Okay, so it's 701 I'm calling to order this San Landro City Council meeting of Monday, November 2nd
Well, I understand that Council member bolt may participate remotely by teleconference. Is that in fact happening?
Okay. So what we'll do is we'll take the
Role call first and then he will offer a statement or is it a notice location?
It is a notice location. Perfect. So we'll proceed accordingly. Thank you. So at this point in time
Please stand and join me for the Pledge of Allegiance if you're able to
And to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty
and justice for all.
So Madam Clerk would you please take a roll.
Council Member James Aguilar.
Present.
Council Member Victor Aguilar.
Present.
Council Member Simon.
Present.
Council Member Bowen.
Councilmember Bolt. President. Vice Mayor Viveros-Walton. Present. And Mayor Gonzalez.
Present. So we take a moment to acknowledge that the city of San Lienro
sits when the traditional homeland of the Halkine, Chaine' O'Lonee, and Bay
Maywick speaking people, who to strengthen determination of their
ancestors and elders, the Halkine people continue to live and thrive in
and contemporary San Leandro and the surrounding areas.
We recognize their endurance,
their enduring connection to this land, past and present,
and we express our respect for their cultures,
histories and ongoing contributions,
including their roles as traditional stewards
of this local area.
The city of San Leandro also conducts meetings,
orderly meetings to fulfill its mandate,
discriminatory statements or conduct
that would potentially violate
the Federal Civil Rights Act of 1964
and or the California for Employment and Housing Act,
California Penal Code sections four three or four 15
are per se disruptive to a meeting
and will not be tolerated.
Please see the City Council Handbook
and City Council Meeting Rules of Decorum
for more information.
Madam Clerk, your announcement please.
If you would like to make a public comment
during the meeting, you can do so in person or via Zoom.
If you are present at the meeting,
please complete a speaker card
and submit it to the City Clerk
before the item is presented.
then wait for public comment on that item to be called.
If you wish to participate in public comment via Zoom,
you can use the raise your hand tool
when the item is called.
During the public comment session,
speakers will be invited to speak
and will have a set time to share their comments.
A countdown timer will appear for their convenience.
And when the time is up, the microphone will be muted.
All raised hands outside of public comment
will be lowered to avoid confusion.
Once public comment is open, hands may be raised to speak.
There will be a 30 minute window for public comments
on items not on the agenda,
which will take place under item seven public comments
as per the published agenda.
After this time is up,
the council will proceed with the rest
of the meeting's agenda.
If you have not had the opportunity to speak
during the initial 30 minute period,
there will be another chance to do so
after item 12, City Council reports.
So we do not today have a closed session.
We did not hold a closed session,
so there's nothing to report.
So we'll move to item four, a proclamation
to declare Native American Heritage Month.
And here to receive our proclamation,
we have Marilyn Chaat-Brown of the Comanche Native people.
Come on down, please.
So Marilyn is a San Landro resident.
We'll start with that.
Full-blooded Comanche Native whose ancestors
lived generations on the plains of Oklahoma.
She has many Comanche relatives who
remain today carrying on language, tradition, traditions, and sharing Comanche values.
And I'll give you a minute to speak after I read the full proclamation.
So whereas Native Americans have inhabited the Bay Area region for many millennia and
are still living here, as integral community members who contribute significantly to the
growth, prosperity, and identity of our country, from before its inception to the present day.
And whereas the 2020 U.S. Census reports that 9.6 million people throughout the United
States self-identify as American Indian and Alaskan Native during the decennial census.
And according to the Bureau of Indian Affairs there are currently 575 federally recognized
Native nations.
Whereas California is home to 109 federally recognized tribes along with a number of other
tribes not currently recognized by the federal government, such as the Ohlone Indian Tribe
that I mentioned or acknowledged in our land acknowledgment. And the Ohlone, among others,
are still actively petitioning for federal recognition and reaffirmation. And whereas,
National Native American Heritage Month serves to recognize Native American culture and to
educate the public about their heritage, history, art, and the service in the United States'
armed forces.
And whereas the city of Santa
Landa recognizes that the history
of native peoples in this country
includes painful experiences arising from a host of matters,
including colonization, forced removal from lands,
inhumane treatment, involuntary assimilation,
and other disreputable practices that negatively impacted
indigenous communities in this country.
And whereas, on this occasion, the City of San Leandro celebrates incredible resilience
of Native Americans for their ongoing community building and reclamation of their unique cultures,
their unique languages, and their unique traditions, as well as their continued contribution to
our community.
Now, therefore, I, Juan Gonzalez III, Mayor of the City of San Leandro, do hereby proclaim
the month of November, 2026 as Native American Heritage Month in San Leandro and encourage
all residents to engage in the history, in the cultures, in the traditions and in the
contributions of Native Americans in our community.
Good evening.
Good evening.
Oh, you can do better than that.
I am deeply honored to accept the Native American Heritage Proclamation this evening.
My thanks to Mayor Gonzalez and to the Council for this great honor.
I am Comanche from Oklahoma.
We call ourselves numina, which means the people.
My family name is Chhatani Aqui, C-H-A-H-T-I-N-N-E-Y-A-C-K-Q-U-E.
It means one who is well spoken of.
My Comanche name is Toponi, it means little round gourd.
Over the years I've discovered several books that vividly recount stories of my family's
History. One book details my great uncle's conversion to Christianity in 1895. Prior
to that, he was a medicine man. Another details my grandpa, Reverend Robert Paul
Sr., becoming the first Comanche minister in America. He was ordained in New York
City at the Marble Collegiate Church. He served our people over 45 years at the Comanche
Reformed Church in Lawton, Oklahoma. I worked at UC Berkeley 35 years mentoring
native and financially struggling students. I love San Leandro and have enjoyed sharing
my culture at several preschools but Oklahoma will always be my home.
My ancestors were known as lords of the plains for their magnificent horse riding skills
and they were fierce warriors for over 100 years.
my people enduring indescribable hardship suffering and loss we are still here we cherish
our children we revere our elders and warriors serving in the military we still sing and
dance to five hundred-year-old songs we are numina so thank you and again don't
don't feel like you have to stay the whole meeting you're welcome to stay but
don't feel obligated to stay so with that we'll move to item number five on
our agenda which is the consent calendar firstly I'm looking for any amendments
What a council member like to pull an item if you do not we will move to public comment to inform our decision as to whether
To proceed councilmember Bowen, please
Yes, I'd like to pull item
Five C, please
Are there any other items that people would like to pull?
Okay, seeing none. Let's take public comment on this item
That's on the full consent calendar including the item that's been pulled. Do we have any public comment?
Mayor we have not received any comment cards for the consent calendar, and there are no hands raised online
So we'll close public comment and come back for a motion if there's any further discussion
Well, let me ask you first is it a clarifying question or you want detailed discussion about the item that you're pulling
Clarifying question why don't we check the question see if we can just pass a whole calendar, so just please proceed with your question
Yes, thank you. Sorry this we got here a lot quicker than I was prepared for
Yeah, so I want to stop by saying that I shared out recently on my
social medias, but really impressed by the
the city's winter resources guide that's up on the website with a ton of information and I bring that up because I think it's related
Proactively to item 5c. So if you could just share city manager or W city manager Eric and a lot
I think the name is next to it
Specifically what this proclamation means and what it entails
So we'll start with city manager and then you can pass along if you'd like
Thank you, mr. Mayor. Thank you councilor Bowen. So the proclamation is
a way for us to proclaim that we would like to prepare the city for
The upcoming El Nino which is some referring to a super El Nino
Season I asked our emergency services specialist Libby Bessman who is here tonight
She works with her other partners in the county and other jurisdictions
To help me understand the gravity of this situation as we most of us are aware that the state also the governor
declared a state of emergency and it's really putting the cities on notice and the jurisdictions within the state on notice that
They're taking it seriously and so should we.
And so Libby reached out to the other jurisdictions
in the county and to kind of help me understand,
in comparison to 22-23 storm season,
what is the prediction for this?
Is it the same?
Is it lighter?
Is it worse?
And the feedback that emergency specialist specimen gave me
was that it is predicted to be significantly worse
than the 22-23 storm.
And so then I got in a position
I started talking to my directors as in public works,
recreation, who takes care of our urban infrastructure,
urban forestry infrastructure, fire and PD
and our preparedness and what do we need to do?
And some of that is preparing the city infrastructure.
So for example, trees.
We have a lot of fully grown trees, which looks beautiful.
But when you think about a significant storm season,
those trees can cause hazards with the leaves
getting in the storm drain with branches falling.
And so anything that we can do to move quickly
and to mitigate, we need to get in gear.
Also by proclaiming an emergency,
it helps us to get funding back through FEMA
or any other agency when we can start billing the cost
of the preparation of this emergency to that
and hopefully get reimbursed for that as well.
So it's kind of like the highlights of being prepared
while also setting ourselves up to be able
to hopefully be reimbursed for all the efforts
that we put in in preparation for what might happen
in San Leandro.
Related to that last question around proactive reimbursements,
what's the cost impact that we is?
I mean, where's the money coming from,
and is there a continuation of approvals
for it throughout the emergency proclamation?
I'm not able to answer that question yet.
Some of it may be that we have budget,
and we're going to move quicker than we had planned.
So maybe it's something that we had planned
to do in the spring,
but because of this, what's upcoming,
we need to do it now.
Some of it may be work that we weren't planning
on doing at all.
So Libby and I were talking on Friday about,
I'm calling them water K rails,
though I know that's not what they're actually called,
but they're the big plastic items
that protect water from coming in.
And so hopefully we'll be able to lean on other agencies
that may have extras and we can get those.
If not, we may have to buy some.
So at this moment, I don't have a dollar amount
of that what we may not be able to afford,
but I do know that there will be expenses towards this effort.
Great, and then just one last question.
I know, you know, I love that we're being proactive.
You know, San Francisco also just declared
their state of emergency for it
because there's flooding along the Barcadero.
And so flooding is obviously like the biggest concern.
And the city is obviously not the only,
municipality that's tasked with addressing this.
So the last question is around,
how does this enable us to be able to work
with the partners, for example Alameda County,
and have they also did a resolution
for an emergency for this?
Lenny, do you know if the county has declared yet?
No, she says that the county has not declared.
So what I will say is that the county did call,
what I'm gonna say is an emergency meeting
for all of the cities to come together,
I think it was a couple weeks ago,
with all of those in the departments
that have to participate in this type of event to prepare.
I know that the different department heads
have their counterparts at other agencies,
but also the emergency managers of the different cities
and the counties meet monthly as a specific time in day,
kind of like the city managers do as well.
We had our meeting last week and this topic also came up.
But beyond that they have a working group
smaller group that also meet so yes they are working together great thank you so
that said we'd like to pull the item or just leave it in okay so then I will
gladly take a motion to for the full consent calendar or any other further
discussion comes over James Aguilar happy to move the consent calendar okay
so we have a motion from James Aguilar council member to move forward with the
consent calendar comes over Victor Aguilar please I will second with a
second from council member Victor Aguilar. Seeing no further discussion please
vote. Council member Bolt your vote please. Yes. Thank you. All votes are in and the
motion carries unanimously with all members of the City Council voting yes.
So I do not believe we have City Manager or City Attorney reports today. Seeing none
put time for public comment on items that are not on our agenda that are
within the subject matter jurisdiction of the council. How many cards do we have?
Mayor we have received three comment cards on items that are not on the
agenda and there's presently two hands raised online. Okay let's begin in person
please. The in-person commenters are Cindy Fozendo, Mike Katz-Lacabe, and Sarah Bailey.
Would like to clarify before we start my public comment has to do with El Nino
But it's not it is specific to Mission Bay mobile home park, so I'm kind of in a gray area
So am I okay here with okay? Thank you. I just wanted to clarify before we moved on
Good evening mayor and council as we all know we are on the precipice of what may be a deadly winter with storms that we haven't seen
and decades. As a resident of Mission Bay Mobile Home Park, I am here asking how assisting
our senior population fits into the city's emergency plan. Since Mission Bay sits next
to the shoreline, why hasn't city leadership, along with Mission Bay ownership, formulated
an escape plan for the 366 homes that may sit in the eye of the storm? Your proclamation
tonight states whereas the city council finds that conditions of extreme peril
to the safety of persons and property within the city are likely to exist as
of the 2627 El Nino weather pattern that statement indicates a dire situation
awaits and given mission Bay's proximity to the Bay we are in need of information
how will the City alert residents to the emergency? Nixle, many seniors do not use
technology and what shelters will also be available if we need to evacuate. How
in a senior community will people with mobility issues evacuate? Time is running
out to provide this information along with the steps needed to evacuate in
the case of flooding. It's a little frustrating when residents of Mission
to the city council. And I'm
going to turn it over to you,
Mr. Mayor. I'm going to turn it
over to you, Mr. Mayor. I'm
going to turn it over to you,
Mr. Mayor. I'm going to turn it
over to you, Mr. Mayor. I'm
going to turn it over to you,
Mr. Mayor. I'm going to turn it
over to you, Mr. Mayor. I'm
going to turn it over to you,
Mr. Mayor. I'm going to turn it
over to you, Mr. Mayor. I'm
going to turn it over to you,
Mr. Mayor. I'm going to turn
it over to you, Mr. Mayor. I'm
going to turn it over to you,
Mr. Mayor. I'm going to turn
it over to you, Mr. Mayor. I'm
Council, my name is Mike Katz-Lakave. A few items for you tonight. So Oakland, Hayward, Richmond,
Oakley, Pittsburgh, and San Francisco all have the following in common. They have instituted
moratoriums or bans on new data centers. It's far past time for San Leandro to take a similar step
towards sustainability and additional environmental protections by banning data centers in San Leandro.
Next topic, although the mayor has stated, quote, we do not conduct mass surveillance in the city of
San Leandro. The 86 AI powered flock cameras tracking every vehicle that
passed by objectively refute that falsehood. We should end this mass
surveillance and get out of our contract with flock. Lastly if you haven't voted
yet make sure to vote yes on Proposition 4. No on Propositions 38 and 39. Yes on
Proposition 40. That's the billionaire tax. And no on Propositions 41 42 and 43
Which were put on the ballot by billionaires to oppose the proposition 40 billionaire tax. Thank you very much for your time
Thank you. The next speaker is Sarah Bailey
So since we're here to talk about hazard mitigation and maybe this is an urgent but I wanted to talk about Lake Chabot Road and
Reiterate the three statements I made
True statements I made a few months ago
The Lake Chippewa Road is open for emergency use both for emergency vehicles and a potential evacuation.
Second, the number of evacuation exits and routes off Bay of Vista Hill has not changed.
It's the same now as before the storms.
Third, if Bay of Vista Hill residents need to evacuate, they can use Lake Chippewa Road if the fire department directs them to do so.
The city manager has explained that Lake Chabot Road moves every day. In 2023
the cost estimate for opening it to cars was 10 million dollars. In January of 25
just two years later the cost estimate had ballooned to 15 million. Lake Chabot
Road should be stabilized and preserved for use by police and fire and
potentially an evacuation. Repair the slides and make it safe for use by Alco
fire and Bayo Hill residents. Thank you. Thank you. Mayor, there are no more cards
from in the room. Okay, so we're closing public comment in person just looking
out there making sure nobody else wants to speak, correct? Okay, with no other
speakers we close public comment in person. Let's open up public comment
online. The first online speaker is Douglas Spalding. Good evening council
Members, here we find ourselves on the eve
of the general election.
I encountered a man walking down my hill today
ballot at hand and asked him where he was gonna drop it off.
And he informed me he was on his way to the post office.
Then I had to tell him, sir, it's too late.
If you mail it, it's not gonna get there in time.
So I hope everybody knows that.
You gotta drop your ballot off at an official drop box
or at the polling station.
If you didn't get a ballot in the mail,
you can still register at the polling station on the spot
and fill out a conditional ballot.
Please do vote.
It is so important.
I really enjoy the final weeks of campaigning
after ballots come out and more so this year
than any year before,
when people are really focused on the act of voting.
It feels this year,
it feels a greater degree of common civic pride
in performing the civic duty.
Without regard to the different candidates
and concerns that we all support,
there've been more early voters, I think,
than I've ever observed before.
And I believe we really all have more in common
than we do have differences.
I subscribe to the Marxist concept of dialectic materialism,
and I happen to think the debate is a good thing.
Opposing ideas and criticisms do not in and of themselves
constitute personal attacks, certainly not hatred,
but merely an attempt to arrive
at the best possible solution.
I certainly don't know at all, nor am I right all the time.
I learn from these debates.
So let me just wind up by wishing all the candidates good luck.
Thank you, sir.
Your time has elapsed.
The next online speaker is Alvaro Ramos.
November 3, 2026, election is Tuesday tomorrow.
If you haven't voted, you'll want
to find your local polling place and get in line before 8 PM.
and why don't you bring somebody with you
if you know they haven't voted.
I'd like to just talk to you about the ballot propositions.
Let's start with Proposition 43,
which restricts local taxes from funding public services
that our communities need.
Without local taxes, we're gonna end up with cuts
to police, fire, 911, street maintenance,
senior services, libraries, public education,
and parks and recreation.
Prop 43 damages public services provided to us by cities, counties, special districts
and school districts.
Then you have Proposition 42 and Proposition 41, which trick voters to stop the billionaire
tax.
Now, in 2025, the rich people got tax cuts from the federal government while cutting
health care and food benefits.
What we've got here is Prop 43, Prop 42, Prop 41, three tax breaks for rich people.
time for them to pay up their taxes. Finally here, let's see, next is Proposition 45 which
deregulates environmental reviews on destructive projects by private developers. The California
Environmental Quality Act was signed by Governor Ronald Reagan to protect California's natural
environment. Our local communities benefit from CEQA by participating in environmental reviews to
to protect our public health and our natural environment.
Prop 45 would pollute our environment
and shorten lifespans of Californians.
Then there's Proposition 39,
which is intended to stop voters from voting in elections
by using voter ID as a barrier to keep people from voting.
So you're gonna wanna vote no
on these five bad propositions.
Thank you.
Mayor, there are no more hands raised online.
Okay, thank you.
we will close public comment on non-agenda items. We don't have a public hearing today
or presentation, but we do have an action item. So let's move to item 10a, adopt a resolution
to adopt the City of San Leandro 2026 local hazard mitigation plan. So we've got emergency
services specialist Libby Bessman here to guide us through this.
Good evening, my name is Elizabeth Bessman, Emergency Services Specialist.
Online is Dylan Kirby, he's our consultant with navigating preparedness and he's joining
to assist with technical questions.
So tonight we're asking council to adopt the updated Local Hazard Mitigation Plan or LHMP.
Adoption is required every five years under federal law.
Additionally without an approved LHMP the city cannot access FEMA mitigation funding
FEMA has already conditionally approved our draft your adoption tonight allows final approval
So what is the local hazard mitigation plan?
This is our long-term plan to reduce the impacts of natural and human caused hazards before they happen
It identifies the major hazards. We face such as earthquakes flooding and severe storms
It outlines strategies to protect residents, buildings, infrastructure and city operations.
This plan also helps us qualify for millions in potential federal funding.
So, I've explained what it is. Let's discuss what it is not. This is not an emergency response plan.
This plan does not describe what we are doing during a disaster. It's not a rebuilding or
construction plan. It is not part of our general plan or land use planning documents. This
is strictly a long term risk reduction plan. So why does it matter? Hazards are changing
especially with climate driven storms and coastal impacts. Earthquakes remain one of
our highest risk threats. Some neighborhoods and critical facilities are more vulnerable
than others. The LHMP helps strengthen resilience. So how is this plan developed? This update
took two years and involved multiple departments and regional partners. We held three planning
team meetings. We conducted a community survey with 668 participants. We reviewed public
comments and incorporated feedback. And finally Cal OES and FEMA have reviewed and adopted
the draft pending tonight's adoption. So like I said we we reached out to the
public. This is what we heard. First off, feedback was clear. Residents are most
concerned about earthquakes, wildfire smoke, climate change, and flooding. We
also added more detail on cybersecurity and specific mitigation projects.
Additionally, we coordinated with Alameda County agencies, utilities, neighboring
cities, nonprofits and regional emergency management partners. This
coordination ensures the plan reflects shared risks and collaborative solutions.
So we've had some key changes in this update from our last LHMP. Since the last
LHMP, San Leandro has grown and changed. We updated community information, hazards,
risk assessments and mitigation strategies. This plan incorporates new
regional data and aligns with the county-wide hazard planning. So how are
we going to use this plan? How is it useful? The local hazard mitigation plan
provides a practical tool for city staff by identifying where natural hazards are
most likely to occur and helping guide development and permitting decisions in
high-risk areas. Hazard maps and risk assessments contained in the LHMP can
support permit review process, helping ensure new development considers floods,
the city's impact on the city.
both a planning tool and a funding tool.
It helps the city make more informed decisions today
while preserving eligibility for grants
that can support resilience
and hazard mitigation projects in the future.
So, staff is recommending that Council
adopts the LHMP by resolution.
Adoption completes the FEMA approval process.
This restores fully federal compliance
and preserves eligibility for FEMA grant funding.
So thank you for the presentation.
What I'd like to do is take public comment
on this item first.
And then that will inform some questions
and discussions that we have.
So let's go ahead and take a seat.
Let's hear from the public about their concerns
or desires for amendments, if any.
Thank you, Mayor.
We have received three comment cards
for this agenda item from in the room.
And there are presently two hands raised online.
that has proceeded in person with public comment.
The in-person commenters are Anne Kawood,
followed by Paul Wellenkamp, followed by Deborah Acosta.
Good evening.
I wanted to express my thanks to the city staff members
who worked on this extensive local hazard mitigation plan,
especially Libby Bessman and also Dylan Kilby
for his neighborhood outreach efforts.
This plan documents the importance of Lake Shabow Road
as a vital fire evacuation route
for the Bay of Vista neighborhood,
especially for our high number of vulnerable residents.
Over age 70, others with functional needs
and those with language barriers.
The plan also supports the current stated positions
of both Fire Chief Bowie and ACFD Chief McDonald,
who after review of the WeGo timed evacuation study,
determined that this road needs to be repaired and reopened to two-way traffic to support both resident evacuations and
emergency fire response. I also want to thank Mayor Gonzales and Assemblymember Liz Ortega for their efforts in securing
1.5 million in additional state funding for the repair of this road.
We encourage the city to prioritize the funding of this important public safety issue. Thank you.
Thank you. The next speakers are Paul Wellenkamp followed by Deborah Acosta.
I read the plan. Can you lift the mic just a little? Make sure the people online can hear you.
I'm actually kind of proud of the fact that I read the plan. It's a little long. It was not easy.
I want to tell you that it is thorough. It is well thought out. It is well prepared.
It's going to be a very useful document.
I want to thank staff for preparing it.
I also want to thank staff for identifying Lake Chabot Road as a critical evacuation
route for Bay of Vista.
Now according to the public survey, the two greatest threats that the public perceives
for the community are earthquakes and wildfire.
The plan does address, identifies and addresses the mitigation through the Earthquake Retrofit
Program and by reopening Lake Chabot Road.
I just want to say thank you.
Thank you for listening to us, thank you for recognizing the threat and thank you for planning
to do something about it.
Thank you.
Thank you.
The next in-person speaker is Deborah Okosta.
Good evening, mayor, council members, city manager.
The German philosopher Gunther Anders
told a remarkable story about Noah.
Yeah, that guy.
Now in Anders' version, Noah had spent years
warning people about a flood that no one believed would come.
Finally, he appeared before them dressed in morning clothes.
When people asked who had died, Noah answered,
well, you have.
When they asked when, he answered, tomorrow.
He explained that he had come to mourn tomorrow's dead today
because after the flood, it would be too late.
And then something extraordinary happened.
A carpenter came to Noah and said,
let me help you build an ark so this may become false.
Then a roofer joined him.
Think about that.
They didn't argue about whether the flood was going to happen.
They didn't debate whose responsibility it was.
They began working together to prevent the catastrophe.
And that is the profound lesson of this story.
The purpose of warning about a catastrophe
is not to be proven right.
It is to make the prediction false.
and that is why we are here tonight.
I want to acknowledge the few Mission Bay homeowners
that were able to come out tonight
because we only got notification Thursday
of this very important issue.
We are not here to predict the next flood.
We are here to make sure it never happens.
We expect San Leandro to lead city manager.
And our park owners, we expect Brandenburg, Stadler,
and more to take responsibility
for their frigging infrastructure.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Mayor, there are no more comment cards from within the room.
Okay, so we'll close in-person public comment.
We will open up online public comment.
The first online speaker is Douglas Spaulding.
Good evening.
I also took the opportunity to read the entire report
and make a response back on July 25th.
I'm looking at my email now
where I made dozens of comments.
I found the LHMP lacking in certain regards
while overall very useful.
I know that the draft has changed since the time I read it,
but I'd like to point out a few things.
So this will be a little scatter shot.
I'm looking at table four dash 10,
the calculated priority risk index summary on pages 60 and 61.
And I would note that the highest ranking item
is not wild bar, but earthquakes and seismic events,
which I think is true to form.
Not that there won't ever be a wildfire,
not that there won't ever be a flood,
but I think that's what we really need to prioritize.
And that means, for example, prioritizing rebuilding of our three firehouses that will
be important in response to a fire or an earthquake or another natural disaster.
I notice there's a certain theme to dancing, doing a victory dance over this report.
But no one is opposed to repairing Lake Chabot Road and using it as an evacuation route.
That is not the same thing as opening it to two-way traffic, which I predict will be disastrous.
I'm a little curious why certain things were not marked as important hazards, including
drought and landslides and flooding. And the last thing I want to say is you got to make
use of your resiliency network led by Kimberly Anderson. There wasn't really much public
discussion and that would be a natural form for this. Thank you.
Thank you. The next online speaker is Alvaro Ramos.
Okay. There you go. I got the unmute. Anyway, I'm calling in because I'm concerned
about infectious disease outbreak, which I feel is overlooked, but it's still connected
to hazards. But I think most concerning right now is the neglectful leadership from the
Department of Health and Human Services under Secretary Kennedy, who is a threat to national
security and has endangered public health. Secretary Kennedy has promoted anti-vaccination,
he himself, Kennedy, is vaccinated. We've got to have education to stop the undermining
of vaccines, especially for children. And it also bothers me how he has appointed board
members who are anti, seem very hesitant on vaccines, but push a lot of vaccine restrictions.
And a third point also, the Food and Drug Administration under his leadership, Secretary
Kennedy I somehow ended up firing food inspectors, and that has caught had had has had economic
costs like recalling products, and not refunding consumers, while we're dealing with expensive
health care costs and expense and inflation in you know, economic costs. You know, the
United States lost over 1 million people to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. And now people
still have long COVID-19 symptoms. It's permanently leaving people who got infected with ongoing
symptoms after illness. And there's easily preventable diseases that are going in outbreaks
right now. Polio, measles, salmonella, Hantavirus, smallpox. We've had children die in this country
from measles in 2026 when it was not a problem in the year 2000. I need to see this issue
dealt with. Thank you. Mayor there are more hands raised online. Okay so we're
closing public comment online coming back to council members for questions
discussion. Beginning with Councilmember Bowen. Thank you Mayor. Just a few
questions. I'm impressed that people read the 253 pages of this report because it
is a lot. I will say that there are new features on the document that make it
easy to ask for specific questions. So if you want to look at any of specific
areas like if you are in the flood zone or on the shore you can definitely look
that up and and ask specific questions so really appreciate accessibility in
that way. In terms of the different mitigation actions love the outline of
you know who's responsible what happens can you share with the council and the
public how the each of the mitigation actions are prioritized or what that
means in terms of it's not a work document per se as outlined of you know
Is that an emergency response plan? But how is that actually used in terms of
workflow and what gets prioritized for the city?
I just want to make sure it works. Okay, thanks. So the prioritization came in a couple different
ways. I'm gonna ask Dylan from Navigating Preparedness who's on the line to discuss this piece.
Hi everyone, can you hear me okay? Sounds good. Great. First off, I'm also very impressed that
that everyone who read the 253 page report,
thank you so much for your review, really appreciate it.
To answer your question about the prioritization,
under section six, the mitigation strategies themselves,
there is a little bit of information
about the prioritization rubric that we used.
And there's a couple of different ones.
The first is something called
what we call the Stablee prioritization.
You can see that in one of the ICUs,
pardon me for not knowing off the top of my head,
I think it's Appendix E, basically what this does is get 25 different criteria that examine
the impacts of a mitigation action, the economics concerns of the mitigation action, feasibility,
any legal or environmental considerations, et cetera.
These are then tallied up to get a number, and then how that number fits into buckets
on low, medium, and then high prioritization is how we identified it that way.
We also took into account when we were aware of existing funding mechanisms that were
appropriate.
So for example, the Lake Chabot road funding projects, some of the projects that were previously
mentioned within the Tree Master Plan and the City General Plan 2035 itself were also
included and also given higher priority considering these already have
either policy mechanisms behind them or some other type of demonstrative effort being put to
realizing these. So to a lot shorter a combination of this prioritization matrix that is described
within the plan itself within that appendix and then also basically looking at was this project
already being considered or implemented in some way by the city. Thank you. And I'm looking at
since Lake Chippewa Road's been mentioned a handful of times, mitigation action number 24
that talks about Lake Chippewa Road. This project is further detailed within the city's approved
CIP according to it and then it gives the general summary which includes repairs of slides one and
for and the phase one that we are currently in,
which we did actually get federal highway funds
to be able to work on.
And then the other stabilization repair and embankment
and roadway settlement observed
as slides two and three remain unfunded.
We obviously have been able to get some funds for that
or continued or some funds for the road in general.
And that will be necessary next.
But the question I have, I think is maybe for city manager
or public works, but it's around that very first sentence.
It's detailed within the city's approved CIP.
Can you share exactly what's approved in the cities of CIP
approved by this council for Lake Chippewa Road?
And I think maybe Public Works.
Good evening, Sheila Marche says Public Works Director.
The question is what has been approved
in the Capital Improvement Program?
Yes, because even on the mitigation plan,
it literally says to follow along
with the city's approved CIP plan.
correct so what you'll find in the capital improvement program is the
erosion repairs what we call phase one which is focused on slides one and four
okay and I'm looking specifically at page 10 of the CIP and has the different
project names that we've approved and just to and again I think this is a
a good resource for folks as a complement
to the hazardous mitigation plan
because it does talk specifically
about the different projects that have been improved,
including Lake Chabot Road and how much is approved
for current fiscal year and going forward
and where that funding's coming from
as well as other ones like the MacArthur Roundabout,
the Crosstown corridor project, et cetera.
So just wanna confirm that.
And then I did just have one more question,
but I can loop back around.
There's no one in queue,
so why don't you please proceed with your question?
Yes, the last question I had was specifically
around flooding and it's because of certainly
the emergency proclamation,
the pre-emergency proclamation we made earlier
and also because we're actually in super El Nino
and there's Kelvin waves and all the things happening.
What, in a situation where you don't predict,
you cannot predict that this winter storm
is gonna be what it is looking like it's going to be,
How does this plan work with sort of emergency situations
like that, and then what are some of the
potential infrastructure plans we have?
We've mentioned trees previously.
I know our storm drains,
all of the things that impact flooding.
How can, if we could just share a little bit about
what we're doing as a city to ensure that we're sort of
mitigating general flooding and storm damage.
Again, I'll go to Director Marquesas.
We have a comprehensive list that what we public works anticipate every year.
We assume October 1st is our wet season, so there's a lot of action to team.
Just off the top of my mind, we make sure that the sandbags are prepared, the amount
that's available at the Public Works Corp yard, so that's something we already prepare
Therefore, for the El Nino, we're looking at additional locations so that the residents
don't have to travel too far.
We also have our teams regularly sweeping, possibly more often if we know the storm is
coming through.
It's a very long list, I don't have that in front of me, but the team also during once
we know the king tide events, so we have those dates.
So we're making sure we have the staffing resources available,
so we know the king tides are coming in.
But if that's in addition to rainfall,
so that threat is going to come from different areas.
So we want to make sure our barricades are available,
so that we can close proper streets, clearing our storm
drains to make sure that the the water is flowing where they need to flow. So
that's just a few but we have a list not only for public works but we have
recreation and parks and we've been meeting weekly at this point. Great. And
then I'm just gonna plug clmiendo.org again and if you actually just go to the
home page in announcement it has the winter resources and it has some of the
things that you had just mentioned director McKees as well as links for
notifications for emergencies for count for the county and local emergency so
just really want to encourage everybody to go to the website because you can
sign up for a lot and then also find out more information about the sandbags
thank you please mayor please thank you I did want to elevate because I also had
the question that one of our public speakers online had and I'm wondering
about the intersection of public health and the local hazard mitigation plan and
and some of the lessons learned.
And our last plan, which was pre-COVID, and then this plan,
and I'm wondering how that intersects with,
or where would a mitigation plan for those types of risks,
where do they live if not in the local hazard mitigation plan?
So first, I'm gonna ask Dylan to speak to where it does
for the local hazard mitigation plan,
and that might answer where it does not.
Okay, so Dylan.
Hi, yes, and just checking one more time.
You all can hear me?
Yes, I can hear you.
Fantastic.
So that was a big question that we had
in originally developing this plan.
For a little bit of context,
I actually have a master's of public health
and epidemiology, so infectious disease
is a big part of my emphasis as well.
We decided, and by we, I mean, Libby and I,
that public health, specifically infectious disease
emergency response was better put under the purview
of the Alameda County health departments.
And the hazard mitigation plan,
we're not looking so much at responses
or being a general catch-all for everything
that could potentially impact the,
for everything that could potentially impact the city,
but more what can the city immediately implement
or what can the city get funding for.
And a lot of extant funding mechanisms through FEMA,
through hazard mitigation grant funding,
state resources, etc. are done through the county. So we felt that in order to have a more concise,
believe it or not, and robust plan, it made more sense for us to not include public health within
this particular hazard mitigation funding cycle. That being said, if in the future you want to
include that or conversations with the city or changing and changes in funding do open up
avenues for including infectious disease then by all means we encourage you to consider it either
in the next mitigation cycle or during one of the annual updates to the plan when it is reviewed
by the emergency services specialist and please let me know if that does not answer your question.
I'm aware that this is a pretty big topic and I want to make sure that it is answered appropriately.
I appreciate the question. So I think the to not bury the lead, I think it would be up to
the folks here and in the community that we do want to include it. We need to kind of elevate it
and ensure that it's included in the next round or in the next cycle of the hazard mitigation plan.
My other question was regarding cyber attacks, specifically because we have seen various
and some of the examples here were actually quite unnerving at best.
I won't say what worse comes to my mind when it comes to that but I saw there's a little a lot
of proactive interventions on like trainings and fishing but what is the plan if we are
completely shut down. If we don't have access to any, and we, for example, we've transitioned
into Workday, we've transitioned into various models that include efficiency and all the
good stuff that comes with technology, but also if we are subject to a cyber attack,
What is our plan if we need to run everything old school?
Because of the nature of the topic and its sensitivity, we would take that briefing and
set of answers in closed session.
I understand.
So what I wanted to highlight then is that we have a plan.
We just can't share it because then it would tell the cyber attackers what it is.
but that was my question was like,
one, do we have a plan?
What is it?
I guess we can't talk about it, but that's fine.
We can talk about it, but just not in the setting,
but thank you for that.
So there is a plan for the folks that are listening
and that are following along.
I did want to add a little bit of clarifying context
within Lake Chippewa Road,
because although phase one is included
in the currently funded,
Phase two is included in the 10-year capital plan
except it's unfunded.
So it is identified as a priority.
It is identified with some of the costs.
It seems like it needs to be updated,
but it is included and it is part of the overall thinking
and the overall approach to Lake Chabot Road.
So I just wanted to add that context
that the CIP program can only be included if it's funded.
And then there's a whole bunch of other projects
that remain unfunded that we're actively looking
for funding for.
So I'll leave it at that.
I don't know that there are any other questions,
but my time is up.
So as a follow up to that last question,
the levy on Neptune Drive
is not fully funded yet.
Do we consider it part of our hazard mitigation plan?
So there's talk within the plan about what
happens if there is dam failure.
Dylan, I'm going to ask you to take this one as well.
I want to pause because when I hear dam failure,
I'm thinking of Lake Shabodam failing.
I'm talking about the Neptune Drive levy.
Sorry.
Public works, please.
Yes, I believe you're referring to the Neptune Flood Protection Project.
I'm particularly interested in the levy, but yes, there's a broader set of activities
related to reducing risk in the Neptune Drive area.
Correct.
So I really want to focus just on the levy.
as the levy envisioned as part of our local hazard mitigation plan it's listed
mitigation and table 6-4 mitigation actions number 22 implement the Neptune
flood protection project and that is not currently fully funded correct I see
Please Vice Mayor. Just for context for folks that are following along I'm also
looking at the 10-year capital improvement to kind of at the
intersection of what is funded in our local hazard mitigation plan and then
what the city's anticipating and kind of planning for it. It's on page 47 of the
10-year project and we're looking at an estimated cost of five point to five
million, 250,000 with a gap of 3.8 million. Okay, seeing no further
discussion, I'm open to a motion at this time to adopt the resolution. Council
member James Aguilera. Sure. I'd like to move to adopt the resolution. Thank you.
Council member Bowen please. I will second that. So motion by Council member James Aguilera
will second from council member Bowen. Would you please vote? Council member
Mr. Bolt, may we have your vote, please?
Yes.
Thank you.
All votes are in, and the motion carries unanimously with all members of the City Council voting
yes.
Thank you.
So at this point in time, we'll go to item number 11.
I don't believe we have anything under item 11, so we will proceed to item number 12,
operating for council members to report on their involvement in intergovernmental agencies,
about upcoming events any other announcements that they would like to
make on topics of interest for the public please proceed beginning with
council member James Ekeler thank you mayor the only thing I'd like to
highlight tonight is the major thing happening tomorrow which is the midterm
elections and just to throw out some resources for folks at this last minute
vote org is a fantastic place to get all of your information on where you can
find a polling place, where you can get going.
If you are feeling as confused on the propositions
and on everything else on the ballot as I was,
Cal Matters is a fantastic neutral and academic resource.
And so my last words on this is just
this is one of the most consequential elections
that we've had in a very, very, very long time.
And so I hope everybody gets out to vote.
Everybody gets out to vote safely.
and we're gonna see what's gonna happen tomorrow night
and I wish the best for our country and for our city.
Council Member Bowen, please.
Thank you, Mayor.
I wanted to share out that
StopWaste currently has a grant opening for reusables
except that our elementary schools don't qualify it for it
because we were already doing it,
so we are one of three school districts
that are fully part of the reusables program,
so just giving us a shout out for that.
And then the other thing I really wanted to share
are two things, again, related to rain and traffic
and the cross roads, corridors,
but I'm hearing a lot always about Bancroft
and traffic and traffic safety, but also down Williams,
because we have the other, the East West
with Halkine, the middle school and the alternative school
and I think the adult school,
but especially as it starts to rain,
parents will be and general traffic will be going faster
and people will be driving more
and the buses will be going.
And so for everybody to just be really careful with that
because it just gets really precarious
for everybody involved during the rainy season.
The other thing that I wanted to do
in my weekly staff shout out was really,
and Tom just laughed
or maybe he's still here somewhere in the building,
but for community development,
there was an emergency in my district
and they both public works and community development
stepped in right away within 24 hours to care of everything.
So really just wanted to call out the responsiveness
and then the community preservation page,
again on the website,
whoever's working on the website is doing a fantastic job,
but it's a newly launched page.
I actually went to it before the announcement went out,
but if you have an issue in the city
and people have been giving good feedback about my SL
and the response time for that,
but if people need to understand
what community preservation is
and who should you call and what department,
whether it's a fallen tree branch or illegal dumping
or some other issues that you have
and all the city ordinances we have related to it,
it's really an easy to navigate, fantastic resource.
And again, there's a little icon for it on semi-indo.org.
So go there and you'll find that too.
Thank you.
Vice mayor, please.
I wanted to highlight one community event,
are a couple of community events but one that a lot of the schools across San
Leandro, whether they're San Lorenzo Unified or San Leandro Unified, have
their fall festivals and it is always a joy to see the community. They're
usually open to the public and this on October 24th was Roosevelt's Fall Fest
which was really well attended and it was a beautiful day and just really
enjoyed seeing the community come out in a family-friendly event so hats off to
all of the parent volunteers and all the other volunteers that made that event
happen. I'll also be participating this Thursday in an elected women's
Leadership Forum at the YWCA in Berkeley, along with some other fellow women identified
elected I will report back. I am really excited to spend some time with students and talk
about how they can get involved in their communities and whatever leadership it is that they envision
themselves. I also wanted to elevate that in advance of the winter storms that are coming
our way, us as individuals have the ability to have small actions that have a lot of,
that have high impact. And one of them is clearing up storm drains in your neighborhood.
If you have the time to go out, the city has a adopted drain program where you are responsible
for one drain in your neighborhood or where you work or where you walk. But even if you
don't formally adopt one, per se.
If you see trash around storm drains,
I urge everybody to just pick it up
so that we can each contribute a little bit
in a way that we all can to make sure that our city,
no matter if you're by on the west side of town
or wherever you are, that we can alleviate the system.
There's only so many staff that we can deploy
and we can all, that is something that we can all do.
So I encourage folks to look up Adopt-A-Drain
or just walk around your neighborhood
and pick things up around storm drains in advance,
especially those big trash, plastic and all of that.
With that, I'll end my comments.
Thanks.
And I'll jump on that last piece,
especially now in about a month
the leaves will start falling. And that has a huge impact. And, you know, we encourage
members of the public to please, please look online for when street sweeping
happens in your neighborhood. It is quite disheartening to see Street Sweeper
in the middle of the road, because it's not really doing anything. The leaves
accumulate along the gutters, along the curbs, and if the cars are there, the
street sweepers will not pick them up. And all that then accumulates at the
storm grains and it just it is a fundamental problem that we have so
please please please try to get cars moved on street sweeping days especially
we're gonna be trying to do more street sweeping days just just at a just a big
push the second thing that I'll call out the retail brokers came into town on I
think it was this Thursday economic development team did a really good job
of pulling folks together to highlight some of the good things that are
happening in San Leandro, the environment, the excitement about a lot of new
businesses are going to be opening up in town in 2027, particularly in the
greenhouse marketplace. There's just some good things happening. So kudos to the
economic development team and for the support of the retail brokers that are
looking to bring folks in. One of the updates that I got had to do with the
retail tenants at gate 510. It is now knock on whatever this is. It will be
fully, fully leased up in 2027. So that's that's really exciting. So these kinds of
things that are happening are very exciting. I know it's good to, I gave
some opening remarks to the, to the brokers on that day. I do want to thank
Ghirardelli Chocolate. They shut down the factory today for a day so that all the
employees could go and have a day of community service. Once a year they shut
down the factory and today was that day. They said don't worry there's still
plenty of chocolate but it was just it's very powerful so I was out there
speaking with the employees this morning and thanking them on behalf of the
entire city of San Leandro to think that a company shuts down so they can have at
least a morning of service for all employees that's very powerful so thank
Thank you.
Charadelli chocolate.
I also want to uplift this the the communication that's happening.
I think you heard that from various council members just there's so much more communication
on our website through our social media, I will continue to encourage multilingual communication.
I know we have the benefit of the website, you can push a button and you can get a reasonable
translation might not be perfect, but I'll convey the idea.
If we can continue working on our social media, so that we have multilingual social media
as well.
I think that will be a big positive.
I do want to celebrate Donna Reed.
Donna was a former commissioner, the library commission,
and a property owner here in San Fernando.
She donated, I'm not sure
if the number was approximately $80,000, something approximately,
that order of magnitude to build a children's technology corner right there
at the children's library.
And her daughter was in town last week for a ribbon cutting.
for that for that donation and the benefit that's that came through the
Friends of the Library Foundation. So thank you to the Reed family as
benefactors to the city of San Leandro. Last two things very quickly, had the
opportunity to meet with Congresswoman Simon. She pulled the mayor's together.
It was just it was good to hear some of the things that she is taking that's
happening here in California back to DC particularly with respect to data
centers. There have been some great changes in the state of California, and she is using
that legislation to model what she's trying to push in Congress.
The last thought then will be we do have the heat pump water heater rules that are coming
before the Air District. We've gotten a lot of public comment, but it's never too late
to issue public comment. So we're accepting public comment right up until the end, and
vote will be on Wednesday in San Francisco at the Air District. So if
people want to come and talk, come and express your perspectives. The rules have
been amended and adjusted and tweaked to reflect input from the public thus far.
And if there's more need to adjust them, we will adjust them further, but it's
important to have your voice heard. With that, the time is 8 14 and we are
adjourned.