My 1.17.23 Meeting Summary

Last night the Council met to discuss and take action on several significant items:

- We established an ad hoc committee for Energy Services & Infrastructure Renewal consisting of myself and Councilmember Trupiano.  This ad hoc committee will work with Climatec, the vendor we engaged with at our 10.18.22 meeting, in order to evaluate potential opportunities for energy savings and efficiency related projects.

- We adopted a resolution in support of Our Neighborhood Voices (ONV) - an organization that is trying to advance a ballot measure in 2024 as a constitutional amendment taking back local control over housing matters.  We heard from former mayor and current councilmember of the City of Lafayette, Susan Candell, who is one of the people sponsoring the initiative proposal.  ONV is a straightforward idea - if there is a conflict between state law and local law regarding housing related matters, then local law should prevail.  Because Sacramento continues to pass housing laws each year, fighting against all of them individually is ineffective.  Instead, the approach that ONV is taking is to change the rules so that Sacramento can no longer usurp local government and force them to do whatever it is the whims of Sacramento wants in their one size fits all approach.

ONV is trying to build grass roots support across all of California on the idea that Sacramento has not been successful in its efforts to reduce homelessness, provide affordable housing, and recognize local control.  So far, over 30 individual cities, the Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG) which is the So. Cal equivalent of ABAG and represents 191 cities, California Contract Cities representing 80 cities, the South Bay Council of Governments representing 16 cities, over 200 individual city and county leaders, and over 25,000 individuals have already signed on in support of this movement.  I am glad to add the City of Clayton to that list.

While this effort is something that unequivocally supports and cements local control, something that all of my fellow Councilmembers purports to support, the vote to pass this resolution was 3-2, with myself, Vice Mayor Diaz, and Councilmember Trupiano voting affirmatively, and Councilmembers Cloven and Tillman voting no.  Both Councilmembers in opposition raised a combination of concerns that included that the language in the proposal was not yet finalized, the proposal may not yield a greater number of affordable housing units, and that at times local control could be wielded in unfavorable ways.  While I acknowledge that all of these are true, at the end of the day this proposal is about local control and every movement needs to start somewhere.  We, and all the other cities in the state, need to take a position and tell Sacramento that we value local control.

We may not be the tipping point, but I am glad that Clayton is able to join with others voicing our support of local control.

- We adopted the 6th Cycle Housing Element as required by law.  This is the product of over a year of effort from our Community Development Director, as well as the rest of city staff.  Because of their diligence, outreach, and community engagement, the process went very smoothly and our Community Development Director is to be commended.  The ultimate changes in zoning are reflected and discussed in my previous post for the 1.10.23 Special Meeting: https://www.jeffwanforclaytoncitycouncil.net/2023/01/my-special-meeting-11023-meeting-summary.html.  We did make changes to what was discussed at that meeting, but primarily around phrasing and wordsmithing, consistent with the what was discussed at the prior meeting.  Ultimately the increased zoning we adopted is as follows:

The units are spread out across the city:

- I'm also excited to announce that we appointed Ron Bernal as Interim City Manager to serve while we continue our search to replace the current City Manager who is leaving at the beginning of February.  When I learned that our current City Manager was leaving I reached out to a colleague who had worked for the city previously and inquired if they knew anyone who would be qualified for the interim role.  They recommended Mr. Bernal and we set up meetings to discuss the opportunity.  In talking about the role, it was clear that Mr. Bernal was well qualified, and brought extensive experience in local government most recently retiring from the City of Antioch as their City Manager. As Interim City Manager, Mr. Bernal will be able to manage day to day operations while we continue our search for a candidate to take on the permanent role.  Mr. Bernal has already begun meeting with city staff in order to effect the smoothest transition possible and I look forward to working with him.

- We formalized the working agreement with Clayton's Miscellaneous employees who have been working under a previously expired agreement.  The terms of the new agreement are largely unchanged so this was mostly a housekeeping matter.

Upcoming Meeting 1.17.23

There are several significant items that will be discussed at our next meeting.  This will be our first regular meeting with public comment up front so if there is anything folks would like to share that will be available at the beginning of the meeting.  Here is what is up for discussion:

- We are establishing an ad hoc committee related to the Energy Services and Infrastructure Renewal agreement that we executed with Climatec.  Myself and Councilmember Trupiano will engage with the vendor to facilitate faster feedback and guidance.

- We will discuss the updated Housing Element and the modifications that were made since our meeting last week.

- We will be discussing a resolution in support of Our Neighborhood Voices: https://ourneighborhoodvoices.com/ .  This is a group that is sponsoring a ballot initiative to amend the California constitution taking back local control of housing matters.

- We will discuss the appointment of an Interim City Manager to step in while we continue to search for a full time candidate.  Former Antioch City Manager, Ron Bernal, was interviewed and is now being brought forward for the role.

- We will discuss brining current the Terms and Conditions of Employment for Clayton's miscellaneous employees (primarily non-police)

Please let me know if you have any thoughts or questions on the above.

My 1.10.23 Special Meeting Summary

Last night the Council met in special session (outside of our regular 1st and 3rd Tuesdays of the month) to conduct a study session on the latest draft of our Housing Element (HE).  We are required to approve the HE by the end of January.  The purpose of the study session was to go over in detail the draft, ask questions of staff, discuss the HE, and suggest any changes that may be desired prior to the planned adoption at our regular 1.17.23 meeting.  As such, there were several questions and discussion items which I will try to summarize below.  But first, the main point of the updated HE is to provide zoning for our allocated RHNA units of 570 across all income levels.  Our draft HE contemplated 796 units across all income levels.  The detail breaks out like this:

This image (found on page 98 of the agenda) shows the location of various sites where zoning is proposed to increase:

Three sites - Oakhurst Driving Range, Easley Ranch, and the hill sites at Eagle Peak represent approximately 43% of the total 796 units being upzoned.  Of the 312 units being upzoned for Extremely Low, Very Low, and Low Income, 27% come from just two sites, the Presbyterian Church and St. John's Parish.  Each of these sites were included to be upzoned based on discussion with property owners.

The first thing we discussed was the rationale for having a surplus.  In other words, if the requirement was to zone for 570 units, why were we proposing to zone for 796, or 40% greater than the requirement?

There were a few reasons for this that staff discussed:

- Zoning for greater units allowed a buffer so that if HCD denied our analysis of some of the units, the HE could still be approved as it would have a sufficient number of increased units included.  

- A buffer also allowed for various projects that were contemplated at a certain zoning density to actually be approved at lower densities.  If we did not have a buffer, then any project approved at a lower density would then trigger a need to go back to HCD and have our HE approved all over again as State law requires that there be "no net loss" in zoning - once units are zoned they can effectively never decrease.

- Much of the Extremely Low, Very Low, and Low income housing units required that we have provided for are a result of other sites that also have Above Moderate income units.  "Above Moderate" can be considered to be "market rate".  The majority of the surplus in zoning for the HE consists of units in the Above Moderate category as seen in the above table, and several of those developments have other income category housing units connected with them.  Without the large number of units in the Above Moderate income category we would be less likely to achieve the requirements for the other income categories.

- There was an advantage of having the HE approved more quickly - if there were a lot of back and forth then we would be forced to implement the changes contemplated in the HE more rapidly, within one year, vs. within three years if the HE is approved sooner rather than later.

Within the report sent to HCD for comment, they identified several areas that were considered to be potential constraints to housing development.  Each of these needed to be addressed by the updated HE and we spent some time discussing them.   Things like side setbacks, building height limits, covered parking requirements, length of time permits are in effect,, and public hearings for site plan review for residential improvements were all considered to be potential constraints to housing development and the HE included programs that committed to changing these rules within our city code and zoning.

HCD also requires the HE to discuss how the city affirmatively furthers fair housing, including racially concentrated areas of affluence.  Part of that discussion included a history of housing in Clayton.  The history section described how some of our current zoning came to be, saying, "... community and City Council opposition, geographic constraints, zoning limitations, and community priorities have all contributed to the current patterns of segregation seen in the City today."

To this statement I was opposed.  I did not agree that the items mentioned caused patterns of segregation in the City today and stated that including this statement assumes facts that were not in evidence.  I do think that past actions of the City have led to a bias in zoning towards single family zoning, but that alone is not sufficient to support the assertion that all of the other items mentioned have caused patterns of segregation in the City.  Many people have come to Clayton because of the housing environment that Clayton provides which is predominantly within single family zoning, and decisions of the City and its elected leadership reflect that community interest.

Councilmember Tillman described removing this language as whitewashing.  While she did not say whether she believed it to be true, Tillman asserted that there were individuals she was in contact with  that felt that Clayton was a Sundown Town - municipalities or neighborhoods that practice a form of racial segregation by excluding non-whites via some combination of discriminatory local laws, intimidation or violence.  While I acknowledged that some individuals may have that perception, the perception alone does not make it true.

We gave feedback to staff to update the language to be more objective and include primarily factual matters, along with some wordsmithing suggestions.

Our plan is to review the updated HE at our regular meeting on Tuesday, 1.17.23.  Stay tuned for an update once that agenda is published.

There was also a Closed Session in which there were no reportable actions.

Upcoming Special Meeting 1.10.23

I hope everyone had a great new years, even with the storms we've been having.  There have been several instances of fallen trees, debris, and localized flooding.  All of our city staff have been working diligently to respond as needed, including our maintenance staff and police.

On Tuesday, we will have a Special Meeting as a study session for our Housing Element update.  The Housing Element is required to be submitted by the end of January and we will use this session to discuss any questions or suggest revisions so that we can approve the final version at our regular 1.17.23 meeting.  The draft of the Housing Element that we will be discussing can be found in the agenda packet here:  https://claytonca.gov/fc/agendas/council/2023/011023smweb.pdf

Please let me know if you have any thoughts or questions on the above.

My 12.20.22 Meeting Summary

Last night the Council met and discussed several significant items.

- First we met in closed session regarding appointment of an Interim City Manager.  While the city continues to recruit for someone to take the role full time, that process will likely take a bit of time and we will need someone to fill the role on an interim basis after our currently City Manager leaves at the beginning of February.  We gave direction on how to proceed to the City Manager and I am optimistic about the process.  More to come on this as I am able to share more.

- We also discussed the order of the agenda.  In order to make public participation easier I proposed a few substantive changes to our regular agendas.  

The first change was to move public comment on non-agenda items immediately after roll call and the pledge.  The intent is to provide more predictability to people who wish to address the Council - they will not have to wait for an undetermined point in the meeting to offer comment.  I value public participation and want to make it easier and more accessible - adding consistency and predictability of when this will occur is an effort to do that.

The second change was to add a section for Mayoral and City Manager announcements.  Often times the city wants to call attention to a particular thing that may be of importance to our residents.  Things like the library used book sale, or events going on down town.  This would be a way to shift the duplicative nature of all Councilmembers making similar announcements and centralize these primarily with the City Manager.  Councilmembers are encouraged to send such announcements to the City Manager ahead of our meetings.

The third change was to eliminate Council Reports.  This section has often taken the form of Councilmembers reading from their calendar lists of meetings they may have attended without any discernible outcome or how it impacts or benefits the city.  Sometimes this could be a short reading, but at times this section could span quite a bit of time.  While there could be valuable information offered, that it pushed back the core of our agenda and made meetings less accessible overall as folks would need to wait and at times would lose interest and decide to leave the meetings.  I suggested that the same information sharing could be accomplished in written form and added as an addendum to the meeting minutes.  

In discussion both Councilmember Cloven and Tillman raised concerns about eliminating this section.  As a compromise it was suggested that rather than eliminate this section, it be moved later in the agenda.  This would allow us to address the substance of our meetings upfront and if folks are interested in the Council Reports they could stay till the end.  I thought this was a reasonable compromise and encouraged my fellow Councilmembers to avoid using this time to read from their calendars and rather make the information more directly relevant or actionable.  

We will try this new agenda order out and evaluate how it is working.  If we need to make further refinements or changes we can do that at a later time.

- We appointed two community members to the Financial Sustainability Committee - Howard Kaplan and Hank Stratford each for two year terms.  Welcome aboard Howard and Hank!  The Committee is a 5 member committee and it takes three to have a quorum.  As a result, the Committee cannot yet meet, however we can start the process of orientation.  If any interested community members with a financial background are interested in joining, please see here:  https://claytonca.gov/fc/budget/BudgetAudit%202022.pdf

- We then discussed City Council Committees and assignments for 2023.  The Mayor is responsible for committee assignments and they are typically updated each year.  There were a few standing committees that I eliminated as they were no longer necessary - like the Economic Development Committee which was formed to facilitate the sale and development of city owned land in downtown.  

One committee assignment that we discussed was TRANSPAC.  TRANSPAC is the Regional Transportation Planning Committee for Central Contra Costa, responsible for the development of transportation plans in the area.  Councilmember Cloven served as Vice Chair of TRANSPAC and he informed that TRANSPAC Chair is established on a rotation.  Originally I assigned Councilmember Trupiano to represent Clayton on TRANSPAC, however Councilmember Cloven expressed his desire to remain as Clayton's representative so that he could be Chair.  This seemed reasonable so we kept Cloven in his role and added Trupiano as an alternate.

I also added a couple standing committees.  First was an Internship/Training Committee - the goal of which would be to promote and secure interns from local communities to support city operations and provide training and educational opportunities.  The vision would be to pull from local places like CVCHS and DVC to seek those wanting internships.  The city could offer school credit and in exchange get some needed support in various areas.  In talking with Councilmember Trupiano, she has successfully run similar programs and I am hopeful we can foster this in Clayton.  This is brand new so it will likely take some time to get off the ground.

I also added a Concerts in the Park Committee.  Last year we recognized that the Concerts in the Park were a City sponsored event and as such, it would be appropriate to instill oversight and structure to the administration of the events.  This committee will be the City's representative responsible for the overall management and administration of the concerts.  This may include securing the support of others as needed and Vice Mayor Diaz along with Councilmember Trupiano will be leading this committee.  I want to thank Howard Geller for his work on the concerts thus far and look forward to the Committee's leadership.

- The last thing we discussed was the potential for a solar leasing arrangement with Oakhurst.  Oakhurst approached me as they were trying to implement a solar system for the organization.  They identified a location that would be ideal - near the club and near a existing PG&E tower that could support the system, however the location was city owned property.  Oakhurst asked if the city would be open to allowing them to use city land - Oakhurst would cover the infrastructure cost and in exchange the city would allow the use of land, with the ability for the city to leverage that infrastructure to install its own panels.  This is in an exploratory phase, however if we are able to move forward Oakhurst would be able to reduce their overall cost structure and the city would be able to take advantage of that infrastructure to offset some of its energy costs as well, in addition to the overall benefit of using cleaner energy.  The Council set a policy direction for staff to work with Oakhurst to determine feasibility within the above parameters.

Upcoming Council Meeting 12.20.22

There are a few significant items on the agenda for our next meeting:

- We will be discussing changing the order of our meetings.  Currently public comment on non agenda items occurs after staff reports.  Back in Feb-21 the council discussed moving this item at my suggestion.  I had felt that having this occur after staff reports sometimes occurring 40 minutes after the meeting began made it more difficult for people to participate.  My hope is that by making public comment on non agenda items first, it would be easier to plan for, reduce the amount of time people may have to wait, and make the meetings more accessible.

- We will be discussing the appointment of two residents to the Community Financial Sustainability Committee on recommendation from the Budget & Audit Subcommittee

- We will be discussing City Council Committees and Assignments for Standing and Ad-hoc Committees and Liaison positions.

- We will discuss setting policy direction regarding a potential solar leasing arrangement.

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

12.6.22 Meeting Summary and Final Election Results

The final election results were certified by the County and were as follows:

As a result, the one significant item was to swear in Kim Trupiano and myself, and select a new Mayor and Vice Mayor.  For the Mayorship roll, Councilmember Diaz nominated me and Councilmember Cloven nominated Councilmember Tillman.  The Council chose myself to become our next Mayor on a vote of 3-1-1 with Cloven voting no and Tillman abstaining.

Councilmember Diaz was chosen to be our next Vice Mayor on a vote of 4-1 with Cloven voting no.

There was an opportunity to make some remarks and I gave the following statement:

First and foremost, I want to thank my wife and family. For a largely volunteer position I am acutely aware that this role would be impossible to do without their support, and at times, grace.

I also want to thank Mr. Miller and Ms. Billeter for running. Though we may disagree from time to time on matters of policy, healthy debate and discussion is part of the process. Anyone who decides to put themselves out there for public office is to be commended on their willingness to step up and serve.

And thank you to Kim Trupiano. I look forward to working together along with the rest of the Council over the next four years.

It is clear that the city faces challenges ahead. From staffing, to budgets, to community relations, we as a Council and as a community will need to come together in various ways to address these head on.  I am grateful that the residents of Clayton chose me again to represent them here on the Council. Over the last four years I have spoken to so many residents who appreciate transparency and clear communication. I will continue to update residents as best I can in the years ahead. And that starts now.

Certainly as a city we need to maintain the services that make Clayton a wonderful place to live. But on top of that, my top three priorities will reflect the challenges we face.

1. We need to address our staffing vacancies - We will soon lose our City Manager, and the Finance Director position remains vacant, among other positions. Nothing can be accomplished if we do not have a sufficient level of city staff.
   
2. We need to address our budget shortfalls - Deficit spending is not sound public policy and while it may at times be necessary, we need to address our structural issues. First by examining our expenses and cost structure, then by looking at our fee schedules and any other non-tax revenue options. This will take a bit of time but it is work we need to be doing.
   
3. This may be the hardest one – but I think it important all the same. I want to find a way to reduce the polarization and heated rhetoric that has served to crowd out reasonable discourse. In our small town, it is not healthy for passions to overwhelm reason. I say this may be the hardest one because when the loudest voices dominate the dialogue, it creates a poor information feedback loop when all people see and hear are the loud voices. We should always be welcome to criticize policies, but when that criticism attacks the person rather than the policy it becomes toxic.
   
   We will never have an environment where there are no such toxic voices, because free speech and people can choose how they behave. But I lay down the challenge to the rest of us, that when we see or hear such toxicity, we look to the better angels of our nature and choose not to engage.

I look forward to working with the rest of the Council to bring these goals to fruition.