Contents
2 sections01 A short meeting: volunteer tutors and the drought captions 1–5
0:00:34welcome to our one of our shortest most likely shortest council meetings where we will now convene [Applause] regular meeting uh roll call please uh councilmember quinto councilmember bridges here councilmember lyman here councilmember abelson here and mayor friedman
0:00:56here uh mayor pro tem lyman will lead us in the pledge your moment of silence please join me in a moment of silence i pledge allegiance to the flag of the united states of america and to the republic for which it stands one nation under god indivisible with liberty and justice for
0:01:17all ah council staff communications i know more mayor pro tem i'm gonna have some yeah i have two um one is the writer coach connection we uh they're looking for volunteers to [Music] work in the schools so i just wanted to make sure that people knew about the writer coach connection
0:01:43at our high school and their contact information is the community alliance for learning uh and they have a phone number it's five one zero two eight zero sorry let me start it over five one zero two eight zero five six four zero um and you can volunteer through that and the other is
0:02:10we received in december a letter from east bay municipal utility district and i feel compelled to remind people that we are in a drought despite all the rain that has come down we we are still in a drought and we should continue to be practicing our drought water saving practices
Opening what was called likely one of its shortest meetings, the Council took the roll, and Mayor Pro Tem Lyman led a moment of silence and the pledge. A councilmember asked residents to volunteer as writing coaches at the high school through the Writer Coach Connection, run by the Community Alliance for Learning, and, citing a December letter from East Bay Municipal Utility District, reminded people that despite all the rain the region was still in a drought and should keep saving water.
02 Howdy Goudey asks the Council to revisit 1715 Elm Street captions 6–21
0:02:32thank you very much any other reports all right moving right along oral communications from the public for items not on the agenda or on the consent calendar we have one speaker howdy goody gowdy hi mayor friedman council members my name is hardy gowdy i live at [address removed]
0:03:04street you're probably tired of hearing me talk about 1715 elm street but i hope that the fact that i find it worth my time to continue making this um case for a better outcome means that it's also worth your time to think about reconsidering how to get a better
0:03:24outcome so um you know i would ask please don't be you know too uh quick to dismiss me as just you know an unreasonable citizen who you know can't take a decision um that isn't in my favor um i'm really arguing for you know all the people who spoke in public comments and um
0:03:49making the case that i don't think they were adequately heard and you know since that decision we have had um the water board expressing concerns about about the decision too and i guess my my purpose in speaking you get to again tonight is in discussions with staff i've really
0:04:10come to the conclusion that it is up to you i mean you have the power in this situation the the decision you made has basically solidified the path that we're on and um i would you know characterize it as a you know a train to mediocrity or you know if not detriment you know it's like it's
0:04:32it's it's a course that's going to actually hurt el cerrito it's going to hurt that site the potential of that site it's going to hurt the creek it's going to hurt water quality the water board has brought this to your attention but staff isn't really compelled to
0:04:46negotiate with the con with the developer or do anything to mitigate the situation because you know your your direction has has indicated to them otherwise so i would ask for you to reconsider it and actually direct them that yes we approve this project what yes we approve 14
0:05:04units but it doesn't have to be in this shape it doesn't have to impose on the creek to this extent it can be you know reconfigured with appropriate negotiations between the developer the water board and the staff to come to a better outcome and it's really you know your direction to do that
0:05:23that's going to make it happen at this point i don't see anywhere else it can come from and so i'm just making that case again to you that you have this power you have this power to make a situation better and i ask you are you really confident that the decision that was made in august is
0:05:40the best outcome and would you like to see staff pursue you know possible improvements that's all i'm asking you know i'm not saying scrap the project i'm not saying start over from square one it's how do we make this better there are concerns they were voiced by public and
0:05:57by you know a state agency and i would ask that you take seriously the um the obligation first for el cerrito to meet its water quality and stormwater um obligations so thank you thank you very much and i'll just we have a few minutes so i want to comment just a little bit on
0:06:20i really appreciate your persistence and the amount of time and energy you and robin and all the other folks who've been concerned about this project have put into your concern for the welfare of our community and i know that's what's motivating all of the folks who've
0:06:38objected to the project in its current configuration so i don't think of you as a pest or an annoyance or anything like that i see you as a very dedicated community activist who is looking out for what you think is best for our community so don't think that we find
0:07:00your persistence to be anything but an example of uh you know democracy in action any other comments no mayor all right we move on to the consent calendar move to a doc items 5a through 5e second been moved and seconded all in favor signify by saying aye aye motion passes unanimously
0:07:27so now we're going to go back to interviews with people who are interested in serving on boards and commissions if anybody is here that's set for one of those interviews and you're early we've got time we can take you earlier since we don't have our next one scheduled till 7 30. is there
0:07:45anybody here who was here for an interview all right thanks we are moving back up to the interview room
Howdy Goudey again asked the Council to reconsider its August decision on 1715 Elm Street, saying he spoke for the many people who had commented and who he felt were not adequately heard, and that the water board had since expressed concerns. He said staff was not compelled to negotiate with the developer or mitigate the situation because the Council's direction indicated otherwise, and asked it to direct staff, the developer and the water board to reconfigure the approved 14 units so they would impose less on the creek, without scrapping the project, so that El Cerrito meets its water quality and stormwater obligations.
Mayor Friedman thanked him, Robin and others for their persistence and concern for the community, calling him a dedicated community activist and an example of democracy in action rather than a pest. The consent calendar, items 5A through 5E, passed unanimously, and the Council returned to its interview room for board and commission interviews, the next scheduled for 7:30.
Outcome CarriedunanimousConsent calendar approved unanimously.