Upcoming Meeting 5.19.26

At our next meeting, there is one significant item on the agenda, and that is a workshop on the Transaction and Use Tax (Sales Tax), and the Landscape Maintenance District (LMD) renewal.  This will include discussing the timing, language, and content of each.

If you have any thoughts on the above, please let me know.

My 5.5.26 Meeting Summary

I fell a bit behind in updating due to other priorities so this summary is a bit late.  At our last Council meeting we discussed several signficant items:

- We received the annual report of the Police Department's inventory and use of militarry equipment.  Our Police Chief also described a grant application for the acquistiion of drones.  Shoudl the application be approved, it would fully fund the purchase and training for the use of drones to assist police activity.  It will take several months or more to receive approval, however the Police Department is ready should the grant come through.

- We discussed an area in the Peacock Creek neighborhood that has been the subject of numerous police complaints.  While the viewpoint is a general benefit to the neighborhood, it has alaso attracted nuisance behavior including litter, illegal trash dumping, and noise violations.  Our Police Chief requested that we prohibt parking in the area immediately near the problem area from dusk to dawn in hopes that it would reduce problematic behavior and provide a tool that police could use should issues arise.  The Council approved of the parking restriction 5-0.

- We received an update to the FY26 budget forecast and requeseted revisions to the FY27 budget.  After making the changes related to overall presentation that were requested at our last meeting, the overall projection for end of year FY26 is a general fund deficit of approximately $775K.  This figure has fluctuated over time, however this is the nature of future looking projections.  Projections are based on various assumptions and if circumstances change the forward looking impacts are rolled into future projections.

The source of the largest two items driving changes in the projection were an underestimate of the impact of the reduction in administration revenue related to the Redevelopment Successor Agency, and unplanned police overtime.  

For the administration revenue - when the Redevelopment Agency shuttered and the Successor Agency was created to wind down operations, the City received funding from the State related to the administrative requirements of that wind down.  The wind down comopleted in early FY26, and as a result the revenue designated to reimburse the City for the cost of that administration ceased.  At the time of the budget adoption, it was unknown how much revenue the City would receive prior to the wind down completing and the revenue source ending.  It turned out that the amount of the City received was significantly less than was originally anticipated - nearly $200K less.

For police overtime - Police overtime is one of the larger budget variances this year, and I want to explain what is driving it.  Our budget funds 10 police officers to provide coverage across the entire City, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. For safety reasons, we do not want any officer working alone, so we need at least two officers on duty at all times.

That means the City must cover a minimum of 336 police staffing hours each week. With 10 officers working 40 hours each, we have 400 available hours in a normal week. On paper, that gives us a modest cushion. In practice, that cushion can disappear quickly.

Routine and expected events such as vacation, sick leave, injuries, training, and time spent in court can reduce the number of officers available for regular shifts. When that happens, we still need to maintain safe coverage, so other officers are called in to work overtime.

This year, those pressures were greater than usual. The Department had officer injuries, and two officers left for other opportunities. Those vacancies created a significant coverage gap. While we have since hired new officers, they must complete training before they can work independently. During that training period, they are paired with fully trained officers, which can also increase overtime needs.

As a result, projected police overtime is expected to exceed the budget by more than $200,000, in addition to the regular level of overtime that occurs each year. This variance is not the result of expanded service levels. It is primarily the cost of maintaining safe, around-the-clock police coverage during a period of staffing disruption and required training.

For the FY27 budget udpates, based on various savings efforts, we reduced the budgeted expenses in FY27 by $340K, reducing the projected defict to $320K.  This will likely change over time depending on new information, but this is based on the best information we have today.  The favorable changes in FY27 are a result of the hard work of staff, including org changes for more efficiency and technology enhancements.

- We then had an open discussion regarding a sales tax measure, and the Landscape Maintenance District assessment renewal.  We gave staff signficant feedback on how the information can be presented, and what was important to residents.  Things like showing the portion of property tax that comes back to the City (it's approxiamtely 6.63% of the 1% that residents pay, or $630 on a $10,000 property tax bill) and showing how Clayton compares to median income of staff.  The City Manager took the feedback and is preparing a periodic newsletter expanding on the details and informing residents of the current circumstances.

Upcoming Meeting 5.5.26

At our next meeting, we will be discussing several significant items:

- We will hold our annual discussion around the Police Department's Military Equipment Use Policy.

- We will discuss parking limitations in the Peacock Creek neighborhood.

- We will discuss the FY26 budget status and potential FY27 budget revisions

- We will discuss a potential sales tax and Landscape Maintenance District assessment renewal for the November 2026 election.

If you have thoughts or questions on any of the above, please let me know.

My 4.21.26 Meeting Summary

At our last meeting, we discussed several signficant items.  

- First the Oakhurst Geologic Hazard Abatement District Board (GHAD) met.  There we received and discussed the annual reconnaissance report.  We engage a third party to review the GHAD to identify status of the maintenance items, as well as follow up on any issues they may find.

Some of the items we discussed were the overall state of maintenance, various areas of slope movement that should continue to be monitored, some specific areas that needed remediation, and areas where residents have encroached in the GHAD.

Our consultants identified areas of significant concern.  Mainly these were in areas that had evidence of movement, but where our monitoring devices have stopped working.  We had previoulsy had piezometers at depths of greater than 50' below the surface which were intended to monitor if there was any movement.  These are encased in a verticle PVC like pipe.  Unfortunatley these pipes have sheared due to movement at some time in the past, and we can no longer monitor if movement is still occuring.

Our consultants also identified areas where underground drainage pipes have stopped working.  As water in the ground is the biggest cause of earth movement, that the drains were no longer functioning in certain areas presents a risk.

The good news is that voters in the GHAD recently passed an increase in assessments to fund this work.  And that work has already begun.  Clearining and repairing of horizontal drains is underway, cleanup of certain V-Ditches meant to route water from the hillsides is also underway.  I asked staff to come back with a holistic project plan that identifies all the major work that will occur, and when.  This will not be a fast process, but by identifying all the work that needs to be done, it can be prioritized and residents can see what their tax dollars are doing.

At the regular City Council meeting,we discussed several signficant items:

- We made appointments of several residents to various committees and advisory councils, including the Trails and Landscape Committee, the Contra Costa County Advisory Council on Aging, and the Contra Costa Transportation Authority Citizens Advisory Committtee.

- We discussed the FY26 budget status and potential updates to the FY27 budget.  Regarding the FY26 projection, I raised concerns about the flucuations in the budget forecasts that seemed quite volatile.  At our Budget and Audit Committee meeting in Nov-25, we discussed budget revisions that would make the FY26 budget balanced.  Then we met again in Mar-26, and it was stated that YTD forecast was a general fund deficit of $410K.  When we met last night the year end defiict was projected to be $820K.  Some of this is explainable like a shortfal in revenue, however the volatility is uncharacteristic of a City of our size.    

The Council asked staff to revise the presentation materiasl so it was more clear what was happening.  As a result, we took no action on FY26 or making any changes to FY27.

- We then discussed various options for the sales tax and LMD renewal we are planning on asking for in the November ballot.  This iincluded the length of each, the calculation of each, and potential oversight mechanisms.

Upcoming Meeting 4.21.26

At our next meeting, we will be starting early at 6:30pm for the GHAD session, and the regular Council meeting will begin at its regular time of 7pm.  The GHAD meeting has a couple significant items:

- We will discuss the 2025 Oakhurst Geological Hazard Abatement District Reconnaissance Report.  This report provides information on the current conditions within the District.  We will then discuss recommended actions and provide direction to staff.

- We will disucss authorizing repair work for certain horizontal drain systems.

At the Council meeting, there are several signficant items:

- There are several appointments to local committees and commissions.

- We will review the FY26 budget status and discuss FY27 budget revisions.

- There will be a workshop a Transaction and Use Tax and the Landscape Maintenance District renewal ballot measure.

If you have any thoughts or questions on the above, please let me know.

My 4.7.26 Meeting Summary

Last night the Council met and discussed two significant items:

- We approved an update to our municipal code regarding language update to the housing section requested by the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD).  The updates were intended to bring our municipal code more current and in compliance with various changes in the law.  This is at leaset the third update based on feedback from HCD so hopefully this is sufficient that our Housing Element can be approved.  As this is an ordinance change, last night was the first reading.  A second reading is required before it can be placed in effect - after which we can submit the update to HCD.

- We had an extensive discussion about both deferred maintenance items, and potential one time expenditures targeted for FY27.  Historically our general fund reserve has grown steadily, with signficant increases as a result of ARPA funding during the pandemic.  And while maintaining a reserve for unforseen circumstances is prudent, this has to be balanced against regular operations.  Unfortunately that balance shifted too far away from ongoing maintenance and there is a lot of work to be done to catch up.

The City is responsible to maintain a wide varienty of assets, including our library, roads, parks, sidewalks, trails, etc.  Everything under the City's control requires regular and periodic mainenance to be kept in good working order.  What I identified in 2019, and unfortunately what is still true today, is that there is not a schedule or inventory of these maintenance related items.  How often should the Library be painted?  How often should we perform an assessment of trees along our trails to determine if they need work?  The approach that has been taken in large part is ad hoc in nature.  If an issue arises, then the City takes action.  

Because there isn't a regular schedule and things are addressed ad hoc, this means that often times regular maintenance doesn't occur.  Things like minor road work like the bumps in between lanes on our roads, or more serious matters like line markings at various intersections just get missed over time.  With new leadership, comes new approaches to issues.  Staff brought forward last night a list, not comprehensive, or a number of these types of items that haven't been addressed but need to be.  Council gave direction to staff to proceed with haste on bringing us more current with all maintenance items.

This work ranges from general City beautification in areas such as weed abatement and tree trimming, to general safety issues like curb painting and road signs and markings, to infrastructure improvements like sidewalk repairs and new sidewalks.

We also directed staff to include a number of one time spend items for an updated FY27 budget.  We are looking to increase security at our facilities, update our emergency preparedness, and even expand the capacity of our baseball fields.  These reserves were built up with tax dollars, and are meant to be used for the benefit of the community.  

We simultaneously directed staff to assemble an actual schedule of activities, or a workplan so that the community can be aware of what work is going on, what is planned, and when.

Upcoming Meeting 4.7.26

At our next meeting there are a couple of significant items we will discuss:

- An additional update to the Clayton Muncipal Code regarding certain housing related items in order to comply with the latest requests from California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD).  We have gone through multiple rounds of submissions and review with HCD, and each time a change is requested it requires the changes to first go to the Planning Commission, then two separate readings at Council.

- We will discuss the current FY26 budget status and pottential updates to the FY27 budget.

If you have any thoughts or questions on the above, please let me know.