S.R. City Council Agenda, Jan 31st

Greetings!

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

Friends:     There is no Study Session.

4PM  

10.2 Request for Agenda Items.

 10.2.1 On 1/24/17, Mayor Coursey asked for an agenda item to discuss Santa Rosa Declaring Itself a Sanctuary City.  The Council will decide whether and when to have this discussion.

Consent

12.1 Roseland Area Plan Land Use Corrections.  The reason I include this item is that is shows the City Staff's responsiveness to landowners' needs during the Roseland Annexation mega-project.   When a few property owners on West Hearn Avenue who were required to annex but objected to the loss of some of their previous conditions, City Staff promised to alter their land-use designations to protect their conditions.    When the final document went before the City Council for Approval, these changes hadn't been included.

    BUT those residents checked the maps and appealed to staff to correct the Council's document to recognize what had been promised.

The moral?  Watch those legal documents all the way to final approval!

Report

 14.2 Quiet Zones - Notice of Establishment.  Transportation and Public Works staff advise the Council on how to establish a Quiet Zone with respect to train horns sounding within City limits.  As SMART trains make their trial runs through the City, there has been some unhappiness expressed by people living adjacent to the RR.  The Council needs to send to the Federal Railroad Administration a Notice of Establishment to allow train operators some leeway in following the mandate of the Federal Railroad Agency that trains will sound their horns at all highway-rail intersections.  The Quiet Zone would be established from Bellevue Avenue to San Miguel Road on the north.

 14.3  Amendment to City Code regarding Public Works Contract Policy to approve Modifications and Additions that include a requirement for Prevailing Wage for all City Contracts.

 14.4 Update on the progress of the Courthouse Square Reunification project.

5PM Public Hearings

  15.1 DeTurk Winery Village.  The Council will hear an appeal of the Design Review Board and Cultural Heritage Commission's denial for approval for this project planned for the Northeast corner of the West End neighborhood.   185 housing units are planned.

See you there!   Anne

PS I am sorry to not include the staff reports and presentations as links, but haven't yet figured out how to do it with gmail.  You can see them if you look at the agenda on srcity.org.

(We're glad to add the links to key issues outlined by Anne) - SRT

S.R.City Council Agenda, January 24th

Greetings!

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

Friends:

     By far, the most important reason for you to attend this meeting is the 5PM Public Hearing in which the public (you) are asked to offer your priorities for the Fiscal Year 2017-2018 Budget Year.  This is a significant time to speak up for projects or programs you deem very important.  The Council will  take heed of your input, even if they make other decisions.

1:30  The Council will meet as the Successor Agency to the defunct Redevelopment Agency, to approve repayment of funds as required by State law of 2012, which shut down Redevelopment Agencies statewide.  The amount owed is staggering - likely close to $4.5 Million.  

2PM

The Council will hold a closed session: Conference with Labor Negotiators for the Firefighters, Police Officer's Association, Operating Engineers, Maintenance and Utility System Operators, Santa Rosa Employees Association, SEIU Local 1021, Executive Management, City Attorney and Santa Rosa Attorneys' Association and Santa Rosa Management Association.   In other words, almost all employees.  I presume this is a preliminary meeting before each group goes to negotiation, but I don't know.

10.  Mayor's and Council Members' Reports

 10.1.2 Appointment of a Representative and Alternate to the Sonoma County Transportation Authority (SCTA).

 10.1.6 Appointment of a Representative and Alternate to Sonoma Clean Power Authority.

 10.1.7 Appointment of of the Council's Representative and Alternate to the Sonoma County Waste Management Agency (SCWMA).

10.3.1 Mayor's Appointments to County, Regional and State Positions.     The Mayor will ask for the Council's approval.

10.4 Matters for Council Regarding Future Agenda Items.  This is important because it allows individual Council members to bring up for official discussion matters that they think are important.

 10.4.1 Request for an agenda item to consider $20,000 of GAP funding for Legal Aid of Sonoma County.  The request was made by Council member Rogers on January 10, 2017.

Report

14.1 Fiscal Year 2016-2017 Budget Amendment.  See in the link below how City Finances are being used and where changes are being made.

 https://santa-rosa.legistar.com/View.ashx?M=F&ID=4928747&GUID=72BBCF4E-2737-4FED-BF83-2BACD7568A59 Budget Amendment

5PM  Public Hearing  Fiscal Year 2017-2018 Budget Priorities.  Each year, the Council holds this hearing to solicit from speakers and writers what they think must be emphasized in the coming year's spending.

https://santa-rosa.legistar.com/View.ashx?M=F&ID=4925715&GUID=8100485B-F17C-4866-AAE3-A2633827D2F1 Public Hearing

See you there!

Anne

The budget hearing is specifically to hear the public priorities for spending. It is not a presentation of the existing budget but a way to get input in advance of planning the future budget. Tell us what you value?

And for your information here is the 2016 version of the full budget

 http://srcity.org/doclib/Documents/Final%2015-16%20O_M_web.pdf

Gracias, 

Lacinda R. Moore

http://srcity.org/departments/finance/Pages/PublicInvolvement.aspx

This link takes you to the page where you can write your budget comments if you cannot attend the CC mtg on Tuesday.

Judy Kennedy

S.R. Council Agenda, Jan 17th

Greetings!

Our thanks to our friend, Anne Seeley, of Concerned Citizens for Santa Rosa, for this analysis of the January 17th Santa Rosa City Council: 

Friends:

     The Council meeting for 1/17 has been cancelled.

HOWEVER!   The very next week they'll hold the hearing for the public to speak about Budget Priorities.  This is so often poorly attended, largely, I think because people don't know about it, and because there's not easy access to choices - what is possible.

The Public Hearing will be held on 1/24/17 at or after 5:00PM.    Please do put together any of your organization's goals and make your testimony to the Council so they hear clearly what's important to you.

     Years ago I read an excellent book called, "Soul of a City" which contained this nugget:  Members of the public often feel that they're not qualified to speak to elected leaders unless they know every last thing about a subject.  Instead, the author said, elected leaders need to hear, in your words, not 'plannerese', about what is important to your family and community.

    I'll see you on the 24th!

Anne

Steps out of Homelessness: Clear and Accessible Pathways to Housing at All Levels

Greetings!

I know all of you have been supportive of building a system of housing and supportive services which addresses the needs of our community.  And over the past five decades, we have enacted, administered, and fought to improve and retain many excellent components of that system.  And I applaud the more recent initiatives by local and state governments to respond to the accelerating housing crisis.  Our representatives have heard from a unified citizenry that all are effected, and are pursuing solutions like gifts under a Christmas tree.

But more than ever before, what is needed is a stronger coordination of programs to insure that they facilitate clear and methodical pathways to permanent housing for all.

If we agree that a general acceleration of housing development at all levels is an essential component of the solution, and we believe that the housing mobility that results will contribute to those pathways, we must do everything we can to link and coordinate access at each level of housing.

To insure that those living on our streets and in our woods can access shelters, we funded shelters with the expectation that they will be available to them.  

To insure that those in shelters can access transitional housing, we funded shared-housing placement programs, rental deposit and security funds, and short-term rental units with the expectation that they would be available to them.  

To insure that those in shared transitional housing can access stable, individual permanent housing, we built and rehabilitated housing stock with long-term low income access requirements, and established government rental subsidies to attract an even larger pool of available housing.

And social service agencies working with the occupants of this housing stock assisted them in understanding the many, and often confusing, rules governing eligibility and access.  And the agencies supported these residents to utilize personal services which addressed many additional needs. 

As a result of an unprecedented emergency housing crisis, we are now embarking on both the addition of new housing alternatives between the street and subsidized permanent housing (safe camping and parking, encampments, tiny homes, etc), and the modification and augmentation of a level above government-subsidized rental units - affordable housing beyond in-iieu-funded, nonprofit-built housing.  Santa Rosa’s Affordable Housing Incentive Pilot Project and Sonoma County’s Community Development Commission initiatives to partner with local developers are examples.

In order to insure that those who continue to utilize our housing continuum can truly achieve their goals of self-sufficiency, we need to improve and expand our access coordination for them throughout all levels. A greater sharing and coordination of participants, coupled with coordinated policies for priority eligibility of those in the system to these new levels would be good first steps to those goals.

S.R. City Council Agenda

Here is an analysis of the Santa Rosa City Council agenda for this Tuesday, Dec 13th, provided by our friend, Anne Seeley, of Concerned Citizens For Santa Rosa:

Friends:   There is no Study Session before this meeting.  This coming year, friends, plan on attending the meeting especially for  Study Sessions.  They contain the grist for many future proposals and City plans and policies and it's good to have the information.  They generally start at 3PM.

4PM

Consent

11.3 Resolution Adopting Amended Conflict of Interest Code.   New positions, new people require an update on these requirements.

https://santa-rosa.legistar.com/View.ashx?M=F&ID=4832023&GUID=BF79826E-53F7-4519-80C9-C0E1558A4DB7 Conflicts of interest

REport

13.1 Extension of the Proclamation of Homeless Emergency.

          On August 9, 2016, the Council made the first Proclamation of homeless Emergency, which affects how much of certain types of financing can proceed.   Since then they've renewed the proclamation 4 times, each one for 30 days.

https://santa-rosa.legistar.com/View.ashx?M=F&ID=4827628&GUID=70EFABD2-E11F-40C6-9EDE-3BCB3ECFE1B7 Homeless Emergency

13.2 Courthouse Square Reunification Project.   Due to several recently discovered or expanded discovery of issues related to the work, more money is recommended  to be applied to the project.  Happily ,there's a fund called the General Fund Unassigned Fund Balance that can cover this.   First a greater power supply had to be designed and built to provide power for events and equipment all over the Square.  Then Wi-Fi was found to be necessary across the Square (well, of course!)   And most recently, a very old fuel oil tank was found submerged in soil in front of the Empire Building in the northwest side of the Square.  It had to be evacuated and removed.  

More dollars for preservation of the Azawa panels and for an independent review of ADA compliance was found to be necessary.   It's a little galling (but I'm ignorant of standard planning) that more money is requsted for Construction Management, ($530,00), since many of the reasons for delay in finishing were unanticipated, but important  The project is now slated for a finish date in March, 2017, weather allowing, of course.

The Council is asked to approve an additional $1.3 million for the project.

https://santa-rosa.legistar.com/View.ashx?M=F&ID=4828365&GUID=5215FC6D-2CE8-4AB3-BDC5-360F4ACDF946 Courthouse Square

19 Upcoming meetings.  Please notice that the Budget Priorities Public Hearing will be held on January 24.  Neighborhood groups, civic interest groups, get your priorities set and present them to the council at this meeting.

https://santa-rosa.legistar.com/View.ashx?M=F&ID=4829940&GUID=396A5116-9EE2-41D2-9919-3720A994EAAC Upcoming Meetings

See you there!    Anne

S.R. City Council Agenda, Dec 6th

Greetings!

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

Friends:    There is no study session before this meeting.  The biggest deal on this agenda is the seating of the Newly Elected Council members AND the election of Mayor and Vice Mayor.  Unfortunately, these come at the end of the agenda!

Report

14.1 Santa Rosa Fund-to-Fund Loan to Acquire Agricultural Land at 7630-7650 Lakeville Highway.  This land is to be used for spreading biosolids that are left as the end-products after water is extracted and treated.

The City already has lands where they are spread, but they need more area.  See below for an explanation of the funding arrangement.

https://santa-rosa.legistar.com/View.ashx?M=F&ID=4818693&GUID=E1C6B694-1445-45FE-BEF8-BA45DD1180EC Land Purchase

14.3 Resolution to Declare a Fiscal Emergency as a Result of Passage of State Proposition 64.   Because there will be costs related to regulation and because there are time limits ruling when local government can enact a taxation plan to pay for those costs, the Council is asked to declare this fiscal emergency in order to place on the March, 2017 ballot a measure to do just that.  Further explanation can be found below:

https://santa-rosa.legistar.com/View.ashx?M=F&ID=4819967&GUID=3C0807DC-B96A-4A18-910A-3A59238FF2D9 Cannabis Tax

Council Dinner Break.

14.4 Termination of the CMedia Contract.   In January, 2014, the city entered into an agreement with CMedia to provide for the operation of Public Education and Government (PEG) access channels in exchange for City funding.

You've likely read in the Press Democrat about irregularities with spending leading to a full spending audit.  Read more below: 

https://santa-rosa.legistar.com/View.ashx?M=F&ID=4816426&GUID=5A53671E-A456-41DA-AF1D-C1EBE8C1D284 CMedia

14.5 Amendment to City Classification and Salary Plans for the City Attorney and the Water Department Director.  Due to an asserted need for the City to remain competitive for these currently vacant positions, the City Attorney's salary is to be increased from $202,800 annually to $222,800.  The same reason is cited for increasing the Water Director's salary from $181,450 to $190,523 annually.

https://santa-rosa.legistar.com/View.ashx?M=F&ID=4819749&GUID=F38196E0-C1E7-4ED2-BBE7-EF6D55E845C7 Increased Salaries

17. Council Reorganization

   17.1 Declaration of the Results of the November, 2016 election, including election of 4 City Council members, as well as passage of the City's 2 ballot measures, N and O.

   17.2 Comments by Council members

   17.3 Administration of the Oath Of Office to the newly elected Council members; then the seating of the new members.

   17.4 Comments by Newly Elected Council members.

   17.5 Election of Mayor for a two-year term.

   17.6 Election of Vice Mayor for a one-year term

   17.7 Election of a Designated Presiding Officer to preside when neither Mayor nor Vice Mayor is in attendance.  Creating this as an elected position requires amendment of part of the Council's Manual of Procedures and Protocols.

    https://santa-rosa.legistar.com/View.ashx?M=F&ID=4818621&GUID=F3AB259A-8A09-4D3A-B51E-01972390CB7A Presiding Officer

See you there!    Anne

S.R. City Council Agenda, Dec 6, 2016

Greetings!

The Council has no Study Session scheduled, but will gather in the Mayor's Conference Room for a Closed Session prior to the Council meeting.

14.3 REPORT - RESOLUTION TO (1) DECLARE A FISCAL EMERGENCY; (2) ORDER A BALLOT SUBMISSION TO SEEK VOTER APPROVAL TO AUTHORIZE THE CITY COUNCIL TO IMPOSE A BUSINESS LICENSE TAX ON CANNABIS BUSINESSES; AND (3) APPROVE BALLOT LANGUAGE

14.4 REPORT - COURTHOUSE SQUARE REUNIFICATION PROJECT UPDATE, EXPENDITURE REPORT, CONTINGENCY ACTION AND CONSTRUCTION MANAGEMENT/INSPECTION ACTION

14.5 REPORT - TERMINATION OF CMEDIA CONTRACT F000682


This item may be postponed to Dec 13th if the City Clerk does not receive certified results from the County Registrar of Voters by noon on December 1st.

17.1 REPORT - DECLARING RESULTS OF THE GENERAL MUNICIPAL ELECTION HELD ON TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 8, 2016

Administration of oaths, election of Mayor, Vice Mayor, and Mayor Pro Tempore.