Contents
5 sections01 Recycled water for sewers, a tougher stormwater permit, and a former city manager captions 1–11
0:00:59good evening everyone welcome to the El Cerrito city council meeting please note that all members of the council are present and accounted for it well I don't know about accounted for it and that remains to be seen but they're all present all right councilmember Quinto
0:01:15please lead us in the pledge or a moment of silence to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all are there any Consular staff Communications please um I I've got a couple of things I want
0:01:45and maybe how am I stealing your thunder okay one of the things we received in the mail uh is that Steve staged water um stage turns out to be the first district to use East Bay mud recycled water so I wanted to acknowledge that our local uh unit is using recycled
0:02:03water reduced to clean to flush sewers so that's a great way that we're reducing the amount of water we're using I want to also report that I went on the city's behalf to a public hearing with regards to the regional Municipal storm water permit and testified that uh you
0:02:24know that that there should be different limits on that and and was representing the city the municipal Regional permit did pass with minor modifications and so we will be facing an increased requirements to reduce the pollutants that leave our streets to reduce Mercury
0:02:46and pcbs um and finally I learned this week that our third city manager passed away recently this is Richard Brown or also known as Dick Brown um and so he passed away November 17 2015 and he served in elsewhere in El Cerrito up till 1981 where he when he retired so I'd like to convene tonight's
0:03:19meeting in his honor thank you anything else all right oral Communications from the public um Al Miller followed by um uh MC is also here to speak good evening mayor Friedman city council members and staff I wanted to take the opportunity to announce a remark note that on December 12th
0:03:49Saturday the Sunder shoddy holiday display will magically appear out of the freight containers and Beyond display up on the PG e right away Along Mosher Lane at Seaview everyone is invited to come help show up at the site at nine-ish and enjoy the fun uh in all of the years
0:04:19I've lived in El Cerrito now this has been one of the most enjoyable and rewarding projects that I've found to be connected with outside of the fun people which a lot of you are here now uh that you meet and are involved with up there it's just a great Community Building
0:04:41effort and one of the valued traditions of the city and it's up to all of us to take part and keep it going now for those that for some reason are not able to physically come and help assemble it or become a shoddy Shepherd or take it down they're always welcome to take a
0:05:05donation to help pay for the restoration of the images or of the figures and the other expenses in maintaining the display and they have a website if you Google shoddy holiday display you'll find out how to give your money thank you thank you very much that's it all right we move on to item
Mayor Friedman opened the meeting with all members present, and Quinto led the pledge. A councilmember reported that Stege Sanitary District is the first district to use East Bay MUD's recycled water to flush sewers; that the councilmember had testified for the city at the hearing on the regional municipal stormwater permit, which passed with minor changes, so the city will face stricter requirements to reduce pollutants such as mercury and PCBs; and that the city's third city manager, Richard “Dick” Brown, who served until he retired in 1981, had died on 17 November 2015. The meeting was held in his honor.
Al Miller announced that the Shadi holiday display would go up on Saturday 12 December on the PG&E right of way along Moeser Lane at Seaview, inviting volunteers at about nine: in all his years in El Cerrito it had been one of the most rewarding projects he had joined, and those who cannot help can donate toward restoring the figures.
02 PG&E's exit fee: what MCE customers pay, and a billion-dollar account captions 12–24
0:05:34five which is the consent calendar consisting of the minutes a proclamation for World AIDS day power charging difference in adjustment and a tree committee appointment I'd like to pull it on 5c okay the second what MCI was wanting to speak they're speaking on an item that's being pulled
0:05:55oh okay okay so do we have a motion on items five a b and d so moved second Boot and seconded all in favor signify by saying aye aye aye motion carries unanimously we move on to item 5c the power charge indifference adjustment exit fee charged to Community Choice aggregation
0:06:19customers I see Maria Sanders making her way to the podium please step right up you to answer any questions um so I don't know if other staff member other council members had questions about this but I had a lot of confusion and maybe MCA can also answer some of these questions
0:06:45about why when the pcia was established it was supposed to be the direct access but now they are collecting from ccas there's a in the staff report it says MCE customer assistant 32 million dollars in pcia fees is that correct statement yes and that's why it is reflected in
0:07:11everybody's bills on the pcia is actually a um a fund that's um it's basically an exit fee that applies to any departing load any customer that represents a departing load for PG e so it's not just for direct access customers it's for any customer that is exiting um PG E's contracts Our
0:07:35Generation contracts so prior to the cca's coming into being a billion dollars exists from the in in this fund from the direct access customers is that correct yes and is that number still growing uh no um at this point I'm not sure um and actually what I might want to do
0:08:01is I want to also introduce Alexandra McCloskey from MCE and she might be able to answer some of the little more technical questions but my understanding is that it's not growing simply because the um right now um uh well I'm not sure actually do you want to answer that
0:08:28good evening all uh to answer your question the billion dollar fund approximately a billion dollars is not increasing and the pcia is supposed to be making up that difference for for like uh costs that they would have lost so so theoretically the pcia that's collected in each year is to pay off for
0:08:51the losses they're incurring each year correct so does is PG e do they have to account to the CPU USC UC that they are in fact losing money I mean do they actually open their books and say this is how much we lost and this is how much we have to recoup or whatever the decision is made is that
0:09:17correct they do have to be transparent on the those accounts the cpuc the pcia is calculated based on different metrics that fall outside of PG E's control including the price of fossil fuels or CCA departure loads and then once they run that model then they have the
0:09:36expected pcia for the upcoming year so there was also some discussion in our staff report that the pcia May close and is that is that true and if that happens with that money that's I have a lot of confusion about this you're speaking of the one billion dollars at this time okay the billion
0:09:59dollars correct so um PG e had said that they were going to close the billion dollar of accumulated pcia fees because of emotion that MCE filed with some other partners the cpuc looked into it and they have told PG e that they cannot close the account and so the billion dollars will be set aside
0:10:18to be re-evaluated in early 2016.
The minutes, a World AIDS Day proclamation and a Tree Committee appointment were approved unanimously; item 5c, on the power charge indifference adjustment (PCIA), was pulled. A councilmember asked why a fee meant for direct access customers was now charged to community choice customers, noting the staff report's figure of $32 million in PCIA fees paid by MCE customers. Operations and Environmental Services Manager Maria Sanders said it is an exit fee on any load departing PG&E's generation contracts.
MCE's Alexandra McCloskey said the roughly $1 billion accumulated in the fund was not growing, and that the yearly PCIA is meant to cover losses PG&E incurs that year, calculated by the CPUC from factors outside PG&E's control, such as fossil fuel prices and departing load. PG&E had said it would close the billion-dollar account, but after a motion by MCE and partners the CPUC told it it could not, and the money would be set aside for re-evaluation in early 2016.
03 A 95% increase, low-income customers, and a request to the CPUC captions 25–47
0:10:22so do you have any comments or any um any statements to um to our consumers about if we should be rallying our Sabers and coming to cpusc meetings and um writing other letters besides what we're proposing um tonight for the letter from the council I can say that there's actually
0:10:46been a lot of action especially in this last week it's been kind of reinvigorating cities such as yourself are sending in letters passing resolutions and there's also a partner organization of ours lean which is local energy aggregation network is we'll actually be holding a public press
0:11:05conference on the steps of the cpuc on the 17th of December for those who have Sabers I recommend leave them at home but I think that they would be more than welcome to attend should they wish now um is there anything being done at the state level with legislature because you
0:11:22know part of why it's so attractive to be with MC is because of what it does for climate action and so that's a big statement our governor is actually going to Paris to talk about that so where where's the legislature and some of this do you happen to know so as far
0:11:43as I'm aware the state hasn't given a lot of attention to the pcia only because in in the scope of work that they are required to do it seems as I understand a small a minor issue now obviously ccas such as MCE tend to think of it differently but there is traction being gained and I
0:12:06know that we are working with the the governor's office to bring more attention to the PCI in particular some of this won't really be decided for another three to six months something like that sometime next year so the proposed increase of 95 percent will be voted on on the 17th of December and
0:12:24then that increase if approved will go into effect on the first of January so that effectively doubles the pcia for our for our constituents correct and um it's not in the um the package but could you explain care customers and how PG e differs with respect to care customers than uh some
0:12:47of the other power companies in the state sure so that's actually right in my wheelhouse for MCE I'm the community power organizer and I'm I'm concerned with issues of low-income populations within our different service areas so how PG e differs from other utility
0:13:05companies is that they apply the pcia to care customers and so care stands for the California alternate rates um for energy or energy thank you and in order to be eligible to apply you have to be at a certain percentage of the poverty level so for an example a family
0:13:27of four would have to be making forty eight thousand dollars or less so for a very low income customers the pcia because it's charged as a rate is a significant portion of their electric bill and for especially for communities or families that have a fixed income
0:13:45doubling that fee directly impacts their uh their livelihoods so PG e is the only I company to be applying the pcia to its care customers and I think you were going to say independent uh power generator I can't remember what the acronym is either I knew you were going
0:14:06to use an acronym but um so great thank you and then I had one last question and that is we sorry um is part of this increase being so big so large of a number is it because of their forecasting with the departure of customers going over to ccas and that's just tough luck for the rest of us
0:14:32because they didn't forecast accurately really glad you asked that question so the pcia is supposed to be um a charge that's only applied if if PG e acquires energy at a higher cost and then it's kind of it's stuck with the it's with the stranded assets they are supposed to be able to plan for
0:14:58the they're supposed to forecast for the electricity that they will be giving to the customers and so what MC has found is that they have not adequately planned for the departure load of CCA including our customers El Cerrito and then also for Sonoma clean power so the pcia
0:15:17doesn't it increases if the if PG e doesn't plan correctly and it has not planned for MCE customers so yes so yes um so the question I had was um for how long is the customer on the hook for this charge is it for the current year or is it for a say five years or is it as long as they
0:15:50are alive and and a customer period so the PCI is supposed to expire due to a flaw in the vintaging methodology um it is unlikely that it will expire anytime soon it's looking like 20 years unless a person moves within 20 years and at which case it might be reset
0:16:11so up out in other words a customer is on the hook for the next 20 years from now correct and let's say change houses people tend to do or die okay thank you you're welcome any other questions oh so one more so then new customers are they on the hook they are if they move into CCA service
0:16:34territory they receive a new pcia vintage so the next for the next 20 years from that point in time thank you correct and if they end up closing the PCA accounts yet or we will in 12 days or whatever it is um that that money would actually go into their General accounting and go to
0:17:00shareholders then that's what I've been told yes I'm not I'm not very sure how the accounting principles work at PG e but that's the impression that I've been given so do you have any hunches to whether they that'll be closed or not uh ago that you're going to be going
0:17:18there and you're going to rally for us along with all the other ccas that'll present arguments there but do you have a gut feeling about that in the proposed decision by the cpuc they've said that they won't close it okay um so that's that's all I have to go on I think your
0:17:36colleague wants to add something he had his hand up please step right up good evening mayor members of the council Staffing Republic I'm Alex De Giorgio Community Development Android M.C I actually wasn't going to add anything except for the fact that there is a bit
0:17:56more about the PCA detailed in our newsletter we have copies for each of you haven't seen it yet it's on the central page all right thanks for pointing in case anyone asked the PCA does not stand for protecting corporate interests and assets our charging difference
0:18:18I move a resolution of the city council of the city of El Cerrito requesting the California Public Utility Commission to reject a proposed increase in the power charge indifference adjustment pcia fee on the Community Choice aggregation customers and to re-examine the fairness
Cities were sending letters and passing resolutions, McCloskey said, and the Local Energy Aggregation Network would hold a press conference on the CPUC's steps on 17 December, the day a proposed 95% increase would be voted on, to take effect 1 January and effectively doubling the fee. The state had given the PCIA little attention, though MCE was working with the governor's office. As MCE's community power organizer, she said PG&E is the only utility applying the PCIA to CARE low-income customers, such as a family of four earning $48,000 or less, for whom doubling it directly affects their livelihoods.
The increase is large, she said, because PG&E has not adequately planned for customers departing to MCE, including El Cerrito's, and Sonoma Clean Power. A flaw in the vintaging method means customers are likely to be charged for about 20 years, and new customers moving into a community choice area get a new 20-year vintage. If the billion-dollar account were closed, she had been told, the money would go to PG&E's general accounts and shareholders, but the CPUC's proposed decision said it would not be closed. MCE's Alex DeGiorgio pointed to more in MCE's newsletter. The Council adopted a resolution asking the CPUC to reject the proposed increase on community choice customers and re-examine the fairness and reasonableness of the PCIA.
Outcome CarriedunanimousConsent items approved unanimously; resolution to the CPUC adopted unanimously.
04 Friedman's year as Mayor captions 48–61
0:18:34and reasonableness of the pcia second moved in second and all in favor say aye aye motion carries unanimously thank you very much all right we now move on to item seven which is city council reorganization uh I call for reorganization of the city council which we always do at our first
0:18:58meeting in December and I just want to very briefly highlight a few of the items that we collectively accomplished over the past year and all of these accomplishments are due to our wonderful staff my colleagues on the council and the community members who participate in
0:19:19the process either by serving on a border commission or coming to testify here at Council none of these accomplishments will not have been possible without all three elements staff elected officials and most importantly citizens and community members so uh we passed finally our uh Trio of
0:19:41smoking ordinance issues this year and now we have elevated ourselves to one of the most Progressive to my point of view in the whole state of California in terms of our education and control of tobacco products and smoking in public places uh just recently we passed the minimum
0:20:04wage increase which many people worked long and hard to accomplish and I think it's a model for other communities we had the opening of the Ohlone Gardens project from resources for Community Development and at long last the Creekside project over in the plaza former parking lot finally broke ground
0:20:28we ended the year the fiscal year with the budget surplus for the first time in memory and we are in healthier Financial shape than we've been in a very long time we had the library survey and directed staff to go forward with an eye to putting a measure on the ballot in
0:20:50November of 2016 that will create the revenue that we need in order to get the long-awaited new library that so many community members have been yearning for we acquired a new open space with the Trust for Public Lands and with the help of the trail Trekkers and so many
0:21:10community members I was hiking there just uh on Sunday and it's such a beautiful area and such a jewel in our community we updated this strategic plan and the last item I want to mention is although we voted last year to join Marin clean energy this is the year it was fully
0:21:31implemented and we achieved being I think the highest percentage of deep green customers in El Cerrito of any Community that's a member of Marin clean energy so this is a lot to be proud of and a lot that we can look back on and say it's been a really good year for the
0:21:49city of El Cerrito and I trust that we will have many good years to come and it's because we have such a wonderful Community to live in and so many people that care about our community and are willing to volunteer their time to make this such a great place to live and we
0:22:06have such a wonderful staff to help Implement all the crazy ideas that we come up with and keep everything moving along well so thank everyone here that's had a part in these accomplishments and it's been a great great Years thank you so mayor's mayor Pro town I'll start our
0:22:28our comments I want to thank you for your leadership it it really was needed this year as we went through many uh trying topics and and your patients and guidance certainly led us through that I do believe that we had one of the shortest meetings this year so I know
0:22:46that you stayed true to your goal of of being succinct on many a meeting and so I um I do want to thank you for for everything I mean I want to provide you with this award to recognize your service for this year so thank you thank you very much all right moving right along thanks
0:23:12this is the third one of these I've got and oh okay I have to tweet this yeah not really thank you see you in an effort to save money we used to always have like a little wooden gavel on these now it's just an image of a cow always trying to be prudent with taxpayers resources
Calling for the annual reorganization, Friedman credited staff, the Council and residents for the year's accomplishments: the trio of smoking ordinances, making the city, in his view, one of the most progressive in the state; the minimum wage increase, which he called a model; the opening of Ohlone Gardens by Resources for Community Development and the groundbreaking of the Creekside project on a former Plaza parking lot; a budget surplus at the end of the fiscal year “for the first time in memory”; a library survey and direction toward a November 2016 measure; new open space acquired with the Trust for Public Land and the Trail Trekkers; an updated strategic plan; and MCE fully in place, with, he thought, the highest share of Deep Green customers of any MCE community.
Mayor Pro Tem Lyman thanked him for his leadership through many trying topics, noted the year had some of the shortest meetings, and presented him an award, which Friedman said was his third.
05 Lyman becomes Mayor and Abelson Mayor Pro Tem captions 62–83
0:23:36uh I now declare the offices oh no the city clerk will do this okay a declaring the offices of Mayor and mayor potem vacant and calling for nominations for the office of Mayor I nominate [Music] um mayor Pro tem uh Greg Lyman now is there a call for any further nominations
0:24:02I I call for move that nominations be closed all in favor of closing nominations indicate by saying aye aye and all those in favor of selecting mayor Pro tem Lyman as the mayor indicate by saying aye aye motion carries mayor Tim Lyman has been selected mayor for the city of El
0:24:23Cerrito no because then we have to shuffle the name plates around yeah okay foreign I will call for nominations for mayor Pro Tem no second is required but that's okay are there any further nominations uh seeing num can I have a motion to close so moved in a second
0:25:02okay show that it be moved by Friedman seconded by Bridges all in favor of uh closing the nominations please say I I uh to let it record show the past unanimously um all those in favor of selecting council member Abelson as mayor Pro tem indicate by saying aye aye
0:25:23let it show that it carries unanimously um let's see remarks anticipations okay here we go it is a privilege to serve the city as mayor and and I am truly honored uh my humble thanks to the council for this opportunity I also thank my wife Mary in advance for the extra support needed by
0:25:48a mayor uh similarly I want to thank staff in advance for your integrity responsiveness creativity and professional Excellence as you support me the council and El Cerrito over the next 53 weeks as embodied by our vision statement a city government provides structure for a
0:26:11community to thrive through Public Safety and civil engagement when I look out in the audience I see friends and family and advocates for the many voices of the community the environment clean water clean air backyard farming open space views trees Trails Parks and Recreation
0:26:32a healthy Community Youth Sports education housing property rights businesses historic buildings smart development Transit diversity the elderly Public Safety and a new library you get the picture there's lots of different Advocates out there and all of you are advocating for a
0:26:53better community that is a safe connected Transit oriented and environmentally focused destination with welcoming neighborhoods thriving businesses and vibrant vibrant public spaces and diverse cultural educational and recreational opportunities for people of all ages
0:27:17if this sounds familiar it's our vision statement this Council listens to your impassioned statements and balances the needs of the community reflected in that vision statement as mayor I will do my best to continue moving us toward our goals some of the initiatives I hope to bring
0:27:40forward support to support our goals of long-term Financial stability developing and rehabilitating public facilities as Community focal points ensuring The public's health and safety and fostering environmental sustainability city-wide the scale of the initiative of course
0:27:57will be limited by the resources we have available so for financial sustainability I hope to evaluate our Feast structure and adopt one that will encourage Improvement along San Pablo Avenue attract new businesses and support more residential permits that will increase
0:28:18our value both of our businesses and our housing stock increase our tax base for public health and safety I want to work with the county to improve health services for homeless in our community and work with the city manager and the police chief regarding officer
0:28:37recruitment and retention for environmental sustainability I want to finalize the active Transportation plan address our storm water cleanliness obligations promote more deep green enrollments move our climate action plan forward and work to restore native Habitat to
0:28:58the hillside Natural Area these small changes will begin to reduce our influence on the climate that is the topic of the discussions in Paris for public facilities as a community focal point I will continue to support Bart's improvements of the Del Norte station
0:29:15and work with the school district on their master plan for the facilities in El Cerrito finally I promise to work hard the effort of modernizing our library to make it safer and meet the needs of our community as a gathering place for all ages from our mission statement
0:29:39I hope to serve lead and support our diverse and transit-rich community by providing exemplary and Innovative Services public places and infrastructure ensuring Public Safety and creating an economically and environmentally sustainable future and I hope all of you will help me
0:30:01thank you [Applause] councilmember Abelson I don't know if you have any thoughts if you want to make upon your new appointment well uh thank you I'm very appreciative of your support and I want to say that I support the things that you have said and uh I like the fact that they were
0:30:31all encompassing and I think that's a key feature of how a council needs to work together we can't just work on our own pet issue we have to work on all of the issues that are important to our community and I think one thing I could say about this particular council is
0:30:50that we've tried hard to do that and so I'm looking forward to us having one more year as this Council to do that in and I think it will be a good year and I think the change with the economy is will give us a booster that will enable us to go far and I look forward to doing it with all
0:31:15of you on the council and also all of you um in the public and with staff thank you great any other comments with that I will ask if there's any pressing move on to item eight and ask if there's any pressing Council assignment liaison reports no no okay so as we get to the adjournment
0:31:40I want to remind everyone or invite everyone uh that upon adjournment there is Refreshments in the lobby and I'm hoping that you will stay and join us therefore I will now uh adjourn the meeting in memory of Richard V Brown who was born in 1924 and passed away peacefully uh
Lyman was nominated and chosen as Mayor, and, after nominations closed on Friedman's motion seconded by Bridges, Abelson was chosen Mayor Pro Tem. Lyman thanked the Council, his wife Mary and staff for the coming 53 weeks, read the city's vision statement, and set out goals: evaluating the fee structure to encourage improvement on San Pablo Avenue, new businesses and housing; working with the county on health services for homeless people and with the city manager and police chief on officer recruitment and retention; finishing the active transportation plan, meeting stormwater obligations, promoting Deep Green enrollment, advancing the climate action plan and restoring native habitat in the Hillside Natural Area; supporting BART's Del Norte improvements and the school district's facilities master plan; and modernizing the library.
Abelson said she supported his all-encompassing goals, since a council must work on all the community's issues, not pet ones, and looked forward to one more year as this Council, with the improving economy as a boost. The meeting was adjourned in memory of Richard V. Brown, born in 1924.
Outcome CarriedunanimousLyman selected Mayor (the motion carried, no tally announced); Abelson selected Mayor Pro Tem unanimously.