Discussed the first pass of the 20/21 budget. One item that I called out and that many of our residents offered comment on was the importance of adding funding for an additional crossing guard outside of Mt. Diablo Elementary. I was glad to hear from many folks at the meeting, and via email prior to the meeting about the importance of a crossing guard at the intersection of Mt. Zion. I am also glad that all of the other Councilmembers appeared supportive of this item as well. We asked that an increased budget for an additional crossing guard be included in the next draft of the budget which will be discussed at a special meeting being held June 23.
Approved a suggested 10 year plan for street improvements within the city. This will serve as a guide for which streets are selected for maintenance and repair. This doesn't set in stone the schedule, but is based on information at a point in time and allows residents to get an idea of where their streets may fall in the next several cycles.
Approved the next year street maintenance program for specific streets including:
- North Mitchell Canyon Road
- Caulfield Court
- Kenston Drive
- Tiffin Drive
- Chardonnay Circle
- Peacock Creek Drive
- Pebble Beach Drive
- Mount Dell Drive
- Herriman Court
- Fleming Drive
- El Molino Drive
- Capistrano Court
Introduced a first reading adopting County fire codes. This will come back for a second reading before becoming effective. We rely on the County for fire protection services and need to conform with their fire codes for consistency of rules.
Discussed the potential of cancelling certain meetings this summer and ultimately decided not to as there are several significant items that will need to be addressed in short order, including budget adoption and filling vacant City Manager position.
Decided to hold closed session next meeting 6/16 to determine strategy on filling vacant City Manager position.
And speaking of future meetings, because there are many items that need to be resolved, we are going to be adding meetings to the calendar in June. We expect to have meetings on 6/16, 6/23, and 6/30. Many of these are budget related as the next year budget needs to be approved by 6/30 and there will need to be a few working sessions to get us across the finish line.
There were a few items that were brought up for discussion at future meetings. Councilmember Catalano requested we review police polices including use of force. Councilmember Diaz requested a series of community discussions with our police and the potential of a public safety committee.
I asked about ways we could assist those impacted by COVID-19 that do business with the City of Clayton by forgiving amounts owed to the city. We briefly talked about the potential of facilitating outdoor dining similar to what Danville has recently done, but with indoor dining being allowed beginning July 1, I wasn't sure of the efficacy of doing this given the cost of setup. I leave open the possibility if downtown business owners are interested.
