I'm Kevin Will, Mayor of the City of Walnut Creek, and welcome to the regular meeting
of the Walnut Creek City Council.
The City Council was 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 everyone and talk briefly about the public comment process.
each agenda item there will be an opportunity for public comment on the
item. Thus if you desire to speak to 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
communication should not relate to an item that is on the agenda this evening.
Consistent with section 9.5 of the City Council Handbook, 30 minutes will be
initially allocated for public communications for items not on the
agenda. Additional time for public communications for items not on the
agenda will be provided 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 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 decor expected in the council chamber and can be found on our
website. 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 the 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. Right good evening I'm Kevin Wilk mayor of the
city of Walnut Creek and welcome to the Tuesday May 19th, 2026 regular meeting
of the Walnut Creek City Council and if you'd all please join me in the Pledge of
Allegiance. And City Clerk Susie Martinez would you please call the roll.
Councilmember Darling. Here. Councilmember Davini. Here. Councilmember Silva. Here. Mayor Pro Tem
here right so the first few things that we have are proclamations and we've got
four and for people in the audience I just want to let you know that if
everybody could stay for through the fourth one at that point we'll go to the
consent calendar we would love you to stay all meeting long but we understand
if people do want to leave after the proclamations but just to not disrupt
them in the middle so the first one that we have is on National Public Works Week
And in recognition of Public Works, Public Works Week, I'd like to read the Proclamation,
share a video, and then invite Public Works Director Rich Payne forward to accept the
Proclamation.
I know Rich is around here somewhere, there he is, alright.
So whereas Public Works professionals focus on infrastructure facilities, parks, open
space and services that are vital to sustainability and resilient communities, public health and
a high quality of life for the people of Walnut Creek, Public Works professionals are responsible
for rebuilding, improving, and protecting our transportation, our water supply, water
treatment, and solid waste systems, public buildings, and other structures and facilities
essential for our citizens.
Whereas the dedicated people of the Walnut Creek Public Works Department maintain, operate,
and provide engineering for 213 miles of streets, 171 miles of street markings, 1,650 street
lights, 100 signalized intersections, 9,500 traffic related signs, and 1,550 parking meters,
14,000 miles of street sweeping, more than 4,000 catch basins, and over 100 miles of
storm drain systems, 19 parking lots, 69 buildings, 181 on-road vehicles, I feel like these are
the most numbers I've ever read since math class, and 131 equipment items and 22 parks
and greenbelts totaling over 300 acres and nearly 3,000 acres of open space with nine
miles of paved trail and 43 miles of unpaved trail and 30,000 trees.
Whoo!
That's a lot of work.
In any city you live in, Public Works is the backbone of what makes that city work.
The year 2026 marks the 66th annual National Public Works Week sponsored by the American
Public Works Association with a theme rooted in service, powered by community, and whereas
as the Walnut Creek City Council supports and recognizes
the importance of a qualified and dedicated
Public Works Department, I therefore Kevin Wilk,
Mayor of the City of Walnut Creek,
on behalf of the Walnut Creek City Council,
do hereby proclaim the week of May 17th, 2026
as National Public Works Week.
With that, let's see that video.
I had a great team.
So Rich, why don't you come on down?
And the City of Walnut Creek encourages all residents
and civic organizations to acquaint themselves
with the issues involved in providing
public works services and to recognize the contributions that public works
professionals make every day to improve and maintain our health safety comfort
and quality of life. And if you'd like to say a few words and then we'll take that
picture. Yes thank you mayor. I'm your public works director Rich Payne and
thank you for this honor to come up and receive this proclamation. As you can see
it takes an army or sort of the team behind the scenes if you will. A lot of
stuff happens without anyone noticing.
And oftentimes, when they notice,
this is usually when it's a complaint
or something like that.
So we don't like to be noticed that much.
I wanna thank the support.
Well, first of all, I wanna thank my team
and their families, their extended families,
because oftentimes we get called out after hours
or we have a team that works on the weekends
and their families at home not with their loved ones.
So I want to just thank them for that sacrifice.
And I want to thank our council
for the support that they give us.
We can't do our job without your support.
And it's really nice to work for a council
that recognizes the value that Public Works brings.
And it trusts us with that responsibility
of maintaining our infrastructure.
thank also thank our our city manager and our executive team for the support
I get from them it's it's great to work for an organization that feels like
family and and we have a community I feel like that appreciates that and they
show their appreciation by you know voting for things like measure O and
we're gonna be talking a little bit about that tonight but I think you know
they have a lot of confidence in what we do and I appreciate that. So with that
again thank you and I appreciate your support.
All right. Our next proclamation is for Affordable Housing Week. I wanted to say
this is so important. As I just about a week ago, I spoke to groups at Rossmore,
so senior citizens. I spoke to business peers during our contrast leadership
program that they had and then I spoke to high school students and all of them
had a major questions about affordable housing and how are their
children or grandchildren going to live in Walnut Creek or near them or how are
they going to live or how are there when they are high school students and
they're thinking about how are they going to afford to be able to live in the
community that they grew up. So affordable housing is on everybody's
mind all generations. And what I would like to do is to invite Jan Warren
representing East Bay Housing Organizations forward to accept the
proclamation and I'll read some of this here. Whereas quality affordable homes
are vital to a healthy, safe, and racially and economically just community
and increasing housing costs have led residents to be displaced, live in
overcrowded homes or experienced homelessness threatening our region's diversity and economic
opportunity. And whereas stable and affordable housing improves local health, security, and
connectivity through support to seniors, youth, families, veterans, people with disabilities,
or special needs, and the entire community, Congress has upheld federal funding for fair
housing programs over the years, particularly amid rising discrimination complaints and widening
racial and economic disparities in housing access. Local housing organizations are continuing
to recognize May as Bay Area Affordable Housing Month because regional action to a growing
regional housing crisis is an essential part of recovery from the pandemic and the work
to ensure that everyone has an affordable and stable home. And East Bay Housing Organization
organizes regional events for Affordable Housing Month acknowledging the need for and the benefits
affordable homes and therefore I Kevin Wilk mayor of the city of Walnut Creek
on behalf of the Walnut Creek City Council do hereby proclaim May 2026 as
affordable housing month and the city of Walnut Creek will work to support
affordable and stable housing at the local regional state and federal levels.
Yeah alright thank you well done mayor good evening my name is Jan Warren and
I'm here as a member of East Bay Housing Organization that we refer to as EBO
Through my membership with Lafayette Christian Church, EPO is a member driven organization
which works with a diverse coalition that advocates to produce, preserve, and protect
affordable housing for residents in the East Bay with low incomes.
EPO is a membership of over 400 individuals and organizations which support their mission.
The organizations include nonprofit affordable housing developers, social service organizations,
groups, faith, communities, and residents across Alameda and Contra Costa Counties.
On behalf of EPPO, I want to thank the City Council of Walnut Creek for recognizing Affordable
Housing Month and changing it from week where I saw the short change there.
So I appreciate that, Mayor.
And affirming your commitment to affordable housing.
My husband and I have lived in Walnut Creek for 40 years and I'm happy to see that more
of our residents are able to remain in Walnut Creek with the help of supportive housing.
EPPO members and staff have put together over 25 public events this month, there's still
some to go to.
Just today I had the opportunity along with three members of my church to attend an open
house in Hayward where Christian Church Homes was able to provide 80 units for low income
seniors who now have a place to call home.
It's always inspiring to hear personal stories from those who are housed.
The goal of Affordable Housing Month is to lift up and center those most affected by
the housing crisis.
All community members are invited and encouraged to join EPPO in their movement.
And I kept it two minutes just like I'm used to doing.
Well trained.
Y'all have trained me well.
And you didn't even need the two minutes, you've been longer.
thank you for not. All right this brings us to our next proclamation of Jewish
American Heritage Month and I just wanted to mention that yesterday I was
privileged to be invited to the state capitol as a Jewish elected official in our county
for the state legislature resolution and reception on commemorating May 2026 as Jewish American
Heritage Month, and now it is our honor to proclaim Jewish American Heritage Month in
the city of Walnut Creek.
And I'd like to ask Rabbi Jenny Chabon to come forward and accept the proclamation,
which I will now read.
Whereas since our nation's earliest days, Jewish Americans have been an important part
of the American story and have greatly contributed to all areas of American life and culture.
And on April 20th, 2006, the federal government proclaimed May as Jewish American Heritage
Month, stating, as a nation of immigrants, the United States is better and stronger because
Jewish people from all over the world have chosen to become American citizens.
And whereas so many generations of people from all over the world, including Jewish
individuals and their families, have come to the United States in search of a better
life for themselves, their families, and their descendants.
Jewish Americans enrich every part of American life as educators and entrepreneurs, athletes
and artists, scientists and entertainers, public officials and activists, labor and
community leaders, diplomats and military service members, public health heroes, and
more.
And in recent years, Jewish Americans have increasingly experienced acts of anti-Semitism,
acts that are unconscionable, unconscionable, and carry terrifying echoes of the worst chapters
in American and human history, whereas these acts of anti-Semitism are not just a strike
against Jewish individuals, but they are also a threat to other minority communities.
And the city of Walnut Creek celebrates diversity and condemns discrimination, bigotry, hatred,
and anti-Semitism wherever it exists.
And therefore, I, Kevin Wilk, mayor of the city of Walnut Creek, on behalf of the Walnut
Creek City Council, do hereby proclaim the month of May, 2026, as Jewish American Heritage
Month in the city of Walnut Creek and encourage all in Walnut Creek to celebrate diversity
and support opportunities to learn more about Jewish American history, culture, and contributions.
Thank you so much.
As you mentioned, it is a really uncertain and quite scary time to be Jewish in the world
and to be Jewish in our country, but not just here.
And indeed, there's rising anti-Semitism and many acts of violence against the Jewish community.
It means a tremendous amount to me as a rabbi to the members of our community who are here and
To the Jewish community at large to have allies
Within this council and across the city of Walnut Creek. It makes us feel stronger and supported and connected as a whole
So we really deeply appreciate this. Thank you so much. Thank you and Rabbi
We look forward to having you participate in a Memorial Day ceremony next week
So let's take a picture and anybody from the Jewish community would like to also be part of this picture
And we now have a proclamation for National Mental Health Month.
This is an important one in recognizing National Mental Health Month.
As we've stated from the dias previously, everyone knows somebody who suffers from mental
illness, as did my own brother.
And I'm glad that mental health is coming out from behind the curtain where it was rarely
talked about before.
So I will read this.
Whereas mental health is essential to everyone's overall health and well-being, since 1949,
Mental Health Awareness Month has been a driving force in addressing the challenges faced by
millions of Americans living with mental health conditions.
Effective treatment and often recovery are possible through appropriate medical, social,
and culturally responsive support and services, and the community shares the responsibility
to ensure those services are available to all residents.
whereas all stakeholders and community members can participate in efforts to
effectively address and support the delivery of culturally responsive
services and supports, thereby promoting resiliency and recovery and reducing
hospitalizations and relapses. There is a commitment and need to increase
awareness at all levels and educate the public, replace misinformation, and
eliminate stigma concerning mental health and promote understanding that
people living with mental health challenges can lead productive lives.
and the city remains committed to expanding and improving crisis response
throughout our region and is supportive of Contra Costa County's A3 crisis
response initiative to providing timely and appropriate mental and behavioral
health crisis services to anyone at any time within the county and the City
Council supports and recognizes the importance of raising the awareness of
mental health needs resources and services therefore I Kevin Wilk mayor of
the city of Walnut Creek on behalf of the Walnut Creek City Council do hereby
I proclaim the month of May 26
as National Mental Health Awareness Month
in the city of Walnut Creek
and encourage all citizens and civic organizations
to promote mental wellness
and support efforts to raise community awareness.
So, I think that all deserves a round of applause.
And we're going to be sending this
to one of our mental health organizations
and in recognition of National Health Month,
I've been asked to be the celebrity bartender
for a local event at Lunacy Lounge
at the Weymark building next to Bart,
next Thursday, May 28th, with part of the proceeds
and all of my tips being donated to NAMI,
the National Alliance of Mental Health.
If anyone would like to attend,
it begins at 5.30 at lunacy lounge
and I'm proud to be able to help donate to that worthy cause.
So, those are our proclamations.
So thank you for attending.
Those who are leaving, thank you for attending
for the proclamations and we'll continue
with the meeting now.
So next on the agenda is the consent calendar.
And does any council member wish to pull
any item for discussion?
Yes.
At this time, yes.
I would like to pull item 2E, please.
Okay, I will pull item 2D.
Anybody else?
Any staff or member of staff wish
to pull an item for discussion?
Does any member of the public wish to comment
on any item on the consent calendar?
As a reminder, each speaker will have two minutes
to make their remarks.
I move to approve consent calendar items A, B, C, F, G, H, I, J, K, I'll second.
We have a motion to second as soon as you could call the roll please.
Councilmember Darling?
Aye.
Mayor Wolk?
Aye.
Councilmember Davini?
Aye.
Councilmember Silva?
Aye.
Mayor Pro Tem Francois?
Aye.
All right.
Why don't we go to item two?
Well, I guess you said E, so I'll do item 2D.
And this was more to just recognize that we continue to adopt the resolution declaring
the month of June 2026 as LGBTQ plus pride month and directing staff to fly the rainbow
flag throughout the month of June at City Hall.
And we will be raising the flag at a ceremony on Monday, June 1st at noon in front of City
Hall right back here.
And I welcome anybody from the public that would like to attend during that event.
And I'll say a few words and we'll have people that are around there to celebrate that occasion and with that
I'll make the motion to approve
second we have a motion in a second
Mayor Welk. Aye. Councilmember Silva. Aye. Councilmember Darlene. Aye. Councilmember Davini. Aye. Mayor Pro Tem Francois. Aye.
Next we have 2e. Councilmember Silva. Thank you very much mayor
2e is changes to our council handbook
we're mostly reflecting items that are legislative in nature that are required
by state law but there are a couple of items that are not that are cleanup
items but first I would like to we had some corrections to the changes related
to the potential for disruption of the two-way communication system that we now
have to have so perhaps the city clerk could explain what the difference is
between what we had in front of us originally and what's here tonight. Okay
so the addendum that is at the dais and in the back of the room provides
additional revisions to section 9.7 and it states that a recess will be taken
for one hour following the disruption or until service can be restored whichever
is earlier. What was originally presented was stating that we had to wait the full
hour but this clarifies that we are either gonna wait until either the hour
or if we get the issue resolved in 10 minutes we can resume the meeting at
that time. And what happens if we are unable to despite efforts to restore
service after an hour we can't get service back? If we are unable to restore
service there is a section that we are proposing that says if service is not
restored. The council may resume the meeting upon a roll call vote making
findings that good faith efforts were made to restore service and that
continuing the meeting serves the public interest more than the public
interest served by the remote public access. Thank you very much. The other
item I wanted to talk about is on page 7 of the handbook. It's the proposed
change in when the election of Mayor and Mayor Pro Tem would occur in December.
I've been on this council almost 20 years and every year we do this process
but it is a moving date because every other year it is triggered the date we
can do this is triggered by the election otherwise we can definitely do it at the
first meeting in December. It's caused times when the we are trying to find a
special meeting time but we're trying to do it in October which is hard for our
schedules. It also means just the way we schedule this that the first meeting of
the new council is actually the third Tuesday of December and more often than
I can count there have been substantive items on that meeting even though it
It's brand new council that has not been necessarily familiar with the topics, such as it would
have been, I think the BART approvals were on that meeting night, and we had new council
members.
So, I've wondered for a while if there was a way that we could do that December, the
timing of the December meeting slightly differently, so that was consistent from year to year,
as well as a little operationally easier.
So I asked the clerk and I asked the city manager and
I'll ask the clerk to explain what the law says we can and can't do
Okay, so the election code
stipulates when we have to
Declare the results and install new the new newly seated council members
And so that has to occur no later than the next regularly scheduled City Council meeting following the presentation of the 28 day
canvas of returns
So that will generally fall the first week of December
So and what has happened over time is it is frequently they're racing to get it done and we're
Affirming or approving the election results at the last minute that they're coming in at five o'clock
And we're approving them
So what and it's because our count our first Tuesday of the month is exactly 28 days from the election every two years
So we end up if we had a meeting on if our meetings were on the first Thursday of the month
We wouldn't have as much of a challenge in the scheduling. So
What are our options or is it is this just a possibility and what I'd like to suggest is we ask staff to consider
Maybe some options that would be more efficient for us as a council and for the community and come back on this one item
Not the handbook as a whole approve the changes proposed to the handbook and have asked staff to come back with a little more
Clarification and maybe we won't think it is a problem, but at least we would have had an opportunity to talk about our own schedule
so I
Guess what I asked the city manager. Is there a specific question that you would propose
Because it's not like there's just you're looking for more clarification in general, but it sounds like we've got the clarification
It sounds like it's it's the state law that we have to there are other ways that other cities
Would you like to explain what other cities are doing because other cities have the same challenge?
So, yes, I was able to talk to a few other cities
Pittsburgh generally handles it in the same manner we we do
Because their meetings fall on the same date, so they do sometimes plan for a special meeting
So Martinez will adjourn their first meeting to the following week.
So they will come together and meet but then they continue to a date, they select a date
and they would handle it that way.
So basically they would have the second and third weeks that they would meet, not the
first and third.
Well, then they still have that third.
They still have their first and third meetings,
but they have a meeting to meet.
Yeah, the second.
Yes.
OK.
Or the fourth and third.
And it's a continuation of the first meeting.
It is the first meeting.
It's the first meeting continued.
OK.
And then I would say, Arinda meets the first and third
Tuesday like Walnut Creek.
They interpret the code a little bit differently
to say that to mean that at the next regular meeting
after they receive the results from the county.
So they've already generally posted their agenda
on the Thursday or Friday when they receive the results
on Monday or Tuesday.
So they're interpreting it at the next meeting.
So have we had issues?
I know that I like that interpretation.
It seems very like solves the problem.
In 2024, I know there was an issue where we were looking,
are they going to be certifying it in time?
But have we had issues where there has been a concern of who
got the top two when there's an election for two council
members or one when there are three council members that
are up that there's a question between who
came in third and fourth?
Have we had experiences like that
where there has been an unsure of who
is going to be that second or that third council member?
I don't recall it being that close.
So we have historically been able to certify the results
at the first meeting, at our first meeting.
Yes, it's difficult and we're stressed, but it gets done.
The one concern I have about having it
on the third week of December is that we're really
coming close to the Christmas holidays
where people are going to be making already
plans for Christmas and it could be as late as the 19th or 20th, if I count that right.
Could be as late as the 19th or 20th and that's the only concern that I would have
having it the third week. But let me ask actually, if I could ask the city attorney, your
interpretation of how this is working and then we can decide if this is
something that we want to vote on in a future meeting. So the way that the city
is doing it right now is consistent with state law. The state law does say that
that you consider at the next regular special meeting
after you've received the results.
And I would say that I think it's a bit of a stretch
to say that the next meeting is the one two weeks after
when you have a meeting that night.
So the way Arinda does it,
I think is an expansive reading of the statute.
But the way that the city does it now complies with law.
the process of adjourning that meeting to a date in the future would also, in my view,
be consistent with it because then you are doing it as part of the next regular meeting,
assuming that you're not adjourning it beyond another regular meeting.
So you would adjourn it within that 14-day period between the two.
So if the council wanted to do that, that, I think, is something that you could do, because
you would be satisfying the state law requirement and also being able to select the mayor and
the vice mayor at a consistent meeting on a yearly basis.
That would, in all likelihood, add a meeting to the council's calendar in December effectively
because you'd have to come a second day, which would then result in potentially three meetings
in December.
But that's something the council could do as well.
But we also have the authority, if I'm correct,
to not have the third Tuesday in December as a meeting,
since out of the last 10 years, it
has occurred on the 20th, the 21st,
or the 22nd of December.
It's that close to the holidays, and sometimes they
are big agendas.
When the council sets your regular meeting schedules
on an annualized basis, you could switch the second regular
meeting in December to a different date if you wish to do that.
So since it wasn't simple that's why I've made the suggestion that we actually
let staff study the alternatives and report back to us pros and cons and then
we can talk about it but in the meantime I'd be happy to make the motion on the
handbook sans these two sentences. I'd like just a little greater clarity on the
reasons for the change or the differences in the options for it's for
that one or two times when the 28th day is actually the day of or the day before
the first council meeting in December? The 28th day is always because there are
only 30 days, right? Yes. Our election is November 3rd and the
28th day falls on our first December 1st so it's correct. And so it's an issue
for the clerk in terms of being able to confirm it's tight you're saying but we
can do this yes so the county has to provide the results by the 28th day and
they they do so they take up until the 28th day whether it be at 10 a.m. 1 1
p.m. but they have it's but we've been successful and receiving it and being
able to hold the meeting to certify the election results I don't know I'm not
opposed to looking at options I I would not be inclined to cancel the second
meeting in December because we tend to not have the first meeting in January
and it seems like that's a long break when some business might need to be done
and I also like the tradition of the mayor vice mayor rotation happening at a
kind of a ceremonial meeting at that first meeting in December. Which would
basically mean we would not be having substantive conversations of what's
needed for agenda items for a month and a half. True. So I mean I don't have a
problem with staff studying this and coming back with options and and taking
a look at this. We haven't had an issue in the past I know that there's been
Some stress on the clerks, but I anticipate that if we go to districts the voter pool will get smaller and it's greater
likelihood of a tie
Martinez has had it Richmond's had it where they had to figure it out
Well anyway, it's if you want to make the motion and then we'll go from there I may go down in flames
I moved to approve the changes to the
Consent calendar item 2e are the City Council handbook except for removing the change from paragraph
4 on page 7
pending further information
We have a second. I
Really went down
Okay, well do we have another motion then?
Let me try this one. I moved to approve the revisions to the City Council handbook as
presented with the requests of staff to look at the issue and to see if
And discuss with the mayor and the mayor pro tem whether or not to bring it back as an agenda item
So you're saying to approve item 2d as is but also direct staff to come back with a clarification at some point that we could
vote on. Yeah, that's what I'm thinking. I'll second that. We have a motion to second that.
I can live with that if it's not being decided by two of us because two of us never decide. No,
no, we would have to vote on as a council. Yeah, it would come back to us as a council.
Mayor, if I may just for the record, that would include the change that was distributed to the
council this evening. The changes in the, my motion includes the changes to the meetings
in case we have booboos.
Right.
But there were also, there's an addendum today.
I just want to make sure that the motion includes
the addendum as well, too.
The addendum that is on the diocese included in my motion.
OK.
That's the booboo.
That's the technical term.
That's the formality term.
That is a technical term for that.
All right.
We have a motion and a second.
Councilmember Darling.
Aye.
Mayor Wilk.
Aye.
Councilmember Davini.
Aye.
But I just want to note, I'd also
like to discuss this item a little further.
So while I'm saying aye to this, I have additional comments.
Councilmember Silva?
Aye.
Mayor Pro Tem Francois?
Aye.
Motion carries.
OK, so that's the city manager, if I could ask that this item
be brought at some point on the calendar to discuss.
I don't know if it even has to be vetted by the Ledge Committee
first.
Just bring it back to Council.
Before the first meeting in December.
Before the first meeting, right?
I think we could do that much.
Before we have to notice the first meeting in December.
You're right.
Right.
So, OK, great.
The consent calendar is now behind us.
Oh, well, 2E continued.
No, I'm still on 2E.
That was my caveat in my saying, aye, is I still want to discuss that item, not that
particular issue, another issue regarding 2E.
On 2E?
Yeah.
Oh, OK.
It's not going to change it.
I just have a question for the clerk about the item.
OK.
So my question is, there's a two hour training program
about finances for all new members.
And then there's, I think every two years,
there's a renewal for that training.
And my question is, can we make the training specific
to Walnut Creek finances for the new one
when folks are onboarded?
and then the renewals.
Can we structure those to coincide with finance meetings
so that we can use them as an opportunity
to bring us current on our current finances
and issues related to Walnut Creek?
Excuse me.
I would say potentially yes,
if that is something that council's interested in.
There is training that's available
through League of California Cities
through some other regional organizations that do provide this that
is a fairly it's broadly available and it's fairly low cost as a means to doing
that we could develop one customized in-house it would likely be higher
cost and the availability wouldn't be as convenient for folks but it's it's an
option. Yeah my thought was the initial one I'm sure there's good general ones
out there for folks coming on board but since we have the finance discussions
and meetings anyway sort of creating an educational piece out of that might be
give an opportunity for us to get you know those on the council to get
current with our finances so perhaps we can look into that option for the
renewal or help me help me understand something the finance committee is a
a body of two, the rest of us can't go.
No, it's not to be at the Finance Committee.
My thought was that since we have the committee meetings,
especially the ones that are sort of like annual updates,
that out of that content, we could easily
generate a two-hour educational piece that all of us
could take online or wherever.
And then that way, the education is sort of pertinent to what's
happening in Walnut Creek and our finances instead of sometimes those
compliance training videos are not as impactful as they could be so that was
my thought is how to make them more impactful for us here in Walnut Creek I
might offer up a third option for the council's consideration is you know to
meet the the requirement we could do the standard training we could also provide
some of this separate training relative to an update on the city's finances. That
way the fundamentals of what's legally required to be covered per this new law
are covered with the more general training and then we could have a
follow-on that walks through city finances specifically of Walnut Creek.
That could be an option as well. The only reason I mention that is another
option is I just want to make sure we cover all the legal aspects that are
intended that are more general to fiduciary responsibility that sort of
thing that is not specific to Walnut Creek so most of the training is is
intentionally general to cover any variety of situations various governing
bodies that have fiduciary responsibilities we need to make sure
we cover that and then we could effectively have an addendum of sort
that we could do locally so I just stop for that over consideration. Yeah it wasn't my
intention to extend it but if there's a legal requirement that needs to be
covered then you can you know disregard. Yeah I would just add I think the
quarterly fiscal updates that they tend to be on the consent calendar but those
also would provide more of a local view of what's happening in Walnut Creek. I
think it's hard because the training is required by the state and it has to be
standardized and even the updates probably are going to be fairly
standardized to meet the requirement. So if I could I was going to offer that one
of the things you get from a standardized presentation is new ideas.
If we just hear about what's going on in Walnut Creek there are no new ideas it's
just how we're doing it. And so had we done that four years ago we wouldn't have
had the basics of bond financing under our belt and we would have had it
through this training probably. And I think the other is that we will also
all serve on other boards and getting the general guidance, not everybody is
AAA rated and not everybody so having us be well rooted in the state
requirements. I have found to be really helpful for me and my other assignments, so.
I don't think we need a vote on that, okay. I think we're done with the consent
calendar. Okay, next is public communications. And this portion of the
meeting is reserved for comment on items not on the agenda. Under the Brown Act,
the council cannot act on items raised during public communications but may
respond briefly to statements raised during public communications. The
statements made are questions posed, request clarification or for the item to
staff. Consistent with section 9.5 the City Council handbook, 30 minutes will be
allocated at this time for public communications for items not on the
agenda. Additional time for public communications for items on the agenda
will be provided at the end of the meeting if necessary and it is now we'll
call it 650 we'll go until 720 for items not on the agenda. Do we have
anybody anybody speaking for public comments? Going once twice? All right I
guess not. Your introduction was longer than the comments. Evidently. Okay next
we've got council member staff and staff announcements reports on activities or
requests do we have any well there was no closed session so there's no closed
session announcement. City Manager report. Yeah good evening mayor I do have a
couple of dates this evening. The first day I just wanted to share what I thought was
some really interesting economic information. Last week the East Bay
Economic Development Association held an economic forum. They covered numerous
topics, mostly focused on the East Bay, but there were a few of note, one being
that economic activity and rents are increasing in San Francisco and Oakland,
which is generally viewed as favorable. It's been flat for a while, growth had
been slowing or shrinking, it's starting to grow, to the positive sign for the region
that they do project that there'll be a spillover effect in the other parts of the Bay Area.
The part that I thought was most interesting was capital, venture capital investment into
the Bay Area and how it compares to the rest of the country, so just some numbers to take
in.
In 2024, there was $100 billion of venture capital in the United States, 46 percent of
that was in the Bay Area, so just under half.
That number in 2025 grew from $100 billion to $178 billion, and 62 percent of that was
in the Bay Area.
So far in 2026, we grew from $178 billion to $236 billion, where obviously less than
halfway through the year, and 79 percent of that is in the Bay Area.
So this notion that California is struggling, the Bay Area is dying is not particularly
accurate. Not surprisingly, this is almost all artificial intelligence from robotics.
The number of firms is just multiplying exponentially, and it's almost all housed here in the Bay
Area. On a separate note, related to office, office is still struggling in the Bay Area
because there is a lot more remote work. However, one of the biggest growth areas for conversions
of more traditional office space is in healthcare and converting to healthcare, which actually
bodes really well for Walnut Creek, and it was highlighted as such.
We have a lot of health care here, and there's a lot of demands that is an area that is projected
to continue to grow, and I think we're well situated that here in Walnut Creek.
Two other updates I had, nothing related to the economic update, just a few tidbits there.
Just a reminder for everybody, there were some of the public safety power shutoff events
in Contra Costa County and around the region with the high winds.
There have been some fires around the state, so it's just a good reminder that fire season
in California can occur any time, however we are about to enter prime fire
season to be prepared. I recommend everybody have a personal emergency plan
and have supplies. You can find more information on the city's website at
walnutcreeksa.gov about emergency kits and preparedness. Also would encourage
folks who have not signed up for Walnut Creek Alert to please do so. It's WC Alert.
You can go to the wet city's website, or you can simply text WCAlert to the number 888777.
Again, that is WCAlert to be texted to 888777.
I also encourage folks who are interested who want updates beyond Walnut Creek to sign
up for alerts from the county's community warning system, which is at cwsalerts.com.
So you can get ample information.
And then on a positive note related to fire, I think, as most are all, everybody is aware,
Fire Chief Louis Burchard retired recently.
The Contra Costa County Fire Protection District, which provides service here in Walnut Creek
and throughout most of Contra Costa County, retired.
And Deputy Chief Aaron McAllister was appointed to the office after a competitive search,
so congratulations to Chief McAllister.
I'm sure we'll see him here before long.
Thanks, Dan.
curious were there any power shutoffs in Walnut Creek? I didn't see that there
were any specifically in Walnut Creek. There was a power outage right on the
border between Walnut Creek and Pleasant Hill, but I don't know if that was
actually a PSPS. I think it might have been an incidental power outage, but
there were outages in the Danville area and a few other areas of East County
that did have large swaths of power outages. Well, considering I live in one
of the areas, as you do, that have a lot of power outages, I'm happy that that
That didn't happen this time.
All right, now we are on to our council member reports.
I'm gonna start with council member Darlie.
Thank you.
I joined the mayor and council member Silva
at the Trinity Center Gala out at Lafayette Park Hotel
this week and that was a great chance to get together
and talk about the challenges that Trinity faces
and support them.
I got to go on the cleanup crew Saturday morning
pickup trash and that is always weirdly satisfying but really I all you have to
do is drive down some of the other freeway off-ramps and realize how much
that crew does to keep Walnut Creek looking its best. I did get MCE sponsored
a field trip out to the Mulqueenie wind development and I went with my
counterpart from Lafayette and it was fascinating it was an existing wind
development which is why they're redeveloping it now because it has the
interconnection ready to go into a substation so that it as soon as those
towers come online but they had gone through and using AI and wind
monitoring they'd figured it they'd optimized the new turbines that are
going in they figured out where in the wind column was most predictable and
when it was best timed to counter to work with the solar. So they have, they're
actually a little bit shorter towers because the wind close to the ground was
steadier in the evenings. But the, and this I'm going to speak, say this one
really loud so people back in Washington DC can hear it, they also have a camera
system that detects raptors, birds of prey, including golden eagles in the area
other wind farms and the wind farm adjacent to this new wind farm already
has the technology working. As soon as they spot a raptor all the turbines
blades feather and they slow and it prevents the mortality of raptors that
has been a big issue with them wind projects and that was really it was
really fun to see just the technology that has driven this to be such a great
source of electricity. And last but not least I got to do the farmer's market
and I got there before the almond croissants were sold out so it was a good
day. All right thank you councilmember Silva. Thank you very much mayor and I
didn't know which vendor sells the almond croissants. You're gonna keep it
you're gonna make me pay for this aren't you? Okay I'll have to remember that. A few
items to report thank you very much this Thursday evening will be the monthly
or the bi-monthly meeting of the Association of Bay Area Governments
Executive Committee we have a packed agenda one item is we have to review and
approve the budget that will be presented at the General Assembly
meeting in June for approval the second is we will be reviewing and making a
recommendation on who should be president and vice president of a bag
for the coming two years and our colleague from the county, Ken Carlson,
is nominated to be vice president but it's a it'll be a contentious race. And
thirdly we are getting an update on how the Rena process looks to be working out.
I know it seems like we just did the housing element but the Rena process
next the seventh cycle, the housing elements are due by January 31st, 2031 in
in the Bay Area. And there's new legislation adopted that says that HCD has to provide
the numbers and the allocation to each of the regions three years prior rather than
two years prior to the date. So we will be getting numbers earlier and allowed to start
the process earlier and I'll be able to report on some of the other items that are expected
in this.
Number two, I really want to thank Public Works and Public Safety staff. Last Thursday
they was biked to anywhere we day and I stopped by the station at Newell and
Broadway at 8 o'clock in the morning and it was very well attended and I know
they did a bang-up job in the afternoon as well so thank you for making that
happen and working collaboratively on that. The Sister Cities International
annual meeting is June 7th if you haven't already please remember to pay
your dues, hand to hand, for the year. And the meeting will be from 4 to 6. It's an ice
cream social. It will be in Civic Park on June 7th. And it will include the approval
of their budget and officers for the coming year. And lastly, there are a number of things
coming up at the Lesher Center, and I represent the City Council as a liaison to the Diablo
Regional Arts Association. First of all, from May 31st to June 28th, Center Rep will be
presenting the music call, the pop rock musical called Jagged Little Pill. It's
Alanis Morissette music. It should be fabulous so get tickets. Fiesta
Cultural is this year scheduled for June 12th and 13th. On the 12th will be the
Pacific Mambo Orchestra performing at the Lesher Center and on the 13th will
be the street fair from 12 to 5. And finally also through June 28th the
the Bedford Gallery is presenting Aztec stories in modern Mexico, which is a retrospective
of the five decades of the artwork of the artist, Incencio Jimenez Chino, and through
his paintings and video interviews. So you should check that out as well, and thank you
everyone for what you do.
Thank you, Councilmember Silva. Let's go to Councilmember Davini.
Good evening. Let's see on May 9th we had the ridge to ridge run. It was the first
annual for sustainable Contra Costa. It was a 5k. It was a lot of fun so next year
maybe some of my running colleagues will be out there and supporting this year it
was supporting and maybe it will be every year but supporting youth leaders
leaders, youth, sustainable leaders.
Let's see, we had Mayor Pro Tem Francois and I had our finance committee meeting on
the 12th, and we'll be talking about that later.
I wanted to recognize our economic development department.
We were awarded an award of merit by the California Association of Local Economic Development
in April of this year
for our permitted outdoor dining structure program.
We've had seven dining structures so far
and hopefully a few more to come,
but great job from the Economic Development Department.
I spent the May 14th and May 15th at CCTA Workshop.
And I just wanted to give the public
a little background on that issue
because it's going to be coming to the ballot,
not this cycle, but the next.
We are, this county is what's considered a self-help county,
meaning we tax ourselves half a cent at the county level
for sales tax.
And we use that funding to supplement
state and federal funding to help us complete transportation
projects and services.
This started with Measure C in 1988
and was renewed by the most current Measure J in 2008
for 25 years.
This measure created the Contra Costa Transit Authority,
which is not an organization of Contra Costa County.
It's a separate entity to think of it as a district,
and it collects that tax.
And it works with local, regional, and city transportation
department to provide both capital improvement
projects for the county and for our locality,
as well as services.
They are able to leverage for their capital improvement
projects state and federal funding.
So this last cycle, this 25-year cycle,
they took $800 million in sales tax revenue.
And they were able to complete $2.4 billion worth
of capital improvement projects for transportation services.
Every county in the Bay Area has an authority such as ours.
And every county in the Bay Area is taxing themselves
to be a self-help district.
So what we did for the 14th and the 15th,
this last Thursday and Friday, is
we met to the board and other members
of the Regional Transportation Boards
met to discuss what the next funding cycle would
look like for the voters, which would be, again,
going to be put on the ballot.
We're looking at maybe 2028.
And so it's our opportunity to reach out to the public
and find out what are the transportation issues that
are most important to us in Walnut Creek?
How do we see that as both for our city,
as well as how that plays out locally?
For example, this last cycle, the funding
built the fourth board, the Caldecott Tunnel, the BART
extension to Antioch, 680 and 242 improvements.
It also does carpool lane extensions.
It funded bike and pedestrian and trail projects,
transportation services for seniors,
and those with disabilities, as well as fixed bus routes.
So when I returned from the workshop,
had a conversation with our city manager.
And we talked about some ways that we could potentially
reach out to the public.
One of the areas that might be helpful
is having a place like a landing site on our website
where folks from the community could log suggestions
or transportation projects that they'd like to see locally
or in Walnut Creek.
And I think the stronger we are with our message
for what we'd like, the more likely
that is to show up on the expenditure plan, which
is what will go to the voters.
So more to come on that if we get something
like that up and going.
But I just wanted to bring the city up to date
on that important issue.
And finally, I wanted to just remember,
we had this last Friday was Police Memorial Day.
That was on the 15th.
so I wanna take the time to remember and pay tribute
to the brave law enforcement officers
who have lost their lives in the line of duty
while serving and protecting our community.
As with deep gratitude, we thank them
for their service and their sacrifice.
Thank you, Council Member Davini, Mayor Pro Tem.
Thank you, Mayor.
I will be relatively brief because my main item,
my council duty was the Finance Committee,
fiscal year 26 and 27 adjustments.
Those are both on our agenda tonight,
so we'll get a full briefing on that.
And just wanted to point out as well
that the Library Foundation gala,
which has been reported on our last meeting,
authors under the stars at the end of August
and numbers have come in,
record-breaking over $110,000 raised
for ebook programs and a new outdoor patio restoration.
So thank you to all my colleagues
for coming and supporting that great cause.
And I had questions for a couple of my colleagues about councilmember darling.
Where did you say the wind farm was the wind farm?
Mulqueenie is out in between Tracy Hills and Livermore.
Okay. So that's a month pass. Right. Yeah. Yeah. Thank you for that update.
And council member Silva,
any early projections on what arena numbers are likely to be
bigger?
Fair enough. Well, no, actually the staff report for Thursday points out.
we went from the last cycle it was a huge jump across the state. We went from
187,000 in the fifth cycle to 441,000 in the sixth cycle. So the likelihood of
having another jump like that is not likely. However, they did point out in the
staff report that there were two items that were added to the RINA requirements.
One is that we have to allow for, and our numbers have to allow for, the unhoused,
which typically they we have programs but we have not been counting them it's
a going to be a struggle for cities to be able to do that because most of that
responsibility lies with the counties and then the other thing is we now have
to allow for university students particularly Cal and CSU but that's not
our problem and then the other issue is they've merged if they've taken the
lowest it bifurcated the lowest category of very low income and created it like
very very low income and very very very low income and so it's going to mean
more there was a huge argument about it I'm exaggerate I'm not exaggerating but
it's like the terminology of something and so that's going to impact how the
the numbers get massaged.
Thank you.
All right.
And to wrap it up here, I mentioned
that I did speak at the Leadership Contra Costa, which
is run by the Walnut Creek Chamber of Commerce.
They do a great job.
They had over 30 graduates.
I know that Mike Nieman was one of them,
our economic development manager,
and terrific to be able to speak to them on housing.
And it's thanks to people like the director of our community
development director, Erica Vandenbrand, and her team
that make me look good when I'm speaking on a panel
and discussing what's happening in Walnut Creek
and all of the particulars.
And I especially appreciate that.
Even last minute requests, I get the information that I need.
So thank you and your team for making me look so good.
Thank you, Matt Redman, also, for being so involved in that
and helping me out.
I mentioned that there was a variety of different speeches,
everything from different Rossmore groups,
Berean Christian high school students,
talking about housing and everything happening
in Walnut Creek.
And it's just great to see,
especially when it comes to the government students
that we speak to and Mayor Brautem Matt Francois
has joined me on several of these others over the years,
that when they're so engaged,
they wanna know what's happening in Walnut Creek,
they really wanna know what's happening
when it comes to casual and fast dining
and what's coming in.
So the biggest applause was that Raising Canes
is coming into where Wendy's just closed.
But that said, it's great to get that kind of engagement.
The city manager joined me on giving a proclamation
to the assistant league, the former assistant league,
which is now the Diablo Valley Giving Partners.
That happened last week.
Along with council member Silva,
I happened to go to the bike rodeo at Civic Park.
It was a great turnout.
Huge congratulations to Public Works and Brianna,
who I know this was her baby and putting it all together,
but it was just great to see that level of involvement
from adults and kids and everybody else.
So wonderful to see.
There was the Cancer Support Community Walk
that was at Civic Park over the weekend.
Again, I've said this before.
I think we all have said this.
I think we're so fortunate that Walnut Creek
is the host of so many of these worthy causes.
And there were hundreds and hundreds of people
showed up for the Hope Walk on Saturday morning and and again just great to be
out there early and see that level of enthusiasm we were at the Trinity Center
gallon fundraiser and then I went to the Ruth Bancroft Garden fundraiser in
gala two nights later lots of plants for sale and and auctions and I wanted to
quickly bring up again just to highlight for County Connection which I am the
Liaison for. The Youth Ride Free Program is beginning June 1st through July 31st.
There'll be a big press and rollout announcements. It's coming in the next
few days, two weeks, and the Youth Ride Free Program is designed to boost
ridership over the summer months, while helping young people build familiarity
and confidence in riding transit. And so this is something we're getting them
used to not having to take a car when they get their driver's license. So we're
We're getting participation now from all of our other agencies that are public transit
agencies as well.
And then I did want to mention that the Memorial Day event is coming up on this Monday, May
25th, 11 a.m. at Civic Park.
It's a great event, great turnout.
I think most of us are going to be there.
We usually have representatives from our state senate, state assembly, and congress member
as well.
Sometimes it's a TBD who actually shows up, but it's always a great event, and I hope
to see many members of the community that are there.
And I think that wraps up our council member comments.
So next.
I just want to say I would love to be there,
but the ER doesn't close, and I'll be there on Monday,
so I won't be able to join you memorial.
But I wish I could be there.
And we'll make sure that nobody from there
has to go to the ER afterwards.
We'll rely on our excellent Walnut Creek police force
to ensure that that happens.
All right.
Next we have our item for consideration, which
is an update on the 2025 and 2026 city council priorities
and approval to survey or conduct outreach
with the community to inform future council priorities.
And I invite city manager, not city manager,
but what is your title, Joe?
Joe Caroza forward to provide the presentation.
Assistant to the city manager.
OK.
Well, you've been promoted on my script.
All right.
Okay, good evening council members,
members of the public staff,
yet Joe Caroza, assistant to the city manager.
And I'll be kicking off tonight's presentation.
Thank you for your time this evening
to highlight both the accomplishments
and the significant ongoing work
that has been going on under your five city council
priorities for calendar years 2025 and 2026.
So the recommended actions tonight are to one accept
and receive the update on the 2025 and 2026 City Council
priorities and the related report,
but also to consider approving staff to survey
or to conduct outreach in some other manner
or a combination of both
to inform future City Council priorities.
I'm gonna go over this at the end of the presentation
a little bit later tonight.
So in February of 2025, City Council identified
five priorities for calendar years 2025 and 2026,
and they're listed here on the screen in alphabetical order.
And tonight's presentation is intended to show you
how these priorities are moving forward to date
and what's on the horizon.
And as we've done for the past few priorities,
we're going to be hearing directly from our staff leads
for each of these five council priorities.
And these leads are the staff that are turning
these priorities into real projects and accomplishments
with the help of their teams.
And so I'm going to invite up shortly Mike Nieman, who
will cover economic development in downtown Vitality,
Candace Rankin-Mumby, who will cover environmental
sustainability and climate action.
We have Erica Vandenbrand for a general plan update,
Rich Payne for park and recreation facilities.
And then we have our chief Ryan Hibbs
to cover public safety and social wellness.
While these leads are the drivers of the work involved
in accomplishing these city council priorities,
the work is being done across our entire city
from the support and collaboration of many teams
and many staff members.
Oops, gotta go backwards.
First, some logistics.
So each of our leads are gonna go ahead and cover
at a high level, high summary level,
what's been going on to date for their particular item.
And then before inviting and passing the baton
to the next lead, we'll pause and go ahead
and answer any questions you might have,
invite any feedback, and input for the priority.
And so with that, I'm gonna go ahead and pass
to our first lead, Mike, to cover the accomplishments
and work in progress for economic development
and downtown vitality.
Good evening, Mayor, Council, members of the public.
I'm Mike Nieman, your economic development manager.
And to remind you, as you know, economic development
is a priority to council.
There are four goals.
And the goals are all designed to improve vitality,
focus on business attraction, business retention,
and making sure that the city continues to be vibrant.
The first strategic objective is to continue building
a resilient, diverse economy.
Our key accomplishments in that arena,
include getting a scope together for a marketing campaign that we will be kicking off during
the next fiscal year.
We continue collaborating with DVTI, which is a Diablo Valley tech initiative through
DVC, as well as other educational institutions focused on tech-oriented initiatives and growing
a tech cluster here locally.
We have also conducted two mayor's retention visits, and you could see this photo here
is from one of them.
This was with Hilton Garden Inn, where they had recently celebrated just over a year in
business.
The second one was with Original Joe's.
We have also conducted outreach and are continuing to do so to some of the businesses in the
shadeland.
We know that some of the office space will be demolished as part of the Mitchell Town
Homes Project.
A lot of those businesses are local, and we know that a lot of owners want to continue
staying in the city, so we have been reaching out to them, consistent with the phasing for
that project, making sure that we support their retention here in town.
The second objective is continue creating a business-friendly environment.
Through the accomplishments, we have conducted another broker roundtable that was done in
March and we have been doing one to two of these a year in collaboration with
the chamber with the goal of soliciting input from the business community and
staying ahead and on par with some of the emerging trends. Some of those trends
change quickly and we want to make sure that we are reactive. We also continue
processing improvement training and implementation the lean process that the
The city kicked off last year.
There was a lot of effort and a lot of improvements
that are rolling out of that process
as staff is undergoing through it
in community development divisions
as well as economic development staff.
We'll also continue ongoing outreach to local businesses,
property owners, brokers, and other stakeholders
as we continuously build relationships
and work closely with the members of the business community.
The third goal is the focus on downtown.
Among accomplishments there,
we continue working with Walnut Creek downtown
to market the Pods Incentive Program.
We are happy to report, as mentioned earlier,
by Council Member Davini,
that seven have been completed to date
and one is under construction.
We are also happy to report
that the city has been the recipient
of the CALED award due to that program.
And that has really taken a multi-faceted effort.
It really started with the forward thinking
to design that program and the robust community outreach
that ended up with the preset of designs.
We marketed that program to businesses
and work closely to incorporate their feedback.
And a lot of work has been done in collaboration
with community development staff and public works staff
to make sure that we are proactive
and we work closely with the businesses
that ended up with the success and delivery of the pods.
And one of the more important elements was the grant
that council passed last year.
So I do want to thank you for the forward-looking grant
that has been instrumental in making sure
that business owners bought into the vision.
And in some cases that generated a return of about four,
five to one in terms of the public dollars invested being matched by the private sector
investment which then brought this enhanced vitality to downtown and I also want to thank
council for the recent implementation of the entertainment zone and we're excited about that
concept in partnership with the WCD as they're gearing up for their two summer events that are
Coming up in July and August, Locust Street Festival.
So we're excited to see that in the works.
And the last economic development goal
is promotion of the city as a brand,
and continue being a premier destination
and distinguished quality of life community.
We're doing that through continued
being the city's data broker, continuing to market,
and being a central compository for data.
We're now developing a key performance indicator dashboard
that I mentioned to council during the last presentation.
We're close to rolling it out.
And you could see the interactive design of it
here on the slide.
It's meant to be providing current data as well
as being interactive and going backwards for each
of the key performance indicators.
We'll also continue coordinating quarterly stakeholder
meetings with our partners being Walnut Creek downtown, the chamber as well as
Lesher Center for the Arts. We are heavily involved in the data collection
for the upcoming general plan and last but not least we are finishing up the
city's economic development action plan. The last action plan was for 25-26 and
and we're now putting together a two-year document
that will be starting off as of fiscal year 27,
and that effort is forthcoming to Council this summer.
And with that, I will pause for questions.
Thank you, Mike.
Do we have any questions for Council Member Davini?
Hi, thank you for the presentation.
My question is about the lien process.
One of the items that had been discussed,
and I'm not sure if it was intended to be implemented
or was just on the table while we were discussing things,
was having a liaison assigned to the projects
that are going through the application process early on
to keep both sides apprised of what's happening.
So when I look into the times that people have had issues
or said, oh, the city hasn't done this,
the city hasn't done that, it's often not the case,
And it seems like something that we could have potentially
closed the loop with them and reminded them, like, hey,
you still haven't turned in that thing we're waiting for.
That is what's holding things up or things like that.
But are we implementing that?
Are we thinking about it?
Where are we in the process with that?
Yeah, thank you for the question.
And that's consistent with what we've
heard through this process.
We had a segment called The Voice of the Customer.
And some of our typical customers have voiced that that is something that is helpful.
We've also seen that work well during the outdoor dining process where we had the liaison
concept.
So that is something that we are looking at and that is something through the process
improvement process that we will come up with the optimal strategy for making sure that
this gets implemented once the lean process comes to an end.
Okay.
Thank you.
Marcela. Thank you for the update, Mike, and for the work that you're doing in
collaboration with so many departments in the city. You mentioned in your report
that you've had meetings with auto dealerships about their requirements and
meetings with restaurant owners. Top line, what is it what comments have stood out
to you in both of those types of meetings? With with restaurants, what we
we are hearing is that business continues to be well, but one of the opportunity areas
is a little bit of a lunch crowd, and what they're seeing is the impact that the remote
work on office has on lunch.
So having strategies such as outdoor dining is a way to try to enhance and bring up the
quality of life to continue making it competitive and
attracting some of the people here that may offset
some of the losses that they're experiencing at
least in the recent year or two from the lunch crowd
in particular.
As far as the auto dealers, there are really unique
challenges based on some of the locations, but
certainly there is an opportunity and what we're
hearing is enthusiasm in terms of having more
cohesion and potentially partnering with the city in terms of marketing our
auto cluster and having an industry as a whole rather than focusing on specific
dealerships. Thank you. And more a comment than a question but, Michael,
we appreciate on whether it's business openings or anything that has to do with
economic growth of any sort, there you are with a certificate on behalf of the
Walnut Creek to be able to help me provide to the business, you
or Casava or sometimes both, and, of course,
with the business retention meetings as well.
So I really appreciate that.
Also, thanks for being part of the Walnut Creek downtown
meeting that we had the other last week.
And one thing we talked about, and we
have to see if we're going to get action on this,
is that I had suggested that people that go to the Lesher
Center have their ticket and the day of the event,
they can go to participating restaurants or businesses
in downtown Walnut Creek and maybe get 10% off
or something like that.
If they go before or after the show,
which helps to bring that crowd that's already there
coming before or after and spending a little extra money
and time in Walnut Creek and avoiding 45 minutes
in the garage while they're waiting to get out as well.
So hopefully that conversation continues
and it can come to fruition because I think it's just,
it's ready made for additional opportunities downtown.
Great suggestion and just to follow up, it's not part of the four, but what the city manager
said earlier about health care and tech largely driven by AI, how are we planning for including
that in our economic development action plan update and the outreach that will be needed
to those industries to find out what their needs are?
Yes, I would say that is definitely something that we are tracking, and as you will see
in the upcoming action plan, we are focused on certain industries.
The action plan is a two-year document, so it's by default more focused on what is happening
now and more recent shorter term trends, such as tech and AI.
And in addition to that framework through the action plan, we're also looking through
the general plan framework on much longer-term economic opportunities as well.
And that's where longer-term repositioning some of the office into whether it's medical
office or other uses based on longer-term trends is also something that we are involved
in and are thinking very hard about.
So those two documents are complementary in nature with the difference in frame for the
timeline.
And it just that that's helpful and then in terms of the outreach to is it the John Muir and Kaiser and other major health care providers here but also are we, you know, talking to the folks in that industry because they have their own campuses which are pretty well built out it seems
like but kind of what what are the areas maybe that we're missing. Still we're gathering that information and trying to figure out kind of what the gaps are.
Yeah, that's exactly right.
We are having an active dialogue with the campuses,
but we also are talking to some of the smaller tenants
and users in trying to figure out
if there are any opportunities,
also with the understanding that when it comes
to Kaiser and John Muir, they kind of have
an inherent interest to try to capture those as well.
So conversation really becomes, are there any opportunities
and are there any opportunities that we can help them
capture because they already have an interest
inherently to try to capture them as well.
Okay, thank you.
All right, thank you Mike.
Well thank you and with that I would like to introduce
Candice to talk about sustainability next.
All right, we need a baton, like a relay race.
Good evening mayor and council members,
I'm Candice Rankin-Mumby, your sustainability manager.
And as Mike mentioned, I'll be here to provide the update
on the environmental sustainability
and climate action priority.
This priority really focuses on implementing the sustainability
action plan, which the council adopted in 2023.
And as a reminder, one of the milestone years in that plan
was 2026.
So a lot of the priorities that we've been speaking about
are really modeled off of the plan as well.
And so I'm going to provide high-level updates
in each of those six areas based off of what we've worked on
since we last updated you in February.
So first, we'll start with all-electric buildings.
Two updates, one focused on our own buildings
and one on the community.
So at your last council meeting on May 5th,
you did approve going into an on-bill financing agreement
through PG&E, which will allow us to work on three energy
efficiency upgrades at three of our different facilities.
So the Walnut Creek Library, La Lecher Center,
and the Clay Arts Building will be getting much more efficient
lighting and related upgrades that
are going to help bring down the energy burden on those facilities
as part of our larger energy management program
for our buildings.
And then community-wide, we've talked about this
at previous updates.
The Bay Area Air District is working
on implementing some rulemaking that they adopted,
I believe, in 2022, that is sometimes referred
to as Rule 9-6 that will, once it goes into effect,
will really change the way that residents
are able to upgrade their water heaters in their homes.
And then it will affect businesses as well.
And so we're really working on with different agencies
across the Bay Area to coordinate
on how we can make sure these rules are implemented
effectively and where we have both the ability
to communicate about them, but also where we come
into the process of updating, even though it's
being managed by the Air District, cities and counties
are able to make it more smooth, hopefully,
once it is adopted.
So the Air District is considering
some final adjustments to how that rulemaking will
go into effect.
So we're both monitoring that process
and any of those final changes
and then also preparing for the rules
once they're in place.
And we'll keep you updated on that
as more changes develop.
The next area is on electric vehicles
and we have been working on an EV strategic plan
to really build out the high level direction
that's involved in the sustainability action plan
around both our city fleet
and then our city managed publicly available chargers
And that we're just putting the final touches on that plan,
and we'll be back to you in July to go over it in detail.
And before then, we'll be going to Transportation Commission
this Thursday to provide an update to them
on the public charger element of that plan
and to get their feedback as well.
So that'll be incorporated when we come back to you in July.
And then even though we're working
on this very strategic plan, we are
taking advantage of implementation opportunities
as they present themselves, driving the EV as we're
building it a little bit and one of those opportunities is for fleet EV
charging at the Heather Farm Courtyard. We were able to get some funding from
PG&E to assist with the energy upgrades that will be needed there. So these will
be our first two DC fast chargers that the city has in our our the chargers
that we manage and the design on that project has begun. We were on site there
last week and we expect it to be completed by the first quarter of next
year. Next we'll talk about water and I'm going to use this as an organic plug for
Sustainable Contra Costa's Contra Costa Challenge. Their spring
challenge is all focused on water, the Water Wise Challenge, that they developed
with Contra Costa Water. And so this is an opportunity for community members to
really get some credit and some understanding of what they're doing well
to conserve water, but also maybe to take on another easy to do water saving
opportunity and if you go on to the Contra Costa challenge which you can
access through sustainablecoco.org and log your actions you can be entered
into a drawing for a prize. So this is going through the end of June so we're
working with sustainable Contra Costa to really get the word out about this
challenge and encourage folks to participate in conserved water this
summer. Next we'll talk about waste, reducing and improving the sorting and
since we last met in February we really focused a lot on plastic and a few
different capacities so first we've talked previously about a program that
Recycle Smart manages working with rethink disposables they have an
offering and funding for restaurants in the city to provide both technical
assistance and then purchase initial supplies for dine-in to go from
disposables to reusable so it's reduces the waste that those businesses generate
but it also they their track record has shown that they'll save money over time because they don't need to keep purchasing these supplies and
It's tends to elevate the experience for dining customers as well. So it's kind of a win-win-win
And it's really hands-on technical assistance
So we've been they've been doing an outreach on their own and had confirmed one restaurant that has worked its way
through the process a cafe and they're very close to being final and
Once they are we'll be able to share who they are and what they've done and kind of do
Some outreach to give them credit for that, but it is
Sometimes hard to get the attention of restaurants. They've got a lot going on
And this really is like a no-catch program
So we've been trying to do some more targeted outreach to really show that the city's behind this and this is a really great opportunity
And through that targeted outreach we've gotten four more restaurants that are interested in starting to work their way through the process
We have funding for up to eight this cycle, so there's room for three more
So we're continuing outreach if you have any of your favorite restaurants. You think might want to participate
let me know. But that was a really big win to get those four kind of continuing through the cycle.
And then we were honored to participate in Sustainable Walnut Creek's Earth Day film
screening of the story of plastic and Councilmember Davini joined in gave some welcoming remarks.
Then we had a panel after the film that I participated on along with Recycle Smart
staff and other community members really taking that more global perspective of the film and
bringing it local into Walnut Creek. It was a really well attended and received event. It was
and it was kind of a different style of celebration
for them this year.
So we were happy that that went well
and that we were part of that.
Then next we'll talk about what's really been
our Vegas focus since we were last speaking with you.
The gas-powered leaf blower ban went into effect April 1st.
And so since we met in February,
we've been continuing outreach really to make sure
that both residents and landscapers and property managers
are aware that this is a new policy
and that is on reach that we're continuing to do.
We expect to have two more videos, one in English and one in Spanish out in the next
couple of weeks.
But since April 1st, we have definitely seen that folks are aware of the policy and we
are starting to get reports of potential violations of the community.
So the Sustainability Division is managing that process.
And in the first month, we received about 230 complaints of potential violation.
So at this point, we're really working as an education-based enforcement, so reaching
out both to the complainant to acknowledge their report and then give them some resources
that they might not have been aware of and then, of course, also reach out to the properties
where the potential violations occurred, make sure that they know about the policy.
So we're doing this through the SeeClickFix portal, through phone calls and emails that
get generated from that outreach as well.
So we have had a lot of hands-on work on this over the last six weeks.
And the Stamely Division is a small but mighty team of two and a half.
And right now, this is taking up about 30% of our time.
So we have definitely seen a lot of engagement from the community on this, and expect to
continue in that way for a little bit.
And then the last topic that I'll touch on is a little bit different than our other five,
which are really focused on reducing our impact on the environment.
This is really on adjusting to a changing environment as we start to see impacts from
climate change.
And so the first is just an update
that we've talked in the past.
We have officially prepared a program
where we will have masks available to the public
at certain public facilities when there are declared air
quality emergencies.
So the program is ready to go, and we hope
we never have to activate it.
But if and when we do, this is brand new offering.
So we'll kind of see how that goes and adjust from there.
but it is kind of a limited supply sort of situation,
so it's not something that we're going to proactively promote,
but something that we hope will just be an additional amenity
to folks who happen to be using our facilities
in that kind of environment.
On a very different note,
we've been working with the business community
on how to promote our California Green Business Network,
which is managed by Contra Costa County.
They kind of reorganized the program a little bit
in the past year, so we've been meeting with our staff
to see how we can kind of re-energize that program,
get some more businesses to participate,
and then also encourage folks to patronize businesses
that are kind of going the extra step
to make sure that they are sustainable.
So we're hoping to have some more strategies
on that later this year.
With that, I'm happy to take any questions.
Thank you for that, and thank you
for all the work you guys are doing.
I know the leaf blower thing,
the number of questions I had.
My neighbor called me from Hawaii.
Okay, we're not there to talk to our landscaper.
Are we gonna get a ticket?
I'm like, no, don't worry, you're not gonna get a ticket.
But on the switch to electric water heaters,
I know MCE had a program we were testing
to see if loaner would help people, loaner water heaters.
And it turned out that didn't provide the benefit
that we were thinking.
Have you guys looked at anything else we can do
to help make that transition when it happens less painful?
Yes, so that is part of this larger regional effort
that staff from other cities and counties
and sustainably focused staff are really working on.
I will say, I do think loaner programs
will be more successful once the policy is in place
because that's when folks are going to
have to make that decision.
So I'm hoping that some of the early movers on that,
maybe we can learn from those programs
or maybe they'll come back.
But we're looking at other opportunities.
One is bulk purchasing.
So that's something that's been successful for solar.
And now battery at certain times in the year,
there's a nonprofit that gets guaranteed business
from these solar contractors.
And they're able to get a reduced rate.
And then if you sign up during a period of time,
you're able to get that.
So part of that effort they are looking at,
is there a way to adjust something similar like that
for this water heater market?
And then a lot of the other efforts that we're doing
really communication, making sure people know about the policy that's coming, and
if there's any sort of permitting processes that can be improved or make
it easier. But generally, the education on this really is to make sure you have a
plan in place. So, you know, when it dies, electrify is one potential approach, but
you have to make sure you're ready for when that comes. You know, nobody wants to
live without hot water. Yeah, yeah, it struck me. We had to go through this
process and the home improvement community, the contractors were the ones
who didn't seem like they really had their arms around it. Yeah, and thank
you for mentioning that. So that is a whole other, there's a group that's
working with realtors too so that they know, but then also the contractors are
really important piece. Some of them just don't have the most recent education on
it and so maybe are giving homeowners some out-of-date information on the
the quality of equipment.
And so Bayrun, which is our regional energy network,
they've been doing targeted contractor trainings.
And I think, I don't think it's happened yet,
but there's going to be one in Concord fairly soon.
And they're kind of working their way around the Bay Area.
Really getting hands-on with the technology,
with contractors, to be able to explain what it's like,
what the benefits are, and kind of demystify some of that.
So those have been successful so far,
and I think they're hoping to continue that as well.
Okay, thank you, and thank you for everything
you guys are doing.
Yeah, I'll echo that.
Thank you very much.
I just had a question.
Why, was there not the Earth Day Fair this year?
Yeah, so that was partially due to just capacity
from the volunteers who put it on in the past.
They were looking for something
that was a little bit lighter lift this year,
and then also wanted to try out a different model.
So, I know they felt like the film screening,
I agree, went really well.
I haven't debriefed with them yet on if they, you know,
April's a long time away from now,
but they started thinking about that early,
so I'm not sure what model they're gonna look for next year.
Great.
Questions?
Do you have a question?
Yeah, thank you.
My question is about the EV charging network,
and I think there's efforts at the county level too,
for like micromobility hubs and an EV network.
Are you coordinating between the two
to sort of space them out,
or not saturate some areas and miss others,
and things like that.
Yes, so we participate in quarterly calls
that are hosted by the county
and then other cities participate kind of talk
and participates in them as well,
talking about the efforts that we're doing
both for our own fleets, but for the public
and really coordinating on both learning best practices,
but also understanding where chargers would go.
And that group developed a blueprint
for looking at EV charging,
but it's from about 2019, I believe.
So it is starting to get a little out of date
There's talk about if we could update that the strategic plan that we'll be bringing back to you in July
It's really kind of more focused on the network as it is now for us
Anyway, making sure that that's operating the best it can and then a future step would be kind of for our expansion
Where would we go? So that's something that we want to do more analysis on and we'll continue to coordinate with the county on that
Thanks
Okay, you sparked a question on the the public EV charging network. I know we've had issues with
Brands at some locations including at City Hall and out in shade lens. What is the fix for that? Is it changing to a different?
manufacturer or
getting upgrades to the existing
chargers
Yes, I was just thinking see if my friend Gina. I grew was still here because she's been my kind of partner working on that project
But I can speak on her behalf.
So that is a lot of what we're looking
at in the strategic plan.
I think the last update I've received from Public Works
right now, most of the charger, I think,
like 90-plus percent of them are operational.
So we are coming up with some fixes right now with the system
that we have going with different providers who
can do the replacements.
However, we're hoping with the strategic plan
to go in kind of a potentially different direction that
would sort of overhaul how we maintain the program in general
and could hopefully lead to one, better customer service
so that we know about issues sooner,
but then also make sure that the equipment we're working with
is higher quality and lower cost to replace.
Thank you.
Candace, thank you.
Thank you.
And I'll pass it off to Erika Vandenbrandt
to talk about the general plan.
We need to have choreographed dance moves.
I'm Erika Vandenbrandt, the community development director here and good evening, mayor and
council.
So I'm here to speak about the general plan update and the progress that's been made.
As you know that this is one of your key priorities and that it is a great opportunity to be able
to look at what the next 20, 25 years are going to be and set that strategic direction.
So where we're at right now, you all had approved that the consultant team contract was actually
not on today, but two months ago.
But so it was approved in March.
But then today we are here and several things have already occurred.
So one is doing a tour of the city.
The other is looking at basically capturing all the date, the background data about demographics,
baseline data, et cetera.
And then the stakeholder and community groups have been identified for the city and contacts
and so forth.
So this is all part of the background that's been happening in that intervening two months.
And so the tour of the city actually took place not only with the consultant, but with
the cross departmental team and then with a highly skilled tour guide to be able to
show the pockets across the city and be able to give some texture and so forth to our consultant
team and then new members of staff were able to really more fully understand the basis
from which we're starting.
And speaking of the basis from which we're starting,
we're sort of test driving this with you a little bit today.
So Walnut Creek 2050.
So rooted, evolving, and thriving.
So rooted in a strong foundation of our community,
evolving so that we can continue to thrive both now
and in the future.
And as part of that general ethos, what we're doing
is we're starting to look toward planning our different partner
community engagement opportunities so that on the 25th of June there is a joint meeting
of the planning design review arts pros and transportation commissions that are scheduled
to basically invite all the folks in and to just orient them toward the general plan update
because this is a major update that is involving the entire city infrastructure both the staff
and all the different commissions and certainly you as council members as we go through that
process.
We're also starting to schedule community groups and stakeholder meetings, again, just
simply to hear the voice of our customers in that way too.
And that later on in August there will be general public meetings and dates and venues
that are being scheduled.
And really the topic is what is a general plan?
What do people hope from the process that we can get that baseline for you?
And then as we're also going through that process, we have all that geeky technical
stuff happening in the background with all the data, and then, you know, land use mapping,
et cetera, et cetera, and as we continue to evolve, looking at different scenarios and
so forth in response to the feedback.
So we're still relatively nascent in the process, but we really are off to the races.
And as there's more information that becomes available, we'll let you know.
I think the other thing to make note of is that we're looking at, you know, having a
very strong branding and marketing campaign.
And those things are being, you know, the timelines for that, and then the branding
image, et cetera, will be very, you know, focused.
And so we're literally in the process of trying to do that so we can have everything ready
for this to debut at the joint meeting of the commissions and so with that do
you have any questions? Great work today we look forward to hearing a lot more
we do have a question. I do thank you very much for all the work that you're
you're going through and you're about to go through because this is a big
process. One of the things that I think people think very I hear very frequently
is the city has grown so much in the last 20 years.
And of course, I nip my brown.
I think to myself, if you look at the population signs,
it dropped.
It's stabilized, but it's an evolution
of vertical versus horizontal, I think.
How do you address that early on in this stage
as to how we've evolved?
And I noticed, how do you address that?
So part of the way to address that
is to sit down and have conversations.
So, part of the baseline data is looking at where growth has occurred and that historically
over time there's a lot of population growth happening in the 70s, 80s, 90s, et cetera.
Far less now, but we have different needs, too.
We have a population that is much older than many of our neighbors.
We also have greater needs and proximity to transit centers
and so forth, and a desire expressed
by many of the, at least in preliminary conversations
with the community, for more of a walkable, unbikeable
environment and more connection with community.
And so the strategy is to be able to take
all those pieces of information, along with our existing land
uses, as well as the potential land uses,
because as you've heard both from staff and in other forms
and amongst yourselves that housing is a big topic.
And so one of the strategic challenges
that we are going to be trying to be looked toward
is what is that balance between providing
housing opportunities for all,
but also providing employment
and amenity opportunities for all.
And part of the way to be able to do that
is to be able to look at what the different trade-offs are.
Thank you.
Thank you so much for the presentation.
Thank you.
And you're up.
Good evening.
I'm Rich Payne, Public Works Manager.
Public Works Director, excuse me.
Goodness gracious.
OK.
Tonight, I will be reporting out on the Park and Recreation
Facilities goal.
And I'm going to start off with giving you
an update in terms of what has been finished so far and with regard to our
Measure O projects. Give you an update on some projects associated with our
playgrounds and also give you an update on the projects associated with our
transportation. So just to start off, as you are aware, we've completed resurfacing
projects at our tennis and basketball courts at both Red
Gear and Arbalado.
So we are making progress.
They've spent a lot of time on these projects.
And we are, like I said, we're meeting that goal.
As discussed last time, we've gone out
and we've done public outreach.
We've performed expansive public outreach
with, and we received 600 comments on a few of the options.
With pro support, we've landed on option A for ages two to five
and option C for ages five to 12.
And we're expecting construction
to start in probably September-ish
and finish up in November.
With regard, if you've been out to Heather Farm Park,
A lot of work's been done.
It's essentially been turned upside down.
The demolition is done.
Lathrop is in full force in all the site development
improvements.
They've installed some utilities, the sewer utility.
We're still working through some of the PG&E struggles.
But for the most part, all the dirt work is on its way.
And we probably have a couple more weeks of that type of work.
And then the foundation will start.
And we're expecting probably maybe another couple
of weeks on that work in terms of soil stabilization.
In terms of the area of pedestrian and bike
friendly, there have been several trail crossing
enhancements.
And there's a variety of different areas
that we've been working on.
And I'll just list those.
at Civic and Carlback, at Civic in a Royal Way, Oak Road
in Kingston, Civic, and Diodora, Geary, and Vessing Road,
Mount Diablo, and Bond Lane.
And then there are three crossings on Tice Valley,
along with a crossing at Bancroft and Stratton,
and Bancroft and Gill.
And essentially, the work is adding thermoplastic and markings.
We've installed flashing beacons and an adaptive passive detection in some of
these areas and some lane narrowing features.
Along with that is the Broadway and Newell Safe Routes to School Project and along that same area
that there's an intersection and also a trail crossing that's also included in
that improvement. At North Broadway, there's a section right there by right
there by the old DMV site that we'll be doing some narrowing at that site. That's
a really wide area of the street and that crosswalk is it takes you a while
to get across there and there's really not a lot of protection there. And then
along with that we'll be looking at the park side and adding a bicycle feature
to that area. At Oakland Boulevard as you can see in this picture we've added a
bike lane and some striping improvements and then a long treat there's a county
led project as you're aware and it's received some controversy right there at
the overpass and and and along the county area there and we are partnering
with them to do some improvements of our own and tie it into North Main area
there. Let's see and there and there's also some improvements happening at
Walker Avenue sidewalk or I mean at Walker Avenue we'll be adding some
sidewalk there and this area right now is very it's kind of antiquated there's
a lot happening there there's in sidewalk there it goes from sidewalk to
no sidewalk it's a narrow area some drainage in the area to that sort of
adds some complications to the not only bicycle but also the pedestrian traffic
that comes through there and as you're aware we have some condensed housing in
area, and so there's a lot of foot traffic that come in through that little corridor
to the downtown.
And then lastly, just an update, in the fall, probably sometime in November, we'll be starting
sort of the, you know, the study with what we're going to do with the Clark Pool location.
We've already done a noise study just to sort of get a baseline in terms of what the existing
noise looks like right now and that will play a key part as we make improvements to that
location in the future.
And that was all I had.
It's a lot.
Any questions?
Thanks, Richard.
We have councilmember Dorming.
Thank you.
Thank you for everything.
And I won't even make you say toes in the water 20 to the seven.
I anticipated that.
The Walker Avenue, how far up is that going to go and which side of Walker is that?
So we've made some improvements already on that bend as you come from, what is that,
San Miguel right there.
So as you come around that area it'll just tie into what we already have and then there's
a section there that comes from the crossing, the pathway crossing, it'll tie that whole
area in.
Okay.
And then somebody was asking me, the Walnut Heights sidewalk project, where is that?
So that is underway.
right there. There's quite a bit of site improvements that are happening. The
elevations are really weird right there. Yeah. And along with the drainage and so
we're having to bring a section of that street up and then tied into the
existing county improvements that have been made. Yeah. There's a pathway that's
there as you as you're aware and that'll take it in front of the school and
around the corner and try to tie into the existing sidewalk. Okay. So that
Walnut Heights section should be this year, 2026.
Yes.
OK.
Somebody was saying it was 2027.
I said, no.
I don't think you heard that.
We're working on the pre-design right now,
and it will probably spill into 2027.
OK.
So when they say 2027, it's like, completion will be.
Yes.
OK.
All right.
Thank you.
And thank you for everything you do.
You're welcome.
Member Silva.
Well, that was one of my questions also.
I think it was more asked, why does it
takes so long of them and he was originally allocated from Oh bag three
and whenever and it's like because it takes a lot of time to cobble together
all of the funding stacks necessary for these transportation projects. Yeah and
there was some property acquisition that we had to go through along the front
edge across the street there. Thank you for the elaboration. At Civic Park if you
could go back to the picture I assume that that is just an illustration of the
types of equipment that are selected but it will be integrated into the existing
site because if that was the site plan there are no more trees. And I'm now
giving the Chiefs presentation. Oh my goodness. Good, thank you.
Okay, thank you. Joe's helping. Where is it? Give me a hand. I'm a checky. So these are the types of
equipment that the pros commission is recommending not the layout and design
because this doesn't look like Civic Park. Correct. Okay. These are the types of
features and amenities that will be going in there. Great. And my last
question has to do, could you go forward? Okay, the other way. Keep going. How many
Any acres is really under consideration in the old Clark Swim Center complex.
So I don't know if I know the acres, three acres.
So that's without the parking lot.
So from the edge of the parking lot in front of Clark Swim Center through the three pools
and up to the fencing at March Bank and Heather Drive.
So the focus will be the footprint that you see there of the pool, not including, so right
there along the curb, along the parking lot, all the way to the fence line on, you know,
on the March, the March Bank side.
And then Heather Drive all the way to, there's a mound or a fence that's to the north there.
And we're not looking at this as a one solution, it could be a combination of multiple.
So that will be part of the process, it will be a public outreach, we're going to be looking
at all the options.
When the contractor comes through and does the work, and this will be phase three, it
will be a clean pallet.
And sort of the outreach will include a variety of different options.
We're we're an open book. It'll be really the community engagement and and we'll present a couple of ideas
Council will be able to
You know weigh in on that as well. Thank you
Councilmember Vinny
Looking good. All right. I went by the construction site last week and yeah
Definitely. It's topsy-turvy, right? Right. All right. Looking forward to how things continue to progress
I just remembered my question.
All right.
Oh, yes.
All right.
It was about the Civic Park.
I originally had the same question about the layout,
but then I was just curious about the process.
The equipment there, does it time out at a certain time?
Is there a, like for a playground,
is there like a legality beyond which there's no longer
will be covered, if something, like what's the,
was it cracking, what was the, what happened there?
So if you go to the existing playgrounds,
Staff has sort of maintained it over, it's over 25 years old.
And there's some resilient surface there,
in some ways that the playground is just outdated
in many ways, and just needs a facelift across the board.
And so that was sort of the motivation
just to modernize the existing playground.
And there is some requirements
with regard to playground safety.
And you know, the old equipment is grandfathered in.
So we'll be looking at that, we'll be certified
and to meet the current standards as well.
So just as a shelf life like every other.
Right.
Yeah.
Yeah, thanks.
Thanks, Rich.
Thank you.
And with that, I'll turn the time over to the chief.
Thank you, Rich.
Good evening, council members.
Ryan Hibbs, chief of police here to provide an update
on the priority of public safety and social wellness.
And I laughed at Rich when he went all the way back,
but I'm gonna mess this up, I know it.
Oh no, okay, good.
Well, I'll see, and then I did that.
As a reminder, six strategic goals were developed
within this priority, and they are to maintain
an effective and innovative police department,
continue a proactive approach to crime trends,
coordinate joint agency response to homelessness
and mental health challenges,
develop crime prevention partnerships and programs,
improve traffic, transit, pedestrian and bicycle safety,
and focus on community and regional disaster preparation
and resiliency to meet the increasing challenges
of wildfires, earthquakes, droughts, floods,
and other hazards.
So we're in the throes of a whole,
let's just call it a technology audit
for the purposes of becoming a little bit more efficient.
Right now we're currently evaluating a number of AI tools
for use to include AI tools for our dispatch center
and a new records management and computer-aided dispatch
system.
So think police reports.
Think the computer, the whole system, the dispatcher
would enter a call for service into the mobile data terminals
that the officer use on a daily basis.
We're testing a new module currently
for AI for report writing.
So we tested a smaller vendor.
Now we're testing another vendor for the AI add-on
to report writing, but it's within the framework
of the current system that we're using.
If we were to switch, and we're now currently evaluating system,
what, number four, Captain Slater?
So, we're coming close to making a decision on the vendor
that we're going to select for that if we change vendors,
but if we have an opportunity to become more efficient
and to also save some money, then that's the goal.
With the body-worn camera upgrade, as you know, the city was awarded a million dollars
in federal earmark funds.
We have received that, we have been funded, and we have selected a vendor.
And at this point, we have yet to enter into that contract,
but that will be a 10-year contract, and the million-dollar earmark will contribute to that.
As a as a an add-on that vendor also offers technology such as dash cams which I know
after our most recent officer involved shooting came up as a as a question point for
some members of the public and some members of council.
Citywide camera systems are I'm sorry these social media is a community engagement tool so we are
seeing continuing to see an increase in engagement and followership. It's starting to level off just
just a little bit just because we are very consistent in our posts and our
messaging but we're pleased with the the engagement that we've seen as a
result of our crime prevention specialists kind of taking ownership of
our social media program. With respect to the citywide camera systems our
automated license plate readers they average a little over a hundred thousand
reads a day and that might not seem like a lot in context of our daytime
population but really the bulk of what we do with that information is following
up on investigative leads, so this provides actionable investigative leads for us to follow
during pretty much any kind of investigation you can imagine.
With respect to objective number two, the, well, I'll go back.
With respect to social media, we've seen some, and I'll speak more about this later as well,
our neighborhood watch program is now up and running on our website.
So community members can go and sign up for
participation in that. We've received a few inquiries. We have yet to host our
first meeting of the revamped program, but we're encouraged with some of the
some of the the level of inquiry that we've had to this point.
See, I did it too.
With respect to business watch, so I touched a little bit on neighborhood
Watch business watch is kind of our business version of that. That's we've
hosted at this point I think three business watch meetings. One of the first
one was virtual and was well attended. The remaining ones have been well
attended and continue to increase in attendance. Pardon me, my notes are a
little bit jumbled here. I apologize. With respect to business watch, we do have
more planned throughout the year. They've been well attended, as I mentioned, and the
purpose of them is to basically to let the business owners get to know each other a little
bit more and open lines of communication so that they're more comfortable talking to each
other and sharing information and reporting suspicious activity to us. As I mentioned,
the Neighborhood Watch Program is live.
So I noted here that we have a rise in catalytic converter theft.
So crime still continues to remain low, but we have seen an uptick, not just in Walnut
Creek, but regionally.
We regularly post prevention tips to our social media channels.
And one of the things that people ask is, how can we prevent these?
Some dealerships will offer a component that will go over the catalytic converter itself.
So it's basically called a shield.
But with respect to some of the scrap yards, they're now kind of treating these items as
a pawn shop would treat jewelry.
So if they're not serialized, then what the pawn shop or the pawn shops, what the scrap
yard will do is they'll identify the seller and they'll use other methods of payment other
than cash.
So they basically bar cash to prevent or to present more of a paper trail in the event
that this item turns out to be stolen, we can follow up on it.
And then we encourage our community to report suspicious activities.
So if you see something, say something.
These do take quite a bit of time to take out of somebody's car, and
they do create quite a bit of noise.
So if you're hearing or seeing something unusual in your neighborhood,
please call us.
So for strategic objective number three, our HOP, our Homeless Outreach Program,
officers really continue to just do amazing work.
and they're working with the unhoused to offer resources.
And to sometimes take enforcement action when necessary,
though I will highlight that that is not their goal.
Their goal is to offer resources.
And then when enforcement needs arise
or quality of life issue arises that needs to be addressed,
then we address those through a variety of different means.
CORE, we've scaled back, as you know,
but they will continue to be an ally for us
and a tool to get our unhoused population resources.
And then we continue our partnership with the Trinity Center.
And then I am pleased to report that we have no established encampments and
city limits.
I mentioned the Crime Free Business Program labeled Now Business Watch.
Again, we've hosted two events so far, more planned through the year.
And then, as I mentioned, Neighborhood Watch is live, and
we've had a number of inquiries.
Strategic expected number five to improve traffic, transit, pedestrian, and
bicycle safety.
So I am pleased to report collisions for Q1 this year
are down 12% compared to the same period from last year.
We did host the bike rodeo,
as you mentioned council member Sola, thank you,
at Civic Park last week.
That event was well attended better so
than the previous one, I'm told,
although I don't have specific numbers.
And the focus was on bicycle
and e-bike registration safety and tips.
Speaking of e-bikes,
we put our support behind Assembly Bill 1942,
which is Assemblymember Rebecca Bauer K hands
bill for for bike, e-bike registration and licensing.
We feel that it will allow us to track
reckless riders a lot easier
than say no identifying information on e-bikes.
So we threw our support behind that.
And then we will continue
to conduct special enforcement periods.
We've focused more on speed
and school enforcement zones this year.
Citations are up a little bit from this year,
about 10% and our stops remain static.
Then continuing on with the strategic objective number five,
I mentioned a number of council meetings ago
that we applied for an Office of Traffic Safety grant.
This will be funds that will be used
toward traffic safety specifically.
They will be on an overtime basis.
This will not be to fund any officer positions or equipment.
We did, as a reminder, we did request about $285,000.
There's no match from the city.
We're confident that we'll receive some level of funding,
although we don't know if we'll receive all of it,
but we'll keep the council posted.
Then the traffic safety group continues
to meet once per quarter.
And then for community and regional disaster preparation,
in April, an emergency preparedness seminar
was hosted in Rossmore, always well attended.
The focus was on evacuation plans, but also highlighted was the city EOC and MDOC.
So Ross Morians became, that's a word, right?
Ross Morians became just a bit more familiar with how we operate in disasters and emergencies.
And then as the city manager mentioned earlier, sign up for emergency alerts by texting WC
Alert to 888777.
With that, I'm happy to answer any questions that council may have.
Thank you, chief.
And I've got a couple of questions, actually, and I'll start it off here.
Yes, in the bike rodeo, thank you.
Your team showed up in, I guess, in Forest, five or six officers there.
That was great to see in Civic Park.
It's always a highlight.
Yes, yes, indeed.
I did have a question about catalytic converter theft, because I hear all the time about we're
trying to get some of these junkyards and scrap places to then not accept them if they're
not.
I mean, let's be honest.
Who is selling a catalytic converter on its own, anywhere that actually owns it?
At the risk of potentially in the future needing to sell a catalytic converter, never.
Probably nobody with.
So why isn't it that essentially scrap yards are told you're not allowed to buy catalytic
converters?
Yeah, more a question for the legislator or legislature, and at this point I know that
that there's been some proposed legislation
about marking the catalytic converters themselves
with the VIN.
Some dealerships will do that as a service,
but yet to your point, there's really no,
let's say legitimate purpose for it,
unless the R has been scrapped.
It's not like a tire, right, okay.
Just to add to that, Mayor, if I could,
there has been legislation introduced
and passed over the last few years,
because this was a much bigger issue a few years ago.
So there is legislation to do exactly what the Chief noted.
At the same time, enforcement is also a challenge,
and you can have the rules on the books,
but ensuring every transaction is above board
at every junkyard effectively that takes these
is the bigger challenge.
And so there's definitely a black market
that's still out there.
Right, right.
And I haven't seen as many stories recently
as there were a few years ago,
so I guess there has been improvement,
but still it just seems like somebody walking in
with a Cadillac, and, hey, this is all,
you know, decided to sell this.
Or say a trunk full?
Yeah.
A what?
A trunk full.
Right, right, because people leave them all over the roads.
Fell off the trucks.
Right, right.
OK, good.
And the last question they had, you sort of alluded to it,
but I just wanted to get it directly.
So what would you say is our biggest problem locally
when it comes to crime?
What are we currently dealing with as the biggest issue?
Just broadly speaking, it's property crime,
but the biggest complaint we receive is traffic-related.
I'm sorry?
It's the biggest complaint we receive
is related to traffic issues.
But criminally speaking and broadly speaking,
it's really more property crime than anything.
Property crime, okay, which refers to cars
or people breaking into garages or those kind of things.
Anything not violent, correct, or theft,
graffiti, vandalism, that type of thing.
Okay.
I just did add context,
and please correct me if my memory's off here,
but approximately 90% of all the crimes
commit more to the creek or property.
That is correct.
So the scale is tremendous.
Right, our violence crime, violent crime is very low.
I know that.
And we're very thankful and appreciative for that.
Other questions?
Just a quick one because of my neighborhood.
If they were interested in Neighborhood Watch,
who would they contact?
Sounds like the program's up and running again.
They could contact our crime prevention specialist,
Cura Ramen directly or they can go to the website Walnut Creek PD CA dot gov.
They have a very active little WhatsApp thing that I avoid like the plague but my
husband's always on it. Well it's encrypted so it is useful. Yeah yeah well
and that way you know everything that's going on. I have a follow-up on that. You
want on the WhatsApp chain? No I don't want to have anything to do with that. I would like on the
neighborhood watch program because four of the five of us I think live in
neighborhoods that are a mixture of city and county so is everyone included in
that because we all consider ourselves part of the same neighborhood people
don't necessarily know they're in the county versus the city how's that how is
that likely going to work in practice in neighborhood watches specific to the
neighborhood itself not necessarily a city street or a county street so the
best advice I can give is we're not going to turn somebody down that might
live right on say a pocket of Contra Costa County in an unincorporated Walnut
Creek if the rest of the neighborhood is also in Walnut Creek that doesn't make a
lot of sense to me so we're happy to share crime prevention tips and share
information with folks that live in the county too. Excellent I was hoping that's
what you're gonna say. It's not like people skip over that if there's a crime
you know this is this is the county area I'm not gonna get that house. No we
We always heard that because the center line of Castle Hill Rogue is the division between
the county and the city, we've always heard that if you have an accident or a problem,
you need to shove it to the city side of the street.
Not advocating one way or the other.
So my question's about e-bikes and you mentioned the legislation that RBK is sponsoring or
has introduced.
I was wondering, you said that it would help you track,
I wonder if you could be specific as to how you would use
that to help you track e-bike users
that may be using e-motos or other things,
like if you could expand on that.
Certainly.
So much akin to what a vehicle license plate would be.
So usually when we receive a call of a reckless driver
or a car that's otherwise involved in criminal activity,
one of the first questions that the dispatcher will ask is,
do you have a license plate number?
That's really helpful for us to track
for a variety of different reasons.
It comes back to someone,
so that's an actionable lead that we can take.
Whereas right now there really isn't anything
to lead us back to any one specific person
or anyone that the bike might belong to.
In this case, it would now be registered
to someone akin to a motor vehicle.
And so the follow-up would be much the same
is what would happen whenever we're tracking
or I say tracking, but we're following up
on a crime reported with information
that a vehicle license plate would provide.
So you would be able to see a unique identifier
for each bike and you would know
that that unique identifier provides
that's a one, a two, or a three, or?
Correct, yeah.
Just because I've heard some folks say that,
So how would that help, or you wouldn't be able to tell
if it's an e-moto or e-bike, but you would,
because it would be unique to that bicycle.
Correct. Yeah.
Okay, thank you.
All right, Chief, I think you answered the questions.
Thanks so much for the update.
My pleasure.
I will now turn it back over to Joe Caroza.
All right, well, a big thank you to all of our leads
for sharing all the big progress to date.
So I'm gonna go ahead and return
to the recommended action I touched on
at the beginning of this presentation tonight.
So as part of your standard practice,
City Council establishes priorities in two year increments.
And consistent with that practice,
Council will identify for calendar years 2027 and 2028,
the next set of priorities in early 2027.
So to support that effort, staff has a recommendation
conduct community outreach to help inform the next set of council priorities.
The outreach could take a form of online surveying to maximize broad participation, or it could
be more qualitative engagement opportunities, or it could be a combination of both.
And so with council's direction, staff would begin developing the outreach process, including
potentially the methods, potentially a vendor, refining desired outcomes, developing questions
and establishing timing and engagement strategies and with the goal of doing that in late fall
or early winter.
So that is the recommended action we have for you tonight is to prove staff to survey
or conduct outreach.
And with that, thank you for the opportunity to present this evening.
We appreciate council's guidance on community outreach
and look forward to returning with our next update in fall.
And I'll take any questions, any additional questions
or thoughts?
Questions or thoughts on the suggestion for outreach?
Survey?
Shall I take a survey?
No.
Let's have staff take the survey.
I think it's a good idea to survey the community,
to reach out both digitally as well as some targeted focus groups because sometimes the
digital responses are not robust enough to really understand what it means so it may
be a two-phrase process and I would hope that council member Davini mentioned that CCTA
is looking for input that this is an opportunity for us to gather input about transportation
options.
Yeah, I would agree. I think that it makes sense to to do some outreach, especially we're looking at the new council that's going to be coming in early next year to get some understandings of what we think we have our finger on the pulse of what the top priorities are.
But it's always good to hear if there's something else. I mean, who knows? Maybe, you know, curling. Who knows? Anyway, I think it's a good idea.
Agree and I think the city manager talked about kind of similar to what we did with the measure Oh process maybe
Trying to provide more of a directed survey approach because otherwise I I think it could be untethered and maybe not focused enough
So I'll leave it taught you experts to do that, but I think it's a good idea
I'm a huge fan of tethering to reality so
Do you need us to take a motion on this?
Or I think directions fine if you're all in agreement.
All right, great.
I'll put it out.
I don't know if we have any members of the public directly.
But do we have any public comment?
Come on up now.
You got two full minutes.
OK, we'll close the public comment on that.
I don't think we have any other action
on this particular item then.
So thank you, staff.
Really appreciate all the details in this.
And we look forward to the future update.
And I know we have one item left,
but why don't we take a five-minute break?
Okay. Next item on the agenda is a consideration item for fiscal year 2027, proposed budget
amendments. And I invite the assistant to the administrative services director, Kirsten
Lacassie, forward to presentation.
Thank you. Good evening, Mayor and council members. Kirsten Lacassie, administrative
Services director and tonight I'm going to present to you the fiscal year 2027
budget update. So tonight we will start with revisiting our previous discussion
on budget balancing for fiscal year 27. I will walk through the fiscal year 27
proposed adjustments for the general fund and measure O and then discuss the
proposed changes to authorized positions. So what we are requesting from you this
evening is to provide input and feedback on the proposed amendments to the fiscal
year 27 adopted budget. Back in March we brought forward options to address the
sales tax shortfall in fiscal year 27 resulting from the shift in how sales
are reported in the autos and transportation category. Council at that
time directed staff to maintain the current 10 to 11 percent vacancy rate to
close the roughly 2.3 million dollar gap in the general fund on a short-term
basis. We discussed some of the unknowns that could potentially impact fiscal year
27, including the final California Department of Tax and Fee administration
decision, the update to the general fund forecast later this fall, and lastly the
fee study which I will address in more detail on the next two slides. So the fee
study is the first citywide study to take place since 2010 and has required a
significant amount of analysis internally as well as by the consultant.
There are several steps we need to take to ensure we are intentional with any
fee changes which include policy direction from your Council on cost
recovery goals. Since the citywide fee study may impact the fiscal year 27
projected revenues, balancing actions for the sales tax loss and any
departmental revenue changes will be brought forward together with the fee
study results and recommendations beginning in late June through August.
At that time the expenditures will be adjusted to reflect the change in
vacancy rates as needed to rebalance. Taking the additional time before
adjusting for the sales tax loss will provide the opportunity for holistic
approach to avoid multiple rounds of adjustments specific to budget balancing.
So this slide provides the tentative timeline between introduction of the fee
study and ultimately council adoption. Staff will bring forward the study
methodology and findings on June 2nd and seek policy direction from your council.
Detailed fee recommendations and draft user fee cost recovery policy informed by the June 2nd discussion will then be presented to finance committee on June 23rd.
The same information along with any updated recommendations and feedback from finance committee will be brought to your council on July 21st.
Final adoption.
Sorry about that.
Getting used to the new remote.
Final adoption is anticipated on August 18th.
Throughout the process, staff will also bring forward any additional balancing measures
that may be needed for the fiscal year 27 budget.
This timeline will provide staff adequate time to engage stakeholders and the community
on the proposed changes.
Next I will discuss the fiscal year 27 recommended budget adjustments beginning with the general
fund.
Independent of the broader budget balancing measures, the proposed changes we will discuss
tonight represent known cost reductions driven by external agencies, operational savings,
technical adjustments, and also incorporates feedback and recommendations from the Finance
Committee, which met back on May 12.
The recommended adjustments to the general fund include $550,000 in additional revenue,
a net of $50,000 in expenditure savings, which will add approximately $600,000 to the adopted
contribution to fund balance.
The budget for interest earnings has been held relatively flat over the last few years.
The increase of $300,000 factors in historical interest earnings as well as anticipated changes
in the market.
Early in fiscal year 2016, Apple terminated the contract with the city for additional
police services.
These costs incurred by the city were reimbursed by Apple.
The reduction of $250,000 in the police department reflects this change.
you will see an expenditure reduction of this same amount related to the Apple contract
termination.
Similarly, community development incurs project costs that are reimbursable by developers.
The increase in revenue of 500,000 reflects those estimated reimbursements, and you will
also see an expenditure increase associated with this adjustment as well.
The proposed changes to the general fund expenditures are listed here by department.
In administrative services, we have a vacant executive assistant and will reallocate that
position to an office specialist.
Because our operational need is only half time, 0.5 FTE of this position will then be
allocated to human resources.
This will result in a savings of $79,000.
In human resources, the limited duration office specialist will be eliminated and they will
receive the half FTE of that same class from administrative services.
So the current incumbent of the limited duration position will fill the regular position and
support both administrative services and human resources.
The most recent estimates from MPA on our insurance costs decreased by just over 100,000
in general government.
While this is a reduction in their original estimates, costs are still increasing compared
to fiscal year 26.
The police will reduce expenditures by approximately $387,000 from a reduction in costs for animal
services that are provided by Contra Costa County, a reduction in overtime for the Apple
contract I mentioned on the previous slide, and a reallocation of an administrative analyst
to an executive assistant.
The position is currently filled with an executive assistant, so there is no impact to the employee
and is essentially right-sizing the position.
The $500,000 increase in community development is for the reimbursable development costs,
again mentioned on the previous slide.
Those adjustments made related to reimbursable costs for both police and community development
are net neutral changes to the general fund.
So in summary, the fiscal year 27 adopted budget includes an estimated 160,000 contribution
to fund balance.
With the proposed changes, that contribution would increase to approximately 760,000.
recommends leaving these funds unallocated to support fiscal year 27 rebalancing efforts
as additional amendments are presented in the next few months.
And with that, I'm happy to pause for any questions before we move to measure O.
All right.
Well, let me first ask from the Finance Committee if there were any further questions that you
had.
Questions here?
No?
All right.
Thanks.
Moving on.
Thank you.
So the proposed changes in Measure O include decreasing the transaction and use tax revenues
and right-sizing the interest earnings.
Expenditures will increase from appropriating the debt service payment for the lease revenue
bonds funding the Heather Farm Park project.
This is offset by the $9 million previous set aside for the project reserve.
Adding one FTE for emergency preparedness and increasing the extra library hours in
Walnut Creek branch from 12 to 16 during the renovations at the Ignacio Valley
branch and I will discuss all of these in more detail. The transaction and use
tax revenue will be reduced by approximately 280,000. This reduction is
due to updated projections lowering the anticipated growth rate. The original
growth rate projections did not anticipate the slowdown of sales and use
taxes we have seen over the last year and a half. So again, revenue in measure
is still growing, it's just growing at a slower pace. Like the General Fund,
interest earnings have exceeded budget over the last several years. Staff is
recommending increasing the budget by $300,000. The result of these changes is
a small net increase of $20,000 in revenue. Community priorities identified
through resident and voter input during the passage of Measure O included
disaster preparedness. In alignment with that, staff is recommending the addition
of an emergency management analyst in the city manager's office. This position
would support community outreach, CERT coordination, updates to the city's
emergency management plans and enhanced internal and external emergency
preparedness training. The annual debt service of just over seven and a half
million will be offset by the nine million reserves set aside, resulting in
approximately one and a half million in savings. The Ignacio Valley branch will
begin renovations in the fall and will be closed for approximately eight to ten
months. The closure will result in approximately $100,000, I'm sorry, $120,000
in savings in Measure O. The Finance Committee recommended increasing the
extra hours at the Walnut Creek branch from 12 to 16 in anticipation of
increased demand during the closure. The cost estimate for the increase including
additional required security costs is approximately $136,000. The net impact to
Measure O would be an increase in costs of just under 20,000.
This is a conservative estimate assuming the increased hours would be for a full fiscal
year.
Based on the proposed adjustments, the contribution to fund balance will increase from 920,000
to just over 2 million in fiscal year 27.
This slide provides information on the contribution to reserves in Measure O.
Sorry, can you go back?
You went by that slide so fast, unless there's no reason to read it.
slow down? Certainly. Okay thank you. So this as I said this slide provides
information on contributions to reserves along with the designated uses since
Measure O became effective on April 1st of 2023. When the budget was adopted for
fiscal years 24 and 25 your council authorized annual contributions of 9
million for a total of 18 million. To establish a reserve for the Heather
Farm Park project in anticipation of future project costs and related debt
service. Since inception, the city has realized savings through underspending
and stronger than anticipated revenues. Each year, the City Council has directed
these funds to an unallocated reserve. By the end of fiscal year 26, total
contributions to this reserve are estimated to reach approximately 11.78
million. To date, the city has allocated approximately 11.88 million to the
Heather Farm Park project. An additional two million has been used to partially
fund the Tice ball field lighting and Heather Farm turf field projects, and an
additional two hundred and fifty thousand has been allocated toward the
Clark pool repurposing master plan. The total projected
balance for these reserves at the end of fiscal year twenty-six is fifteen
point six five million, and I'm happy to pause for any questions related to
Measure O. I just had one quick question. I know we've been getting the
emergency services planning through contracts funded by the General Fund and
this is switching over to a full-time position funded by Measure O and that we
expect the General Fund funding for that contract position to reduce as a result.
how do you end up truing that up at the end of the year if if our line item for
that under general fund is ends up being lower but our we've allocated more money
under measure O I can lead with that and have Kristen dive into detail so as of
now we're not recommending an adjustment to reduce the contracting for training
in services in the general fund because the positions assuming it's authorized for a moment
it would take a while to recruit for it, take a while to have the position and the individual
in the position come up to speed so we're recommending leaving that in is part of this
next budget cycle it would be coming up we would look to right size that likely reduce
that training budget in the general fund but fund this position for measure would be the
recommendation.
be some right-sizing as we go forward. Yeah, we just don't know yet and that's
not an area we wanted to reduce prematurely until we know that would
not be good emergency planning too. But I was just wondering when is the
true up happening? It sounds like it's happening next year as fiscal year goes
forward and it's clear when we can bring somebody on board. Yeah and I mean in
theory we might be able to do a mid-year adjustment for fiscal year 27 depending
upon the timing of the filling of the position but it would be most likely for
fiscal year 28. So we have unallocated fund balance left over at the end of the
year. Okay thank you. Yes councilmember Silva. Thank you for presenting this slide. So if
I'm doing my math right it's roughly contributions to fund balance of or the
reserve of about 30 million in total yes we're both and then the allocated funds
are about 16 million. So will there be a year, a fiscal year end contribution to
the Reserve of 9 million dollars or is that now that the project's underway is
there a different spreadsheet that's running? There there won't be a
contribution of that 9 million to the Reserve because that will now be used to
pay the debt service for the for the lease revenue bonds. There will be a
a difference, however, because the lease revenue bond debt service is only about $7.5 million,
there will be a delta of $1.5 million. That will then be a contribution to fund balance
and could be allocated to either that reserve or the other unallocated reserves. Okay. Thank
you.
Okay. I think we're good on that part.
Okay. Next, I will talk about the changes to authorized positions, which we have touched
briefly. The adopted but the adopted FTE for fiscal year 27 is 386 and includes
both regular and limited duration positions. The proposed changes to the
authorized positions will increase the regular positions category by one FTE
and reduce the limited duration FTE by one. So these changes have no net impact
on the total FTE for fiscal year 27. Again the recommended position changes
as I mentioned earlier, is staff is proposing to add an emergency management
analyst in measure O and eliminate a limited duration office specialist in
the general fund and the other position changes do not have any impact on FTE. So
what we are asking of you this evening is to provide input and feedback on the
proposed amendments to the fiscal year 27 adopted operating budget. And with
that we have staff available to answer any questions you may have. Thank you. We
We have any questions at this point?
We'll go to public comment,
but I don't think we have any public comment either.
No question, okay, no question.
So we'll go, if anybody would like
to speak on public comment,
you've got two minutes, please come to the podium.
And I don't see any, so we'll close public comment.
And any further comments?
Yeah, I'll lead it off.
First, I wanna thank staff for doing a tremendous job
of making this easy to understand and digestible and putting together some very thoughtful
recommendations which always makes it generally easy to serve on the finance committee.
I think the value that Council Member Davini and I perhaps added was primarily in terms
of the library hours and recognizing that, you know, we're losing one of our two libraries
for a good period of time during the fiscal year 27 and wanting to make up those extra
hours, which the voters supported that during the Measure O campaign, and I guess the other
policy item to be aware of is adding that full-time employee for emergency services,
which I had a question about because Measure O is there for a limited period of time.
can't assume that it will get extended. But I also think it was one of those items that the voters
told us quite clearly that they were concerned about in Measure O and I think there's you can
only do so many evacuation drills and training. You need an actual dedicated staff person to lead
that and we've been missing that person and that staff staffing for at least since prior to the
pandemic, I think. So that's essentially why we're in support of the recommended staff adjustments
and think that we're in good shape by implementing them for this upcoming fiscal year.
And I like those recommendations as well. And yeah, for losing one library for sure,
adding hours to the other one makes a lot of sense, and also for the emergency services
person so I concur. Yeah and I've looked at it I think the library hours it makes
sense with Ignacio down adding the library hours I don't think I would
prejudge that once Ignacio opens back up we keep it at that higher level that's
a that's a future point and I think the emergency management specialist is an
important thing you know we don't want to be caught flat-footed and I'm willing
willing to support that, too.
Right.
Yes.
And I, too, am supportive of the proposed recommendations.
And I appreciate the recognition that with the Ignatial Valley
Library down for a certain period of time,
backstopping what services might be unavailable at YV,
at the Downtown Library seems appropriate, I think.
We need to remember that it isn't just a $16,000 cost.
It's a tremendous amount of cost.
savings are buried in the numbers so it's please remind our friends that it's
not a drop in the bucket. Would you like actually would you like to make a motion?
That's the council priorities. Are you ready? No, no I was going to second you. Okay. Take your time.
I move that we we did provide input and feedback I move that we adopt the
proposed amendments to the fiscal year 27 adopted operating budget second we
have a motion in a second Mayor Pro Tem Francois aye council member darlin aye
council member Silva aye mayor well aye all right well done thank you Kirsten and
finance committee for making it easy for us. And next and finally on the agenda
we've got a consideration of a resolution submitting a measure to the
voters of Walnut Creek for the November 3rd, 2026 general municipal election
transitioning the city treasurer position from elected to appointed
including specifying procedures and processes related to the ballot arguments
And I invite Assistant to the City Manager Caroza forward to provide the presentation.
All right.
Thank you again, Joe Caroza, Assistant to the City Manager.
So I will be presenting for your consideration a proposed measure to transition the position
of City Treasurer from elected to an appointed one.
And if you do so, approve that measure would be placed on the November 3, 2026 Municipal
general election ballot.
So in tonight's presentation, I'm
going to spend some time highlighting
the Office of the Treasurer and its duties,
spend some time talking about the history of the position,
why a transition from elected to appointed
is proposed tonight, and the process for getting
that measure on the ballot.
So before going into that agenda,
I'm going to pause here and talk about what
the recommended action here is of counsel.
And we are requesting that you consider adopting a resolution
that has in summary four major provisions.
The first is to submit a measure to the voters
for the November 3rd general municipal election,
transitioning the office of the city treasurer
from elected to appointed, direct our city attorney
to prepare an impartial analysis of the measure,
describing the effect of the measure on existing law,
authorize the mayor and the mayor pro tem
to submit a written argument in favor of the proposed measure,
as well as a rebuttal argument on behalf of the city council,
if it is needed, and request the Contra Costa County Board
of Supervisors consent to the consolidation of this election
with the statewide general election
to be held on the same day.
So the office of the treasurer was established
when Walnut Creek became a city in 1914.
And California Government Code section 36501 provides that one of the officers
of a general law city is that of a city treasurer.
The only qualifying requirements of a elected city treasurer is that the
candidate must be a registered voter and also must reside in the city.
The city treasurer's duty is to monitor investment market conditions and
in accordance with the city's investment policy,
identify investment opportunities
that support and strengthen the city's portfolio.
In coordination with the city's finance division,
the city treasurer executes trades and authorize
investments to maximize returns while maintaining compliance
with policy requirements.
So now while government code does establish
that a city treasurer is a required position,
government code also provides that a city council
may submit a measure to the voters to transition that office from an elected one to an appointed
one.
And that is California Government Code section 36508.
So a little bit of history.
I did mention in 1914 the city of Walnut Creek had established the position.
And since then, the city has had 12 treasurers, starting with someone with a great name, Joe,
Joe Silveria.
And our current treasurer is Ron Cassano.
And we've been very fortunate to have Ron at the helm for almost 30 years.
Ron was most recently reelected to his position in November of 2022.
And that term does end in 2026.
And with some, first in historical context, there was a few opportunities that were presented
to the voters to transition this position from elected to appointed in the past in 1956
also in 1996, but those did fail. So why transition the city treasurer position
from elected to appointed? First, it would be in alignment with best practices. So
many cities have transitioned the city the treasurer role from elected to
appointed, and I'm gonna actually run to another slide here. You can see a list of
cities in the county that have already done so. So out of the 19 cities here on
this slide, 12 have appointed city treasurers representing about 63% of cities.
So a move to an appointed would be in alignment with our fellow cities in the county.
The responsibilities have evolved over time into a highly technical administrative and
financial management position that aligns more closely with professional staff roles
than with policy making elected offices, which
would bake for best practice.
With a move from elected to appointed,
staff are eligible to be appointed to the role
and have the ability to absorb the work.
Our finance manager currently oversees the investment
and monitoring of the city's cash portfolio
in accordance with the city council policy
and prepares the annual investment policy
for council consideration.
Existing staff possess the expertise and capacity
to assume the duties without the need
for additional staffing.
So moving to an appointed model reflects
contemporary municipal governance standards
and organizational efficiency.
A move from appointed to elected would also safeguard
qualifications and expertise.
An election process does not require candidates
to demonstrate technical qualifications,
including public finance and municipal investment expertise
or professional qualifications or certifications.
While we're fortunate now to have Ron, again at the helm,
who is highly qualified,
a move from elected to appointed safeguards this
for the future.
Furthermore, the role of a city treasurer
has changed significantly over time,
requiring specialized expertise
and continuous professional development
that is better suited to a professional appointment model,
especially as these regulations have increased over time.
And finally, a transition secures administrative continuity.
It eliminates the volatility of turnover
and the steep learning curve associated with an elected.
While the city has had a positive experience
at the current elected treasurer,
this change is intended to proactively position the city
to meet increasing regulations and professional demands
of the Treasurer role.
All right, so should the measure pass,
should you adopt a resolution
to place this measure on a ballot,
the election for the next City Treasurer,
which will go to the voters on November 3rd,
the same ballot as this proposed measure,
that elected would serve their full four-year term.
So at the conclusion of that term,
which is slated for 2030 or earlier,
if the incumbent either resigns
or otherwise vacates their office,
the Office of City Treasurer would then transition
from that elected position to an appointed position.
And Walnut Creek Municipal Code currently authorizes
the city manager to appoint the city treasurer
in the event that the office is made appointive.
So what would actually go on the ballot?
So on the ballot, the proposed question would read
as it says on screen here.
Shall the Office of City Treasurer be appointed?
yes or no, and this phrasing of the measure is strictly governed by California Government
Code 36509, so that is what must be on the ballot.
For measures placed on the ballot, City Council, or a member of the City Council authorized
by the City Council, may file a written argument in favor of that measure.
The proposed resolution before you tonight authorizes the mayor and the mayor pro tem
to submit the written argument in favor of the measure.
In addition to that, in the event an argument is filed against the measure, the mayor and
the mayor pro tem are also authorized to submit a rebuttal argument on behalf of the city
council.
And then these arguments would then be printed in the voter information guide.
So to get on the ballot, there are some required deadlines
to meet.
So the first two, no later than August 7,
the first one is for tonight.
City Council to pass resolution, formally
placing the measure on the November 2026 ballot.
And then by August, no later than August 7,
a deadline to submit that ballot measure to Contra Costa County
Board of Supervisors.
Then by August 19, two things.
The first is primary arguments must
be filed with the Contra Costa County Elections Department,
and then also the city attorney to prepare and submit
an impartial analysis to the city clerk.
By August 24, rebuttal arguments, if there are any,
must be filed with the Contra Costa County Elections
Department to make sure that it is in that voter registration
guide.
And then by November 3, that's election day.
And so again, before you is to consider
adopting the resolution to do in four major provisions
the first to submit a measure to the voters
to transition the position from elected to appointed,
direct the city attorney to prepare a partial analysis,
authorize the mayor and mayor pro tem
to prepare and submit written arguments,
and then to request the county's consent to the consolidation
of this election.
And that is the end of tonight's presentation.
Any questions?
Questions?
Councilmember Shuller?
Thank you very much for the presentation.
is very clear and truly appreciated.
When we authorize the mayor and the mayor pro tem
to submit written arguments, it is one argument for it
and one argument in response to an argument against.
That is correct.
It's not too different.
And we can have up to five people sign in three more
besides the mayor and the mayor pro tem.
I believe that is true.
Is that true?
And then you can have up to five for the argument
against the argument against, the rebuttal to the argument against.
That is correct.
And it can be different. Five different people.
OK, thank you.
Other questions?
Just following up on that one, the five people don't necessarily
have to be council members.
It could be anyone. That is correct.
Do they need to be voters in the city?
They need to be eligible to vote on the item. Yes.
I had a question about where you've done.
OK, with the our prior attempts to try to make this position
a point if we're not successful, the last one was in 96.
Most of the other cities in Contra Costa
have made the transition to a point of,
was there a recent one that tried
to do that that wasn't successful?
I am not aware of the timeline of the previous cities.
Susie do you have any information on that? Unfortunately, no, I'm not aware of a more recent
And then my only other question was has staff given any consideration to?
what
Public information campaign would be necessary to educate the voters about this measure
Yeah, I can answer that
Yes, there has been and just to clarify a few things
So, the city, any of its employees or resources could not actively campaign, but there could
be a group from the community that could campaign, either for or against for the measure, for
that matter.
What cities can and often do for measures that are on the ballot related to local measures
can produce informational materials about how things work.
May recall we did this with Measure O, putting information out about how the money might
be used what the priorities are that it would be used to fund and so there
could be something similar that the city could put out information on wise as to
why this is being placed on the ballot thank you all right do we have any
public comment on this doesn't look like it all right we'll close public comment
bring it back to council for any comments and then a motion and I'll
start the comments off as we've discussed on this and I really
appreciate that was very complete and easy to understand we've been very
fortunate with our our elected treasures to date but I don't want this position
to become political it seems like everything is political now when it
comes to every government from from local all up to federal and the
treasurer is responsible for the investments of our revenues from
taxpayers for the benefit of the city of Walnut Creek and we want to earn the
best and safest return possible on the residents and taxpayers'
monies, which is why I've been against stipulations and
regulations and restrictions which would significantly
handcuff the treasure from being able to make the most fiscally
prudent investments. And this is something that future
councils would also be able to have the oversight of with our
finance team, our finance committee and our city manager.
And in this highly charged world where everything seems
politicized, this is a prudent and common sense approach to our
finances for the future. And so I do support this. If anybody has any other
comments but I'm happy to make the motion on this too to approve this
change to our policy. So I agree with your comments and I am very supportive
of this and I think in looking at the history two points in time. 1956 was
within a couple of years of us hiring the first city manager so that may have
had a shading on this decision, and 1996
was the end of the no growth era,
and everybody was cantankerous on council.
Good history there.
I concur with your comments as well,
and I think for the reasons that staff explained,
it makes sense to present this issue to the voters
at this time.
I think that as my question alluded to,
think there will be a need to explain why this is being done and there will
need to be some campaign not run by the city to get the information out but
that that's what a normal campaign is so I will go ahead and second so just to
make it official on what what the motion actually is because this is going to be
on the ballot I move to adopt the resolution submitting a measure to the
voters of Walnut Creek the November 3rd 2026 general municipal election to
determine whether the position of City Treasurer should be changed from elected
to appointive, requesting that the Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors
consent to the consolidation of this election with the statewide general
election to be held on the same date directing the city attorney to prepare
an impartial analysis and authorizing myself, Mayor Kevin Wilk and Mayor Pro Tem
Matt Francois, to submit a written argument in favor of the proposed
measure as well as a rebuttal argument on behalf of the City Council if so needed.
Second. We have a motion and a second. Mayor Will. Aye. Mayor Pro Tem Francois. Aye. Councilmember Darling. Aye. Councilmember Davenny. Aye. Councilmember Silva. Aye. Motion carries.
Alright and with that we are adjourned. I guess he could.