Good evening and welcome to the Tuesday April 2nd,
2020, for regular City Council Meeting.
Would you please join me in the Pledge of Allegiance?
I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America
and to the Republic for which it stands,
one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.
Thank you.
May I have the roll call?
Councilmember Francois. Here. Councilmember Silva. Here. Councilmember Will. Here.
Mayor Pro Tem Darling. Here. Mayor Haskew. Here.
Okay, before we start the regular meeting, I'm going to make some words here.
Welcome to our meeting in the Walnut Creek City Council.
The City Council is conducting this meeting from the City Council chamber.
This meeting is being video streamed and can be viewed live
or later on the City's website. As some attendees may be participating in
their first Walnut Creek City Council meeting, I wanted to welcome everybody and talk briefly
about the public comment process. For each agenda item there will be an opportunity for
public comment on the item. Thus, if you desire to speak on an item on the agenda this evening,
please hold your comments until the City Council considers that item. Additionally,
we have a section on the agenda titled public communications, which is for public comments
for items not on the agenda.
Any comments during public communications
should not relate to an item that is on the agenda
for this evening.
Consistent with section 9.5 of the City Council Handbook,
30 minutes will initially be allocated
to communications for items not on the agenda.
If we run out of time, those additional communications
will be provided at the end, will
will be available at the end of the open session portion of the meeting if necessary.
If you desire to provide a public comment, please complete a speaker identification card
and line up behind the lectern at the appropriate time.
Wait your turn and then when you approach the lectern, please state your name and city
of residence for the record.
You will have two minutes to address the City Council.
Please keep in mind that this is a City Council business meeting.
The City Council has adopted rules of decorum to ensure that meetings are conducted efficiently
and effectively and that all members of the public have a full, fair and equal opportunity
to be heard.
The City Council handbook outlines decorum expected in the City Council chamber and can
be found on our websites.
All remarks should be addressed to the City Council.
Please do not use threatening, profane, or abusive language, which disrupts, disturbs,
or otherwise impedes the orderly conduct of a City Council meeting.
Again, each speaker will have two minutes to make your remarks.
Written comments submitted and received up to two hours before the meeting have been
posted to the city's website for public review and are included in the meeting
record but will not be separately read into the record. Thank you for your
patience and we are on to item 1c which is the proclamation for cleaner
Contra Costa month and by the time I finish reading all the proclamations
you're gonna get tired of the sound of my voice so let's start out whereas the
The health of our environment and economy and community is essential for current and
future generations, whereas the City of Walnut Creek, Contra Costa County, and Sustainable
Contra Costa provide an online platform, Cleaner Contra Costa, where residents can find solutions
and local resources to save energy, water, and reduce waste to take meaningful climate
action and to track the results.
Whereas the Cleaner Contra Costa Challenge inspires citizens to join forces with neighbors,
friends, and community groups to support each other's efforts and work together to create
cleaner, healthier, and more vibrant communities for all.
Whereas actions taken through Cleaner Contra Costa will have added benefits of reducing
greenhouse gas emissions, saving money, advancing community goals for health, safety, economic
vitality, energy, independence, and equality of life.
Whereas 900 participating Walnut Creek households have collectively saved 346,000 pounds of
greenhouse gas emissions
four hundred one seventeen thousand gallons of water and
$77,000 since this initiative started in 2019
whereas the city of Walnut Creek supports this collective effort bringing awareness and
local action to the pivotal issues facing our planet because when we reduce our impact by conserving resources and
investing in local solution, everyone benefits, and whereas community members of Walnut Creek
and the county are encouraged to form teams and take action together at CleanerContracosta.org,
now therefore, I, Luella Haski, Mayor of the City of Walnut Creek, on behalf of the Walnut
Creek City Council, do hereby proclaim April 2024 as CleanerContracosta Month to bring
the community together in action for a healthy, clean, and sustainable region and encourage
residents to find resources and join the challenge and CleanerContracosta.org.
I believe there is a Laura Worley here to collect this.
Take a bunch of deep breaths, because I have not another one to go.
Enjoy that and please share your words with us.
Okay.
Thank you so much.
Okay.
Hi, everybody.
Thank you, Mayor Haski, City Council members.
Thank you so much.
My name is Laura Whirly and I am with Sustainable Contra Costa.
We are a nonprofit that tries to connect our community
to sustainable solutions.
We've been around since 2008, and I'm
here to share an update on Walnut Creek's progress
on the Cleaner Contra Costa Challenge.
So this challenge started in 2019
from a grant given by the Bay Area Air Quality Management
District.
Quite a mouthful.
And certain partners, including Contra Costa County,
the city of Antioch, the city of San Pablo,
and your very own Walnut Creek.
So thank you for that.
Together, we've helped tens of thousands of people
learn how to make changes to save water and energy,
reduce waste, build healthier, more connected communities.
So some of our programs include an annual awards gala
to highlight individuals or businesses doing
great sustainability work in our community.
We have a sustainable leaders in action youth program
called SLIA.
And they're currently working to get all cities in Contra Costa
on MCE's clean energy.
And we run various workshops like backyard composting,
how to conserve water, all those things.
We know that 77% of Americans are
concerned about the environment and want
to live more sustainably.
And they just don't know how.
And that's where we come in.
We have a website called the Cleaner Contra Costa Challenge
that offers sustainable guides, actions, and resources
that make a positive impact on our planet.
It's free.
It's open to everyone who lives or works in Contra Costa,
and it's available in English and Spanish.
It has over 90 different actions to save resources
and reduce emissions.
There's anything from small things
like taking a shorter shower to bigger items
like buying an EV car and everything in between.
You may think you're doing it all,
but there were so many things that I found I didn't know
I could do to make a difference.
It's renter friendly, youth friendly.
And the greatest part, the website measures your progress.
So you can enter your household energy profile.
And as you check off actions that you do,
it will measure the reductions you make.
For example, if you take a one minute shorter shower,
you save about three gallons of water.
And that equates to about 500 gallons of water per year,
which also saves on your water bill, right?
It shows you how much water, energy, gas, CO2,
and money you save, not only for your household,
but for the city and for the county.
So, Mayor Haskew just listed Walnut Creek's progress.
They're doing an amazing job.
We know that green cities attract more people,
which is good for the local economy,
so kudos to you all for doing that.
And we also have impressive county-wide results.
In fact, I think we're doing the best
out of all of the platforms in the United States.
We've recruited over 5,300 households from Contra Costa,
and collectively we've saved three million pounds
of greenhouse gas emissions, 3.8 million gallons of water,
50,000 gallons of gas, and $650,000.
It's very impressive.
Thank you all for doing your part
to create a stronger and resilient community.
Working together, we can create a more healthy planet
for our kids, and I'd love for you all to log in
to CleanerContracosta.org and start your profile today.
Thank you so much.
Are there any questions?
Well, come back, come back, come back, please.
Are there any questions or comments from the council?
Good thing somebody thought of it after that.
I can affirm that it's easy because I tried it right here.
Yay, thank you.
Not that I hadn't done it, but I thought I'd try it again.
And we're just, they're getting a new version
of the website installed next week,
which is supposed to be even snazzier and faster
and looks more like an app for the young people.
So it's gonna get even better.
Yeah, thank you.
Okay, thank you very much.
Thank you.
Thank you for coming and helping keep the world
a better place.
Thank you.
Okay, next on the agenda is a proclamation
for National Library Week.
Are you ready?
Whereas libraries provide the opportunity
for everyone to pursue their passions
and engage in lifelong learning,
allowing them to live their best lives,
whereas libraries have long served as trusted institutions
for all members of the community,
regardless of race, ethnicity,
creedability, sexual orientation,
gender identity, and socioeconomic status,
whereas libraries strive to develop
and maintain programs and collections
that are as diverse as the populations they serve
and ensure equality of access for all,
whereas libraries adapt to the ever-changing needs
of their communities, continually expanding
their collections, services, and partnerships,
whereas libraries play a critical role
in the economic vitality of communities
by facilitating internet and technology access,
literacy skills, and support job seekers,
small businesses, and entrepreneurs,
whereas libraries are accessible and inclusive places
that promote a sense of local connection,
advanced understanding, inspire civic engagement,
and promote shared community goals,
whereas libraries are cornerstones of democracy,
promoting the free exchange of information
and ideas for all, whereas libraries, librarians,
and library workers are joining library supporters
and advocates across the nation
to celebrate National Library Week.
Now, therefore, I, Luella Hask you,
mayor of the city of Walnut Creek,
on behalf of the Walnut Creek City Council,
do hereby declare the week of April 7th to 13th,
2024 as National Library Week.
Okay, and Addie, are you here?
Come on down.
First I just want to thank the council for having me today.
I am new to the Walnut Creek Library,
so I haven't had the opportunity to meet many of you,
so thank you for this opportunity.
I've been at the Walnut Creek Library since October,
but have worked with Contra Costa County Library since 2017,
so I'm very familiar with the library.
And I just want to give a very brief presentation.
I won't take up too much of your time
in honor of National Library Week.
So National Library Week is a time to recognize the many ways
in which libraries enrich our lives and the essential role
libraries and library staff play in strengthening communities.
As the branch manager of the Walnut Creek Library,
I'm extremely grateful to work for this community
and Contra Costa County, and for the dedicated and hardworking
colleagues I interact with on a daily basis,
as they have a true passion for librarianship
and strive to meet the needs of the Walnut Creek community
every day.
So just a few statistics about the library.
Circulation of library materials increased by 15%
during the fiscal year 2022 to 2023,
compared to fiscal year 2021 to 2022.
We are also having an increase in our ebook checkouts,
which I'm sure has many of you are aware,
ebook checkouts have increased by 22%
compared to the previous fiscal year,
And since the pandemic, ebook usage has just massively grown
both nationwide and within our system.
More people are becoming comfortable
coming back to our facilities again,
but we've also continued to grow virtually as well.
We had a 38% increase in in-person visits
throughout the county and a 21% increase of virtual visits.
So from all of these statistics,
you can see that libraries are still very relevant
in our communities and are still actively used
in so many different ways.
In case you were wondering,
these are some of the most popular books from 2023,
broken down by different audience levels.
Some people are really interested and fascinated
by what people are reading.
So these are some of the most popular books
from the past year.
And these are just a few highlights from some services
that are taking place throughout the county,
not specific to Walnut Creek.
We introduced a new early literacy van
called the Rolling Reader.
You may see it around town.
It has a little fox mascot and travels weekly
to various sites throughout the county
to provide story time and other activities
for children zero to five.
And it's usually something that we outreach,
we provide in underserved or vulnerable communities.
Because of the increase in demand for e-books
and other digital resources,
We've continued to grow our collection
through these digital resources.
This includes Overdrive and Libby magazines,
as well as digital comics.
If you're a regular ebook user,
these show up on our Libby app.
We also now have access to Alexander Street,
which has audio and video collections,
highlighting music, dance, and theater content.
And these are all completely free with your library card.
And we will have some new digital resources coming
in the next couple of months.
so please keep an eye out for those.
Lunch at the Library is a program aimed
at preventing a summer nutrition gap
while providing engaging and fun educational activities
for participants.
It's offered at nine libraries throughout the county,
and this past year we served over 13,000 meals
to different families.
And Allie Bernbach is the manager
at the Walnut Ignacio Valley Library,
and she's not able to be here with me today.
So these are just a few highlights
from some things happening locally.
Ignacio Valley continues to offer class visits
for local elementary schools.
They have two weekly story times,
one for ages zero to two and one for ages three to five.
They also have weekly teen programs,
including game night
and a Spanish language book club for adults.
They had a number of successful cultural celebrations
this past year.
Their Dia de los Muertos celebration in October
had 146 attendees and 190 attendees
for their Lunar New Year celebration in February,
which you can see pictured here.
And then just a little bit from us across the street
in downtown, Walnut Creek Library.
First, I wanna acknowledge this mural
that is pictured here.
This was painted by Nettez Fay,
who is now on the Walnut Creek Arts Commission.
It's a beautiful mural.
It's in our children's room.
We encourage you to come by and see it in person.
It was completed due to a grant we received
from the Lesher Foundation in collaboration
with the Walnut Creek Library Foundation.
And we were also recently awarded another grant
from the Lesher Foundation,
which will go towards youth services in this upcoming year.
We have story times for babies, toddlers,
and preschool children three days a week.
We create and implement regular cultural displays
and programs, and we have ongoing events
for all ages every month.
Some upcoming events you may see
are our music in the library series,
which promotes local schools.
We'll be working with Los Lomas
to have their band come to the library.
We also work with local businesses and musicians.
We will have a college scholarship series for teens,
and then a number of special children's events,
including summer reading and a planting workshop coming up.
And we're also bringing back our Insiders program,
which is a program for adults
with developmental disabilities.
It's a monthly program.
It was extremely popular pre-pandemic,
and we see a need for that within our community.
So that will be starting later this month.
And many of these programs are sponsored
by the Walnut Creek Library Foundation,
as well as the Friends of the Walnut Creek Library.
So we really thank them for all that they do for us.
And lastly, I just wanted to point out our Rossmore Lockers,
which are located up at the Rossmore community.
The Friends of the Walnut Creek Library
just contributed funds to add 30 additional lockers
to the Rossmore community.
So there's now 56 lockers up at Rossmore.
It's basically like another library within our community.
And we're able to reach residents at this offsite location.
It's a really wonderful service.
And that's all I prepared.
I just wanted to thank you again for your time
and see if you have any questions for me.
Thank you.
Do we have questions, Kevin, please?
I don't have any questions.
I just want to say thank you very much.
I love the libraries.
It had been years since I'd actually checked out a book.
And then about 10 years ago, I started
looking at some of the digital books.
And now, when I go on a trip, especially
if it's a longer trip, there are just thousands
on the Libby digital books.
It's amazing.
And I do want to give a shout out for the Ignacio Valley
branch, which I live near.
And I had the occasion to go there a couple of years ago
on just a random day because my internet was out at home.
And I went in there and I could not believe
on just a random weekday how many hundreds of students
came in there from small children for reading,
for story time, to students after school.
It was amazing, what a resource.
We don't hear enough about it and I really wanna thank you
for everything you're doing.
Thank you so much for that acknowledgement.
So the statistics you showed at the beginning,
those are for the county as a whole, correct?
That's correct, not just for Walnut.
Oh darn, I just thought maybe those six million books
Circulation. We're across the street. Walnut Creek is a very busy library,
particularly downtown here. We see hundreds if not thousands of people,
especially during the week and on the weekend. So it's a very popular branch
and there's always something happening there, but yes, the circulation is also
very high specifically at the downtown branch here. Remind me how many libraries
are in the county system? There are 26. It's 26 and we have two of them, lucky
Yes.
Thank you so much.
Thank you.
And lastly, this is an advertisement.
If you're interested in helping the Library Foundation,
the author's gala is coming up on April 27th.
It will be at the Downtown Library
and it's a great opportunity to gather with folks.
And I think we will probably, most of us will be there
and help support the library.
So that's the Library Foundation,
if anybody in the audience.
Whenever I have a captive audience,
I have to sell something to you guys.
It's on the library website, the foundation.
At two.
Thank you again for your time.
Okay, now it is my pleasure to ask Matt, Matt, is it Matt?
Oh good, to come forward and give us some information
about what's gonna happen at the Lesher Theater this year.
Mayor Haskew and members of city council,
my name is Matt Morrow.
I'm the Artistic Director of Center Repertory Company.
And I'm here to give you a special sneak peek
of our 57th season,
which will officially be announced April 16th.
That's right, Center Rep is 57 years old this season,
so we are all buying sports cars, getting hair plugs,
and moving to Rossmoor.
Just kidding, we don't have the budget for that.
But seriously, isn't it awesome that this city
has supported one of the oldest professional theaters
in the entire Bay Area?
Thank you for your long-standing support
and belief in the power of theater
as a vital community asset.
To celebrate our 57th year of theater in the East Bay
and my first season as artistic director with Center Rep,
I programmed a bold season that honors our roots
and celebrated classics while reveling
in a future forward vision.
We launched the season in September
with a revival of a classic with a twist,
Arsenic and Old Lace by Joseph Kesselring,
directed by Moi.
This grandmother of dark comedies gets a mischievous
and campy makeover in this revival production
that honors Cinerep's history of producing classics.
Arsenic and Old Lace is about a newly engaged theater critic,
Mortimer, who discovers his two elderly aunts
are harboring some killer secrets.
Just as his estranged brother descends upon their family home,
upending everything he thought to be true in his life.
To save his family, his fiancee, and his own sanity,
Mortimer must learn to navigate a new world gone mad
all before the eight o'clock curtain.
Deliciously MacLab, classically winsome,
and queershlly delightful,
get ready for a new vision
for one of theater's most enduring comedies.
We follow Arsenic and Oles with a partnership
with Marin Theatre Company.
And actually, you're going to see this theme
throughout my first season.
It's really important for theaters to work together.
So we're linking arms with other professional theaters
in the region to study our march forward.
So we're partnering with the Marin Theater Company
with the production of Dragon Lady,
written and performed by Sarah Porcolab
and directed by Andrew Russell.
Broadway powerhouse Sarah Porcolab
takes center rep by storm
in her acclaimed one-woman musical adventure.
Dragon Lady takes place on the 60th birthday
of the family matriarch, Maria Porcalab,
who unspools her mesmerizing origin story
to the rapt attention of her granddaughter, Sarah.
In a tour-de-force act of honoring
her grandmother's life and legacy,
Sarah masterfully embodies countless colorful characters
from Maria's sensational history,
from a Manila nightclub teeming with gangsters and lovers,
to a Washington State trailer park
where the bonds of family are forged.
Showferred by a wickedly talented live band
and Sarah's powerhouse vocals,
you'll be transported by this solo musical adventure
that has critics and audiences across the country raving.
Next up, we have our annual tradition
of a Christmas carol,
which returns to delight and entertain families
across Contra Costa County for the holidays.
And then we launched the new year with something brand new.
the world's premiere of a graphic noir thriller,
Froggy by Jennifer Hailey.
Nearly a decade in the making,
this century-rich rollercoaster of a thriller
springs theater into the future
in this altogether wild new work
from a team of today's groundbreaking theater artists.
Froggy is set in the year 2007,
and motion capture 3D animation
has taken the film and video gaming industry by storm.
For Froggy, it's been a year of obsessing
over her actor boyfriend's disappearance.
When she discovers clues to his whereabouts
embedded in a violent underground video game,
Froggy dives down a deadly rabbit hole
to uncover his and her own fate.
From the brilliantly demented mind
of award-winning playwright Jennifer Haley,
who co-wrote David Fincher's Mindhunter for Netflix,
and designed by OBE Award-winning multi-media
of Wonderkin Jared Mizachi out of New York City,
Froggy is next generation storytelling,
fusing the styles of graphic novels, film noir,
and today's revolutionary virtual media
to create a thrilling new theatrical event
not to be missed.
Next, we celebrate the beginning of spring
with the East Bay premiere of The Roommate by Jen Silverman.
This contemporary classic asks the question,
who says being single, middle-aged,
and an empty nester has to be a bummer?
Now in her mid-50s and recently elaborated
from her child and husband, Sharon needs a roommate
to share her Iowa home.
Robin, also in her mid-50s, seeks refuge
and a chance to reboot.
When the two become roomies
and their odd couple of a friendship deepens,
truths emerge along with hidden talents and secret desires.
Part mystery, part comedy, and altogether original,
this two-hander contemporary classic takes on
what it means to be middle-aged, middle-class,
in the middle of America, and how to change it all
by throwing caution to the wind.
We close the season with a world premiere co-production
musical that is still under wraps.
So I can't share that with you today,
but it will be announced on April 16,
and I can tell you that it's also very, very funny
and a little bit naughty.
So bursting with mischief, magic, and a touch of mayhem,
Sinter Rep's 57th season dynamically explores
the boundaries of storytelling
through a collection of works that moves from the intimacy
of cross-generational relationships
to the complexities and joys of finding our place
in an ever-evolving 21st century world.
It's designed to save the appetite
of our loyal audience base
while growing a more diverse audience base
from all over the Bay Area.
And that's my first season with Sinter Rep.
Thank you, it just takes my breath away.
So are there any other questions or comments?
Yes, please.
Thank you so much, and it's exciting what you have on tap.
But right now, there's still a few days left
with the great leap, which I would have seen
twice or three times in a short period of time.
It was fabulous.
Are there tickets still available?
There are actually tickets still available.
I'm so glad you asked, and that you gave me that prompt.
This is the last weekend, and it's such a beautiful story
about a Chinese American family
and their interpersonal relationships
and relationships with the motherland of China.
It's really beautiful and very, very funny.
And very poignant.
I cried at the end and laughed a lot.
Yes.
Did you have to tell me that?
Well, I didn't cry that hard.
Oh, good.
But it's a great story.
It's about the opening of China.
It is about the first basketball game
between Beijing University and the University of
San Francisco.
UCSF.
UCSF.
USF.
And what happens 20 years later, Tienan and then Square,
I mean it is a lot packed into 90 minutes.
Yeah, absolutely.
So, get tickets.
CenterRep.org.
That's right.
Okay, there you go.
Heard it here, last.
Kevin, please.
Matt, I just wanna thank you and thank CenterRep as well.
We are so fortunate to have just terrific regional theater
here, and I don't think I ever really realized
how important it is until COVID wiped out
so many regional theater groups across the Bay Area,
across California, the country.
We are so fortunate.
We've got people that come from all over the Bay Area
to come see to our shows, and thank you.
And yes, support regional live theater.
Come to Walnut Creek and eat before.
Yes, absolutely, yes.
Yes, good, and when do those tickets go on sale, do you know?
Right, April 17th, the day after our announcement.
Big announcement, okay, thank you.
The whole year to look forward to, so thank you, thank you, I'm so excited.
Thank you so much.
Thank you so much for your support.
You're welcome.
Thank you.
Bye.
All right, let me, we're about to go to the consent calendar, but before we do, I'd like
to remind the members of the public, if you would like to provide a public comment, the
The speaker identification cards need to be completed
and turned into the city clerk.
You will have two minutes to address the city council.
Please keep in mind that this is a city business meeting.
The city council has adopted rules of decorum
to ensure that the meetings are conducted
efficiently, effectively, and all members of the public
have a full, fair, and equal opportunity to be heard.
The city council handbook outlines the decorum
expected in City Council and can be found on our website.
All remarks should be addressed to the council.
Please do not use threatening, profane, or abusive language
which disrupts, disturbs, or otherwise impedes
the orderly conduct of the council meeting.
Upon the, OK, so that's it.
And the reason I ask that is we're
going to public comment and, I mean,
excuse me, consent calendar.
Sorry.
Yes, consent calendar.
Does any member of the council wish to pull an item?
One item has, two G has been pulled.
Yes, are we still pulled?
Yes, it has pulled.
So there being-
I'd like to pull two E, Madam Mayor.
E, okay.
Anybody else wanna give us a comment?
No.
Move to approve items two A through D.
Second.
and F, and F, and F, yes.
I second.
Mayor, did you call for public comment or consent?
I was going to, she was just so fast, it was hard.
So this is a moment for public comment
on anything other than item G on the consent calendar.
Does anybody in the audience wish to make a comment?
Not seeing anybody make a move with a little yellow card.
So, we have a motion to approve and the second,
may we have a roll call vote?
Council Member Silva?
Aye.
Council Member Wilk?
Aye.
Council Member Francois?
Aye.
Mayor Pro Tem Darling?
Aye.
Mayor Haskew?
Aye.
Motion carries unanimously.
All right, item E is up next.
Matt, do you wanna make some comments?
Thank you, Mayor, I would.
This is the Gardens at Heather Farm Rehabilitation Project
and it's a success story among staff and our nonprofits
and many of you may not know,
but we experienced extensive damage,
water damage at that facility out near Heather Farm Park.
I believe it was in the fall of 2022.
And one of our valuable nonprofit partners,
the Gardens at Heather Farm,
which hosts garden tours and weddings and things like that,
wasn't able to operate all of last year,
thanks to the good hard work of our public works staff,
including Rich Payne and his whole team.
And our city manager I think was even,
had to get involved at one point
and make some direct dials to con fire
so that we could get things moving.
And I just wanted to express my great appreciation.
We're accepting that work is complete.
The gardens at Heather Farm is back in business.
You can book all your events, weddings, promotions,
anything you'd like to do there,
they're back open for business.
just a beautiful spot it's a sanctuary really in the city where you can go and
see gardens and have an opportunity to take place in a nice spot here in the
city so thank you to staff and everyone who had an opportunity to help make this
happen yeah thank you do you want to make a motion to approve I will I moved
to approve item 2e second because it was a great place for my wedding reception
years ago. Years ago! And it has butterfly gardens and everything that makes you
happy. All right, may I have a roll call vote please? Councilmember Francois.
Aye. Mayor Pro Tem Darling. Aye. Councilmember Silva. Aye. Councilmember Will. Aye. Mayor
Hasku. Aye. And I'd like to acknowledge that the executive director of the
gardens is here this evening. And would you please come forward because you
have a piece of paper and I'm sure you want to share something. Thank you for
That shout out, you're a hard act to follow.
Madam Mayor and City Council,
on behalf of the Board of Directors and our staff
at the Gardens at Heather Farm,
I am here to tell you how grateful we are to you
for your support during a very difficult time
when a plumbing malfunction resulted in a catastrophic flood
that truly almost destroyed our building.
Our nonprofit has been a partner
with the city for 52 years.
We raised the funds to build the building
and to design the garden, install it,
and we've continuously maintained it
for all of these years,
and we look forward to partnering with the city
on future efforts.
The renovation of the building
that we've called home since 1982
will allow us to continue our educational programming
for both adults and children.
Our children's natural science classroom programming
and field trips to the gardens
In combination with our contracts
with Contra Costa Water District,
Mountain View Sanitary District, Recycle Smart,
and Central Contra Costa Sanitary District
to manage their children's education programs
has allowed us to reach over 18,000 kindergarten
through eighth grade children this school year alone.
Our new homeschool program provides science programming
for 60 children a month.
One of our adult programs this year will teach gardening
in small spaces for those living in condominiums
and apartments.
Our facility also provides the foundation
for the fundraising that's necessary to maintain
six acres of intensively cultivated public gardens,
which is open to the public free of charge.
We pledge to maintain the gardens as a place of beauty
and serenity in a chaotic world.
On Sunday, April 28th, we'll be holding an open house
from three to six p.m., and we're inviting the council
city staff and all of you, the public, to come and stop by and admire our newly renovated
facility.
Thank you again for your support and I personally want to thank Heather Ballinger and in particular
Rich Payne and the Public Works staff who came and answered my call for help during
a real moment of crisis.
This has been an extraordinary experience and I can't tell you how grateful we are for
your support.
Thank you. Would you share your name, please?
Sorry. Joan Lucchese, executive director.
Thank you, Joan. It's lovely to see you, too,
with a smile on your face. Way to go. Okay.
Next on the agenda is public communications. And I'm not going to read all that stuff,
because you're a bright audience and you're going to know what you're supposed to do.
Two minutes, card, not on the agenda. If you remember all of that and you qualify,
please make sure the cards are there and I'm going to break a little rule by asking our supervisor
Ken Carlson to come forward first. Thank you Mayor Hasku and council members you know you
started off this meeting with proclamations recognizing our environment and sustainability
the great work our libraries are doing I apologize I don't have a proclamation for you but I think I
have the next best thing I do have a check that I'm really you know I wanted to take the opportunity
come and personally present it to you because I'm so so grateful and I think our community needs to
understand why. So during the early stages of the pandemic, December of 2020 through the end of May
of 2021, Walnut Creek was a partner in our vaccination program with the Contra Costa County
and because of that the impact that you all have had on the lives of our residents here in Contra
country, and we have a lot of
work to do here in Central
Krusty Krusty County is truly
amazing. You know, Krusty Krusty
County came in, and this is not
something really to brag about,
but it is. We were the second
lowest COVID-19 fatality rate
in the United States during that
pandemic. And it came about
because of partners, like
Mollie Creek. I mean, I just,
granted, I have a long history
We see that all the time with the work you're doing to sustain our libraries, to bring arts
and culture, the work you did to provide what economic vitality you could during the pandemic,
set examples, and you continue to set examples, standing against racism, anti-Semitism, and
all the other work you're doing.
So although it's a small check of just over $14,000, every dollar counts in the work we
do right but again it just goes to show what partnerships can accomplish and we
are proud to to be partnered with you and the successes we share so with that
Like that, I'm going to present this if I may.
To the mayor, I know who's going to open the door.
Oh.
Go take your finger.
Squeeze in the middle.
Next time I'll get it on the phone to court.
Yay.
Hard to put the AP up.
Thank you.
Thank you for that.
Thank you.
All right.
All right, now it's time for everybody else
to stand up behind the lectern and come for public comment.
Remember, it's not for items on the agenda.
I will stop you if you break the rule.
My name is Joe Easley and I live
at 1550 Stanley Dollar Drive 2B.
We've lived in Rossmore in Walnut Creek for almost three years.
I'm a retired United Methodist pastor from Indiana
and now attend Lafayette United Methodist Church
and serve there and in the community in a variety of ways.
Our pastor, Lauren Michelle Stevens,
wanted to be here tonight,
but had another commitment already
and asked if I would represent her and the church.
I'm very happy to do that,
especially since bridging the gaps that divide people
has been one of my passions and emphasis in ministry.
I felt called to stand against all of the things
cause one group of people to consider another group not worthy of respect, whether it is
because of race, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, or political party.
I've been active in interfaith study and work for more than 20 years.
My faith calls me to honor the dignity of every person and recognize each as a child
of God, even if they call God by a different name or do not believe in God.
My study and worship with people of other faiths has led me to respect other traditions
and enrich my life by seeing both the uniqueness of each faith and the values and practices
we share.
Jesus called wholehearted love of our Creator and loving our neighbor as ourself the two
great commandments, both of which he drew from Hebrew scripture.
Treating others as we would want them to treat us is the golden rule, which is found in some
form than the teaching of all major religions. Therefore, I join a variety of faiths here
tonight to stand against hatred of any person or the demonization of any religion. This
interfaith group tonight says anti-Semitism has no place in our community, nor does any
other form of religious prejudice.
Madam Mayor and members of the City Council, thank you so much for this opportunity to
address you. My name is the Reverend Peter Whitelock and I'm privileged to serve as a pastor
of the Lafayette Arinda Presbyterian Church. First, thank you for your service to our community and
the ways in which you are seeking to build up a better and a thriving Walnut Creek. We do have
many members who live and work in Walnut Creek and it is an honor to represent not only them this
evening but also the other members of our church family. Our mission is to be a welcoming and loving
community of faith that learns, grows and serves together.
And as part of that mission, we are committed to public service, community partnerships
and active engagement with our interfaith partners.
We are all together and need to work together for the common good.
I stand tonight in response to expressions of antisemitism which have been voiced here
and elsewhere in our community.
In some instances, these statements have come from individuals identifying themselves as
Christian.
We believe this to be a gross misrepresentation of the Christian message and a betrayal of
Christian virtues, the cheapest of which is love.
The Presbyterian Church rejects anti-Semitism in all of its forms and deplores the rise
of anti-Semitism in our nation and our world today.
Incidences of anti-Semitism cannot be normalized or justified.
We stand with our Jewish brothers and sisters in putting aside fear to stand against this
plague and resist the negative stereotyping being promoted against Jewish people and
their communities.
We believe that our best future can only unfold as we work together across all lines of difference
and diversity to build a world that is more just, kind, and respectful.
We are all of us created, we believe, in the image of God.
We are grateful for the work of our elected officials such as yourselves to build safer,
are communities in which everyone can prosper and I am confident that my words
represent not only our faith community but our denomination and Christians the
world over. Thank you. Thank you. Ordinarily we don't we discourage rounds
of applause but it moved me deeply so I kind of let it happen. Not next time. Okay
Any other people wish to make public comments?
Good evening, Madam Mayor and Members of the Council.
My name is Jeff Elfot. I'm a resident of Danville and a business owner here in
Walnut Creek, actually two businesses.
And I come here tonight a little troubled
because I basically come to the point with a
rebuke for our police chief Knox
and some comments he recently made to the media
that were made public.
that he had some negative comments regarding local online active media reporting of police
department activities.
Unfortunately, we live in a world of a bifurcated internet and traditional media world, and
the coverage isn't always as fair as it perhaps should be or could be.
We get skewed information from various sources, as we know, but we have to embrace all of
of the media equally, and sometimes it's not always
positive, Chief, but it's something that you have to
accept in the modern world.
I sympathize with you, as you can see,
I'm formally with law enforcement.
I had a reasonably good experience myself
regarding a criminal activity just two weeks ago
with Walnut Creek PD.
So I understand you have some very fine officers,
and I'm always here to encourage you
and understand the obstacles you must work with
that I did not, but please be willing to accept
some transparency and other points of view.
Thank you very much for your time.
Thank you.
Last call for public comment.
Seeing none, it looks like we're going to move on
to council members' staff announcements
and reports on activities or requests.
City attorney, is there any closed session things?
There was no closed session there
for no closed session announcements, thank you.
Thank you, city manager, please.
Yeah, Dan Buckeye, city manager.
Just two quick updates.
I wanted to acknowledge a couple of staff.
Today was the last day of our city engineer, Steve Wehmeyer.
After 22 years of working with the city,
we did have a nice send off for him earlier today
and also wanted to publicly thank him
for all of his efforts and the tremendous impact
that he's made on the community and the organization
over two decades of public service here at Walnut Creek.
So thank you, Steve.
I have a hunch he may not be listening
since he was done earlier,
but in the event he is, thank you.
And then I also want to acknowledge
our Assistant City Manager, Terri Kilgore,
whose last day with this city will be this Thursday.
She is moving with her family to Scottsdale, Arizona,
and I want to thank her for all of her efforts.
She was here during a very challenging five years
in Walnut Creek's history,
and she also made a very significant impact
here on the community and the organization.
So Terry, I wish you the best with your move
and thank you for everything you've done.
Thank you.
Kevin, I want to pick on you first.
All right, thank you.
Terry and Steve, wherever you are, thank you so much.
I heard more comments from business people
that are part of development,
are stores and restaurants that we go into every week
as a community that said,
thank you for having Terry Kilgore here.
Do whatever you can to keep her here.
This was years ago over COVID and everything else,
the business community is thriving in Walnut Creek Terry
in large part to you.
And I want to applaud you for that,
the whole city management.
But Terry, you have been really helpful
and instrumental in that.
All right, so I am the liaison for Ross Moore.
And the one thing that was brought up
that I also have already relayed
who our police department is, they do have a request
about some of the speeding and running of stop signs
that's happening in Rossmore.
It seems to be an endemic issue there.
It actually is an issue all over Walnut Creek
and all over the state.
We hear about this all the time,
but I did pass that information
onto our chief of police and Captain Hibbs.
So they're following up on that with Rossmore.
Along with the mayor and council member,
I think it was Silva,
that we were at the plaza ribbon cutting.
Was it so?
Okay, do I have that one right?
Yeah, it was, okay.
the Plaza Ribbon Cutting at the corner of Mount Diablo and California.
It was terrific to see the upgrade that's there and look forward to many, many more
years that will be occurring at that spot.
I am also on the Environmental Quality Policy Committee for the California League of Cities,
and we had our meetings in Burbank a little about a week and a half ago.
We discussed a couple of issues in that committee meeting that are going to be pertinent for
everybody. One was a discussion on PG&E fixed pricing and if California League
of Cities will be taking a position on that. Essentially what this is going, what
this is attempting to do is balance a bit of the needs of what PG&E needs with
if you are underprivileged or lower income you're going to be paying a
little bit less than, than higher income. Regardless, California League of Cities
Committee decided to voted to take a no position on this. There was a lot of
discussion on both sides of that. We will hear again more about that. We
voted to take a neutral position. We are not taking sides on that particular
issue. The other discussion point wasn't a vote but a discussion point was
reviewing how water usage will be calculated for cities in the future
years. Basically, there will be more categories of water uses that cities
will need to account for. This is going to take staff time. I have no doubt our
Public Works Department as well as Public Works Departments across the
state are investing their staff and time into doing this right now, but we
spend a lot of time looking at what those categories are. I also was part of
an outdoor dining discussion along with the mayor on the Plaza Parklet at North
Maine and Cyprus. This is the little Parkland area out there that had some
bumps previously. Now it doesn't. We're looking to see what are some of the ways
that we could help activate that area. So we're reviewing some ideas right now.
That'll eventually come to City Council to see what we're gonna do with that
area in front of the restaurants and the retail stores. So more to follow on that
in the months ahead. And then lastly, I was at the Youth
Ambassadors event. I'm gonna let Cindy Darling talk about this one because
the liaison for that, but that's just great to see that we have the exchange programs going on
again now post COVID and it's thriving. So I'm going to let you talk about that one.
Okay, that seems like a graceful transition. Okay, so I'll start off with Sister Cities.
Councilmember Wilk and Councilmember Silva joined me that night and the kids from Hungary and Italy
came and did kind of an interpretive dance about their country and it was really great fun.
you could tell that the kids were really enjoying their visit. Mayor Haskew and I got to tell them
about the city earlier in the week. It was really a lot of fun. A couple of us made it to the Lesher
Foundation's 30th anniversary and that was great to celebrate. If you don't know, the Lesher
Foundation doesn't fund area, like specific problems, they fund an area. So anything in
Contra Costa County and it was great to meet all the non-profits that are associated with them
because they really work across you know the symphony together with the
Trinity Center is having homeless people allowing them to go to the symphony you
know for free so it was great opportunity. MCE met adopted our budget
we are not looking at a rate increase this year on the fixed rate we have not
taken MCE has not taken a position on it it's not a slam dunk that it's less
expensive for poorer families. There are some pros and cons to that so we should
hopefully that'll just die an untimely death. But we did celebrate Hercules is
one of our new partner cities and I think there's one or two still
outstanding cities in Contra Costa but for the most part we have all joined up.
Many of us went to the future of Walnut Creek held by the Chamber and that was
great we were ably represented by Mayor Haskew and the city manager we were very ably meant
by all of them including the chief of police. I also went to I ventured out of Walnut Creek
and went to Lafayette because they were recognizing John Coleman as citizen of the year as you
might remember John has been on the East Bay Mudd board for 31 years and he is retiring off the
board and so Lafayette recognized him and you know I worked with John for
years beforehand he is one of the people that broke legal impasse on getting
American River water to East Bay Mudd and it's an important part of firming up
our water supplies and it took somebody a vision at East Bay Mudd to say this
they had been fighting since 1970 in court we had spent millions of dollars
on that court issue and he just finally said you know it's a none that's no more
fighting. He also helped us more recently with Hope Solutions, which is a small
cottage project on a piece of Faith Formation land, and East Bay Mudd staff
were talking about requiring five water meters for it, which would cost
probably half the cost of the entire project. And John worked with Hope
Solutions and helped them find a solution there that didn't cost quite so
much money and last thing I think last time we were here we talked about fun
things going on out at Boundary Oak. Well my friends and I went to the seafood
boil there on Saturday a week ago and the new woman who is the head chef out
there is just a kick in the pants and she she she'd gone and got buckets to put
the seafood boil in so there's mussels and clams and crab and corn and it was
really good and they're going to do Cinco de Mayo. So all of my friends at the
table are making plans to go back for Cinco de Mayo because it was good and a
lot of fun. Councilmember Silva. Thank you very much and it's really exciting to
see so many people in our council chambers tonight don't disappoint us.
In addition to the Great Leap at the Luscious Center I want to announce
that on Saturday April 13th we'll be opening a new show in the Bedford
gallery called Rediscovering Native America,
and it should be a really interesting show.
The Recycle Smart, which is basically responsible,
it's a joint agency between six local agencies,
Danville, La Marinda Cities, the county, and Walnut Creek,
has released a request for proposals
for new 10-year contracts for services
for transfer disposal into the landfills,
recycling of our recyclables, organic composting, and mixed-use composting and
we're looking to get competitive proposals so we can get a 10 to 15 year
franchise agreement with one or various companies in order to basically meet our
recycling and sustainability goals and also have efficient service at the curb
side and I serve on that board along with Councilmember Francois. The two of
represent Walnut Creek on that board. The last Thursday evening the mayor and I
traveled to the we carpooled to the city so we were sustainable. I'm on a theme
here and went to an award ceremony sponsored by the East San Francisco
Business Times and they were honoring the Weymark Apartments which is the name
for the 350 apartments at the BART station and as one of the best examples
multi-family project in the last year and we were honored to be a part of it.
Luella as mayor and me as being the longest sitting council member right now
it took a long time to get that project out of the ground and done so we were
delighted to be there. The Walnut Creek has a homeless task force it's comprised
of volunteers including representatives of the Trinity Center, Walnut Creek PD,
our housing department Contra Costa and they had a meeting a couple of weeks
ago and two things of note the annual point-in-time count which is when the
nationally they count the unhoused was done efficiently the numbers are not yet
out but we will hear more about that in the coming months and also the group
received a presentation from the Association of Bay Area Governments on a
a housing bond that ABAG is looking to put on the ballot
for the nine counties of the Bay Area this coming November.
I also sit on the board of the Association of Bay Area
Governments and we received a presentation on that.
Effectively, it would create
an affordable housing loan agency
with if the voters approve this bond money.
It would fund it, and then the interest and earnings
off of the loans would then self-sustain itself over time.
It's a model being used by New York City.
It would, for probably less than $100 a year
for most of us, it would yield $10 to $20 billion,
which could produce in the range
of 10,000 to 15,000 affordable homes,
which is desperately needed across the Bay Area.
You'll be hearing more about that in the coming months
and exactly what is put on the ballot.
Then I will, that was what I would report
of the Association of Bay Area Governments as well.
I also serve on a policy committee
for the League of California Cities Policy Committee.
I serve on is housing and community and economic development.
And we had very interesting discussion about two bills
that are in front of the state legislature.
One of them is by Assemblymember Laurie Wilson
out of Solano and it's related to thrift stores.
It appears that it basically would require
that we treat thrift stores exactly the same way
as all retail stores.
And the conversation became interesting
because thrift stores have two interesting challenges
that your regular retailer does not.
They don't get their goods delivered in boxes.
and they're not ordered, they are donated.
So they end up at the back door,
and so there's much more disposal
that they have to manage than your normal retailer.
And sometimes that disposal is used,
it generates noise because they're crushing things
they can't use and things that are damaged
and they can't sell to send them out.
And so those two land use zoning issues crop up.
So we had a very interesting conversation about that bill.
Another bill that we talked about was a bill that we're going to actually as peripherally
related to what we're going to talk about under our regular agenda tonight.
Assemblymember Rebecca Barakayan, who represents a lot of Contra Costa, has put forward a
bill that would basically make reproductive health care services a zoned use by right.
And we had a robust conversation about that as well amongst people from all over the state.
It appears that some planning commissions in the state are making decisions that are
not really what you'd call a land-use decision, but a social issue decision.
So it was an interesting conversation, but we did decide to recommend a position of support
with amendments, and we've had conversations with the Assemblymember's office about what
those amendments might be.
And I will mention that in case you haven't heard, Walnut Creek has hit the top 10 list
for wealthiest communities to retire in,
but we're not Rancho Palos Verdes,
which was at the top, as was Laguna Beach.
We're down number nine right next to Cerritos,
which is in the central Los Angeles County area,
and we are nowhere near the average income
of Rancho Palos Verdes,
but it was nice to be in the top 10 of something
that is basically a positive thing.
Thank you very much.
Councilmember Francois, I did not forget you, you're next.
I was hoping you didn't, Mayor, thank you.
As a liaison to the Chamber of Commerce,
we had a presentation from Assemblymember Rebecca Bauer
Cahan, where she did mention the reproductive facility bill.
She also said, it was surprising to me,
that the number one issue that she and her colleagues
are hearing from constituents about is utility rates.
So that's something that they're forming a special session
in the legislature to try to attack that
and see what they can do to try to bring the rates down,
which was good to hear about.
And other items that were on the agenda for the chamber
were a turnover in the chair, Audrey G has led the,
was chair of the chamber for the last year.
Matt Gushard, who I believe is no,
he's with us in this life, but not with us in the chamber.
We'll be serving as chair next year
and or starting actually this month for this coming year.
The Art and Wine Festival is returning
to Heather Farm Park on June 1st and 2nd.
Looks to be an exciting event as always.
And that's my chamber report.
I did attend the future of Walnut Creek
with my other colleagues and the mayor will speak,
did a great job as did our city manager
and our police chief and nice having representatives
from Walnut Creek downtown and the Shadelands Peabid
talk about what's happening there as well.
On the recycle smart board that I serve
along with council member Silva,
the other item we discussed in addition to releasing the RFP
was the service quality metric,
which is for recycle or Republic services is our provider.
And in order for them to get a rate increase,
they need to do a good job.
And in order for us to evaluate how they're doing a good job,
we had been basing it on whether or not
people had been calling into Republic or to the authority.
That didn't seem like a good way to do it
because it puts the burden on all of us.
So instead, we're shifting to a missed pickup.
So it's a more objective measurement.
We'll be able to tell how many people missed a pickup.
If you missed a pickup, you'll automatically get a credit on your bill for that missed
pickup, and then we'll be able to kind of hold their feet to the fire and make sure
that they're providing the service that we're expecting in order to evaluate any future
rate increase.
And then I, too, wanted to echo my sadness, but also appreciation for Terry on a job very
well done.
You know, single handedly, I think you and Colette were responsible for the success of
outdoor dining, which whenever we're out and about in the public, we showcase as a highlight
of the COVID period and the pandemic and something good that came out of that.
So thank you for that, for our economic development action plan that's going to live on that we're
actively implementing, and just for your positive attitude in the approach you brought to economic
development. And on a personal note, it was fun to watch your daughter broadcast local games at
Los Lomas and see her be successful in her college career. So we will miss you and wish you the best.
And to Steve Waymeyer, who I know is not at home watching. I also want to express my appreciation.
I've been on council since 2018. And before that, on the Planning Commission, I didn't really have
much opportunity to interact with Steve, but did interact with a lot of folks in engineering and
and public works and just his encyclopedic knowledge
of issues in Walnut Creek that the advice he gave us
on some very important things,
big projects that came in recently
on traffic improvements and drainage improvements.
I really appreciated that.
I'm sorry that we couldn't close it out
with the pool complex,
but I think we're making progress there.
And so I just wanted to thank Steve
for all that he's given to the city
and he will be missed as well.
That's my report.
Thank you.
Most of you took half of my report,
so I did get to go to the opening,
the official opening of the McCollumy Trail
way out in Brentwood.
It was under the auspices
of Contra Costa Transportation Authority,
and it links everything from way down here to way up there,
and it's beside being very practical.
It's a beautiful bridge,
and it goes over Highway 4, the extension of that.
I too belong to a policy committee, rev and tax,
and we mostly pay attention to where the money comes from
and where it goes.
And we spent some time listening to the work
that California is doing to transition
from being able to afford repairing and building our roads
with the gas tax to what we're going to do
as the structure of our vehicles changes.
And there was a long discussion on road fees
and essentially it will be charged by mileage.
Surprisingly, according to the speaker,
it's not gonna make a huge difference in our lives.
Mostly it's going to come within maybe $100 difference
between, for a year, between what we pay as gas tax
for those of us that still use the old fashioned cars
and what we would pay based on mileage
and given how much I drive, I'm gonna make money.
So, and we also talked about the longstanding project
of the Rev. and Tax Department thing,
which the mayor is, excuse me,
the city manager is an active part.
We're trying to figure out a way as an organization
to stop the bleeding of sales tax from our cities
because of the distribution houses
that have landed in other cities
and then the cities offer those distribution houses
some refunds and all the sales tax goes to these cities
instead of coming to us.
So if you buy something in a Walnut Creek store,
for example, you're a Walnut Creek resident,
you get a small, teeny portion of the sales tax you pay for.
It comes back to us.
But if you buy something on Amazon,
we get almost none of that tax.
And so we're trying to make it a little more equitable.
It was fun.
I got to be a server at the Senior Meals for Meals on Wheels.
Meals on Wheels takes meals out to our seniors
and people that can't get to it.
But they also, once a week, have a place
where the seniors can come in and be served a full meal
and have the conviviality of seeing one another.
And gosh, I felt like such a celebrity.
It was pretty impressive.
And one little lady gave me a lottery ticket.
And I hope it came with magic.
It didn't.
But it made me feel good.
And then finally, Diablo Ballet, who has been a long standing performer in the theater,
celebrated its 30th anniversary and I got to present The Proclamation, saved you from
having to hear me read another, I got to present A Proclamation at their ballet performance.
And so it was a pleasure to see and I swear to goodness they get better and better every
time I see them.
So that's the end of this and we're now on to our public hearing.
So will the staff or who is going to take take over the presentation will be made by
Assistant City Attorney Ali Walth this evening.
Welcome.
Thank you.
Good evening Mayor haskew.
There is a little encircling.
Okay, I think it's okay to go.
evening Mayor Hesquieu, Mayor Pro Tem Darling, and Council members. My name is Allie Wolf,
Assistant City Attorney, and I will be presenting an Ordinance Amendment to you this evening
related to Amplified Sound. In April of 2022, this Council adopted Chapter 16 of Title 4 of
the Walnut Creek Municipal Code, which was entitled Access to Reproductive Healthcare Facilities.
In March of 2023, the city amended the access to reproductive health care facilities ordinance
to affirm the ordinance is based on specific rights protected by the U.S. Constitution
and the state of the Constitution of the state of California.
Chapter 4.16 currently provides a number of restrictions related to access to reproductive
health care facilities, including a prohibition against approaching a person or vehicle
within eight feet when within 100 feet of a doorway entrance of a reproductive health
care facility without the consent of that person for the purpose of harassing or intimidating
that person, and a prohibition on obstructing access to or departure from any doorway entrance
to a building or driveway of a reproductive health care facility.
At the time of adoption, staff were also made aware of issues related to amplified sound
around the Planned Parenthood facility located at 1357 Oakland Boulevard.
And Council directed staff to monitor the noise issue and conduct measurements of the
disruptive noise in the area around Planned Parenthood.
In November of 2021, the Police Department increased its patrols in the downtown area,
including the area around Planned Parenthood, to monitor the issues that arise related to
protests.
These patrols are now a regular part of an officer's shift, and the increased patrols
can assist the police department in responding to any potential issues involving non-compliance
with existing laws, including the Access to Reproductive Health Care Municipal Code Chapter
4.16, as well as trespassing onto the parking lot at Planned Parenthood Building, or other
reproductive health care facilities, obstruction of the sidewalk or driveway, as well as California
Penal Code Section 423.2, which relates to impeding access to a reproductive health care
facility under state law.
Between January 2020 and March of 2024, the police department received approximately 79
calls for service, which it determined to be protest related, for incidences on and
and in front of the Planned Parenthood facility.
Calls included calls for service
regarding protest or obstruction of walkways,
harassment, intimidation, and physical altercations,
which all impact an individual's ability
to access reproductive healthcare.
Between 2020 and 2024, 11 of the calls for service
to the police department identified disruptive noises
made specifically by sound amplifying devices,
including megaphones, loud speakers, bull horns,
and microphones.
Planned Parenthood in Walnut Creek
has also submitted a letter to the city in May of 2023
with a summary of protester incidences
documented by their employees during their work shifts.
Between April of 2022 and April of 2023,
they documented 138 incidences with protesters
at the Planned Parenthood facility,
of which megaphones was mentioned 42 times
during their date range and microphone
was mentioned eight times during the date range.
This letter also explained that the noise produced
by protesters outside of the facility
creates an excessive disturbance and can often
be heard from inside of the exam rooms in the facility.
Noise exposure in medical settings
can create or exacerbate patient health issues
and has been linked to increased levels of stress and anxiety,
increased heart rate and higher blood pressure.
Research studies conducted by academics
and medical professionals show that there is evidence
of negative physiological and mental health effects
from noise in healthcare facilities,
including decreases in overall wellbeing
and impacts on the process of recovery.
The city of Sacramento recently adopted a restriction
on sound amplifiers within 100 feet of the property line
a reproductive health care facility. And this evening staff are recommending adoption of
a similar restriction in the city by amending chapter 4.16 to establish a restriction on
the use of sound amplifiers within 100 feet of a doorway entrance to the facility located
at 1357 Oakland Boulevard in Walnut Creek. Staff recommend limiting the restriction to
this particular facility rather than all reproductive health care facilities in the city because
staff are not aware of any ongoing amplified sound disruptions at other
reproductive health care facilities in the city of Walnut Creek. Staff also
recommend the 100-foot distance be measured from a doorway entrance because
staff anticipate this distance would be sufficient with the setup of the
facility in Walnut Creek to reduce the negative impacts of noise from amplified
sound devices around and inside of the facility and that measurement of the
100-foot distance from a doorway entrance would also provide consistency with the additional
restrictions that are currently in place in Chapter 4.16. Current case law does support
the city's consideration of adoption of a regulation on amplified sound to help reduce
the negative impacts of noise disruptions around a health care facility. A government
entity may impose a restriction on the use of amplified sound around a health care facility
so long as the restrictions are content neutral,
time, place, and manner regulations of speech,
and narrowly tailored
to serve a significant government interest.
The proposed ordinance this evening,
restricting the use of sound amplifiers
around the facility in Walnut Creek at Planned Parenthood
is a valid time, place, and manner restriction on speech
that is content neutral.
It would regulate the use of sound amplifiers
within 100 feet of a doorway, of a doorway entrance,
it does not target the message or the topic of speech.
It only applies from one hour before
until one hour after the reproductive
healthcare facility is open.
The proposed ordinance is also narrowly tailored
to advance the city's substantial interest
in protecting patients' rights to access
to reproductive healthcare services.
The use of sound amplifiers that can increase volume
Above that of a conversational speaking voice
is incompatible with the normal activity
of the reproductive healthcare facility.
The normal activity of the facility includes
the provision of medical and reproductive
healthcare facilities and procedures.
Sound amplifiers cause noise from the devices
that reach inside of treatment rooms within the facility
and this noise can negatively affect the physiological
and mental health of patients.
The use of sound amplifying devices can be disturbing
in such a sensitive setting where patients are receiving
reproductive health care services
and are often undergoing medical procedures.
The proposed ordinance also leaves open
ample alternative avenues of communication.
It allows sound that is not altered
by the use of sound amplifiers,
including consensual conversations
where there is an eight foot distance
between the speaker and the target audience,
or where there is more than an eight foot distance
that the communication is non-consensual
in accordance with chapter 4.16 currently in effect.
The image that you have on this PowerPoint slide
depicts the 100 foot radius from the two doorways
at the reproductive healthcare facility
at 1357 Oakland Boulevard.
The definition of entrance would establish
that the person using the SAMDA amplifier
There must be more than 100 feet away from the doorway entrance that is closest to them.
You can see there are two doorways that are depicted on this image.
And the radius reaches 100 feet from that doorway entrance.
The ordinance establishes enforcement criteria to include a criminal and civil enforcement
avenue for violation.
Criminal enforcement allows the city to site violators as misdemeanor offenses.
And civil enforcement allows an aggrieved person to bring a private action in civil
court to enforce a violation.
The recommended action this evening for counsel to consider is after accepting public testimony
and if counsel desires to proceed with the ordinance to waive the first reading and introduce
the ordinance amending chapter 16 of title four of the municipal code to establish a
restriction on the use of sound amplifiers around the reproductive healthcare facility
located at 1357 Oakland Boulevard and available to answer any questions that council may have
this evening.
Okay.
Are there any questions from council?
Yes.
Cindy, please.
Thank you very much for the clarity for explaining that we're talking about the entrance doors
not the property lines and also for showing the diagram as to what's in the circumference
of the 100 feet.
How can we make it easy for those who are seeking to partake of the services as well
as those who are seeking to exercise their freedom of speech to know where the 100 foot
marker is?
Can we paint the sidewalks?
Can we put up signs?
Something that just makes it easy to understand.
So I have spoken with Public Works staff about what options there are to indicate the distance
from the 100 foot distance from the facility doorway.
There are options to potentially put up a sign.
There may also be the option of depicting or painting some sort of line or indication
on the ground on the sidewalks and Public Works staff will look into what those options
are and ensure that there's some path forward to clearly indicate.
Since it's not a straight line, but it's a curve with a sidewalk that's curving.
If we agree to do this, painting may be the easiest way to depict it.
Thank you.
Matt?
Thank you.
Thank you, Allie.
In terms of the Sacramento Ordinance, which I think ours, this is based on, that was from
the property line, and we're choosing to do it from the door.
And can you just elaborate on why the distinction there?
Yeah, so many of the Planned Parenthood facilities are set up differently.
We found when we were looking into the original adoption of Chapter 4.16, which established
the restriction on harassing or intimidating conduct within 100 feet, that the 100-foot
buffer essentially would be sufficient around the facility and what we anticipate this would
allow what was being proposed this evening would allow consistency with
that original ordinance and also the 100 feet as you can see on the image in the
depiction is is quite a far distance away from the entrance considering the
parking lot and kind of landscaping area in between the facility and the sidewalk
and street. Okay that's so it's it's it's generally consistent with the
the ordinance we have now with the buffer zone
in terms of that 100 foot area
where the speech is restricted
with the eight foot buffer zone, is that right?
That's correct.
And the map that you showed,
I don't believe there would be all really,
it wouldn't be all that much different
between the eastern most door and the property line
measuring the 100 foot from, they're pretty close.
There doesn't seem to be a significant difference, yes.
Okay, and then the other question I had was on enforcement.
I know that we've increased patrols in that area.
And so maybe Captain Hibbs can talk a little bit about
kind of both civil and criminal enforcement
of the ordinance that is on the books now,
and then how this new amendment might be enforced.
Good evening, members of the city council,
members of the public, city staff.
Ryan Hibbs, Walnut Creek Police Operations Captain.
What was your question?
So enforcement, Captain, just in terms of kind of what's happening now and then any
issues or concerns with the amendment and how the police department would enforce that?
No.
In fact, this would be very easy to enforce from a —
Would you lean into the microwave — the voice is here.
Would you lean into the microphone because it's hard to hear?
Is that better?
I'm sorry.
This would be very easy to enforce from a police department standpoint.
Okay, and have just you've increased patrols in the area I understand?
Yeah.
And just as that presence had a positive effect in your opinion from kind of reducing incidents
around the facility?
We believe so.
Yes.
Okay.
That's all my questions.
Thank you.
Okay, Kevin, please.
Thank you.
I just have one question right now.
I might have more after we hear from public comment, but Allie had mentioned that most
of the complaints were from Planned Parenthood.
Have there been other complaints
from outside Planned Parenthood,
whether it's businesses or residences that you're aware of?
Yes, there have been.
We've had a few complaints in regard to noise
from some of the residents in the area.
Okay, thank you.
Thank you, and thank you for working on this.
And I'm not sure if this is an Allie or Ryan question,
but have we talked to Sacramento to see how they've been,
since this is modeled on their ordinance,
have we talked to them about what they've been seeing?
That's an alley question.
Athlete.
Yes, I have spoken with the deputy city attorney
who worked on the ordinance adoption in Sacramento.
The ordinance was only adopted a few months ago.
They haven't, or a number of months ago,
as far as the attorney was aware we spoke with,
they haven't had to enforce it.
They haven't seen a significant issue at this point
with enforcement of the ordinance,
but at the same time, they have not actually cited
to that ordinance at this time.
Thank you.
I don't have a question.
I noticed people are getting a little restless.
So we will take a 10 minute break
and then we'll take public comment when we come back.
Okay everyone, time to take your seats.
Okay, please get your seats.
And if you haven't handed in a yellow card for speaking,
please do that now.
The yellow cards are up by the door.
I guess we're on.
Are we on?
Are we on?
We're on, okay.
All right, it is now time for the public comments.
And would you line up at the podium,
maybe four or five at a time,
and when the line gets really short,
then next people can line up.
I have eight speaker cards.
Has anybody not given us a speaker card?
Okay, a couple of people.
Yeah, when it gets to be four,
I don't wanna be calling by names,
but when it gets to be four,
Maybe you shouldn't just congregate.
Maybe you can just make sure the line gets smaller.
Okay, all right.
Over there, please, thank you.
All right, all right.
First speaker, please step forward.
Give us your name and your city of residence,
and you're gonna need to move the microphone down.
You're like me, you're short.
Yes, yes. Is that okay? Okay, that's great. Yeah, thank you. My name is Sandy Fink.
I live in Alamo and I'm a volunteer at Planned Parenthood in Walnut Creek. And
every single day that I've been there there are people there with microphones.
Usually at least two, up to four. I have recordings I would like to play for you
that show how loud it is compared to the ambient noise. I am 40 to 50 people 50
feet away from these people. And I have several of them. I won't play the whole
thing because they go on for a long time. Compare that to the ambient noise. This
one is directed at me because they overheard my name. Personal remarks I
find offensive. So that's just some examples of the kinds of things that are
said. Personally addressed it to us, to the people who work there, to the people
we're coming for care, please pass this.
This is for the benefit of the people
who live in that area, for the businesses nearby.
They stand in the driveway of the next building over, 1371,
because there's a walkway into Planned Parenthood there.
So they stand in their driveway so they
can get closer to the door of Planned Parenthood.
Thank you.
Reverend Dr. Victoria Roo.
I'm an ordained Roman Catholic woman priest.
Along with 250 other women across the world,
we have taken the step as a matter of conscience.
The primacy of conscience is an important teaching
in the Catholic Church.
One of my many ministries is to accompany women
who are following their conscience
and coming to Planned Parenthood,
taking care of themselves,
whether it is for STI testing and treatment,
birth control, family planning services.
When I hear people on loudspeakers say Jesus loves you,
I can agree.
When I hear people say you're going against God's will,
or you're going to hell, or for whatever you're doing,
you're going to hell in there.
As women emerge from their cars and go into the clinic,
this is a lie.
Due to the unconscionable position of my church
on birth control, abortion, and women's ordination,
In good conscience, I must stand up and support these women,
these people who are following their conscience who
come to Planned Parenthood.
Women who come to Planned Parenthood
can be already in a fragile state.
They have made a difficult decision
to have a child or not to have a child.
They can be already in the midst of economic pressures,
marriage issues, domestic violence, whatever it is.
They do not need the haranguing of men and women shouting
into microphones.
They do not need to sit in the lobby of Planned Parenthood
with a TV that is turned up loud so as not to hear
the haranguing from these people on the sidewalk
who are on blaring speakers that pierce the walls
of the waiting room.
This amplification is not only intrusive,
it causes even more suffering to the women and men
who come to the clinic for help.
the amplification of things like they murder babies here,
imagine hearing that in the lobby of the clinic.
Thank you.
Next speaker, please.
My name is Reverend Dr. Joanna Trilson.
I too am a Roman Catholic woman priest.
And I live at Rossmoor where my sister priest lives also.
And what we do together is we have reproductive justice
as one of our missions.
So we both joined Planned Parenthood to escort women
to get the care they needed.
Very unfortunately, when I first started
and heard what was going on and saw,
and even saw people that I knew from our community,
it was very scary.
But I'm going to relate one incident that happened
when I was there shortly.
A woman drove up, got out of her car,
and we approached her, as we always do, to ask her,
she has an appointment, can we help,
and escort her to the door, which I did.
And she was in a hurry.
So she was in there not very long and came out.
And she said, they can't help me.
They can't help me.
And I said, are you OK?
What can I do to help you?
She said, I was at San Ramon Planned Parenthood.
They couldn't help me.
And now they can't help me here.
So I was very surprised.
So I walked her to her car.
I said, you know, I'm not sure what's going on,
but let's get you someplace where you can be helped.
She drove to the curb, and her window was down.
And apparently, she was engaging with the people
on the sidewalk.
And she said to them, they can't help me
because I have an ectopic pregnancy.
And all I could hear was in the background saying,
well, save the baby.
Save the baby.
I'm an RN also.
And I know there's no saving the baby when
you have an ectopic pregnancy.
So I just wanted you to know this.
Thank you very much.
Next speaker please.
Good evening.
I'm Robin Papano-Kuntz.
I live in Antioch and I'm a weekly volunteer
escort at Walnut Creek Planned Parenthood.
I've been doing it for several years
and I strongly support a sound ordinance.
Three or four protestors at a time have voice amplifiers.
They used to talk to the clients and their supporters
entering and leaving the health center.
There is some traffic noise,
but it's nothing compared to the loudness
of the amplified voices.
Many times I've been inside the health center
checking in for my shift and a protester
with voice amplification was so loud
I could hear it inside the health center
with the door closed.
That should not be allowed to continue to happen.
And like the woman who spoke before me,
I had a really upsetting occurrence a couple weeks ago.
And I see a lot, I've been there a long time
and it's annoying, but this one really hurt.
There was a young couple who came in,
and they got the usual speech.
You know, they murder babies in there.
And she said, I lost my pregnancy.
My baby's dead.
And they kept talking to her, and she and her partner
were so upset.
I was really afraid that the young man was going to go out
and get violent.
But he kept calm.
He went to his car and played some loud music,
and he calmed down.
but it was really, really sad and upsetting to me.
And I just want to be clear that I feel protesters
have a right to voice their opinions,
but not with voice amplification.
Next speaker, please.
Good evening, members of the City Council.
My name is Rabbi Jill Perlman.
I live in Morago, and I serve as the senior rabbi
of Temple Isaiah, where several members,
many members of our community reside here in Walnut Creek.
I applaud our loving interfaith community
who was here earlier to speak up for the type of community
we all deserve, one full of love rather than hate
and to speak up against antisemitism.
However, I want to use my time tonight
to speak on this issue.
I serve on the steering committee for a clergy
for reproductive freedom, and I stand today
to ask for your support to add that noise provision
to the existing buffer zone ordinance
outside of the Planned Parenthood Health Center.
Regularly, protestors come with these megaphones
and microphones to verbally harass staff and patients.
No one deserves to be treated that way,
and we need your support to ensure that their safety is not
compromised and that they are treated with decency
and with respect.
With no noise provision in place in the existing buffer zone,
protesters have used this amplified sound
to normalize their harassment of not just patients and staff,
but of the surrounding neighbors and businesses.
For the safety of our community, a noise buffer zone
is necessary to prevent protestors
from creating a dangerous environment.
They're allowed displays, distract nearby drivers,
and create a difficult environment
for our local businesses.
This is an issue of public safety,
and as a religious leader in the community,
I am also deeply concerned about the degradation
of human dignity that is being allowed
through this continued harassment.
I also suffered an ectopic pregnancy,
So this is a very personal issue for me.
We here, you here, have the opportunity
to create a model policy here in Walnut Creek
that lifts up human dignity and public safety
while also protecting essential health care.
Given the current political climate related to abortion
and reproductive health care services,
it is essential that we protect those
who are using the health care center
by putting this noise provision into place.
Thank you.
All right.
We could maybe have some more people line up,
And then the next speaker, please come forward.
Should I give my card to someone?
My name is Patty Ellis.
I live in Danville and I'm a new volunteer
with Planned Parenthood in Walnut Creek.
And I have recently experienced in the few times
that I've even been volunteering,
I personally have been yelled at with a megaphone
and amplifier that I was homosexual.
And I can only imagine what the clients
that are going into this clinic
who are making very difficult decisions on one hand
and yet another hand.
I experienced a time where this woman was coming
into the parking lot.
She had her window down.
A gentleman walked up to her car,
started talking and engaging with her.
I walked up to her.
I got in between him and her and she was very upset
and she said, he doesn't even know why I'm here.
She said, I'm here to get an ultrasound for my baby.
So he said to me, I'm talking to her and I said,
know I'm talking to her now and that's all I have to say. Thank you.
Next speaker please and and if you want to say something, the line is very short
right now. Okay good evening mayor and members of the council my name is
Elizabeth Rust and I live in Walnut Creek. I'm a patient escort volunteer at
the Walnut Creek Planned Parenthood. I've been there for two years and during
those two years protesters have routinely used voice augmenting devices.
They've also routinely used inflammatory statements that border unvial.
And it's very clear that everybody understands that these statements can be heard via devices
outside of the clinic.
I've been concerned about how well they could be heard inside the clinic.
And at times I've gone into the clinic, even with the television on, and you can hear it
even though it's muffled.
On March 8th, the television was not on, and the protesters were using voice augmenting
devices and saying horrible things.
I went into the clinic because I wanted to see how loud it was.
You could hear everything that was being said loud and clear.
One of the other volunteers from outside the clinic videotaped this diatribe.
And I can guarantee you, I believe that's been sent to you.
If you listen to that March 8th video, everything that you hear on that video is what patients
could hear inside while they were there for a medical appointment.
Hello.
My name is Kathy Dunn and I live not far from Planned Parenthood.
And I think Planned Parenthood is a great resource for our community.
And when I have to drive by that location several times a week for various chores that
I do to get on Highway 24, and it's very disturbing to have to listen to these amplified
sounds of people trashing the women who are there and making comments about how they're
not religious and how they're killing their babies.
And I get to the point where I try to go in other directions because I can't stand going
by Planned Parenthood and hearing this harassment of these women who are just seeking their
health care.
I see people, protesters blocking their driveway and constantly harassing the women.
I find it very upsetting, and I hope you pass this amendment I think is very important for
the community.
Thank you.
Next speaker, please.
and council people. My name is Rand Critton. I live in Lafayette. I am part of I know a lot of you
for being the lead for the cleanup committee or cleanup crew for for Karen Mariner and the rest
of you and I've had the opportunity to meet you there. I've also been a Planned Parenthood escort
since before COVID and it's actually sort of ironic in the sense my dad was also in a Planned
parenthood escort here in Walnut Creek and he's been dead over 15 years so that
shows how long it's been. One of the things that you that I really
appreciate your city attorney setting out is that this is a motion about
amplified sound and limiting amplified sound is not limiting free speech and
that's what Justice Reingquist said back in 1994 in one of the cases that were
cited here. But amplified sound attacks people and that's what has happened here.
The amplified sound is attacking the patients that are coming in and the
clients that have come in. It allows them to call them murderers. It allows them to
target people that are inherently fragile at a time that is very very
difficult for them. Amplified sound allows them to target the partners of
the people that are coming in and calling them names and inciting them to
do things that they have their GoPro cameras on so they can get the idea of
being able to see things. Amplified sound allows them to target the workers and
the doctors that are there. Over and over you hear them saying to the
doctors about how they're sacrificing and how they've got blood money. These
These are the amplified sounds that come out of there.
The amplified sound allows them to target the people inside the buildings you've been
hearing that.
So your ordinance targets amplified sound, not free speech.
Next speaker, please.
Good evening, honorable magistrates.
My name is Sophia Martin.
Thank you very much for the opportunity to speak with you all this evening.
Initially I attended the buffer zone meetings.
At that time you graciously heard our comments and although you decided in favor of the buffer
zone you agreed to table the proposed noise ordinance level as the recommended 60 decibel
level was very low.
You said you would conduct an investigation on sound decibel levels at Planned Parenthood.
My question to you tonight is did you conduct the investigation and determine a decibel
level and if not, will you?
I've had the privilege of counseling 24 moms to choose life.
All of this was made possible partly because they could hear me.
The noise from the freeway coupled with the clinic escorts aggressively interfering in
us inviting a mom into a conversation on the sidewalk in front of Planned Parenthood makes
it close to impossible for us to exercise our First Amendment rights.
We are not using bull horns.
We are using sound amplifiers.
I do admit that since there was no final noise level
determined, we have not had a specific level we followed.
I've downloaded a decibel reader app on my phone
and will happily agree to stay within the decibel level
you see fit.
Next, you will hear from one of our moms
who chose life for our baby.
We are not protesters.
We are the church of the living God, the maker of heaven
and earth, the one who knits us together in our mother's womb.
It's not our desire to be activists,
but to be the church of Jesus Christ to moms in need,
like my friend Lily.
We don't leave at the end of the day
and forget the moms we serve.
We love them and walk with them well past the day
their baby is born.
Please don't take away the ability for moms like Lily
to receive the hope and hope they so greatly need
by taking away our ability to be heard.
Thank you.
Did you give us your name at the beginning?
Sophia Martin.
Thank you.
I'm sorry, I missed it.
City Council.
Hi, my name is Lily,
and I'm just wanting to say something from my heart
and be a voice today for moms in the same situation
I once faced.
When I thought I was pregnant,
I went to Planned Parenthood because I was scared.
I was planning to get an abortion.
I met sidewalk counselors outside of Planned Parenthood,
and they were so kind to me.
I felt warm inside and just very comfortable.
When I shared my situation, Sophia comforted me
and helped me have the courage to choose life for my baby.
I was searching for help and hope,
and I found that with Love Life,
they supported me throughout my pregnancy
and made sure I was okay.
Now my daughter is my whole world
and I can't imagine my life without her.
My daughter was God's plan for me,
and I know even now that if I need help,
Love Life will be there for me.
Next speaker, please
Hi, my name is Michael Vecchiela resident of Walnut Creek
Only bad thing about the ordinance in my mind is it just has to be done
You have to spend your time doing this your staff has to spend their time doing this all these volunteers get affected
The women going there for reproductive health care have to be affected and I think that's a shame
So I just want to talk about a couple of specifics
and I think some of the items are raised
and I was happy to hear them.
Like the definition of entrance.
Is it the driveway entrance or the door into the building?
I'm glad that's been resolved.
A question I have is what if Planned Parenthood
moves to another location?
Do you have to have another ordinance
for that specific location or can something be written
in general terms to address all possible future locations?
I think it's also important that public works
and the police department will work together
to somehow delineate where this 100-foot line is
so that it's clear to the activists there
trying to promote their views
as well as the police trying to enforce them,
can all be clear on what's what.
I think that's really important.
The last comment is that a lot of free speech issues
and speech seems to focus on words
and what I'm saying right now.
but the graphic images that are presented
on the posters there, to me, that's a form of speech.
It's also very intimidating to see those graphic images,
whether you're driving by and you see a poster
that's three feet wide and four feet tall
with dismembered babies and things like that.
I think that's a horrible thing.
Too bad something can't be done
about that type of intimidation.
So thank you for your time.
Next speaker, please.
I'm Jonathan Martin.
Good evening distinguished members
of the Wanna Creek City Council.
Abortion is a very serious issue
and the number one cause of death in the United States.
I did not take this issue very seriously
until I visited a sidewalk of Planned Parenthood.
I was touched by the loss of life inside the clinic.
The word of God says we are knit together
in our mother's wombs.
This is why many Christians take this issue very seriously.
I know that there has been reported disturbance
in front of Planned Parenthood and Walnut Creek.
I had the opportunity to witness training
for the sidewalk counseling for an organization
called Love Life.
Counselors were taught to plead with moms,
but not harass or intimidate them, as it has been reported.
We were taught to show the same kindness to moms
before and after they enter Planned Parenthood
with no condemnation.
Counselors were taught to not to obstruct driveways, walkways,
and were taught to approach only upon consent.
Because of the seriousness of abortion
is my belief that sound amplification should
be allowed so that women can hear the hope and help that
can be offered to them.
It is important to note in your agenda report
that when the Walnut Creek police officers responded
to multiple calls that they could not independently observe
and verify noise disruptions.
Again, I believe that some, again,
I believe that amplification of some levels
should be allowed so that it can be heard
by those walking in.
Thank you kindly for your time.
Next speaker, please.
My name is Phyllis Rizzito and I just wanna thank you
for this opportunity to be able to speak.
I just wanna say that I'm here because it's incredibly sad
to see women walking up to terminate what they think is the problem in their life.
I see them walking up and they're so broken and crying a lot of the time.
I have empathy for them because around 40 years ago I did the same thing.
I had an abortion about 40 years ago and there wasn't anybody reaching out to me.
I just went through it and then buried it for a long time.
So I go to try to intervene for these babies' lives, to try to reach out and
to come alongside the women and offer real hope
and to walk with them.
So I hope that we will be able to keep using
the small amplifier because of the traffic.
It is so, because the traffic is so loud,
we want them to be able to hear us
and about the hope that we have to offer.
Thank you for your time.
Next speaker, please.
Respected council members and city staff,
thank you for the opportunity to share tonight.
My name is Hayley Byali, and I'm here in humble opposition to the proposed ordinance.
I understand this is a contentious issue, so I only kindly ask that your ears be open
to hearing another perspective than that of the reports you've heard.
Here's my perspective.
There are many voices to advocate for people to come for an abortion, but few to advocate
for these same people to get the help that would prevent them from feeling that abortion
is their best option.
Those in front of Planned Parenthood stand in the gap not only for the child, but for
the mothers and fathers to offer practical resources such as food, housing, child care,
and mentorship.
They do not protest or condemn, but peaceably offer help and support.
Unplanned pregnancy, although it shouldn't be a cause for shame, does cause shame in many
women.
Therefore, they don't tell others about their lack of resources or confidence.
So, those needs never get met, unless someone reaches out in the only place they know they
can find them at the abortion center.
When a mother goes for an abortion, besides taking away the burden of a child, Planned
Parenthood offers no help with the practicals of life.
I've often seen more brokenness on the faces of those leaving the abortion center than
on those I saw going in.
I understand the desire for Planned Parenthood staff to have their space, but I also fear
the slippery slope of this ordinance leading to further silencing of the
voices offering support and alternative solutions. My request of you today
council members before you vote in favor of this ordinance is to take an hour
out of your workday to visit the front of Planned Parenthood to observe what
goes on to make a fair and thorough assessment before enacting a new law. If
you do move forward with your vote today I still invite you to come out. With this
This experience and future decisions, you will have the whole picture.
If you have already visited, I thank you for your dedication to a fair and thorough assessment.
Thank you.
Hi, my name is Ed Case, and should I speak into the mic?
Yeah, please.
So that everybody be here?
Yeah, better than talking to nobody, yes.
So that the valued people here may be able to hear what I say, and that's what we do
with Planned Parenthood.
We speak into a mic so that the valued people going in there could hear what we say.
The traffic in the back, it's been noted already.
It is loud.
We can barely even hear each other talk from one station
to the other for where we put ourselves.
We can barely even hear each other.
Not only do we use them for that,
but we also use them because we have other escorts
that are mumbling into the ears
of those that are going in.
And we have no opportunity to give them the hope
and the help that we offer,
the resources and the hope and the help that we offer.
So that's why we use the microphones.
That's why we use them so that they can hear
and have an opportunity and an option
to choose the right thing at the right time.
There's some women in there and men that go in there
because we're value of the whole family.
They go in there and some are not gonna listen to us,
but some are.
And if they don't hear what we have to offer,
how are they gonna be able to make their conscious choice
to choose life for their baby?
And so that is the reasons why we use these amplified.
I go to other clinics,
and I don't use an amplified voice there
because I don't have to.
You know why?
Because my voice is heard.
Walnut Creek, and with all that goes on in the background,
is so loud, so loud,
even if I was gonna scream out to them
without the microphone, with the microphone,
they barely hear.
Now, if I was gonna scream at them without a microphone,
They're gonna be looking at me like I'm yelling at them,
like I'm a madman and crazy.
With that, it's clear and precise.
We're not screaming, we're not yelling.
They're able to hear what we have to say,
and that is the reasons why we use those amplified mics.
And so I hope you guys ain't pre-determined
in your decision and you really, really take this
into account so that women have a choice
to choose life or not for themselves.
Thank you.
Next speaker, please.
Good evening, council members.
My name is Christian Garcia,
Vice President of Government Relations and Communications
for Planned Parenthood Northern California.
Very long title.
I am here this evening,
not necessarily to speak on my behalf,
but I'm speaking on behalf of one of our clinicians
in Wanna Creek.
She wanted to be here,
but out of protection of her name and privacy,
we wanted to keep her away.
But she did write this statement.
Dear council members,
the protestors are persistent
and an ongoing problem for our patients.
We have patients regularly present
for a full spectrum of healthcare services,
not just abortion care.
And from the start of their visit,
many of them are upset because of the interactions
that they've encountered on their way in.
Already, they are more hesitant
to share their healthcare needs with us
because they have been publicly shamed.
The protestor activity can be easily heard
inside the clinic, in the rooms,
as we are trying to interact with the patients.
What should be a private moment is constantly interrupted
by the protestors outside.
The protestors particularly target patients of color
in our staff, reminding them of all the negative reasons
why they should not work there
or they should not go into our health center.
While our staff is resilient and provides excellent care,
they still do not deserve to be treated this way.
The amplified sound that the protestors use
creates a clear voice and demonstrated in the videos
provided to this council, that nobody should enter
a hostile environment for a patient,
for a healthcare visit, or to be at work.
So that's on behalf of all our clinicians.
The other thing that I wanna say is that this is an issue
not just in Wanna Creek, but we are seeing more and more
of these protestors going to other health centers
in Concord, San Francisco, Chico.
And so what you do here tonight is gonna be a great example
what other communities could do at the local level
to protect patient services, so thank you.
Is there anybody else who wishes to make public comment
at this time?
If so, please fill out a yellow card and step forward.
I'm not seeing anybody additionally,
so I'm going to bring it back to count.
Oh, okay, thank you.
My name is Heather Low.
I've just a comment to make.
There are plenty of advocates out there
for women's health, health care.
There are very few advocates
for the life of the unborn child,
a child that is going to be terminated,
have his life terminated,
and never reach his fullest potential.
And we're making a huge decision,
placing ourselves on as God,
whether those children should be terminated.
It's not up to us, it's after God almighty.
It's his child, made in his image, in his womb.
What right do we have to take the life
of an unborn child, what right?
Thank you council members, I truly appreciate
your listening to us, but thank you.
Okay, final call.
Anybody wanna step forward?
Seeing nobody, we're gonna bring it back to council.
Just closing public comment
and then bringing it back to council.
Thought that was the same thing.
Anyhow, here we are.
We're back at council.
What would, anybody have additional questions?
Anybody have additional comments?
I have a couple of additional questions.
appreciated the clarification earlier on that it's the doorways and there are two
doorways. I also appreciated the clarification that it creates basically
two circles that merge with each other because they're overlapping and that we
can figure out a way to demarcate it clearly so that people have a clear
understanding if we should choose to do this. That's correct that's based on the
conversations that Allie had with public work staff, we think we could do that.
We would need to evaluate the site though just to make sure and report back to the council.
If it goes into the street, does that make a difference?
It actually will cover a portion of the street but we would, we want to have a conversation
with public works about that.
We had thought that better to mark on sidewalk areas because we don't want to create an impression
that people should stand in the streets of any sort there.
You're so at your own risk.
So we had a few questions from, I think it was Mr. Vecchio,
for clarification on the doorway.
And I know there are some changes on the dais here.
Can you explain those for us, Allie?
The original language that said, no use of sound amplifiers
within 100 feet of an entrance.
And now it says, 100 feet of a doorway entrance.
Yeah.
But we're defining entrance as a doorway entrance
that is closest to the person.
Yes, so the intent was just to clarify.
There had been some questions about what entrance
we were talking about in the ordinance.
And so it's meant to just clarify
that it is, in fact, a doorway entrance.
I'm familiar.
I have been to the clinic.
And I'm familiar with the main entrance doorway.
and there's a second doorway apparently?
Yes.
Closer to the street?
So the doorway, that's the main entrance,
is closest to the street,
and then there's a separate doorway
that's farther back in the parking lot.
The intention and the definition would indicate
that the doorway that is being measured, the 100 feet,
would be the doorway that's closest to the person speaking
or using a sound amplifier.
Understood.
this clinic there are two doorways. Correct. Two doorway entrances. Correct.
Okay and we talked about the hundred foot line and how that could be there
could be signage or it could be marked on the sidewalk so I think we've
addressed that one already. What about if the clinic were to move to a new
facility? So the ordinance is specific generally how we adopt ordinances is
specific to property not to an individual business so if the Planned
and parent facility moved
and there were continued to be issues
related to the new facility,
then the city council,
we could come back before the city council
with consideration of a separate ordinance
to address that issue.
That makes sense.
And then one of the questions that was raised,
I think by Ms. Martin was,
there was some talk about measuring
decibel levels originally,
and this ordinance does not reflect
or put a cap on decibel levels,
looks at amplified noise. And can you explain a little bit about the thought process there?
So this ordinance was specifically drafted based on the template of the Sacramento
ordinance, which is already in place. There was a prior version of a noise restriction in front of
the council a number of years ago, in that circumstance the noise was any kind of loud
or amplified sound so it was across the board of any kind of sound.
With this ordinance it would just be specific to amplified sound because of the impacts
of amplified sounds and at any degree there could be an impact so this was intentional
to restrict amplified sound not at a specific decibel level.
OK.
Thank you.
Thanks, Ellie.
I have a question.
I'm not sure if it would be you or Captain Hibbs.
So I'll just ask them.
You guys will figure it out here.
We heard from a few people, both volunteers
as well as some of the protesters,
that said that people came up to patients in their car
to talk with them.
I want to ask, that sounds like it's
within the 8-foot buffer zone that we had established
almost two years ago, would that be considered an infringement and not allowed based on our
ordinance? We heard that from both escorts as well as from protesters. So as the ordinance is currently
drafted or currently in place, non-consensual confronting someone with the coming in with an
eight feet of someone when that contact is nonconsensual with the intent to intimidate
or harass is in violation of the ordinance. So yes, that would have to be a request to
have a conversation prior to approaching someone with that intent.
At the car. Okay. Thank you.
I don't have any additional questions. So I guess the time has come.
Anybody want to make a comment first?
Kevin. I'll start, how about that? Thank you. I want to thank everyone for coming. This is something
that we certainly see in the news on a national level and of course we've had to deal with here
on the local level as well. We discussed including this in the original ordinance as we heard from
Ms. Martin earlier that gave the buffer zone ordinance time to be implemented and see if
if the protestors abided by that,
or would try to somehow skirt the ordinance
taking and using other methods like noise.
Over the last two years,
we've seen repeated uncivil behavior
by protestors trying to disrupt doctors, disrupt nurses,
patients who are attempting to exercise
their rights under California state law.
Over the last nine months,
I've gone to Planned Parenthood Clinic a few times
And in fact, Ms. Bialy had mentioned, come on down.
I've been down for over an hour on a few different occasions
to see for myself and get an idea of what's going on there.
What I've seen before people realize who I am
is blocking the, when people pass, even on cars,
signs that are being shown at them,
really with vile pictures.
When somebody pulls into the driveway or is walking by,
they are immediately spoken to by people that are there.
Now, that is a freedom of speech,
but if they're within eight feet, as we just heard,
that now is against the ordinance.
In addition, there is an intimidation factor there.
You've got at least five or six people
that are protestors right there.
There is only one entrance in.
I mean, there's a little bit of a sidewalk,
but you've got the driveway.
Almost everybody's going to use the driveway, of course,
especially if they're being driven in by somebody who is a friend or family member.
And it's intimidating.
It's probably the worst day in somebody's life.
And some of these people are not the ages of people that are in this room.
Some of these people, as I've heard from nurses and volunteers, are young teenagers that have
have come from out of state because their states have now outlawed the
ability to have reproductive services and even discussions. And thankfully
Walnut Creek is allowed to be able to and California has made this right
something that they can come to. Now again this is not about freedom of speech
but when these people are coming and coming into this area and are being hit
with megaphones and microphones with speakers on their hips and they've got
the microphones just attached to their head, they are easily heard through car
windows. How do I know this? Because I was at least 50 feet away on the other
side of the street behind these people who are focusing their speakers towards
the doors of the clinic and I could hear them clear as a bell 50 feet away behind
them. Yes, I heard ambient noise on the freeway, but there was no mistaking what was being said.
And I am sure, of course, that those same words are being heard easily and loudly
inside the clinic walls as well. Upsetting patients and preventing doctors and nurses
from being able to do their job and allowing somebody to exercise their state rights.
Protesters at Planned Parenthood, as I have seen, are now pushing every boundary because
they think they can get away with it.
Because they don't respect the rights of patients even when they're behind closed doors.
And we, again, have heard from many of these escorts and many of the workers there how
young some of these people are.
people that are making personal choices about their own healthcare needs. I wholeheartedly
support this amendment for to our ordinance. Matt you're next. Thank you mayor. I appreciate
everyone coming out tonight. I also appreciate the diligent work of our police department for
the patrols that they've been doing in the area for Planned Parenthood for letting us know what's
going on when we did adopt the buffer zone ordinance two years ago and put a
pause on the noise issue. It was because we wanted to give the buffer ordinance
an opportunity to be implemented. We wanted to gather more information and to
me it really seems like this amplified noise is being used as an end run around
the buffer zone. That you have a right to be free from non-consensual
intimidation or harassment, but if someone has a megaphone or a microphone
all of a sudden you've lost that right. And so this is, to me, adopting this
amendment is very consistent with what we did when we adopted the buffer zone.
It didn't need to be this way, but the reports that we've gotten from the
police department that are cited in the Planned Parenthood letter, about 40% of the incidents
relate to noise. I appreciated our city attorney talking about how this was narrowly tailored
and does leave alternative channels of communication. I think it provides clear lines in terms of
this type of speech is allowed and where it's not. And I think we're undermining our buffer
zone by not taking this step. And I'll just go back. I know when we originally heard this
matter two years ago and reading some of the Supreme Court cases and Ninth Circuit Court
cases, dealing with this issue is that it still does allow for freedom of speech and
that it was carefully drawn so that people that are having a conversational approach
with someone trying to talk to them about a very sensitive issue can still do that.
It doesn't allow for someone to use a microphone or a bullhorn in what I view as a threatening
manner.
So I think that the empirical evidence is showing us that we need to take this step
and I'm prepared to support the amendment.
Is he silver?
I too appreciate everyone spending their evening with us
and appreciate the comments and the thoughtful points of view.
So right after we adopted the ordinance two years ago,
actually, I'll say it this way.
I probably walk downtown and around downtown six days a week.
And sometimes my walking partner and I
go over to Oakland Boulevard to see what's
happening at 8 o'clock in the morning.
First of all, I will tell you, that is the most, if there's going to be traffic noise,
that's when it will be.
My walking partner and I can walk side by side with each other, not, you know, this
distance and have a normal conversation.
The traffic noise does not impair the ability to have a normal conversation if you want
that person to talk to you.
But it was not two weeks after we adopted the ordinance when we were walking and noticed
that 75 feet from the facility was a man yelling into a bullhorn.
And it was like, we had basically said this was our concern,
was that we were going to have to turn around and come back on this, and it was there.
So I agree with you, Councilmember Francois and Councilmember Wilk,
that this is an unfortunate necessity, but it doesn't preclude free speech
and the right to have a consenting conversation.
Recently I also noticed, and I actually made a phone call to the police department, that
there were 40 people out there.
This is not a grocery store with 40 people going in every 10 minutes.
This probably has a patient every 10 to 15 minutes.
You don't need that many people if you want to have a consensual conversation with them.
What you're doing by, you're ganging up on people and then you're yelling at them at
the same time.
I'm getting started.
So I'm going to start yelling myself,
and I don't want to do that because I think
I have to send my piece.
And I, too, thank everybody for coming out tonight
and sharing your views with us.
This is obviously an issue that we take very, very seriously.
In April of 2020, when we came up with the ordinance
with the buffer zone, I was really
hopeful that we'd crafted a solution that
allowed protesters their First Amendment right
and allowed them to have those quiet conversations
that they said they wanted to have
with people that were accessing Planned Parenthood.
And I also wanted to make sure
that we'd ensured the safety of the people coming in there.
I mean, things have gotten more dramatic since then,
not long after we adopted that ordinance
was when the Supreme Court throughout Roe v. Wade
and the issue became a national hot button.
but it is still the law of the land in California
in November, 2020.
Two thirds of the people in California approved Prop 1
which explicitly protected reproductive freedom.
So what's been going on since 2020?
Like council member Silva, I work out not far from there
and I go by on a regular basis
and I look like a old lady that's kind of sweaty
and so I've been able to see what's been going on.
And a lot of times what I'm seeing
are not the quiet offers of love and concern.
We've heard about all too often their ugly tirades
that you could hear because of the amplification.
And I'm at a point, I have no patience with this.
We hoped we had solved it.
We hope people had heard us that we wanted this
to be a place where you could have civil conversations,
but I'm prepared to support the ban on amplification.
Planned Parenthood and the people that go visit it
aren't just pregnant people trying to get an abortion.
There are so many other reasons that people
go to Planned Parenthood.
Sometimes it's to just dangerous things
like ectopic pregnancies, but also just to get guidance
and learn about things in a safe, respectful place.
I also know that there was testimony
the last time we were here.
Oh, let me start that sentence over again.
I'm the mother of an adopted child.
I am glad that that mother went forward with the pregnancy
so that I could raise my son, who makes me very proud.
But there was another person here
who also was an adoptive parent,
and he reported that Planned Parenthood
does talk to the people coming in to have services and presents all different sides
that it isn't just an abortion mill.
They try to find the right answers for the mothers and the potential child.
So to say that just because they're going into the front door is the result that you
expect is completely wrong.
I do also have sympathy for the people who live around this
and the strangers who drive by in front.
It is a scary moment to drive past these groups of people
clearly with a mission.
I'm not going to call them protesters
because I associate that with people
who have only evil intent.
They are people who are concerned
but are so passionate about that concern.
They don't leave a lot of other things.
All the issues that potential customers,
customer's patients are dealing with.
And sometimes just food and books
and taking care of it isn't the right answer.
So I am disappointed that this came back before us.
I had hoped it was going to be done and over with
and that it would be good for our community
and that the people who are passionate
have a chance to express their passion
and remind people that they have alternatives,
but it clearly isn't working.
And so I also am going to support this.
I am now going to ask for a motion.
Mayor, I'd like to make the motion,
and I will get the wording down on here.
I would like to make the motion
to waive further reading the proposed ordinance
and introduce the ordinance.
And here we go, sorry about that.
And amending chapter 16 of title four
of the Walnut Creek Municipal Code
to establish a restriction on the use of sound amplifiers
around the reproductive healthcare facility
located at 1357 Oakland Boulevard
in the city of Walnut Creek.
And I will second that if you were including
the changes that were on the dais.
As amended in our report.
I will second that.
May I have a roll call vote, please?
Council Member Wilk.
Aye.
Mayor Pro Tem Darling.
Aye.
Council Member Francois.
Aye.
Council Member Silva.
Aye.
Mayor Haskin.
Aye.
Motion carries unanimously.
All right, that brings our meeting to a conclusion
and an adjournment, and no, please don't.
This isn't a happy situation.
And we have next meet in April 16th, we'll see you then.