Regular City Council Meeting October 20, 2026

0:00:13mayor. We are ready to begin when you are.

0:00:30Good evening. The October 20th, 2026 regular city council meeting is called to order at uh 6:01 p.m. Will the city clerk please call roll?

0:00:41Mayor Kinto here.

0:00:43Mayor Prom Saltzman here.

0:00:44Council member Kitsanes.

0:00:49Looks like Council Member Katanes has stepped away briefly, but he is with us virtually. Uh, Council Member Motyama here. Council member Weissinger is absent tonight. And just a note for the record, Council Member Katsanis is back now. And uh, participating under a

0:01:05noticed remote location, so no disclosures required, but all um, votes tonight will be done by roll call.

0:01:12Okay, very good. Uh, please join me in the pledge of allegiance or a moment of silence.

0:01:20I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

0:01:37Uh, teleconference and public comment instructions. Madam city clerk, apologies. I I was looking for my binder that disappeared.

0:01:51Uh this hybrid meeting provides an option to participate in person or via Zoom with closed captions available.

0:01:57Meetings of the city council are subject to the Brown Act and are held for the purpose of conducting city business. The Brown Act ensures the public's right to be heard. And while city council may not be able to respond to your comments directly, your comments will be heard

0:02:09prior to council taking action. For members of the public who wish to provide oral testimony, the mayor will announce the time for public comments on each applicable item. A request to speak can be submitted to the city clerk by completing a speaker card, by selecting

0:02:22the raise hand feature on Zoom, or by dialing star9 if calling in by phone.

0:02:27Inerson speakers will be called first.

0:02:29The council's adopted rules of order and procedures, specify that public speakers address the city council in an orderly and respectful manner, proceed their comments with their name and city of residents, and be respectful of time limits. Thank you, mayor. That concludes

0:02:42my announcement.

0:02:42Okay. Next, we have council staff communications, and we'll start with assistant city manager.

0:02:52Thank you, mayor. I have a few items to bring up tonight. Uh, first of all, this Thursday, October 22nd, at 6 p.m., our public works team is hosting a virtual community meeting to discuss proposed safety improvements at the Cutting Boulevard, Hagen, and Wilson Way

0:03:09intersection. These improvements are planned as part of the pavement work already going to be taking place this fall. So, if you live nearby or you regularly use this crosswalk or intersection, we encourage you to join us and learn more more about these proposed improvements. We'd love to hear

0:03:25your feedback. For the Zoom login information, you can visit elserto.gov and scroll down to the city calendar at the bottom of the homepage for more information. And if you have questions, you can email pworks elserto.gov.

0:03:42And speaking of public works, I also want to share that our team is also working closely with Contraosta County to prepare for what's projected to be a historic El Nino winter weather season.

0:03:55And we're enc we're encouraging residents today to start taking a few steps now. And that includes checking your storm drains near your property, clearing your gutters, and pick and also you can pick up to 10 free sandbags for our recycling center. We're going to be

0:04:12sharing more information and reminders as we get further along into the rainy season. And in the meantime, residents can go to elscerto.gov/rainy season for more information to how to prepare. And next up, and last but not least, I'd like to take a moment to highlight the great work our police

0:04:32department is doing as part of National Pedestrian Safety Month, particularly around outreach and community education regarding emotos, which are not permitted on the Aloney Greenway or city streets. As showcased in the San Francisco Chronicle, as well as our own

0:04:50social media, our police department has been conducting extensive enforcement operations along the greenway to address these unsafe and illegal use of these vehicles. And I want to thank the police chief Paul Keith, Captain Lauren Caputo, who's here tonight, and the whole police

0:05:07department team for their continued efforts to make our streets and pathways safer for ev for all of us in the community. With that, that concludes my report, Mayor.

0:05:18Okay. Thank you very much, Alex. Uh, next we'll go to uh announcement from council members. Um, we'll start with uh council member Moyama.

0:05:27Thank you, Mayor. Um, I want to let people know uh that the Lions Club's 34th annual Veterans Day placing of flags at Sunset View Motary is happening again on Veterans Day the 11th of November at the which is um it's starting at 8:30 and it's uh Sunset View Motery if you don't know it is at the

0:05:48top of Fairmont Avenue and uh it's always really great to have our service clubs doing stuff in the community because it's a it's a nice event. Thank you, Mayor Proto.

0:06:00And I just wanted to announce that the Contraosta Transportation Authority this week released a new survey on the San Pablo Avenue safety and access project.

0:06:10Um, this is around San Pablo Avenue from Elserto through Richmond and San Pablo.

0:06:16There's a lot being considered for uh improvements for buses, walking, and biking. And CCTA wants input.

0:06:25Unfortunately, the link is very long, but I'm gonna post on my social media and share it with the city and hopefully Elserto will post it on social media so you can all see it. But look out for it.

0:06:35You have a whole month to take the survey. It's like less than 5 minutes, but San Pablo is obviously very critical to Elserto. So, I hope residents um and business owners will weigh in.

0:06:45Yep. Thank you. Um Council Member Cassan, do you have any announcements?

0:06:49I do not.

0:06:51Okay. Um my announcement um is let's see oh no I do not have any announcements uh at this meeting right now. Uh next we'll go to oral communications from the public.

0:07:10The next item is that now is the time for members of the public who wish to provide public comments regarding matters not on the agenda, consent items and presentation items. Requests to speak can be submitted to uh the city clerk by completing a speaker card using

0:07:25the raise hand feature on Zoom or dialing star9 if joining by phone.

0:07:29Inperson requests will be taken first.

0:07:32Please remember to identify yourself and your city of residence at the beginning of your comments. City clerk, please proceed.

0:07:38Thank you, mayor. We do not have any inerson requests to speak. We just have one uh virtual request to speak which I will go to now.

0:07:51Oops.

0:07:56Okay, Ira, you should be able to unmute and begin your time now.

0:08:02Okay, can you hear me?

0:08:04Yes, we can.

0:08:05Thank you. I shower now, Elserto.

0:08:09I would like to wish everyone a happy Halloween. Since Elsarita was too poor to have a Halloween party, I recommend that people attend the Albany Festival on Solano Avenue. First, I have some treats. I would like to thank both the fire department and the police

0:08:26department for promptly responding to my public records act request for incident data. Now, for the trips, I asked the city clerk for documents related to delay to the delay in the release of the service delivery study.

0:08:41a complete stonewall, but apparently the city manager is asking for many, many changes.

0:08:48The rest of the tricks relate to an incumbent candidate for Elserto Council.

0:08:52On his accomplishments web page, he wrote, quote, in September 2025, S&P raised the city's ratings to A+."

0:09:02That is incorrect.

0:09:04Anyone can go to the S&P website and see that the underlying rating or spur is a minus. When this individual joined the council, the city had an A+ rating. So the current rating is two notches below his starting point.

0:09:20During his time in office, he rubber stamped each overspending budget. This led to the audit by the state auditor.

0:09:28It does not appear as though he or other insider council members have learned their lessons. Over the past four years, spending has accelerated to about 9% per year, or about three times the rate of inflation. The city overspent the initial budget this past year by more

0:09:46than $2.7 million and ran a deficit of over $1 million.

0:09:52What has the community gotten for all of this overspending?

0:09:56Our pavement condition index used to be 85. Now it is 65.

0:10:03When not finished.

0:10:08This candidate gave a great speech urging support for the real property tax to pay for a senior center. Now, he opposes a senior center as not financially prudent, but he did support measure C. I urge the council to issue a statement that clearly states Elserto's

0:10:26low A minus credit rating and also acknowledges the low pavement condition index as well as the lack of transparency in government.

0:10:35Thank you very much.

0:10:37Thank you mayor. That concludes our request to speak.

0:10:39Okay, great. Uh next we will have h a presentation and that will be uh a the annual uh central garden club awards.

0:11:06Thank you very much for having me.

0:11:08Uh I'm delighted that fellow members of the garden club have come tonight to support me.

0:11:15um Marian Kent, Martha Jackson, Pam Austin, Mallerie Johnson, and uh they are all longtime and active members of the Elserto Garden Club.

0:11:32If you just click the arrow, the forward arrow on the keyboard, the one that's facing me, no, the arrow, that works, too.

0:11:41Um, each spring the Elserto Garden Club sponsors the Sundar Shotti Frontyard Garden Award in the city of Elserto.

0:11:51Nominations may be made by garden club members or any member of the community.

0:11:58These nominations are then surveyed by our judges and three gardens are given awards without any ranking.

0:12:08The winners may not be members of the garden club nor may they have won the award in the last 10 years. The award is named in honor of Sundor Shotti who you see in this photograph. He was born in the Punjab region of India and early in his life encouraged to study horiculture

0:12:30because of its importance to his region.

0:12:33He came to UC Berkeley in 1921 in to study horiculture receiving a bachelor of science degree in 1926 and with further study a master's degree in subtropical horiculture.

0:12:49While attending UC he met Dorothy Clark.

0:12:53They were married in 1934 and built and lived in their home on the Arlington in Elserto.

0:13:01Due to racial discrimination of the time, he was unable to secure a job in the university. Instead, he purchased and operated gas stations while at the same time continuing to study horiculture, contributing significant articles to prestigious journals.

0:13:22What you see in this photograph behind Sundar Shotti is his hobby. He and his wife purchased two lots adjacent to their property where Sundar planted and maintained what became known as the Persian carpets of flowers.

0:13:39It was in said that in one display he might have 15,000 plants and he planned it with the goal of all of them blooming at once to createate the desired effect of a Persian carpet.

0:13:56Each year he created plantings with different themes.

0:14:00Additionally, what began with a single star, Sundar built into what would become the hillside town of Bethlehem, a landmark of the Elserto community.

0:14:13Sundar was a supporter of many community activities and a regular volunteer at the public schools. He lived for 101 years and received many of his awards for his contributions to the community.

0:14:29Sundar joined the Elserto Garden Club in 1996 and gave the club a grant of $500 to be used to beautify the city of Elserto. It was the beginning of the front yard garden award that the club has carried out from that time to this. To learn more about Sundar Shotti, you might view

0:14:52the movie Mr. Shotti's Gifts, which is available on YouTube.

0:14:58Now each year in the spring, 10 to 12 judges from the club view the front yard garden nominations, taking into consideration design, drought tolerance, unique use of plants, interesting features, use of natives, pollinators, harmony with the home, and most especially curb appeal, which makes a

0:15:23garden a gift to the community.

0:15:26This year we had 19 nominations and we chose our three winning gardens.

0:15:36This eye-catching, well-cared for garden at 434 Pomona is owned by Melissa Winrop and Eli Rabinovich.

0:15:47This gorgeous array of colors and pollinator plants made it an easy choice as the winners.

0:15:56The judges noted the abundance of bees, the accent of grasses, attractive ground cover and mixed colors of different textures.

0:16:10The lovely balance of plants beside the entrance.

0:16:15The flowers highlighted this unique sculptural sculptural feature of the front of the house.

0:16:29755 Pomona is owned by Kelly Martin and John Scoan.

0:16:36The couple worked with a landscaped architect to develop this attractive drought tolerant succulent rich garden.

0:16:46The planting features various levels of plants and a pallet of every variation on green highlighted with boulders, a lovely path walking through the garden and palm trees.

0:17:04The alows are beautifully displayed and in front of the fence a backdrop like a pallet, New Zealand flax and some colorful shrubs.

0:17:20One judge said that the garden had a peaceful meditative quality.

0:17:26Though newly planted one, this plant uh garden has a great potential for growth and will be an outstanding garden in years to come.

0:17:38It's no surprise that the garden at 320 Coronado was designed, planted, and decorated by artist Holly Rose. The judges commented on the inviting archway and the unique sculpture.

0:17:57Holly told us that she moved mounds of dirts to create different levels. The flagstone stepping stones are particularly inviting.

0:18:08The rich variety of blooming plants attracts bees, butterflies, and birds to this drought tolerant garden. One of the unique features is the bowl that's nested in the garden filled with succulents.

0:18:27Here's an example of all the pollinator flowers.

0:18:34And here is Holly Rose receiving the sign that's put in the front of each winner's garden.

0:18:45After our judging is done, members of the garden club ga gather at the gardens of each winner, present a certificate, a small monetary donation, and the beautiful sign that appears in the garden for the next nine months. And additionally, the winner becomes a member of the garden club.

0:19:10I would like you all to take the time to pass by these three unique gardens and I also invite all of you to attend the Elserto Garden Club. We have approximately 88 members at this moment and we celebrate the beauty of our community and gardens and you're always

0:19:32welcome to attend the second Thursday of the month at 9:30 to noon at the Albany Community Center. And thank you very much for allowing me to make this presentation.

0:19:48Thank you very much. Um, let's uh I wanted to find out any uh questions or comments to uh our guest uh Mayor Potam.

0:19:58Go ahead.

0:20:00Just wanted to say thank you for doing this every year and congratulations to the winners. I just happened to take a walk on Pomona last week and so I saw two of the winning gardens and I first noticed the gardens before noticing the signs that they they had won this award

0:20:15and I thought that was a really good decision. So really beautiful. I'll have to check out the third, but uh always uh impressed with the thoughtfulness you use. There's a lot of beautiful gardens in El Certo, so it's a hard choice to make, but thank you and we hope that you will nominate

0:20:32gardens as well.

0:20:35Go ahead.

0:20:36Thank you. And thank you for the presentation. And I have had the the pleasure of seeing all three of them and they are just wonderful. And you know, I think also they're an example for other homeowners to see what can you do with succulents or native plants or dry

0:20:52gardens. So, uh, thank you so much for keeping us beautiful.

0:20:57Uh, Council Member Casanis, any comments or questions?

0:21:00I do not know.

0:21:02Okay. U, I personally want to say thank you. I've attended your lunchon a couple of times and uh uh just know uh we see a brand new generation of homeowners that uh are enjoying gardening and uh and it's thanks to you and your uh group there the uh so uh you know remembering

0:21:22my mom and she loved her garden um in Elserita for many many years of uh uh grateful to your leadership and uh showing the new generation how it's done. So again, thank you for being here.

0:21:37So, um I want to um before we get to the next thing, um I have a correction from one of the uh speakers and I just wanted to point out that uh the speaker that spoke about uh our S&P ratings is completely wrong and uh so I what I'm saying uh we have an A+ uh with our

0:22:00sales tax revenue bonds and uh and it was raised from an A minus to an A+. Uh certificates of participation is an A minus raised from BBB in September 2025 and we do have a positive outlook. We do have uh the most in our reserves and at any other time in the last 26 years. So,

0:22:27um, you know, the the misinformation and, uh, the stuff that people say in open comment and on blogs andextdoor.com, you know, I just wanted to, uh, let our residents know the truth. I'm very proud uh, of our staff and our city manager uh, for turning this city around. We

0:22:45couldn't do it without them. So, again, uh, thank you staff on that. Um, now we have uh updates from the League of California Cities. And I want to welcome uh East Bay Division uh uh person uh the head of the East Bay Division, Sam Kaggel. Actually, Sam Breitman.

0:23:07That's correct.

0:23:08You just got married. Thank you.

0:23:10Thank you.

0:23:10We're still in.

0:23:12It is. Thank you so much. Um it's great to be here tonight. Yes. I'm Sam Breitman. I'm the regional public affairs manager for the East Bay Division of the League of California Cities. So, I get to work with the 33 cities in Alama and Contracasta counties, including you all. Um, first

0:23:28before I begin, um, I want to express my gratitude to the city of Elserto. You are a very engaged city in advocacy, education, networking, etc. Everything that we provide through the League of California Cities. Several of you serve on policy committees. Um Karen Pinko,

0:23:43your city manager, is very engaged in our um city manager department and serves on our board. And um I need to also mention a big congratulations and gratitude to Mayor Kinto for his service as our Cal City's president this last year. Um that was a really big undertaking um helping guide advocacy

0:24:03and policym for not only Elserto and cities in the Bay Area but cities statewide. So, um, thank you so very much for your service there. So, um, as I begin, I just want to remind you that we have a team of lobbyists who are working in Sacramento for you every day.

0:24:22Um, they specialize in different subject areas, but are um, constantly roaming the halls of the capital um, doing great work for cities statewide.

0:24:32And I was asked to come give a general update to you tonight. Um, and so for tonight, I'm pleased to remind you um, what our 2026 advocacy priorities are.

0:24:43And then from here, I'm going to touch on a few bills, etc., just to give you a flavor of what we did for you in these areas this year. Of course, there's a lot more, but I'm in the brief time I have tonight, I'm just going to touch on a few items. So, going over our

0:24:57priorities. First, protect and enhance local revenues and expand economic development tools. Second, strengthen partnerships with the state to improve public safety. Our third goal, secure investments to prevent and reduce homelessness and increase the supply of

0:25:12affordable housing. And four, strengthen climate change resiliency and disaster preparedness.

0:25:21So I I will go through these four areas.

0:25:24Uh the first being enhancing local revenues. Um so this this first bill that we worked on is a Cal's sponsored bill. Um it addresses a recent court case that took away your ability to address road damage etc by for instance large garbage trucks um that that do service on your streets through fees and

0:25:44franchise agreements etc. Um this bill provided much needed clarity for you to continue um collecting those fees and mitigating those damages. So we were happy to sponsor this bill and happy that the governor signed it recently.

0:25:59kind of switching gears to the November ballot. Um, at the end of session, there were conversations about local taxation and what tools cities should be able to have in the toolbox. And as far as we're concerned, we as an organization believe that you should have as many tools as

0:26:16possible uh for your communities to do what's right for your communities and your community needs. So, we oppose Proposition 43. Um this is an initiative that would um raise the vote threshold on citizen-led special taxes. Um so we're part of the coalition to hopefully

0:26:33defeat Proposition 43. Um and this this was part of a really large discussion at the end of session. Um property transfer taxes were on the table through another initiative as as as something that was going to be on the November ballot.

0:26:47There were some negotiations in the in the legislature. We ended up with Proposition 43. While we're happy to see property transfer taxes off the table, um this is still something that um is not palatable to our cities, um we anticipate that property transfer taxes

0:27:02are will be discussed in the future and we're going to be right there fighting to make sure that you guys can retain those as a tool in your communities.

0:27:10All right. Um I'm going to move on to some public safety bills. So, these two next bills are Cal City sponsored bills as well um that I'm happy to report the governor signed. Um so, the first AB1941 enhances enforcement by targeting organized and repeat offenders of copper

0:27:29metal theft. Um this has been a really big issue in cities statewide. We've heard stories of cities um with uh defunct um street light poles or traffic light poles and having to put in temporary stop signs. It creates a traffic safety issue and it's extremely costly for you to have to fix this. So,

0:27:47we were happy to see some action in this area with the governor signing AB1941.

0:27:52Um SB758 is another bill that we sponsored. This prohibits the sale of nitrous oxide at certain retailers. Um this is a substance that has become abused and unsafe and harmful in some uh recreational use. Um so happy to see that signed by the governor.

0:28:11And the last public safety bill I'll touch on is AB1588.

0:28:16Um, this establishes new criminal penalties for engaging in an exhibition of speed as part of a sideshow. So, that's just a little flavor of of what we looked at public safety wise this year. Um, I'm now going to move on to um, housing and homelessness. Cal cities, we are a broken record in

0:28:36Sacramento, constantly asking for funding for affordable housing and homelessness for you. Um the homelessness the homeless housing assistance and prevention grant program, HAP, um we we consistently lobby for a sustainable source of funding for you all in this area. Um this year we were

0:28:55able to get 900 million in the budget.

0:28:57We're typically asking for 1 billion. Um but we're happy to at least see that and we continue to ask for a sustainable source of funding to help you all. Um AB1924, this is a bill that was signed by the governor and it requires the state a state department to develop a statewide

0:29:14comprehensive strategy um around homelessness prevention including outlining best practices for local governments. So we see this as something that could be helpful in the future as well and happy to see the governor signed it.

0:29:27Let's see a couple more. housing and homelessness um areas. This is a Cal City sponsored piece of legislation as well, AB2296.

0:29:35Um this bill will help cities more efficiently achieve housing element approval um by allowing you to have 6 months um advance time um so you can start 6 months earlier in the process.

0:29:47So hopefully that's helpful to our cities as you tackle what can be a cumbersome uh effort.

0:29:55And uh heading back to a ballot initiative on the November ballot. Um we are part of a broad coalition um supporting Proposition 1. This this is an 11.25 billion bond. Um it does things like fund multifamily homes um housing for veterans, infill infrastructure,

0:30:17um first-time home buyer programs, and more. Um so again, we're part of a large coalition to hopefully see that get across the finish line in November.

0:30:26And next I'm going to go on to our uh climate change resiliency and disaster prep item. Um we advocate steadily for you for resources around wildfire preparedness and prevention. And so when a deal was being crafted at the end of session to shift wildfire liabil

0:30:44liability to local governments and victims even if you're not at fault. Um we immediately built a robust coalition to oppose such a concept. and I'm happy to say we were successful. Your voices were very powerful. Um, and that was taken out of the proposal, but then the

0:31:01entire thing died on the assembly floor anyway. So, we fully expect this issue to come back. Um, and we're really happy to at least have a robust coalition in place at this point that I'm sure we'll see grow as we move forward next legislative cycle.

0:31:18Oh, sorry. Oh. Oh, yeah. Okay, that's right. That's the right slide. Okay. Um so now I'll touch on this bill um that we supported um that the governor signed. This is AB1642.

0:31:29Um this requires the state to adopt smoke and air quality standards to ensure safe occupancy of residential buildings post fires. So want to make sure that air quality is safe for folks to be in their homes after we have um fire incidents.

0:31:47And that will wrap up what I'm going to touch on in those quick areas. Um, I will say this is just a taste. So, if you want more, if you're just dying for more, I know you probably are, please join us on December 7th for a webinar from 10:30 to noon um for a full report

0:32:03out from our team of lobbyists on new laws that cities need to be aware of. I hope you can join us for that. And you can um sign up for that at www.calcities.org.

0:32:16And um happy to take any questions, but I will say as well that we're soon going to be conducting our strategic planning as an organization. And so um do be in touch with your leadership, whether it's Mayor Kinto as now immediate past president or your new president of the

0:32:31East Bay Division is council member Holly Tilman from Clayton um or you can be in touch with me. I'm happy to share the information as well with what's important to your city so that we can carry that to our strategy meetings for next year. And that's it. Thank you so

0:32:44much for having me here tonight. I appreciate it.

0:32:46Thank you. Um any questions for uh Sam Brightman.

0:32:53Uh Council Member Casanis, do you have any questions?

0:32:56I do not.

0:32:57Okay. Thank you. Uh Sam, thank you for being here and uh uh look forward to seeing you this week. Uh who is your guest on Thursday?

0:33:07Yes, we have a division meeting this week. Um, and it's going to be um, KQED political correspondent Guy Margarati is going to be talking to us about the political dynamics of the November ballot. So, it should be a should be a fun and interesting meeting.

0:33:21Look forward to that. Uh, Guy was uh, uh, with us yesterday at the Elserto Plaza Bark uh, development and uh, he had some questions and said he was going to be there. So, I look forward to attending on Thursday.

0:33:34Good. I look forward to seeing you.

0:33:35Thank you.

0:33:36Thank you very much.

0:33:39Uh, next we have a legislative update and we have uh Dne Hutchkins which is the he's the CEO of CA California Public Policy Group.

0:33:52Good evening.

0:33:57Uh, good evening, mayor and council members. I'm Ethan Nagler with California Public Policy Group. It's a privilege to be with you tonight. I'm joined by my colleague Dane Hutchkins and we will uh be providing you with an update on what happened in the legislature this year. So, let me go

0:34:12ahead and um share my screen here.

0:34:32Okay. So, first I'll be doing a recap of 2026.

0:34:36And um I wanted to start off with um what we think is a significant win for the city, uh which is the expediting of funds for CALR to make improvements on San Pablo Avenue. Um so this is a CowChrans project that will rehabilitate pavement, add street trees, and make

0:34:53pedestrian safety improvements. Um and so back in early 2026, uh the San Pavl Avenue paving project was slated for reprogramming to fiscal year 2728, which would have delayed the project for at least a year. We worked with uh the city to secure a joint letter from

0:35:11Senate Senator Aragen and Assembly Member Wixs urging the California Transportation Commission uh to expedite the project on public safety grounds due to um fatalities on on the avenue. Um, members of the city council also met in person with CALR staff in Sacramento to

0:35:28underscore the importance of the projects uh of the project to the city.

0:35:32Uh, we also testified on the city's behalf at a California Transportation Commission meeting um asking the funds to be uh to be expedited. Um, on August 31st, CALR announced a roughly $13 million allocation for the project and construction is now anticipated to begin

0:35:49in early 2027 instead of 2028.

0:35:54And I'll just say uh quickly um that this is really a testament to your team, your technical staff. We work with them on all sort of the granular details, work with your council, uh directly engage your co your uh your delegation on this. And so, um, you know, really

0:36:11made our voice heard on this one, but it we it really started with, um, uh, your your your your team, your your, uh, your city staff. So, um, it was a certainly a team win.

0:36:25Okay. So, um, next I'll be doing a brief highle overview of the legislative year and where we are in the process and then we'll get into some individual bills.

0:36:35Um, the legislative session ended on August 31st. The deadline for the governor to sign or veto legislation that made it to his desk uh was September 30th. Uh there were 2,230 bills introduced in 2026. It's a little lower than average. Usually it's about 2500. Um and of those 2,230 bills that

0:36:56were introduced this year, the governor signed 140 and vetoed 120. Um and just to note that that veto rate is a little bit lower than usual. Um and so that's probably uh due to his last year um in office. Um and then the rest of those bills did not pass uh the legislature.

0:37:14So quite a few of them uh did not make it. U some of the themes this year that we saw uh that touched on on local government operations and authority included um AI, ebikes, tort reform, ballot measures, elections, housing and land use, which is always a big one,

0:37:31real property transfer tax, and also wildfire liabilities. And uh Dan and I are going to talk about uh bills in all of those areas. But just a note on the wildfire uh liabilities that I wanted to mention uh that the city joined the League of California's leader uh excuse

0:37:46me coalition letter uh opposing the proposed limits on local agency um wildfire recovery and we communicated directly with Assembly Member Wixs and Senator Arggin's offices the importance of the of this issue um for the city. Um and as uh was mentioned um there since

0:38:04there was no deal on this issue, the bill ended up dying, which was good because we preserved um local agency ability to recover funds from utility caused wildfires. The issue is likely to return next year.

0:38:20So now uh we'll be reviewing some uh key measures of interest that we tracked for the city. And um these are just some of the more than 50 pieces of legislation that we've tracked closely um on the city's behalf. And I will now turn it over to Dane to get started on those.

0:38:37Thanks, Ethan. So, uh I want to start out first by just highlighting AB736.

0:38:43Sort of a actually a combination of Gonzalez and Wix. Um this was sort of the culmination of this really long-standing argument or issue we had in and around real property transfer taxes.

0:38:56uh one of the key uh revenue generators for the city. Um we'll talk about this as it you know we you know Sam talked a little bit about Prop 43 and and what what came up came about with respect to the compromise but where what uh you know I why we wanted to highlight this

0:39:14was for a couple of reasons. Number one, you know, this was one of our central themes in our advocacy day with members of council coming to Sacramento talking about the importance and utility of RPTT. Um all of the good things that the city is doing uh with uh its real

0:39:30property transfer tax. Um you know, we do believe that this will this issue will come back again and uh we're we're pleased with where this bill ended up.

0:39:43although it ended up failing passage um and instead there's been there was a you know quote sort of a compromise on the ballot uh with what was put on the ballot on Prop 43 um we do think RPDT will come back and we believe that if we can get keep this as a starting point at

0:40:011.5% um we in effect uh grandfather in uh else's rate and actually give them increased room to run uh if if uh there is an opportunity or a desire to enhance revenues in that manner.

0:40:18Next slide.

0:40:22So, uh 1383. So, this was a big one and frankly not a lot of individual jurisdictions uh positioned on this bill. Um you know, but it would have would have had pretty considerable impacts uh to local agency uh fiscal stability as well as the state of California. the

0:40:41U appropriations analysis thought projected about a $350 million uh plus ongoing state obligation, not to mention the billions of dollars of local costs this would have had. And so what 13v3 did uh was number one provided a retroactive benefit increase for most

0:41:00miscellaneous employees and public safety by adjusting the cost of living standards. And then number two would have modified the plans uh uh uh perspectively for uh you know sort of undoing some of the the reforms that were done during PEPA. Um what we did as a firm and worked uh with Cal Cities a

0:41:20bit on this was working with CalPERS to have the data released on the cost impacts which is pretty um which was you know harder than you would think to get that information out there. Um I will say that the legislature did overwhelmingly support this bill. Uh the

0:41:36governor uh uh did veto it citing direct cost and uh really sort of a fear or or a concern rather that um if you adjust public safety uh retirement formulas that you know we would then see a trend and have a miscellaneous a bill that would you know modify miscellaneous

0:41:56formulas thus really overturning PEPA.

0:41:59Uh we're starting to finally sort of see the tide turn a bit on fiscal stability uh with Peppa. So, I certainly want to um try and hold the line there. Uh but however, we do anticipate this bill coming back again uh in the next year or two.

0:42:17Uh SP 1164. So, um this is a bill that we worked pretty heavily on with respect to districtbased elections. Um Elso being at large, there are aspects of this bill. Primarily, the biggest concern for this was if you were districted already, it would have it would have um uh uh retroactively

0:42:39removed your the safe harbor provisions for those who had gone uh to districtbased elections. And so when the bill uh was introduced and was advancing through the process, um there were several uh really problematic issues uh with the bill. Um we worked directly

0:42:56with the author's office and secured a series of amendments not only to help preserve the safe harbor for uh jurisdictions who have moved to districts but also secured um uh some uh additional protections for at large jurisdictions uh including a higher threshold

0:43:12uh a burden of proof to bring to bring a a district-based elections allegation.

0:43:18uh we were able to ensure that the legal fees that should you get a demand letter the legal fees uh are at uh 2014 levels adjusted for inflation versus the this you know this this higher number that was being proposed. Uh and there was also a a a sort of a a small technical

0:43:33provision with respect uh to uh a council member's individual ability to express their first amendment rights uh with respect to uh uh making a declar declaring statement about district-based elections which would have triggered what was referred to as a futility

0:43:49clause. meaning that if someone were to um express you know concern over districtbased elections that could have been used to bypass the whole provisions of the bill and go directly to litigation. So we're able to rectify those uh challenges as well. So um uh you know definitely a a a you know a

0:44:10bill that we work very hard on. Uh you know all of our clients that were impacted moved to neutral on the bill.

0:44:16Uh but it is something that given that sort of the the the the federal narratives and all of that uh was certainly something that we knew was going to be coming and uh worked hard to ensure that um to preserve some local autonomy there.

0:44:35Uh SP 122. So this is the what is sort of referred to uh as the SAS tax, the uh software as a service tax. So for years um there have been you know there's sort of this loophole if you will in local state and local sales tax with respect to applying uh state and local sales tax

0:44:56to these software products. Um this was actually proposed in the governor's may revision and ended up uh coming into print as SP122.

0:45:05Now for uh a city like Elserto uh while I would certainly defer to uh finance staff and you know if you have outside council uh to refer to what those projections look like from a statewide perspective it is it is projected that it is going to generate about 1.1 billion in annual state and

0:45:24local revenues. uh the city does have to actually pay its own uh state local sales tax uh on its own SAS SAS uh uh uh software uh uh procurements uh but uh also will in theory collect uh from uh uh you know uh the businesses uh in your jurisdiction. So the you know the

0:45:44thought processes is we have to pay some but we're going to be collecting more than what we will be paying. So there may be a new revenue stream there. Um, you know, I will say this was a bit rushed in the process uh through the budget. Uh, the California Department of

0:45:58Tax and Fee Administration is currently undergoing a sort of a regulatory process through the emergency regulations um, uh, process or promlgation period. Uh, that we do expect to have finalized emergency regulations uh, before January 1, which is when the bill uh, is supposed to take

0:46:15effect. And so, you know, you know, our our advice, and we've provided a full analysis for your for your staff here, but our advice is to, you know, work with your um uh your your finance team, your outside counsel to to assess what those projections look like. One of the

0:46:31issues in particular that they're trying to kind of solve here is um if if you have a purchaser that is perhaps outside of the city, uh but the licenses are being used inside the city. So these are some of the challenges that they're still trying to work through in the

0:46:45regulatory process. Uh but we have been engaging with CDTFA and have been looking at some of the drafts and working groups and so uh we'll continue to keep you prized uh as that moves forward and I will kick it back to Ethan.

0:47:00Thank you Dane. Uh so continuing on with um bills of interest wanted to talk a little bit about ebikes. Ebikes are becoming a lot more popular and it was a big issue in the legislature this year.

0:47:13Um there's not a lot of regulations on ebikes um on the books. Um and so these bills um on this slide are some um are some of the first steps that the legislature has taken this year to begin to regulate them. So AB2346 requires all class 2 ebikes sold or manufactured after January 1st, 2029 to

0:47:36be equipped with a speedometer and front and rear headlights. So the intent of this bill is really just to require ebikes to have some basic um safety features that you would have on pretty much any other um kind of uh you know transportation uh vehicle. Um and that's

0:47:52really to you know reduce the occurrence of accidents. Um, and a class 2 ebike is one that stops providing power at 20 miles an hour and then relies on pedaling to go faster than that. Um, so this bill does not apply to class one or class 3 ebikes. Um, SP 1167 um clarifies what ebikes are under state

0:48:14law. Um, there's actually really they really uh ebikes were really not really well defined. Um and so the bill also prohibits ebikes from being sold um as um you know mopeds or motorized scooters or offhighway vehicles um because these other types of vehicles. They're often

0:48:33sold um you know and marketed as ebikes, but they're not really ebikes. They're a lot more powerful than ebikes. Um and so buyers are often unaware that these um that uh these devices are uh legally motor vehicles. Um, and then they ride, but then they ride them just as they

0:48:50would an ebike. Um, and especially young riders. Um, and so this increases the chances of an accident if you don't know, um, you know, how powerful the device is that you're using. Um, and then it's really, you know, uh, it's really a lot more powerful than you

0:49:04think. Um, and so this bill addresses, uh, that safety concern. Um, and it was signed into law. Um AB1569 requires ebike safety and education training for students in middle and high school. Um and this bill responds to a problem that some communities are seeing, which is young riders with no

0:49:24driving experience having access to ebikes. Um and you know, some of these ebikes can go 20 to 25 miles an hour, sometimes up to 30 if you modify them.

0:49:33Um and uh these young riders, they're using them unsafeely in some situations.

0:49:38Um, and so the intent here is is um to reduce the occurrence of ebike um accidents among those users because you can actually get an ebike um earlier than you can a car, but you know when you're going 20 to 25 miles an hour, 30 miles an hour, that's like a car speed.

0:49:55So um this bill is really and you know you're not um required to register an ebike. And so this this bill is trying to um educate these young riders who don't have driver's licenses um and so that they can avoid um accidents. Um and so this was um signed into law as well.

0:50:16Okay. So, um SP 577, uh by Senator Leair, um this bill says that a public entity may be held liable for damages on a liability claim filed after January 1st, 2027 only if it is aortioned 15% or more of the overall fault. Um the League of California Cities was opposed to this

0:50:37bill uh because they thought it didn't go um far enough uh to address the fiscal crisis and ongoing liability uh exposure being experienced by many cities. And this bill was really um it had several um LA specific provisions in it. And um so I think it's it's better

0:50:54than than nothing but um this is another issue that we could see uh come back next year. And this bill was signed into law.

0:51:03Um, so AB1621.

0:51:05So this bill prohibits a public agency from requiring more than two plan checks in connection with a building permit application. Um, the bill allows a public agency to deny an application that is not compliant with permit standards um after two submitts and it

0:51:22also allows the applicant to request additional submittals of uh denied applications. Um the sponsor of this bill uh and the author, their contention was that many times cities are moving the goalposts um when they submit these uh plan checks. And so this is their

0:51:39attempt to say, "Okay, you can't do more than two. You have to tell us everything that we're required in this application in less than two um in less than two plan checks." Um and this uh was signed into law.

0:51:52Um, AB 1738 requires cities with a population exceeding 5,000 um to offer remote virtual building inspections for heat pump, water heaters, air conditioning or ventilation systems and solar photovoltaic in single family and two family homes.

0:52:11Again, the sponsor and author of this bill, their contention was that these remote inspections will help speed them up and allow them to take place uh you know, you could fit more inspections in a given period of time than having to do them in person. And so we'll be able to

0:52:26build housing uh quicker and and and uh with this bill. So, um AB1976 by Assembly Member Wixs. Uh, this bill prohibits a city from holding a community input meeting to delay or prevent the implementation of a pedestrian or bicycle safety project identified in its circulation element

0:52:46once that project has advanced beyond the 90% design stage. Um, and the bill also exempts um pedestrian malls from SQA completely. And this bill was um signed into law.

0:52:59Um, AB 2433 requires a city to automatically apply density bonus law whenever it finds that a housing project meets at least one of the laws affordability requirements as opposed to only requiring compliance if the applicant seeks a density bonus. Um, the bill also requires the city to

0:53:18inform the applicant whether the project qualifies for a density bonus after notifying it um when the application is is complete. And this bill was also signed into law.

0:53:30Um so AB387 um this bill requires all public and private facilities used for youth sports to ensure that a youth sports organization so the team has access to any um automated external defibrill um that is already located at the facility during games and practices that are

0:53:50permitted by the facility. Um, and the bill also requires the facility to work with the youth sports organization to identify means of sharing the costs associated with ensuring that an AED is installed and accessible at the facility if there's not one already there. The

0:54:06bill does not require the purchasing of a new AED for every single one of your facilities. It is essentially just we're saying that if you already have one at one of your facilities, you have to ensure that the that any you sports team that's using that facility has uh is

0:54:22able to access the AED if they need it.

0:54:24Um and I actually worked um closely with the League of California Cities on this bill to remove the requirement. So, it used to uh this bill used to require every single facility to have a separate AED and estimates on the um stationary AEDs are up to $15,000 per per device.

0:54:43And so, um we worked closely with the author's office and said, "Look, it's not realistic. The portable ones are closer to four or 500 and it just makes a lot more sense for the teams to bring them." And so, we were able to to get that um requirement removed.

0:55:00Um AB1 179. Um this was another budget trailer bill, so it's connected to the budget. Um it requires that state funding awarded to an affordable housing project where a city is the lead applicant to be reduced by the amount of development impact fees um that is

0:55:19imposed on the project by the city or the county. Um and so development impact fees, it includes crimpy fees, it includes um any kind of impact fee. um that a city or county um can can impose on a project. Um and this was signed into law as part of the budget on June

0:55:3730th and so it went into effect um immediately.

0:55:42Okay. So now um wanted to talk about some bills that uh the city positioned on this year.

0:55:48So AB1821, this bill extends the amount of time a public agency has to provide an initial response to a public records act request by changing the 10day uh the 10 calendar day standard to a 10 business day standard. And then similarly for the 14-day extension period under unusual circumstances like

0:56:10during a state of emergency. Um, so if an agency receives a records request on a weekend or holiday, the timer to respond does not begin until the next business day. And it's also important to point out that uh, and there was quite a bit of confusion when this bill was

0:56:24going through on this, that this 10 business days, it refers only to the initial response. It does not refer to the amount of time to provide the actual records. the amount of time to provide the actual records can take anywhere from a day to weeks to in some cases

0:56:39where uh people have you know asked for um enormous amounts of information years. So this is just the 10day period where the agency responds to the person making the request and says we've received your request and we do or do not have these records that we can

0:56:56provide you. Um so I think that was an important distinction to make there. Um and so it's just given uh your staff just a little bit more time to to deal with these requests. Um we've seen a huge increase in P requests over the last several years. And um I think most

0:57:12of them are um you know run you know just your um I think they're in good faith. You know they're just your sort of run-of-the-mill request. We have seen quite a few um situations where people are requesting huge amounts of information and then they don't even look at it or they're deliberately

0:57:30wasting city resources. This bill doesn't really address that. I think potentially something in the future might address that, but this bill is really just giving a little bit more time for for city staff to to handle the the huge increase in requests that we've

0:57:42seen. Um and the city supported this and it was um signed into law.

0:57:48Uh so next um SP 1159 um this bill clarifies that for several provisions of state law and for um local governments the important um code sections here are SQA public records act and brown act that the term person does not mean artificial intelligence, autonomous

0:58:07agents or robots. And so, um, a caveat on this bill is that it does not actually say how a local agency should make the determination whether or not something is an AI or or a robot. Um, and so I will leave it up to to legal counsel to to make that uh decision. Um,

0:58:26but that so basically enforcement in this bill was not was not addressed. Um, but I think it's taking a good uh, you know, first step. Um and you know the intent of this bill is really to address um we've seen a couple instances of this but it's really um looking into the

0:58:42future and saying okay as AI becomes much more prevalent and people are able to automate things like public records act requests and um you know Brown Act meeting comments how do we sort of mitigate people just submitting you know 20,000 comments for for a city council

0:58:59meeting using AI right and this is kind of the first very first you know sort of baby step in that direction to try to try to mitigate that. Um and so the city uh supported that and it was um signed into law. Um SB 1218. Um this bill allows vehicles whose owners have

0:59:17accumulated uh delinquent illegal dumping violation notices or repeated failures to pay um to be immobilized.

0:59:25And so, um, this really addresses an issue where, um, you know, you have these target, uh, excuse me, you have these chronic offenders who are repeatedly disregarding citations. Um, and this bill addresses that. Um, but it also preserves, uh, vehicle owners due

0:59:42process protections, and the city supported this, and it was um, signed into law.

0:59:48Uh, so AB1941 um, on organized metal theft. Um, this bill, um, prohibits organized metal theft and makes a violation punishable as a misdemeanor or felony. And organized here means acting in concert with two or more people to buy, sell, or possess stolen metal materials. Um, and

1:00:08so this bill is a response to a recent rise in copper theft, which in which in turn um has occurred because the price of copper has, I think, more than doubled over the last couple years. And so we've seen situations where, you know, these groups of of people are um

1:00:24working together to buy and and sell this this metal. Um and the city supported that and it was uh signed into law. Um SB758.

1:00:35Um this bill prohibits a retailer from selling nitrous oxide and it authorizes a city to adopt an ordinance imposing greater restrictions on nitrous oxide as long as it does not restrict legitimate use. So, this bill is really targeting um you know people uh when retailers are

1:00:53selling nitrous oxide for people to use recreationally. It does not affect uh you know grocery stores um you know when they're selling food products that might contain nitrous oxide like uh you know whipping cream or something like that.

1:01:05Um so grocery stores are are exempt from the bill. Um, I think it gives um law enforcement a meaningful tool to protect uh public health, especially the health of young people um who are the biggest users of of nitrous oxide um while again avoiding the um the prohibition on

1:01:23legitimate uses for it. And the city supported this and it was signed into law.

1:01:29Excuse me.

1:01:31Uh so SB uh 1005 um this bill authorizes a local agency to adopt a resolution to allow the agency to round the amount of any payment made in cash to the local agency to the nearest 5 cents. So this bill is addressing uh the disappearance of the penny. Penny is disappearing.

1:01:50It's going away. The Treasury has stopped uh minting them. Um you know, according to some sources, we're already seeing a shortage of pennies. And so this bill um was I think it was really done out of abundance of caution to say uh that okay yes cities can round to if

1:02:06they adopt a resolution you can just round to the nearest um 5 cents and so that you don't have to even have to deal with with pennies anymore. Um and the city supported this bill and it was signed into law.

1:02:20Um AB35. Um so this bill exempts the climate bond also known as uh Proposition 4 um from uh in 2024 um from the administrative procedures act which is the process that governs how uh state agencies adopt regulations and that process can usually take 12 to 18 months. So it's quite a long time. Um

1:02:42and so the intent of this bill is to help speed up the distribution of those climate bond funds uh going forward.

1:02:48This bill only applies to um to to Proposition 4 funds uh after this budget cycle. Um and I think the city supported this uh because it's a good candidate for some of these funds. Um and so if the city were to be awarded these funds, this bill would help uh you know speed

1:03:05up the distribution, the city would get those funds uh sooner. Uh this bill was signed into law and it went into effect immediately.

1:03:14Um SB 417. Um this is the Veterans and Affordable Housing Bond Act of 2026. Um this bill placed that bond on the 2026 uh election ballot in November. Um and it would authorize more than 11 billion in state bonds to support affordable and veteran housing programs. Um as a bond,

1:03:34it has to be approved by the voters. And uh the legislature um tried a bond like this for the last couple years. And um I think there was some worry that it wouldn't get through because previous bonds um uh have passed very uh you know closely um and so um for whatever reason

1:03:54they wanted to do it they wanted to actually push it through this year and place it on the ballot um and so that will be on the ballot. uh the city the city supported this bill um because once again I think it's a good candidate uh for some of these funds if uh if the

1:04:08bond is approved by voters.

1:04:11Um SB922 uh clarifies um that a local agency has the authority to collect fees from public service operations such as waste hauling to recover the cost of street maintenance and repair. Uh this bill um as was mentioned um was the response to a recent court case that challenged this

1:04:30practice. Um and this has been you know these fees are they're widespread um you know hundreds of local agencies have these fees for decades now. So um it was really just sort of clarifying existing law um and the city supported this um because it has one of these fees and so

1:04:46this bill helps to protect that fee and it was um signed into law.

1:04:51Um SB1408. Uh this bill authorizes the Contraosta Transportation Authority or CCTA to put a measure on the 2028 ballot to raise their sales tax. Um and CCTA is interested in placing a measure on the 2028 ballot to extend measure J, which is their existing uh halfsent countywide

1:05:14sales tax dedicated to funding uh transportation projects and programs in Contraosta County. and that is expire uh scheduled to expire in 2034 and this bill was signed into law. Um SB 1070, excuse me, SB 1087. Um so this bill revises regional transportation planning requirements by extending the

1:05:37interval at which metropolitan planning organizations or NPOS must adopt and submit an update of their sustainable community strategy plan from every four years to every eight years. So it's giving them um double the amount of time to submit those plans. Uh the bill also

1:05:55requires um NPOS's to account for current and projected housing needs in their updates. And we know that, you know, the state has um done everything it can to um to um you know, allow builders to build more more housing faster. And so it makes sense to try to um you know try

1:06:15when um metropolitan planning organizations are planning um it makes sense to plan for uh the needs that they're going to um have with regard to housing. Um the bill also requires the California Air Resources Board to provide each region with new greenhouse gas emission targets which are uh which

1:06:33um the NPOS's have to include in their plan how they are doing with regard to those targets for 2035 and 2045 by 2029. So by 2029, ARB has to um provide each region with new targets for both 2035 and 2045. Uh the bill also ties some state transportation funding

1:06:56more closely to whether um projects uh support those regional plans and the the city, excuse me, the city supported this and it was uh signed into law. Um SB 1314. Um this bill prohibits a new retailer of tobacco products from being located within 600 feet of a school or

1:07:16daycare center unless a local jurisdiction specifies a radius greater than 600 ft. Um this bill faced um strong opposition from the fuel fuels industry and from business groups because um gas stations and convenience stores are often heavily dependent on the sale of tobacco products um to make

1:07:35money to survive. Um and that that was their argument. Um and so um you know the argument was that the bill would have caused the price of other consumer goods at those locations to increase uh to make up for that loss revenue. So, if they can't sell tobacco, they have to

1:07:49increase the cost of peanuts and and drinks and and snacks and that kind of thing. Um, and so this bill was um held in um Assembly Appropriations Committee.

1:07:59Um, and I will now turn it back over to Dane.

1:08:03All right, I'm going to take us home here. So, um, all right, so 2296, uh, this is a bill that, uh, actually provides a little bit of, uh, relief. It provides an additional six months uh for your planning staff to be able to effectively plan uh its reena number

1:08:24allocation starting in uh arena cycle 7.

1:08:27Um there was the original iteration of this bill. There was a lot more complexity including requiring HCD to provide technical guidance and point to the area of law by which we are actually that's that's in question when you inevitably submit your plans and then uh

1:08:43you get comments back. Um the bill ended up having to be really stripped and narrowed down to essentially just saying we're going to provide you six additional months. Um and so for Elserto um it does give your planning staff a little bit more time. Um nonetheless uh

1:08:59still a good bill. Gives us more time to effectively plan and coordinate with stakeholders. Uh we were proud to support it and it was signed into law.

1:09:07Next slide.

1:09:09AB1903.

1:09:10So uh construction defect liability. One of the biggest showdowns, one of the biggest fights we had all year. Um we were in alignment uh with uh uh the BIA and uh California Yimi and some of the other folks trying to get this thing done. Um this this one really um this

1:09:31was this was a tough one. Uh the consumer attorneys uh who were the ones who essentially, you know, bring these lawsuits were the chief sort of opponents to this bill. um uh and and really it boiled down to some of the um the I guess now former chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee uh who is

1:09:51running for higher office. Um so he's no longer in the Senate. Uh uh you know, sort of I guess in our viewpoint felt like he was maybe doing a little bit of progressive bargaining where we thought we got to a good place and then well now we want to see this and now we want to

1:10:07see that. Um uh and and so it got to the point where we're so watered down that it was really ineffective. Uh so the the bill did not advance. Uh I I do believe strongly that this bill will come back in some shape or form. Um, you know, I think that it's it's, you know, pretty

1:10:26widely desired that we want to see more home ownership opportunities, particularly at a uh in areas that are just simply, you know, even starter homes are, you know, seven figures. Town homes and and condos are uh, you know, more um, you know, a way for folks sort

1:10:42of get into the housing market. Uh, so certainly looking to uh, uh, hopefully kind of get the band back together and try to advance something uh, in the next year or two.

1:10:55So, you know, looking ahead, um, we've got a handful of ballot propositions. I won't waste too much time. Ethan talked about Prop One. Sam talked about Prop One. Um, so I won't spend too much time on that. Prop 43. Sam talked a little bit about that as well. Uh, this was

1:11:11sort of the compromise measure. Um, you know, originally, you know, the Howard Jarvis taxpayers uh had uh uh both real property transfer taxes and and really the Upland decision, which is what was what was remaining here. Um, League of Cities opposes it. Democratic caucus

1:11:28opposes it. Everyone opposes this thing.

1:11:30uh uh you know uh particularly may make it a little bit more difficult on transportation funding um and some of those larger um uh infrastructure projects uh by raising the vote threshold to 2/3 and so um it is it is early yet to see how this is going to play out uh but we will know in

1:11:51November.

1:11:53uh Prop 45. Uh this one actually uh did see a lot of uniform support from, you know, originally uh sponsored, drafted and submitted to the voters by the California Chamber of Commerce trying to streamline SQL was supported by members of the legislature. I think what is now

1:12:11uh uh you know coming to light, you've got a bunch of some of the environmental groups and some of the consumer advocate groups uh uh uh in in opposition to this bill or to into this proposition. and they think that this could be um a bit of a a way to streamline data center

1:12:29projects because the way that critical infrastructure is defined is incredibly broad. Um you know on the flip side there are benefits to this as well for local agencies. They can be the lead applicant and try to advance some of their its own projects. Um and so uh

1:12:44certainly going to be uh hard fought at the ballot and more to come there. Uh and then of course um you know the city was in huge support of SB63 last year.

1:12:53Um this would certainly be a a u a much needed uh uh sales tax measure or I'm sorry regional transit measure uh for uh multiple counties including uh Contraosta and Elserto uh to help BART and other transportation agencies. Um, and so, uh, you know, some of these, you

1:13:15know, I think part of the challenge on this is that when you have so many counties that are included in these regional measures, um, you know, you're you're relying on essentially more voters to have to uphold that. And so, um, uh, uh, you know, I I'm not up on

1:13:31the latest polling on how this is doing.

1:13:33You all probably have your your finger on the pulse a bit closer than I do on this one. uh but certainly something that we were uh keeping an eye on as it moved through the process and and uh you know hoping that it can advance uh in November.

1:13:48So um you know December 7th you know after after election day December 7th uh will come and there will be a a uh organizational session. So all of those who uh prevailed in their elections will be sworn in for the next oath of office.

1:14:02We're going to start seeing pieces of legislation being introduced that day.

1:14:05the desk will be open for one day. It'll close and then uh uh January 4th, the legislature convenes for a brand new two-year session. Uh you know, this is one of those rare times we're going to have, you know, it's it's a brand new two-year session. Um we also have a new

1:14:20gubanatorial administration and so this you know, this doesn't happen very often. Usually every once every eight years. Um and so uh uh it'll certainly be interesting to see. We have a good sense of what the legislature wants to do. Uh we don't really know yet. uh uh

1:14:35you know depending on who wins the election um what those priorities are going to be from the administration. Uh but we do know that they come back January 4th, January 10th. The governor has to provide um uh his uh his uh his budget proposal to the legislature. Um

1:14:52and then we're just going to keep you know sort of rolling from there. But we are going to be seeing I think thematically more stuff on wildfire artificial intelligence not just data centers but really the use of AI in governmental operations what we can what we can't do. Um and and in turn uh you

1:15:11know a little bit in that vein of that Cabalen bill uh what are the things that you know what local agencies can use to try and prevent you know these egregious uh P requests uh you know Zoom bombings things of that nature via AI. So, I mean, we are just scratching the surface

1:15:26on on the use of AI. Uh, and it will certainly be one of those we want to try to control our own destiny on that. Um, you know, housing isn't is not going anywhere. Um, so, you know, there's going to be a lot there's going to be a handful of of policy committees uh

1:15:44important to local government. For example, the Senate uh local government chair uh she is now running for LA County Board of Supervisors. So we know that that's going to be a new uh a chair chair ship there. Um same can be said for uh the Senate Judiciary Committee as

1:15:59I talked about which is where 1903 would sort of make that path as well. So there is going to be some legislative turnover um and we are um uh looking forward to jumping in and continuing to um continue the good work. And so uh with that uh happy to answer any questions and thank

1:16:20you for uh the time.

1:16:22Okay, very good. Thank you very much.

1:16:23Final thing I wanted to mention is that um we are scheduled to adopt the 2027 legislative platform on January 19th. So thank you so much.

1:16:33Thank you. Um do we have any questions or comments? I'll start with Council Member Modiama.

1:16:38Uh thank you for the presentation. That was a lot, but um I I think we can digest later. Um so you mentioned that our session to discuss our uh priorities is going to be January 19th. Is that um will there be enough time to see what the admin the new administration will

1:16:58want to be focusing on so that we can respond better or is it just kind of what we want and then we'll see what uh will come?

1:17:10Uh a little bit of both. uh governor should be able to release his state of the state um in advance of that. Uh you know, they say that your budget uh is your is your values, right? So, we'll see the governor's budget presentation on January 10th. Get a good sense of

1:17:27where his priorities are going to be. Um but I do think it is important for us to be mindful that the bill introduction deadline is February. You know, they have not released the calendar, but it's usually about February 20th. Uh and so we do want to ensure that uh you know

1:17:42these bills uh are going to be introduced on December a lot of them are going to be introduced on December 7th.

1:17:48So you know in theory they sit print for 30 days and we can start getting policy committees sort of jumping right in January. So we do want to ensure that we are uh able to effectively engage in vet bills early. Um but I do think we'll get a much uh better sense of where the

1:18:04governor is. And one thing I will say too is um you know assuming that uh you know every poll that projects that Javier Brerero will be the next governor pans out um the transition team is already you know in effect sort of beginning. So we're going to know really

1:18:21where the governor is going to be on certain issues based on the staff that he retains uh in his cabinet uh as legislative you know in key legislative roles in administrative roles. So, we'll we'll get a good sense of of what those priorities are going to be uh likely,

1:18:37you know, in November, December, and moving into January. So, long-winded way of saying uh I think we're going to have a pretty good sense of what's happening uh in advance of January 19th.

1:18:47Great. Thank you.

1:18:49Uh Council Member Cassandis, do you have any questions or comments?

1:18:52I do not. Thank you for the presentation.

1:18:55Okay. Um I want to thank you for that meeting that we had in Sacramento. uh when we all took the train and met with uh CALR and uh to see CALR region 4 at our opening of the complete streets in at the Del Norte BART station uh you know you guys uh delivered for us. So

1:19:18again thank you for that uh to get that funding to uh work on our main street San Pablo Avenue which is also a highway. Uh it is uh uh something that we've been wanting to do for a long time. So uh thank you for that and look forward to more collaboration with you.

1:19:38I have a feeling we will have more legislation on things dealing with uh sea sea level rise and coastal cities issues with uh this destruction that we're seeing along our coastal cities and the importance of coastal cities uh working together to uh get the funding

1:19:58that is necessary uh to uh uh work on the issues that uh folks have been wanting to do for a long time. So, uh, uh, Ethan Igler and and Dan Hutchings, thank you for this presentation.

1:20:11Appreciate it.

1:20:14Absolutely. Absolutely. Thank you.

1:20:16Okay. Have a good night. Thank you.

1:20:17You, too.

1:20:18Okay. Next, we have adoption of the consent calendar, and we have a approval of minutes. B, shelter in place education day proclamation. C is the first quarter cash and investment report for 202627.

1:20:38D is monthly dispersement and check register report for September 2026 and E authorization of round cash transactions to the nearest 5 cent 5 cents. Um would anyone like to uh pull an item?

1:20:57Uh, I have uh questions on C and D.

1:21:02Okay. Uh, anything for you? Okay.

1:21:06If I may, I also have some corrections I need to read into the record for item A.

1:21:10Okay. Um, Council Member Cassandis, do you want to pull anything?

1:21:14I do not. Thank you.

1:21:15Okay. Uh, go ahead. Uh, city clerk.

1:21:17Thank you, Mayor. So, I a few quick corrections for the record on consent item 6A for the October 6th minutes. Uh this is to include the omitted vote for approval of the full consent calendar made by council member Motama with a second by mayor prom Saltzman and a

1:21:32unanimous vote. And then in addition to that, items 6G and 6H need to be modified to correctly reference resolution numbers 2026-64 and 2026-65 respectively. So if I could just ask when the motion is made that it includes those corrections, please. Thank you.

1:21:51Um, okay. We'll start with um, Council Member Motyama. Your questions on C and D.

1:21:57Okay. Um, so on C, uh, I just want to have a, you know, I know I've asked this before, but, you know, really visually seeing how leaving money in life would have earned us a whole lot more than our 115 trust is getting kind of what what can we do to improve it? what

1:22:20can you know can we you know what what should we be doing and to to maximize that because we really need that money to to grow.

1:22:30Hi good evening Crystal Rams finance director. Um so regarding the section 115 we are currently in a moderately conservative um profile. So it is not an actively managed um plan. So we pick we pick a grouping based off of our um risk tolerance. Um and these are geared

1:22:48towards timelines where um when we plan on using the funds. So um the it was actually uh approved by the re approved and recommended by the FAB and then approved by the council to um increase to the moderate risk um before we were the conservative risk. Um so with that

1:23:05said, we can adjust the um the profile that we're in at any time. Um but we can't we can't move the funds out of the section 115 unless we are going to be using um using it for a pension related obligation. So it does need to stay in there. Um but we have um in our

1:23:23forecasts um through the general fund we are projecting to use that within the next 5 years as the U gets to that peak that is has been illustrated in that wonderful graph that you've all seen. Um so that coupled with the timeline portion of the uh risk strategy that

1:23:40we're in that is the recommended strategy and so as you know with the current political climate and the way the market has been fluctuating unfortunately that is kind of expected at this point and so but we can we can reevaluate if we want to change the risk uh the risk profile.

1:24:00Great. Thank you. C can I ask a follow-up question if you're done? Go ahead.

1:24:04Um, and maybe this needs to come back in the future, but are we projecting, how much are we projecting will be in the section 115 trust when we start to spend it down?

1:24:16And so, are we going to be in a place where it hasn't made the amount of money we expected to in earnings?

1:24:23That is a that's a wonderful question.

1:24:24So, we're not projecting losses. We're not but we're also not projecting um crazy increases because we just we don't have the resources um and we do rely on the investment um investment management firm. So we're not I I do think we we are okay where we're at um because we're

1:24:42not projecting you know we're not relying on the gains in our in our projections. So the the minor fluctuations um we we keep an eye on them and we're we're kind of staying even. Um but yeah, it is it's a risk. I if you don't have it tonight, when you next bring back this quarterly update,

1:25:00can you share with us the figures of what you're estimating we will have when we start to spend it down?

1:25:06Uh yes, of course. Uh I think we're bringing the um quarterly update um to the next uh the next council meeting and so I can have Claire include that with her with her projections.

1:25:16Thank you.

1:25:16Yeah, go ahead.

1:25:19Okay, thank you. Um, so, uh, I have questions on the check register. Um, I'll keep, uh, keep it to just a few. Um, one of the things that I noticed on the check register was that we are spending a lot of money for unled gas and since the costs have gone up, I was wondering how

1:25:41how close we're getting to to maximizing our budget too too early. So, what what is going on with that?

1:25:49Yes. So, that is something that we are um we are looking at. Uh it's it's on top of Claire's mind, our our budget financial services manager, as she goes through the quarter or the uh the monthly meetings with the departments to see to see where we're at. um it is

1:26:02running high right now and so um we're going to continue to evaluate and um we'll be having discussions with departments if uh we we can't absorb which I I doubt we we will be able to absorb um without um sacrificing other items of not being done because we we did so many cuts during the during the

1:26:21budget process. Um, so we will be um keep evaluating that and if we determine at mid year that we need to, but we also just we might wait and see how it how it goes depending on where we're at at midyear then we might come back later but if my guess is we might unless

1:26:38something drastically changes we might be coming back.

1:26:40Okay. And then uh we are paying for the replacement bathroom keys. And this is kind of a small thing, but I thought we were going to transer uh transition to like a a code or digital key so that you know we don't have to keep track of physical keys and we can give out you know individual

1:27:02numbers. We can tell who's using the keys. Um where are we on that?

1:27:06Um yes. So, we did follow up with uh Chris Jones, the recreation um director, and um his notes for that were due to budget constraints um that we did not have we did not plan for the funding for that switch um during this budget cycle.

1:27:18Okay. Thank you. And then um just about one uh check item called ALP and com mitigation for $66,449.

1:27:32What is it and what are we migrating into? Where that is for uh was that check n 97458?

1:27:42Yes.

1:27:42Um okay. So yes, that was uh uh for our annual um renewal for our uh city central square platform. It's our permitting software. So that's the bulk of that. And then a small portion, I believe it was around $700, um was for um some consulting work with the company

1:28:00for a potential or a current upgrade that they are working from to change from uh the current version to a newer version.

1:28:08Thank you.

1:28:10Okay. Um, may I have a motion uh to uh approve the consent calendar? And that is a approval of the minutes with uh the changes that the city clerk uh mentioned. Uh B, C, D, and E.

1:28:26I'll move second.

1:28:27Okay. We have a motion by Motama, second from Saltzman.

1:28:31Thank you. Mayor Kinto, yes.

1:28:33Mayor Prom Saltzman, yes.

1:28:35Council member Katanis, yes.

1:28:37Council member Motyama, yes. Motion carries with council member Weissinger absent.

1:28:42Okay. Uh the next item is adoption of a resolution approving a side letter agreement between the city of Elserto and public safety management association PSMA to modify language on salaries, benefits, conditions of employment.

1:28:59Hi there.

1:29:00Good evening. Um good evening mayor and city council. My name is Shannon Bassie.

1:29:05I'm the human resources manager for the city. I have before you this evening a request to adopt a resolution um approving a side letter between the city of Elserto and the city's public safety management association bargaining group also known as PSMA. Um more specifically

1:29:24this side letter is for PSMA police management unit and fire management unit um which includes the classifications of battalion chief, police lieutenant and police captain. And this unit has uh or this bargaining group has a total of seven FTE in the bargaining group. Um

1:29:43the agenda report outlines this um item in much more detail, but a very high level summary is this side letter proposes to amend the current language within the PSMAU regarding education incentive pay and to offer the same levels of pay for each degree type to all members within this

1:30:02group. um specifically the police management unit and the fire management unit. Uh this is necessary under Kalpers's regulations um that govern reportable special compensation. And as a reminder, uh part of the approved contract for the fire chief that was approved earlier um this year in August

1:30:23uh that included a 7.5% um education incentive pay for possession of a PhD or a doctorate degree pay or doctorate degree. um which uh was intended to be reported as special compensation. So um according to Kalpers's regulations, this must align and be offered to all members within the

1:30:44group um especially to the closest related group or class, which in this case is PSMA um uh specifically the police and fire management units. Um so that is a very high level summary of of the request tonight. Um, and I'd like to thank PSMA for their continued leadership and successful collaboration

1:31:04with the city uh to to navigate this side letter. Uh, with that said, that concludes my report. I'm available for any questions.

1:31:11Okay, any questions or comments? We'll go to Council Member Moyama.

1:31:16I feel like I'm asking a lot of questions by myself tonight. Sorry. Um, so thank you for that presentation. Um, and I have a question. And I think it it was written in the staff report and uh it states that there will be no cost change because of this regulation

1:31:36change. Can you explain why there is no cost change?

1:31:39Sure. Thank you. Uh so there is no current cost with this request here tonight because no other additional members at this time have a PhD degree in this specific unit. Um only the fire chief had the doctorate degree. So there's no cost at this time. So, do we do we expect to have a lot more members

1:32:00getting PhDs?

1:32:02Not to my knowledge. We don't have any knowledge that someone is working on one. Um, and they are still currently working on um levels of education that would come before a PhD, for example, AA, BA, or um even an MA is pretty rare these days for police and fire. So, um

1:32:20we would have to work through those levels before we would see an increase with a PhD. Okay. Thank you.

1:32:26Okay. Uh do you have any questions? Uh Council Member Cassis, do you have any questions?

1:32:32I do not.

1:32:33Okay. Um Madam City Clerk, do we have any uh open comment? And we we do have one request to speak.

1:32:39Mayor, we'll go we uh it's a remote request to speak, so we'll go to Ira. Ira, you should be able to unmute and begin your time now.

1:32:49Thank you. First, I have a question. I was hoping to speak on the presentations and there was no opportunity to speak.

1:32:57So I'm wondering why that was the case because frankly I had a big concern about AB1821 and its chilling effect on public records act requests. So, originally the bill was going to allow agencies to charge between 22 to $66 an hour and then also to file lawsuits apparently for malicious intent

1:33:23if uh for whatever reason this was opposed by the first amendment coalition in the ACLU of Northern California. I'm very concerned that did I hear that the city was actually supporting that and given that the mayor was president of the cal cities at the time I'm wondering if he took a a

1:33:46position on that issue in particular also I feel I have to comment on what the mayor said before I think the mayor and I I'd like to help him out he seems to be a little confused um I'm referring to the city's underlying credit rating being A minus.

1:34:05It was A+ when he first joined the council is now A minus. He seems to be referring to a bond rating, which is not what I'm speaking about. Also, his website apparently refers to a the city's underlying rating. So I would hope that he'd be more clear point out that the rating has gone down since he

1:34:25took office and that the underlying rating rating is the spur uh S&P underlying rating is a minus. Anyone can go to this S&P website and check to see that is in fact the correct rating. A+ is for a bond which has additional support. So, I just want to clarify that

1:34:48so everyone understands what's really going on and I'll just say thank you for that. I have no comment actually on the fire chief. Congratulations on getting your PhD. Well done.

1:35:00That concludes our request to speak, mayor.

1:35:02Okay. Uh okay. Do we have any uh council comments?

1:35:09Move approval.

1:35:10Okay.

1:35:11Second.

1:35:12Okay. We have a motion by Mayor Potam and second from Motyama. Madam Madam city clerk, Mayor Kinto, yes.

1:35:18Mayor Prom Saltzman, yes.

1:35:19Council member Kasanis, yes.

1:35:22Council member Motyama, yes.

1:35:23Motion carries with council member Weisinger absent.

1:35:26Okay.

1:35:29Uh next we have uh city council, local and regional leazison assignments. Who would like to start? We'll start with the mayor prom.

1:35:39Had a busy city weekend. Um, on Friday, just as a resident, went to the pumpkin splash, which I think is one of the really fun things that the city of Elsarto does, and it sells out every time in 10 minutes. So, we should maybe think about having more slots open for

1:35:54folks cuz people really love it. If and for folks who haven't been, they fill the entire kids pool with pumpkins that float and it's pretty awesome and you walk away with a pumpkin. So, the kids really like it. And then on Saturday morning, um, I went to the United

1:36:11Against Hate Chalk event in Centennial Park on the Aloney Greenway. It was hosted by the Human Relations Commission and the Arts and Culture Commission. It was a really incredible community event.

1:36:23Uh, lots of people came for it, but lots of people were just walking or biking by and stopped by to add to the art. Um, there are lots of photos of it, so check it out. And I hope that that will happen again. and a great way to bring people together. Um, and then, uh, last night I

1:36:39got to speak to a local Girl Scouts troop, which was fun trying to explain what the city council does and what city government is.

1:36:49Go ahead.

1:36:51Okay. So, on October 10th, I went to the birthday celebration for Phil Play and uh, it was a really nice community event. Uh it was held uh in a in a driveway uh with just all the neighbors coming and people that uh know Phil and so it was uh really fun. It was a lot of

1:37:12reminiscing about their old days in Elserto and uh it was you know really nice. They he had a sevenpiece band come. So um on October 11th uh I attended the lay day at St. Peter CME Church. On October 14th, I attended the ABG housing committee where we discussed

1:37:34outreach efforts and discussions for uh the next regional housing uh funding measure which is still targeted for 2028.

1:37:43And um on October 19th, I took a tour of parcel A uh our development at um central enrichment with Assembly Member Buffy Wixs and Secretary Javier Bisera in the press. Okay. Thank you for that.

1:37:59Uh, council member Cassandis, do you have any updates?

1:38:02Do not.

1:38:03Okay. Um, I wanted to report that uh, yes, I also attended uh, the tour of parcel a uh, at the Elserto Plaza BART development. Um, and it was uh, good to have uh, Secretary Javier Basera here in El Certo again. Uh, this is his third time visiting Elserto. He visited I

1:38:25invited him uh when he was uh attorney general and uh so he has been to Elserto before and looks forward to he was very impressed with the development and would like to see more of that up and down the state. Uh so uh wanted to thank our assembly member Buffy Wixs uh for uh uh

1:38:46getting uh that tour together as well as the BART executive director for uh bringing his team over and our BART board director Barnali Ghost for joining us as well. Um, so, um, the next regular city council meeting will be on Tuesday, November 17th, uh, 2026 at 6 p.m. I urge, uh, our

1:39:12residents to vote and to vote early. Um, you can I suggest that you drop your, uh, ballots at the city hall parking lot. There is a dropbox when it gets close to the election. uh your vote may not be counted because it's not guaranteed that uh the elections office

1:39:33will receive your ballot on time. So uh if you plan to vote early, do vote early and uh send it out, drop it on the box.

1:39:42And if it's the last few days, I would uh uh you know, again, uh drop your ballot off or drop it off at the elections office in Martinez. I want to um also uh give uh thank you to uh uh you know my constituents and neighbors and friends who have sent me emails and

1:40:03and text messages. Um and I want to say thank you for uh uh the kind wishes and condolences. My mom did pass away on um last Tuesday. So um you know she um and my dad moved us to Elserita back in 1964. So, we were able to move from uh Berkeley uh West Berkeley um kind of

1:40:27like very close to uh the um uh operations yard off Alustin Way for the city of Berkeley and that was our first home. Uh we're able to move to middle class Elserto because uh my dad had a work buddy that uh um who was in the merchant marines with my dad. That was

1:40:45Liz Hamla's dad who uh uh worked uh down who worked with my dad in the merchant marines until he retired. So uh uh again um honoring my mom, Sedra Quinto uh and uh uh this is dedicated to my mom, this council meeting uh this evening. So again, um I look forward to uh uh the

1:41:09vote and uh so please vote uh and uh look forward to seeing everyone on Tuesday, March um excuse me, November 17th, 2026 at 6 p.m. Have a good night, everybody.