Special City Council Meeting February 17, 2026

0:00:11Ready? We are ready when you are, Mayor.

0:00:15Good evening, everybody, and welcome.

0:00:19The time is… 601.

0:00:24Madam City Clerk, please call the roll. Mayor Quinto? Here. Mayor Pro Tem Saltzman?

0:00:29Councilmember Kitsanas?

0:00:31Here. Councilmember Mochiyama?

0:00:34Here. Councilmember Weisinger? Here. We have a quorum.

0:00:37Please join me for… the,

0:00:42Pledge allegiance to the flag, or observation of a moment in silence.

0:00:47I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America.

0:00:53One nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

0:01:08Next is, teleconference and public comment instructions. Madam City Clerk.

0:01:14Thank you, Mayor.

0:01:15And thank you, members of the public, online and in person. Please pardon our dust. We are very excited that the audio-visual upgrades in our council chambers is underway. It's a big mess in there, but hopefully we'll be back there before you know it.

0:01:27So this meeting is still a hybrid meeting with the option to participate either in person or via Zoom. This meeting will not be broadcast or livestreamed.

0:01:37Closed captions are available by logging into Zoom. Meetings of the City Council are subject to the Brown Act and are held for the purpose of conducting city business.

0:01:46The Brown Act also ensures the public's right to be heard, and while City Council will not generally respond to your comments directly, your comments will be heard prior to Council taking action. For members of the public who wish to provide oral testimony, the Mayor will announce the time for public comment on each applicable item.

0:02:02Public comments will be taken in person and virtually via Zoom. A request to speak can be submitted to the City Clerk up here by completing a speaker card, by selecting the raise hand feature on Zoom, or by dialing star 9 if joining by phone. In-person speakers will be called first.

0:02:19The Council Rules of Order and Procedure specify that public speakers address the City Council in an orderly and respectful manner, precede their comments with their name and city of residence, and be respectful of time limits.

0:02:31These rules apply for both in-person attendees and those participating virtually. Thank you, Mayor. That concludes my announcements.

0:02:37Thank you very much.

0:02:39The next item on the agenda is, an update from our City Manager, Karen Pincus. Go ahead, Karen. Thank you, Your Honor. Thank you, City Council. Welcome, everyone, to Hannah Gardens. We're glad that you're here. I'd also like to say, besides Happy Council Day, Happy Fat Tuesday, Happy Punchke Day.

0:02:58Happy Mardi Gras, happy Lunar New Year, and happy first day of Ramadan. And if I missed any national days or whatever, happy that too.

0:03:06I just have one announcement to make tonight, and it's a big one. Last week, the League of California Cities held its annual City Manager's Department, conference, where I was able to attend, and our Assistant City Manager, Alex Zoralogos, was able to attend. We made presentations and attended meetings and trainings, and it was

0:03:25really great, but the greatest thing that happened was that our assistant city manager, Alex Orologis, was awarded the John H. Nail Memorial Award.

0:03:36Thank you.

0:03:39This… just so everyone knows, this award is presented annually to an outstanding municipal assistant manager who has contributed significantly to her city government and to the advancement of the community as a whole. And I happen to know it was a pretty good competition, but I've always said that I have the… we, the city of El Cerrito, has the best assistant city manager in California, and now I have receipts.

0:04:05So, congratulations, Alex, and could not be happier for you. So, thank you, Your Honor, that's all I have.

0:04:13Thank you very much. We'll next go to, Council Communications. I'll start to my left.

0:04:21Any yep.

0:04:25I have a mayoral announcement. On February 3rd, I announced that I intended to form a City Council ad hoc subcommittee to review advisory body policies, including the new SB707.

0:04:43I'm appointing, my colleague, Mayor Pro Tem Rebecca Saltzman, and myself, to serve on this ad hoc committee.

0:04:51to work with staff and to report back to the full City Council with some recommendations.

0:04:58Next, we'll go to oral communications from the public.

0:05:02Now is the time for members of the public to wish

0:05:05To provide public comments regarding matters not on the agenda, consent items, and presentation items.

0:05:13Requests to speak can be submitted to the City Clerk by completing a speaker card using the raise hand feature on Zoom, or dialing star 9 if joining by phone.

0:05:24The person requests will be taken first, excuse me, in-person requests will be taken first. Please remember to identify yourself and your city of residence at the beginning of your comments.

0:05:37Bound City Clerk, please proceed.

0:05:39Thank you, Mayor. We have 14 requests to speak on this item.

0:05:55Mayor, if you can just confirm the 3-minute time limit for me?

0:05:59Yes. Okay, perfect. So, again, patience. I appreciate everyone's patience. The microphone up here is hot. You can put it down or adjust it as necessary, but please do try to speak into it so everyone online can also hear your feedback.

0:06:15Okay, so we will take our online

0:06:19Request to speak following our in-person

0:06:22Which we will go ahead and start with.

0:06:25Get to my wrist.

0:06:28Okay, so we will start with Jim Dolganis, followed by Lynn Watkins.

0:06:34Good evening.

0:06:38Let me get this in the right place here.

0:06:40Mayor, City Council members, Jim Logonis, resident of El Cerrito. I am here to talk about the timing of a library bond measure, because I can't attend the meeting on Thursday.

0:06:56First, I want to recognize that, as City Councilmember Cassana says, it costs more to have a bond measure in June than in November, because November, we have costs that we're going to incur anyway.

0:07:12That's the expense side of the equation, or the, income statement.

0:07:19But there's a, income side, or a revenue side, too, and the sooner we have solid funding.

0:07:27The sooner we could start applying for grants from foundations, try to get money from the state.

0:07:33It is almost always required that such funding requires matching. And if you don't have solid funding, you can't show that you have matching. So.

0:07:46I really think that we need to vote soon, and get that underway so we could

0:07:54Try to get other dollars in to help us.

0:07:59Second is, several council members have said the task force that's being considered by the council

0:08:06has a number of issues that they're going to be addressing, and among those issues are feasibility study and projected costs.

0:08:18And I'm going to suggest that to do these, the city council… the task force really needs to know whether there's funding.

0:08:26For example, one of the things that's come up periodically is the possibility of putting a library in some school property that is vacant.

0:08:39And the city manager, who's behind the post here, has said a number of times it's very difficult to, you know, get into a positive conversation with the, school district.

0:08:51Well, I would say that having dollars and knowing that we're serious is really going to help in those discussions. So, for these two reasons, I really think we need to move forward with the June 2nd ballot measure, and I would ask you to,

0:09:08vote in that direction. Thank you.

0:09:12Thank you. Our next speaker is Lynn Watkins, followed by Barbara Lass.

0:09:20Good evening.

0:09:21Hi My name is Lynn Watkins. I've lived in El Cerrito for nearly 40 years.

0:09:27I strongly support a better library in El Cerrito. I also strongly urge a no vote on the flawed tax initiative.

0:09:39But I want to speak tonight about eroding confidence in city government.

0:09:46I talk with countless residents about this tax, and many people are voicing their distrust in city government.

0:09:56Despite the city's claim that it has been separate from pushing the plaza Library agenda, that is not what the optics show.

0:10:08There are serious credibility and transparency concerns.

0:10:13Why wasn't a legitimate task force formed many years ago?

0:10:20Why was the so-called library workshop Actually, a polished marketing presentation.

0:10:28That clearly demonstrated the city's investment and bias.

0:10:34Why are you rushing to spend $80,000 to place this measure on the June ballot, wasting our city funds in this manner?

0:10:46Why are you talking about forming what I believe will be an impotent task force, but only after the vote?

0:10:56This process has been structured all along in a way that has discouraged consideration of alternative library plans.

0:11:07It's difficult for me to watch what I see people talking about trust in our city government slipping away.

0:11:16I think you can and should do better.

0:11:19Thank you.

0:11:21Our next speaker is Barbara Lass, followed by Steve Price.

0:11:30Good evening.

0:11:32Is this about right? Yes. A little short.

0:11:35My name is Barbara Lass. I've lived in El Cerrito for 25 years. I'm here this evening to talk about the importance of the public paths and trails in El Cerrito.

0:11:45Like Berkeley, Kensington, other neighboring communities, we have a lot of public paths that many people are unaware of. They're good for hiking, fitness, recreation, transportation.

0:11:57And many of them are in need of maintenance, a repair. There are new trails that could be built. The trails need signage in many places.

0:12:06And there are community groups, including the El Cerrito Trail Trekkers who have the personnel and the money, frankly, to work on these trails. All we really need is the buy-in and the support of the City of El Cerrito to do that. These trails could be a win-win for everybody. It wouldn't cost very much money, we would,

0:12:26be right up there with Berkeley and Kensington and talking about our paths and our recreational opportunities.

0:12:32And there are people ready right now to work on the trails. We really just need the cooperation and the support of the city, not even fiscal support, just, other sorts of support.

0:12:46Thank you very much. Thank you.

0:12:49Our next speaker is Steve Price, followed by Janet Byron.

0:12:58Good evening.

0:13:00Yes, my name is Steve Price of El Cerrito. I understand that the City has concerns regarding the City's exposure to liability risk if it under… condones volunteers working on trails.

0:13:14In town, as someone who spearheaded a very big volunteer effort.

0:13:19I have some thoughts. The El Cerrito Greenway Committee rounded up hundreds of volunteers in the 1990s, to help plant trees the length of the city along what is now known as the Lone Greenway.

0:13:32This was not without risk. Volunteers deployed heavy tools, such as stake pounders, and a small select number actually used heavy machinery, including driving a water truck and filling it up at fire hydrants.

0:13:49And, we, delivered, mulch using a dump truck.

0:13:54And I even operated a backhoe to make channels to ensure that the trees weren't in standing water after rains.

0:14:01The El Cerrito Greenway Committee closely supervised the pool of volunteers to ensure that everyone is working safely.

0:14:08City staff, especially the late Joel Witherell and Bruce King, worked enthusiastically with us over several… couple of years to plant over 800 trees.

0:14:20The group of volunteers working on urban trails will be a team, much smaller than the hordes of Greenway volunteers that we had, and the number who would be using any potentially hazardous tools will be small.

0:14:34And if not experienced, would receive careful training.

0:14:38The result of our volunteer efforts was the beautiful forest of mature trees the length of El Cerrito and the Ohlone Greenway, which thousands of people now enjoy daily.

0:14:50I think volunteer urban trail building and maintenance should be encouraged.

0:14:55In a time of social division, community spirit and volunteerism should be encouraged.

0:15:01and celebrated.

0:15:03This project will entail much less hazard than a barn raising.

0:15:07And will be a modest, but wonderful contribution to community building. Thank you.

0:15:13Thank you.

0:15:13Our next speaker is Janet Byron, followed by Brian Richmond.

0:15:22Hello, hi. I'm Janet Byron, I'm an El Cerrito resident, and I'm speaking to you today as a member of the El Cerrito Trail Trekkers Public Paths Committee.

0:15:32El Cerrito has several dozen public paths. These are city rights of way that connect upper and lower streets, primarily in the El Cerrito Hills. In addition to providing recreation and access, they play an important role in evacuation.

0:15:46About a dozen paths are currently undeveloped. El Cerrito Trail Trackers has been attempting to partner with El Cerrito to improve these paths since Dave Weinstein formed the organization 15 years ago.

0:16:00The effort picked up steam in late 2021, when the Parks and Recreation Commission partnered with the Trail Trekkers to develop a work plan and strategy for improving public paths in El Cerrito.

0:16:11The Commission adopted the plan in late 2022 and forwarded it to the City Council in 2023.

0:16:18In July 2023, Weinstein and then Parks and Rec Commissioner Avis Gadron met with Councilmember Gabe Kinto and City Manager Karen Pincos, who said that the matter would be taken up as part of the capital improvement project planning project.

0:16:34In June 2024, our committee secured a meeting with Stephen Prey, El Cerrito's Environmental Programs Manager.

0:16:42At that meeting, we were told that, yes, we can build paths. Volunteers would have to sign waivers, no problem. And we would need to show the city engineer and Public Works Director, Yvette Ortiz, a plan for a pilot project at Tasahara Park.

0:16:57The planned path would connect the lower and upper parts of the park, where an historic wood staircase is long gone, and park users must scramble up and down a steep, rocky slope.

0:17:09We put together a detailed plan for the Tasahara Path, which was entered into the public record tonight.

0:17:17For the past year, we've had meetings with Ortiz to secure the city's permission with a planned start date of Spring 2026.

0:17:25Throughout, we've responded fully to numerous requests.

0:17:28We connected our teas with public works staff in Berkeley and Kensington, drafted a new waiver, provided lists of tools, and developed a training program.

0:17:39Last week, we received an email from Ortiz which said, I've discussed your quote, I've discussed your proposals with our city manager. Unfortunately, due to several legal and liability issues that must be further evaluated, we won't be able to move forward with the Tassahara Park path this year.

0:17:57Our goal is to build public paths with volunteer labor at zero cost to the city. We are enthusiastic, community-minded citizens who are trying to improve El Cerrito, and we request the Council's support and assistance in moving this project forward. Thank you. Thank you.

0:18:15Our next speaker is Brian Richmond, followed by Justin Chang.

0:18:22Hi, I'm Brian Richmond, a longtime El Cerrito resident. I'm the co-president of the El Cerrito Trail Trekkers, and I'm following, following up on what, Janet and Steve and Barbara just said, and,

0:18:34I've been in front of this group for a number of times, talking about my cautious optimism that we're moving forward.

0:18:41And now that cautious optimism is gone, and we're just really frustrated and angry. It's been years of trying to work with the city, coming to meetings. The one in January was canceled four days beforehand, where I'd already made a, you know, rearranged my schedule. Then they were postponed until February.

0:19:00And now we get this email that Janet just described, where now it's been pushed back indefinitely. And this has been a story of moving goalposts, moving goalposts, moving goalposts, and this has been moved yet again. And I just want to clarify that what we're offering… what we're trying to do

0:19:18is to improve something that right now is… is a liability. There are paths there that are really dangerous, and there's bad erosion. All we're trying to do is make it safer. So, to hear that there are liability concerns about

0:19:33our volunteers and their work using things like a pick and a shovel, which we've actually developed training programs for now, believe it or not. So, all of that that we've done, and other groups are not being asked to surmount these hurdles, and other cities are not asking their groups to have these kinds of hurdles.

0:19:52Like, Berkeley has a 35-year history, and they have 130 paths. The guy who's doing our paths here, he's the lead on all of those. He has 15, 20 years of experience building them, so we're not doing this without some kind of prior knowledge.

0:20:06And in terms of liability, Berkeley has had, how many lawsuits? Zero in all that time. So, to me right now, at a more fundamental level, it feels like the relationship between the city

0:20:18And our nonprofit groups and volunteers is broken.

0:20:21When we can't even

0:20:23have a partnership where we can enable our citizens to make improvements to our community, then what… then something's wrong with the process. And the Parks and Rec Commission has identified the top priority.

0:20:38is to improve this relationship between the city and our public groups. And I think that's the right message to send, and I just urge you as city council members and city staff

0:20:50to make a better relationship and help enable and empower a community, right? As John Lewis famously said, we need to do… make some good trouble here, okay? So, thank you.

0:21:03Our next speaker is Justin Cheng, followed by Tom Shree.

0:21:08Good evening, Mayor Quinto, Councilmembers, and fellow citizens.

0:21:13I would like to speak about the library tax initiative, and I'd like to start off by saying that these discussions should not be… not be framed as an us-versus-them scenario. We are all citizens wanting the same thing, a good, updated, modern library that is fiscally as well as structurally sound.

0:21:33I believe the Council should welcome and appreciate

0:21:37The efforts of those who are posing this measure, because they are bringing significant… into light significant flaws.

0:21:45with this proposal. The council members would do well to fully understand each

0:21:50and respond to each point that was brought up, by these people, by the citizens of… for a Better El Cerrito committee, and others who have been involved in these discussions.

0:22:01Recently, a person on Nextdoor asked, What is this all about?

0:22:05I will read my response to that post.

0:22:09There's an initiative for a property tax in El Cerrito. The plan, if passes, will start taxing people without any defined location, no definitive structural plans, no definitive start date.

0:22:21And a guesstimate of total cost.

0:22:24Initially promoted as $20 million, Then 27. Now 37.

0:22:30We are not against having a new library, but we are against this tax plan.

0:22:35It has nothing concrete.

0:22:37And could be as high as $100 million over 30 years.

0:22:42My analogy for buying… to this is, like, buying a new car.

0:22:46Start paying me now.

0:22:48For a new car.

0:22:49I don't know what color, size, features, Or when you'll get it.

0:22:54Or even the final cost. But trust me, you'll like it. By the way.

0:22:59We will form a task force to ensure you'll like it, After you start paying me.

0:23:05My conclusion? This proposed tax measure is a very vague, irresponsible plan.

0:23:12In fact, it is a misnomer.

0:23:14As the only part Of, quote, the library tax that is real, Is the tax part.

0:23:21There is no library.

0:23:23I encourage everyone Who loves library and a physically healthy El Cerrito city to oppose this plan. Thank you.

0:23:33Our next speaker is Tom Shree, followed by Margaret Cojia.

0:23:43Daytime. Good evening, everyone.

0:23:46My name is Tom Schrey, resident for 23 years of our beautiful city.

0:23:52And I'm gonna talk about the library tax also.

0:23:57There are so many holes in the arguments to this…

0:24:01that the pro-tax initiative should be withdrawn.

0:24:06We are being asked to start paying a tax for an unknown building, location, construction start time, size, etc. But just believe us, it will be worth it.

0:24:18Even if this passes, the tax will not be enough now that the cost has doubled.

0:24:23So then what?

0:24:26There's no assurance that whatever monies are raised will not be blended into the general fund to be used for higher salaries and more consultants.

0:24:35This has happened over and over after citizens… after citizens have voted for

0:24:42COVID recovery funds, the pool tax, the utility user tax.

0:24:47and the Real Property Transfer Tax, the RPBT.

0:24:51Which was promoted to support community needs.

0:24:55Like, a senior center and library.

0:24:58Each time, funds were absorbed and blended into the general fund.

0:25:03I believe the language of this initiative is vague enough that that same thing can happen.

0:25:11And as for creating a downtown, the ground floor of a BART housing project building that doesn't provide

0:25:19Dedicated parking just won't have any downtown vibe.

0:25:23Anchor businesses do help to create a downtown feel. Diverse retail helps. Independent businesses help.

0:25:31Evening activity. Visitors from other cities helps.

0:25:34But a library surrounded by a busy parking lot, won't have that feel

0:25:40I don't think residents on fixed or stable incomes would be helped. I don't think seniors would be helped.

0:25:47The senior exemption is just not easily approved.

0:25:50Small businesses won't be helped.

0:25:53Homeowners struggling to keep up with rising mortgages and increased taxes won't be helped.

0:25:59The winner would be City Hall.

0:26:02which hopes…

0:26:04A flexible income stream means they don't need to plan as carefully for future budgets, cut back on spending, or pay down the pension liabilities.

0:26:16Do not put this on the June ballot. It's a waste of $80,000, which would reinforce the perception that the City Council just doesn't care how our taxes are spent.

0:26:28Thank you.

0:26:36Our next speaker is Margaret Cojia, followed by Olivia Eelson.

0:26:45Good evening.

0:26:51Can you please check there's a green light at the base of the microphone? I don't think it's on.

0:27:00Check, check, okay, we're good. All right, good evening, Mayor, City Council Member, and City Manager.

0:27:09My name's Margaret Cohee, and I've been a long-time resident of El Cerrito.

0:27:15And I am in favor… this is about the library tax… I am in favor of

0:27:21Library being remodeled, or… a new, new one, but I am not in favor of the tax.

0:27:30initiative. I want to see a comprehensive cost analysis before I vote.

0:27:37With that in mind, I support a November vote.

0:27:40So that there is time to educate El Cerrito residents.

0:27:46I would also, I can't read this.

0:27:55I… I also don't see the wisdom in spending $80,000 for a June vote, and I am not in support of a June vote.

0:28:06I encourage… City leadership.

0:28:09to respect differing views, and that they help facilitate and foster a common ground so that a positive community, rather than an angry community, develops. El Cerrito doesn't need to foster polarization, as we have seen in

0:28:29our current administration in DC, but rather El Cerrito, let them be a model of democracy. Thank you.

0:28:39Thank you.

0:28:41Our next speaker is Olivia Eelson, followed by Chelsea Sparty.

0:28:48Hello, I'm Libby Eilson, live in El Cerrito, have for some years now.

0:28:56I was very interested in the first thing you all sent out to us. It's a very fancy, thing about the library initiative. I read it carefully, and I noticed that, something like seven reasons were given for having this whole thing go through. I read that carefully, and I saw that half of those

0:29:15Reason, supposedly, repeated each other, which means that it was put together in such a way as to

0:29:22Magnify the number of reasons that… legitimate reasons for, having a, this whole library project.

0:29:32And so, of course, that made me very suspicious, because it seems then that the City Council really wants to have this thing go through. And as I read online about the financing of it.

0:29:45I can see why you would really want it, because this would be a tax on El Cerrito people, and…

0:29:54It would start at a certain level, but you could increase it with, yearly, over, what, 30 years, or whatever.

0:30:01And it wouldn't have to… you could be able to put it into the general fund so that it wouldn't necessarily go for a library at all. So, in some ways, I think that the word library may be sort of a password like motherhood and apple pie. It's like, oh, everybody wants this, because we all like books, we think education is a very important thing.

0:30:21And, I'm a big reader myself.

0:30:24And use the library a lot.

0:30:27But I think that the whole thing has been misleading, and I can see why you all would want to have all this money pouring in. I'm not very interested in paying that money. As for the library itself.

0:30:39I'm not sure. It's very nice when I go in there, but, maybe there are earthquake safety problems and things like that that need to be addressed. That's a whole…

0:30:51Bag of things that need to be really looked at in such a way that

0:30:55That's methodical, and with numbers attached, so that we know what would it cost to do it this way, and that way, and that way. I do feel as people, this sort of, council members have sort of come with their hands and, well.

0:31:08this would be a great project. If it ever happens, is built, then, it'll be a glory record for us, and the city will be very proud, and so forth.

0:31:18But we have other expenses in the city, too, and they're really important.

0:31:24So, I feel as though a lot more thinking needs to go into it.

0:31:28with, and give yourselves time to do it, because rushing it in order to have a quick vote, I think, is a bad idea, and should be put on a later ballot.

0:31:40as well.

0:31:41So that said, I think Elsaida's a wonderful place to live, but, I think this project needs to be rethought. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Our next speaker is Chelsea Sparty, followed by Barbara Chan.

0:31:56Good evening.

0:31:58Hestam, Netoyette, Chelsea, Sparti, Wintui Vida, Bulumpuyukin, boss.

0:32:06Siwi Chala.

0:32:07Good evening, City Council members and staff. My name is Chelsea Sparty, I live here in El Cerrito, and I was born here in Contra Costa County.

0:32:16I am a Wintu native.

0:32:18Our lands are in the Reading area.

0:32:21And I can speak… My language tonight, because of libraries.

0:32:29In El Cerrito, we talk about values of uplifting Black, Indigenous, people of color.

0:32:34And it requires action.

0:32:39My relatives partnered with linguists, Most of which are here at UC Berkeley.

0:32:44and library archivists to store our language in libraries throughout California.

0:32:50Our dictionaries are safe on library shelves.

0:32:54They're available to everyone.

0:32:56So that we may revitalize and live our language.

0:33:00For this and many other reasons, I fully support a modern library in El Cerrito.

0:33:06First off, I support placing the library measure on the June ballot. Second, I support appropriating funds for a bond consultant.

0:33:14Third, I support having one of the non-voting members on that task force, perhaps

0:33:21serve as an independent facilitator, perhaps the county library commission representative, because the facilitator, in my opinion, should not be an elected official. They should be an independent person.

0:33:33And fourth, I support opening the applications for the Library Task Force.

0:33:37Now.

0:33:39And I agree with Mayor Pro Tem Saltzman and Councilmember Weisinger that we should…

0:33:46launch the task force work when we have funding approved, though the visionary action

0:33:52Is to prepare today and have a task force seated with members, ready to begin work the moment that funding is secured.

0:33:59Success for… Our city depends on maximizing time.

0:34:04Placing the library initiative on the June ballot is necessary to leverage library initiative funding so that we can write stronger grants to individual donors, foundations in the state, so that we can pay for the 2627 expenses towards the bond consultant and towards the June ballot initiative. June gives us double

0:34:22Double the time for public engagement and negotiation with any developer.

0:34:29our neighbors here have talked about time, and wanting more time. June is the way to do it, so El Cerrito… El Cerrito City Council, let's do it. Bohemlila, much respect.

0:34:40Our next speaker is Barbara Chan, followed by Claire Sheridan.

0:34:56Good evening. I'm Barbara Chan, I've lived here since 1987, and I'm here to tell you that I love libraries.

0:35:03My daughter and I both volunteered at the El Cerrito Stockton Street Library. I grew up going to libraries every week with my mom. I took my daughter to the library every week. And I want an updated

0:35:16safe library for all of our residents. However, I do not like the library tax initiative, because it begins before there is a plan or a budget for a library. This means that the tax could continue for more than 30 years if it begins this year, and we don't even have a plan for the next two years.

0:35:35It only covers 10 years of operations, and then will have to be taxed for further operations.

0:35:42The city has the ability, with this initiative, to increase the tax without coming back to the voters for approval. That's unconscionable and undemocratic.

0:35:51Whoever pays for something that has no design, no plan, no construction budget, or as my CPA father, who was a state auditor, said, this is buying a pig in a poke.

0:36:04I spoke with a Group 4 architect after the June 2024 so-called library workshop that the city manager put on. I asked her how much it would cost to renovate and expand Stockton Street.

0:36:16She said it would cost $2,000 a square foot to build a two-story, including elevator, modern library there. She said it was the same cost per square foot as what it would cost for the 2,000… 20,000 square foot TOD Plaza site.

0:36:32My now-architect daughter interned with Group 4 Architects when she was studying library and community space design.

0:36:41A 13,000 square foot library is adequate for a town of our size. The architect didn't say anything about building an expensive garage.

0:36:51The unfunded pension liability is still huge. The city will soon want to tax us to build a modern fire and police station, which we need. The reserves have to be built up again.

0:37:03Friends have moved away because they can't afford to pay the long list of parcel taxes. Are we to be taxed out of our homes?

0:37:12Voters who love libraries and believe in fiscal responsibility and financial sustainability should vote against the initiative, and the city should go back to the drawing board and come up with an affordable library plan that we can

0:37:27Finance.

0:37:30And also have enough money left in our pockets to pay for other expenses that are coming up. Thank you.

0:37:38Our next speaker is Claire Sheridan, followed by Greg Lyman.

0:37:48Good evening, Mayor, Council Members. My name is Clara Sheridan, and I've been an El Cerrito resident since 2002.

0:37:55This Citizens Initiative has been years in the making, and I'm here tonight to urge you to place the library measure on the June ballot. I offer several reasons.

0:38:05First, costs continue to arise. Construction inflation has not paused, and postponing a decision will only increase the total price tag. Delays do not save money. They make the project more expensive.

0:38:20Second, the agenda materials state that the developer needs a commitment if it were to be at the BART Plaza Station by March 2027.

0:38:30Because it takes more than a month to certify election results, delaying the ballot measure would leave very little time for meaningful public input and careful evaluation of all of the options. That compressed timeline risks undermining serious consideration of the plaza station alternative altogether.

0:38:48Third, there are real opportunity costs to waiting. The sooner the city secures a guaranteed funding source, the sooner it can compete for matching funds and grants that would reduce the overall burden on local taxpayers. Delay weakens this position.

0:39:02Planning requires funds. The City Council cannot by itself, create…

0:39:09an architecture, you know, a plan for a new library. We need a tax first, no matter whether it's renovating the library or constructing a new library on whatever site.

0:39:20Finally, if the ballot measure passes, the city can reimburse the cost of the election from the proceeds of the tax measure itself.

0:39:27In short, this is not the time to be penny-wise and pound foolish.

0:39:32To contain costs, preserve all options, and ensure a robust public process with sufficient time for public input, I respectfully urge you to avoid further delays and vote to place the library measure on the June ballot. Thank you for your consideration.

0:39:49Our next speaker is Greg Lyman, followed by Betsy Basher.

0:39:54Good evening, Council Members, Mayor, and fellow residents.

0:40:00when I… drafted the ordinance and started collecting signatures. It was in… with no intention of dividing

0:40:08our… our community.

0:40:11I am working to try and build our community, to make something that we can all be proud of.

0:40:20there's a lot of misinformation out there about the tax. The tax… is not increasing every year.

0:40:27The tax is to pay back the construction debt.

0:40:32So there's a lot of misinformation. But a yes vote is for choices.

0:40:39A yes vote is for a plan. The plan has been put forth in the impact study.

0:40:46That's available for Thursday's meeting.

0:40:49A yes vote is for community.

0:40:52Ezra Klein recently interviewed Priya Parker, the author of The Art of Gathering.

0:40:59Around 25 minutes into the interview, Ms. Parker says, the antidote to authoritarianism Is knowing your neighbor.

0:41:08She shortly follows that up with, Look into your community.

0:41:14This is what public spaces are for. This is what libraries are for.

0:41:19Palaces for the People by Eric Klinberg, beautiful book about how libraries serve as the really important social third place

0:41:29Most libraries have public programming. Go meet up!

0:41:33That's her way to combat authoritarianism.

0:41:37A yes vote is for our public soul.

0:41:41Susan Orlean, who wrote the library book, writes in her 2025 memoir, Joyride.

0:41:48I now understand why the loss of a library is such a collective sorrow.

0:41:53A library is our shared memory, the shared stories, and the wisdom of the community.

0:41:58A library isn't merely a municipal building, although it is that.

0:42:04It is merely… it isn't merely a valuable resource for books, although it is certainly that as well.

0:42:10Libraries are something more than that. Something essential, and emotional, the public soul.

0:42:19There's a concept out there called the Tragedy of the Commons, where individual… individuals prioritize personal gain over community welfare, and resulting in the depletion of a shared resource. In this case, it's our current library.

0:42:35I am for something.

0:42:37Please be for something, and vote yes, and move this project forward. Thank you.

0:42:44Our next speaker is Betsy Basher, followed by Susanna Balmacita.

0:42:53Good evening, Councilmembers and Mayor, nice to see you all.

0:42:58I am here, because I wanted to ask you for more information about parking around the transit-oriented development. And specifically, I noticed in the plan that is coming up, in a couple of days.

0:43:13It states the city has undertaken studies that demonstrate the availability of street parking in the vicinity of the site, sufficient to meet the needs of library patrons, BART patrons, residents, and others visiting the area. The City is also in preliminary stages of developing a parking management plan for street parking in the vicinity.

0:43:32Structured parking is included in the potential cost for Scenarios 2 and 4, because the City has not undertaken similar analyses since the City Council has not directed staff to conduct a detailed investigation, as in Scenario 3.

0:43:47So, I just want to see this detailed investigation. I need to see a report. Jarrett Mullen, the City's Sustainable Transportation Program Manager, did a presentation on June 11th, 2024.

0:44:03And he explained the plan for parking.

0:44:06He announced that there are 1,500 street spaces within a 5-minute walk of the BART station. He announced how time limits would be used, how pricing would be used. Then, last year, the City Council approved a $220,000 contract with Dixon Resources.

0:44:23To develop and promote a parking management plan.

0:44:30And,

0:44:31analysis, including the occupancy studies, like the ones that were done for Richmond Street, counting the cars, and analyzing how much parking is being used, that was supposed to be… begin one year ago, this past February, according to the contract. So I just find it very, very, disappointing, and…

0:44:51hard to believe that the city doesn't have information about this plan, and I think in connection with the library and everything else that is happening in the city, it's really important to bring this information forward. Thank you.

0:45:06Our next speaker is Susanna Balmacita, and then we'll go to our virtual speaker, James Porter.

0:45:14Good evening, Mayor and City Council. Thank you for having this meeting.

0:45:19I'm Suzanne Balmaceta, I've lived in El Cerrito since 2003, and my husband and I

0:45:26raised our two sons, who are now in their 20s, and we enjoyed going to the library when they were young, and we still enjoy going to library now. So, we're really looking forward to a new, modern library to be built.

0:45:39We do deserve a new library in El Cerrito. And I'm unable to attend your meeting on Thursday.

0:45:46So I'm calling to ask if you could put the ballot on the June… or put the measure on the June ballot.

0:45:55And I support the library tax. It is… it is… it is the only way to build a new library in El Cerrito.

0:46:02Without the tax, you won't even be able to fix up the 75-year-old library that we have now.

0:46:10A June ballot allows you to complete a robust community engagement process.

0:46:18And preserve time to consider the transit-oriented development option, Scenario 3. A delay would effectively eliminate this viable alternative.

0:46:30A June ballot reduces delays that would only increase the cost of the library, so please don't delay the vote.

0:46:38A June decision allows more time for grant applications and collaboration, as others have said.

0:46:44With state leaders on ways to supplement the tax revenue and have less, of a burden, you know, on the tax.

0:46:53Payers, like myself.

0:46:55So I urge you to please vote to put it… on Thursday, to put it on the June ballot. And just for the record, I'm happy with,

0:47:04the amount of parking there looks like there's gonna be, I'm happy to walk.

0:47:08For up to 5 minutes or more. I like to walk, so I think…

0:47:12it's going to encourage people to drive less and not feel like they have to always park right in front of where they want to go. It's healthy for all of us to get fresh air and walk for

0:47:245 minutes, more or less. Thank you.

0:47:28Okay, we're gonna go to our remote request to speak. James Porter, you're next. I…

0:47:35I've given you permission, you should be able to unmute.

0:47:38James Porter: Yeah, I've done that.

0:47:40We can hear you. You can go ahead and begin your.

0:47:42James Porter: Thank you. Good evening. My name is James Porter, and I am an El Cerrito resident.

0:47:49I am also a UC Berkeley professor.

0:47:51Libraries are my second home.

0:47:54El Cerrito deserves a great library.

0:47:57The current tax initiative will not produce the library that we all want.

0:48:03It may produce no library at all.

0:48:05I won't run through the many problems and unanswered questions that the current proposal has brought to the surface.

0:48:13You have heard all the objections before, and you will hear them again from others.

0:48:18I will simply say this.

0:48:20The plan on the table is flawed and ill-conceived, and it needs to be rethought from the ground up before you put it to voters for approval.

0:48:31The project in its current form will not bring the results it promises to bring.

0:48:37This is not an initiative that we are ready to vote for.

0:48:41And I do not understand the urgency.

0:48:44Why not pause and take a breath?

0:48:47I urge you to set this initiative aside, appoint a fully independent committee with representatives from all sides of the debate.

0:48:56And do a thorough feasibility study, and to answer the questions that have not been answered as of today.

0:49:03Without putting the cart before the horse.

0:49:06So that you can restore confidence in the El Cerrito Library project.

0:49:12You are the city's elected representatives.

0:49:15We count on you to do what is right for the city.

0:49:19If the library project goes forward under the proper conditions, it will succeed, and the residents of El Cerrito will be forever grateful to you.

0:49:29If this tax initiative goes forward as it stands, there will surely be regrets in the future.

0:49:35Thank you.

0:49:37Thank you for your comments. And Mayor, we have one final request to speak in person, so we'll go back to the podium in the room for Michelle Fidelity.

0:49:49Good evening, Mr. Mayor and Council Members. Michelle Fidelli, I'm a resident of El Cerrito for the past 33 years, and I just want to say that I am joyful about the concept, the prospect of a new library.

0:50:03I'm looking forward to voting on a new library, and really anxious to begin our community engagement

0:50:11process so that we can, include all the people in the room to talk about, how we can make the new library the best library for our students, our families.

0:50:23Our preschoolers, our seniors, and our learners of all ages.

0:50:28And I appreciate your attention.

0:50:32To the details and helping us through the process.

0:50:35And let's get started. Thank you.

0:50:39Thank you. Mayor, that concludes our request to speak. Okay, thank you very much. Next, we're going to go to, a presentation.

0:50:47And this will, recognize our 2025 exemplary police employees. Before that, I want to,

0:50:59approve this, so do I have a motion to approve the three proclamations?

0:51:06Okay, so I have a motion by Motayama and a second by Salzman. Madam City Clerk. All those in favor, please say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Motion carries unanimously.

0:51:16Thank you.

0:51:18Chief, go ahead.

0:51:20Okay.

0:51:21Good evening, Mayor and City Council. I'm Paul Keith, your Chief of Police.

0:51:25I'm here tonight to recognize some exemplary service

0:51:29From our volunteer staff, our professional staff, and our police officers.

0:51:33So, to award our Officer, Professional Staff, and Volunteer of the Year, we use a nomination process to an awards committee. Our awards committee is made up of past recipients of awards, so they've got a great insight into the type of work that it takes to become recognized as an of the year employee.

0:51:52After they make nominations, our supervisory staff make the final determination of who will be our award winner.

0:51:58Our awards process is guided by our mission.

0:52:01That we protect our community, solve crime, and pursue justice. And it's also guided by our values. Commitment, accountability, leadership, honor, integrity, and pride.

0:52:12So with that said, I'm gonna start talking about 3 really fantastic people.

0:52:17First person is our Volunteer of the Year, Kathy Smith. Now, I understand Kathy is on a trip right now, so she wasn't available to come tonight, so what I'd like to do is say some really nice things about Kathy that she can then watch later on, on a recording, and then I can repeat them when I see her in person.

0:52:33So Kathy attended our El Cerrito Police Department Community Police Academy in 2019, and became a volunteer the following year in 2020. Since then, she's volunteered over 170 hours of her own time in service to our community.

0:52:46She's served as a role player in our department training.

0:52:49And I can tell you, this can be a strenuous activity. It's not just like, oh, I'm pretending to be this person. A lot of our role-playing is in practically live-fire scenarios. We have police officers and suspects armed with paint-shooting guns, so it can be a very emotionally extreme situation to roleplay in.

0:53:09But Kathy has done it with the best of them. She really helps prepare our officers to be better when they hit the street.

0:53:16She's also a great organizer, that really is one of her talents. She puts those, skills to work with the police department.

0:53:22Particularly in the area of vacation home checks. So, this is kind of a plug for a program as well. If you're an El Credito resident, and you are going out of town, you can go to the El Credito website and request that we do vacation home checks. So, we'll send officers up, we'll check on your house. If something's wrong, we'll have contact information for you.

0:53:41Well, Kathy really loves those. She is one of our main organizers of getting our volunteers out to go check on people's homes while they're off vacationing in Europe or different parts of the country. She puts together maps so it's easy for volunteers and officers to go find the location. She also does tons of patrols just by herself.

0:53:57She's also a regular attendee of City Events, being there on behalf of the El Cerrito Police Department. She's helped us at 4th of July festivals, Tri-City Safety Days, Pumpkin Splashes, MLK parades, and many, many more. She can see her just about every single time we have an El Cerrito Easy Up Up. Kathy's gonna be there helping us out.

0:54:17She's a fantastic member of our police department team. We're really grateful for her volunteerism and civic spirit. So, Kathy, I hope you're watching, and if you're not, you can watch the recording. Thank you so much for everything you do for our city and for our department. You're one of a kind.

0:54:33Alright.

0:54:38For our next two, I have some people to invite up. So let's start off with our professional staff member of the year, Emily Graham.

0:54:52Okay, so Emily started with the El Cerrito Police Department in 2023, when she was hired as the executive assistant.

0:54:59She's come from a train… from a teaching background. She was an elementary school teacher for over 15 years.

0:55:06Now, I can say her background in childhood education has definitely served her well in the police department.

0:55:12Because she's patient.

0:55:15And she has a great commitment to building community.

0:55:19Yeah, that's it. That's… that's why.

0:55:23She solves a lot of problems at the police department. She solves problems with payroll and vendors, and very importantly to me, calls to the chief's office. She's so good at her job that we often don't even realize she's already solved a problem until we find out afterwards from somebody who says, hey, Emily was so great at this, you know, we don't even know it was a problem. Emily's already solved it.

0:55:43In the last two years, Emily has played a key role in our wellness program.

0:55:47She's managed healthy food choices for our officers, making sure that nutritious options are available at all hours of the day. She took a lead role in the development of our wellness room, helping design a space and stock it with activities that promote restoration and recovery.

0:56:03She's the editor of our police department newsletter that highlights the good work of our officers and gives tips on resilience and wellness.

0:56:10Emily's also the lead editor of our annual report, and I think primary author, too.

0:56:17And also countless social media posts. If you see our social media stuff, probably at least 50% of the time, it's Emily putting it out there.

0:56:24When it comes to our annual report, she brings together the ability to take data and cases and tell a compelling story about the work of our police department every year.

0:56:34I think also from her teaching background, she brings a lot of creativity to the job.

0:56:38So, two years ago, she came up with an idea for a sticker contest that kids would help create stickers during the holidays that we could then give out to kids.

0:56:46This last year, she came up with a great idea to have our community's youth design our police department holiday card, and so we had kids from all over the city put forth their designs of our holiday card, and it was a little bit of a sweat for me because, you know, you want a good design, but you're also asking it out of elementary school kids. But we really got some great designs submitted. Emily arranged to have

0:57:11a local judge be the judge of the competition, too. So overall, it was just a really great event. We ended up using one of the designs from the kids on our holiday card for 2025.

0:57:21In a lot of ways, Emily goes above and beyond to make the ECPD a smooth-running operation and support the women and men that work in the building. So, on behalf of the police department, thank you so much for all your hard work. You are a tremendous, tremendous member of the team.

0:57:43Have a moment if you'd like to say something.

0:57:45Okay. Okay. That's all. Let's stay up here, so we've got some more employees.

0:57:52I told them to repair for a 10-minute speech, but…

0:57:56Okay, next up we have our Officer of the Year, Neera Jan Chan, so please come up.

0:58:08So to start with, really great news. Neerajan is our newest police detective, so he just got assigned to the detective unit, like, 2 weeks ago, I think, right?

0:58:21So, in 2022,

0:58:23We hired Neerjan as a police recruit and sponsored him in the police academy. He graduated and began working full-time in 2023, and up until last month, he was a patrol officer, so all of last year, he was working the streets of El Cerrito.

0:58:36He's been an all-around high performer in our patrol division. He's highlighted by his peers for his commitment to teamwork, his work ethic, and his willingness to go out of his way and his comfort zone to get things accomplished.

0:58:48Last year, Neerjan made big contributions to the patrol division. He was in the top 5 for most arrests, most criminal investigations, and highest amount of traffic safety enforcement.

0:59:00And he did great work across all categories, managing his workload to make a big impact in many different areas.

0:59:06I think his commitment to our agency was best exemplified when he was selected as a department trainer last year.

0:59:13So last year, we collaborated with the Contra Costa Probation Department on a training program designed to improve outcomes between police officers and their teenage community.

0:59:23The course was called Policing the Teenage Brain. So, it's a type of course that I think only one or two other agencies in the county had done before. It was definitely in the,

0:59:35Oh, I would say in the more touchy-feely side of police work.

0:59:39And Nearjan was chosen as one of the trainers because of his ability to connect with people, and we wanted the course to be a big success.

0:59:46So NeuroGen went off to a training class. It was partially funded by a grant.

0:59:50And came back with a partner officer to teach the course.

0:59:54I can tell you, he received gushing rave reviews from the national organization that sponsored the training. They were there to see his training, and just felt that it was a model for how the training should be delivered across the country.

1:00:08One of the portions of the class really demonstrated NeuroGen's connection with our community. So, the two instructors, they were asked, you have to bring some teenagers to the class. It's not just teaching the cops. You have a section where you have these teenagers come in, and the teenagers are part of a role play with the cops, where they're kind of playing both roles.

1:00:25And, yeah, I don't know if you know any teenagers, but sometimes they can be maybe less than enthusiastic about things with the police department.

1:00:34And so the national trainers thought, well, well, maybe they could come up with 4 or 5 kids to help do this, you know, that's kind of what we would need at the minimum.

1:00:43Well, between Mario Elliott and Neera Jan, I think they brought together 20 kids to be part of this, almost as many as people as were in the actual training. I had a whole lobby full of kids waiting for this time to start, and they were all super enthusiastic.

1:00:56Especially when they found out that they'd be able to, like, give a bunch of attitude to police officers in a training session.

1:01:03That, Neerajan could pull off the training, and also had that depth of connection in our community, where he had people he could call to bring all of these teenagers together for the class. To me, it just is a great example of the impact that he has on the people that he serves.

1:01:23So, Nirjan, you're a great example of our commitment to our organization mission and values, and it is a great privilege of mine to consider you one of my coworkers. Thank you so much for the tremendous impact you had on our city last year.

1:01:42Thank you, Chief.

1:01:44Good evening, Mayor, Council Members, and the citizens of this community. I am truly honored and grateful for this recognition.

1:01:52I would like to dedicate this to my fellow co-workers and officers who inspire me every day to protect and serve this community. I am proud to serve alongside you and calling my family. Thank you.

1:02:18Do we have any, questions or comments?

1:02:23Okay, so, let's do a… I was just gonna say, it takes so long to reach over and turn the mic on. I mean, I just always take every opportunity to thank you all for your service. You guys are always ready and willing. I see so many of you down in the flats all the time. You don't run away from me when I say, hey, this officer! So, just thank you again for your service to our community.

1:02:49Yeah, I just want to say, congratulations to both of you. El Cerrito is proud to be a

1:02:56pro-public safety city. Public safety always. People move here because they know, public safety is number one in this town. So, congratulations again to both of you. If you come out here to the side here, we can do a group photo

1:03:15Behind, next to the flags here.

1:03:17You could go on the other side of the velvet.

1:04:37Next is adoption of the…

1:04:44Sorry.

1:04:54Okay.

1:04:57Next is adoption of the consent calendar.

1:05:03we have…

1:05:04A approval of minutes, B, community safety committee appointment, C, Community Safety Committee recommendation, D, Financial Advisory Board Recommendations. Would anyone like to pull

1:05:19Can you pull the mic towards you? It's not picking you up.

1:05:26Can you guys hear me okay?

1:05:34Okay, would anyone like to poll?

1:05:36Yes. Yes. I'd like to pull item C, Andy.

1:05:40C and B. D. D. Okay.

1:05:45Let's go to, seniors.

1:05:49Yes, sorry, let me… Scroll, too.

1:05:54The actual item. Well, first, I wanted to thank the Community Safety Committee for this recommendation, and see if anybody from the committee is here to speak to it.

1:06:06Jim is here.

1:06:09Why not?

1:06:14I think this is on. I'm on? Yeah. Yes, you are. So, let me tell you what our discussion was. So,

1:06:22We're talking about the vegetation management reviews that take place, and if you don't pass the standard, you get a notice currently that gives you 30 days to bring it into compliance.

1:06:37So the discussion of the committee was, is 30 days enough? You have a tree that is too close to your house, and you have to find somebody to trim the tree and get the work done in 30 days. So the discussion was, is that really enough time?

1:06:57And 3 of us, I think, that were there said, no, let's ask that that be extended to 45 days.

1:07:05two people said, well, you could appeal it and get more time. So that's where we ended up with a split vote, but the discussion was.

1:07:15you know…

1:07:16people really need a little bit more time, and let's not be so much in their face, let's be a little softer on this kind of thing. It's, you know, not going to really make that much difference, and it just looks like we're being a little bit more considerate of what we're asking citizens to do.

1:07:34Thank you. I mean, I think it sounds like a reasonable recommendation, so I'd like to ask staff one

1:07:42If the council was interested in bringing this back, do we need a council vote to change this? So then I would ask that this be agendized on a future meeting agenda so we can discuss it and potentially vote on it.

1:07:58That's a good question. Yes, go ahead.

1:08:01Is it not agendized now, because it's on there as a consent item?

1:08:05No, this would…

1:08:06This is actually an ordinance of the City Council, and this would need to, if this was the direction of the City Council, to instruct staff to revise this ordinance or come back with at least any sort of a recommendation on this recommendation. We've done no work on this.

1:08:22So, if you want us to do work on this, you can ask us to put this on the agenda. We will do work on this, and we will provide a recommendation. But understand, this would be literally changing a… this would be… this is codified, so this would be more than just a policy matter. This would be,

1:08:37Or it's more… it's more than just a resolution. It would be an actual policy matter to change a city ordinance, and we would have the fire department especially weigh in on this.

1:08:49Yes, we would need a motion to do so.

1:08:51Okay, do I have a motion to approve?

1:08:53Well, the motion is not to approve, right? The motion is to… The motion is to direct staff to put this, or to put this on… Yes, to return with a discussion item. To make a motion to direct staff to bring this to a future agenda when you are ready with the background information, so we can vote on it.

1:09:12I have a motion, by Saltzman and second by, Councilmember Cassanis. All in favor?

1:09:19I… Any opposed? Motion carries unanimously.

1:09:24Thank you. And D?

1:09:26Yes, so similarly, I wanted to thank, the

1:09:30Financial Advisory Board for their recommendation, and wanted to see if anybody from the FAB was here to

1:09:36Comment on the recommendation.

1:09:39Our cherry's coming up.

1:09:42Good evening, Chair. Hi, good evening, David Garvell, Chair of the Financial Advisory Board.

1:09:46Our recommendation is really to focus more on the expense side of the balance sheet.

1:09:52a lot of the gains that we've had on the revenue side have not been direct under our control. Things like ARPA, the transfer tax that came along.

1:10:01We can't,

1:10:03predict when those will happen again, and so, really, we want to see more control on the expense side of the ledger, because that's the things that we can control. And so, I think what our proposal has always been, when we say this, is you say, what do you propose? And our response is, well, we don't want to just propose one thing, we want it to be a collaborative engagement. So,

1:10:22Working with you all, working with staff, together we can identify some changes and potentially reduce the expenses, but it's hard for us to sit here on our own and make recommendations.

1:10:33Thank you. I know… I can't remember exactly what the recommendation was last year, but I think it was kind of similar, and yes, that's… I know that's what I said is, yeah, it's easy to say to do that. Yes, it would be great to control expenses. I think we all feel that way. It will be really helpful in… and more meaningful in the budget process.

1:10:51to hear if you have specific recommendations. I'm sure you will all be involved in the budget process, but I think

1:10:57That is our opportunity to look at the expenses.

1:11:01Yeah, and I guess I would, say, you know, can we put together some type of working group or meeting where we can discuss this? Because again, I think us looking at it on one side is different, because

1:11:12you all set the priorities for the city. So if you say, we want to fund a pool, then we're going to fund a pool regardless of what that does to the balance sheet of this city, right? So we can say, that's a good idea, that's a bad idea, but if you all vote for it, it gets done regardless of what we think. So I think really what we're encouraging

1:11:29is a discussion amongst you and with staff and us, either in a small group or some other forum. I don't know how working group committees happen with the city, but I think only together can we really align on what's the city's priorities and how does that impact

1:11:43the expense side of things, because again, you all have to make the hard decisions about what to cut and what to fund, and what we're seeing on the Financial Advisory Board is really expenses are going up.

1:11:55the balance in our fund is going down, our unassigned fund. It's projected to dip below the 17% reserve threshold, which we think is critical, and so we have a lot of concerns, but again, if you want to fund the priorities that you're funding, that's your choice. But again, we really encourage a collaboration between us.

1:12:15Some folks here on council and staff to really try to understand exactly, where to go.

1:12:20I think it's also important to note, and I know you know this, and the members of the FAB know this.

1:12:25That a lot of the expenses are going up.

1:12:28sort of outside of decisions we make, so the skyrocketing costs of healthcare, there's not much we can do about that. If you can figure out a way to reduce those, that'd be amazing. There's a lot that needs to be discussed on that, but that's impacting everybody, all the cities, businesses.

1:12:46the nonprofit I work at, I mean, everywhere, so that's a real thing, so it's kind of… I don't know, it's challenging. Some of the expenses, just like some of the revenue we don't have full control over, some of the expenses we don't have full control over either, so it's just important to note that, yes, expenses are going up.

1:13:03but not all of those are they based off of, like, a decision we're making unless we decided in contract negotiations to not offer healthcare, which would mean we'd have no employees, so I don't think we would do that, and I don't think anybody's saying to do that, but I just think that's important. I would say I think it's challenging to form a working group with the Brown Act, but

1:13:22I, as an individual council member, am always happy to meet with any of the members of the FAB. I'm sure other council members would, too. This is my first budget process as a council member, so any, you know, thoughts you have, I definitely want to hear them, and though we make the final decision, we want the input in that process.

1:13:42Would you like to,

1:13:43I don't think there's anything to make a motion on. I mean, we're… obviously, we're gonna always attempt to control expenses, but I don't know there's anything actionable here at the moment.

1:13:56Sure, if we need to… We still need to adopt a consent calendar. I can move the consent calendar. I do just want to recognize the hard work of, the finance staff. They've done a really great job in

1:14:06getting us to a good place, and trying to turn the organization to one that really has solid reporting. And I… we as a council, or excuse me, as a board, are really excited for

1:14:17the work that they're doing, they're implementing our recommendation on capitalizing long-lived assets, so things like vehicles and buildings, and so that should give us a really good sense of our costs over the next few years on the expense side. So I just want to recognize the staff.

1:14:30Chair Cogrell, thank you very much, I appreciate that.

1:14:33I'll second. Okay, we have a motion by Saltzman, a second by Motayama. Madam City. All those in favor, please say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Motion carries.

1:14:45Next is, policy matters, and, this will be on the fiscal year 2025-26 mid-year budget amendment.

1:14:55Do you have a staff report?

1:15:30Not on. There we go. Good evening, Mayor and Council members. My name is Claire Coleman. I am the Budget and Financial Services Manager here at the City. This evening, I'm going to give you a brief presentation that is an overview of the report on the recommended mid-year adjustments for the current fiscal year, which is the year 2025-26.

1:15:48I'm gonna do a brief overview of what is in the report, and I also have my boss, our amazing finance director, Crystal Reams, here to especially help answer questions on the successor agency, because it is a particularly complex issue.

1:16:01So, as a brief overview of what is included in the report, there are a number of different adjustments, and each one is provided in detail. I'll touch on each of them briefly. At a high level, in the general fund, there's a recommended total adjustment of $1,142,000.

1:16:17And then there are a series of recommended adjustments in special revenue and enterprise funds as well.

1:16:26A reminder of where the general fund was as of December 31st, 2025. This was the… these are the same numbers that you saw in the second quarter report from the last meeting. This slide does not include the pool amendment that was approved at the February 3rd meeting, but I'll touch on that on the next slide.

1:16:44When we spoke last on February 3rd, revenues were 42% of budget, which is consistent with expected mid-year timing.

1:16:51Expenditures were at 52% of budget, which is aligned with our front-loaded costs and planned spending patterns. So this is, it looks like an imbalance, but this is very expected with the cyclicality of city finances.

1:17:03And then personnel and insurance costs, as we've discussed in the past, and as Councilmember Saltzman, or Mayor Pro Tem Saltzman mentioned just now, expenses are escalating faster than our revenues, and this is largely due to things like personnel, medical insurance, general liability insurance, and other costs that are escalating outside of the city's control.

1:17:22So, other than those large cost increases, most other things are trending close to budget at this time.

1:17:29These are the general fund amendments that have been approved to date. This does include the amendment on February 3rd for the pool.

1:17:36The amendments include, all of the listed things, and they total, $1.7 million, and that's additional costs to the general fund unassigned balance.

1:17:49And so that total net with the original budget, which had a surplus of about $15,000, or $16,000 rounded, is a net use of general fund balance of $1.7 million.

1:18:04The additional proposed general fund amendments this evening are a series of amendments that are proposed because they are not able to be absorbed in the current budgets for each of the departments requesting these amendments.

1:18:15These are, additional consultant support for the Library Tax Initiative report, and that's the 92-12 Fiscal Impact Report about the impact of the proposed Citizens Initiative for the library. And that's $29,500.

1:18:30There is request… a request for executive recruitment services. We are very… both… it's very bittersweet. We're very sad to… we're excited for her, but very sad that our amazing Community Development Director, Melanie Mintz, has announced her intention to retire.

1:18:44And so, in order to make sure that the city continues to have exemplary and high-level leadership on the executive team, staff are recommending an appropriation for executive recruitment services.

1:18:55If you recall, and hopefully this storm won't be too crazy, but there were pretty intense storms over the holidays, and that resulted in some very large emergency tree maintenance needs. And so the Public Works Department is recommending an addition of $30,000 to ensure that the city is able to continue to meet emergency and routine

1:19:14tree maintenance needs throughout the city for the rest of the year. As you can imagine, the storm is probably going to contribute to that need.

1:19:20And then finally, there is a request for a transfer to the CIP fund, and so these are expenses that come from revenue. So when the pickleball courts were developed, there was a memorandum of understanding that was signed, and one of the stipulations is that a portion of fee revenue be set aside

1:19:37for, long-term maintenance and replacement of the courts. And so this is the recommendation based on the revenue that has been received. So this is new revenue to the city that is then going to be transferred to the CIP fund for future maintenance needs.

1:19:51The final piece of this puzzle is the successor agency dissolution. We certainly do not have time to do the full history of what redevelopment was, why it was dissolved, and all of the things that happened.

1:20:04There is a 5-page report for anyone who has not already read it that provides immense detail of what happened with the city, even… it starts

1:20:12at dissolution, so it doesn't even include what redevelopment was. But for, the Council and for the audience this evening, the redevelopment agency, was a local entity that was

1:20:23Established in a number of public agencies who established the redevelopment agencies to address urban blight and promote economic development.

1:20:32That was dissolved in 2012 by an act of this California state legislature. This was outside of the control of cities, and it was quite controversial at the time.

1:20:42And as a result, there is a cascading story of what has happened to the City of El Cerrito and many of our peers.

1:20:49There were a number of true-ups and adjustments that happened in the resulting period. There were a number of disputes and lawsuits between the city and the California Department of Finance, some of which we were successful in and some which we were not.

1:21:04And in 2021, I believe it was a little bit earlier, the city loaned $1.32 million to cover successor agency deficits because of some of the denied charges, which the city then wrote off in 2021, and that looked like a hit to the general fund of that $1.32 million.

1:21:22The successor agency is now fully dissolved. All formal actions by the City Council have been complete. We are all, I think, very relieved and excited to be done with this. And at this time, all debt obligations have been paid, and there are no further, approvals or additional revenues to be received through the successor agency process.

1:21:42As a result, there is a remaining deficit of $1.04 million, and so we require, we recommend and…

1:21:50really need a transfer from the general fund to close the successor agency once and for all.

1:21:58I will now turn this over to Director Reams to answer any additional questions. I recommend, I think, we pause on this slide to talk through some of this before we continue and talk about other funds.

1:22:10Good evening, Crystal Reams, Finance Director. Yeah, this was a very, very complex, issue, stems back to the actual dissolution in 2012, so I've spent the past month, combing through the records, to get down to what actually fundamentally happened, accounting-wise.

1:22:30long story short, all, like Claire said, all of our debt obligations were paid, but there was continuous back and forth between the Department of Finance and the city and the oversight board, and we worked with legal. Sky is here, too. He was, he was here, he knows all, knows all about it.

1:22:49But ultimately, over a series of probably the first

1:22:5410 years, there was multiple denied charges, where the city did,

1:23:01have a lawsuit, which… which we lost, and we entered into a payment plan, but from what I can,

1:23:10what I can glean from… from looking at the actual transactions that happened, the $1.3 million that the city wrote off was not the totality of what, what should have been written off, that the 1.3 was just the total of the negative cash.

1:23:25That was written off, but there were still denied charges that were not addressed. I can…

1:23:32my main assumption would be that we had kept those on the books and continued to submit them in the ROPS in hopes that they would be approved in future ROPS. And ultimately, that just never happened. And so…

1:23:47here we are with, we made our final debt payment, and we received our final ROPS payment, and we are short about, about a million dollars.

1:23:54Unfortunately.

1:24:02Questions, Councilmember Notion. Go ahead.

1:24:04Thank you, Mayor. Can you explain what ROP stands for?

1:24:09Yes, I'm so sorry. Recognized obligation payments.

1:24:15Schedule.

1:24:17Yes.

1:24:18Thank you. I can briefly expand to say it's a horrible acronym for a terrible term that was invented to basically recognize a process in which a successor agency to a dissolved redevelopment agency would

1:24:35submit to the County Oversight Board and to the state a claim for funding that it would… to pay obligations that it had incurred prior to dissolution.

1:24:46And so basically, it was a way of characterizing, that a redevelopment agency had entered into an obligation.

1:24:55a contract?

1:24:56or other form of obligation. It owed a payment to someone, it was no longer able to receive funding for that, it requested funding from the county and the state, and if approved, then the agency would receive the funding, be able to satisfy the obligation.

1:25:18Yes, thank you so much, and of course, part of this for me is trying to understand the narrative of how we got here. So when you say that we kept it on the books.

1:25:27hoping and praying that it would get taken care of. Is that why it was not

1:25:32Reconciled back in 2024.

1:25:36Yeah, so in 2021 is when, we lost the lawsuit, and the negative cash was written off. And yeah, that's my… my assumption, is that

1:25:47Not the… not the totality of all the denied charges were written off, just the negative cash portion, in hopes that we would still be able to recover additional funds.

1:25:57Thank you.

1:25:59Questions?

1:26:05This is getting into the weeds a little bit, but on the, appendix that goes over Attachment 4, there's a column called Cash Should Be.

1:26:16And I was wondering, how…

1:26:20that was determined. I couldn't add or subtract anything to get to that number, so how… what is that number? Yes, no, exactly. So the ROPS payments are, distributed in

1:26:33an A and a B, so they're… we get two… two disbursements, and the disbursement A is actually pre… it's… it's prepaid, basically, so it…

1:26:43we should have always had the ROPS A balance sitting in cash.

1:26:49And we never… we never did. Well, after we… after we wrote off the, the $1.3 million. So that's just the… the illustration to show we really should have had, you know, however, whatever that first debt obligation payment was, that should have been sitting in our cash balance at the end of the fiscal year, the previous fiscal year.

1:27:09Thank you.

1:27:10I think…

1:27:13you know, having been here when we wrote off, the $1.3 million, you know, that was a pretty big hit, and I can honestly say that I am so disappointed that we have to do this right off, because it's just paper. So it's just…

1:27:31I just… I cannot. So,

1:27:40I just want to reiterate about the redevelopment agency and what it did. It collected partial income from the area that was designated as redevelopment. So it had money coming in on a regular basis.

1:27:56And then that money was obligated to projects or programs, and… When redevelopment went away.

1:28:06that's what all those obligations goes on that rocks. So we had to list every single one out, and they would go through it.

1:28:15twice a year, every year, and say, this one will accept, this one won't. And so, it's very complicated, and I do appreciate that you had to dig

1:28:26years and years and years, back to find this error. I wish it didn't. But I think that hopefully this really, really is the end of it, and thank you for all your hard work.

1:28:40you know, I wanted to say the same thing. Thank you for all the forensic work that you have done to, make this,

1:28:49Complete, and, and, so let's go to,

1:28:53open comment now. Now is the time for members of the public

1:28:58We're actually still in the presentation phase. Alright.

1:29:03We are… we are almost done. That was… I just thought this would be an important talking point for us to pause on before we continue.

1:29:10So we include an overview also in the staff report of the general fund balance as a result of the recommended changes.

1:29:17As a result of the existing approved amendments and the ones proposed in this report, the total reserves at the end of the fiscal year are projected to be $21.45 million.

1:29:30This includes unassigned reserves of 19%, which does not include the Pension Trust or the EDRF, which are an additional 13% for the EDRF, and then the additional Section 115 pension trust.

1:29:41This leaves $1.2 million in discretionary reserves above the 17% level. So that 17%, the difference between the 17 and the 19 is at $1.2 million. And again, this does include all of the proposed amendments to the general fund proposed this evening.

1:29:57This is what the general fund forecast now looks like, including all of the proposed amendments. This is based on the fiscal 2026 amended budget, so this does not include forecast of the fiscal 20… well, it includes a forecast, but it doesn't include the numbers for the fiscal 27 and 28 budget that staff will present later this year to the City Council.

1:30:15It does include all recommended mid-year adjustments this evening, CalPERS pension obligations, and all existing long-term debt. It also includes an assumption of the use of the Section 115 trust without additional contributions, and that's that gray… if you look at the graph to the right, you can see the green, which is the total fund balance. The green is the unassigned.

1:30:35And that's why it matches the shape of the graph on the left. The blue is the EDRF, so that's why it stays stable, because the EDRF only increases…

1:30:47once we hit a certain expense level, and we currently have overfunded the EDRF, so there's no point yet where we see that increase. And then the gray is the Section 115 trust. Those are the different reserve components that are included in that graph.

1:31:01For other amendments and other funds, there's a recommendation to increase appropriations in the gas tax fund for traffic signal and engineering consultant support, and that's to make sure that our traffic signals are fully functional.

1:31:14I will note, from the beginning, all of the recommendations in special revenue funds and the enterprise fund are fully funded by existing fund balances, so there's no, changes,

1:31:25There's no additional money from the general fund, these are all fully supported by fund balances.

1:31:30In Measure J storm… excuse me. In Measure J Storm Drain Fund, there's a recommendation of $25,000, to prevent flooding and to support storm drain activities.

1:31:40There's $50,000 recommended for urgent playground repairs and maintenance for safety and asset, life.

1:31:48There's also a recommendation in the COPS grant fund for replacement firearms due to safety needs and training needs for,

1:31:56There's an explanation in the staff report of why some of those needed to be replaced. In the donations fund, there's an increase in spending for the 4th of July event, because it is increasing in size, but those are fully offset by donation revenue.

1:32:08And then finally, in the Integrated Waste Management Fund, there's a recommendation to transfer $500,000 to the Vehicle and Asset Replacement Fund. This includes $250,000 already in the budget, and an additional appropriation of $250,000 from fund balance

1:32:25Which was budgeted last year, and then rolled into fund balance, and is now going to be transferred for future vehicle replacement.

1:32:33So in conclusion, this is a summary of the recommended changes. As I noted, on the far right column, you can see the projected ending fund balance, so all of the special funds and enterprise fund will continue to have a fund balance

1:32:46At the end of this fiscal year. So the total increase across all funds is $1.59 million, including $1.14 from the general fund.

1:32:55Thank you.

1:32:58Thank you very much. We will now go to, open comment. Now is the time for members.

1:33:04Do you have a question?

1:33:08And apologies for not getting this question in ahead of time with the holiday weekend. I didn't have my usual city manager meeting. It's just about the,

1:33:18special revenue funds, the gas tax fund. I'm just trying… the part about the CCTA smart signals on Richmond Street makes sense, but the part about,

1:33:29the speed surveys, I just wanted to know more about that. Is there an intention to change the speed limits? Is that… I just want to know more about what that

1:33:38it's intended for, which I would support, but I just wanted to know more about what's in the works.

1:33:45I think I can handle that one, since Yvette's not here. So the city uses speed surveys not just to inform appropriate speed limits in town, but also to set up the basis for enforcement of speed using radar or LIDAR devices.

1:34:00So, periodically, the city will re-survey speeds on streets to allow us to continue using radar and LIDAR. There's basically a time limit where once a survey expires and reaches, I think it's a 5-year date.

1:34:14If you don't re-survey the street, then you can no longer do speed enforcement. I know you like the idea as much as me. So, my understanding is that, Public Works is looking to, re-survey Key Street so that it'll enable speed enforcement again.

1:34:29So, if somebody doesn't have this tonight, that's okay, but I'd like to know how much this costs and how often we have to do it, and if it's substantial, maybe this is something we need to look at for our state legislative program. It seems…

1:34:42especially as the state has done a bunch in the past few years to, give more authority to cities to reduce speed limits on certain types of streets, it seems like they're going in that direction of allowing cities to figure out what works for them to make the streets safer, that they should also not

1:35:00require this part, so I'd like to know, and again, if we don't have it tonight, that's fine.

1:35:05But it seems like something we could potentially get one of the legislators interested. It's probably too late for this year, but in the future, to address this, so you don't have to go through this all the time, and we don't have to spend money on it. And I don't have that for you tonight. Yeah, that's… that's totally fine. I just like that subway. Thank you.

1:35:23Thank you. Any other comments, questions?

1:35:26Yes, go ahead.

1:35:27And given I could feel the grave disappointment from Councilmember Motayama, and since we've had a lot of conversation about public trust and the way we're handling finances, I just want to kind of confirm

1:35:39with staff, so this isn't going to create any new or ongoing financial obligations for the city, and we will be completely… we don't think we're going to have to go back and do another forensic dig. We'll be completely

1:35:49I'm reconciled with the successor agency then.

1:35:54Yes, that… yeah, we still have… yeah, we still have, we will have three, prior period adjustments, PPAs as they're called, that we will have to submit, but those are always after the fact, so those have been estimated into our costs and included in that transfer, so this should…

1:36:11be it. Thank you.

1:36:17Thank you for your presentation.

1:36:20I'm sorry that you had to go through the pain of forensic accounting.

1:36:25Whatever number of years.

1:36:27Two decades, probably.

1:36:30I'm a little bit confused about the… The 17% reserve.

1:36:35threshold. It… When do we go below that?

1:36:44So if… if we do not change anything, we are projected to go below in the next fiscal year.

1:36:52And that's inclusive of all these changes.

1:36:54Yes. And then without these changes, where would we have been?

1:36:59Without the changes to this evening? Yep.

1:37:03I'd have to check. I just kind of… what I'm trying to get to is, like, what is the impact of…

1:37:07was presented tonight on our… I'd have to double check on that. I do want to emphasize

1:37:14This assumes no changes to the current budget, and so…

1:37:19we know that the City Council is not interested in a deficit budget in the next two years, and so, given that, we wouldn't expect to dip below, because that would… we would not then be using

1:37:30reserves. So this is the forecast, given the trajectory of our expenses, and given the trajectory of our revenues, this is what could happen if we don't make changes during the current budget process.

1:37:41But the dip below… It seems like it's driven…

1:37:45If I'm not mistaken, entirely by the changes tonight, because given the budget before, we wouldn't Am I… please?

1:37:52Set me straight. Yes and no.

1:37:56The dip would be if the next budget is a deficit.

1:38:01we… If we didn't ever have another deficit budget, we wouldn't expect to ever go below 17%.

1:38:09So…

1:38:10yes, in that this is decreasing us to only having $1.2 million additional to the 17% that we currently have. But if we never use that $1.2 million above the 17%, then we would never go below, and so it really depends on the future actions that we're doing. And we're in this fiscal year, still above 17? Yes, absolutely.

1:38:29And unless there are other changes approved by Council, we do not expect that to change.

1:38:35We would expect to stay at least at 19% of…

1:38:38our general fund. How has the cost of the pool been factored into?

1:38:43All of the approved costs by Council are already in this.

1:38:47Which we believe is the full cost of the pool. I was trying to remember if we actually approved the whole cost. Yes, the full costs have been approved at this time. Thank you. Of course.

1:38:57Any other questions?

1:38:58Now, we will go to, public comment.

1:39:02Requests to speak can be submitted to the City Clerk by completing a speaker card, using the raised hand feature on Zoom, or dialing star 9 if joining by phone.

1:39:13In-person requests will be taken first.

1:39:16Please remember to identify yourself and your City of Residence at the beginning of your comments. Madam City Club.

1:39:23Thank you, Mayor. I'll begin with our first request, is Michael McDougal.

1:39:32Hello, everybody.

1:39:34It's, nice to see you all again, Mayor, Council.

1:39:38So on the mid-year budget, as we just heard, most of the… not most, but a big chunk of it was this, $1.05 million backfill from the round… the end of the successor agency. And… and that really surprised me.

1:39:54And I imagine it surprised some of you.

1:39:56But I think it's, I don't actually think it's, like, new. I think if you really dug into our books, maybe I've got this wrong, but I'm looking at… I'm probably one of the 8 people in El Cerrito who's read the act for, like, 3 times.

1:40:09But there's a… on page 50, there's a chart for the successor agency, and it had a negative balance in it, and it… but that doesn't get wrapped up into the general fund balance. It's a… it's a fund balance.

1:40:22And I think it's just a… it's natural for… to miss all of the other funds, because most of us focus, as that last chart did, on the general fund. And so I think it's, you know, one thing that I wanted to say, it's really important to not… to think of the general fund as, like, what's in our bank account, but not

1:40:40How our finances are going, and that we really have to, like.

1:40:44be mindful of our revenues and our expenses and all the different pieces of it.

1:40:50yeah, it's easy to lose track of something that's sitting on a table down at page 50, and maybe I'm even still confused. Maybe… maybe this was not even in the ACR.

1:40:59Maybe you can ask that of staff afterwards.

1:41:03So, that's one of the things that I wanted to say, is that we…

1:41:08you know, we probably want to focus maybe a little bit less on this graph that I've seen a couple of times, and I… you know, like, I look at this all the time, it's up there, and I'm actually not sure that the graph is this… I mean, this looks exactly the same, and this is from December, so I'm not 100% sure that the one that you just saw

1:41:26was updated, you know, perfectly. And the other thing that I wanted to say is that,

1:41:33I think it's really important that

1:41:35the City Council make hard decisions.

1:41:39as we come into the budget thing, one of the things that my wife did for New Year's is she, you know, I asked her, can we make some resolutions this year? And she says, I'm not making resolutions, I'm…

1:41:49I'm gonna do some things more, and I'm gonna do some things less.

1:41:53And I liked that, you know, I had my own three resolutions, but I think that as a city council, we really have to… you really have to work with us to decide to do some things less, or we will not have the, you know, this… the picture that you just saw is, if we make no changes, we start

1:42:10having deficit budgets, so we have to make changes, and so that's… that's the hard work that we have to do as we head into this next two-year budget, is… as I think you once said, you know, maybe we can't afford a pool. And, like, a lot of people cringed, but I'm like, we can't afford some things.

1:42:27And so, you know, we have to figure out what those things are and be really thoughtful about it. So, thank you.

1:42:32Our next speaker is David Carvell.

1:42:37Hi, David Carvell, resident of El Cerrito.

1:42:40I wanted to share, personally, not as a member of the FAB,

1:42:45every year in the budget, you have additional expenses that you then fund as one-time expenses. And so, many years ago, you had more than $1.2 million above your EDRF, right? So we had 3 or 4 million above our 17% reserve. That has since dwindled down to $1 million. So, essentially, every time we

1:43:04gone through these cycles, we set our budget, and then we come back for one-time expenses that eat away a million, or a million and a half, or two million dollars a year. And that's what's kind of put us in this crunch.

1:43:14That's a sinking fund, and you don't… you only have a $1.2 million cushion. And based on one-time expenses, you're going to use it all in May and June of this year. And then what? And then what happens next year, and the year after that? And so, I know we're above it, and we think we're in a good spot, but

1:43:31There will come a point where there's $0 in there, and then…

1:43:35make hard choices, figure out our priorities, but, really we're trying to keep it as high above that EDRF as possible, while also maintaining a good quality of life for all of our citizens.

1:43:46Thank you. Thank you, Chair.

1:43:48Thank you. Just confirming, we do not have any requests to speak virtually, so that concludes requests to speak on the side of Mayor.

1:43:57Let's go back to the Council. Any… Looking here to my right.

1:44:05To my left, Councilmember Weissinger.

1:44:10That might make it easy. I just wanted to, again, reiterate what the Mayor said, you know, thank you all so much. You, Crystal and, you know, team, you guys have done such a great job since you all came on, and really not just putting us in a better position, but always telling the story of how we got here.

1:44:25Unfortunately, there's been some things that happened before you came, and when I had just come to the Council that are… you're doing a lot of cleanup, so I know that if the public is appreciating seeing the way that you all are narrating, making clear slides, making clear, reports, I know I certainly appreciate it, so thank you for that.

1:44:43And I'm looking forward to completing this successor agency.

1:44:49Again, I want to say again, thank you.

1:44:51For your forensic work on this.

1:44:55And as you know, how many,

1:44:58Finance people did we have, since,

1:45:02We've gone through a few, and this is the best that we have here doing this presentation, so grateful to your leadership, both of you.

1:45:10So do I have a motion to approve?

1:45:15Okay, we have a motion by Weisinger and second by Motayama. Madam Sinclair. All those in favor, please say aye.

1:45:21Any opposed? Motion carries.

1:45:24Thank you both. Appreciate it.

1:45:29Next, we have, B. We are going to discuss and consider the formation of a library task force.

1:45:37Do we have a staff report? Yes, thank you, Mayor. Holly Charlotte, your City Clerk.

1:45:42At the direction of the City Council on January 20th, this at…

1:45:48As was directed by the City Council on January 20th, this item is for discussion and consideration to form an El Cerrito Library Task Force.

1:45:56Based on the Council's discussion, as well as staff recommendations, the intent of a task force would be to provide a framework for community input and discussion.

1:46:05Specifically, but not limited to, discussing and potentially making recommendations to the Council in areas such as site feasibility analysis, projected costs, potential funding options, library design and features, public engagement processes, and any other specific work that may be assigned by the City Council.

1:46:24Staff has drafted a resolution with the following proposed structure for such a task force.

1:46:30The proposed composition is seven residents of El Cerrito, one of which is recommended to be a youth member, similar to our other commissions, someone who is either a resident or enrolled at El Cerrito High School between the ages of 14 and 18.

1:46:46Staff also recommends consideration of including a representative of the Contra Costa Library Commission.

1:46:53the Contra Costa County Librarian, or her designee, and an assigned city council staff lia… or assigned City Council liaison who would all attend… be invited to attend and provide input at all of these meetings, but not have a voting role on the task force.

1:47:11The application and appointment process is recommended to be in the same manner as City Council or city boards and commissions, with a set application deadline and targeted advertising for interest in applying.

1:47:23Regular meetings are recommended to be no less than once every two months, and would all be held pursuant to the Brown Act.

1:47:30And the recommended time frame of one year from appointment of members in order to complete the work. And with a task force, it's similar to a council ad hoc, the recommendation would be to have it… have a limited duration, and when the work has been completed, then the task force would be disbanded at that time.

1:47:49This recommended task force can be approved with adoption of the resolution that is presented for consideration tonight. The City Council may also choose to direct staff to return with a modified structure for adoption at a future City Council meeting. Both myself and the City Manager are available for any questions you may have.

1:48:08Yes, you have, more of a comment than a question. I just want to…

1:48:15share with you a little bit of my history with this. Is that, I don't know, maybe 2 months ago?

1:48:21the city manager and I talked about this. I proposed having some sort of city…

1:48:26resident commissioner group to look at the library. My concern, sorry, my concern was that there was so much misinformation out there, you know, honestly coming from both sides. And some of it was misunderstanding, some of it was deliberate, some of it was just confusion.

1:48:44And I felt like as we were approaching the election, whether it's in June or November, that it was important for the residents of El Cerrito to have as much accurate information as possible.

1:48:55And what I had hoped was that we would have some kind of committee of

1:48:59You know, and what I imagined at the time was.

1:49:01one or two people who were decidedly on the Pro Library side, one or two people who were decidedly on the…

1:49:07No library side or no tax side.

1:49:10a city council member, And someone from…

1:49:13Within the city itself, the city… city staff member.

1:49:18Largely so we wouldn't have to go out to consultants all the time, that we would do it ourselves. And the purpose would be to gather information so we could make an… so anyone could make an informed decision

1:49:28On how they would vote. And I've, you know, I've gone through this exercise a bit myself.

1:49:33And it's daunting. I mean, there's so much, you know, it's like a moving target that's always changing, and numbers are changing, and to just nail down what really is this proposal, what, you know, when does the tax start, when it doesn't start? You know, people have, on the City Council, have clearly felt like, I'm giving this information.

1:49:49And I, you know, appreciate that perspective. But my goal really was to create as much clarity as possible, and

1:49:57Pretty quickly, the discussion became clearly focused on having this Commission or committee?

1:50:03Task Force, sorry, task force… Really do its work after the vote.

1:50:08which I think is fine, I mean, there's a need for it as well, there's lots of… there'll be lots of questions after the vote, but really what drove me in the beginning to propose it was to get that information out before people voted. And I'm just frustrated.

1:50:21And, you know, disappointed that You know, this vacuum exists where

1:50:27you know, we're not really any better off. And I know the city has put together their information, but what people are really looking for is something they don't feel is

1:50:34Is biased one way or the other.

1:50:36And that's… that's hard to achieve. And it's, you know.

1:50:39it's hard for the city to play that role, unfortunately. But I… and I just want to share that… share my frustration. I don't… I don't think this is anything bad about this, I just think it doesn't address what I originally envisioned a task force doing.

1:50:56Sure, it's good.

1:50:57Just, just as a, just as a comment, and thank you, Councilmember, I think that one of the things that we as staff struggled with is that we wanted to make sure that this process was

1:51:08as consistent as possible with other task force that… task forces that the City Council has appointed in the past, and I've worked with at least two or three, dating all the way back to, I think, 2001, when I first got here, and we had a recycling services task force.

1:51:25So, you know, just kind of as something that has a finite job, right?

1:51:31When we, as staff, were discussing

1:51:34how, like, who would be appointed. One of the things we looked to was the, Tenant Protection Task Force, which is the last time we did a task force.

1:51:43And that, the City Council wanted definitely to have tenants and landlords as, you know, an even number of both to try to come up with some, solutions or some ideas to recommend to the Council.

1:51:57But the… a tenant and a landlord is… is like a role. It's a… it's something that you… that you have, or that you do, or that you are. But being for against a ballot measure is not a role, right? It's an opinion and a position, and so we found it difficult to say, well, let's get

1:52:13let's make sure there's X amount of people for it, and that just… it didn't work for us. It doesn't work, I don't think, for any of you, because

1:52:22At the end of the day, this is… the proposal is for a library task force, irrespective of the ballot measure.

1:52:28Because even if… that doesn't mean that it doesn't… it couldn't educate about the ballot measure, which is true, but the city has been looking to improve its library

1:52:38Since I got here, so it's been 20-some plus years, and whether or not this ballot measure passes, we have a library that is substandard. The building is substandard, and we have to figure out what to do with that. So this task force could

1:52:54by the direction of the council.

1:52:57look at various options, and I think our goal in writing this resolution for your consideration is to make it as broad as possible, and then the Council can indeed give direction to the task force on specific items. For example, once the task force is seated, you know.

1:53:15to talk about any of these items that you just brought up, that would be a Council decision,

1:53:22Our goal as staff was to try to make sure that the council head is as broad a broad brush as possible to be able to appoint

1:53:30people that you all in the interview process would be able to determine would make good decisions and provide good recommendations. It doesn't mean that it can't do everything that you asked it to do. It was just more along the lines of we were really struggling with making sure that we weren't

1:53:46we weren't being too specific about the task force, because that doesn't serve the purpose well either. So that was… just trying to explain for you and for the public why we proposed what we did. But at the end of the day.

1:53:59This is a City Council decision, it's your task force, this is our proposal. If the Council completely disagrees with this proposal, give us direction, and we'll come back with a new one.

1:54:13We'll start with Councilmember Motuyama.

1:54:16Thank you, Mayor. I think…

1:54:23One of the things that I'm concerned about is, misinformation just floating out there, and I think when…

1:54:32things that are not true are repeated over and over by different people, that there's this belief that it is actually, actually true just because they've heard it so often. And…

1:54:44my… Hope in having this task force is that we will have, like, one set of truth.

1:54:53And…

1:54:55to get there, I'm just concerned about this membership, because I'm assuming that there will be more than 7 applicants. There is not, more clarity on how members are selected. I think that's going to be a really important thing, and

1:55:15this is not… this is not a TV show of point and counterpoint, of going back and forth about what, you know, which side is better, so I think…

1:55:24In terms of… Timing, if we could, you know, library or not, I don't…

1:55:32think that it's important, but I think it needs to move away from the which side, you know, battle, because this is… I think I would like to, you know, propose to my colleagues that I would like to see a membership criteria, which is

1:55:49a cross-section of our city. So, all the different kinds of users of library services, different ages, different, you know, different points of view, not just

1:56:02people signing up to say they don't like what we're doing, and that's not really helpful. Or, you know, we should do…

1:56:12Something that we can't afford. So, I don't want this to be one of those kinds of task force where people just, you know, we have a task force, you give an opinion, and then we go, thank you. That's not really… that's not what this should be about. I think… I don't want to waste anybody's time. I also don't want to

1:56:30Have this be some airing of grievances, either.

1:56:35So… Again, I think I would propose that cross-section of people as the main criteria, a youth member.

1:56:44Somebody a senior.

1:56:46parents with young children, you know, some… something that we can come up with that makes it clear why we're picking people, because no matter who we pick, if we don't have that criteria for selection clear, no one's going to believe that it was fair, because they'll say, oh, no, that's all people of whatever, you know? So I think,

1:57:07That's really important. And… I think the…

1:57:12what… I just take issue with what you said, Councilmember Katzanis, that, you know, the city put stuff on the website, but that's not

1:57:21Trustworthy.

1:57:22That has to be trustworthy.

1:57:26I can understand… I'm sorry, I'm speaking. Please let me have a chance to speak.

1:57:33So… I am concerned that no matter what information we get out, it will be distrusted. So.

1:57:42As far as we know.

1:57:44is where all the information we have. This is the city website. You can go, you know.

1:57:52to the… website of the… Library folks, the anti-tax folks, you know, you can get your information, but

1:58:03what's real… is what's on the website of the city, and I think there's a number of times that

1:58:14Folks have said things that are

1:58:17Completely not true. And we've stated that they're not true, but they don't believe us because we're the city.

1:58:24And that doesn't work, because anything we say, then, is not trustable.

1:58:29Anything we do is subject to whether it's a truth or fact or, you know, whatever. We have to keep

1:58:37holding on to the fact that we are trying to get the information that we have out, that you can trust the city, because

1:58:45I don't… I don't know where this ends. I really don't understand.

1:58:49how we can move forward, and I really appreciate all the people that said, this should not be divisive.

1:58:57So, that's my opinion of the task force.

1:59:00Becky, we'll next go to Mayor Pro Tem Saltz.

1:59:05first, a pretty straightforward question. On the time frame,

1:59:11It says it's recommended to be a year.

1:59:14I guess I don't understand what that means. So they… do they shut down after a year? Does it come back to the council? I haven't been here for a task force, so walk me through that. So that, in part, was similar to how we did our last

1:59:27Task Force for the tenant protections, and the intent is that it's a shorter duration, and that there's a specific set of tasks put forward to that task force to complete, and so you're giving them a parameter of when you're wanting the members to complete that work.

1:59:42So, that was just, again, as a… Yeah, and a year is something that we started with, as usually task forces, again, they're, as Holly said, they're finite, they're not ongoing. The council can always extend it, or you can say 2 years, you can say 6 months.

1:59:58We just, you know, proposed a year because that was, the last task force that was… Well, in fact, I think we landed on a year because we had 6 months, and then we… the council ended up asking for us to extend it by 6 months because they weren't able to get through the work, so I think that's where we landed on. But that's also open, too. That's helpful. And then…

2:00:18This list of…

2:00:20potential defined tasks, and any other work as assigned by the City Council. How does that actually work in practice? A council member

2:00:28goes to the mayor and says, I want to agendize that we add work, like, how… what actually happens where we would ask them to do additional work? Yeah. Or does it come regularly to the council for updates, and then we assign work, or…

2:00:40what is the back and forth, sort of, between the City Council and the task force? And the answer is yes. It would be… I think that we have, again, structured this similar to all the other boards, commissions, and committees for consistency purposes, the same way… so if there's a recommendation, it would go on consent, etc, etc. In this case, because it's more

2:01:00finite and compact, we could set up a structure that is more, you know, maybe there's additional reporting, or there's regular reporting, or something like that, that… or there… or the Council provides direction as they're seated to study something else. I mean, that is all open, and we could add that as well. So if the Council wanted, say.

2:01:21quarterly reports, or we could add that to this if we wanted to. And then once the Council receives that, if there's additional things that they, that the Council wants to do, you could… you could indeed direct by motion, to the task force. That's also,

2:01:37Obviously, we also proposed, again, consistent with other boards, commissions, and committees, a member of the council is a council liaison, so the council liaison also has the opportunity to report at each council meeting, what

2:01:50in…

2:01:51In practice, in theory, I understand that there could be a difference, but that is, you know, again, this would…

2:01:57this could… if the council wanted a different reporting structure or a different member wave that the council liaison reports, you could… you could establish that. That could be something that you all decide upon. I'm pretty uncomfortable with the council liaison being, like… I mean, it's fine for them to come say, I went to the meeting, this is what was discussed, but I don't…

2:02:16I don't think a council member should be making a big interpretation of what the task force says and reporting that to the council and the public, so…

2:02:24I'd want to see some kind of reporting mechanism

2:02:28I'd be okay with going… saying to the task force, figure out how often you want to report. I know quarterly might not work, especially if they're meeting every two months. It's like what… sometimes you're reporting after only one meeting, so I guess I'm less stuck on how often, but I'd want there to be some regular reporting.

2:02:45And for us to then have the opportunity to shift, you know, the work, if that was something that we're interested in.

2:02:53Just a question to Councilmember Motayama's concern.

2:02:58Say we get 50 or more applications, like, what…

2:03:04Since we… since they're all sort of at-large positions and not for specific roles.

2:03:10what would be the process? Like, thinking about, we're right now dealing with other… our other boards and commissions, and we never get something… I mean, maybe we'll get… I was gonna say, if we got 50 applicants, it'd be great. But we never get 50 seats for one, so if it's competitive, it's, like, between 3 or 4 people for 2 seats, it's not…

2:03:26And we have hard decisions to make, but to decide on 50 or 60 or 70 people for

2:03:31this many seats, it feels impossible. So I… I guess I just…

2:03:36I think there's a lot of interest in this in our community. Not everybody will want to be on a task force, but how… how do we approach it if they're all just at-large seats being seed at one time? I have a thought,

2:03:48I mean, already, you've already appointed an ad hoc committee tonight, Mayor, but, when we get a lot of applications for a, you know, a job or opportunity, we tend to have,

2:04:02you know, HR and one of the hiring managers look and kind of pare those down, so the council could create a subcommittee to review all of the applications, and then pare it down to a certain set that they are interested in interviewing. That would be my

2:04:17my recommendation, or… I mean, I'm open to suggestion, but based on how, you know, we handle hiring, I think that that could be, one way to do it.

2:04:26And just a couple other suggestions. There's a myriad of ways that the council could choose to do it. You could have a different… I… you could direct staff to create a separate, specific application where you're asking for certain criteria that that applicant would fall into. You can set a,

2:04:44In addition to a deadline, you can also set, like, a max number of applications that are received.

2:04:50I mean, there's… there's all kinds of different ways that you can… can vet and get that information down, including if you wanted to have a subcommittee even conduct interviews. For some larger cities I've worked for in the past, there was a subcommittee for boards and commissions, and that's how they

2:05:07made the determination. And in fact, as I'm, you know, that, you know, your suggestion, Holly, might be a

2:05:15to help alleviate some of the concerns that both, Councilmember Cassanis and Moyama had.

2:05:20we were just assuming that we would use the standard, application because it's easy to do so, but we could modify and create a separate application that has specific criteria discussed tonight, or specific questions that, you know, the Council would propose, for example, to try to

2:05:39you know, have people answer that on the application form. Hopefully they answer it and not ChatGPT, but…

2:05:45I think that would be immensely helpful, because what I've seen now that I've been through a couple of these processes of appointing people to the committees, there are wildly different interpretations of what the questions mean, because they're very open-ended. Luckily, we interview everybody, so we get an opportunity, but sometimes

2:06:03people don't give us much on their application, and if we were just going by that, we would probably not even bring them in for an interview, so I just… I don't… I want it to be a fairer process, and a process where we can really, especially if we're not going to be able to interview everybody.

2:06:18or only a subcommittee interviews everybody, I just want it to be super clear. So I don't know if that means if we have the votes to pass this tonight, if we bring it

2:06:27To then decide, or what… How does that even work? Do you then bring back a…

2:06:32Well, the application itself does not necessarily have to be adopted by the Council, but we would want the direction from the Council in terms of what that criteria was, which probably would be…

2:06:43best put into the resolution that a separate application

2:06:47with the following criteria, or the following questions, so…

2:06:52I just… I know I've had no time to think about questions. Maybe my fellow council members have, but I couldn't come up with them on the fly. I was actually going to mirror the same way… same thinking that you had, because

2:07:06My teacher brain says to Councilmember Motuyama's point, it's going to be almost impossible to come up with an impartial task force, given the way that we regularly do boards and commission. I actually kind of err on a different side of yours, Mayor Pro Tem, is I think that we need to actually create a standard and a rubric before people can even get to the interview.

2:07:27since we're talking about going through HR, you have to get through this rubric, and we can establish what that standard is and what that rubric is, and then we start bringing… because I… I mean, let's be honest, people are organizing on both sides now. We could very well get… I mean, somebody's going to shoot out an email blast, and we will get 50 people to apply for this task force. So we may consider what is it that… how are we going to pare it down, but also

2:07:52Even in the initial process, get a good understanding of who it is that's going to be

2:07:57on the committee, or we won't get any work done. We will be having live debates, like you said, Councilmember, but I would… I would definitely advocate for that. Some sort of rubric and standard from… from the very jump of what it takes to actually get on the committee, and then start from there. Okay, who are we now going to bring in? Just like

2:08:13Unfortunately, with a job interview, I think that the way that we do our boards and commissions now, our application is so broad, it's kind of like.

2:08:21Why do you want to be on arts and culture? What's your background? Do you like art? Okay, you can be on the commission, so we need to be a little bit more, savvy in the way that we're approaching the application.

2:08:36Any other comments, questions?

2:08:39Yes.

2:08:42So, I think that the… a rubric would be really helpful. I think, again, I would hope that we could go for a cross-section of our city, so

2:08:52You know, if it's going to be equal numbers of men and women, age differences, you know, all the different users, maybe we can get assistance from the librarian to say, you know.

2:09:04these are the types of users we have in El Cerrito, and that's who we can look for. And also, you know, I think essay questions would be a really great thing.

2:09:16I think the, board's advisory, you know, we just ask questions, and some people don't even fill out the form, they just kind of, you know, whatever, you know, just…

2:09:26half of it's blank, so I don't think that's really going to be applicable in this case.

2:09:33So, you know… Write out what you, you know, what you…

2:09:37Think a library is, and what a library should do, and your experience using the library, you know.

2:09:43I mean, that would be the first place to start.

2:09:48Okay.

2:09:50We're going to go to open comment now. Now is the time for members of the public who wish to provide public comments on this item. Requests to speak can be submitted to the City Clerk by completing the speaker card.

2:10:02Using the raise hand feature on Zoom, or dialing star 9 if joining by phone.

2:10:08In-person requests will be taken first. Please remember to identify yourself and your City of Residence at the beginning of your comments. Madam City Clerk, please proceed. Thank you, Mayor. We have 7 requests to speak. I'll start with our in-person request first. So, Bill Barish, followed by Greg Lyman.

2:10:32Good evening. Good evening, Mayor, Council.

2:10:36Before you even start thinking about putting together a task force for this library, I'd like to ask…

2:10:47the council…

2:10:49Or the city manager, or even someone from the support group for the proposed library tax to directly and seriously address the practical and legal objections to the proposal

2:11:05That have been voiced, not only in tonight's meeting, but in previous meetings as well.

2:11:13And here are a few of those.

2:11:18The named library location.

2:11:22Building C West.

2:11:24does not exist, except as a concept. It hasn't been funded.

2:11:31And the developer hasn't applied for funding, but there's…

2:11:36Substantial evidence that it would not be funded

2:11:42Even if the developer did apply.

2:11:46Why the projected cost of the library rose from $21 million in November 2023 to $37.2 million in 2025

2:11:59Following the effort to put the proposal on the ballot.

2:12:03That's a 77% increase Nothing.

2:12:09Not even construction costs.

2:12:13have inflated by 77% Over this… over the last 2 years, Tariff mania notwithstanding.

2:12:26Why the city would be willing to pay $37.2 million as a subsidy to a developer for a library it will never own.

2:12:38And let's be clear, it's a subsidy.

2:12:42If you don't own the land and the building after paying for the space to be built.

2:12:49It can't be anything else. It's a subsidy, not a mortgage.

2:12:54And by your own acknowledgement, It's not even.

2:12:59Rent!

2:13:00Because there's a separate provision for payment of rent.

2:13:05Why the city by law, Isn't supposed to provide any direct expenditure

2:13:14To the effort of a supposed citizen's initiative

2:13:18To put a measure on the ballot

2:13:21Spent city money on a survey of residences Support for a new library.

2:13:31And why the initiative to put the library on the ground? Thank you for your comments.

2:13:36Thank you. Our next speaker is Greg Lyman, followed by Georgina Edwards.

2:13:53Councilmember, mayor?

2:13:56The… as City Manager Pinko stated, there is a lot of information available.

2:14:02For example, there is a library plan that Bill was just talking about.

2:14:07The plan has been in place for more than 10 years. There are even drawings with a library floor plan on them that was presented to, Joint Fab… sorry, Joint DRB Planning Commission in January of 2024, two years ago.

2:14:23The task force can review all of this information.

2:14:27And to support Councilmember Katsanas' point, the task force can answer the questions that were raised tonight. The examples… the questions that were just raised by the prior speaker.

2:14:39Because there is adequate information available now, for anybody who has read the impact report that's available for Thursday's meeting.

2:14:49A lot of the questions are answered there.

2:14:52There are cost estimates for 5 scenarios. The task force can review those.

2:14:57The task force can explore and explain bond financing. The task force can review why we need a new library, and why 20,000 square feet on a single floor remains the optimal site for El Cerrito.

2:15:10The task force should start as soon as possible.

2:15:13The real work of the task force can only be useful with funding in place, which we will advocate for June. Until then, the task force can begin to close the divide in El Cerrito by providing information.

2:15:29Move forward tonight with a representative task force that meets monthly.

2:15:37Our next speaker is Georgina Edwards, followed by BJ Thorsness.

2:15:43Good evening, Council. Georgina Edwards, and hello to my fellow neighbors. I've been listening intently, in the discussion, and I want to, bring forth… I know all of you, have done volunteer roles.

2:15:57And when I'm listening to the scope and the responsibility of this task force, it feels a little daunting. But then I remember, being part of the 2017 Centennial Task Force, which is different than this tenant one. And the focus really was a lot of what some of you are bringing up.

2:16:15hearing from different segments of our community. In that framework, there were actually co-leads, and I wonder if there could be a mission statement, something like, the task force is to preserve or improve the

2:16:30El Cerrito's, you know, esteemed library, and at the beginning, it might include more of this building a framework for engagement to make sure that people have the information. I believe there's so much information now, having been part of the other project 10 years ago, it's…

2:16:50overwhelming for any normal, like, human to try to go through it all, but people do have concerns, so this…

2:16:59task force had some sort of framework for, engaging and outreach to specific constituencies, whether it be the schools or the seniors. So, in addition to people that represent those constituencies, an actual plan

2:17:14a way, could be a mechanism, submit your questions on Instagram, I don't know, for the different populations, so people feel heard, rather than sort of bombarded with messaging that

2:17:27They don't have context for, and, might find a little bit,

2:17:33confusing, or have a hard time understanding. So, I really hope that the

2:17:38Task Force has a mission statement, because

2:17:42It feels pretty broad right now, and also a framework. And ideally, in 2017, we had two really capable facilitators, I'll give them kudos.

2:17:53Donna Hauser and, Joanne Steck-Bayak, who really brought it all together, so we could feel like we were productive and doing something, that was helpful to our

2:18:03community. Thank you.

2:18:05Thank you. Our next speaker is BJ Thorsness, followed by Alan Kaplan.

2:18:11Again, I'm BJ Thorsness, a long, long, long time resident of El Cerrito.

2:18:20And, I'd like to say something I said last time I was here.

2:18:25Which is, this is not about libraries. There's no one in this place that doesn't like libraries. And I would like to say, the only chance I'll get in my whole life, was that I grew up with a Carnegie library. Anybody know what those were? They all looked alike, and it's still standing in my hometown. That's where I lived, in that library.

2:18:44So this is not about libraries, it's about this particular proposal.

2:18:48Which seems to be shifting more to talking about

2:18:52possibility of remodeling the existing library from… it's been mostly just about new library up to this point, and when I say this, you talk about us going on to the city website, but most people are on… what is it? Next door. And there's lots of stuff there.

2:19:09Okay, so, by the way, I was on the tenant-Landlord

2:19:14task force. And what I remember about that, mostly, it seemed like there was somebody there recording and somebody taking notes that, you know, that… so we didn't have to summarize things at the end. But what… the thing I remember the most about that was tenants and landlords are a little bit like water and oil.

2:19:32Some of them are, anyway. And what happened was a kind of an opening. You know, there's a lot of hostility towards landlords, generally speaking.

2:19:43And, and it got… it was really a nice experience. People got a really nice understanding. That wasn't the point of the task force, but that's one of the things I remember, which I was grateful for.

2:19:54Okay, I think that the first order of business should be to get information, real information. So on the task force, there needs to be somebody there who knows what is the truth, you know, so you don't have to go do all the research. No, that is not right. It works this way. Then you can ask questions of an expert.

2:20:11That, I think, is the main thing. That's what's fair to the public, I think, because everybody I talk to has a different thought about what's going on. Just like you said, there's so much out there. You ask somebody something, and they say, what…

2:20:24I don't understand… they don't know what a bond measure is, or, you know, any of those things.

2:20:29That, I think, should be the first order of business. I don't know who should be responsible for that, but I think it really should happen, because people will always vote for a library.

2:20:38Pretty much. And, anyway, and so then I think to have a whole year task force along… I think we need a task force now, and I really… I oppose

2:20:50doing it in June, because it costs us more money, and everything costs more money, why would we do that? And I think we need more time to educate the public so we have a responsible vote, and a knowledgeable vote, and everybody knows what they're doing.

2:21:07Let's see, what else was I… I guess that's it that I have to say. Once again, I ran out of words. That doesn't happen often, but… Thank you for your comments.

2:21:16Oh, I'm over! Oh, good, I'm done. Our next speaker is Alan Kaplan, and then we'll go to our virtual requests.

2:21:30Hi, I'm Alan Kaplan. I have been resident of El Cerrito since 1985.

2:21:36And I want to start with a quote from Anatole, France. John Carroll from the Chronicles said, he was a great man named after a great country.

2:21:47And, Anatole France in 1894 said.

2:21:51It is not enough to open minds. Do not overload them.

2:21:55But they are just a spark

2:21:58If there is some good inflammable stuff there, it will catch fire. This is kind of a motto that lots of teachers and park rangers like myself and others, have used for a while.

2:22:12A library keeps those sparks ready.

2:22:15For everyone, young and old.

2:22:18We need a new library. And if not now, when?

2:22:22And if not us… Cool.

2:22:25Every day, some person, young or old, reads their first book about architecture, or geology, or Madagascar, and thinks, this is interesting.

2:22:38And they want to know more.

2:22:40And that inspiration, which means a breath, that breath can come from a library and its staff of

2:22:48of trained librarians.

2:22:51who would, as Chaucer wrote, both gladly learn and gladly teach.

2:22:58And whether your politics is with the Chicago school, or the new school.

2:23:04Chances are good that you know about them because of a library.

2:23:09That either inspired you, or inspired the people you follow.

2:23:14Who wrote the books that you read?

2:23:16So, I am one of those people who would love to have a library, a new library here in the city, and it'd be a great thing for El Cerrito to have. Thank you very much.

2:23:27Thank you.

2:23:29Okay, going to our virtual request to speak, Ira share now.

2:23:33You should be able to unmute and begin your time now.

2:23:42Iraq?

2:23:43Ira Sharenow: Yes.

2:23:44Are you with us still? Yeah. Okay, we can hear you, you can begin your time now.

2:23:47Ira Sharenow: Okay, thank you. Iris Sharonel El Cerrito. I agree with Greg Lyman and Councilmember Modiyama that there has been misinformation.

2:23:56But not in the way they suggest.

2:23:58For years, we were told the library would cost about $21 million, and would be built in El Cerrito Plaza, Parcel C West.

2:24:07Only after the signatures were certified did we learn that the cost would be well over $40 million, and that there is no Parcel C west.

2:24:16That is not a small revision. That is a fundamental change.

2:24:21The proposed 17-cent tax is not enough to build a library and cover operating costs.

2:24:28The draft language is poorly written and cannot realistically deliver a library.

2:24:33So please stop calling this a library tax. It does not function as one.

2:24:39The project depends on a Strategic Growth Council grant.

2:24:43The developers are not in the position to apply by this May, which means they cannot apply this year.

2:24:49That pushes everything back at least another cycle.

2:24:53At the same time, BART is facing a fiscal cliff and needs passage of a November transportation tax.

2:25:00No developer is going to move forward without knowing whether that measure passes.

2:25:06The timeline being presented to the public does not reflect these realities.

2:25:12Meanwhile, the city faces budget deficits, and I understand the pressure for revenue.

2:25:18But this tax appears structured to fund planning, consultants, and staff work, not construction.

2:25:25I also question why this committee would begin meeting in July 2026 and issue a report in July 2027.

2:25:33That timeline alone suggests delay, not progress.

2:25:37The developer did not receive the $350,000 loan from the city.

2:25:42The grant strategy is unclear.

2:25:45The BART situation is unresolved.

2:25:48The basic prerequisites are not in place.

2:25:51If this goes on the June ballot, it sends a message that the real purpose is to supplement the general fund, not to build a library. Please do not waste money on this committee.

2:26:03Finally, I ask that the committee member, the council member, whose campaign treasurer is Greg Lyman, recruse herself from involving

2:26:12this proposal. And given the role Bike East Bay… Bike East Bay has played in the positive project, I ask that the council member who serves as a director of Bike East Bay also recuse herself. Thank you very much.

2:26:29Our next speaker is Pearson Miller.

2:26:34Pearson, you should be able to unmute and begin your time now.

2:26:38Pearson Miller: Yeah, hi, I'm Pearson Miller, and I'm a long-time resident of El Cerrito, and I wanted to speak in support of a library task force, and in support of starting it as soon as possible.

2:26:52I really appreciate the conversation tonight. I think there's a lot of things we need to touch on with a task force. I think it's really important for it to have a clear mission as far as what it needs to accomplish.

2:27:06I do think you need a task force, Or some kind of city.

2:27:13Statement about this particular, bond initiative.

2:27:20About how the city would interpret the language.

2:27:24I think it's been said that it's a poorly written initiative, and I think that's true.

2:27:29just for example, I think 17 cents a square foot is written in the…

2:27:36initiative, but it's also written that that can be increased by vote of the City Council each year, based on some indexes.

2:27:46So to say that the tax won't increase isn't true?

2:27:50Of course, to say the tax will increase isn't true. It all depends on the city council and what votes they take each year.

2:27:58I think it would be helpful for a lot of citizens if the city council would say, hey, this is how we interpret this. We would not raise this tax every year.

2:28:09Then we would have some clarity. Then you would have the truth on the city's website.

2:28:14Similarly, It's been said that the tax is to pay back bonds.

2:28:20But clearly, the tax can be collected prior to any bonds being issued.

2:28:25The city needs to come out and say clearly, what will we do with that money?

2:28:30We'll collect $2.7 million a year.

2:28:33If bonds aren't issued for 3 years.

2:28:37And we have $8 million collected from this tax, what will be done with that money?

2:28:43Will it be used to pay consultants and planning?

2:28:47Will it be used to reimburse the city for the last 10 years of library work and staff time?

2:28:54These are the things that have left the door open to opposition for the tax.

2:29:00Because the worst case scenario is clearly something that can come about.

2:29:06And without knowledge of what the City Council intends to do, if this is passed.

2:29:13We can only fear the worst, given the city's long-time difficulties in financial management.

2:29:21So I would like to see a task force. I would like to see it start immediately. I would like to see a clear mission statement that talks about

2:29:30Evaluating the different options for rebuilding or replacing the library, and evaluating just what is going to happen with this initiative if it passes. Thank you.

2:29:42Thank you for your comments. Mayor, that concludes our request to speak on this item.

2:29:46Thank you very much. Let's go back here to the Council.

2:29:50any comments? I'm looking here at this side, Councilmember Cassandos.

2:29:55May I just say, so, we've heard tonight, I think, some very… from…

2:30:01varying comments from the Council and even members of the public, as far as, creating criteria or a mission or a separate application.

2:30:12If the Council is willing to provide some commentary on any of those things, what we can do is, we can… you can direct us to bring… we don't have to… you don't have to…

2:30:24We could go through this this evening if you wanted to, or if you provide us ideas, then Holly and Sky and I can work on developing some of this criteria into a revised resolution and, bring that back to you at the next City Council meeting.

2:30:41So if there's direction, additional discussion, and what you would all like to include, that is… we propose that for this evening, unless you want to sit here and hash this out tonight. Okay, Mayor Pro Tem.

2:30:56making sure I understand. Is there any reason we can't just vote tonight to create the task force and then have a subsequent vote on the criteria? I just… I don't want to re-litigate this again every meeting. We talked about this at the last meeting, I don't… I just…

2:31:11I want to try to keep us a little bit more focused. Absolutely, if you're… if you're set with the language of the resolution, or if you'd like to modify the language of the resolution… But we can include in that to direct you to come back. Correct. Yes, we could do that as well. I guess that's where I'm leaning, and I'd like to hear from others. I won't go for a motion right now.

2:31:31I mean, unless someone else has a question, I'd be happy to call for a motion where we accept the resolution, create the task force, and direct city staff to come back with some ideas of what those rubrics, what that mission would look like, and the application would look like going forward.

2:31:49to do that. I was just, I was just,

2:31:52I just wanted to make sure that in looking at the resolution, that you're okay with all of the language in it, including, you know, some of what the criteria, again, broad-based criteria that were set forth. I mean, again, you can always amend it later, but I just wanted to make sure that if you're passing this resolution, that there's nothing that you wanted to change on that tonight.

2:32:11Yes, that's my motion. Okay.

2:32:14Okay, we have a motion by, Weissiger, second by Mayor Pro Tem of Saltzman. Madam City Clerk, can we, do roll call on this one? Certainly.

2:32:25Mayor Quinto? Yes.

2:32:27Mayor Pro Tem Saltzman?

2:32:30Councilmember Motiamo?

2:32:32Councilmember Kitzanis?

2:32:34Yes. Councilmember Weisinger? Yes. Motion carries.

2:32:41Apologies, but it sounds like at least some members of the audience don't understand what the motion is, so can we restate it?

2:32:47Yeah, to clarify what I heard the motion to be is take action to adopt the resolution as presented and direct staff to return with more specific criteria to include in an application specific for the task force.

2:33:02Yep, very good.

2:33:03Yes, go ahead.

2:33:06Oh, sorry, yes, I'd like also to have that mission statement clarified, the goal.

2:33:13a mission of the task force. Yes, I did state that it should be in the motion. I did state the criteria and a mission statement.

2:33:23Thank you. Okay. Very good. Next, we'll go to, City Council Local and Regional Liaison Assignments. I'll start here to my left.

2:33:34Went to the… Urban Forest Committee, and recycle more.

2:33:42Nothing particularly to update about either one. Things are always messy, they recycle more, and they continue to be messy.

2:33:47But they function.

2:33:51Thank you so much, and Mayor, I know that we reported last, or I reported last meeting of that, about policy

2:33:58appointments through the League of California Cities. I'm also pleased to report to you that I was appointed as the second vice president of the National League of Cities.

2:34:06LGBT Caucus, and as I said about Cal Cities, we have so much important work to do, and our constituency groups are going to be very integral in that as we're seeing our federal, our national level. We're having a lot of splintering on the policy level. It's going to be imperative that our constituency groups are doing a lot of work and making sure we're advocating for those communities, so I'm looking forward to that work.

2:34:29Councilmember Motion.

2:34:33Thank you, Mayor.

2:34:35on, february 5th, I attended the Contra Costa Mayor's Conference, and

2:34:42I was able to pretend to be mayor for a day. Thank you for that. And on the 6th, I went to the employee recognition party, and it's always great to go to this event because

2:34:55We have so many long-term employees, particularly in the recreation Department, and I think that's a sign of how well-run our recreation department is.

2:35:06And on the 10th, I attended the advisory body interviews, and on February 11th, I attended the ABAG Housing Committee, of which I am vice chair, and we are continuing to work on the strategic plan for the Bay Area Housing Finance Agency.

2:35:23Thank you. Okay, Mayor Pro Tem?

2:35:25It's been a busy couple weeks. I also attended the employee recognition party, and it was just great to recognize so many folks who have been here for so long.

2:35:34On the 7th, I went to the Line 7 bus party with, Councilmember Weissinger, that, El Cerrito resident Joanna Pace organized. It was pretty amazing, it was, like.

2:35:47we were at capacity on the bus. I got nervous at some point we were going to have to pass people up, but it was really fun to see so many people enjoying the bus and talking about the need for more bus service.

2:35:57On the 9th, I believe, Councilmember Motayama and I went to

2:36:04tour the pool that's, you know, having the replastering done with our recreation Director, Chris Jones. It's pretty cool to go down inside there, and feels a lot deeper when it's empty. But great to see that that is on track.

2:36:19And on the 11th, I went to the Human Relations Commission meeting. They were doing sort of a debrief on the MLK Day, parade and event, which was fantastic.

2:36:32And then,

2:36:34On the 15th, I attended the El Cerrito Historical Society meeting, which was well attended with a great program.

2:36:43That's it.

2:36:44Great. For, for my update,

2:36:47On February 5th and 6th, I attended the CFI conference on energy and climate.

2:36:55Where we had a huge group of,

2:36:59players here from the state of California, from Wade Crowfoot, Secretary of Natural Resources, Lauren Sanchez, who's the new chair of the California Air Resources Board, Seba Gunda, Vice Chair of the Energy Commission.

2:37:16And, a commissioner for the California Energy Commission, Andrew McAllister.

2:37:23We also had folks from the Independent Systems Operator. We had members of the California State Senate Assembly.

2:37:31We had, business and industry, the new, CEO from, WISPA.

2:37:41And we had CCAs, including Don Weiss, who's the CEO for

2:37:48MCE Clean Energy, and we had an open discussion on AI and data centers, and know that things are so volatile on the energy front here in the state of California. We even had an open talk on nuclear power.

2:38:07with what corporations are asking for, up and down the state. We don't have enough power to provide on this, so we had, the grandson of El Cerrito's, I believe, first Nobel Prize winner, and that is, Oppenheimer. His grandson.

2:38:26Charles Oppenheimer spoke. He does support, nuclear power, with the needs that,

2:38:34California has in the future, so I look forward to, collaborating, with everyone on this. You look at our prices on energy, and we haven't seen anything yet.

2:38:49or PG&E, they want to add the cost of expansion to regular residents, and we don't find that acceptable at all. We need our corporations to pay their fair share on this, so working with the California

2:39:07PUC on this.

2:39:09More to come on that.

2:39:12I will, be, meeting with the new head, of, the…

2:39:20Air Resources Board, and that is, Chair Sanchez. I'll be meeting with her, I believe, on the 2nd of March.

2:39:31on the air board front, I did attend the last air board meeting where, we were discussing, electrification. And, you know.

2:39:41on the federal side, they don't like any of this. California, we're having open… an open conversation on this, and know that where I stand as a board member representing cities in California, from the nine Bay Area counties and Contra Costa County.

2:39:59We have more talks to have regarding this, and I hope

2:40:05Our residents will participate and attend our board meetings, which are on the first Wednesday.

2:40:12starting at 10, you can watch us live at 375 Beale Street, or you can watch us on Zoom.

2:40:20This is something that,

2:40:22you know, we find controversial because of what is happening on the federal government, but I truly believe when it comes to electrification, if we're going to do this right, we need to use the equity lens on every move that we make here for the state of California. This is not fair.

2:40:42to, have this on the backs of working people on the poor. And I also had a discussion regarding the possibilities of having

2:40:52our refineries leave. That is not acceptable. If that happens, we're going to have higher gas prices. Again, I mentioned this before, everyone's saying $8.75 is going to be the norm, but it can go as far as $12 a gallon if we have

2:41:09to have our oil refined in Asia, South Korea, Vietnam, or India. And I told everybody at this conference, this is a national security issue, and World War III will happen if we have to have it done.

2:41:257,000 miles on the other side of the world.

2:41:28where our enemies are. So, you know, I'll keep you posted on this, but, you know, California, we want to do this a certain way, and the federal government will do everything that we can to stop us in what we're doing. So.

2:41:43Yes. One thing, Mayor, before you adjourn, I would love to request that we adjourn in the memory of Reverend Jesse Jackson, who passed away early this morning, a great freedom fighter who fought all the way from his teenage years with Dr. Martin Luther King, and he's

2:41:58come to the Bay Area several times. He actually delivered his historic 1984 Democratic National Convention speech here in San Francisco, and it's interesting that we'll be back in San Francisco this week, so I would love to adjourn in his memory. We will do that. I'm not done with giving my other update.

2:42:18For the first time in the history of El Cerrito, the board of directors for Cal City will be meeting in Berkeley, and we'll have a dinner at the Country Club on Thursday.

2:42:30On the 24th, as president of Cal Cities, I'll be driving up to Sacramento, and I'll be interviewing and giving a city's perspective when I interview the gubernatorial candidate. So that will be on the 24th, and you'll be able to see that via Zoom, so stay tuned.

2:42:49We are gonna, end this meeting in honor of… the Honorable Jesse Jackson and

2:42:57The next meeting will be on Thursday, starting at 9 o'clock, sharp a.m.

2:43:04And then we will have a… our next meeting, regular scheduled meeting, will be on the following Tuesday.

2:43:12March 3rd.

2:43:14at 6 o'clock here at Hana Gardens.

2:43:19The time is quarter to 9. We will see you next time. Thank you for being here.