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20Meetings
78Public speakers
42Hours on record
2012 has 20 recordings, the first on 17 January. Two were made on 3 April: a special joint meeting with the West Contra Costa Unified School District board, then, after a break, a short special City Council meeting; each has its own page. The 6 February meeting was held on a Monday and called the regular meeting of February 6th. In June the 2012–13 budget was presented on 5 June and adopted at a special Monday meeting on 11 June. On 19 June the Mayor said the summer schedule had one meeting in July, on the 17th, and on 21 August the next meeting was set for 18 September, which explains the absence of an early September meeting. Five stretches have no recording: a 3 January special meeting for board and commission interviews, the regular dates of 20 March and 7 August, the 3 July special meeting reported on 17 July, and election day, 6 November — see the gaps below. The Council reorganized on 4 December, when Mayor Bill Jones and Councilmember Ann Chang left, Mark Friedman and Jan Bridges joined, and Greg Lyman became mayor.
2012 in brief
Redevelopment ended. After the state Supreme Court's ruling the agency was dissolved on 1 February, and the Council, as its successor agency, approved payment schedules amid friction with the state. In July the city sued the state and refused a $1.7 million demand under AB 1484. The Council amended the Ohlone Gardens loan to add ten special needs units after the center for the blind withdrew, and extended Eden Housing's negotiating rights at the tradeway site.
The 2012-13 budget, adopted in June, closed a $314,000 gap without layoffs, with police and fire forgoing a cost-of-living increase and city employees asking that it not be balanced on their pay; a two-year service credit window followed in August, 3-1-1. The Council refinanced city debt, approved solar panels at six city sites with lease financing, extended East Bay Sanitary's franchise to 2025 and adopted an SEIU contract.
The Council hired consultants for a strategic plan, met the school board on Measure K and school resource officers, let new rules for backyard animals take effect without a slaughter ban, adopted the 2007-2014 housing element and set speed limits for 11 zones.
Key decisions
Jan 17Amended the payment schedule and kept the agency's housing assets with the city.
Apr 17Amended the Ohlone Gardens loan, replacing the center for the blind with special needs units.
May 1Hired Management Partners for a strategic plan, up to $45,000.
May 15Extended Eden Housing's negotiating rights for the tradeway site.
Jun 11Adopted the four 2012-13 budgets, each with the word balanced added.
Jun 11Refinanced equipment leases, the recycling center and storm drain bonds.
Jun 19Authorized a school resource officer agreement with the school district (unanimous).
Aug 21Adopted a two-year service credit retirement window (3-1-1).
Sep 18Adopted a memorandum of understanding with SEIU Local 1021 (unanimous).
Oct 16Approved solar systems at six city sites, up to $1,587,000, with lease purchase financing.
Nov 20Extended East Bay Sanitary's garbage franchise by seven years.
The Council. Bill Jones was mayor and Greg Lyman mayor pro tem, with Councilmembers Janet Abelson, Rebecca Benassini and Ann Chang. On 4 December Jones and Chang left the Council, Mark Friedman and Jan Bridges joined it, and the Council selected Lyman mayor and Abelson mayor pro tem.
With Councilmembers Jan Bridges and Mark Friedman newly seated and a moment of silence for Newtown, the Council heard Melanie Mintz report that the rebuilt Recycling and Environmental Resource Center earned 82 points for LEED Platinum, “the highest level of certification you can receive,” on a $3.5 million project paid entirely from the integrated waste management fund; Police Chief Sylvia Moyer had been appointed to the state's POST commission. Al Miller asked the mayor to consider a letter to Newtown's mayor and council.
A Madera parent asked the Council to drop the bulb-outs at Arlington and Madera, saying “the most congested part of the whole traffic story is the inability of traffic to leave Madeira”; Public Works Director Jerry Bradshaw said removing them “might endanger the grant itself,” and the project was approved unanimously with a report back on traffic, including a possible right turn only from Madera. School board president Madeline Cronenberg asked for support of a Measure E debt limit waiver.
After public hearings the Council adopted 2013 integrated waste management fees and East Bay Sanitary's maximum rates, with Mayor Greg Lyman urging staff to keep encouraging smaller garbage cans. A councilmember reported a 6-1 West County authority vote to negotiate post-collection services with Republic Services, and the meeting adjourned in memory of “the 26 individuals in Newtown.”
Proclamations honored Cal and 2012 Olympic swim coach Terry McKeever (as captioned) and Dr. Carol Tang, one of 12 California leading women in STEM, the new city librarian Liz Ruland (as captioned) was introduced, and the consent calendar took in the county registrar's certified election results.
Departing members Jones and Chang gave long farewells, Chang calling El Cerrito “the little city that can” and Jones quoting Pericles: “what you leave behind is not what is engraved in stone monuments but what is woven into the lives of others.” After the captions record Friedman's oath, Lyman and Abelson were selected unanimously, and Lyman, “grateful humble and optimistic,” called the council temporary “stewards of the Public's Trust,” listing hopes for the year from the strategic plan and San Pablo Avenue specific plan to a balanced budget.
With Councilmember Ann Chang absent and Assistant City Manager Karen Pinkos standing in for the city manager, the Council heard Garth Schultz present a rate and operations review of East Bay Sanitary, the city's hauler since 1941, and approved a seven-year extension to 2025 in exchange for a lower profit ratio, frozen officer salaries, a franchise fee rising from 10 to 12 percent, roughly $100,000 a year, and new services, including maintenance of the city's recycling fleet. A revised pension clause was read into the record. Tom Panis urged rewards for backyard composting, calling green waste “closer to treasure than to waste,” and Mayor Bill Jones called the hauler “a trusted partner that we've had since 1941.”
A long debate over whether salvage permits at the recycling center, which draws 250 to 300 visits a day, are too stringent for the casual user ended in a 3-1 introduction with three amendments; Councilmember Janet Abelson said “I think it's just a little bit too stringent,” and Melanie Mintz called the problem “an unintended consequence of our success.” The Council also moved up to $160,000 of Measure A money into the over-budget Central Avenue and Liberty streetscape contract, heard a budget update with “no course Corrections necessary,” and agreed to accept an off-cycle grant application from the Writer Coach Connection, Jones calling it “a one-time Grant.”
Tahia Day School (as captioned) was honored as a National Blue Ribbon School, the Food Bank of Contra Costa and Solano described its work, and ICMA presented its award for the San Pablo Avenue streetscape.
Maria Sanders of the Environmental Services Division recommended a contract of up to $1,587,000 with RGS Energy for solar systems, mostly on carports, at the community center, swim center, public safety building, Fire Station 72, recycling center and corporation yard, supplying 28 percent of municipal electricity, about the same as 70 homes. Financed through a 15-year lease purchase with Green Campus Partners, the model shows “a 3.8 million dollar positive amount over 30 years,” and the Financial Advisory Board found its assumptions valid. Al Miller spoke in support, and both resolutions carried after Councilmember Greg Lyman's amendment to the tenth whereas clause.
Public Works Director Jerry Bradshaw reported that “the pendulum is swinging back now” on construction prices: after the low bidder was found non-responsive, the Potrero Avenue and I-80 safety project's responsive low bid left a shortfall of approximately $116,000. The Council authorized an award to Redwick contingent on more funding or value engineering, a councilmember saying “we need everybody to sharpen their pencils.” Councilmember Ann Chang was absent, and councilmembers reported a Guinness meatloaf record attempt and the first San Pablo Avenue street icon, due to be unveiled 26 October.
Parents and coaches, then Community Alliance for Learning director Robert Menzimer, asked the city to help close a $2,500 gap for Writer Coach Connection at Portola, which would restore about 40 volunteers working with 62 seventh graders; El Cerrito High's English department head was quoted saying teachers assigned “twice as many” assignments because “no one was falling behind.” Councilmember Rebecca Benassini proposed asking the city manager for a modest contribution, and another member noted the request had not been agendized.
In a quasi-judicial hearing, Steve Khan of Steve's Auto Care appealed the Planning Commission's approval of consignment car sales and service next door at 11858 San Pablo Avenue, saying “we respectfully ask for equity”; the applicant, Mr. Xiao (as captioned), likened it to “a big guy trying to bully another guy.” The Council upheld the approval, adding conditions for a better separation between the lots and compliance with all applicable laws. Administrative Services Director Mary Dodge then won approval of $4 million in tax anticipation notes at 0.75 percent to bridge the property tax calendar.
Poet Tess Taylor received a proclamation and read “Song for El Cerrito,” and Marin Clean Energy's Don Weiss (as captioned) and Richmond's sustainability coordinator explained community choice energy, Weiss calling El Cerrito “a very strong candidate” pending an economic analysis. Out of a special session, the city settled the former building official's appeal, and Councilmember Janet Abelson reported that WCCTAC's executive director would leave in December.
Audubon volunteers and residents urged the Council to pass a consent-calendar resolution asking businesses to stop selling rodenticides, citing secondary poisoning of raptors and pets, and a councilmember reported staff had confirmed the city does not currently use anticoagulant rodenticides. A councilmember pulled the Proposition 32 resolution to strip wording seen as rhetoric, such as “ultra conservative” and “billionaires,” and it passed as amended.
A public hearing confirmed forced weed abatement costs on four properties, with Fire Chief Lance Maples promising early notice to the Hagen parcels and saying the program “is successful not because of the punitive side of doing the forceful abatement it's the educational process.” The Council unanimously adopted a memorandum of understanding with SEIU Local 1021 through June 2014, with higher pension contributions, furlough hours and a raise in July 2013, and Mayor Pro Tem Greg Lyman reported that six firms were vying for Recycle More's post-collection services and that a plastic bag group threatened litigation.
The Trail Trekkers became city co-sponsored, Fall Prevention Awareness Week was proclaimed, and a resident asked how officers time a 72-hour parking violation.
Employee services manager Sakari Beshears and Administrative Services Director Mary Dodge presented a two-year CalPERS service credit window, with 15 of 43 eligible employees saying they would take it, and reported a new property tax shortfall of about three hundred thousand dollars, a reduction “that we do not agree with at all.” Denise Sangster said the city was “about to make a serious Financial mistake” without Financial Advisory Board review, and Councilmember Greg Lyman proposed waiting a month, asking “whether this is a hammer trying to do a screwdriver's job.” Mayor Bill Jones said “I see no alternative but to go forward with it,” and the resolution passed 3-1-1; the captions do not record who voted which way.
With Mark Friedman, Jan Bridges and Greg Lyman the only candidates for three seats, a motion to appoint them in lieu of the November election died for lack of a second; one councilmember said “it really is affirming to get the votes.” The Council also adopted fees for recycling fluorescent bulbs from out-of-area patrons, refinanced the swim center bonds with JP Morgan Chase for about $190,000 in net savings, and, as the successor agency, approved its third recognized obligation payment schedule.
Ellen Pasch was honored for over 33 years with the city, much of it serving seniors, and Bartke and Shinsako were inducted into the Wall of Fame. Al Miller invited residents to the new library campaign and the strategic plan open house, and the city won its eighth straight financial reporting award.
Mayor Bill Jones reported that, on direction given in a July 3 closed session, the city sued the state in Sacramento on July 12 and refused to pay a $1.7 million demand under AB 1484, the redevelopment cleanup bill. The mayor called it “a pure and simple money grab by the state legislature and the Department of Finance”; Councilmember Janet Abelson said the sum was over half the city's reserves, and Councilmember Rebecca Benassini said “filing a lawsuit against the state government is clearly something that is a last resort.” Peter Lobel asked about the risk of losing and urged the Council to deal with the issue in open session; a speaker answered that “the city is not near bankruptcy.”
Speakers from the new priorities campaign won a resolution asking Congress to move money from military spending to domestic priorities, over Lobel's objection that it was “naive and counterproductive.”
After a public hearing at which Dr. James Richardson described a yearly fight over dry lots on Hagen Street (as captioned), the Council declared 26 properties a fire hazard nuisance and ordered abatement, and it asked for a two-year service credit retirement window to come back on August 21.
New speed surveys would have raised western Potrero Avenue from 25 to 30 miles per hour; consultant Mark Spencer said the collisions there are “not generally speed related,” but Sergeant Sean Maples recommended keeping 25, and the Council did, while Arlington and Barrett stay at the statutory 25 and Carlson drops to 25. Councilmember Janet Abelson said of Carlson, where the collision rate is twice the statewide figure, “it's not easy to get across the street.”
Police Chief Sylvia Moyer won authority for the city manager to sign a school resource officer agreement for two officers at El Cerrito High and one at Portola if the district meets the city's terms; the district had offered $420,000 a year against the city's budgeted $470,000. Al Miller described the change on campus since the officers arrived, and the vote was unanimous.
Maples was honored as Special Olympics volunteer of the year, the city won its first ICMA award for the San Pablo Avenue streetscape, the police launched Nixle alerts, the Garden Club named its contest winners, and the meeting ended with a successor agency closed session.
Continuing the budget hearing, City Manager Scott Hanin explained how police and fire forgoing a cost of living increase, about $250,000, a two-year service credit buyout and $84,000 in labor savings still under negotiation brought the reserve back to 10.2 percent; Hanin said “I could never even fathom doing a two-year budget” and promised at least quarterly reports. SEIU members asked the Council not to “balance the budget from our pockets for our pockets are empty.” Councilmember Janet Abelson called it “the worst situation we have been in financially” in that time, councilmembers stressed long-term fixes, and all four budgets passed with the word “balanced” added at Mayor Bill Jones's request.
Private placements with JPMorgan Chase refinanced equipment leases, the recycling center and storm drain bonds at lower rates, saving about $93,000 and $212,000 and freeing a storm drain reserve for capital projects. Jane Bartke and Amy Shinsako were approved for the Wall of Fame, with the induction moved to August 21st.
Al Miller of the New Priorities campaign previewed a resolution on war spending, Peter Lobel suggested a one-time bonus for lower-paid employees, and Jones said the city should study becoming a charter city.
City Manager Scott Hanin presented a 2012-13 budget with no layoffs, nine vacancies, police and fire forgoing a 2.1 percent COLA and senior staff paying 3 percent more toward pensions, plus a two-year CalPERS service credit buyout, which 15 to 20 employees might take, to close a gap now put at $170,000 to the 10 percent reserve. Pension contributions, zero in 2000, were projected at $6 million, close to 20 percent of the general fund, and Hanin said staffing the redevelopment oversight board “has created a whole lot of bureaucracy in an attempt to limit bureaucracy.”
Ten speakers, most of them SEIU-represented city employees or their union, described four years without a cost of living increase and asked the Council to cut management car allowances first: “I implore you please do not balance the budget from our backs.” Hanin answered that car allowances count in total compensation set at the median. Councilmembers rejected cuts to the senior center, swim center and Fourth of July; Councilmember Ann Chang asked whether the reserve must be refilled to the full 10 percent, and Mayor Bill Jones opposed depleting it, “it's one-time money,” before the 11 June 2012 meeting.
Officer Carlos Maldonado was named officer of the year, preliminary National Citizen Survey results showed most ratings above national benchmarks, and Peter Lobel asked that older residents be able to comment earlier in the evening.
With the Eden Housing project at 10848 and 10860 San Pablo Avenue on hold over the dissolution of redevelopment, Housing program manager Hildy Mile (as captioned) asked for a one-year extension of the exclusive negotiating rights agreement; the plan had become 63 senior units retaining the stone-faced Mabuchi florist shop, with space for a Samuel Merritt clinic. Barbara Hill read a letter from Tom Panis asking the Council to “not approve the extension” and turn to the second-ranked developer, Mercy Housing California. Councilmembers said the extension keeps the city's control of the site, one calling the loss of those rights “too big of a price to pay,” and it carried.
The 2012-13 master fee schedule raised most fees five percent, with an IT catch-up for development fees; staff proposed reinstating a $350 solar permit fee, saying the city was “losing a great deal of money,” and on Councilmember Janet Abelson's motion it was set at $100. The Council also lowered Swim Center fees as the Albany pool reopened, confirmed the $72 landscape and lighting assessment and the $58 storm drain fee, and opposed AB 2200 on carpool lanes.
Economic development staff described matching Chipotle to a vacant building and a survey of close to 500 home-based businesses, and the Council's closed session gave direction on labor negotiations.
With Councilmember Ann Chang absent, Assistant City Manager Karen Pinkos presented the strategic plan contract, chosen from seven proposals and meant to underpin the general plan update and talk of a city charter. Councilmembers pressed on public outreach, a graphic recorder and whether the hours were enough, and the contract carried; the mayor called the plan “another way of taking charge of our own community.”
Mayor Bill Jones wanted the park named for all three women who started Save the Bay; the Council kept the single name before the Assembly and added a clause supporting other parks for the other two, with one nay captioned. Speakers backed a letter seeking $15.9 million in state library funding, and Al Miller announced a group working toward a new library. Councilmembers reported on a successful Earth Day and the new recycling center, and a councilmember asked for an agenda item on the county assessor, saying “I think it's time for the kindness to end.”
Resources for Community Development replaced the center for the blind's role in the 57-unit Portola Drive project with ten special needs units, five for persons with AIDS and five for mental health consumers; the agency's loans total $3.5 million, with $471,000 and change undisbursed. Mayor Bill Jones questioned the required ground-floor commercial space, saying “we're being handcuffed here on something that may not be needed,” and the loan amendment was approved.
As successor agency, the Council unanimously approved its second recognized obligation payment schedule and a 2012-13 administrative budget showing $359,000 of costs against the $250,000 allowed. The city manager said of the Department of Finance, “it's almost like a war of attrition this process,” and “the process is largely getting invented on the Fly.”
Artists Jonathan Russell and Sayori Ede (as captioned) presented twelve copper wind sculptures for San Pablo Avenue light poles, a Kaiser physician presented a HEAL city certificate, the consent calendar endorsed Measure K and the Choose Civility initiative, and Councilmembers Greg Lyman and Janet Abelson were named to a Wall of Fame subcommittee. Lyman reported on Recycle More's work toward a plastic bag ban, and the meeting adjourned in memory of former mayor Larry Damon.
Al Miller asked the Council to explain budget-season consent items such as the stormwater assessment, during the clean water election, and the landscape and lighting district, and a Relay For Life volunteer invited teams; a councilmember said “many of these items are being taken up tonight because they are part of our annual budget process,” and the consent calendar passed by voice vote.
Liaison reports covered a community garden pilot at Fairmount Park, a $24,000 art project for the recycling center, the waste authority's request for interest from recycling processors, the League of California Cities' view of the state budget and its advice to “go slow” in disposing of redevelopment assets, and the oversight board for the successor agency, meeting for the first time the next night. Mayor Bill Jones remembered Mr. Dhy, mayor from 1963 to 1964 and an original BART director, and Ms. Kodon, killed in the shooting at a small university in Oakland.
Superintendent Bruce Harter made the case for Measure K, a renewed and extended parcel tax that would add about four million dollars, roughly $40 or $41 a year per El Cerrito parcel, against $40 million in cuts over five years, cautioning that it is “not going to fill this Grand Canyon of a deficit.” District staff described a little over $285 million in bond projects in El Cerrito, with El Cerrito High as the program's “Crown Jewel,” and grading of the old Portola site for future play fields, which Councilmember Janet Abelson asked to protect from erosion.
Police Chief Sylvia Moyer, the three school resource officers and two principals described the program begun in 2005; a principal said “we cannot have strong academic programs without a safe learning environment,” and Abelson recalled students “sitting on the police cars signing their yearbooks.” Acting Recreation Director Christopher Jones described the city's after-school programs at every El Cerrito school.
Writer Coach Connection volunteers asked both bodies to keep the program going, and seniors asked to keep adult education classes; Florence Brown came to “hope beg pray demand” they continue, and Board President Ramsey said of adult education, “we did not touch not one dime.” Members pressed the district on locked school fields, and the district undertook to report on community access within about a month. The board asked the Council to consider endorsing Measure K.
Engineering manager Yvetteh Ortiz and partner agencies presented the roughly 90 million dollar I-80 Integrated Corridor Mobility project of ramp metering, signal upgrades and transit priority on San Pablo Avenue, on what a presenter called “the most congested freeway in the Bay Area,” saying “there will be no cost to the cities in perpetuity” for operations and maintenance. Councilmembers asked about pedestrian safety, real-time data and left-turn arrows, and Councilmember Janet Abelson praised “what an amazing piece of coordination” the project had been, before the memorandum of understanding was approved.
Public Works Director Jerry Bradshaw explained the regional storm water permit and trash capture rules behind the countywide clean water fee, unchanged since 1992, and a gap of about 254,000 between projected expenses and collections; the Council authorized the city manager to cast the city's 30 ballots. Sitting as the Municipal Services Corporation, members heard Al Miller call the measure's rollout “a learning opportunity for every elected official in Contra Costa County of how not to put a measure forward.”
Recycle More showed its household hazardous waste video, the Council adopted a Bay-Delta resolution with two words softened, and a speaker praised the police department's community meeting at Madera school.
With Councilmember Ann Chang absent, the Council proclaimed its recognition of El Cerrito High graduate Elijah “Pumpsy” Green (as captioned), who in 1959 became the first African-American to play for the Boston Red Sox and later coached baseball at Berkeley High for 25 years; Green said, “I would see you around town because I live right down the street.” Administrative Services Director Mary Dodge's mid-year review showed a 1.36 percent drop in assessed valuation and a $257,000 sales tax true-up, leaving the reserve at 9.73 percent, about $78,000 under the 10 percent goal; Dodge said the 2012-13 budget “will continue to be a challenge.”
Three weeks after the Redevelopment Agency was dissolved, staff reviewed its final finances, the Council ratified Mayor Bill Jones and Hildy Mile (as captioned) as its oversight board appointees, and, as successor agency, authorized the initial draft recognized obligation payment schedule, which staff said accounts for about $66 million of a $190 million overall claim: “to some extent it's a crystal ball.” As the Municipal Services Corporation, members amended its 2011-12 budget.
Al Miller reported that the street oversight committee found all Measure A receipts and expenditures properly accounted for, Doctors Medical Center described its stroke program, and Officer Terry Schillinger was commended as police officer of the year.
The city attorney advised that state cruelty law and the animals ordinance's nuisance tools would “strike the right balance,” warning that with a ban carrying religious exceptions “there's a significant financial risk to getting this wrong”; the city had no record of any complaint about slaughter. Speakers split between a ban, which Mike Bruno said the memo's risk overstated, and urban homesteaders; Environmental Quality Committee chair Emily Corwin said “we need to trust our residents.” Mayor Bill Jones said “I could go either way on this,” and the three members present, Jones and Councilmembers Rebecca Benassini and Ann Chang, gave direction by consensus to let the ordinance take effect in April and check in after 12 or 24 months.
The Council honored the late civil rights leader Ernest Iyama, who “always stood up and spoke for the everyday person,” and adopted the 2007-2014 housing element after the state's “golden ticket” letter. It set animal permit fees of $75 for a chicken clearance and $90 for bees, and approved 206 radios for the East Bay regional communications system, funded by vehicle replacement money and a FEMA grant, since “Our current radio system is aging and dying.”
George McRae suggested DNA analysis for home burglaries, and Al Miller asked that the Ohlone Greenway redesign keep sight lines clear at crossings; the consent calendar included a $600,000 greenway grant. Members thought of El Cerrito High School after two students died.
Redevelopment Manager Lori Trevino explained that after the Supreme Court's 29 December ruling the agency would be dissolved on February 1st and its assets pass to the city as successor agency. Agency counsel Karen Tiedeman said the successor agency's liability is limited to the former tax increment it receives, and staff said the law's two flows of funds are inconsistent: “the two cannot be reconciled.” Both resolutions carried, along with a consent letter supporting SB 659 to postpone dissolution.
Jeff Lichtman came with concern for the Cerrito Theater and, hearing that it had been placed with the Municipal Services Corporation under a performance deed of trust, concluded “the theater is in good hands.” Emily Wood of Neighbors Opposed to Backyard Slaughter urged a ban before the city's animal code changes take effect in April. Members announced commission appointments, a One Bay Area meeting and a screening of The New Metropolis, and a councilmember reported on the West County waste authority's procurement for recyclables processing.