:03.08	Director Hess	I was really inspired
03:19:04.39	Director Hess	by the comments by Councilmember Kalman of using this vote
03:19:07.57	Director Hess	as an opportunity to continue to build our partnership with our business community
03:19:11.87	Director Hess	Um,
03:19:12.91	Director Hess	I was per and I am persuaded that the businesses are seeking a public private partnership and I am in favor of that.
03:19:20.51	Director Hess	With my support, I do continue to have some recommendations that we have previously discussed. We should include a requirement that the board slash nonprofit track expense and increased revenues, smart metrics, benchmarks, results to ensure rigor and accountability in the way the money is spent. Um.
03:19:40.88	Director Hess	The meetings of the governing body should be Brown Act meetings open to the public. There should be an annual report to the city detailing the previous year's performance and expected performance over the next year. And I want to remind us, we can vote to dissolve the P bid if it's not working. So those are my thoughts. Thank you.
03:20:01.01	Councilmember Kelman	Vice Mayor, would you be open to entertaining my suggestion of a declining contribution with potentially looking at a rev share?
03:20:13.04	Director Hess	So I don't know if that's a logistically feasible approach given where we are.
03:20:17.70	Director Hess	Given we already sent out ballots that contemplated the perf the Setting up of this in a particular way But I would like to pose that question to staff to find out if that's something you don't have to answer tonight But before but if you're able to answer tonight great
03:20:36.02	Unknown	Yeah, city attorneys on on the call he can answer that I don't know that a city's declining participation in the P bid is legal. So Sergio if you can weigh in that'd be great.
03:20:47.06	Sir Duke	I believe it is not. That's the short answer is because the assessments have to be fixed based on analysis that is performed in the engineers report which will set forth the expected
03:20:59.18	Sir Duke	Special benefits that are going to be accruing to each parcel and those special benefits in theory would remain the same throughout the term of the P bid. Basically, you come up with a formula by which you decide how much each parcel is supposed to pay.
03:21:14.97	Sir Duke	And then that formula is the formula that's valid for the life of the PBIT unless you either change the kinds of benefits or the kinds of products and services the PBIT is doing, in which case that's a good reason to go
03:21:28.89	Sir Duke	you know,
03:21:29.91	Sir Duke	go back and modify the management plan and, you know, review whether the engineers report is appropriate or whether or not you have to
03:21:37.48	Sir Duke	you know, modify it.
03:21:38.66	Councilmember Kelman	Sergio, I'm using Bethesda and San Diego as examples. Couldn't we create the management plan that articulated the transition into? However, but I mean, I don't know exactly how Bethesda was looking at their public website, but they were mentioned by members of the public and they could do it. We can figure it out as well. And I think it's a nice incentive structure to be able to address some of the concerns articulated around our budget as well. And then we're all in it together in a big way because we're taking the upside over the increase and we're hitting our goals.
03:22:15.96	Sir Duke	So I will say Bethesda, probably not a particularly...
03:22:22.20	Sir Duke	relevant example because their business improvement districts would not be formed under California law, wouldn't be subject to all of our same restrictions as Prop 218 and
03:22:32.58	Sir Duke	done.
03:22:33.19	Sir Duke	all the same processes, but San Diego certainly would be a relevant example because all of the same laws would apply to them. I think you are raising some good points, you know, in terms of
03:22:44.42	Sir Duke	you know, the structure and certainly those are things that we can examine and discuss, but I don't know that we necessarily have. As Joan points out, you know, we already have a draft engineer's report. There's already been a petition of the landowners
03:22:58.47	Sir Duke	you know,
03:22:59.80	Sir Duke	the landowners have
03:23:01.28	Sir Duke	submitted that petition to the city council and so you know your action in light of that petition and the prepared documents are do you want to prepare a resolution of intention
03:23:10.63	Sir Duke	You know,
03:23:11.59	Sir Duke	Basically, if you want to do something other than what's before you guys tonight, I think, you know, staff would probably have to
03:23:11.71	Unknown	So, yeah.
03:23:11.83	Unknown	Thank you.
03:23:11.88	Unknown	So,
03:23:17.74	Sir Duke	consider whether you need to rework the management district plan on the engineers report.
03:23:23.93	Melissa	consumer robustly
03:23:24.99	Councilmember Blasian	Ahem.
03:23:25.79	Councilmember Blasian	just to offer support of council member Kelman's suggestion if it's not if there's not a legal structure for the revenue sharing maybe we just say that we are assessing the
03:23:37.36	Councilmember Blasian	the success of the district annually for consideration of whether or not it's meeting its goals with regards to some of the revenue structures as mentioned by Council Member Kellman with regards specifically to parking. You mentioned parking and one other specifically.
03:23:50.00	Councilmember Kelman	Thank you.
03:23:50.25	Councilmember Kelman	I think it was a TOT. I was just reading from the Bethesda in the San Diego.
03:23:50.27	Councilmember Blasian	I think it was that too.
03:23:55.60	Councilmember Blasian	Yes, so maybe we just have a system if we can't, if there isn't a legal structure, because again, I want to support your concerns. We at least have an annual assessment that considers those benchmarks and then we're allowed to review, you know, how the bid is doing and make a decision or consideration.
03:24:12.09	Councilmember Blasian	both at the five year mark, which is obviously when the group itself would, but for the city to have transparency, we could do that annually.
03:24:18.44	Councilmember Kelman	So I endorse that.
03:24:19.58	Councilmember Blasian	I don't know.
03:24:20.48	Councilmember Kelman	Great. Thank you, Councilmember Boston. I appreciate that. I hear the vice mayor is in favor of that as well.
03:24:27.68	David Carey	Is there a motion?
03:24:28.53	Councilmember Kelman	you
03:24:28.54	Director Hess	Yeah, I'm going to go ahead and make a motion that the city council adopt a resolution of intention to initiate the balloting process for the downtown Sausalito property business improvement district.
03:24:41.07	Director Hess	and separately that we direct staff to continue to explore the safeguards that we have enunciated this evening, including potentially a potential assessment on the district based on certain pre-established performance parameters, smart metrics to ensure rigor and accountability in the way the money is spent,
03:25:08.25	Director Hess	requirement that the governing body be a Brown Act committee with open meeting requirements and an annual report to the city detailing the previous year's performance and expected performance over this over the following year.
03:25:23.41	Melissa	Is there a second?
03:25:24.32	Melissa	Amen.
03:25:24.43	Director Hess	May I ask the best friend?
03:25:24.47	Melissa	Thank you.
03:25:24.53	Councilmember Kelman	.
03:25:24.59	Melissa	It's a great day.
03:25:24.64	Councilmember Kelman	May I ask the Vice Mayor? Sorry, Councilor Blas, I just want to ask the Vice Mayor if you would entertain. I don't even know if it's a friendly amendment or it's just a question for staff, but I would love to see Director Phipps if you could, in the next go around, provide an updated financial projection slide. Also, I'm old and my eyes are tired on a black background, or white background, black writing, just simple, simple.
03:25:27.02	Director Hess	That's just what I was saying.
03:25:45.97	Councilmember Kelman	It's easier to read. But if you would update that, I don't know if that has to be part of the motion, but just for clarity's sake.
03:25:51.22	Director Hess	I will include that in my direction to staff that is a part of this motion. Thank you, vice mayor
03:25:55.89	Councilmember Kelman	Is there a second?
03:25:55.89	Melissa	Is there a second?
03:25:57.10	Director Hess	I think Councilman Boston. Councilman.
03:25:58.50	Melissa	Again motions made and seconded can call the Royal City clerk
03:25:58.84	Vladislava Skaricha	Second.
03:26:00.12	Vladislava Skaricha	to me.
03:26:02.33	Vladislava Skaricha	Councilmember Blastin?
03:26:04.82	Vladislava Skaricha	Yes. Council member Hoffman.
03:26:07.09	Councilmember Kelman	Thank you.
03:26:07.21	Councilmember Kelman	So,
03:26:07.36	Vladislava Skaricha	Thank you.
03:26:07.38	Councilmember Kelman	you
03:26:08.26	Vladislava Skaricha	Council member. I'm coming. Yes, I swear Cox yes, I'm so risky.
03:26:13.81	Melissa	Yes.
03:26:15.58	Councilmember Kelman	Mayor, so I'm aware, no one's leaving because we're talking about the budget. I'm aware that it's 1030. At our last council meeting, Council Member Hoffman suggested that we set aside time for a separate strategic planning session as to the budget. Yes. Given the late hour, might it make sense to actually defer consideration of the budget item that is on the agenda tonight? And might get a date certain for that?
03:26:31.07	Unknown	Yes.
03:26:44.81	Director Hess	I would want to ask the city manager his perspective on that we received some comprehensive materials that we need to consider at the same time. We know that we don't yet have a key piece of information that we would like to include in our consideration tonight. So if we were to meet on Mr. City Manager if we were to meet on our scheduled June 18 date and perhaps the following Tuesday, June, sorry, June 25th,
03:27:15.47	Director Hess	could we accomplish your goals for adoption of the budget within those two meetings?
03:27:22.20	Unknown	We were going to propose a special meeting anyway, as we spoke about it in agenda setting and that meeting wouldn't just be the budget. It would be the economic reserve policies that we have. It would potentially be the insurance that we would either have or not have. So there is a need for two meetings and a special one on the 25th. I would recommend what we get to on the 18th. A lot of the information that we provided is provided is significant There's a full-on budget book that's in draft form for you that the finance staff has worked really hard on There are some trending in it as well that I think is important to note And also, you know, we need to get some clarity on what the insurance situation is going to turn into so yeah next Tuesday to start it fresh. But we do have some items on that agenda that I think are really important related to infrastructure. So if my recommendation would be is this be the first item non negotiable on business and then you know you're going to have a meeting on the 25th and if you're not comfortable on the 25th you can have one on the 26 to 27th to 28th to 29th.
03:28:28.15	Councilmember Kelman	I've blocked out the 25th. Don't change it on me.
03:28:30.19	Melissa	Okay, so it looks like a block as a potential special meeting. A mayor not a potential me both days never committed to it fair enough I'm asking that was a question mark there. So we're all good on that I just look at my colleagues looking at the Jews and
03:28:31.38	Unknown	Thank you.
03:28:31.39	Councilmember Kelman	I'm blocking out the 25th.
03:28:36.71	Unknown	Mayor.
03:28:44.88	Councilmember Kelman	I'm assuming it's an evening meeting, is that what you're just waiting?
03:28:47.61	Melissa	Councilmember Boston is the 25th. Okay. For you.
03:28:51.86	Director Hess	Yes.
03:28:52.40	Melissa	Okay.
03:28:52.86	Director Hess	And is that a 6 p.m., 7 p.m.?
03:28:55.79	Councilor I'm confused	Thank you.
03:28:56.74	Melissa	We could do six if we're good. Or a little bit better. 6 p.m.? Yeah. Is that good?
03:28:57.65	Director Hess	Thank you.
03:28:57.68	Councilor I'm confused	for better 6pm. Yeah, I agree. Start at 6pm. No closed session prior.
03:29:02.63	Melissa	OK, so Council member Austin is that OK for you?
03:29:04.65	Councilor I'm confused	Okay.
03:29:05.45	Councilor I'm confused	Yeah.
03:29:06.68	Melissa	Okay. Great. All right. We have those. So we have two. So that item is.
03:29:07.25	Councilor I'm confused	Great.
03:29:12.79	Melissa	The budget I'm just perfect. We start to take public comment on that item and so we will then I just a sense of the Council and I guess I see manager a report on the charter cities are even prepared to do that tonight.
03:29:26.88	Director Hess	I don't need a report I just would like to give proposed direction and see if the council that tonight or no yes.
03:29:31.05	Melissa	Do we want to do that tonight or no?
03:29:32.73	Melissa	Thank you.
03:29:33.12	Melissa	OK, so we will hear the matter unless someone objects to the charter city issue. Well, we will take up 3 H on the charter city. I'm happy deferring the receive and file employee retention issue to a subsequent meeting because I think it goes along with the budget. All right, so we'll hear one more matter 3 H, but first we'll take comment public comment on the even though there will be no action or just further discussion on item 5 B, which is the.
03:30:00.12	Councilmember Blasian	Thanks.
03:30:01.13	Melissa	Fiscal year 2025 budget. Yes, because my robust thing.
03:30:01.84	Councilmember Blasian	in 2020.
03:30:04.20	Councilmember Blasian	Are we still going to hear 5C because it's relatively quick? It'll be quick. I mean, I'm open to whatever. I just want to understand. It seems like this will be quick. So 5C and 5H.
03:30:10.01	Melissa	It will be quick.
03:30:11.70	Melissa	I just want to understand. It seems like this will be quick.
03:30:14.03	Director Hess	5C was moved, was referred to the planning commission.
03:30:18.04	Director Hess	We're not gonna hear five seconds.
03:30:18.16	Melissa	We're not going to hear we dispose the 5 C it's going to the planning commission.
03:30:21.69	Melissa	The parking issue.
03:30:23.68	Councilmember Blasian	No, not the parking issue. The next, the third business item on our agenda. Presidency. The residence. Oh, I'm sorry. The public hearing.
03:30:27.86	Unknown	the,
03:30:28.03	Councilor I'm confused	that.
03:30:28.39	Melissa	I'm so sorry you're quite right I forgot about that one. What's the sense of the Council on 5C?
03:30:32.81	Councilor I'm confused	Thank you.
03:30:34.75	Councilor I'm confused	I say pun it. They would it? Let's let you up. We're going to defer that.
03:30:38.23	Unknown	Let's see.
03:30:38.76	Melissa	We're going to defer that one also, Councilmember Blustein. We're going to defer that. I just wanted to get a sense. Thank you. We're going to take public comment first on fiscal year 2025 budget review. Is there any public comment?
03:30:42.34	Councilor I'm confused	Okay, thanks. I just wanted to get a sense. Thank you.
03:30:44.98	Vladislava Skaricha	All right.
03:30:45.08	Councilmember Blasian	Thank you.
03:30:48.47	Vladislava Skaricha	See you then.
03:30:48.50	Melissa	Thank you.
03:30:48.97	Melissa	Thank you.
03:30:49.70	Melissa	We will close public comment. 5C, is there any public comment on introduction and waiver of first reading of ordinance number 4, 2024, city of Sausalito amending municipal code section 258040 relating to residency requirements on city boards and commissions and committees. Any public comment? Seeing none.
03:31:09.68	Vladislava Skaricha	See you, man.
03:31:10.22	Melissa	We will close public comment on that matter.
03:31:12.85	Melissa	And we will take up the deferred
03:31:15.49	Melissa	Actually, let's just close out public comment, any public comment on receiving file
03:31:18.79	Melissa	the employee retention recruitment update.
03:31:22.74	Melissa	Any public comment on that item?
03:31:25.51	Melissa	See you, none.
03:31:28.66	Vladislava Skaricha	See you.
03:31:29.56	Melissa	Okay, we will close public comment on that item and we will take up item 5.3H, which is the receive and file report regarding becoming a charter city, provide direction to staff regarding becoming a charter city. Does Steph have anything to say or does the Vice Mayor just want to give her direction?
03:31:46.84	Unknown	The city attorney prepared to report if he has some comments to make, I defer to him, Mayor.
03:31:52.95	Sir Duke	In the late hour, I will defer to the council to provide direction and ask any questions that you may have.
03:31:59.48	Melissa	Okay, to the council for questions and or discussion. We can do it all in one vote.
03:32:04.51	Director Hess	What are we on? We are on the Charter City consent item that was called.
03:32:05.42	Melissa	We are on Charter City consent item that was pulled.
03:32:10.65	Melissa	No questions.
03:32:10.83	Director Hess	Any questions? So if there are no questions, we should take public comment and then I'll make a recommendation.
03:32:12.83	Melissa	THERE ARE NO
03:32:17.45	Melissa	Okay, public comment please on this matter. In the room. Seeing none. No public comment. All right, we'll close public comment.
03:32:24.86	Director Hess	So thank you city manager and city attorney for your comprehensive report comparing a general law city to a charter city explaining that becoming a charter city would require dedication of resources as well as the cost of an election. But nevertheless, enunciating a number of primary advantages of city charter status, including some significant financial advantages. And for that reason, I would like to direct staff to continue moving forward.
03:32:54.49	Director Hess	with a process to
03:32:57.85	Director Hess	facilitate our consideration of whether we would like to
03:33:02.20	Director Hess	further explore becoming a charter city. So I'd like this to come back to us as a business item with some
03:33:09.24	Director Hess	Um,
03:33:10.57	Director Hess	a timeline of what it would look like, what it would cost, and continue to explore the pros and cons specific to Sausalito rather than generic.
03:33:22.52	Councilor I'm confused	Yeah.
03:33:22.92	Councilor I'm confused	I agree with that.
03:33:23.97	Councilor I'm confused	I think it's I think it's good to explore that and there are some advantages that that still flow from being a charter city so it's a worthy effort
03:33:33.54	Melissa	Any other comments? Any comments Council member Blasting?
03:33:36.39	Melissa	No.
03:33:37.37	Melissa	Okay, all right, we'll close that matter and move on communications. This is a time for matters not on the agenda. If anyone wishes to make a comment, please indicate here in the room. We have several here in the audience city clerk and online, please raise your hand.
03:33:54.11	Melissa	Please just give it.
03:33:54.82	Melissa	Please give it to the city clerk.
03:33:58.01	Melissa	Take your podium.
03:34:01.35	Vladislava Skaricha	The Press.
03:34:03.75	Vladislava Skaricha	Let me see sorry.
03:34:07.19	Vladislava Skaricha	Yeah, Babette McDougall.
03:34:08.62	Melissa	That's this is the time is Merrill. So please bring your slip up to the city clerk. We'll start with that last minute. You can start.
03:34:12.52	Vladislava Skaricha	Okay, we'll start with Alice Murrow.
03:34:18.19	Alice Merrill	Okay, thank you very much. My not on the agenda is parking.
03:34:23.67	Alice Merrill	Um,
03:34:24.53	Alice Merrill	I just really think that there needs to be some kind of rational thinking put into a
03:34:30.66	Alice Merrill	the parking for city employees.
03:34:33.78	Alice Merrill	I mean the people in the restaurants and in drivers and in the shops and etc.
03:34:39.72	Alice Merrill	right now.
03:34:41.36	Alice Merrill	And the
03:34:43.42	Alice Merrill	Michelle's hairdresser and fingers, she asked me, begs me all the time to say, please say something because at four o'clock,
03:34:54.24	Alice Merrill	Certain restaurants just take up all the spots because they can after 4 o'clock or whatever the time is and And I know that drivers those people are running out every two hours to see if their car has been
03:35:08.66	Alice Merrill	has been tagged
03:35:10.00	Alice Merrill	There's, and drivers is paying tickets when people get them.
03:35:14.49	Alice Merrill	You just have to come up with something for the people who are working here so that the business owners are not suffering and struggling and they're
03:35:24.20	Alice Merrill	used to be some part of a
03:35:26.48	Alice Merrill	parking parking
03:35:27.55	Alice Merrill	I thought that they
03:35:29.89	Alice Merrill	could
03:35:30.60	Alice Merrill	and now they can't.
03:35:33.07	Alice Merrill	I just really think that some thinking needs to be done about parking for people who are working here.
03:35:38.87	Alice Merrill	Thank you.
03:35:39.07	Alice Merrill	They come from a long way away.
03:35:41.99	Alice Merrill	They have a lot of traffic to go home, and that's beside the point, but it still adds, and it's tough.
03:35:50.65	Alice Merrill	for everybody and um...
03:35:53.25	Alice Merrill	I know that you guys are really working on the revenue for the city from parking tickets.
03:35:59.36	Alice Merrill	AND I SEE THAT HAPPENING A LOT.
03:36:03.17	Alice Merrill	I just think that they should, there should be some consideration for the worker bees. Thank you.
03:36:14.36	Vladislava Skaricha	Babette McGoo.
03:36:17.51	Babette McDougall	Thank you.
03:36:18.97	Babette McDougall	I want to just say that
03:36:20.97	Babette McDougall	It's actually quite gratifying to see so many council members specifically acknowledge members of the public and their specific input. I really like to see more of this advantage.
03:36:31.57	Babette McDougall	of an example of democracy at work.
03:36:34.73	Babette McDougall	I'd like to see you guys feel a little more emboldened by
03:36:38.17	Babette McDougall	these kinds of moves in the right direction to feel more comfortable engaging your constituents directly. And I'm looking forward to this gradual movement, if that's what it is, toward reinstating democracy into the council chambers as it once was.
03:36:53.58	Babette McDougall	before things went a little sideways just before COVID.
03:36:57.12	Babette McDougall	And the final thing is I want to also point out
03:37:00.56	Babette McDougall	that this is not the first time that I personally have had to raise the issue of ethical standards. I've had to address Councilwoman Cox
03:37:08.98	Babette McDougall	In fact, if you recall, Ms. Cox, when we were talking about adopting submitting minutes, I said, did I really understand you to say that you think including a standard of empirical standards of conduct and ethics would tie the hands of future councils? And you nodded your head yes. So this is not the first time the question of ethics has been raised. You should not have to take it ever so personally as you have, as are maybe some of our
03:37:34.23	Babette McDougall	observers have also done. It is not intended the way it was construed.
03:37:39.81	Babette McDougall	However, we must be concerned about an ethical standard of contact
03:37:43.85	Babette McDougall	It's the only way forward.
03:37:45.89	Babette McDougall	for consensus to arrive in an equitable manner within a democratic framework. And everyone knows that democracy is at risk these days. So if ever we should be mindful of this and we should think more thoughtfully about a standard of ethics and conduct.
03:38:01.11	Babette McDougall	This is the time. So please understand that it's all meant with the best of intentions, whether it comes from me or others. Thank you.
03:38:11.94	Vladislava Skaricha	I'm seeing no further public speakers.
03:38:17.29	Vladislava Skaricha	Oh, sorry.
03:38:19.25	Vladislava Skaricha	And then,
03:38:19.79	Melissa	Yes, please just come to the podium. Is there anyone else in the audience? Okay, welcome.
03:38:25.27	Ines Ponyer	Hi again. I'm wearing your socks.
03:38:25.92	Melissa	Thank you.
03:38:26.14	Melissa	I'm wearing your socks just so you know.
03:38:27.89	Ines Ponyer	Oh, many of you are. Thank you. I want to address the parking on holiday weekends and the charges that are going on.
03:38:40.41	Ines Ponyer	I looked at my revenue from this Memorial weekend to last Memorial weekend and I was down 30%
03:38:48.49	Ines Ponyer	I think that we're sending a wrong message out to our local visitors, because I think we have people from maybe Corte Madera or Nevada or Petaluma that just want to drive down here and stroll around Sausalito and enjoy our town. The optics that they're getting is it's $25, whether you stay an hour or eight hours or all day. That's not just in our lots. This time it was on all the parking meters.
03:39:17.40	Ines Ponyer	I think I'm losing, and I've heard them because I parked. I heard people going, what? $25? It's all or nothing. They leave.
03:39:27.95	Ines Ponyer	I get we need to have money. We need to make more money, more revenue. But the optics that we're putting out by doing this kind of behavior is not helping us at all. It is because I have talked to other people, local people, and they're like, well, why would I go to Sausalito? It's $25. They don't know it's just holiday. They're thinking it's all the time. So, I mean, you go to Mill Valley, you pay, you know, it's shorter in Mill Valley. Or you go to the mall, it's free in the mall.
03:39:58.22	Ines Ponyer	So,
03:39:59.28	Ines Ponyer	Think about how you're raising money, please.
03:40:05.97	Melissa	Any other comments?
03:40:07.98	Vladislava Skaricha	See you next.
03:40:08.57	Vladislava Skaricha	Thank you.
03:40:08.60	Melissa	Okay, we'll close public comment and come to council member committee reports. Council member Komen.
03:40:14.34	Councilmember Kelman	Yes, I'm going to share some good budget information. So we heard today that we were granted the SB1 Ocean Protection Council money's $250,000 to begin an assessment for gate five. So huge thanks to Chris and to Katie Tal Garcia for helping push that through. And then also I mentioned at the last council meeting that we were looking at a solid green boating and electrification of maritime vessels. We're going to meet with them this week because they identified a grant from the California Department of Energy that's a $1 million minimum grant with a $5 million maximum grant. And this is probably the last year we're going to see this with the budget cuts. So at minimum, it's a non-competitive grant process. It's for a virtual power plant. And so the idea is you bring something online, you can turn it on and off when you have peak flows from the grid. So that I think would be really good news for our budget conversation. So thank you for the help on that as well.
03:41:16.76	Melissa	Anyone else?
03:41:19.31	Melissa	Councilmember Boston.
03:41:21.79	Councilmember Blasian	Yeah, just really quickly. We had a Marin County Councilmembers and Mayor's Committee meeting last month that was hosted in CMFL, where we appointed two delegates to the BAFA committee. And I just want to flag the importance of BAFA and what this might mean for us going forward. So BAFA is the Bay Area Affordable Housing Bond, which could result in up to $20 billion in affordable housing funding for MTC, which is all the 11 regional counties of the Bay Area. And so right now the county's initially formed committee is going to discuss how we as a county might engage around the future of BACA and what it looks like
03:41:56.53	Councilmember Blasian	But cities are really going to need to play a key role in determining the
03:42:00.33	Councilmember Blasian	and deployment of the funds should the BASA fund, which will have to go before voters on the ballot pass. So I just want to flag that that's something that's being worked on at the county level, and that we should all start to think about and educate ourselves on that
03:42:11.64	Councilmember Blasian	big impact in our community going forward. Also at that meeting, we had the opportunity to hear from the new PG&E Vice President who spoke about the work being done in Sausalito and mentioned this as a sort of
03:42:22.99	Councilmember Blasian	a great case study for community engagement. So perhaps we should get an update on how that's going. And we heard from Jamila Jordan,
03:42:29.39	Councilmember Blasian	County Equity Director, who I'd love to have come and speak to the Council about some of the projects that she's been working on.
03:42:35.41	Councilmember Blasian	the county level that we might replicate
03:42:38.01	Councilmember Blasian	And,
03:42:38.58	Councilmember Blasian	in Saucolito as well.
03:42:40.04	Councilmember Blasian	and then we additionally had a transportation authority of marin meeting and notably had an update
03:42:45.72	Councilmember Blasian	some of the legislative issues that TAM is considering. One in particular was SB 1301, which would have brought together MTC and AVAG around transportation funding measures. And this was what made it to the Senate floor. So the big consolidation effort, mostly to fund larger public transit programs that had some deficits. But there were some concerns about return to source and other amendments. And so it's not going to go before the not going to go before the committee during this session. So that's just an important update because again, that could have huge budget repercussions for all of Marin County and for our community as well. So I wanted to make sure we provided those updates. Thanks.
03:43:26.17	Melissa	Thank you.
03:43:28.94	Melissa	Anyone else? If no one else, we will close council member committee reports and go to the city manager for his report.
03:43:34.64	Unknown	Thank you.
03:43:36.04	Melissa	Thank you.
03:43:36.06	Unknown	I'll be brief, but it's important mayor and council in public in your inbox You have a letter that was sent to the underwriting committee for prison Which outslides what I believe is sauce leaders case to be accepted It's 13 bullet points that I show the factors that we believe lower our risk profile steps that we've taken That we can't take will take and so on Please take a look at your inbox because some of you have asked me about you know the status of the insurance opportunity with TAKE AND SO PLEASE TAKE A LOOK AT YOUR INBOX BECAUSE SOME OF YOU HAVE ASKED ME ABOUT YOU KNOW THE STATUS OF THE INSURANCE OPPORTUNITY WITH PRISM SO TOMORROW IS THE BIG MEETING WITH THEM ONE O'CLOCK SERGE AND I WILL BE THERE I'LL BE HAPPY TO REPORT BACK WHEN I'M DONE WITH THAT I'M UNHAPPY TO REPORT THAT THE SECOND CANDIDATE THAT WE OFFERED A JOB TO DECLINE THIS AFTERNOON SO YOU KNOW WE BACK TO SQUARE ONE WITH THAT. AND WE MAY COME BACK TO YOU WITH SOME NEW IDEAS ABOUT SWEETENING THAT SALARY RANGE AND CREATING SOME OTHER THINGS THAT MIGHT MAKE IT MORE ATTRACTIVE TO SOMEBODY TO TAKE THAT POSITION. BUT IN INTERIM, WE'RE GOING TO ASK PRISM AND BE OPEN TO THE IDEA THAT PRISM COULD HELP US WITH THE SHORT-TERM CONTRACT OR SOME TYPE OF REFERRAL OF SOMEBODY THAT CAN WORK ON contract or some type of referral of somebody that can work on a part-time basis Until we hire someone full-time Again, thank all of you for your work on it Some of you have given me great ideas and people to follow up with and I've tried to do that as a Sergio So, you know, this is an all hands-on deck approach Tomorrow we'll keep our fingers crossed and you know, we'll try to be the best new Member of this pool if we can so that concludes my report. Thank you, mayor council
03:45:06.21	Melissa	I guess I will just add that I forgot to mention the vice mayor and I did meet on Friday as we will every Friday at noon to bird dog and help partner with the city manager and team on that issue. Councilmember Blastie.
03:45:22.39	Councilmember Blasian	Yeah, I've mentioned this, I think, at our last few meetings, but I feel that the risk management position is really critical. And I had discussed potentially us posting the job as a remote position, given the success of Chad as a remote director. I think that since this is really urgent and how critical this role is, we should really consider that. And then consider potentially a more aggressive search whether or not that's using a recruitment firm. But if we can avoid that through changing the way the posting is, I would recommend consideration for that because...
03:45:50.57	Councilmember Blasian	given the competitiveness of this type of position, I just think it's really critical that we seem attractive and that we hire ASAP.
03:45:58.39	Melissa	Spice Bear?
03:45:59.48	Director Hess	Thank you, Councilmember Blaustein, for that comment. I actually had a similar discussion with Director Hess this afternoon. If we do adopt some sort of hybrid position, I do think it's important that there be at least a monthly presence in Sausalito. So much of Sausalito's risk comes from its topography, its geography, its relationship to water, its proximity to the Golden Gate National Recreation Area and the highway and our narrow streets, et cetera. And so I think experiencing Sausalito personally would be an important aspect. I was disappointed to hear that the candidate that turned us down today has not yet visited Sausalito or California because I firmly believe that had he done so, he may have reconsidered. I came out here on vacation in 1984
03:46:57.60	Director Hess	day four started looking for a job
03:47:00.53	Director Hess	Day five got hired.
03:47:02.53	Director Hess	went back to the East Coast, gave two weeks notice, and started working out here two weeks later, and that was in July of 1984. So California is a magical spot.
03:47:13.24	Councilor I'm confused	up. Look, I'd like to know what? Yeah, I'm sorry, I'm going to follow up on that. Yeah, I think it's different. I mean, respectfully, I think the risk assessment person really has to spend a lot of time here because of our topography because of things that happen continually. And there's a lot of work to be done physically here in Sausalito. So I mean, yeah, we do need to hire somebody. It works out great with Chad, because he's dealing with numbers and he's on the computer all day anyway and and he's out here I think on a monthly basis if not bi-monthly I think he's about here for the city council meetings but the risk assessment person needs to be I think closer but one of the things okay
03:47:13.92	Alice Merrill	Oh, shit.
03:47:14.52	Director Hess	AND I WOULD.
03:47:52.58	Councilor I'm confused	It's you know at one point we talked about sharing a risk assessment person with Mel Valley or somebody you know Mel Valley to run better have we explored that recently.
03:48:01.96	Councilor I'm confused	No.
03:48:02.64	Councilor I'm confused	OK might we might that be an avenue OK thanks.
03:48:07.63	Melissa	Okay, anything else? Let's move on to future agenda items.
03:48:12.35	Director Hess	Mayor I had a couple.
03:48:13.39	Melissa	Please, vice mayor.
03:48:14.33	Director Hess	I would like us to adopt a policy that requires all materials related to our agenda items be attached to our agenda items within a certain time. I don't know what that time will be.
03:48:28.30	Director Hess	But I...
03:48:29.91	Director Hess	It is very difficult for me to see power point presentations for the first time and not be able to follow along.
03:48:36.69	Director Hess	I cannot read things on a computer screen. I need to see them printed out.
03:48:41.19	Director Hess	the city clerk is painfully aware of this because he prints out my packet for every meeting.
03:48:47.45	Director Hess	It really would serve me and I think it would serve staff.
03:48:51.50	Director Hess	to have a requirement that they finish their presentation and have it submitted and finalized and if it's not ready move it to the next meeting.
03:49:00.01	Director Hess	when things get moved to the next meeting once or twice, they will magically start being ready on time for the current meeting. So I would like us to consider adopting a policy regarding that because our requests have not yet been addressed. I also would like us to reconsider our parking policies for holidays and such. I do not like hearing that our raised rates for the Blue Angels and Memorial Day and the Fourth of July results in less business for our business community. So I don't know what the solution is, but I'd like us to explore that.
03:49:43.89	Melissa	Okay, thank you, Mayor Councilmember Blaustein.
03:49:47.51	Director Hess	Thank you.
03:49:47.53	Councilmember Blasian	Yeah, I asked for this before, but just I appreciate that was Merrill's comments. We really need to take up a plan for employee parking, especially for the employees on Caledonia. They've asked many times. We've discussed it as a future agenda item before, and I'd like to see that on the agenda this summer so that we have a resolution for our employees working in Fasolito, who otherwise don't have somewhere to park.
03:50:09.13	Councilmember Blasian	I mentioned this every time, but I want to see more disaster preparedness and table tops on the agenda. And I mentioned this in passing, but I'd love to have Jamila Jordan present on the equity programs that the County of Marin is doing.
03:50:21.23	Councilmember Blasian	have a discussion with and learn something from her.
03:50:25.62	Melissa	Thank you, Council Member for blessing. Councilor, give me a hand.
03:50:27.46	Councilmember Blasian	Thank you.
03:50:27.47	Councilmember Kelman	Yes, you do.
03:50:27.88	Councilmember Kelman	Yes, I have a time sensitive one. So at the last city council meeting, I requested that we place the Monship Blue Economy Innovation District Initiative onto a city council agenda because it is time sensitive. And I think there were at least three people who said thumbs up on that. It has to be sometime in June. So can we commit to that as a council to add that to an agenda?
03:50:58.00	Director Hess	I actually thought it was council member Hoffman that requested that at the last meeting.
03:51:01.75	Councilmember Kelman	Oh, sorry. I got so excited about it. I wanted to be my
03:51:04.73	Director Hess	I did. No, I'm happy. I was surprised when she said Blue Water that it wasn't yours. That's why I remember. She also loves it.
03:51:06.34	Councilor I'm confused	Happy.
03:51:09.83	Councilor I'm confused	That's why I remember. I'm yielding to the movement of Councilmember Kelman.
03:51:16.21	Councilmember Kelman	So, thank you, yeah.
03:51:18.69	Councilmember Kelman	The late hour makes me forget my person. So it can we commit to that engine?
03:51:25.64	Melissa	Yeah, I think we asked staff to do the work. I only saw one draft recently, so. Yeah, I think that. And it seemed to have parts lifted from Morro Bay in there. I read it's halfway through it and read something about Morro Bay. So I think it needs some work from staff, but I hope we can get it on the agenda.
03:51:32.26	Councilmember Kelman	Yeah, I think that-
03:51:33.37	Unknown	it
03:51:43.93	Councilmember Kelman	Thank you.
03:51:43.95	Director Hess	Great. So we'll see it. One of the June meetings, we'll see it then.
03:51:44.49	Melissa	So we'll see it, one of the June meetings, we'll see it. Yeah, it's the direction of staff to do the prep.
03:51:49.35	Director Hess	June 25 is a special meeting, so I think it would be June 18. Okay, great. Yeah, so we'll see on June 18. Thank you for that Jen's
03:51:53.74	Melissa	Thank you.
03:51:55.83	Councilmember Kelman	i mean i would ask at the same time i saw we saw a letter from the clipper yacht owner uh marina owner petterson also has some uh
03:51:55.83	Melissa	i mean i would ask at the same time i saw we saw a letter from the clipper yacht owner uh marina owner petterson also has some uh
03:52:04.94	Councilmember Kelman	I did not see an, was there an attachment?
03:52:07.15	Melissa	No, it's just an email and I don't know if there's a there there, but there's a reference to also a ballot initiative related to the Marin ship. So if staff can, I'd be interested in seeing that if at all possible alongside, but if not, whenever, if, if there's a there there, I'd be interested in that.
03:52:09.89	Councilmember Kelman	Uh-huh.
03:52:24.30	Director Hess	I would just say cross that bridge when we come to it. Let's see what we get. Sure.
03:52:26.97	Melissa	Sure. Yeah. I'm afraid there there is public comment, but it's standby. We're not done. Is there any other future agenda item?
03:52:34.09	Melissa	Councilor Mayer Hoffman.
03:52:34.85	Councilor I'm confused	Yeah, I think this is something I talked with the city manager about now. I can't remember what you told me, but I'm so sorry. Gun violence awareness. This is Gun Violence Awareness Month. I was approached at a legal women voters event and that whether or not City Council had issued a proclamation. I looked on that and we hadn't. And so, Chris, I can't remember you told me did you want me to bring it up on a future agenda items okay there you have it okay so I will say that Friday is the actual day for gun violence awareness day but all of June is the best so thank you thank you for that and
03:53:03.47	Unknown	Okay.
03:53:03.72	Unknown	.
03:53:03.74	Unknown	I will say that
03:53:09.91	Melissa	Yeah.
03:53:11.25	Melissa	Thank you. Thank you for that. I would support that.
03:53:13.37	Melissa	It'll be on. Me too. I think our city clerk is taking notes. And just so you know, I meant to read out loud the Alzheimer's proclamation. I asked the city clerk to put it back on the next agenda. I'm going to read it out loud. I know that several members of the community wanted to chime in on that. So time for public comments, please.
03:53:15.41	Councilor I'm confused	Me too
03:53:35.82	Steven Woodside	I'm,
03:53:36.34	Steven Woodside	I'm prompted to speak only by your last comments about possible item for the ballot.
03:53:44.57	Steven Woodside	and coming back in June with something, and I know there are early deadlines to get on the ballot, it would be,
03:53:53.08	Steven Woodside	without knowing what's involved, usually these things take more time and more public input. And if you're planning to put something on the ballot without a lot of public input,
03:54:03.88	Steven Woodside	I think I don't know what's involved, but it could be a disaster, especially if you really want something to be voted on. That's my comment. Sorry.
03:54:19.98	Scott Thornburg	I'll be very quick. Thank you. In our EDAC meeting yesterday, Councilmember Hoffman pointed out that in order for our Dixon parking study and the recommendations therein to be put into action, it requires council direction to staff. And it's my understanding that there is a parking fund that is uh
03:54:26.61	Unknown	you know,
03:54:42.84	Scott Thornburg	Not sure exactly what the management structure is for that, but
03:54:46.28	Scott Thornburg	just would recommend I know that there's been some discussion for the mayor to put together a group to look at this. I would encourage you to pursue that as quickly because it's not it's not about how many parking spaces we had but it is about the the use of them and I think this is this issue that in as brought up this evening is a great example of the thing that we just need to look at so.
03:55:06.15	Scott Thornburg	Yeah.
03:55:06.20	Melissa	Thank you.
03:55:07.67	Melissa	Ms. Merrill, did you have a public comment?
03:55:13.07	Alice Merrill	I did. And just to be a little, you know, I don't know, crabby, snarky.
03:55:19.24	Alice Merrill	I put a card in.
03:55:21.00	Alice Merrill	And the two men jumped in front of me. So I just want to say that you know we live in a whatever.
03:55:27.21	Alice Merrill	Okay, I am going to second the Blue Economy Initiative. That was on my list. I want to just, I love it and please get it on.
03:55:37.69	Alice Merrill	And you know that I care about the Marin ship probably
03:55:42.29	Alice Merrill	more than parking for driver's people. And it will,
03:55:48.00	Alice Merrill	And it will promote the Marinship area as a very important place for the, you know, for this city. So thank you. Thank you very much. You've been very...
03:55:59.24	Alice Merrill	Interesting tonight. Thank you.
03:56:01.26	Melissa	Good night, Ms. Merrill.
03:56:02.69	Melissa	All right, that's the end of the meeting. We will adjourn and wish everyone a good evening and see you in two weeks. Good night.
03:56:11.37	Scott Thornburg	Thank you. Thank you.
03:56:17.24	Melissa	record.

City Council Jun 4, 2024

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