Regular City Council Meeting July 16, 2024

0:04:21Eric of IT: That's fine!

0:08:32Refineries are. Most of them are located, are located here in Contra Costa County, so I promise to be impartial, and we will just do the right thing. So look forward to working.

0:08:48Thanks. Yes, I do, indeed. Wanna thank all the staff and sponsors, for of the July 4th event it was wonderful.

0:08:57It's a wonderful thing for Elsoreans to be able to come to an event and be together and talk and have fun, and it was good. Eat and drink as I did eat, eat. Did you eat and drink?

0:09:08Okay, drink. No drink. Okay. I I drank. Okay, also, I I was very pleased to have help on behalf of counsel.

0:09:18at the ribbon cutting of planned parenthood is new and improved offices here in El Cerrito, at the plaza very important

0:09:25part of our community. So it was wonderful to be there. Thank you.

0:09:28Thank you so much, and I would love to recognize for the second quarter of 2024. Our centenarians. Thank you, Pierre el Cerrito. We have Ruby, Adachi Hiramoto, who turned 103,

0:09:44which is amazing. We have Esther Tanizawa, who also turned 123 in May, and they will be receiving a mayoral certificate of recognition.

0:09:55So with that, we're going to move on to oral communications from the public.

0:09:59Now's the time for members of the public who wish to provide public comment on items, not on the agenda consent items and presentation items requests to speak can be submitted to the city clerk.

0:10:09city clerk. How many do we have tonight? We have 4 speakers at this time here. Excellent! Thank you so much, and please remember to identify yourself and your city of residence at the beginning of your comment.

0:10:20Any clerk, please proceed.

0:10:21Thank you. I apologize. I just need one quick minute.

0:10:25It always throws us off when we have technology problems.

0:10:52Okay, our 1st speaker is Jennifer hammer, followed by Linda Kalin

0:11:02here. Yeah. Okay. Good evening, City Council.

0:11:06and thank you for listening to and reading my comments today.

0:11:11Excuse me. I'm Jenny Hammer, a resident of El Cerrito for the past 24 years.

0:11:17A few months after I moved here from Berkeley I received this in the mail.

0:11:23the city and recreation brochure for Fall winter, 2,001. It is 71 pages long.

0:11:33It was an extremely helpful and important informational welcoming.

0:11:39Welcome, Matt!

0:11:41A welcome map

0:11:43for me to my new city.

0:11:48It has tips from the fire and police departments, directories of city services, listings of classes, events, and recreational opportunities of all kinds.

0:11:58This brochure, among other things, made me realize that El Cerrito was a very special place.

0:12:06a vibrant and caring community.

0:12:09a city that truly served all its residents, inspiring them to engage with each other, improve themselves.

0:12:17and encouraging them and me

0:12:19to get involved.

0:12:21I've met so many wonderful people here through Earth days and the Eqc. And Community garden network trailtreakers, green teams, friends of Dorothy Rosenberg, Memorial Park, and more

0:12:34community fosters involvement

0:12:37and vice versa.

0:12:39More recently, after crossing the threshold of age.

0:12:45I've met many, many more wonderful people.

0:12:48seniors like myself.

0:12:51in conversations with them.

0:12:532 a 1.

0:12:55They have bemoaned the disappearance of the former Open House Senior Center.

0:13:01Seen here on the cover of this brochure.

0:13:06we need a replacement.

0:13:08Over 20% of this city is 65, or over.

0:13:13We need an open house styled center, like the one touted in the brochure.

0:13:19with 10 pages worth of activities and services offered in one location

0:13:27open. Monday through Friday.

0:13:29from 8 30 to 4,

0:13:31a welcoming, gathering place for the building of and sustaining of community.

0:13:38The lack of such a senior center has been a large gap in El Cerrito's commitment to its very sizable senior population.

0:13:46I've suggested a possible location in my public comment letter. The property that was purchased at life in Christ, property on San Pablo.

0:13:57But it doesn't necessarily have to be that one. I hope you discuss and re-envision and act to decide on a location. Thank you. Your time has ended. Okay, thank you very much. Our next speaker is Linda Kalin, followed by Toby Blome.

0:14:19I

0:14:21Am I there? Yeah, Linda colleen, and I actually am a resident of Richmond. I'm on the other side of San Pablo.

0:14:30but I've used the

0:14:34el Cerrito, senior center for many years back, when it existed. And

0:14:40I'm here to urge you to give serious consideration to the letter that was furnished to you by Jenny Hammer, addressing our needs for a senior center to replace the city's demolished

0:14:53open House Senior Center, previously behind the library on Stockton.

0:14:58and, as you will note.

0:15:00our primary need is for a space.

0:15:04not a perfect space, not a future space space.

0:15:09but a location to fill the unique needs of our demographic who were hit particularly hard by Covid.

0:15:18and I can speak for myself

0:15:21and others that I know in similar situations, living alone without a family bubble

0:15:28that's spending 1, 2, and amazingly 3 years where your primary face to face interaction occurred

0:15:38at the grocery checkout was particularly difficult.

0:15:42Now our goal is to rebuild and reconnect with community, and we urgently need a central location with reasonably open hours and a consolidation of a multiplicity of services as a foundational step.

0:16:03So thank you for your time.

0:16:06Our next speaker is Toby Blome, followed by Fred Bialy.

0:16:20You all know me very well. I've been here many times. I'm here for the same purpose.

0:16:26calling on my city council to do the right thing.

0:16:30And and

0:16:32prepare a resolution calling for a ceasefire in Gaza.

0:16:36We're now at 9 months of

0:16:39continuous assault

0:16:41on the people of Palestine and Gaza.

0:16:44The situation's getting more and more dire with every week that passes.

0:16:48and I'm having a hard time living in this country. I'm having a hard time living in this country because we have a President

0:16:55who has been sending weapons to a country that's committing genocide on a people.

0:17:00And we have the vast majority of people in this country who

0:17:04are living their lives and not doing anything to try to stop it.

0:17:08I'm beginning more and more to understand how Nazi Germany came about.

0:17:13how

0:17:15tens of thousands of people were put on trains

0:17:19and consented. Concentration camps

0:17:21was a silence of the public.

0:17:24But now we have a Presidential election, and we have

0:17:30The conversation is all about whether.

0:17:33especially on the so-called Pro Democratic party

0:17:38mainstream media.

0:17:41Whether we have a candidate.

0:17:43President Biden, that it should be running for the next term.

0:17:47There's no not a mention in mainstream media

0:17:50that President Biden has been

0:17:52aiding and abetting genocide in Palestine.

0:17:55That's so hard for me to stomach

0:17:58that even our journalists are so indoctrinated and so manipulated by what's going on in the political arena that they don't question

0:18:09Biden's support of genocide in Gaza, and that we have a city council 9 months into

0:18:15genocide, and the city council is refusing to even have a discussion

0:18:20about whether there should be a resolution.

0:18:22You should be getting the public involved, not the Zionists that are in this room that bring forward misinformation.

0:18:30but get get the public involved, and really start to move on a resolution for ceasefire. It's your responsibility. It's not about whether it has anything to do with

0:18:40El Cerrito. Not it. Of course it does. It's our tax dollars that are being wasted on slaughtering people.

0:18:50there's so much to say, and I don't ever prepare a speech, because I don't feel like

0:18:55I'm being listened to.

0:18:57so I don't want to spend the time

0:19:00to prepare a speech. I could have be be more prepared and more Literate.

0:19:05but I'm calling on you again

0:19:07to do the right thing. You all have a responsibility here.

0:19:11and you may say it doesn't make a difference. If el Cerrito passes the resolution. Yes, it does.

0:19:17Many cities in the Bay area have passed one. The more cities that pass in this country, the faster we'll see change. Every little bit of

0:19:26seed for peace makes a difference.

0:19:28and I again ask my mayor to please sit down with your responsibility and stop in being able to have control over even a discussion of

0:19:37a ceasefire resolution year. Thank you. Your time, Greg. You have.

0:19:42Please take your seat. Your time has ended. I might like to finish my sentence.

0:19:47Can I finish my sentence? Your your time has ended. Please take your seat. Our next conflict of interest, and you have a responsibility to recuse.

0:19:57But then, please take your time has ended. Shouldn't have the full 100% power. That's that's a dictatorship.

0:20:05Should we give you take your seat.

0:20:10Our next speaker is Fred Bialy, followed by Nina Joe.

0:20:19So I'm Fred Bialy from El Cerrito, and I won't take all my time.

0:20:25so I'm here tonight

0:20:27to again

0:20:28urge that the City Council

0:20:31put on a future meeting agenda.

0:20:33the resolution supporting a ceasefire

0:20:37in the Israeli war on Gaza

0:20:40with each passing day more Gazans are dying

0:20:43from the ongoing bombardment, and attacks

0:20:46from starvation due to inadequate humanitarian aid.

0:20:50and from inadequate healthcare.

0:20:53but was sick and wounded.

0:20:55The ongoing war also is resulting in increasing deaths and injuries among Israeli soldiers.

0:21:03and likely the remaining hostages.

0:21:07For these reasons more and more people around the world

0:21:10are calling for the implementation of a permanent ceasefire.

0:21:15The El Salvado City Council, passing a ceasefire resolution can only help that effort

0:21:25through approval of the city Council to agendize, discuss, and vote

0:21:31on a ceasefire. Resolution over the past months

0:21:34is antemocratic

0:21:37and a black stain on your legacy.

0:21:39Thank you.

0:21:41Our Finance Speaker is Nina Jill.

0:21:50Hmm.

0:21:53Good evening, Council members. My name is Nina, and I'm a resident of El Cerrito.

0:21:57I'm asking for El Cerrito to stand up against genocide and pass a ceasefire resolution.

0:22:03Us. Cities like El Cerrito remain a voice for the country's values as Federal leadership waivers.

0:22:10Therefore it's important. We make this statement that we are against genocide

0:22:15today alone. There have been 2 new massacres in Gaza. There's probably been another attack since I read that headline this morning.

0:22:22But I also read today that the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine refugees has highlighted data from the UN. Environment program that says it will take 15 years to clear the 40 million tons of rubble created by Israel's incessant bombing.

0:22:38I walked in here, and I passed by. An El Cerrito stands against hate poster, and I wondered if there was an asterisk in that poster that I wasn't aware of.

0:22:49I'm here to let you know that your constituents are very saddened by your lack of listening and your lack of empathy, so much so that they have given up on you

0:22:58every month. We inquire why there hasn't been a conversation about how we can put a ceasefire resolution on the agenda, and every month we are completely ignored.

0:23:08Brave people in this room and all over the world, continue to stand up for what is right and just, and stand against hate.

0:23:16and my loyalty is to those people, not to you.

0:23:20and I refuse to let my taxes fund a genocide.

0:23:24You will not be getting my vote unless you start acting on what we would like.

0:23:29Thank you.

0:23:32Thank you. That concludes our public request to speak. Mayor. All right. We move on to the next item.

0:23:37We don't have any presentations tonight, so we will move to our adoption of the consent calendar.

0:23:43Alright, we have, item, a board, commission and committee work, plans and accomplishments.

0:23:49Item B monthly disbursement and check register report for June 2024.

0:23:54Item C. Authorize a purchase of 2 hybrid police replacement vehicles.

0:23:59Item d. Consulting services. Agreement with renny public policy group for grant writing and legislative advocacy services.

0:24:06item E, part-time minimum wage, equity adjustments and item F. Resolution to amend the city's classification plan.

0:24:15Would any. I any wanted to pull an item questions on an item.

0:24:21Yes, customer fidelity, just a comment on a

0:24:26Yes, go ahead. Go ahead. Okay.

0:24:29I would like to

0:24:31the urban Forest Work plan on behalf of me at the Urban.

0:24:37Forest Committee talked to the Mayor about possibly coming and presenting their work plan to us.

0:24:42I think later in the night we're going to be talking about our climate, action plan and trees are a big part of that.

0:24:49So I'd love it. It doesn't have to be in the next couple months.

0:24:52but if they'd like to work through a presentation, I'd love to hear it. And how trees can be a part of our climate action plan. Thank you. And Mayor.

0:25:01it may be worth checking in with the chair, because what's presented to you tonight is is prior year accomplishments, not their work plan. So I'm not sure that their work plan is ready to be presented, because what's in the packet is only their accomplishments for the prior year. Then if they hear my voice as they're working on their work plan, maybe they can come and present it to us.

0:25:24Thank you

0:25:25alright. Anything

0:25:26I like to make a motion to approve.

0:25:31All right. Second, moved by Quinto and seconded by Weissinger.

0:25:35all those in favor, please say aye, aye, any opposed motion carries with councilmember mochi absent

0:25:41all right, and we don't have any public hearings tonight, so move on to policy matters. We have, item, a construction contract, award and budget amendment for the miscellaneous storm drain, repair Project City Project number c. 5, 0, 3, 6, 10.

0:25:59Thank you. Director Ortiz.

0:26:01Good evening, Mayor Council members. I Amvet Ortiz, the city's public Works director

0:26:06tonight. City staff request that the Council take several actions to award a construction contract to a 3 pipeline.

0:26:14The lowest and responsive and responsible bidder, or the miscellaneous storm drain, repair Project

0:26:22project is a component of the measure. J. Storm, drain program

0:26:26and targets. High priority repairs at several locations in the city.

0:26:31one on Colusa, near Hotchkiss, and this is in your report, but I'll say it for those in attendance, 2 on Naval, near Donnell.

0:26:39and that's Schmidt.

0:26:41one at the boundary of the hillside natural area near Schmidt, one on King Drive, north of Mosier, and one on Arlington Boulevard, south of Scenic.

0:26:50We began development of the project in 2023, after the extremely heavy rainy season revealed deteriorated storm draining facilities, including storm drain, pipes and channels.

0:27:01These were locations were identified as high priority, based on the condition of the storm drain facilities, the impacts to downstream properties and impacts to a designated pedestrian route

0:27:12to allow flexibility of award within the available project funding. The bid was divided into a base bid.

0:27:19and 2 additive alternates, one for the king site and one for the Arlington site.

0:27:24The project was originally built in the spring, but at that time, as requested by staff. The City Council rejected the bid and authorized staff to rebid the project to incorporate additional requirements related to technical experience and contractor licensing

0:27:42then, and we rebid the project advertised in May, and we received 3 bids by the advertised bid, opening date

0:27:50of June 4.th

0:27:52Based on the base bid. As specified in the contract document a 3 submitted the lowest bid.

0:27:59and it was approximately 18% below the engineer's estimate.

0:28:04The work at King Drive is under. Additive alternate one, as I mentioned, and it's also one of the highest priorities of the Batch

0:28:12City staffed up or further compared the bid amount for this alternate and 8 3 s. Base bid, plus alternate one, continue to be below the engineer's estimate, as well as the next lowest bidder

0:28:27given. The priority of the work on King Drive City staff recommends that the city Council award the construction contract, both in the amount of 649,260 for the base bid, which is 4 sites and additive alternate for King Drive to a 3

0:28:43city staff also recommends a contingency amount for potential change orders in the amount of $65,000, and that's approximately 10% contingency.

0:28:53City staff originally anticipated, this contract would be awarded last fiscal year, so we did not ask for council to appropriate the funding in the current fiscal year 2425 budget. So there is currently no budget for the project. In the approved budget.

0:29:09however, there is fund balance in the measure. J. Storm Drain Fund. Currently we estimate the total cost for the project, including the 2 items that I just mentioned, plus construction inspection and related costs to be a total of 7,000 $785,000

0:29:27again. This amount is within the measure. J. From balance. I am happy to answer any of your questions. Thank you.

0:29:35Are there any questions from the council.

0:29:38Len.

0:29:39Fun!

0:29:40All right.

0:29:44Are there any members of the public who wish to speak on this item? We do have one request to speak on this one. Rebecca Butler.

0:29:54Yeah, you'll go to the podium.

0:29:59Oh, hello! My name's my name is Rebecca Butler, and I'm a El Cerrito resident.

0:30:03I just want to speak to expedite the project. I live at Kalusa and Hotchkiss

0:30:09the not last winter, but the winter before there was so much rain and the winter storms, etc, that there is a 12 foot drop adjacent to my sidewalk that goes straight down to the bottom of the culvert. Extremely dangerous. The city came out and did take care of it, secured it with.

0:30:24what are those little courses, or whatever they're called, anyway? So it's secure sandbag sandbanks are starting to to to go, but

0:30:33Neighbors are pretty mad at us because we have them there. That's part of. But unless it's super dangerous like anybody could just literally step off the sidewalk and fall straight through 12 feet.

0:30:43I would suggest that the

0:30:45project also be considered for people uphill, because the storm drain collapsing under the street is also affecting the creek that we are trying to maintain as best as we can, and is becoming more and more difficult as

0:30:59climate change, and there's been more change. And there's been so much rain in the last 2 years. So it's it's getting to be kind of dangerous above also, and not just below

0:31:07also to consider the amount of traffic that's on Colusa

0:31:12for the school years is a lot of morning traffic. It's sort of like a freeway in the morning during school year, and also in the afternoon, when people are picking up their kids from school. So there's a lot of traffic on that school. So I'm not sure where we fit on the prioritize. You were talking about priority. I just really hope you'll consider us. I don't know what everything else is, but I would hope you consider that as part of your thinking on how you want to move forward on this.

0:31:35Think that's it. Thanks, thank you so much. That's our only request to speak, Mayor. Alright.

0:31:42I have a quick question before we get started. So the staff report does have a list of one to 6 on. These projects are those in priority order.

0:31:50They're not in priority order. But the 1st 4 are part of the base bid, and it does include Calusa and Hotchkiss would be part of the base that we're recommending council award. Thank you so much. That was my quick question. Thank you. All right.

0:32:04Any comments? None.

0:32:06All right. I'll entertain a motion

0:32:09motion to approve. Moved by Weislinger, second, seconded by Fideli. All those in favor, please say aye, aye, any opposed motion carries with councilmember Motiama absent? All right. Thank you so much.

0:32:22All right. We are moving on. This is very exciting. Item B, our El Cido climate action and adaptation plan.

0:32:40I'll preface with how many

0:32:41it's been years in the making. The city of El Cerrito was the 1st city to have a climate action plan, and this update started in my 1st year on council when I was on a subcommittee with a Council member with Council Member

0:32:57Janet Abelson. It was.

0:32:59It's great. So it's really yeah.

0:33:02We'll start with. This is an honor of Janet.

0:33:05Thank you so much. Steph has a report for us.

0:33:11You don't know.

0:33:14Sorry we're just waiting for our consultants to join the call, so just hold with us a moment. That's fine.

0:33:54I don't have him on either. Oh, Haley.

0:33:57okay, Haley's on there, she just added.

0:34:01Don't see her. I will resend

0:34:04like, push the notification to her again.

0:34:06But Haley is on there. She's up on with her video on.

0:34:18Okay, they're joining now. Thank you. Thank you so much.

0:34:23Oh, here we are, great! Well, we're ready to get started. Thank you all.

0:34:27So yes, we're very pleased to report to be presenting tonight on our El cereal climate, action, and adaptation plan for your consideration. My name is Will Provost, your assistant to the city manager. I'm joined here by Christina Laird, our Public Works Department, who co-led this project with me, and also Cascadia consulting group on the call virtually Haley, Weinberg and Alicia Finnell, who are critical and integral to creating this app

0:34:51before we dive into the document itself. The climate, action, and adaptation plan around what we'll call the cap.

0:34:57I just did want to provide some background on climate action in El Cerrito.

0:35:00So Elsrito has been working with the leadership from the City Council on Climate action for nearly 2 decades. So the City Council has passed over 7 resolutions, declared a climate emergency in 2019, and adopted a number of plans to fulfill and achieve a vision of climate, sustainability and resiliency.

0:35:19So these include the climate Action plan, the initial one in 2013. Our specific plan which focuses on density and transit oriented development. Our urban greening plan, active transportation plan, green infrastructure plan, and more. And I should also say, our strategic plan, which isn't listed here, which you all just adopted has a core strategy to update and implement the climate action and adaptation plan.

0:35:43And so during this time, we've had some major accomplishments. In this space the City Council again shifted the community's energy provider to Mc. Clean energy and enrolled all city accounts in deep green. 100 renewable energy. We've installed solar at 4 city facilities. So our public safety building, our fire station, our community center, our recycling center, all have solar.

0:36:04We've expanded open space, namely, with the Madeira property purchase expanding the hillside natural area. We've adopted ordinances like the public tree and shrub ordinance and became a tree city. U.S.A.

0:36:15Installed ev charging stations here at City Hall and the recycling center, and supported again transit oriented development and complete streets with bicycle and pedestrian improvements. Not listed here is also our foodware ordinance, which was critical in reducing plastic, which is fossil fuel generated.

0:36:32And this isn't just 10 or 20 years ago the city has been working on in this space actively for the last few years, concurrent with development of the plan. So we upgraded and expanded our ev charging stations here at City Hall, adding 2, adding 2 more. So now there are 4.

0:36:46We've shifted to renewable Diesel for all our Diesel vehicles citywide, and this includes in our fire engines and fire apparatus. And this is renewable. Diesels for those that don't know is actually 60% cleaner in terms of emissions than conventional Diesel, and now it's used in every piece of every vehicle in our fleet, every piece of equipment that uses Diesel.

0:37:06I mean, we actually also got East-based sanitary under our new franchise agreement to use the same fuel

0:37:11we've transitioned from gas to electric water heaters at 9 city facilities, and just recently we applied for and received a $200,000 grant to plan for electrifying our whole Fleet citywide, which, as you'll hear in the Climate Action Plan Transportation, remains a core focus area for us. And so this plan will help us get there.

0:37:31And then, as mentioned, we updated our franchise agreement municipal code to implement 1383 aggressively, which is the mandatory organics recycling law, and it rapidly shifted to color compliant, solid waste containers way ahead of state deadlines.

0:37:45And again, we're transforming the built environment as well. Most notably, you can see under construction right now in the El Cerrito del Norte area

0:37:53building complete streets to build out.

0:37:56This vision for a climate sustainable future!

0:38:00And for that we've really had demonstrated substantial progress. So these numbers are from our latest greenhouse gas inventory, which was completed as part of the cap. But they show a 23% reduction in per capita emissions community-wide.

0:38:1511% reduction overall. And I'll note that our population during that time increased by 12%. So our population is going up. But our admissions are coming down.

0:38:25and then the biggest one is 30% reduction as an organization, as a municipality in our fleet and our building in terms of our mission.

0:38:34But as the Council saw with that climate emergency declaration. And as there's consensus widely in the scientific community, there is need for additional action on climate change. So these are just a handful of headlines I just pulled from just recently. But carbon dioxide levels are still going up that he's having to prepare for flood risk

0:38:52and and sea level rise.

0:38:55climate change is affecting local biodiversity. Wildfire risk has gone up.

0:39:00and then, most notably, I think you've all heard about insurance, and you know, some insurances. Insurers are even leaving the marketplace because of wildfire risk.

0:39:09So there are real impacts that the Bay area and El Cerrito locally are already facing because of climate change.

0:39:16And so you all identified that. And in 2019 declared a climate emergency and endorsed emergency mobilization efforts to restore a safe and safe and stable climate.

0:39:27and one of the resolutions. One of the things you resolved to do in that resolution and declaration was to strive for 0 greenhouse gas emissions citywide as quickly as possible within the forthcoming Climate Action plan.

0:39:38And so this is the climate Action plan, the cover of that picture here. But that's essentially what we sought to do. This plan presented to you is a plan to how to achieve that goal for 0 greenhouse gas emissions, net 0 by 2045, which we'll hear about.

0:39:55So now I'll pass it on to Christina to talk through how the cap came together. Thank you

0:40:01think you will.

0:40:03So there are 4 key components of the cap development process, the 1st one being community engagement. I'll speak more about this over the next few slides.

0:40:13The second component was we completed 3 greenhouse gas inventories, one for community, one for government operations and one consumption based inventory and then greenhouse gas emission reductions were forecasted.

0:40:27The 3rd component of cap development was the climate, vulnerability, assessment

0:40:31which looked at climate, vulnerability, resiliency, and adaptation and developed hazard profiles for extreme heat, flooding, and wildfire.

0:40:41The 4th component of the cap was developing strategies and actions and setting targets and recommending greenhouse gas reduction measures.

0:40:51Equity was the primary lens through which the the cap was developed, and will be implemented. With this in mind, and to meet the various needs of the community. Staff translated the Cap informational flyer into, and the executive summary into Spanish and Chinese.

0:41:06We conducted in-person, tabling outreach at 3 events at birthday bike to work way, and the 4th of July world. One festival

0:41:16we created an online survey for General Cap feedback, in which we received 108 responses.

0:41:23We'd boosted social media posts about opportunities to engage in the process.

0:41:28and held 2 community workshops at different times and venues to accommodate different schedules and preferences. Our 1st workshop was held here in Council chambers on a Saturday in person, and our second workshop was held online on a weeknight.

0:41:43and which we received, but between both workshops, 40 attendees.

0:41:48We also held 3 stakeholder Advisory group meetings with 14 representatives of the Advisory bodies of the Environmental Quality Committee, the Urban Forest Committee

0:41:59Park and Recreation Commission and the community organizations of El Cerrito trail trickers, El Cerrito, Richmond Annex, walk and Roll. Make El Cerrito fire safe, and the youth voice of Fridays for future.

0:42:12Additionally, we held 3 Environmental Quality Committee meetings with 11 committee participants and 11 members of the public and received 3, 76 comments on the draft cap.

0:42:25The community was engaged throughout the entire cap process, and primarily at these touchpoints.

0:42:30the initial gathering of ideas, priorities, and concerns.

0:42:35setting targets and vetting strategies and actions.

0:42:39providing feedback on the draft cap

0:42:41and planning for implementation and inspiring community action

0:42:48for the public comment stage of the draft, the cap. The draft cap was posted online, and community members reviewed the plan and added their comments and feedback.

0:42:58The public draft was released between March 5th and April 1, st 2024 for public comment. During this period we received 3, 76 written comments which were received through the online tool, and many of those comments were community members

0:43:14responding to each other's comments.

0:43:17and we also received, and in total more than 400 comments, including comments received verbally

0:43:23based on the feedback received.

0:43:25City staff also added parameters around potential use of carbon sequestration in the future.

0:43:32added additional language on reporting and monitoring the plan's effectiveness to ensure accountability

0:43:38and added information about why the city uses a 2,005 baseline for our greenhouse gas inventories and targets.

0:43:46Now I will hand off to Cascadia. Our consultants, who will talk through the greenhouse gas analysis and other core components of the plan.

0:43:55Hailey Weinberg: Thanks. Christina.

0:43:57as was previously mentioned as part of the cap update. Cascadia prepared several different greenhouse gas emissions, inventories for the city to better understand El Cerrito's carbon footprint.

0:44:07This slide here represents emissions occurring within El Cerrito's geographic boundaries known as community-wide emissions from 2,005 to 2021 indicating that emissions have decreased by 11% since 2,005. Despite a 12% population increase.

0:44:24these emissions result from actions of elsewhere's community, such as residents, businesses, or visitors.

0:44:31and this inventory showed that transportation was the largest source of community-wide emissions, making up over half of the community's carbon footprint. Then followed by energy consumption from buildings

0:44:42remaining emissions came from refrigerants, solid waste and wastewater.

0:44:48This slide here represents emissions from El Cerrito's municipal operations over time the 2021 inventory showed that the city's vehicle fleet was the largest source of 2021 emissions, followed by energy remaining emissions. There came from employee commuting solid waste generation, refrigerant consumption and business travel, and, as well mentioned, from 2,005 to 2021 municipal emissions have decreased by 30%.

0:45:16So will the community-wide and municipal inventories focus on locally occurring emissions, a consumption-based emissions, inventory quantifies emissions from items consumed by el cerrito's residents looking at an item's entire lifespan, which includes emissions occurring both inside and outside of El Cerrito, such as along supply chains. This inventory includes emissions associated with transportation housing food goods and services.

0:45:42The results of this inventory indicate that Elsrado's largest sources of consumption-based emissions were the use of vehicle gasoline, healthcare services and air travel

0:45:51because this type of inventory looks at consumption by El Cerrito's residents. Specifically the results highlight, the need for individual action in El Cerrito by identifying the largest sources of consumption-based emissions where residents might be able to participate in individual action to reduce their carbon impact.

0:46:09So the 3 types of analyses completed while updating the cap focus on very different emission sources and can be used to inform where to focus climate action efforts in El Cerrito. When you compare these 3, you can see that El Cerrito's 2021 consumption-based emissions were more than 3 times greater than community-wide emissions, indicating that while it's

0:46:29critical to address all sources of emissions. Significant attention should be given to working on reducing upstream emissions overall these inventories, identify key areas of opportunity where we can reduce community-wide and municipal emissions within geographic boundaries, as well as from El Cerrita's consumption, highlighting the need for actions on everyone's part to reach the city's goals.

0:46:54And speaking of goals, we'd also like to note that this proposed cap also includes updated emission reduction targets which would aim for the city to reach a 40% reduction by 2030, 75% by 2040, and carbon neutrality by 2045, all compared to a 2,005 baseline, which is aligned with peer jurisdictions and the State of California.

0:47:18and lastly, on the emissions front. This figure represents a forecast of what Elsita's emissions are expected to look like into the future. The gray wedges map out expected reductions from several adopted federal, state and regional policies, such as California's renewables, portfolio standard, which establishes targets for 0 carbon, electricity as well as the 0 emission by 2035 policy which sets targets for sales of 0 emission vehicles.

0:47:44The remaining blue areas indicate expected emission reductions from assumed changes to key emission sources to be tackled by the community and city in order to reach El Sredo's emission reduction goals. I'll pass it to Alicia to discuss additional plan elements.

0:48:02Alicia Fennell: Thanks.

0:48:03So in addition to these greenhouse gas analyses, our team also performed a climate vulnerability assessment to inform strategies to help the city adapt to this changing climate.

0:48:14The assessment looked at how climate impacts like higher temperatures and increased risks of wildfire drought and extreme rainfall may impact the categories shown on this slide

0:48:24infrastructure, energy, natural systems and water and community health, well-being and public safety.

0:48:32This work is also feeding directly into the safety element work currently underway.

0:48:37So all of these analyses and community engagement fed into developing focus areas, strategies and actions for this cap.

0:48:44the focus areas within this plan are listed on the left, starting at the top with buildings and energy

0:48:50within each focus area. The cap includes a vision, strategies and actions to guide El Cerrito in its goals.

0:49:01Equity was a primary lens that shaped the cap development. As Christina mentioned a moment ago.

0:49:07we know that both locally and globally.

0:49:10communities have different levels of vulnerability to climate change impacts, and the most vulnerable communities often have fewer resources available to protect themselves from and adapt to these climate impacts.

0:49:22Recognizing this.

0:49:24the Cap aims to distribute the benefits of climate, action and adaptation equitably both in planning and implementation.

0:49:31During the planning process, the team assessed each actions, equity, impact and considered equity. In planning and implementing community engagement. As mentioned, earlier.

0:49:41equity remains a key priority. As the city moves into cap implementation

0:49:46and the city will work to mitigate potential burdens and ensure equitable benefits from cap actions.

0:49:53I'll pass it back over to Will.

0:49:55Great. Thank you, Haley. Thank you, Alicia. And just to underscore what Christina and Alicia mentioned about equity is equity was a primary lens for us in terms of developing the plan, but it also will be with implementation.

0:50:06you know, to throw out an example policy that's in our climate action plan is defaulting customers to Mc. Deep Green, and that would have a cost. It have great emissions, benefits, but there would be a cost so in terms of rolling out any sort of policy like that. We need to be thinking on the front end about how that would impact low income populations, for example, or other vulnerable communities. And so that's just an example about how.

0:50:29not just now, but into the future. Equity will continue to be a core lens through which we implement this plan

0:50:35can be the public comments received, and Christine already touched on this. But we are proud to received over 400 comments, and we used this really innovative online tool where residents and people interested in the plan could comment back and forth with each other and could kind of work through different issues or bounce ideas off

0:50:52and it was really engaging. So people could see each other's comments, and from my experience developing plans, it really

0:50:57added, and need it, so that we've received a lot more comments, because I think it was a more engaging process for people rather than just submitting one paragraph somewhere.

0:51:09So most comments were suggestions for additional strategies or minor modifications. To the plan. Things like add the word drought here, or add some a bullet about micro mobility, and we were able to easily add those comments, and there were great suggestions.

0:51:21Some of the other feedback we incorporated was adding language about reporting and monitoring, which honestly, was a little light in our 1st draft, and so adding more detail about how we'll report back to council, or how we'll report back to the Eqc. And that was really great feedback from the community which we used in the final draft. Here.

0:51:40Another thing, as mentioned, was parameters around potential carbon offsets, and really the takeaway from that and the the feedback we would incorporate is that the city doesn't plan to purchase any carbon offsets without consulting with the Eqc. And ultimately getting approval from the City Council on. If that's you know, appropriate use of financial resources and consistent with our sustainability and climate goals.

0:52:02We talked about why we use a 2,005 baseline, because that's comparable to other cities, and it's helpful for us to track our own progress, and we are limited in our data availability, and then we incorporate it. As mentioned, smaller changes throughout the text.

0:52:18I did want to touch on and jump to building electrification for a moment. So in the resolution where you directed us to a really approved development of the climate, action, and adaptation plan. You also directed Staff to develop a building electrification ordinance or an ordinance that would prohibit natural gas in new construction. And we did that.

0:52:35We did that, and we sent our draft to the city attorney and the city attorney was reviewing it. And right around that time that 9th Circuit Court of Appeals dishes in between City of Berkeley and the Restaurant Association came out and ruled that cities were precluded from adopting those kinds of prohibitions

0:52:52and Berkeley is working on if they haven't already repealing their ordinance, and cities across the State are suspending enforcement of their ordinances.

0:53:01There's a couple jurisdictions, including Contra Costa County, that are on the frontier and still trying to find a policy that might work with this ruling. But it's really very much so on the legal forefront on the policy forefront in this space. So our approach right now is to take a wait and see. The proposal is still in our climate. Action and adaptation plan as something we could pursue. But we really want to see how it legally shakes out.

0:53:23and beyond that, electrification, just to note is already in place or forthcoming locally, regionally and statewide. And so there's already movement in this space. So here in El Cerrito the city council already requires made a decision to already require multifamily residential properties in our specific plan area to be all electric. So that's here now, already in El Cerrito.

0:53:46The Bay Area air quality management district has already passed a rule to require new water heaters and furnaces to be all electric, starting in 2027, and 2029. So that's already in the pipeline. And that's actually in many ways more expansive than what we were proposing, because it hits buildings that are already in the built environment. So if you want to replace your water, heavy heater or a furnace starting in 2027, or 2029, it's going to have to be electric. And so this isn't just new construction.

0:54:14The State, through the California Air Resources Board passed a similar policy, effective 2030, and perhaps most notably that under the new emissions or sorry energy efficiency standards effective 2026. And these are proposed, I should say, but they're likely to come online. Those will strongly incentivize the use of electric appliances rather than natural gas. So all of that to say.

0:54:36these these policies are very much already in progress, and so Staff's recommendation at this time is to take the wait and see, approach and focus on areas of the cap that the State isn't already leading the way

0:54:49in terms of the EQ. As we mentioned, there was much public outreach. We met the Eqc. 3 times at their March meeting. They did pass a motion to recommend adoption of this Climate Action plan with modifications based on feedback heard, and, as mentioned, we incorporated the vast majority of comments received.

0:55:04What you can see, also submitted a recommendation that came to you at your May 21st meeting as a supplemental which essentially was to get to work implementing the plan and put money behind it to fund it in your biennial budget.

0:55:16That's not what Staff's requesting to be clear at this time. We think we can get to work with existing staff and existing resources and come back to you at a later date, if ever needed the focus areas, they called out, just to relay those to you was to focus on the building electrification ordinance, to focus on a real property transfer tax rebate program update, to do things like removing incentives for even more efficient natural gas appliances.

0:55:41Things like updating our environmentally preferred purchasing policy and investing in equipment that would support our tree planting program.

0:55:48ev charging stations and supporting E-v's I mean incorporating climate action into work of all Staff citywide, and and many of these, and really all of them, are already in the climate action plan, and some of them, like the real property transfer tax rebate program, are things we think we can get to work on very quickly as they're identified as phase one in the cap document.

0:56:11So what's next? We're recommending adoption. And for your consideration, adoption of the climate action and adaptation plan that's been presented to you. What we want to do is set up immediately. An interdepartmental task force. That fire is on police is on recreation. Community development public works and city manager's office, all of us meeting regularly and working together to try and implement this plan. In each of our departments.

0:56:34as mentioned, the community will be a big part of this. We've just started a new partnership with the cleaner Contra Costa challenge, which is a really neat online tool that is also really engaging, and helps people identify actions and emissions, reductions that they can make in their own lives. So we want to roll that out. Further.

0:56:51we want to complete the Mtc. Grant planning for Fleet electrification citywide.

0:56:57We'll be finalizing the implementation matrix and implementing phase. One projects that have been identified, and then, of course, pursuing funding through the Inflation Reduction Act and other sources, and reporting back to the Council and Eqc.

0:57:10So, to conclude the climate action and adaptation plan. This really is an ambitious plan. It sets forth a target of carbon neutrality by 2045, which is just over 20 years from now, and

0:57:23really to adapt our community to changing climate. So there's the missions piece, but also adaption of adaptation in terms of adapting to heat and fire and smoke and flood, and and the various risks that will present themselves.

0:57:37The last thing I want to close on is just that it will take all of us. So again, jumping back to this chart that compared our municipal emissions to our community-wide emissions, to our consumption-based emissions, it will take residents, visitors, employees, businesses, all of us, to reach the goals of the cap and the city can't do it alone.

0:57:56So thank you. And I'll stop there, and we're we're all here to answer any questions you may have.

0:58:01Thank you guys so much. I really appreciate it, and thank you to Cascadia

0:58:06there any questions from the council. So not quite comments, but questions. I'll start with questions. Okay?

0:58:11Any questions?

0:58:12Yes, yes, all right. Start with councilmember. Fideli.

0:58:17yes, and I do generally want to say. I think this is great work.

0:58:21and and I will make comments afterwards. But

0:58:25it's a great effort.

0:58:27and I think the theme that you have. It's not just the city that has to do things. It's the whole community, and that's where it gets tough and where it costs money

0:58:35and telling people to do things isn't the easiest thing in the world. So I think we have a long

0:58:41road ahead. But I think this is a living document that can change.

0:58:45I have 2 or 3, maybe 4 questions here.

0:58:50the 1st is you. You give a long list of achievements here in our city of what we've already done.

0:58:55and then you have phase 1, 2, and 3 of where we should be going in this report.

0:59:01How do these achievements that you kind of are talking about the achievements that we've already done as the low-hanging food of what we're going to be doing. So that's kind of. We've already done that. So there's nothing more to do there. How do you equate

0:59:16or fold that into that? And then, because phase 2 and 3 is pretty

0:59:19nebulous right now. There's not a lot of stuff in there about phase 2 and 3.

0:59:25Yeah, I'm happy to talk about that. So I did just want to not talk about the climate action and adaptation plan in a vacuum. Because we have been doing this work. We've been doing this work for nearly 2 decades, and even in the last 2 or 3 years each year we're working on different projects, whether it's implementing SB, 1383, or our foodware, ordinance, or ev charging stations or complete streets.

0:59:45But there is more work to be done. So there's a number of projects in phase one that we haven't that we do need to work on like on our purchasing policy like our real property transfer tax, rebate, update like that, defaulting to Mce deep green like tree planting like expanding ev chargers. So there's even though we've made we have lots of achievements. I did want to highlight them. There's still plenty. There's still plenty to do in phase one and phase 2. Just to know.

1:00:08Those are things that probably take a little bit more time. So to identify the phasing. What we did with Cascadia's help is we did a multi criteria analysis to look at the potential impact of a policy in the

1:00:20cost of that potential policy and the equity impacts of that potential policy all to develop potential phasing. And that's where we landed in terms of ease of implementation or not to try and to outline the steps to get there. And so phase one is really to those low-hanging fruit, but also foundational elements. So like the Interpartal task force. That is a phase, one strategy to set that foundation for implementing the longer term

1:00:47strategy. Okay.

1:00:50we keep hearing about

1:00:52Updating the rebate program for the transfer tax

1:00:56and my memory is

1:00:58that there's only really 3 components. The rebate. One is water conservation. One is Ev and one is retrofit to earthquakes.

1:01:05Where is it, I mean, are you talking about adding to it? Because I keep hearing about changing it?

1:01:11It's there's nothing in there about appliances and electricity.

1:01:14I believe currently you can get a rebate for upgrading your natural gas burner. Sure I would love to check that. I don't think it's in there.

1:01:23But you've been working on this. I've been working on. I believe it's in there. Okay, all right. Okay.

1:01:30second, and I. And I'm for updating making this as efficient as we can. So people think about their homes and what they should be doing when they sell.

1:01:38you talk about number one or 2 being transportation.

1:01:42And I'm not seeing a lot in this report about what we're going to do. And my question is, and it's mainly rhetorical.

1:01:51How much involvement was there with Bart and A/C. Transit, because I know the mayor and us wrote a letter about keeping our bus lines here, but there could be things at the Plaza Bart station about requiring the developer to give free transit to those people that live there which could

1:02:07have an incredible impact on our.

1:02:11how much relationship was our transit partners in this development of this report? Not tons of input in terms of developing the plan. But what we've done is in the implementation matrix, we've identified potential partners. So as we get further in developing strategies in the transportation space we've identified in that matrix A/C transit or bard, or the school district as key partners. To reach out to

1:02:35what I'll say on the transportation front is the State is leading the way on this. So by I did, shifting all energy to renewable by 2045, and shifting the standards for cars so that they'll be lower and lower emissions.

1:02:47We're really hoping that our transportation missions will drop off both as a municipality and as a community

1:02:53and then beyond that, we'll be implementing trying to trans support the transition to a a 0 mission vehicle, fleet and community moving forward through supporting Evs at all our facilities, and in the public realm, and different kind of strategies in that space, not to mention complete streets. So people have better options. They and they all have their own climate change efforts together. Maybe we can absolutely, absolutely. We need to. We need partners in this.

1:03:17Right? Okay?

1:03:18And probably I think I I may have mentioned this to you previously. But my, my major concern is

1:03:26lot of things to do.

1:03:28a lot of things to go forward.

1:03:30Who's in charge in the city of implementing? Who who do we point to? And how does the Council you talk? You talk about council being informed.

1:03:39I'm only seeing like a 5 year

1:03:42report back which is way out there too much. Why can't we get a year or every 2 years a report back? So we know

1:03:49where we're going on this report, yeah. And sure to answer the second part. First, st absolutely. We can report back whenever you request it. If you let the city manager know, can I do a motion later in this council meeting to.

1:04:00there's actually, it's

1:04:02sold out in the implementation section.

1:04:05Have it done every 5 years. But I was. That's what I'm saying, yeah, that we would. I'm saying I'm I'm not. 5 is what we're gonna just do. I'll happily accept any request. Another 2 years if someone can. Okay? Because I think every year this is our. This is our report to you. Here's what we've done. And another thing we can do is we can update you as part of either the budget process or because it's a core strategy in our strategic plan, we can update you as part of the strategic plan process. So there can be other touch points as well

1:04:34is something to note. And then in terms of interdepartmental leadership. So in terms of how this is going to get done. So we want this to be fairly distributed. We want there to be leaders in each department to make this happen. But in terms of point people. You know, the City Managers office will continue to have a role. So there's top leadership in terms of this continuing to be a priority and then operations and environmental services. One of our 2 core divisions in the Public Works Department will continue to be a leader, but beyond that we really do want it to be citywide kind of diffuse leadership.

1:05:03And and I think we you know, we talk about monitoring.

1:05:07I think if you come back more than 5 years or 10 years. We can help monitor. The council members will know and hear and be able to be involved in that process. Okay, if I may. Well, the language says no less than 5 years correct. So that doesn't preclude us. We're happy to. We're happy to. I would love to be more specific than that. And we're happy to do that. Great. Okay? The last question I have is trees is a big part.

1:05:33and I'm hoping it's something I noticed 3 new trees on Mosure, which is wonderful.

1:05:39We're planting trees.

1:05:40It's a cheap way. Makes our city better. We have to be fire safe when we do this and be wise about this. But I'm just hoping, as I think I mentioned to the city manager in future budgets. We need to think about a program to start doing that.

1:05:54And really, with Richmond Street coming along. That's a perfect place to think about.

1:06:00Here's an avenue where trees can go in. So I'm just saying it out loud, so we can deal with this. Thank you very much.

1:06:08Questions. I was going to. I was in the same kind of

1:06:14campus, Paul Fideli in this.

1:06:17So we we talked about the task force of Interdepartmental Task Force. If everyone in our staff and every department in the organization takes this seriously. We we have from the start. As you mentioned, it's been 20 years of this. But now we're really being a lot more formal about it, which I think is great. Yeah, the language was at least every 5 years. It would be great, to say at least every

1:06:383, 2 years, 3 years, something along those lines. I also was excited to see the climate pledge that you have on there. I thought that was very creative and cool. What are your plans for that climate pledge? And you can just explain a little bit to folks who haven't read the report yet

1:06:56sure, and I can pull in Christina here, too, because she's been working closely on the cleaner Contra Costa challenge, which is a number. Another tool we have. But we did want to, as we built the climate, action, and adaptation plan to have in it as appendices collateral that we could use in future outreach, including city staff.

1:07:13about our recycling and environmental resource center, but also the Eqc. Or other partners, and so just to highlight for anybody listening at and as appendix of the climate. Action, and adaptation plan is a really neat client pledge. There's a an area that shows you how much your emissions will reduce by a couple of actions, and there's a checklist where you can go through. Oh, I can do that! Oh, I can do that uneasy actions for you

1:07:35to reduce your emissions. But we also do our partnering, as mentioned, with the cleaner Contra Costa challenge, which I'll let Christina talk about.

1:07:41Thanks, Will. Yes, we're gonna be rolling out the cleaner contra Costa challenge next month. So stand by for more details on that. But it's a really cool program where it's interactive. And there's different focus areas where residents can select different actions. And it'll calculate exactly the Ghg's greenhouse gas reductions that are associated with each action and you earn points. So it can be like a fun competition between the community and community members. You can create a community group or team.

1:08:08And and so it's kind of schools can get involved. And it's something that we're going to be rolling out. So more stay tuned on that

1:08:14during our public comment. Miss Hammer talked about the the very large extensive recreation guide that she received in 2,001, and it would be great if we could have that

1:08:25that checklist?

1:08:27Or does that the pledge as well as that action impact? It's it reads like a menu for folks which is really great. Which is that? What are the things that I can do? And what is that impact?

1:08:39Just, however, we can be innovative around getting to everyone so beyond social media. But in our mailers and in everything we're doing, so that people are are able to. So that's a great suggestion. Yeah.

1:08:51all right.

1:08:52We will get to comments, but I'll make sure we have members of the public provide their comments first.st

1:08:58So if now is time for members of the public if they wish to provide public comment. Do we have any on this item? Yes, Mayor, we do have 3 requests. Thank you.

1:09:07We'll go with our 1st speaker, howdy, Gowdy, followed by Toby Blome.

1:09:16Good evening, Mayor and Council members. My name is Howdy Gowdy, and I live in El Cerrito. 1st I wanna, thank the council and staff for their work on the climate action plan

1:09:27and

1:09:29also, you know, the community process and the integration of community comments. I think it. You know the process worked well.

1:09:38And that, said, I, just really want to emphasize at this point. You know

1:09:43of adoption. I sincerely encourage you to adopt it tonight.

1:09:48but I think we need to adopt it

1:09:52with recognition and communication.

1:09:56That you know this plan means

1:09:59something very different than business as usual, I mean, as was pointed out, we did a lot of great climate actions over the past 10 years, but even that

1:10:09that level of effort and pace of effort is not going to be enough to do the ambitious work that we need to do now, and I think it really takes, you know, internalizing. This is different. This isn't just. Oh, we completed this plan, and now we go on as business as we have been. This is a plan that is saying we need to do things differently, and that needs to be communicated thoroughly. And I think you know the

1:10:33the Interdepartmental Task Force is an important piece of that that you know. There becomes a citywide conversation about. You know what these actions are, and what's available, and what's working and making forward progress and making it clear that it is part of everyone's job description, that it is something that is part of you know, performance reviews that it's you know what we need to be doing to get

1:11:00the goal that that we have set.

1:11:03And I appreciate the comments about 5 years being, you know, too infrequent for updates. I agree with that. I think it should be

1:11:12more frequent. And

1:11:14and really you should be asking, for, you know.

1:11:19information on these topics as your normal course of business and staff should be offering it as the normal course of business, because that's what is required. Here is an actual change in how we do business and incorporating climate action into it. So I think it is really important to reflect on the transportation emissions that we're

1:11:39identified in this

1:11:41inventory just because they're going up. You know everything. We've done a great job with

1:11:48Mc and and renewable electricity bringing our

1:11:53emissions down in buildings. There's still more to do there with electrification. And and there's good policies around that.

1:12:01But those emissions are coming down.

1:12:04The transportation emissions are going up, and that's simply because

1:12:09there's more vehicle Miles traveled by far than there used to be. I mean, it's outpacing population. It's outpacing the improvements in efficiency of vehicles, they need to focus on transportation. Thank you. Our next speaker is Toby Bloom, followed by Susan Duncan.

1:12:34You tell people may resident El Cerrito for almost 30 years.

1:12:38I really appreciate the comments of the previous speaker. He speaks well for me.

1:12:43I want to thank

1:12:45Councilman Fideli for bringing up the issue of the City Council needing to have more regular oversight over what's moving forward in in the city of El Cerrito around

1:12:55taking climate action

1:12:57one year.

1:12:59I mean a

1:13:01having a report even every year to me is and an issue. That's the biggest issue facing our planet today is not frequent enough in my eyes. It should be every 6 months.

1:13:12and the city Council people should be taking

1:13:16active involvement on a regular basis.

1:13:19playing a role in what city action is taking and what

1:13:23direction we're moving in terms of taking climate action.

1:13:29and I

1:13:30have a three-year

1:13:32three-year-old grandson.

1:13:34I'm very concerned about the future, his future around climate

1:13:39we've had now we have serious fires in California this year again.

1:13:44and record-breaking temperatures

1:13:48one year is a long time in terms of how fast things are changing around the climate.

1:13:54So

1:13:55in addition, why, my husband has been very active

1:13:59as a climate activist in many levels. I so admire his work. I know he's working locally and

1:14:06city of El Cerrito. Some of you may know him for that.

1:14:10And

1:14:13he and I support each other in our activism that I'm a big peace activist, and I know very well about the role of militarism

1:14:22and its contribution to the climate. The Us. Military is the biggest contributor

1:14:26to carbon footprint on this planet.

1:14:29So because of that.

1:14:31because the world shares the same atmosphere.

1:14:34wars that are happening in other parts of the world are directly impacting El Cerrito

1:14:39and people all over the planet.

1:14:41We don't have a lot of time left. So this is another reason to consider

1:14:45your role and what you can do in terms of speaking out against this slaughter and Gaza, because the

1:14:53amount of fossil fuel is being used by

1:14:56Israeli jets and

1:14:58trucks, military trucks and tanks, and who knows and what kind of printed 1,000

1:15:07thousands of pounds of bombs being dropped on buildings, what

1:15:10carbon footprint is left behind, and just the bombs alone.

1:15:14and all of this money or tax dollars could be used. Someone pointed out to me this last week I was startled that I hadn't

1:15:21thought about it before.

1:15:23but when we spend money on bombs

1:15:26and and military spending

1:15:28that's spending money on something that's going to be destroyed. We send

1:15:33missiles and bombs and stuff, and they're they're they drop and they're over and they're exploited. And they cost millions of dollars building schools and working.

1:15:44Thank you. Your time has ended. Our next speaker is Susan Duncan, followed by Fred Bialy.

1:15:58Good evening. I'm Susan Duncan, resident of El Cerrito. First.st Thank you for working so hard on this project is extremely important

1:16:07topic, but for a minute I'm going to play a bit of a devil's advocate, and thinking about how many houses in El Cerrito the majority are older houses. How many of us are living on a pension.

1:16:19and social security.

1:16:21Is the city going to offer grants to us to rewire our houses so that we can be all electric, and then will there be grants

1:16:29put solar on so that we can afford our very large Pg electric bills. Thank you. There's always another side to the coin.

1:16:38Thank you.

1:16:40And our final speaker on this item is Fred Bialy.

1:16:51I'm Fred Bialy, a longtime resident of El Cerrito.

1:16:56and I do want to thank the city and all the staff that have been

1:17:01putting so much work into this effort.

1:17:03It's good to see that we're coming to the end of the tunnel.

1:17:07and I would

1:17:08wanted to just lend support to

1:17:12Council Member Fidel's

1:17:14recommendation, as well as howdy Gowdy's

1:17:17support of that that reporting needs to be more frequent. That's you've heard that a couple times now, in the last few minutes.

1:17:25I think it's important to

1:17:29I guess. Set that in stone in the plan.

1:17:32because otherwise things may

1:17:35drift to the wayside

1:17:37and not get done. So I think that it's

1:17:41codified in the plan. That reporting be done every year, every 6 months.

1:17:46whatever seems to be an important timeframe to the Council that that would be

1:17:52a good improvement of the plan.

1:17:57yeah, that's

1:17:58I wanted to say tonight. Thank you.

1:18:01Thank you. That concludes our request to speak, Mayor.

1:18:03Thank you so much. Now we'll start with our council comments.

1:18:07so go to Mayor pro tem wei singer, and then we'll move in this direction. I was just going to say very shortly that I did, of course, as the liaison who doesn't get to attend Eqc. Very often, but the time that I did attend I know that it was very important to them to make those edits to the climate Action plan, so I know that I'm happy that they were able to work with you all to get those amended before we passed the plan or attempted to pass the plan. We haven't passed anything yet.

1:18:34But also I was happy to see in the plan so much emphasis on making sure that vulnerable communities were covered in the plan. That was very, very important to me. So I just wanted to thank you all for for that important step in the the equity portion of this plan.

1:18:48Alright councilmember quinto. Thank you, Mayor.

1:18:52Appreciate what you just said, because I completely agree. I also want to let folks know that. With.

1:19:01yeah. For example, little cities, small cities like Elito are not able to do this alone.

1:19:07We're able to do this regionally. So the importance of regionalism and working with the regional groups that we work with. I know the mayor works with recycle more and appreciate all your work.

1:19:20Yeah. Working on 1383. We're on our way to get to this green circular economy. So that is the 1st step on that. And I work behind the scenes to make sure. 1383 passed

1:19:33as a member of the environmental quality for Cal cities since 2,016, I years in the Sierra Club, and as vice chair of Mc.

1:19:45And looking at the things that we have done regionally, we're on our way. Every city in the Bay Area and the State of California is working on this climate policy. So we're all on board on this. The trick is with what I do at marine clean energy. I've every year I have gone to Washington, and I have met

1:20:10with our members of Congress.

1:20:12I met with our partners that represent Mc.

1:20:18As well as Department of Energy Department of Transportation. And that's how I was able to bring grants through the Mc area, and that's what I'll do as the newest board member of

1:20:33the back mud board the Air District Board, because we cannot do this on is on our own. We're not a challenge city like

1:20:43Richmond and San Pablo. So we have to pay for this upfront. You know a lot of the stuff that we were able to bring went to challenge communities like Richmond, San Pablo, North Richmond, Pittsburgh, and Antioch. It did not go to cities like El Cerrito. So I wanna make sure that the residents know that. You know, we have to. Homeowners will need to pay for this upfront.

1:21:09so I'll do my best to make sure we can be included in some of these grants, but because we're not a part of the enviro screen, we don't get the breaks that a lot of the other cities do. You're looking at the Congressional District 8. A lot of that went to Vallejo, Fairfield cities that have a lot of industry, a lot of pollution. That's why Richmond was able to do this, and that's why they have more

1:21:38ev infrastructure than any other city in the Bay Area. And you look at how little we have in Berkeley, Albany, El Cerritos, because you have to pay for this. So it's gonna take some time for El Cerrito and our residents to get on board on this.

1:21:54It's super expensive. We were looking at prices to

1:22:00you know on

1:22:03the the pumps

1:22:05to transition over so I'll be working with our colleagues on the air board to make sure that every city in the Bay area gets a chance to get these grants and discounts because it cannot just go to challenge communities. So you look at the home hardening things that we were able to

1:22:26bring in. That was a lot of money that we were able to get and that's through Congressman Garam and Congressman Desongi.

1:22:35the Congressman in Marin County and Congressman in the Ohio Napa area. So that's how it works. We work regionally.

1:22:47We work with our partners on the Federal and the State level. Because, El Cerrita, we're not going to be able to do this on our own, and many of our residents are seniors, so I'm hoping that in the future these grants that the Air Board will be providing an Mce. Will be able to go to low income residents and people just on social security here in El Cerrita, because right now

1:23:12we don't get any of that, and nor will be, you know, in the near future. We won't be getting any of that, so I encourage all of you to attend my Mc. Board meetings we meet on the 3rd Thursday of the month, and you can see that through Zoom

1:23:30and the air Board we meet the 1st

1:23:34Wednesdays of the month. I'll be on the Stationary commission. So

1:23:38stationary sources that deal with our refineries and companies like Tesla. So we work on the second

1:23:46Tuesdays at starting at 10 Am. So you know, and looking at the programs that we're doing on the county as well. Making sure we work with our supervisor, John Joya.

1:23:58on what we can do to collaborate with the county. That's the way to do this. So no, it's great to see the folks at Cascadia, because, I. I met them at the the Cec. Conference in Santa Rosa. So it's great to have you and thank you for you know, supporting our staff, and and this great presentation we're on board elsewhere has always been on board.

1:24:22I worked with Norman La Force for years on the Sierra Club to make sure we would get to this, and we are. But it is going to take some time

1:24:30you're looking at depending on the administration and what goes on in the November election.

1:24:38you know, if depending on who's president, a lot of this stuff might be canceled.

1:24:43Because I know the other candidate doesn't believe in any of this, but I know we do in California, and that's why we're ahead of all of this compared to all the other States in the country so know that. You know, collaboration is a word, and I look forward to

1:25:00having our residents be active by joining me in the meetings that I am a part of, and what we can do regionally together, because that's the only way we're going to do this and get the funding. Thank you.

1:25:14Councilmember Fideli, do you have any comment? Yes, yes, thank you.

1:25:19Again. Great staff work.

1:25:22This has taken longer than expected

1:25:25for for us to get here.

1:25:27As the mayor said when I was mayor, I appointed her and Janet Abelson to get this jump started

1:25:35sadly. We had Covid.

1:25:37We had staff cuts to address budget concerns. That was a major problem.

1:25:42Janet Abelson was ill most of the time.

1:25:45and we also had an environmental staff director who passed away. So there were major reasons why we didn't. But so 3 years later, we're here. I think it's been a great effort. Good recommendations.

1:25:57Good, readable report. So again, thank the contractor and and anyone else that helped on that front, the equity issues are important to that have been

1:26:06outlined here and

1:26:09and again, it can't just be the city and what the city does it has to be the whole community, as Gabe was talking about, which

1:26:16will take a lot of time, a lot of money, a lot of effort.

1:26:19So I appreciate it. And we talk about an equity lens. We need to have a climate lens with everything we do, everything we see. And those 2 are

1:26:29come together a lot very important.

1:26:32I'm gonna be honest.

1:26:35I was hoping that possibly we could have had a presentation on this report, and then maybe with

1:26:42council, input and then we could have had a little bit of time and listen to the citizens and come back to pass it, and maybe incorporate.

1:26:50But I think you've heard my major concern is making sure that the Council continues to monitor and have. Input and if we can include that to not more than not less than or more than 2 years

1:27:01as a motion. I would so like to make that motion, because I think going forward, we need to keep involved and be involved. So good work. Thank you.

1:27:12Let's let's be involved.

1:27:13And just if I may, we'd welcome any sort of amendment or adjustment to the plan in terms of coming back every 2 years. But I did also want to add one thing, one early win a phase, one strategy that we will also be implementing. And I failed to mention was a climate dashboard. So we want to update our website to have a dashboard so that everyone can monitor our progress and see recent accomplishments. So that's something we'll be doing

1:27:34that any at any time. People could go and log on and see. Great. Thank you. I have to apologize that right. When we got to public comment. I realized that there was a question that I had that I did not ask. And so I'm going to be asking a question before I get to my comments.

1:27:48To me one of the most important phase, one things we can do in this process is

1:27:54identify the real property transfer tax, rebate update. So that just for folks who don't know in the city of El Cerrito there is a real property transfer tax called Rptt, that a certain percentage of both the seller and the buyer pay into. And it's this little chunk of money. And

1:28:15there are currently, and then there have been certain elements that can be utilized so that folks can. Basically, it could be a rebate and they could get rebated for for activities on your new property.

1:28:29is there a timeline or a thought? And let's talk about the actual implementation of that. When would we see a draft of what that updated policy would look like.

1:28:42Well, what I can say is, it is going to be a priority for us. And and I did confirm that energy efficiency upgrades are in there, and and there are other ways we might want to change it. So

1:28:52I think none of the script

1:28:54after this plan is adopted. That's the 1st step is adopting the plan. And then there's all those phase one strategies. But we can get direction and hear from you all that Updating the Rptt is a major priority for us, and we agree. It's not just. I mean, there's, of course, there's the equity components to it. But it's also Wildfire home hardening. It's electrification. It's all the things that we really value ourselves as a community on. And we want to make sure that

1:29:19property owners are able to to do that as well. And the beauty of it also is actually it's a carrot rather than a stick. We're providing a carrot and an incentive and money back for doing the right thing. In this case

1:29:31it would be great to get an update of what that timeline would look like. So yes, we're proving this. Yes, we know it's phase one. But to me I think that it is especially because it is a carrot, as you framed it. It would be really great if this

1:29:44component and the phase one can really be fast tracked so that we can see here on council something that, and also, of course, collaboration with the fire department and all the different stakeholders that are involved in what the Rptt could help to support. Absolutely. And I don't have firm timing. It would be done in coordination with our community development department or planning and building staff city management fire, as you mentioned. But it's something we can get direction to prioritize. Absolutely.

1:30:11Okay, excellent.

1:30:13So it sounds like there was rumblings of emotion.

1:30:16And do you want so? But your motion would be an update to council every

1:30:21what does it say? Not less than 5, but no less than 5. I would be fine with 2 if we could, you know, discuss annually. That would be wonderful. I'll second that one

1:30:32thing

1:30:34all right. So we have a motion from Fideli in a second by me.

1:30:38All those in favor, please say aye, aye, any opposed motion carries with councilmember motium absent, all right. And then, if we could also

1:30:47I don't know if it necessarily needs to be a motion, but really

1:30:51liking to prioritize the update to the RPT.

1:30:56Ordinance or language of yeah, that that, to me, is an incredibly important direction. I know their community cares about the rebate update. So an update on the language duly noted.

1:31:06All right.

1:31:08Thank you so much. It was extraordinary work, and again I said at the top, I'll say it again in honor of Councilmember Janet Abelson.

1:31:14I would like to move CAAP.

1:31:17Yeah, all right, I'll second that one. Sorry to steal the thunder. But second apologies I thought you just made a motion to adopt to receive if it's a receive a file or adopt the motion.

1:31:31or to to adopt the plan. This one is actually adoption of a resolution and adoption of the plan. Adopt CAP. All right, and I will second that

1:31:43sorry. So just for the record. The first, st the 1st motion was simply to modify the plan to report back with updates to council not less than every 2 years, and and this is a separate motion to adopt. Approve the resolution which

1:31:55by approval adopts the plan. Okay, correct.

1:32:00sorry. And who who is the second apologies? I was, thank you. All those in favor, please say aye, aye, any opposed motion carries with Councilmember Motoyama absent.

1:32:10All right. Thank you so much. Congratulations, extraordinary work. Thanks.

1:32:14All right. We are on to Item C call and request services for a November 5, th 2024. Election to submit to voters the reauthorization of measure R to maintain El Cerrito safety in local services.

1:32:29Do we have a staff report.

1:32:32and that will be me as well. So I'll type

1:32:38you. Good.

1:32:54All right.

1:32:55The next item here. Thank you again. Well, provost, assistant to the city manager. We'll be talking about the extension of Measure R. Under this item, and, needless to say, as it relates to the last item maintaining our current revenue sources will be critical to implementing climate action among all other city services. So this really does have a link to everything that we do as a city.

1:33:19But so we're talking about the reauthorization measure to maintain El Cerrito safety and local services

1:33:26for Measure R. Measure. R is a sales tax, a transaction and use tax of 1%. So one cent on every dollar of sales tax in El Cerrito is approved by voters in 2014. And so it's on the books now, and it provides a guaranteed source of local funds to address needs here in the city of El Cerrito.

1:33:44But notably this funding stream, this, this sales tax is set to expire in 2027

1:33:50shown on the right. Here is we've during this time tried to engage the community and done a lot of public outreach. So this is a mailer we sent out and shown here is our fire department, our police department, our recreation staff and children during library hours at our library here, and it just goes to show that these funds are a general tax, and they support all services here in the city of El Cerrito, including public safety.

1:34:14And these funds are very critically important to the city's budget. So there are 8.7% of general fund revenue nearly 10, and they fund critical city services, including fire protection and public safety. Rapid emergency response times after school programs for children and teens, maintenance of our parks, paths and playfields, and much more.

1:34:37I mean, it's reliable funding. So these funds have allowed the city to maintain baseline services over the years because voters approved the 1% in 2014, and they protected us against more severe cuts. So you all remember, about 4 years ago, during the pandemic and loss of revenues, we had to cut the city's budget by about 10%. And so we can all just imagine what that would have been like if Measure R wasn't in existence.

1:35:02It would have been much more severe, potentially twice as severe

1:35:06as that.

1:35:08And again, this, this reliable funding is expiring in 2027. So in many senses we're facing a cliff, a revenue fiscal cliff in 2027, where these revenues will suddenly stop being there to be able to provide and maintain the critical services that we are now.

1:35:25And you can see that. So this this chart is straight from our budget book. It's straight from our budget presentations. It's our general fund forecast. So we talked about this. It's on our website.

1:35:34and it shows our general fund balance without measure. R. And as you can see here, our reserve balance. If measure R is not continued and expenditures stay where they're at would go negative as soon as fiscal year 2029 our reserve

1:35:46and I know none of you would let that happen. I know my city manager right, there would never let that happen. And so what this, what I see when I see this chart is that we would have to cut expenditures by 10%.

1:35:56And again, we know what that looks like, and we do that to ensure that our expenses are always less than our revenues.

1:36:06And so that's what we're doing now. The city really facing this cliff must plan for 10% general fund cuts if the measure is not reauthorized, if it's allowed to lapse.

1:36:17And again, just to reiterate this would affect all city services. All city services are at risk, and again to pull a chart from our budget book. This is our general fund expenditures by type, and you can see here the biggest piece of the pie. 73% of our general fund expenditures are personnel. And so if we were to forced to cut, do another 10% cut like we did in the pandemic

1:36:38because measure R suddenly was not around. We know that would impact personnel.

1:36:43And again, you know, we've said this before. But personnel, equal services. It's it's people that respond to you to your fire emergency. It's people that approve your building permit. It's people that maintain your parks. Services would be impacted if we were forced to reduce expenditures in this way.

1:37:03Oh, and then one other thing to note is, we know from the budget process that our budget is balanced for the next 2 years, but we know in the out years we're going to have to keep tightening our belt. We're going to have to do that service efficiency study, and we're going to have to find ways to be leaner, and we know there might be some tough decisions ahead. But we know that with measure R, the tough decisions will be much, much tougher. So just to say

1:37:30we might have to make adjustments anyway, just because expenditures are rising and revenues aren't rising as fast. But we know that measure. R is an important piece of mitigating the worst of those budget challenges.

1:37:43So, as mentioned during this process, we've really tried to engage the community trying to understand what their priorities are. Firstly, we understand now. But if this were to lapse, so we understand what the priorities are for prioritizing in case we do have to make budget adjustments or cuts in the future.

1:37:58What we heard from the community as top priorities were maintained, fire protection and emergency medical services

1:38:03maintain rapid 9, 1, 1 emergency response times maintain city parks, paths and play fields.

1:38:09maintain after school programs for children and teens.

1:38:12maintain library programs for children. Adults and families

1:38:16maintain wildfire prevention programs

1:38:18maintain and improve open space and maintain crime, prevention and investigation resources.

1:38:25We followed that up with an additional survey we sent out in those mailers. We asked people to respond to us and and and send us their feedback. We asked them for what their priorities are, they could tell us new ones, or they could rank these priorities that were identified, one through 8 with one being the most important. We received over 260 responses so far. There's still some coming into my mailbox every day, but these are 260 we've received just through late last week.

1:38:50What you can see here is that maintain fire protection scored the highest it had the most number one responses, as you can see through that blue bar on the far left

1:39:00maintain fire, protection and emergency medical services.

1:39:03But it was really closely followed by maintaining rapid 911 emergency response times and maintained crime, prevention and investigation resources. And so what you can see here from these top 3 priorities, scoring highly in the second survey is public safety continues to be a top priority for your community.

1:39:18But again, all 8 of these listed were priorities identified initially in our initial survey with community members

1:39:28as we typically do in exploring a measure like this one, we engage Godbe research to do a statistically valid survey of our community to understand? Is there community support for renewing and extending this measure. And actually, what we found is 74.8% of respondents were in support of a hypothetical measure, with no rate increase. So again, this would just be extending the current transaction use tax that's already in place without increasing taxes.

1:39:53And and that 74.8% was after hearing both informational statements and critical statements.

1:40:01and notably what I want to add here is we also tested support for until, if the measure was until ended by voters versus if it was ended after 12 years, or ended after 18 years, and what we found was actually until ended by voters had the most support at nearly 75% support and reducing it to say, 18 years, reduce support by 10%.

1:40:21And then what that told us, you know, as staff was that really the community values the services that are being provided, and they value the stability of these revenues in terms of providing the city have been financially stable and able to provide services to the public well, into the future.

1:40:38And again, notably.

1:40:40the shorter sunsets would have less support based on our polling

1:40:47moving on to the key details of the maintaining Elsito safety and local services measure. Again, it would be extending the current transactions and use tax providing local funding at the one cent rate until ended by voters with no tax increase.

1:41:00All funds generated would be used to maintain and prevent cuts to city services again without increasing taxes, would continue to do independent audits and citizens oversight and all revenues would be kept here in El Cerrito.

1:41:15and so ultimately based on the feedback we received, based on the budget impacts based on the the budget importance of the measure R revenues to all the services we provide as a city including those that are critical to the community and based on the support we heard from the community. The support of this hypothetical measure, extending the sales tax

1:41:35into the future.

1:41:38Staff's recommendation is for you all to call and request services for a November 5, 2024. Election to submit to voters. Reauthorization of measure R to maintain El Cerrito safety and local services.

1:41:49And you'll notice in your packet. The action identified is a little bit more nuanced, and it calls for basically direction, directing staff to fulfill.

1:41:57fulfill your direction and do all the necessary steps to place this on the ballot in coordination with the county. But I'm joined here by our city clerk, our city attorney, our city manager, and all of us are here in state Midby, to answer any questions about this process. So thank you.

1:42:12All right. Thank you so much for the report.

1:42:15Do we have questions from the Council.

1:42:18Start on this direction? All right.

1:42:19Mayor. Thank you very much, Mayor. Let's go ahead and just address the elephant in the room. Let's talk about the end date of the text.

1:42:27and I think that the question that I have and I want to thank one of the public comments that we received.

1:42:34I know we got a there's a lot of support of the until the voters re repeal or in the text, but I think my question is, and I kind of put my teacher hat on of this and even my work hat.

1:42:45Is there a way we just talked about revisiting the Climate Action plan. I think one thing that I'm hearing from community is that there is not necessarily that they're completely reticent to having it in after an act of the voters. But you know, when people don't have a goal, then it seems like forever.

1:43:02So you know, when you're driving down the freeway. You get 10 mile markers if you're driving. La! 10 miles, la, 310 miles. La! Is there a way for us to at least

1:43:11have an accountability measure where we can say, Okay, I don't know every 2 years. Again, this is how this is where we are. We do still need to tax. And just so people feel comforted by knowing where we are. I think if people had more of a goal that they saw online, if they knew where it was leading to. Why, when? What?

1:43:31I don't know if that would us away. The the feeling of the voters and the people who are against that. But I think that that's some of the things that I'm hearing is that they just don't know when it will end or or when we will stop needing the money, or how to gauge that when they're voting.

1:43:48I would direct you directly to this chart. Okay,

1:43:52so as will indicated the

1:43:56measure. Our revenues make up

1:43:59close to 10%

1:44:01of our general fund budget

1:44:03and, as Will said, and repeating, sorry to be repetitive. But we know what 10% cuts look like, because we had that several year, you know. Not not that long ago. Seems like forever ago. But it was just 4 years ago when we had to make serious cuts, serious layoffs again, a lot was closed to according to the pandemic, but we let off 10% of our staff. We

1:44:24and services were just.

1:44:27They weren't existent.

1:44:29We did the basics, and but we had tons of vacancies, which, as you know we are still recovering from.

1:44:35So to so as far as the need for this, for this tax, for these tax revenues, this chart shows you exactly what that means. This chart shows that you know the the phrase fiscal cliff applies here. This means that right now.

1:44:50unless this is renewed, I will have to look at this and see that cut off at 2027, and I'll have to start planning that now. I can't wait until 27 to start doing that. So if this weren't 1 of the reasons we're policing this on the ballot now is again, we do have. We only have. We can only do this during a general election, and there's only this and the next one. But the next one to me is somewhat too late to start planning. I will need to start planning to make the cuts. Now that will be reflected.

1:45:19not only in the next biennial budget, but I will have to start making modifications in this budget in order to make that work. Because I just, you know, dropping off 10 and shutting the lights off at that point, I need to. I need to have that so much sort of time, so as far as the need for the taxes. I you know again, just looking at this chart right here is the main one.

1:45:40What I think would be what we could do.

1:45:44One of the things that we have done is that we have looked much more deeply, especially since the State auditors report at our reporting back to the City Council and our reporting to the Financial Advisory Board, and how we update our Acfr. I think that what we could do is either through the budget process or on a yearly basis, or during actually, during all of our general fund updates.

1:46:10we can report on measure R and what we're collecting and what we're using. I mean that we can absolutely do that type of reporting and increase reporting and increase the engagement

1:46:21back to the city council. So I'm happy to to talk about that. And again, that is, you know, it is annually audited every year. It's a portion of the general fund, however, so we haven't we haven't like apportioned it out, but we can definitely start to report on what that means. So

1:46:39just so, people know I don't. Again. I don't know if that would us, you know, alleviate some of their concerns. But I think a lot of times people know they're gonna get a report if it's every year, if it's when do when we do the budget, and they can see where where the needs are, that the needs are still there, and we can go progressively from there. So I think that that's a that was a big thing. So that thank you for answering that for me. Sure, certainly. And you know again, as as Will indicated. You know, we are looking

1:47:07specifically at the data.

1:47:08If the data had shown that a twelve-year sunset would have scored essentially scored the highest or showed the most support, we would have been bringing you that recommendation. We are bringing you the recommendation, based solely on the data that the highest level of support is with the ballot measure as reported right there. Thank you. Sure.

1:47:31Question a question. Question.

1:47:34Yeah.

1:47:372 2 questions. That the

1:47:39staff report says, keep saying 10% across the board.

1:47:44That's that's not mandated. That will be up for this council to decide what cuts will have to happen like in 2021. Is that correct? That's right.

1:47:52which wasn't fun. I remember that

1:47:55those will be tough decisions. Yes, yeah. Tough decisions that we'll have to go through. But it's not just a 10 easy formula. No, it's not going to be. No, it's going to be people hurt jobs gone. Okay.

1:48:05so the this election this year. What in in our budget

1:48:10cost about $55,000? Is that the amount that's correct? The inclusion of a measure does not really fluctuate the cost of the election, because we pay a portion of the entire bill for the county and the amount per registered voter. That's the calculation that may adjust, depending on how expensive the election is. So, with or without the measure, the estimate for the total election for the 3 council seats, and the measure is still at that 52,000,

1:48:37and with our Biannual budget, do we have the second year money budgeted and waiting there

1:48:43to be used? If, in fact, we

1:48:45for the election, it fails. Yes, this time

1:48:49the next election would be in fiscal year 27. The current sunset date for Measure R. Is 2027. So the revenue. So if the measure, I believe it goes until spring of 20 April of 2027

1:49:06and so if the if it's if it, if the Council places it on the ballot tonight, and voters don't approve it. This November. The revenue would still be there in the second year of the budget.

1:49:17but as far as budgeting for the another election. No, we haven't budgeted for the second election yet, but that would come in for the 2026. Correct. Yeah, correct. Correct.

1:49:27And our and our biennial budget is 20 through 26.

1:49:31It's 2526, isn't it. That's correct, but it's not in the 26th version of it. That's correct. It would be for the fall of 26th would be the following, it would fall into the following fiscal year. Okay, thank you.

1:49:45Any questions.

1:49:47What was the language used for the opposition when framing this to the pollsters? Is, is Mr. Godby on the line? Yeah, we do have Brian Godby here, and and he can elaborate on that. Thank you.

1:50:07Bryan Godbe: Hi! I'm Brian Godby. Please, Dan, be here this evening. I'm not quite sure I understand the question. What was.

1:50:15The question was, what was the language that was used when framing opposition, when polling

1:50:23potential voters.

1:50:25Bryan Godbe: Well, so

1:50:26the

1:50:28question that you see in front of you on Will's slide is the ballot question.

1:50:33So? And you get a choice of yes or no on that. So there's no. Do you vote? No, there's are you going to vote, yes or no on this ballot question.

1:50:42And I'm slightly confused, because in the the presentation that was, even after presenting

1:50:48good, exact language, the exact wording that you use. But even after presenting opposition, information, and.

1:50:55Bryan Godbe: So there were. So there were a variety of features of what we might spend. The measure on which we asked in all of those individual items, would you be more or less likely to support the measure? Then there was this, a randomly ordered list of informational statements which said, Would you be more or less likely to support the measure?

1:51:17And then there was a list of negative items which,

1:51:22did the same thing on the opposite side. Would this make you much more likely, or someone more likely to vote? Now.

1:51:29What were those negative items?

1:51:31Bryan Godbe: There was several of them they included.

1:51:36let me just scroll to those on my list here.

1:51:43no rules direct to spending

1:51:46which is true of a general purpose measure the money will not be spent as promised. Instead, the city needs it for general fund shortfall, so arguments that the opponents might make.

1:51:59The measure is a forever tax. It will never end. If the city measure passes, sales tax, and El Trito will continue to be 10 and a half percent.

1:52:09and voters in the Bay area

1:52:11are also being asked to approve a property tax increase

1:52:15for affordable housing. That's the

1:52:18housing bond measure. The items that I just read range from 59 at least, someone more likely to vote no down to 41. So only a few of those. The very top 2 items.

1:52:33Result in a negative. More than a simple majority.

1:52:39And then what we're seeing from these 2 graphical bars is the initial test is when

1:52:43when folks are asked, and then after that average of 22 min informational interview.

1:52:49Then it is scored in this final test.

1:52:52Bryan Godbe: Right. So the 1st test is before we give them any details other than the ballot question that you see here, and the final test is after those 3 sets of questions that I just described.

1:53:03All right. Thank you.

1:53:06All right. Any questions before I move on to public comment, and then we will have our own comments.

1:53:13All right. Now's the time for public comment. Do we have any?

1:53:17We do have one speaker on this item. Fed Biali.

1:53:40I'm Fred Bialy, resident of Australia, and I have to say I'm still a little confused.

1:53:46What the respondents or the question there may have understood the choices.

1:53:5318 year end, 12 year end, or

1:53:59Some uncertain kind of like

1:54:02can be ended by the voters.

1:54:04and in the staff report it was made clear that El Surida residents want to

1:54:11hope to see the ability of voters to end the measure in the future end quote. I just wonder whether that or the option that

1:54:20was recommended was really supportive, because people wanted to have a option to end this tax.

1:54:287 12 years, certainly. School from 18, I understand 12

1:54:32got the more than 18. So

1:54:36my concern about the

1:54:38proposal is that there is not an expiration date

1:54:42I'm

1:54:43I am.

1:54:44I recently learned a little bit about the process of

1:54:49ending something by the voters, and it seemed very complicated, and I wonder whether the complexity of that process would be a deterrent

1:54:58for people that really began to question whether this tax was needed.

1:55:04so I strongly urge the City Council

1:55:08to include an expiration date.

1:55:12We want to recall the populace and find out. What did they really understand

1:55:20about what? What was being asked of them

1:55:24by those questions when somebody says

1:55:28But we do hope for this. If it was a brow attacks.

1:55:31I would think that people would say, Well, wait a minute. I want to commit myself to something forever.

1:55:40So

1:55:47I, personally would support

1:55:49continuing this tax in November.

1:55:54Only, if it had an expiration date, if it had no expiration date, I would vote no.

1:55:59And I just wonder whether there's a significant number of people in El Cerrito that feel the same. Thank you.

1:56:07I conclude the request to speak, Mayor, make sure, and more public comment.

1:56:12oh, yeah, howdy?

1:56:17Good evening, Mayor and Council. My name is Howdy Gowdy, and I live in El Cerrito.

1:56:22So I didn't really plan to speak on this item, but I just

1:56:27wanted to offer the comment that

1:56:30you know, I would actually vote for it

1:56:32with or without the

1:56:35the end date and

1:56:37you know

1:56:38I think the term forever tax. You know

1:56:41no one likes taxes. I also agree, you know, sales taxes are regressive, which I would. I wish our tax system was based on something else.

1:56:51But you know I don't think it's unreasonable that

1:56:56the city

1:56:58should expect, for, you know, 9% of their budget to be ongoing in perpetuity. It's like those costs aren't going away. The general fund costs are. I mean, if anything. This this tax still underperforms what you need over time because costs are gonna go up. And this is gonna stay constant over time. But levying a clip

1:57:20of income, for the city is just, you know.

1:57:24causing future trauma and and frankly waste of time and resources. I mean one of the reasons I would vote for it without a renewal is, I don't want staff spending their time and spending money on flyers and outreach and surveys. I'd rather that go to the general fund services that that we want, and

1:57:46you know I don't think we're going to be grossly, you know.

1:57:50giving the city too much money that the

1:57:52taxation system is broken. Enough, that you're not getting what is needed to maintain the services already, and you know the public has

1:58:03the opportunity to.

1:58:05you know, voice their concerns about how the money is spent every time the budget process comes around, and I think that's the appropriate way to handle it a small

1:58:14ongoing tax that, you know, maintain some continuity, for the city is a reasonable thing. So thank you.

1:58:24Last call that concludes request to speak. Mayor. Alright!

1:58:29Comments from the council.

1:58:31We'll start in this direction.

1:58:35yeah, thank you.

1:58:37I hate to bring back golden memories. But again.

1:58:41when I was mayor in this council

1:58:44made a lot of difficult decisions. In 2021 cut staff.

1:58:49We cut programs. We furloughed.

1:58:52I don't want to go back to that, and what we had to measure our funds is the floor, the foundation

1:58:59that helped get us back to a place where we've been talking about that our finances are pretty good now.

1:59:04so it's nothing new. It's the same measure.

1:59:08the same amount of money, no new taxes that will continue.

1:59:11nothing new but critical to keep us on the road to recovery.

1:59:15And I,

1:59:18interestingly, there were those in this town that you know. Let's get financially solvent. Let's get soon as we kind of did. Then we're starting to hear about infrastructure needs bike lanes, senior centers. Let's spend the money. If we don't get measure. R, those things go way down the list.

1:59:35They're not going to come up. And I know my generation and maybe my kids generation.

1:59:40So I

1:59:42obviously, I'm very much for this.

1:59:44I'm most most supportive of the most supported response.

1:59:49But I could be for a term if and I think I've said this to the city manager 30 or 35 years I could vote for

1:59:57that's an end. Date. 30 years could be an end date. People see it.

2:00:01I won't be here.

2:00:03So somebody I do know.

2:00:06I do know that.

2:00:07But I could be for that. I can't be, for like 12 or 18. Let's not do this again. We need a steady foundation of funds

2:00:15to get the city back. We've been back without it we would be in disaster now. So that's where I stand on this.

2:00:23Thank you, Mayor.

2:00:24I completely agree with you. Councilmember Fideli. You know, being on this council for the last 10 years, and supporting our from the beginning, and you've seen.

2:00:37what we were able to do when we made the changes when we had to do it. And so supporting this tax, and we have 2 chances to do it. I hope we put this on the ballot now and without

2:00:54or you know, if anyone wants to put 30 years on that and then Sunny. But I prefer not to have have this and have this tax and procuity. So, looking at all that, and looking at what would happen if we didn't?

2:01:12Have measure. R. We would be on the same boat as a majority of the cities in California. They're going through the financial cliff, and we have cities close by us. They're going through the financial cliff, and they have tax measures coming in. You look at Canola, and they have to make deep, deep cuts

2:01:33of 10% across the board. Yeah, we went through that already. And we're good. We're in a better place now, but we also look at that chart, and we are reminded

2:01:44what we need to do in the future, and the the future is, we need more taxes coming in so hopefully with that in combination with this tax and being pro-business. For now, Juan, we can create a city that

2:02:01will will prosper. Yeah, we look at the future changes of what's going on here in El Cerrito and Regionally and

2:02:09and we can have that business round table tax back on in 2026. So, looking at what we to need to do now, I encourage my colleagues to vote.

2:02:23yes, for this tax to put this on the ballot and let the residents decide. And looking at the past votes through the years, they supported

2:02:34each tax that we ask for, because they know.

2:02:38and they personally experience the programs that this city has provided all these years. And and these are things that that I was able to take advantage of as as a kid with this, so many families, new families that we have here

2:02:55that have purchased homes that are paying taxes at all time high.

2:02:59They know the importance of raising a family and having programs that the city provides, and I hope hopefully, with this tax, we will continue to provide the programs that seniors and children and our adults have been participating in for years. Thank you.

2:03:21Great comments.

2:03:23It's Amazon prime day.

2:03:26That's a community.

2:03:29Hopefully, you're shopping at Jenny K's for for Jenny Kay's having a prime day. Sales shop. Local.

2:03:41Be a

2:03:43no, nothing. Okay.

2:03:46this is probably one of the most challenging items I've faced since being here on the Council.

2:03:51because to the point that was made in public comment. Our taxation system in this country is really broken.

2:03:57And

2:03:59it is

2:04:01measure. R is so imperative. Again, I appreciate that Council Member Fidel brought up what we went through in 2021, and I would only see it getting worse. It is a really important revenue source.

2:04:16It is so important to me that for me I am

2:04:19open and willing to figure out ways of being flexible enough so that our community can support this because we need every vote to make sure that this passes, and that folks understand that this is 10% of our budget, and that this is again so important. I have a hard time with the framing of this being a forever tax, because this is not a forever tax. This will can be repealed by voters, and I think that that's a really important

2:04:48thing. But then, on the the flip side, I think a lot of the framing

2:04:52of this notion of a fiscal cliff is also both of these things can depending on the I, the be holder are really, you know, complex. But ultimately this is 10%

2:05:04of our budget. And because of the wayfare decision, when people are shopping online.

2:05:09it is so important that we continue to have this.

2:05:14I, yeah, again, it's

2:05:16I agree that regressive taxation is also very frustrating. But also, you know, this is something that is not

2:05:24You know, this is something that is not. My brain is just not as sharp tonight as it usually is. This is not a new tax. This is what we're already paying. We're trying to maintain these services, and what we saw from that slide from Godbe is that

2:05:39upon hearing this information.

2:05:41people really didn't sway that much in either direction.

2:05:45So the other thought I had is to me. It's about listening to the community and making sure that folks, you know that their concerns are being addressed and being heard.

2:05:55I also wonder if people just would continue to not support it because of their challenges with the city. So even if we made modifications to this to make sure that you know that it does have a sunset date, they would still vote. No.

2:06:10And that's what's really challenging about this item is that it is too important. This is so important for our day-to-day operations as a city. But I have to really be data driven in my decision making for this, because ultimately

2:06:26it's the community that makes this decision. We really need to

2:06:29find from the community what is the best source. And I just it's again, I.

2:06:35I find myself really torn on this because I appreciate all the public comment that came in, because to me that is how we make this better, that we really see and hear things, you know, even I talk to my own mom.

2:06:48You know what you've been really thinking about this. And it does kind of like with term limits for elected office having sunset dates on things. A lot of people feel more comfortable when they know that there is an end date in sight on the flip side.

2:07:04on a management perspective, as we're trying to run the city. If we're constantly looking up, we're going to have to do this again and again and again.

2:07:11It does provide opportunities for us to demonstrate that we are in a much better fiscal place than we were before that our decision making is better. So it was a lot of comment for me to still be in a place where I feel quite torn.

2:07:26Quite torn.

2:07:31I appreciated what councilmember, Fideli said.

2:07:34Like.

2:07:35can can I say a little bit more, please?

2:07:38This is a big discussion, so I appreciate it.

2:07:43so I think I think

2:07:47I think that the voters of El Cerrito do care about

2:07:51what's put before them, and they don't vote for everything. I remember, in 2,016 they didn't vote for a library

2:07:59measure

2:08:01because it was a bit nebulous. It had a big amount of money and no venue

2:08:06and they needed specificity.

2:08:09and it didn't pass.

2:08:12So that is one thing.

2:08:14I think because we have 2 shots at this.

2:08:18There's a possibility that I know it's not the best scenario.

2:08:25but I like

2:08:26would like to go for what's most popular, based on polls.

2:08:31Number one.

2:08:32and if we don't get there, then we need to do a 30 or 35 year term limit the second time around.

2:08:39We have 2 shots at this. I could live with the 30. I said that if someone

2:08:44and you know it's there's a number there. It's not much, but there's not. There's no alternative to the residents getting rid of it in that 30 years, either.

2:08:55There's not that option unless we say there is that option.

2:08:59Actually, I asked the city attorney that question so theoretically, if it was 30 years, and you have to say it. But would the voters still be able to repeal it?

2:09:09They would, we would have to include that in the

2:09:12in the, in the, in, the, in the body of the ordinance, and we would have to include it in the ballot question, because current California law requires that the ballot question state the duration

2:09:24so we would have to include it in both places, voters would still be able to repeal it earlier. And as you've heard.

2:09:32there, it's based. That would basically be an untested addition to the measure that's been pulled. So we'd basically be shooting in the dark about what the results would be, because we'd have no data to to let us know either way how voters feel about that

2:09:47sky. Are you saying we would

2:09:49have to include that, or we'd have to include it if we want to include it. You have to include it if you want to include, if you wanted to, you don't have to include, we could just say 30 years and no option for changing it right? If we decide that, I'm not sure I understand your question. I I think I think

2:10:06the Citizen Initiative petition can be done at any time to put forward an ordinance for voter approval if they go through the process and they get the qualified signature. So even if the measure. Had a 30 year sunset, that process could take place, and someone could try to repeal that before that 30 year sunset date would have passed.

2:10:26Is that what you're trying to ask? Yeah, yeah, yeah. So yeah, the citizens might feel they'll see a number. And they also know that they could do something if they wanted to, which might give more assurance to people voting for it. But

2:10:41it's a majority only ballot measure.

2:10:46I mean, I agree with Councilmember Fideli, because that if if this was if that was a polling where the numbers were low, if it was like a

2:10:5455% majority or a 60% majority. Then that's something that you can kind of play with. But those polling numbers were very, very high.

2:11:03and we don't even, I mean, even though we do have, you know, a call for a sensit. We don't have any data around a sensit.

2:11:11So you're kind of you're already shooting in the dark.

2:11:15So you know, that's why I was more in favor of just having measured updates. And then if people want to go through the repeal process, then, hey? That's why we have a democracy.

2:11:25But I agree with you, Council Member Fideli. It only bring in the number if we missed the 1st shot. But the 1st shot in right now is too high or too low. I don't do that.

2:11:39Does that help you, Madam Mayor?

2:11:42You know again I try to be focused on

2:11:46being data driven

2:11:48and listening to the community. And how we do that, because you know that we have our engaged citizens. I shouldn't use that word engaged community members, you know, the folks who are really watching this and making sure that we are making the best decision

2:12:05for me. It was the polling numbers, not changing

2:12:09that, and also and this is 50 plus one correct.

2:12:12That is correct. So my feeling is, you know, even let me

2:12:15pull that back up again in the report

2:12:19because we're going to have community members who don't like this. We're going to have community members who want to to see a sunset date.

2:12:26and I understand that because it to me, I'm also very torn about this, because I do think that part of good governance is that people should be able and encouraged to reevaluate

2:12:37leadership and decisions, and that this is a part of the process. But these numbers hold firm.

2:12:44That's what's really

2:12:46challenging for me. Because and I think that the folks who are

2:12:50wanting to vote no, even if we have a sunset will still probably vote. No.

2:12:56and I say that with a lot of respect, because I get it

2:13:01so I think the city can make a case. We, the council members, can make a case

2:13:07for voting for this with the

2:13:11possibility opportunity for the citizens to change this.

2:13:15and I would so make this motion

2:13:20that a motion that was a motion I'll second.

2:13:24So I just want to clarify. There are 2 actions tonight. One is one is the adoption of the resolution to call the election on the measure, and the second is to waive reading and introduce the the ordinance so

2:13:38they could be taken as a single action. I just want to make. I would love them as a single action. Want to clarify that? That's what's the motion? Thank you. Thank you, Scott, and I'll accept that amendment.

2:13:46Okay, all those in favor, please say, aye, aye, any opposed

2:13:53motion carries

2:13:55onward. Thank you.

2:13:59Right.

2:14:03all right. Moving on to city council, local and regional liaison assignments. Do we have any updates

2:14:08in this direction? I see none.

2:14:11Any updates. Yeah, just a couple of updates. We had our Cow City's board of directors meeting over the weekend Thursday and Friday of last week. So I attended that, and we did make a vote for the second Vice President, and that will be Teresa Acosta, council member from the city of Carlsbad.

2:14:33So, but she'll join me on the board, and I'll be 1st Vice President and our President after October will be Lynn Kennedy from Rancho Cucamonga. And, by the way she is she has. She is the 1st city that is getting that ev fire truck

2:14:51that costs way too much money, and we'll never be able to afford that. So that's all done by grants and

2:14:59and these fire trucks will have to be

2:15:04tested, because there's a lot of hills up there. So but

2:15:08yeah, you look at that, and we have to be very pragmatic when we're looking at these Evs. These Uvs a lot of them are not fully tested yet. So. But

2:15:20you know.

2:15:21looking at what needs to be done in the future. I do see hydrogen as an alternative.

2:15:27And we're on the queue of a hydrogen station on

2:15:31Central and Carlson Field 76 station. So, looking forward to that, and I know Honda is looking forward to selling their Honda clarity and their hydrogen cars in the future. And I know Toyota Mirai. That's the number one car being sold with hyundai nexo. So we'll have some

2:15:56choices in the future. But we need the infrastructure first.st So

2:16:00hopefully, the State of California will get it together, and we'll put as many hydrogen filling stations like they do in Southern California. We just don't have it here yet.

2:16:12Councillor Fideli. Yes, just quickly.

2:16:16The East Bay Hills, Wildfire Mou, that we just had its second meeting here in El Cerrito last week.

2:16:25and it's changed its name officially to the East Bay Wildfire Coalition.

2:16:30We welcome new members from Penol

2:16:33and rodeo Hercules, and I just want to say our fire chief did a great job

2:16:37working with Berkeley to demonstrate where we can come together on certain ordinances and certain activities. And we have a lot of work to do a lot of issues. So thank you

2:16:47all right, quickly. I had a triple play on June 21st I attended the Abag meeting, Cal City's Public Safety Policy Committee, and I got to join Congressman Garamende and San Pablo. So it's a very busy day.

2:17:00On the 11th I went to the Mayor's conference in Arenda. We had a presentation from Con Fire. They gave us a challenge coin with all the mayors challenged us to have more fire wise groups in the city. So it was. I accepted that challenge coin.

2:17:15and then, on the 12th I had a zoom call with our Congress member and very excited. I am so deeply appreciative that our Congress member sees El Cerrito sees the value in investing in El Cerrito, and making sure that Federal funds are coming in our direction for many needed projects here in the city. So just appreciating the Congress member and also wishing him a very speedy recovery.

2:17:40So

2:17:43now's the time. 8 18. Yeah, I'm I'm gonna get.

2:17:47Yeah. Can I mention something once you do the dedicated yes, yes. So this is a

2:17:52we're adjourning this meeting tonight in memory of former Mayor and Council member, Jane Barkey. She served on the City Council from 1991 to 1999, and she was a mayor in 94 to 98. She was incredibly active in West County. She's a member of the West County Forum, Seloptimus International, Rosie, the Riveter National Park, and the shoddy holiday display.

2:18:16She's having a celebration of life at the Berkeley Country Club on Thursday, July 25, th from 12 to 3,

2:18:23and maybe for election. Yeah, thank you, Mayor, and it's a great tribute to Mayor Barkey. She truly was my real mentor for many, many years, and told the truth about local government and what goes on here.

2:18:39and the city of El Cerrito. So, looking at the positive changes that we've made, and the changes that we made when it comes to the so-called seniority here that no longer exists now because of the games that former mayors have done here through the years. So all of us are now able to participate regionally. No one can block us from doing whatever we want to do here. So this gives every council member now

2:19:08the opportunity to be mayor when they're supposed to be mayor and and no more funny games behind the scenes, so grateful to the longtime friendship that I've had with Mayor Jane Barky. And I know she

2:19:26work with your wife for many, many years. When she headed up by a bag, she truly was the the true regional leader that we had here in El Cerrito. So I'm glad to follow her footsteps, and Lisa and Council member Motoyama. Paul

2:19:43was able to do that as well with his 8 years here, and we see the mayor and the mayor pro tem. And they will be able to do the same as well. So thank you to Mayor Barkey for always telling me the truth, the real truth.

2:19:57and sending love to her husband, another former mayor, Rich Barky, and to the Barkey family.

2:20:04The next regularly scheduled City Council meeting is on Tuesday, August 20, th at 6 PM. Thank you so much.

2:20:10and I ain't.