S.R. City Council Agenda, Oct 23rd

Greetings!

Thanks once again yo our friend, Anne Seeley, of Concerned Citizens For Santa Rosa, for her analysis of this week's City Council agenda.


Friends:

  There is a study session starting at 1PM, before the business meeting at 4PM.

13.1 Jennings Avenue Rail Crossing. If it feels like this controversy has been dragging on forever, it's because it has!   The City got an agreement from the California Public Utilities Commission (CalPUC) to have an at-grade crossing over the SMART tracks at Jennings Avenue, a popular east-west connection just south of Coddingtown. 

They communicated this to SMART, which agreed to commence planning.  Now SMART has issued a statement that it no longer supports an at-grade crossing.

   The alternative is a hugely expensive overpass that, in order to comply with ADA requirements would have to be extensive so as to allow wheelchair users to access it.

   Some cool heads need to find compromise.

 3.2 Climate Action Plan Activities.  Staff will give information about recent activities.

4PM

   Please understand that there are always preliminary matters on the agenda that I don't report on each week, such as reports by Council members, the City Manager and City Attorney. Lately, there is always a Fire Recovery and Rebuild Update.

12 Consent

  12.2 Rejection of all bids for the Fulton Road reconstruction from Occidental Road the West Third Street. The lowest bid was 70% over the Engineer's estimate

  12.3 Contract agreement with a Professional Arborist, American Tree Medics, Inc. in the amount of $102,036, to provide a report on street trees damaged by the fires last year.

There is one report item on possible release of a City easement to the County to build a new Behavioral Health Unit to serve the Adult Detention Facility.

See you there!

Anne

HA! Homeless Housing Research

Greetings!

In order to maximize the impact of the State funding anticipated for the development of homeless supportive housing in Sonoma County, I propose that Homeless Action! research the following information concerning potential applicants for the share of it which is received by Sonoma County:

1. Which social service agencies are interested now in considering applying to develop housing?

2. Which housing development companies (nonprofit and profit) are interested in developing housing? (local and statewide)

3. What process will the County utilize to decide on its application for state funding?

4. What the City of Santa Rosa will contribute to the funding proposals (land and funding)?

5. What process the City of Santa Rosa will utilize to determine the above?

6. Which other cities in Sonoma County are interested in using the funding for homeless housing?

Key contacts for information:
Continuum of Care Coordinators in Northern California (2,3)

Nonprofit Housing Developers in Northern California (2)

Applicants to Recently-Awarded Partnership Health Grants (1)

Margaret Van Vliet announcement in HA! Meeting (3)

? (4, 5)

Sebastopol, Healdsburg, Petaluma - ? (6)

Analysis of Sites and Zoning for Housing Element Development of Housing, California Housing and Community Development, Santa Rosa and Sonoma County (4)
List of properties owned by the City of Santa Rosa (4)

S.R. City Council Agenda, July 24th

Greetings!

Many thanks to our friend, Anne Seeley, of Concerned Citizens For Snta Rosa, for her analysis of this week's Santa Rosa City Council agenda:

Friends:   Before I tell you about the agenda for the upcoming Council meeting, I need to tell you about the Council's Goal-Setting session held on 7/19/18.

   At that session, the Council was given the information that in each of the upcoming 10 years, the City will be operating in a deficit.  They will be given a list of options for  spending reductions created by staff in September. At this session they gave staff ideas for what should and should not be considered for reduction.   

  They also learned that the City has used much of its reserves in response to the recent emergency.  By June 30,2019 the reserve fund will be $19 million under the mandated 15% level.

Council Agenda Highlights for 7/24/18

  The biggest thing on this agenda is Report item 14.3, in which the council will consider revenue-producing options they might take.

  

  Before that, at 3:30PM, a Study Session will examine A Police Department Unmanned Aerial System Program.  The department has begun studies on how law enforcement agencies could earn or maintain their community's' trust in a wide variety of law enforcement and public safety applications.  Come and hear about this!

10.2.1 The Council will discuss whether to put on a future agenda the matter of rent stabilization.  That discussion will cover all possible Council actions: whether to pass such an ordinance themselves or place on the ballot the citizen-raised measure that has likely achieved the necessary number of petition signatures. Or, something else.

14.3 City of Santa Rosa Ballot Measures for Affordable Housing AND General City Services.

   Options to be discussed are: 1) A quarter cent sales tax measure;  2) increasing the TOT (Transient Occupancy Tax) from 9% to 14%; and 3) a General Obligation Bond.   All options require voter approval.

   The City hired 2 companies to conduct an opinion survey on these options.  The Council received the results on June 26 and then asked the surveyors to conduct a poll only on the Bond Measure.

  Recommendation by the City Manager, the Finance,Housing and Community Services Departments: that the Council introduce an ordinance for establish a temporary quarter-cent sales tax for 6 years AND also to approve a resolution to submit a ballot measure for the sales tax on the November,2018 ballot.

   Additionally, they recommended an ordinance to increase the TOT to 12% and approve a ballot measure on it for voter approval in November.  

  Third, they recommend the issuance of general obligation bonds for the purpose of funding  affordable housing and by resolution, approve ballot language and an expenditure plan.

  Fourth, they recommend that the Council submit a Housing Recovery Bond for affordable rental and ownership housing to the voters in November.

After all that, at or after (likely after) 5PM, the Council will have a Public Hearing:

  15.1 Appeal of Final Design Review for the proposed Emerald Isle Community Care facility, proposed for a parcel off of Thomas Lake Harris Drive, on Gullane Drive.

  There are questions of over-concentration of community care facilities and the potential safety of occupants.

See you there!

Anne

S.R. City Council Agenda - May 2nd

Greetings!

Once again, our thanks to our friend Anne Seeley, of Concerned Citizens For Santa Rosa, for her analysis of the May 2nd City Council agenda.

Friends:    There is no Study Session before this 4PM meeting.

6 Proclamations and Presentations

  6.1  Proclamation of Water Awareness Month and Water-Use Efficiency Awards.   This is great recognition for people and businesses who have gone to extra lengths to save water.

Report

  14.2 Approval of the Preliminary 2018/19 Subregional System Operating, Capital Improvement, Debt Services Budget and Allocation of Costs.

  The Subregional System, operated by the City of Santa Rosa by agreement, serves Santa Rosa, Rohnert Park, Cotati, Sebastopol and the South Park Sanitation District.  The Laguna Treatment Plant processes 21.34 Million Gallons per Day (MGD) of sewage into treated Water that is sent to the Geysers for injection to produce steam to run its power plants.

   Annually, the Santa Rosa Council considers the costs involved in order to notify member agencies of their allocations of costs by May 2.

5PM Public Hearings

  15.1 Resilient City Development Measures.  They meant to address this last week, but a group of very unhappy homeless people who had been evicted from their camp in Roseland effectively ended the Council meeting before this could be considered.

   After the fires, staff wrote this document to speed up the processing of projects through the City's Planning Department.  It initially really concerned me because it removed many proposals from the usual public review opportunities (Planning Commission and the Design Review Board) and gave many more final decisions to the Zoning Administrator, a person whom I'd never seen identified.

  After more review, I see that the projects removed from Design Review's oversight are more minor uses.  Any projects that rise to higher concern are supposed to be elevated to Planning Commission and DRB.  This is a weak point, in which one administrator gets to decide what's of concern.

    If any of you have greater concerns about this document than I do, please let me know.

See you there!   Anne

-- 

Anne Seeley

Please note my new email address: aseeleysr@gmail.com

Tel: (707) 526-3925

Mobile (707) 484-8722

District Elections Questions

Greetings!

There are three incumbent city councilpersons whose terms are up in November; John Sawyer, Chris Coursey, and Tom Schwedhelm.  Once district elections are adopted in April, candidates for this Fall's elections will be required to live in the districts selected for election.

• Unless the districts where these three incumbents live are selected, or unless they move to districts which were selected for election, they will be unable to run.
• All incumbents may run in districts in which they reside, regardless of whether their terms are up for election in 2018.  Upon their election, they would begin a new four-year term, and the Council would select a replacement for the remainder of their current term.
• Tom Schwedhelm is the only incumbent living in the northwestern portion of the City.
• Chris Coursey lives in the Junior College area of the City which, if combined with the Luther Burbank area, would include the home of Chris Rogers.
• John Sawyer lives in the Bennett Valley area of the City, which also includes the homes of Jack Tibbetts and Julie Combs.
• The City Council may select districts in which no incumbent resides.  Areas including east of the Junior College all the way to Oakmont, South Park, Roseland, and almost the entire western portion of the City south of Piner Road qualify.  In that case, no current incumbents would be eligible to run.
• The possibilities include:
• No incumbents running for office, all open districts.
• Tom Schwedhelm and two open districts..
• Chris Coursey and two open districts.
• John Sawyer and two open districts.
• Two or three above incumbents running, one open district.
• Tom Schwedhelm running, John Sawyer running against Jack Tibbetts, Julie Combs or Chris Rogers (or all three), and Chris Coursey running against Chris Rogers.
• Two of the three scenarios above, plus an open district.

I am sure there will be other possibilities for candidacies, dependent on decisions the Council will make.

So far, Tom Schwedhelm and Victoria Fleming had filed their intentions to run in 2018 with the City Clerk.

S.R. City Council Agenda January 23rd

Greetings!

Once again, our thanks to our friend Anne Seeley, of Concerned Citizens For Santa Rosa, for her analysis of the January 23rd City Council agenda.

Friends:

   There is no study session before this 4PM meeting

4PM

10.2  Matters From Council Regarding Future Agenda Items

   10.2.1 At the January 9 Council meeting Vice Mayor Chris Rogers requested an agenda item to discuss development in areas that were affected by the fires. Mayor Coursey seconded the request. They will discuss and vote  on whether to have this open, public discussion on new versus 'rebuild' development in areas that have burned multiple times.

  This is crucial as it will guide policy decisions and votes on individual proposals.

Consent

 12.1 Ordinance to Prezone Property at 3747 and 3753 Chanate Road.  They deadlocked on this (3 to 3 with 1 Council member absent) at their last meeting.

Report

  14.1 District-based Elections: Composition of Districts - Rescheduling of Public Hearings.

     The Council had embarked on its planned 5 public hearings before the fires, holding one on October 3 of last year.  Now the City Attorney recommends they they start over, with the first 2 hearings on February 6 and 13, before any maps are drawn up.  The last 3 hearings are recommended to be held on March 13, April 3 and April 10, intended for the public to comment on the draft maps of districts.

   The Council's deliberations must be complete in time to hold a November, 2018 City Council election using the new system.

   They are undertaking this project because the City is assumed to be in violation of the California Voting Rights Act, and has been threatened with a potentially costly lawsuit if it doesn't act. 

See you there!

Anne

Additionally, there are upcoming items on the agendas of the Housing Authority and the Bord of Community Services this week.  The Housing Authority will hear a staf report on the Journey's End Mobile Home Park on Monday at noon in the Council Chambers.  The Board of Community Services will have a final hearing on the Master Plan for the Roseland Creek Park on Wednesday at 4pm at the Finley Center.

Next week's (January 30th) City Council meeting agenda contains the following reports:

15.1 REPORT - ESTABLISH A HOUSING FIRST FUND (LANDLORD INCENTIVES, RISK MITIGATION, TENANT ASSISTANCE), AND HOUSING FIRST HOMELESS SERVICES AND FAMILY SUPPORT CENTERS

BACKGROUND: On July 11, 2017, Council, by motion, confirmed its direction on homeless services programing, including but not limited to the creation of a fund to provide landlord incentives, risk mitigation, and tenant assistance (Housing First Fund). Staff has collaborated with Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Santa Rosa (Catholic Charities) to develop a budget, in the amount of $512,000, and is seeking Council’s interest in supporting a Housing First Fund.

On November 14, 2017, Council approved a Grant Agreement for Homeless Services Center with Catholic Charities, in the amount of $100,000, for the period of November 1, 2017 to June 30, 2018 to expand the program’s hours of operation as part of the City’s Homeless Encampment Assistance Pilot Program. Council also directed staff to return with a budget and program to align the Homeless Services Center with the Housing First model for further consideration. Based on direction given by Council to staff on July 11, 2017, an evaluation of all City-sponsored programs in alignment with Housing First was to be completed as part of the Homeless System of Care Redesign, which is currently underway. Following Council’s direction on July 11, 2017 and November 14, 2017, staff has collaborated with Catholic Charities to develop budgets for two City-sponsored programs, Homeless Services Center ($259,000) and Family Support Center ($210,000), and is seeking Council’s interest in aligning these programs with the Housing First model.

Staff also seeks approval to amend the Fiscal Year 2017/2018 adopted budget within the General Fund and Homeless Shelter Operations Fund to appropriate funding for these purposes in the total amount of $981,000.

RECOMMENDATION: It is recommended by the Housing and Community Services Department that the Council, by resolution, approve the following 1) creation of a Housing First Fund to provide landlord incentives, risk mitigation, and tenant assistance; 2) alignment of the Homeless Services Center, a City-sponsored program operated by Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Santa Rosa, with the Housing First model; 3) alignment of the Family Support Center, also a City-sponsored program operated by Catholic Charities, with the Housing First model; and 4) amend the Fiscal Year 2017/2018 adopted budget within the General Fund and Homeless Shelter Operations Fund to appropriate funding for these purposes in the total annual amount of $981,000.

15.2 REPORT - HOUSING FIRST-FOCUSED SAFE PARKING AND CAMPING, COMMUNITY HOMELESS ASSISTANCE PROGRAM (CHAP) BACKGROUND: On November 21, 2017, Council confirmed its interest in exploring Safe Parking and Camping, specifically a Housing First-focused program on a single City-sponsored site plus support to sites on private property through the Community Homeless Assistance Program (CHAP), which allows for safe parking and camping among other activities, and directed staff to return with a program proposal for further consideration. Staff has consulted with Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Santa Rosa (Catholic Charities), former operator of a Safe Parking Program, to develop a preliminary program model with cost estimates and is seeking confirmation from Council regarding its interest to support a Housing First-focused Safe Parking and Camping Program plus support to private sites as part of the Community Homeless Assistance Program (CHAP).

RECOMMENDATION: It is recommended by the Housing and Community Services Department that the Council, by motion, provide direction on shelter expansion through a Housing First-focused Safe Parking and Camping Program to include a City-sponsored site plus support to private sites as part of the Community Homeless Assistance Program (CHAP).

Gregory