Original Downtown Subcommittee Presentation - August 2015.

Important Meetings Early in the New Year

Greetings!

2016 is off to a great start for exploring homeless and affordable housing, Roseland annexation, and for civic engagement.  For those of us who pleaded with the City of Santa Rosa, and the County of Sonoma, to engage citizens to respond to the housing crisis , we're about to see what their responses were.  Not counting SRT Steering Committee meetings, or our meetings with individual City Council members or City staff, here are some of the important meetings where we can learn and influence more in January and February.

January 4th
     9:30 - Task Force on the Homeless, 1551 Montgomery Drive
   11:00 - Homeless Action, 1551 Montgomery Drive
     1:00 - Rent Stabilization Subcommittee, City Hall
     5:30 - S.R. Participatory Budgeting-Capital Improvements Budget, CAB Mtg, 704 Bennett Valley Road
January 5th
     9:00 - Safe Parking Expansion, Tiny House Pilot Project, Child Welfare Supportive Services, BOS Chambers, County Administration Drive
    10:00 - Downtown Square Reunification Community Meeting, 19 Old Courthouse Square

January 7th
    5:30 - S.R. Participatory Budgeting-Capital Improvements Budget, CAB Mtg, 2060 College Ave

January 11th
    9:30 - Homeless Action, 1551 Montgomery Drive
    5:30 - S.R. Participatory Budgeting-Capital Improvements Budget, CAB Mtg, 7902 Oakmont Drive

January 14th
    5:30 - S.R. Participatory Budgeting-Capital Improvements Budget, CAB Mtg, 415 Steele Lane

January 15th
    3;30 - Homeless Conversation Project Mtg, 465 A Street

January 18th
     9am - Martin Luther King Day Activities
     2pm - Homeless Action Homeless and Housing Conference, Chanate Road

January 19th
     3:00 - Reimagining CitiBus, City Hall

January 21st
     5:30 - Roseland Village Neighborhood Center Advisory, 779 Sebastopol Rd
     5:30 - S.R. Participatory Budgeting-Capital Improvements Budget, CAB Mtg, 950 Sebastopol Rd

January 25th
    9:30 - Homeless Action, 1551 Montgomery Drive

January 26th
    3:00 - Rent Stabilization Ordinance, City Hall
    5:00 - Courthouse Square Reunification, City Hall

February 8th
    9:30 - Homeless Action, 1551 Montgomery Drive

February 9th
   10:00 - SRJC Homeless Rally & Support Faire, 1501 Mendocino Ave
     3:00 - City Goals Review, City Hall
     3:00 - City's Role in Child Care, City Hall

February 18th
     6:00 - Roseland Area Projects Steering Committee Workshop, 769 Sebastopol Rd

February 22nd
    9:30 - Homeless Action, 1551 Montgomery Drive

February 23rd
    4:00 - Housing Funding Resources, City Hall

Santa Rosa to Engage in Participatory Budgeting

Hello,

The City of Santa Rosa will be organizing a series of community meetings in an effort to obtain public input on the City’s Capital Improvement Project (CIP) budget for 2016/2017.

These meetings represent a great opportunity to learn about the different types of capital improvement projects, their funding sources, and the process followed to prioritize them. 

The community meetings will be held from 5:30PM to 7:30PM on the following dates and locations:

January 4, 2016   Bennett Valley Senior Center, 704 Bennett Valley Road

January 7, 2016   Finley Community Center, Willow Room, 2060 West College Avenue

January 11, 2016 Oakmont East Community Center, 7902 Oakmont Drive

January 14, 2016 Steele Lane Community Center, De Meo Room, 415 Steele Lane

January 21, 2016 Roseland Elementary School Library, 950 Sebastopol Road

Translation for Spanish-speaking attendees will be provided. Everyone is welcome. Please forward this message to others.

More information about the CAB can be found at http://srcity.org/departments/cityadmin/cab

Thanks,

Jaime Peñaherrera | Community Engagement Director, MBA, MA

Office of the City Manager |100 Santa Rosa Avenue, Room 10 | Santa Rosa, CA 95404

Tel. (707) 543-3010 |Fax (707) 543-3030 | jpenaherrera@srcity.org

Santa Rosa City Council Agenda, December 15th

Greetings!

Thanks to our friend, Anne Seeley, of Concerned Citizens for Santa Rosa:

Friends:    

3:00PM   There is a study session entitled 4.1 Review of Sonoma County and Local Law Enforcement Task Force Recommendations. These recommendations take into account the whole county. This review will encompass all that apply to Santa Rosa and give information about what the Santa Rosa Police Department is doing with them. The presenter will be Hank Schreeder, Santa Rosa Police Chief.

https://santa-rosa.legistar.com/View.ashx?M=F&ID=4171027&GUID=DACF8484-53D0-4BC3-A807-B3BB96F4B11F Study Session

Report

15.1 Approval of the 2016 Amgen Tour of California Host City Agreement.

   AEG, the owner of the Tour, has asked Santa Rosa to host the Saturday, May 21,2016 Stage Seven Start and Finish of the Men's Tour and Stage Three Start and Fish of the Women's Tour.

      In addition to infrastructure and general production costs, part of the tour hosting obligation is to enter into other agreements such as facility rental agreements in individual amounts that do not exceed $100,000.  The cost to produce what is suggested is estimated to not exceed $350,000.   

      All funds for this purpose are raised through private donations and from the City and County Tourism Business Improvement Area assessment funds.   No General Fund money is spent for this.

15.2 Complete Streets Policy.

      Complete streets are those designed to serve all users. Although Santa Rosa's General Plan 2035 has policies envisioning complete streets, an adopted policy will meet eligibility requirements for One Bay Area Grant funding. See more information below:

https://santa-rosa.legistar.com/View.ashx?M=F&ID=4152426&GUID=ABE3D67A-950A-44BF-878E-B7C9FDCB4F6A Complete Streets

16.1 Work Plan  The Council will hear a review of projects the staff is working on at their direction, including the department responsible and the timeline anticipated.

https://santa-rosa.legistar.com/View.ashx?M=F&ID=4170223&GUID=90F8B6A5-4022-4A76-A307-14D1C5579DC9 Work Plan

21 Upcoming meetings

https://santa-rosa.legistar.com/View.ashx?M=F&ID=4164611&GUID=26C74ADF-6965-4BF1-88C0-5F8471599E9B Upcoming Meetings

Anne Seeley

aeseeley@sonic.net

526-3925

484-8722 (cell)

Roseland Area Projects Steering Committee Meeting in Jan/Feb

Roseland Area Projects Steering Committee Members,

I am pleased to announce that the next Steering Committee meeting and Community Workshop have been scheduled!  Please mark your calendars…and note our new location! 

Steering Committee Meeting 4: 

                Where:                 Roseland Village Neighborhood Center

777 Sebastopol Road

                When:                  Thursday, January 21, 2016

                                                5:30 p.m. social/food

                                                6 p.m. – 8 p.m. meeting

Topic:                    Help us plan for Community Workshop 4

Your attendance is important!  Please respond to this email with a YES or NO in the subject line to indicate whether you will be attending the January 21^st meeting.

We need to ensure that a quorum of the Steering Committee members are in attendance (51%), so it is imperative that you respond to this email by January 7, 2016. 

Community Workshop 3:

                Where:                 Roseland Village Neighborhood Center

777 Sebastopol Road

                When:                  Thursday, February 18, 2016

                                                6:00-8:00 p.m. Open House (please stop by any time during these hours)

                Topic:                    Share ideas on potential policy topics (action items) of the Specific Plan.  Get a preview of the draft land use and circulation plan that was prepared based on community input.  Learn about and provide input on the potential annexation.

Please note:  Similar to Community Workshop 3, this workshop will be an open house format, and you are welcome to stop by anytime between 6 p.m. and 8 p.m.  There will not be a formal presentation; however, there will be several activities in which we are hoping to gather feedback from the community.

Food and childcare (for children 3 years and up) will be provided, and the workshop will be conducted in both English and Spanish. 

We are asking that all Steering Committee members commit to bringing two people from the community to the workshop.  We are finalizing the flyer for the workshop, and I will send it out as soon as it is ready. 

We are also looking for volunteers to help at the welcome table at the Community Workshop.  We are looking for four volunteers to fill 30 minute time slots, which will allow time before or after for you to participate in the workshop itself.  Please let me know if you are able to help.

Thank you.  We look forward to seeing you all on January 21^st.

Jessica

Jessica Jones | Senior Planner

Planning & Economic Development |100 Santa Rosa Avenue, Room 3 | Santa Rosa, CA 95404

Tel. (707) 543-3410 | Fax (707) 543-3269 | jjones@srcity.org

S.R. City County Meeting, December 8th

Greetings!

This Tuesday's Santa Rosa City Council meeting agenda contains several items of which SRT members should be aware.  Among them are a 3pm study session in which a presentation entitled "SONOMA COUNTY’S BUILDING HOMES: A POLICY MAKER’S TOOLBOX FOR ENDING HOMELESSNESS" will be delivered by the County Community Development Commission.  Click on the above title to review the ToolBox.

City staff has responded indicating "The tools in the Toolbox overlap considerably with the strategies that the City of Santa Rosa’s has used or is considering to increase the supply of a full spectrum of housing that ranges from affordable housing for extremely low-income households - that could house homeless people and others earning less than 30% of the area median income - to incentivizing higher density market rate housing. The Toolbox may be a springboard for collaboration among the County and nine cities to think regionally about the common housing issues throughout the county."

Nevertheless, considerable discussion has taken place which reveals some frustration in the City over an insensitivity concerning the considerable work being done by the City on the issue.  It should be interesting to listen to Council members responses to the presentation.

Also on the agenda is an update on the progress of the City's Capital Improvement Budget.  Recent discussions by Council Members would lead us to believe that a more open and participative planning and prioritizing process for this significant amount of the City's budget is in the cards.

If you can't attend the meeting, remember you can find the links to watch it LIVE (or any past meeting) by clicking on the City's Meeting Agenda Link. 

And from our Friend, Anne Seeley of Citizens Concerned For Santa Rosa:

Friends:   

There is a Study Session at 3PM. 

2.1 Sonoma County's Building Homes Program.  This is in line with the Council's recent sessions looking at City housing needs and potential.  This program offers information from the county's perspective; its 'Toolbox'. See links to the City staff report and in the second, the county's document.

Study Session

The Planning Document

4PM

Consent

12.1 City Attorney's salary increase, voted on last week.  The increase is 4.5%, resulting in an annual income of $202,380.  Last week, Duane DeWitt spoke in opposition, commenting on the disparity between City salaries and benefits compared to those of most private residents.

12.2 Ordinance Adoption Amending the City Code to Increase Water and Wastewater Rates in a 5-Year Plan.  The only dissenting vote was by Council member Wysocky, who objected to setting rates out that far, considering conditions might change year to year.  He wants a yearly request and explanation.

Staff responded to him saying that the increases in rates in future rates are just caps on what might be charged, subject to yearly examination. 

Upcoming Meetings:

I'll see you there!    Anne

Anne Seeley

aeseeley@sonic.net

526-3925

484-8722 (cell)

Friends:   

There will be a design meeting on Saturday, December 12, at 10AM  at 19 Courthouse Square.  I'm told that this meeting place is on the floor level in a building on the southwest side of the Square, adjacent to 3rd Street.

This meeting is important.  You may know that I've been a long time supporter of reunifying the square, since back in the early 1990's, when a downtown group named Heart of Santa Rosa was working.  Plans have gone up and down and have been delayed by the recession.

This meeting is important because it might be a clash of two opposing concepts of the square.   Those of us who want a simpler, less expensive design with renewal of the side streets along with parking on those streets will be countered by those who don't want parking on the side streets.  Some people are opposed to the side streets because they would require the felling of some redwood trees.  The loss of those trees would be very unfortunate, but they'd be replaced by other trees considered more appropriate for providing shade and whose roots aren't problematic. [I understand and agree with the reverence for redwoods, but this proposal is full of trip-wires and my greatest hope is to get the project built.]

Please do join us!

Thank you!    Anne