 Good afternoon. Welcome to the 1 p.m. Public portion of the closed litigation session of the May 22nd 2018 meeting of the city council in this part of the meeting the council will receive public testimony Thereafter the council members will move to the courtyard conference room for the closed session I'd now like to ask the city clerk to please call the roll. Thank you mayor council members crone Matthews chase here brown here No, Ryan here face mayor Watkins here and mayor to us here Before we open public comment I have a brief announcement the city attorney will provide a report on items listed on the closed session agenda at the beginning of the 2 p.m Or 2 30 p.m session Are there any members of the public who would like to speak to the closed session agenda seeing none? I? Will adjourn this meeting to the courtyard conference room where the council will go into its closed session I'd now like to ask the city clerk to please call the roll. Thank you mayor council members crone present Matthews here chase here brown face mayor Watkins here and mayor to us here And if the clerk would also please lead us in the pledge of allegiance Undergone With liberty and justice for all At this point in the agenda It's an honor to introduce new employees to the city So I'd like to first invite up the director of libraries Susan Nimitz Good afternoon. I have the pleasure of introducing ready Gallardo She's joining us as permanent staff at the Aptos library where she'll be working as a library assistant to We have the pleasure of the many skills She got at ucla Where she got her bachelorette baccalaureate degree in Art history and so she has a strong background in art history museums and now libraries So we're very happy to have her on board Hey, welcome And next up is director of planning lee butler Good afternoon mayor and council members Today it is my pleasure to introduce test Fitzgerald to you all we've had several People from our administrative team depart recently and test is filling In for an administrative assistant to departure that we had She is a resident of santa cruz county Since 1987 and currently resides in Boulder creek She began her career in government at the superior court of santa cruz in 1997 And then served as the clerk board of supervisors clerk of the board of supervisors for seven years She loves attending public meetings so much in her spare time She has served as a member of the boulder creek recreation and park district board of directors And uh, she's been there since 2006. She's also a fan of local special districts Where she serves as the uh special project administrator for the boulder creek fire and protection district And helped successfully pass measure in to get a parcel tax for emergency response equipment replacement within 84 percent voter approval in 2016 She says that she recently came out of semi retirement So that the three teenagers that she has ages 13 14 and 17 in her home Could learn how to operate a washing machine and oven before they graduate Please welcome test Hey welcome So our first we are now going to move on to next uh segment of our agenda and that's for a few presentations So our first presentation is a proclamation recognizing public works week and i'd like to now call up director of public works mark deadell Good afternoon mark deadell directors of director of public works And this is the one week Where we take time to recognize the employees of public works departments in cities and counties across the nation To thank them for their efforts to keep our water clean our traffic moving safely Providing alternative transportation Ways to get around our city like walking and biking Including bike share and making our trash disappear usually without the residents or businesses or visitors having to think about it These are the employees that pick up and process or recycling yard waste and garbage You put out on the curb each week or the employees that clean the water you send down the drain These are the employees that repair the street fill the potholes Sweep the street and thanks to sp1 gas tax increase. We have more funding for local road improvements These are also the employees that work with our contractors to make sure construction happens in a safe manner And minimizes the impacts to the public And these are also the employees that are improving our transportation system for pedestrians bicyclists and vehicle travel As part of the public works week in the city of santa cruz We are offering free public tours of the resource recovery facility and our waste water treatment facility All in the comfort of the city trolley The tours start at 12 noon and will be available today through thursday departing from the corner of lincoln and cedar street on a first come first serve basis There's more information on the city website at city of santa cruz.com I'm very pleased to work with an award-winning public works department that continues to win awards For the quality of the projects and our facilities and the quality of our staff And at this point i'd like to invite josh Spangard one of our senior civil engineers who's also a local apwa board's member. He'd like to make a little presentation Good afternoon mayor city council. I'm josh was spangard senior civil engineer public works But i'm as mark said i'm here before you today as a member of the board for the apwa monterey bay chapter just here to thank you for Your proclamation and recognizing public works week. Um, this year we have actually 24 agencies recognizing public works week through proclamations, which is 10 more than last year and i would like to present a Poster the traditional poster public works week poster, but this is just a loner We had so many new agencies that will get you a real one soon enough Anyway, thank you very much Thank you Honor of public works week i'd like to just read a portion of this because there were so many accomplishments that public work staff has done but this mayor's proclamation is um Um, really kind of recognizes staff So let me just begin by saying public works professionals focus on infrastructure facilities and services that are of vital importance To sustainable and resilient communities and to the public health quality of life and well-being of the people of the city of santa cruz These infrastructure facilities and services could not be provided without the dedicated efforts of public works professionals who are engineers Managers supervisors and employees from state and local governments and the private sector who are responsible for rebuilding improving and Protection protecting our nation's pedestrian bicycle and vehicle transportation systems solid waste systems Wastewater systems public buildings and other structures and facilities essential for our citizens The city of santa cruz public works department has been frequently recognized as a regional leader and innovative and forward thinking projects and services including active transportation projects infrastructure projects wastewater treatment and reuse solid waste practices alternative fuel vehicles energy efficiency projects and sustainability projects Now therefore i david terasas mayor of the city of santa cruz do hereby proclaim the week of may 21st through the 20 through 27th As national public works week in the city of santa cruz and urge all citizens To join with the dedicated employees of our public works department here in santa cruz In activities and events celebrating the important projects and daily services of public works professionals and to recognize the substantial contributions That they make to protecting our health safety and quality of life I just want to say the staff that we that i have is just incredible So you are very lucky to have such qualified staff to They carry on and do such an amazing job and i'm so proud of them. So thank you great It's national public works week and there's no better time to present two awards to our public's work staff at this time First i am proud to say that the american public works association monoray bay chapter has awarded its 2018 public works person of the year award To our very own assistant public works director and city engineer christ schneider chris if you'd please come up to the podium I'm looking at him chris's infrastructure accomplishments began in 1987 30 years ago He and his engineering staff have been responsible for hundreds of major city of santa cruz improvements I wish we could name them all Highlights include the ronna gulch bridge and multi-use trail project the retrofitting and replacement of our bridges the construction of depot park The renovation of the historic city hall the san lorenzo river bike pedestrian bridge and highway one underpass path various bike lanes cycle track erosion control and traffic signal projects The warf and depot park roundabouts three refuse cells and storm water bypass tunnels at the resource recovery facility The front soquel and locus cedar downtown parking structures the secondary treatment upgrade of the wastewater treatment facility And recently the branza 40 creek bicycle ped bridge and multi-use trail project. I think I might have said them all right then I um chris the community is enriched by your work over three decades I am so honored to present you with this award and I'd like to go up there and present it to you in person Thank you We've carved out some time if chris would like to speak David said I could have as long as I want but We're in trouble. I'll think I can talk that long I'm very honored to be recognized my peers in the industry. Um, it has been um A great place to work here When I came in 87, I was looking for interesting exciting projects. I definitely found a lot of them We're a full service city. So we get to do a lot of things I mean a lot of other agencies don't have the breadth and depth of interesting projects that we do My success is based on My staff and other staff in the city of santa cruz. Everybody works really hard We work as a team on all these projects. It's not just public works. It's planning its parks Police fire. We all work together to make this stuff happen and um It's been it's been a great time frustrating a lot of times as well But we wonder how long it why it takes so long to get certain projects done and sometimes we're surprised and we get them done quickly But it's been great. And so thank you very much for the opportunity I think we have plenty more challenges coming up in the next few years and forever um, one of our hardest right now is just trying to keep staff and You know, we used to be a little bit more competitive, but with the rising cost of housing and everything else here We've been lucky to attract local engineers and technical staff who've lived here before who live here now But it's getting harder and harder to do that and to keep them because everything's so busy There's lots of opportunities elsewhere And you know, we haven't been able to keep up with compensation as well So anyway, it's a challenge, but luckily we have still have a great staff And they really do work hard and they work hard for the community. Thank you Chris don't go anywhere You can leave the photo up if you'd like what was that I said don't go anywhere and they can leave the photo up if they'd like Um, there's a second american public works association monoray bay chapter award The association has given its 2018 project of the year award for projects less than five million dollars to the city of santa cruz trc solutions and granite Construction for the brands of 40 creek bicycle pedestrian bridge and multi-use trail project I'd like to invite the city staff who participated on this project to join chris at the podium at this time um transportation manager jim bur public works director mark deddle transportation planner claire fleisler engineer and associate curtis burton boosenhardt city arborist leslie keedy and east zone park supervisor lori macammon Okay, as of last saturday, let's give a round of applause for As of last september the brands of 40 creek bicycle pedestrian bridge and multi-use trail project Completed the gap in our five mile riverwalk system We now have a fully separate pathway for pedestrians and cyclists that keeps them safe from motor vehicle traffic the entire length of the riverwalk The project is helping to increase walking biking and safety in santa cruz and supports the city's new goat santa cruz initiative Which includes work to expand active transportation facilities and reduce greenhouse gas emissions Project construction was funded with a $1.8 million california state active transportation program grant and $400,000 in local gas tax funds The annual american public works association monoray bay chapter awards are based on a competitive process That includes review of project design and regulatory challenges construction management and control techniques safety performance environmental considerations and community relations Congratulations to everyone for this ap w a recognition and for giving santa cruz the brands of 40 creek bike Ped bridge and multi-use trail. Thank you Um, I just also wanted to recognize a nathan noon who was the project manager. Unfortunately. He's home with poise nokes Or he couldn't make it But he worked really hard to get this project under construction A lot of public work celebration. Thanks so the next item on our agenda is um Uh proclamation and recognition of the san lorenzo river month and celebrating riverwalk activities through the month of june I'd like to invite up beth toby our arts program manager And michelle williams executive director of the arts council santa cruz county Good good afternoon mayor and city council. I'm beth toby the city's arts program manager And i'm really pleased to introduce two guests. I think greg peppings coming up too To tell you about the annual ebb and flow festival coming up june 1st and 2nd And michelle williams and greg pepping from arts council santa cruz county and coastal watershed council are the lead partners on this amazing project So i'm gonna let them take it away Good afternoon mayor council members. Thank you for letting us be here today We are so excited to invite you to ebb and flow on june 1st and 2nd To truly know what ebb and flow is you need to experience it and uh, we're gonna make that possible for four short minutes You're gonna see some familiar faces here There is something elemental about living by water. I don't know if everybody feels it, but I do It calms you down It makes you feel a bit of a vastness And your place in nature In 2014 I got together some of the greatest minds in santa cruz And we got in a room and we had this incredible opportunity from the california arts council Who was seed funding large projects that addressed creative placemaking community connections and community building And an hour and a half later ebb and flow was born The impetus of this came out of this idea that we have this incredible public space in santa cruz along the river walk That is highly underutilized that is connected to the tannery art center Which is the most diverse art center in the nation which itself is also underutilized and we just thought What's a powerful thing that we could all do together that would help each of us meet our discreet missions That could help change santa cruz for the better The concept just blew us away the idea of getting a ton of people on the levee activating it The sculptures the activity bringing together so many different facets of the community With a resource that we all love was just brilliant For many years the santa renza river has been an afterthought and for some even more than that It's been someplace to avoid whereas when people come back to the river and rediscover it I think they see what a gem it is. It's a green space in the heart of our downtown It's the longest city park that we have here in santa cruz and every day kids and families and commuters are using it to walk And bike get exercise and simply move from point a to point b I think a lot of people actually drive over it, you know walk by it Don't recognize or realize that we have this amazing You know river running through our city and this transforms the way that people Think about it and experience it and interact with it and that's a pretty amazing thing to do The first thing you really have to do is create that spark get people to care Why is there fishing rods hanging off the bridge? Why is there weaving happening along this bridge that I go by every day? It's that curiosity that art can really open in people What's great about it is there's so many different ways to interact with the river In part of that event and it crosses the really broad demographic of our community So it's really I think drawing people out to an event and activities that aren't necessarily like You know, it's not like we're actually touching or getting in the river or something like that But they're related to it and so it's getting people to think about that the river is even there I thought a lot about what an artist community does and I think it does Enable people to come together for a reason and I think that's what ebb and flow does People are going to come to ebb and flow who have no idea that the San Lorenzo provides two-thirds of our drinking water Who have no idea the number of species who call the San Lorenzo home? But they'll come away with this new information and they won't even know they were learning And that's one of the great things is the arts gives a new pathway into all of this knowledge And then allow them to fall in love with it as well This city is here because the river's here. It's our lifeblood It's not just that it's important for environmental reasons or ecology reasons or habitat reasons or even natural beauty The river runs through our city and it runs through our history and it's what makes Santa Cruz possible Very nice All right, so So that version of the video unfortunately does not show for our mayor chase and her entire goldfish get up Which was worth the price of admission of ebb and flow last year So I just want to speak very briefly about the few elements of ebb and flow and And also touch on the extraordinary partnership that it that it is on first Friday We're closing down Cooper street for an evening of dance and celebration and puppet making and and food And then we're going to be having a night walk after the sun sets to the Soquel street bridge We're shutting down front street and having a bridge party I'm sorry a street party with a fire dancing and a dj and we'll see the lighting ceremony for the new semi-permanent art installation on the Soquel street bridge by local artists Rachel Stahl and Erin Altmark It's going to be extraordinary some pictures of what uh, that's going to look like here And then on saturday, we have the march for the river. I put fish kits at each of your seats We've distributed. I think 2 000 of these through two students throughout the county there Well, you've got there's something under there too. Yes, that's just the stick part Yes, there you go We're inviting actual schools of fish to join us on the parade and hope you will Join us for that as well. And then of course, there's the celebration at the tannery from 12 30 to 4 30 and part of the performance is that spectacular day beyond the food trucks the beer garden the face painting the dancing the music is bandaloop the vertical performance pioneers Who are going to dance off the tannery lofts once again like they did in the first year The last thing I want to say about this program before I hand this over to my colleague greg is that ebb and flow is possible Only through so many partners and I believe ebb and flow couldn't happen anywhere else Because this community invests in and believes and supports the arts And that is why we have this incredible two-day festival all ages family friendly and 100 free for our community And the last thing I want to mention that this program is touched by so many city staff members And this is a short list of a number of them beth toby called greg and I the main partners But the city is most definitely one of our main partners And you'll see chris schneider's name is on here And I have to tell you that in the midst of us discussing where we're going to shut down to have this party for the Soquel straight bridge installation. He actually signed one of his emails chris no fun schneider When he when he said that one of the things couldn't happen But I say chris is a lot of fun and we're all very grateful to him Greg Good afternoon Council and mayor terrazas I just want to add a couple of pieces about why this festival is important to the river and to the community The coast of watershed council has been around since 1995 and it's only in recent years that we've focused as many of our resources as we can On the sand Lorenzo river and in very recent are focused on the lower river We partner with the city public works parks and rec water department our efforts complement the efforts of the ongoing efforts of the police department To bring positive activity to the river to protect the water quality and improve the habitat And actually collectively the city the county and virus like us We're only so good at reaching the community and engaging that back that positive activity and excitement And then when you get the arts community involved when you get artists and not just an artist community, but this Artist community. It's a a total game changer. It's an entirely different Operation it's a different game of teaching people about the river In recent years, we've learned with the community that it is part of our history It was quote-unquote discovered by santa's spanish explorers when they first arrived here and native people were using the river It's been a part of our economy historically It's still as was mentioned in the video. It's still a major drinking water source It's home to threaten an endangered species. It's 30 miles long starting up near castle rock state park It is a flood protection project down here in the lower river And on and on and on including the opportunity to right next to downtown Have a green space Where people can get away from technology and they can go and restore with nature So the reason I bring those things up is because there's a lot of fun in this ebb and flow river festival And we make sure that people go home with those factoids with those river facts with that sense of Belonging to a community that identifies with the river with an awareness of how we impact the river every day And how the river is part of our daily lives So in a midst of all the fun and creativity people take home some education and awareness of the river because we protect What we know and love and the ebb and flow river festival is an opportunity To get to know the river and to love it. So we welcome you to come out June 1st and 2nd to the festival and thank you for claiming the entire month San Lorenzo river month. Thank you Yeah, and I'll do that. I'll do that right now. Can I can I add one one unique request and I'll challenge you We actually gave you um, michelle passed out hats This morning we were successful in challenging and asking the board of supervisors to put on their hats Um, do you all have nicer hair to worry about than I do? But we had the board of supervisors put on their hats and huddled together for a photo. We would love that And you're going for it. Thank you for that I'm gonna have half there now for the so I'd like to to present you this proclamation Um, Santa Cruz became a community from its very origin because of the san lorenzo river And the san lorenzo rivers are primary source of drinking water and serves as a critical habitat for fish and wildlife And the city renewed its commitment to the riverwalk in 2016 by establishing a riverwalk engagement plan in partnership with community groups And continued that work with a riverwalk summit summit in 2017 The coastal watershed council and santa cruz museum of natural history offers series of bird and wildlife walks on the riverwalk called exploring the san lorenzo river And the arts council santa cruz county and the santa cruz arts commission have brought forth The fourth ebb and flow river arts festival to be celebrated in partnership with the city The coastal watershed council the museum of art and history and others to enliven and activate the santa cruz riverwalk through artistic expression Now therefore i david charasas on behalf of the city council Do hereby proclaim the month of june 2018 as san lorenzo river month and encourage all citizens to learn more about the san lorenzo river And to precip to participate in the river festivities throughout the month of june And especially during the ebb and flow river arts festival on june 1st and june 2nd 2018 You all look beautiful Can we take them off now? I'm getting hat hair We're going to get hat hair Okay, the next item i'm very honored to present is in regards to uh, us life guarding life guarding association beach safety week Each year a summer begins the united states life guarding life saving association Sponsors national beach safety week in an effort to remind beach goers to use caution in the aquatic environment National beach safety week begins the monday before memorial day and ends seven days later on memorial day monday The objective of natural beach safety week is to make citizens aware of the need to be safe while in and near the water With special emphasis on the hazards associated with rip currents representatives from the fire department and parks and recreation department Will accept the proclamation proclaiming may 21st may and through 28th as national beach safety week and so now i'd like to turn it over to brandon yamasaki and also, um Your any others that would like to speak I brought up callan harrick. He's uh works with the park and rec and the left guard division as our junior lifeguard lieutenant and he helps Start the process of bringing our lifeguards into this the city program and i also brought up marine safety officer brendaley who's my right hand man that helps me run the beach and all the special events that happen down there We'd like to thank you for the recognition for the lifeguards annually we are We have about a million visitors that visit our beach every summer And we are protecting the coastline all the way from the county line We assist mutual aid with state lifeguards and we uh also help with the harbour lifeguard tower and capitol lifeguard towers So we're very busy and spread out through the beach annually we have uh, we Have about 200 and thousand contacts with individuals on our beach And we provide first aid. We provide assistance. We provide safety so remember to One sign your kids up for junior lifeguards and two if you have a question about safety and where a good place to be on the beaches Feel free to come talk to our contact our lifeguard towers or our vehicle guards And we'd love to assist you All right. Well, I just want to say I'm I'll just read two lines from this because I think it's important for the community The aquatic environment has dangers particularly rip currents that can be effectively managed through public awareness and the vigilance of professional lifeguards For reasons of public safety an annual reminder of the joys and hazards associated with the aquatic environment Is appropriate at the commencement of the busy summer beach season The santa cruz community and visitors like must remember learn to swim Swim near a lifeguard swim with a buddy and check with the lifeguards Use sunscreen and drink water obey posted signs and flags And keep the beach and water clean Learn rip current safety and enter the water feet first and wear a life jacket when appropriate And so I'm at point again Like to thank you for all the work you do every day and especially during this time We declare may 21st through 2018 as national Beach safety week in the city of santa cruz and urge everyone using our beaches to enjoy themselves At the beach this year while taking appropriate measures to protect themselves and their children Like I need a drink of water that was a lot of proclamation I have a few announcements and then we'll move on to our regular meeting Today's meeting is being broadcast live on community television channel 25 and streaming on the city's website city of santa cruz dot com Mr. Lynn Dutton is our technician this evening and we'd like to thank him for his work today All city council members can be emailed at city council at city of santa cruz dot com If you would like to communicate with us about an agenda item We'd like to receive your email by monday at 5 p.m. Before our council meeting This provides us with an opportunity to review your email include it with the rest of our agenda packet Please bear in mind that all items of correspondence with the city and city council Constitute public records and are generally subject to disclosure upon request by any member of the public Accordingly if you have sensitive or private information that you do not wish to be made public You should not include that information in your correspondence Our rules of decorum are on the window ledge to my left It's my job to keep the meeting running without disruption and we ask that you respect your fellow citizens when you are inside or outside of the chambers At this point i'd like to ask all council members if there are any statements of disqualification today Seeing none i'll move on is And i'd like to ask the city clerk if there are any additions or deletions to the agenda Oral communication is an opportunity for members of the community to speak to us on items that are not on the agenda Oral communications will generally occur at the conclusion of our afternoon business at or around 5 30 p.m But may occur before or after 5 30 p.m depending on where we are on our agenda At this point in the agenda i'd like to turn it over to the city attorney Acting city attorney at this point to provide a report on closed session Good afternoon city council met in closed session to discuss two items public employee performance evaluation and Conference with the old council regarding anticipated litigation. There is no reportable action taken. Thank you And is there a city manager report? There's no report this week. Thank you First up on our agenda is the consent agenda. These are items four through eight on our agenda Let me just double check that I heard someone up here. No, I think that's four through eight someone Four through eight on the on our agenda All items will be acted upon in one motion unless an item is pulled by council member for further discussion And I heard from vice mayor Watkins. She'd like to pull item number six from the agenda. So that will be pulled Are there any other members who would like to pull an item from the consent agenda other than item number six? Seeing none, I'd like to turn it over to the public Is there any member of the public that would like to speak to any other item? On our consent other than item six at this time Seeing none, I'll bring it back to the council for deliberation in action Okay, motion by council member matthew second by council member chase for items All items on consent except for number six. Please say aye. Aye Any opposed that passes unanimously So I'd like to move on to item six Thank you mayor I want to first start by uh, just briefly kind of thanking and acknowledging our city council for back in november approving a 1% sales tax increase to cannabis Revenues to go towards our commitment and long-standing dedication to towards our earliest residents and vulnerable youth populations in our community So thank you for your for your dedication and moving that policy forward As stated in the council policy, it's our understanding that every year we will review a way to allocate the dollars in a fashion that's aligned with our intentions as a city and in preparation for the upcoming budget hearings council member matthew's I mean sorry council member chase and myself prepared a gender report outlining a strategy that is looking to optimize The dollars knowing that the need is is vast and There's some ways that we can leverage our resources to best meet those needs With a commitment to serving early childhood education with half of the revenue as well as also allowing discretionary and advisement from our city schools a committee and community programs committee to look at how to optimize the dollars for prevention and vulnerable youth populations So in preparation for the upcoming budget process, we've prepared this agenda item to be considered by council for Moving this upcoming fiscal year as well as to hear the community in terms of any input They may have on it and of course any questions from the council or input as well Are there any initial council questions at this time? Councilmember crown. Thanks. Um, it's good. I was called councilmember Watkins and she said she has already had spoken with two other council members And so you can't speak to more than two other council members It would be a violation of the brown act. So we get to have this conversation In public, which you know, I greatly appreciate. I'm just wondering about The two groups that were cited here. It wasn't clear to me if we are Only, you know, if the money is only going to the on page 6.2 50 of the revenue is going to go to thrive for three and 50 of the revenue is going to go to A vulnerable youth populations as recommended by the Santa Cruz City Schools Committee Or are these just recommendations and it's going to be open to all organizations that Work with young people or kids. I think you know It will be open to Conversation in process as it goes through the community programs committee Essentially, this is laying a framework that is looking at Existing efforts that are happening within our community that have been able to leverage and sort of at that systems level optimize the dollars My hope is that we can maintain a commitment to early childhood education I think many of you know, I feel very passionate about that and by saying and designating a minimum 50 percent of the revenue We can do that. There is a movement underway and I know the director of first five is here As well as our child care planning council Coordinator in terms of how to come together as a community in terms of the early childhood movement and look at ways to align and leverage existing efforts and so In anticipation of that being an existing advisory model That we can explore looking at and the benefit it could provide to our city The proposal is to explore that at this point with with with the disclaimer that 50 percent will no matter what be Allocated to towards early childhood in terms of the second portion, which is the vulnerable youth populations in prevention The the thought behind that is that there is an existing city Schools city committee that meets on a regular basis to identify overlaps in ways to support each other's work And knowing that there are the experts on the field tracking the on kind of the current needs of the Vulnerable youth populations and prevention needs of the students in our city That would be a nice way to have their input in terms of how we can meet those needs So with with all a community process happening at the community programs level with ultimate authority going to the city council on an annual basis Essentially is the framework identified. I do realize that this is sort of uh, kind of this is new territory, right? And so when we made the commitment, um, that is incredible And we I am hoping can be in action knowing that we will fine tune this on an annual basis and needs will change annually But we are going to start now investing in kids and making that a priority And so that's the hope and sort of the design of the framework Just a follow-up. How much money are we did we collect this collected last year in the cannabis tax 1% of it? My understanding was there was about a 60 or 70,000 from uh, Marcus, but I don't see him here and or maybe martin you might know I think that's about right And I just want to be clear that it's going to go to the programs committee also and then Without tying the hands, you know on certain rec and certain council members recommendations because I totally support this And I think it's a great thing and I supported you when you brought it up So I just want to I do want to see it, but I want there to be some latitude For council to have input Do you want to go this way councilor matthews answering that question? I asked that earlier this morning and The previous staff report when that action was taken was that the range in a full year could be Up to 120,000 Hey, do you have any to have council member chase other comments? Speak I just Thank you. Um, I just wanted to kind of add to the point that vice mayor Watkins made about the model and I just I really I signed on to this because I really appreciate the recommended model here Because this is outside the purview that the city typically operates in and so I think what we've done here is really recommended taking advantage of systems that are already in place where there's experts That are really weighing in on this and the city has the council did make a commitment to designate these dollars And so rather than creating a new function of the city We're actually utilizing the resources and the experts that already exist in the community But with a very clear focus on the youth in the city. So I appreciate that model being brought forward Anyone else questions at this time? No, okay I'd like to turn it over to the public at this point if there's any comments on or a question or Do you'd like to make please begin you have two minutes Hi council members. My name is Allison Guevara. I'm a social impact consultant focusing on supporting children and working families Um, you've heard from me before on this issue and I'm just really happy to see it brought to this point And I think that this is a really smart and thoughtful framework um, I had the privilege of Facilitating a forum with about 30 parents of zero to three year olds a couple weekends ago with the santa cruise community health center There was a mom who shared a story about her caring for her special needs baby Working full-time and being a full-time student while in recovery And the only way she was able to do that was by the graces and luck of having a friend's parents care for her baby And the general feeling from this group was that so many of these issues facing young children and their families are after thoughts In our community and in society And I know that we are part of a movement in this city and in this county to shift that So that we are truly prioritizing the needs of these young children So I just want to really emphasize the importance of allocating those funds to the early childhood programs and needs I think there's great work underway to that we can just leverage that and Make the most of the the precious dollars that we have. Thank you. Thank you Do any other member of the public who'd like to speak to this? If any member of the public would like to speak please stand so that we can see get a read on how many people are Plenty to speak. Thank you Good afternoon council mayor My name is david brody. I'm the executive director of the first five santa cruz county commission On behalf of our commission, I just want to commend the council for taking leadership in this area and the creation of a children's fund I think most of you are aware But in case any of you aren't first five santa cruz county is a commission that supports the healthy development of all kids zero through five in santa cruz county We fund and administer and help run programs involving parent education home visitation Early literacy preschool support quality improvement in preschool and early care and education environments to name a few One of our newer responsibilities is helping administer the countywide thrive by three fund in particular. We house an advisory committee Of our commission dedicated solely to providing Advice and council to all parties regarding the implementation of the thrive by three initiative We also are running the evaluation with our partners at applied survey research And we are currently administering something we call the early learning scholarship program Which is a very innovative approach to injecting resources into our child care community in a way that targets our most vulnerable children While injecting critical resources for our providers For the for the amazing work that they do So I just want to say again on behalf of our commission. Thank you for the creation of this children fund We completely understand it doesn't always feel exactly natural for cities and jurisdictions to engage in this way But it just takes practice And you're in very good company in making this type of commitment to our youngest kids. Thank you. Thank you next speaker, please Good afternoon. My name is dianne munoz and i'm coordinator of the childhood advisory council santa cruz county i'm here this afternoon To encourage you to approve This allocation to of the county cannabis cannabis tax I i'm also a member of the thrive by three advisory committee as well where I Provide information on the child care industry as well as data I support the allocation of the cannabis business tax to a designated children's fund For early education And youth programming to support prevention for our vulnerable vulnerable youth In populations here in santa cruz So I encourage you today to approve This innovative proposal That will support your most vulnerable citizens citizens, which are children in families. Thank you so much Thank you next speaker, please Good afternoon mayor and city council members My name is evette brooks And I work for the north santa cruz county salpa the salpa stands for special education local plan area At this point in time special education is only partially funded by the state And school districts have to backfill the rest of the rest of the funds with general funds It is so hard to hear our county superintendant struggle monthly on how hard it is to find a balance On one side special education students must be served birth to 22 As well as students in general education must receive quality education One thing that resonates with me the most is that there is a there is hard line evidence that proves that both special education students And general education students will be more successful if they receive quality early intervening services and education However, even though our state knows this they still only fund a very small percentage overall Of a child's education and cities have to come up with the rest This is where you as elected officials come in Not often do we see a brand new revenue stream and an opportunity to find Finally put money where it matters So you know most of our cities are in crisis dealing with homelessness drug addiction and crime And studies show that investing early reduces these numbers drastically I've been working with other elected officials I am going to be running for capitalist city council And we I'll be proposing the same thing and have proposed the same thing with our members there and By collaborating these jurisdictions with the thrive by three initiative by pulling our funds together We will be able to utilize the systems that the thrive by three initiative have in place already and Take a look and to take a look at their pilot programs that David just recently mentioned to see what best fits our community's needs I truly appreciate all of you for holding yourselves Accountable and investing in early education. Thank you. Thank you Are there any other members of the public that would like to speak to this item? Uh, see none. I'll bring it back to the council for deliberation council member brown There are so many things I'd love to say about this Item I first I just want to thank um vice mayor Watkins and council member chase for bringing it to us And being really deliberative about how Your you thought about structuring Where the funding will go and how we make those decisions So thank you for that and as a member of the both of the committees that will be bringing recommendations to Everybody at the council. Uh, I'd like to just move the the recommendation I'll second that Okay, we have a motion on the floor and a second motion by council member brown second by vice mayor Watkins I still have some some questions and things about this that I want to kind of talk through I think others do so I think we might have a little bit more process. I don't know if you'd like to go first or Go ahead. Um, I also appreciate the intention behind this as council members know, um, I was, um Not enthusiastic about designating this additional percentage specifically for a children's fund anyone who's paying any attention at all knows that we are in Have been and are in very Trying and challenging fiscal situation for the city of santa cruz And having said that I only voted for this with the language being changed to be quite broad So the language that we adopted was that the children's fund would support enhancement and expansion Of evidence-based programs to prioritize access to early childhood development prevention and vulnerable youth populations Without supplanting existing city of santa cruz services or investments I am uh again reluctantly willing to Support the motion if we drop the direction that 50 percent goes to thrive by three and 50 percent goes to programs By city schools, I think it's appropriate that we ask the community programs committee to review the recommendations um The community programs committee also reviews allocations from housing and urban development, which in part support Uh social programs and facilities Tune in on june 6th when we have our budget hearings We do not know what kind of cuts all of our departments already in preparing their budgets have been asked to They took cuts last year. They're being asked to make cuts in the budget that has been presented to us Some departments deeper cuts than others and we don't know we may be facing even further cuts beyond that so I think those of us who are close to The the toll that this fiscal strain has taken on the city We struggle to present to provide a teen center summer jobs for kids The pride program for at-risk youth. I mean It's it's I think not accurate to say that we're going to start supporting youth I think the city has a long long record through our core community programs allocations and our internal allocations and so for those reasons, um I would support an amendment or ask the maker of the motion to to delete the specific direction It's been said that that will lay a framework But I think laying a framework creates an expectation And I don't think we are in a good position to do that So I would ask that you remove the specific direction and leave simply that the Revenue would be Uh decided upon through recommendations from community programs Well, if I may just respond to that I think that this doesn't preclude any additional recommendation or conversation about How the revenues will be allocated or ultimately the direction it will go in What this does is identify a framework to set the priorities as well as the framework to Leverage partnerships that will enhance the dollar amount. So I don't um feel comfortable doing that I also just I think one of the things that I feel is worth stating is we share your and Your comments around the extraordinary times we're approaching in terms of the fiscal challenges This was a commitment on behalf of the city to say Regardless, we're going to prioritize children and what we set up here today is a way to do that That will optimize those dollars and I think we just heard briefly earlier that We're struggling to find people to work here and to stay here and child care is a huge Barrier to being able to work in this community. And I think this allows us to meet the needs of our residents in prioritizing our earliest Particularly our earliest children that I'd like to leave it as Identify knowing that there will be a process for further conversation in the future. So at this point, I don't feel comfortable accepting that The maker of the motion agrees Oh Do you want Chris go ahead? Well, I'm just trying to understand um Cynthia Are you saying that say the for instance the 70 000 that estimated 70 000 estimated 120 000 from next year Would still be spent on uh early childhood programs But you just don't want it to be locked in the way it is here Or you want more leeway to spend that that money on um filling our budget deficit Oh, no, no, no that we spent broadly on programs related to Early childhood youth programming and prevention for vulnerable youth populations that was the language Because I think the gap right now is early childhood that we're not, you know, we do fund children's programs Like you said, but I think that the earlier zero to three for example are, you know, I don't know if we're investing Very much right now. Thank you Okay, I I think just to make a quick comment then okay one of those is I mean, I appreciate that I think, you know For example, I totally agree with um vice mayor Watkins I think we need to do more for youth in the community in terms of how we invest in Our youth populations I think we've seen our priorities kind of move in different directions And I think this is really a clear statement that you know families and youth matter in our city And we need to do more to do it I just want to make sure that the recommendations that we have here are focused on really Concentrating the resources that are in the city within the city And because I look at the the recommendation the motion A little different than what you have in the background And so I just want to make sure that when we talk about supporting youth prevention and vulnerable youth populations That it's really that these these monies are targeting programs and services within the city of Santa Cruz And not and maybe even being used to leverage monies that are available outside to help Programs that exist here in the city Yeah, I agree and I and I um, I'd be happy to incorporate language I see that you have something written there if you want in terms of State city specific The maker of the motion. Oh, I apologize. Yeah If you down to member new ryan So I am I'm having a difficult time with this too because what essentially we're being asked to do is give Money to an entity outside of the city And that's where I'm having problems with this because I look at our parks and our playgrounds There's obviously a lot of maintenance that's needed there. I look at the fact that we have A lot of programs. It's not zero to three, but it is a lot of programs like our You know junior lifeguards or summer camps and parents use those programs that are pretty low cost For their kids is a way to have a place for them to be during the summer while they're still going to work So they serve a really important purpose and we have a teen center that Has been so close to closing on a couple of occasions because of the lack of money And then when we're looking at our own fiscal problems, um, I'm just not comfortable Dedicating money to Third parties and especially when we know that the county's going to have their own cannabis tax as well Um, and so I just want to make it really clear if I don't support this It's not because I don't support early childhood education. I don't support it through this mechanism I support making sure that the city is really solid on its own programs, which I don't think we are Before we decide to start and partner a whole new third party program I made for clarification. I think there might be a little bit of a misunderstanding in terms of what Um, this designation could look like and as it relates to thrive by three or a complementary program essentially what's being asked is that we are Stating that this above and beyond investment will have a portion Which is 50 of the portion to be allocated to early childhood education The mechanism is used to Leverage dollars in existing infrastructure To then reinvest those dollars back into the city and the city students and kids So what it does actually by going through and existing a mechanism like that is if it limits creating a new infrastructure bureaucracy around it Maximizes those dollars and then reinvest it straight back into the kids So if anything we're going to gain by contributing to something that's already existing That doesn't necessarily mean that will be what will always exist But it's a structure that's already being kind of outlined and so Ultimately looking at how at minimum we're going to commit to early childhood education for 50 of the dollars is the biggest Ask I'd say I just want to follow up on you said that it's not just necessarily something that we would do all the time After serving on the community programs Committee for a couple of years You know while the city has absolutely no obligation to provide that money for nonprofits we do because it's our values When we've had to look in the past at cutting because our own budgets were being cut for a variety of reasons We had people here screaming at us and saying, you know, you're cutting us That's our money and it became very much expected. And so When I worked for the state as well I saw that happen because I worked for the state when the recession hit and organizations when it was like look We've lost almost 50 of our revenue and it was time to cut programs It was taken as you're cutting us as opposed to recognizing That the programs were never meant to be permanent once you start something Um, and you have to shift. It's a very painful process And so that's why I'm having a hard time the idea of taking on something new When we're having our own economic issues, I've never seen as necessarily a wise choice to make You know, now if we were saying it's one time money, that's different Um, but even then I just really think that City money needs to stay in the city to really prop up our own programs that we have for youth okay Counts um council member chase So I just want to clarify and I think that there is a part of the agenda report that that can help explain things Right in the middle of the second page says 100 of the revenue to be programmed through the community programs committee So all the dollars will still go through the community programs committee With recommendations to the full council So still comes back to the full council on an annual basis And then the 50 percent through the county wide thrive by three where they're Weighing in on the recommendations to that that would then again go to the community programs committee and then to the full council um And so it's it's really those bodies are Recommending body that can help to like uh vice mayor Watkins said help to increase the funds and the resources And either way it's coming back to the community programs Uh committee as the place where that's vetted and then ultimately the city council still decides So 100 of the dollars are still going to city programs city funded programs and city residents So that part's not changing and then the part the latter part of your point is we're not we already designated this right The council designated this already. So that's not what we're deciding today And we might have to in a future decision Do something else with the cannabis resources, but for today It's just about we already made that decision So what mechanism are we going to use to determine how those dollars will be allocated? And this was the recommendation and I know we already made that decision to allocate it towards children I'm and I'm not saying that I'm against that I'm saying I'd like to keep it within the realm of already existing city programs Um council member math using council. Oh, no, I don't know council member math using council member brown I wonder if you'd consider language that Approximately 50 of the revenue to focus on early childhood development programs serving city residents And approximately 50 of the revenue to focus on prevention and vulnerable youth populations in the city of santa cruz as recommended by santa cruz city schools And other community sources Because I think we should ask our parks commitment for example and I just want to if I may Anyway, yeah, you can let me just say we have one. I will will say that the parks and rec Representatives kind of they they chair the city schools committee. They're in those meetings. So so council member brown I actually think that um council member chase covered my comments. So Okay, vice mayor walker. I I agree I think we what we have already is written up in a way that I think sets the framework up for us to Find tune as we move forward with the appropriate Levels of input throughout the different stages of the process. So at this point, I feel comfortable with as it's written Do you know what what was being suggested with by council member matthews was in alignment? I think what we were going in terms of within the city and so I think we could just I think just adding what we already accepted Which was within the recommendation after to support us prevention and vulnerable youth populations within the city covers that Yeah, and and also focus on early child development programs serving city residents Right within the city that's a city resident. Okay in both both clauses. I think that I that makes sense You know, I just figured we'd figure work that out in terms of the you know The metrics and the you know the evaluation of the Funding where the funding goes but if but I'm okay with that Once you if you want to restate it because I that's exactly the direction I thought in terms of keeping it because there's discussion in there that does have strict percentages But the motion is more to one set up the fund and how it's used and how it's looked at in the committees Will come up with whatever recommendations based on those funds that are available So The recommendation is to as the motion is to allocate the city's children fund for fiscal year 2018 2019 to fund early childhood development youth programming and to support prevention and vulnerable youth populations within the city of sanacruz With recommendations by the city's schools committee and the community programs committee Where's the thread by three thing That's the motion language So we're not naming thought thrive by three specifically I mean thrive by three is the the bigger umbrella is early childhood education Drive by three is what's sort of happening right now for us to explore as a way to Maximize the dollars, but ultimately The consistent investment will be early childhood education if this is a good mechanism that's going to help us Leverage dollars wonderful. If not, we can look at other ways to do that But I don't think that doesn't it's worth exploring as a way since it's already an existing movement underway to To try to sort of come, you know partner with With there will be more conversation in the coming months Councilman Matthews just if I could so your recommendation is not the specifics that are shown on page two I mean the recommendation is Be clear in the motion. Okay. It's this thing that's on page one. Yeah with Some clause about serving city of sanacruz residents Inserted in there within the city of sanacruz. Yes It's the framework essentially this is outlining how we would Ask these groups to move forward with it, but it's the framework that we're approving Just to try to Finish this up The motion is to allocate the city's cannabis business tax children's fund for fiscal year 2019 to fund early childhood development youth Programming and to support prevention and vulnerable youth populations within the city of sanacruz With recommendations by the community programs committee and the sea schools committee. So it's it's including Period period. Okay. That's a motion by Council member brown seconded by vice mayor walkins. Is there any further discussion on this? Okay, I think the motion's clear council member norrion. I just want to say, you know, we're taking on Funding and something new just want to make sure we're all very clear about that and then if we You know aren't in a position to not be able to fund it the following year get ready for people to be really upset with us Um, if we need to look at that money and say where our own youth programs are not Um, you know funded because of our own fiscal crisis Just get ready for that. Um and You know I i'm having a hard time with this I still may vote for it because i'm glad to see that we've acknowledged it should be within the city, but you know If our parks were all perfect and beautifully painted and the fences were perfect and the The you know, none of the yard equipment needed to be replaced then I understand going to something like this But that's not the situation. So I'm it's terrible because my heart really believes in early childhood education But I'm having a difficult time with the process and with the fact that you know Rarely do we have anyone come to the city and say we're going to help fund your programs by partnering with you it's most of the time it's the city going out and Saying here's a chunk of money to help run your you know your program or to enhance it So I I look forward to the day when someone actually approaches us And wants to partner with us on housing or something that the city desperately needs so um That's you know, I'm I'm having a hard time with this one Vice mayor walkins I mean, I'll just briefly respond that When we made the decision to increase the cannabis tax by one percent against Our staff's recommendation to leave it at the minimum of seven percent We committed that one percent to this policy of supporting early childhood education Vulnerable youth populations in prevention I'm hopeful that that does not change knowing that that was the intention of the increase of the cannabis tax One investment in kids does not Isolate or remove another investment in our city of a long-standing commitment to parks And I think that we're going to maintain that that's our commitment This is above and beyond saying no matter what we're going to choose to invest in kids And we made that decision with the policy that again has been mentioned by councilmember chases a decision That was previously made by this council What is being proposed now is us being in action Knowing that families are leaving this community and that we have a gap to fill in supporting our youngest residents We support a number of other things and this is laying out a framework to do so In hopes that we can start to make a difference in people's lives So it doesn't necessarily negate the ability to do another thing It's just saying in addition to we're going to make a long-standing commitment to kids So I just want to be clear that that's what the intention of the policy was It does negate it though when we run out of money and we can't support Traditional services through parks and rec and you know, we do have this You know and instead of using it for what our core city services are We're going to be spinning it on this and I'm so we are making that decision Right and right. We are making that decision We're making a decision that we're not going to take the extra money We gather from this and put it into our core city services When we do have parks and we do have other youth programs that could really use this funding This is I don't want to go too far off on a tangent But I just do want to say I'm looking forward to Budget hearings and our discussion about all of the places where we may be able to find money in the Santa Cruz City budget That can help us You know work on our priorities as a community So, you know, I your point is well taken council member Narayan, but I think In this case right now, we did make this commitment and it would be nice to just Follow through and I think this is a really good approach Council member chase Well, and now council around actually made the majority of the points that I wanted to make But I do want to recognize council member Narayan's point and I appreciate your focus on the fact that we are facing Some serious serious fiscal challenges The issue today is that we already designated this and so it's really since we designated it How are we going to make the decision to allocate it? So it could very well come back to this council and we'll make a different decision in the future And we will have to make some very difficult decisions in the very near future But yeah, that's all I'll just say briefly I will support the motion as it's now stated with the period where the period is I was uh, really I had problems on the specificity that was in this in the agenda report, but uh, as I read the recommendation before us it could fund both New it could help support new activities or it could help support Our internal activities that meet these same goals. So with that understanding, I'm going to support the motion Great. Okay. Is there any further discussion council member Cron. Yeah, I just want to is that what you understand to council member Watkins What council member matthews just said that this will backfill money that Maybe cut uh because of budget deficit I think that in the policy it states that this is not going to be used to Subplant existing city services But that doesn't necessarily mean that it precludes an opportunity for us to look at ways that it could creatively support Or enhance city services. Yeah, so I think it's just I think we can find money to to sort of to to council member brown's point To reflect our priorities. This was a little bit above and beyond saying This has been a significantly under invested population and we're going to make a choice as a governing body to invest differently and um And we have we know we have gaps in faux par scholarships, for example And this could be something that could also be looked at for that So it's not saying that it's not going to be It's just not going to be used to kind of go towards our general fund at the discretion of our city manager's office But it's going to go towards the council saying no matter what we're going to prioritize kids with the right partnerships Um, hopefully long standing since we did make the conscious decision to increase it for that purpose So I just want to make um clarification before we vote So if we decide and that you know, we look at the budget and we just realize we we don't have the money To even do basic part maintenance. Can this money? Can we decide as a council to Move that money in that direction this this doesn't Like uh, forbid us from doing that, right? I think I mean, I think that would be a different conversation at a different time for that hypothetical situation But before I vote for it, I'd like before I vote for it. I'd like to know though The council policy is Is what's written in terms of in terms of how the recommendations will come forward through our community programs committee And then before the city council in terms of hypotheticals. I think will be forthcoming So at this point, I think it's just appropriate to stick to what the proposal is I think that I think the council votes on the budget annually It makes those decisions on where those funding goes I think what we're hearing here is a commitment to youth and youth programs and I think at this point if there's So I still am they're not getting my question answered Okay. Well, I'll ask the city manager to if you'd like to answer that question I mean, what what would uh Kerry would be the city council adopted policy, uh, which which clarify I mean, which doesn't exclude the use of the funds for City-related programs, but it is clear about that it be used for you know, it's youth oriented and it specifies Those purposes. So I would are you know, it doesn't seem like maintenance would would would be appropriate Given the council adopted policy that that is your policy So maintenance won't be appropriate, but other youth programs with that the city runs would Okay, thank you I could see if there was a youth daycare center that's operated in the city Making facilities or providing equipment might be something that you do So, I mean, I do think that there's related things that go on with it. It's just how we prioritize those programs for youth Okay, that's thank you. I need a clarification on that before voting. Okay. I think we've discussed enough any other for the discussion So we'll like to um, put this to a vote. We have a motion by um Council member brown second by vice mayor walk-ins all those in favor. Please say aye. Hi Any opposed so that motion passes unanimously. Thank you for bringing that forward Okay, the next item is our consent public hearings item These are items numbers nine and ten on our agenda These items will be acted on with just one motion unless pulled by a council member for further discussion Are there any council members who wish to comment on either of these items? Yeah, I would pull number nine. Okay council member crone's pulled item number nine. So, um Is there any member of the public that would like to speak to item number 10? Item number 10 see none. I'll bring it back to the council for deliberation and action Okay, motion by council member, uh chase second by council member matthews All those in favor. Please say aye. Aye That motion passes unanimously now. We'll go to item number nine And this is the downtown association parking and business improvement area assessments for fiscal year 2019 So i'll turn it over to amanda rutela or first of all, let me just say before you go Council member crone. Do you have a specific question or any question on this? Okay, please go ahead Good afternoon council. My name is amanda rutela economic development coordinator Oh, no, it's okay So we just have a short presentation here for you today So every year the council approves the assessment. Um, this is money that the city collects as the fiscal agent for The downtown association. So twice a year we build that out and we pass that money along to the downtown association to support their their mission of promoting businesses and in creating a vibrant Business environment in the downtown. So I do have a chip here executive director with the downtown association who can speak to the activities of the dta but we This assessment happens every year and we get council approval for that To pass that money along thank you Yeah, do you continue with the presentation? I'll just say hello and thank you for hearing this we Are excited about our work plan this year. We've come off a very exciting Year this past year we we kind of have wrapped up a really what was a three-year branding rebranding process for the downtown association I know you've seen our new look It's still new to us. We're excited about it and this year a big Piece of our work plan was to launch our new website, which we're very proud of and very happy with it Also our work at collaborating with the city on bringing downtown streets team to town Which we're very excited and proud of that and coming up this year. You'll see a number of items on our our Work plan. We're very focused on beautification and place making projects that we're having some really interesting conversations about how to engage the community in place making downtown and creating Events and positive experiences. We're also working on ambassador programs and Creating a welcoming exciting and vibrant environment downtown So I'm happy to answer any questions any of you have about the work plan the budget and our processor anything else you might have Councilmember crown. Yeah, that was what stuck out for me. I wouldn't if you could say more about the ambassador program and It looks like in the budget the I guess it's maybe item 11 to but you're part of that Is this replacing the rangers? And how was that Not functionally. No, it's not functionally replacing the rangers. It's a very different service very different focus The funding as item 11 Is related to that item. Yeah, this is part of our work plan. So so they're connected 24,000 in there. Yeah, they are very much connected. And in fact, this is a contract the downtown association will be working with the DMC the downtown management corporation On developing and creating an ambassador program We will be retaining rangers in the downtown to continue their work of enforcement and working with the police department and downtown issues The ambassador program we're working on is much more geared towards a hospitality focus kind of looking at what we've been doing with the information kiosk downtown expanding that and in the ambulatory way Really providing a welcoming experience downtown as well as yeah Reporting a lot of the issues graffiti maintenance issues that happen downtown to kind of help with the city services to spread To kind of focus how we can get support in different areas So would be any different than the downtown hosts program that used to be there There'll be a lot of similarities to that and I think we you know that there's We're learning from the successes of that program and also how we can improve upon that Modeling this after a lot of other communities and a lot of other downtowns who have similar programs We're we're very excited as we're kind of building this program now. We're looking to launch in october of this year, so But the the the main focus is kind of as I mentioned really creating a You know, we all know how how magical downtown sienna cruises We really want to have ambassadors who express that and really are you know help people make coming downtown the best part of their day So would it be possible just to get a sort of job description? What what they'll be doing because I really i'm interested in that Absolutely, and I'll I'll tell you Councilman we haven't completed that yet. We're doing a lot of work looking at I just had a great conversation this morning with the ambassador program in sacramento We're talking to a lot of other programs kind of taking best practices from all over the country In talking to a lot of people so we are developing that i'm absolutely happy to share that And I look forward to it because it's I think it's a I miss the the yellow coats You know the downtown host. Um, the other question I have was about placemaking. What is that? That's a really good question. Um, and and that again You know we we've been having a number of conversations as with the mayor and others in the city around the basic idea of placemaking is is creating very Very interesting experiences for people in place where and it can be anything from You know the the parklets that the the mayor was involved with creating downtown or Events or a variety of things a lot of what our focus has been on is looking at You know perhaps temporary play structures or pop-up parks or various other activities So it's a lot of what the um the the avid square has done You know and looking at how do we create experiences and support creating experiences for people in the downtown that are place based community driven and and exciting So I would love to see musicians included in that. I don't know how other council members feel but you know just getting some You know support for them I'm gonna say I was gonna hold over my questions on the rangers and the hosts until item 11 But since this we're here and we had this discussion. I'll do it now Um, why are you thinking of kind of rolling back in terms of support for the ranger program? And you know, what is the impetus of like going back to the the hosts that we had looked at before just as background So you can share with us I'll just I'd like to hear from the DTA. Sure. Well, this was the the downtown management corporation has had a lot of really substantive and kind of Conversations about this over the years We're absolutely not wanting to roll back in the the rangers in the enforcement. I think there is a It's a very much a valuable city service And that we want to support the continuation of in the collaboration Between the property owners the business managers the business owners and the city in terms of making sure that all of the services are provided downtown we need Feel like we we have had a number of conversations in the board of the downtown association feels very strongly that having a Welcoming presence that's a a very different function than the presence of enforcement Which cannot be understated the importance of having an enforcement present presence downtown Which both our police and our rangers provide that but also having a more of a welcoming hospitality The rangers are are spread very thin with what they're doing and they're taxed and and they have a great service They do so we're not we're not looking to Replace that we're looking at creating a new program that works works in alignment with that This program will not be successful without the support of the rangers and and the police downtown Okay, and just as a follow-up you'd mentioned also the need to kind of prioritize some of the maintenance and activities And I would think that having um the hosts look at identifying like where are the areas that we can make better Prioritize some of that maintenance might be one of their job description tasks. Is that what you're thinking too? Yeah, absolutely I think one of the things that you know, we have we have great city services that we we bring downtown and being able to really focus When and where those services are needed will be help help us all help the city and the downtown association the dmc be more Efficient with the limited resources that we all have so when we can as you kind of mentioned when we can identify This particular corner is being you know, this trash cans overflowing having those eyes and ears on the street You know for example And I guess because I remember that the prior hosts just the last less common is this How are you going to determine the success of whether or not? Hey, you want to continue with it? And you know, are you going to look back and say is it the the members the downtown association members? We'll kind of make a call at the end of the next fiscal year to say whether or not. Hey, this program is working or Yeah, I think absolutely. We're we're working on putting together a survey now to kind of take the temperature of what is what is Priorities from the district for the business owners and property owners and we'll continue to assess that You know, there's there's many many levels of and many types of metrics We can we can measure this by and that's always a really good question to even mine Thank you. Okay, um, we'll ask if there's any if there's no other questions right now I don't want to can I ask this during item 11 then because um, I'm just one I see a big huge difference here We paid 209,000 last year for the ranger program and that's going to go down to 104,000 Chips saying that that's not going to change. I'm wondering where this 105,000 bucks is going to come from In the meantime, I mean if there's not going to be a different ranger program, who wears that I think that's a question that that I that I was going to leave over to item 11 and ask about that You know how we were funding those programs. Um, and I mean I think obviously this is the dta budget Let's let's uh, maybe hold that till 11 and take action on this so we can say that so we'll take it to the Public if there's any members of the public that would like to speak to this item regarding the downtown assessment It's item number nine sir. You have two minutes That's so very representing the branch of 40 community district and also the branch 40 business association Regarding the ranger issue um, I think it should I obviously understand it's going to be discussed later on this evening, but to throw in the pot. I like to mention The rangers cover downtown But they don't cover our branch of 40 territory at all And with a lack of police that are covering our one officer Where all the other offices are down here We figure their ranger program needs to be extended over to us as well being also That that a lot of discussion regarding the upcoming issue regarding the homeless facilities We're definitely going to need some more support with to assist the police department So we would we would like this to be discussed and considered Seriously because we take this very seriously. Thank you for your consideration. Thank you next speaker, please Is there any other member of the public that would like to speak to item nine? Please stand up to the my left. Okay, sir Yeah, uh regarding the ambassador program Um, obviously Part of their job will be that whether they like it or not. They will encounter Uh, what we would call street people Uh, a great variety And uh, I'm sure the business community wants more official people from the city on the streets To mellow out various situations. Should I have a specific question? Oh, that that's he's gone He's still here a bit. Are you still here, chef? Yeah, I asked the question, sir. Yeah, uh, sure The question is What training equips a person to be an ambassador? and What Instructions will they be under to deal with People who are not shoppers not regular tourist visitors But are in the opinion of some people hanging around Or not being productive, you know, you know street people or students, uh You know who What what what is the training? Is what are the professional criteria for these ambassadors? Okay, thank you, sir. Is there any member of the public that would like to speak to this item? Okay, and we're going to bring it back to the council And so I'll ask Chip the question that was just asked what training will be provided to equip the person that is assigned as an ambassador And deal with the the people that are currently downtime that might not be there to shop So we are we are working on Doing a lot of homework on best practices working on developing some training programs that will include crisis intervention that will include customer service that will Work with the police department and and others in the community But we're we're building that training program and as comprehensively as we're able to So I I imagine we will have a very extensive training program for our hosts I know the climate downtown we want people to be supported. We want to make sure we have a really good crew We have a pretty In-depth training program for our kiosk crew who are are Captive there who who stay there all the time in terms of how to deal with certain situations and interface with different members of the community downtown so we will Expand on that and and provide as much training as we can. We're also open to any support and Recommendations anyone might have Thank you. Okay, so we'll bring it to the back to the council for discussion I'm happy to go ahead and move the recommendation before us, which is to approve the plan prepared and adopt a resolution of intention to levy the downtown association assessments for 2019 etc, and I'll just say that This we've the discussion has focused particularly on the Evolution of the hospitality program here, but it's not being created out of whole cloth and we can deal with this When we get to item number 11 The downtown host hospitality ranger program has evolved a lot over the years since it was created and this current iteration is The product of a really substantive and collaborative discussion between The downtown association and the downtown management corporation, and I think we have a shared vision of what will be best as a future direction which includes both a flat-out hospitality function and a more enforcement oriented Component Both of which involve all the other partners involved in downtown which include PD and the mental health worker etc etc etc so This result this recommendation Has been very well thought out by the partners and so I'm very confident recommending it I also serve on the dmc or Downtown management corporation and I was skeptical of this when I first saw it But when we sat in meetings and we discussed it and discussed what the goals were I did see a good reason for going forward like this So I'd like to second the motion if I can thank you So there's a motion by councilmember matthew second by council Member noroyan Is there any further discussion on this? I just would like to know like what the issue That we're trying to fix maybe from the folks on the downtown I mean What was the issue that came up that we need to like go to this ambassador program versus just keep the rangers in place I hope i'm explaining it well Basically that the rangers weren't fulfilling that downtown host Function, which was where should I go to eat? What type of food is good? Did I park in the right spot and you know just those general Information questions especially by people who are from out of town and also, you know You see santa cruz students who are new to the area or their family? so It was to fulfill that kind of the positive sort of Interaction that people would have with with our downtown And and frankly just the difference of a uniform and not not a uniform And again the discussion Was very clear that both the hospitality And the enforcement capability were critical to one another I'll hold my comments for number 11 when we talk about the coordination, but um, I'll support the motion So if there's no further discussion, we'll um Call the question all those in favor, please say aye. Aye all those opposed Okay, that motion passes unanimously. We'll move on to item 11 and This is the cooperative retail management business real property improvement district assessments So uh economic development director bonnie lipscomb and rebecca unit economic development coordinator, please go ahead Great. Uh, good afternoon, mayor members of the council. Um, we're before you today to Have a motion to approve the annual report and fiscal year 19 work plan as well as a Resolution of intention to levy the real property business improvement of district for the downtown management corporation And rebecca unit our business liaison has prepared a brief staff report and presentation And I will say a number of the questions that came up. Um, in the last item We were prepared to cover as part of this item. So hopefully we'll be able to answer any remaining outstanding questions I will say that historically we've had the DMC assessment through the downtown management corporation has funded a host program an ambassador program And we had a long-standing host program Who in some of you may remember jena ramirez and we went through um sgi and had Outside professional companies run the host program and then we helped through economic development actually create cally west Which was run by jena ramirez until she decided to sort of finish her masters and moved on So we for many years benefited from having Gina and her expertise in the downtown But we feel very confident that working with the downtown association that they also have a lot of the same Expertise that jena developed over time and we can really help them Provide through our sort of relationship and working relationship together between the downtown and city have a successful host program So we support that as well and with that i'll turn it over to rebecca david if I could council member matthews Not to steal your thunder, but just because they're I know the council's aware of this but for those in the audience The downtown association Is funded by an assessment on businesses and their primary goal is marketing And the downtown management corporation is funded by the property owners and their function is on more of creating a safe environment And being eyes and ears So it does combine a little of the hospitality But definitely enforcement of the some of the issues that arise downtown So one is assessed on businesses one is assessed on Property owners, but they very much need to work together Okay, thank you clear Yeah, thanks for that clarification so Every year it's similar to the business improvement assessment the city council approves this for the fiscal year 2018 and report and fiscal year 2019 plan prepared by the dmc and approved at their board meeting on may 17th There are no proposed changes to the crm assessment collection However, as you've noticed the work plan is changing our funding from the rangers to a new downtown ambassador program beginning in january 2019 For the past two years the dmc has provided funding for the downtown ranger pilot program Which provided three rangers two full time and one part time And the city contributed additional funding to provide an equivalent number of rangers for a total of six or five full time equivalent in the downtown The pilot program was first enacted after cali west decided to end their program after operating the downtown since 2012 the dmc board Has been monitoring this program over the trial period and recognize the increased enforcement in the downtown Through the ability of rangers to provide citations has been beneficial And they also however they also feel that it's still missing that friendly ambassador component that the dmc was originally formed to provide The property owner and business owner representatives of the dmc board of directors recommended and the full board voted to reinstitute Institute a downtown ambassador program effective january 2019 And the dmc will continue to contribute a portion of funding for the ranger program from july 2018 through december 2018 And the funding will then shift to the downtown ambassador program beginning in 2019 The dmc will contract with downtown association to manage the ambassador program with the goals of encouraging A positive experience on the street providing proactive assistance to visitors Observing and reporting antisocial and criminal behavior and reporting and resolving vandalism graffiti waste and cleanliness issues The program will provide one operations director Two full-time ambassadors and two part-time ambassadors with rangers moving over to the police department beginning in july There will be more coordination between the rangers and police in the downtown To further support enforcement needs and come december 2018 the police department will need to assess if they'll continue With the rangers funded by the dmc I'm happy to answer any further questions. Are there any council member questions before we bring it to the public? And then we can come back to them for deliberation and discussion So my question would just be just to be clear That hundred and five thousand dollars that's in the budget that's um The difference so it's in july it's going to shift to the police department if the police department wants to pick up that 105,000 then they'll do that So the current rangers as they are operating right now will continue at the same level until december Um, they'll be moving into the police department, but that doesn't change how many rangers will be in the downtown Um until december, which is when that financial piece will need to be I'm just wondering where the money is coming from It's still coming from the downtown management corporation And the equivalent funding from the city Will then be coming from the police department's budget rather than parks and rec where it currently has been coming from Do you have any elaborate on that? Yeah, so yes, so the For the first six months the police department is going to absorb the expense within their budget Um, as you know the beginning in in july the the rangers will be shifted over to the police department Not all the rangers That's the ones that are be that are focusing more on enforcement related in parks and that will include the downtown rangers Um, however moving forward what we will have to assess is the the budget impact of that I think in looking at the police department's budget and given the level of vacancies we felt that we could proceed with The initial six months to make this work I think the general consensus is that the more levels of support we have out on pacific avenue With respect to having you know rangers with respect to having the host that that would be Better overall That is what many communities have a variety of different Types of individuals out there assisting customers assisting people out there for a whole variety of reasons The police department is also looking at a volunteer program component to it as well So this you know this will have a potential financial impact to the city no doubt about that We think we can get through the first six months and we'll then have to bring that back to you To answer your question Councilman, I just want to be clear that um, I support the program the ambassador program. I think it's great And and what what uh councilman matthew said about uh, no uniform kind of thing like the heaviness You know if the one has called that of the rangers even though it's not the pd Is that what we're trying to lessen So are we going to say that the rangers are still going to do the same patrols, etc But the ambassadors are going to be there too or are the ambassadors going to pick up some of the The slack or the the stuff that the rangers were doing and the rangers are going to be less of a of a visible presence necessarily on pacific avenue Councilman mathews, can you answer that based on what the intent is from your participation? Same number of people division of labor Okay Okay, I think in a word I'll say that I really support the ranger program I think it's been really a strong presence down there because they have a lot of different activities They do and they're actually down there and there's a presence there to help with certain emergencies that come up I appreciate also that the uh the downtown association is looking at ways to expand that Um, I feel that one the rangers provide greater uh connection with our parks and they provide a little bit more response time that's quickly I'm concerned that if we think about reducing The number of rangers let's say in december well, you'll have our hosts that have no one on the other line when they call When there's an issue downtown and so you'll have a host presence And they'll be great in terms of identifying locations But we won't have the necessary response to deal with some of the other issues that come up So I just want to say by supporting the the uh the dta's kind of action here I um equal Support or I want to see the ranger program continue in this area and do not want to see any sort of change And the really good work they're doing now Agreed and I just want to emphasize again The whole hospitality ranger host endeavor has been a work in progress for a long long time and and This is one city function where I see almost more than any other And ongoing look at how we do and how can we make it better with the resources available? So I'm quite comfortable with that and I think there's just a built-in desire to evaluate and more fit as necessary It's dta is making a proposal I'm looking forward to seeing how this works, but I am also as a city I want to make sure that we don't see any impacts to the ranger program Okay, so good. All right. Is there any We have a member of the public that would like to speak to this item Please step up. This is a this is item number 11 Please come on Hi, my name is jenny marini. I'm one of the owners of marini's candy's downtown And I just want to say that the downtown rangers are an amazing resource for us I call them at least Two or three times a week and they are there within minutes We have a lot of people downtown that need help that I've tried to help before and Honestly, unless you have the training and these people know a familiar face, which they all know The rangers know all the people downtown that need help. They know them by name They're there immediately when I call them They calm these people down. They they get them out of the business property, you know I'm kind of emotional about it because it's a it's a very It's a resource that I don't want to lose Their phones were down for about a month and I called 911 repeatedly and never got a response from anyone The rangers are there within minutes helping people removing people diffusing situations and if The hosts mean that we possibly lose the rangers. I don't think that that would be a benefit to our city I've hear From Locals all the time that they don't feel safe downtown And that they don't come down and support businesses and I think taking away some of that presence Would just make that situation worse. Um, so I Whatever the vote is that you keep these rangers They're more important than a host. I think thank you. I appreciate that. Thanks. Is there any member Any member of the public that would like to speak to item 11? Please step up Hello, my name is Susan Pappas and I'm the owner of the true olive connection downtown In the last 90 days, I've called 911 11 times For emergencies Violent tendencies the rangers came Nine out of those 11 times without the ranger program I wouldn't I wouldn't expect my staff to feel safe Our employees to feel safe our community to feel safe downtown They're there every single time we need them and they're the first people Boots on the ground. I really recommend that we keep the rangers in full Force if not more So that they are in places where no one else is they do know their names the people that are That are tolerated downtown look at them as a sense of force and they respect them They immediately calm down when they see them and it's important that we keep that level of uniform Downtown our host program was amazing and when we got rid of that one with that When she retired we all felt the loss of that group But when the rangers came in we felt like we had a voice and they were listening to us It's very important to keep that program I would like to see all of those programs be successful And have all of the hosts and see somebody on front street and down At the clock tower and somebody down on cedar street in chestnut And everybody welcoming all of the people to come downtown and feel safe and shop But specifically after 7 p.m. We have nobody we have nobody to help services We have no rangers and we don't feel safe after 7 p.m And I think it's really important that we understand that there is also a time frame for these services And they cut off at night and then it becomes a 9-1-1 situation every time And those are services that are getting really exhausted So I please appreciate the fact that we're all trying to help Is there any other member of the public that would like to speak to the side and this is item 11 Seeing none. I'm going to bring it back to the council for discussion and deliberation council member matthews Did I put a motion on the floor yet nobody has put one this is now at the time. Yeah, okay I'd like to move the recommendation before us and then make a comment as well Is there a second second okay motion by council member matthew second by council member noroyan I really value the first person comments from the merchants downtown Extremely valuable And I think we all understand the structure of the Policing organization has been undergoing some changes as well And one thing I would suggest I don't necessarily need to put it in the motion But I think we can just try and incorporate it at the downtown management corporation and the dta is do a quick check in After this goes into effect So we get a not wait for a year to see how it's going But we really monitor it closely because you know, we can make adjustments But we think this is a our best bet for now It's a it's a modification that makes sense But I absolutely understand the issues that have been brought by the merchants downtown And I also wanted to mention if this is probably as good a time as any The downtown association is holding its annual business community meeting and On may 23rd Wednesday may 23rd Which is tomorrow They're actually having two meetings one at 8 30 in the morning 8 30 to 10 one In the late afternoon or evening from 6 to 7 30 both of them at the food lounge And the theme is going to be on safety and mental health Issues in the downtown with the idea of what are the resources? What's the The whole package of resources that are available to Support our downtown and what changes are happening bring people up to date on things they may not know So if this is of interest to you, it's the safety and mental health Is the topic of the downtown business and property owners annual meetings So tomorrow either at 8 30 in the morning or at 6 in the afternoon evening at the food lounge downtown So it's something council members may be interested to know about as well. Thank you Okay council member ryan I just want to say that the discussions when this proposal was first brought forth Many of us expressed concern that the rangers needed to still be downtown Not be reduced in their capacity And we asked actually during the dmc meeting That within three months of this being implemented that a report come back to us So we're really keeping close tabs on it. Obviously. We don't want the situation to become more negative So we are keeping our eye on it Okay, um, multi city manager burnall. I just wanted to add a couple of items one is the it was brought up that the concerns and issues related to Just the number of individuals that have mental health Issues or problems downtown is is significant and there is a renewed effort with the county to provide More quicker response and support in in that regard They're rolling out a new program And are making some presentations to the downtown association And also we're working closely to do even even more than that So we're having some meetings with the county to really increase the responsiveness and the presence downtown And that's really the idea to have as much Presence and the ability to response to all the various circumstances that come out because again many of the issues aren't going to be resolved Strictly by law enforcement and and again to emphasize too that as we move forward I think the consensus is that you know, it is advantageous and makes sense for us to have you know, the rangers the host The volunteers the mental health outreach But that will require, you know, it will be have an impact on the general fund And so we'll have to figure out how to fund how to fund that moving forward I just wanted to be clear about that. Thank you I'll just say I I also appreciated that strong comments from the downtown business owners about the need to have a presence Of our rangers down there. I think it's imperative to have that presence And if so long as we can supplement it with other ways to you know One create a more welcoming environment and to identify where we need to increase our maintenance and oversight of the downtown All the better But I think that for me when we start looking at kind of this mix of services, you know The rangers in my mind I was there this morning and had them respond within two minutes to to a call down there That was you know, I think one that was creating a pretty strong disturbance So I want to echo the comments that I heard from the business owners And then I also like to say that for me when you look at the programs you mentioned I assume that those are county staff that are presenting the mental health Services that are available. I I did not plan the program. I don't know. Okay, but I believe they'll be present Yeah, because I was at a meeting public meeting yesterday And there are a variety of resource numbers that I sometimes don't think are widely available to the public through Either our city website or through the downtown association where you can email out to the members So if chip or from the downtown association or the city staff has a website We have a single downtown resource that has those direct numbers so that one people know who to call when they have An emergency mental health response or some sort of county Response again, I think it's really important that we kind of use the resources available Not just maybe rely on the the hosts that you know might be coming or The them calling the city staff member to address something that maybe Might be addressed through other available resources as well Okay, so with that said, I think we'll call a question all those in favor the motion on the floor Motion by council member matthews second by council member neroyan Please say aye. Aye those opposed that motion passes unanimously So the next item on our agenda is item number 12 It's the interim homeless facility planning update And as a reminder the order will be a staff presentation followed by questions of staff from the council We'll then take public comment and then return to the council for deliberation and action And I see a lot of members of the public who are here that may be here to speak on this item And I I understand there was an email that was sent out by an official That kind of identified a particular location The council is not looking at any location whatsoever. So if you're here to speak to a particular location We're not going to be discussing that We are aware that that of all the emails and did see the email from the official that was sent to us That was actually surprising because it made us made it appear that the council is taking action on something Which were not there the the county staff had been working to look at different locations And apparently there was a communication that was sent as a result of discussions that are totally unrelated To what the city is doing at this time We are working with them closely in terms of finding a way in fact appreciate their Stepping up to support some of these items that we're discussing now And we'll hope the staff can address that maybe now just to put it in context for those that are here to speak To a particular location that was mentioned briefly before you um go on to your presentation I'll leave i'll ask uh assistant city man Yeah, it was in the sentinel. I know i'll ask assistant city manager, uh tina shoal to speak to that Who's been our lead negotiator on this discussion? Right. Thanks. Mayor tracas. Um, so For the council for members of the public I do think to make it clear that folks are here And that the council welcomes you and we would more than like to I personally would like to hear what you have to say so Yeah, oh, I I I in no way meant to discourage the public comment I just want to provide you while you're waiting for this that that that is an item that get one. We're not taking action Gotcha, so Assistant city manager shoal. Yeah, thank you and thanks everyone for coming. Um, we know this has been a topic of really great enormous concern and Question and engagement with the the greater community And um, we are working with the county to identify potential sites We are not recommending one for the council for the community to look at today The presentation is you'll hear is really an update on how things are going because uh, you recall at your april 24th meeting There were some sites presented There was a preferred site if you will for lack of a better term to explore And our community became some members of our community Became very engaged and very concerned about that and so that was as we worked through that It became very very clear to us and that was a site that was had been used as a homeless shelter for about 20 years And so it really was a sense that if we're going to move forward with any site before we would put it forward We'd be talking to the community. So that is our commitment to the community That is our commitment to the council and this is where we know the council want to be as well So I just want to make that very clear. So we did not put this forward and indeed when we saw this communication We were very surprised very surprised because it didn't come from us So the site in question is the metro site Right off the metro parking lot right off of that highway that had been suggested to us by The county in fact and we were just preliminary looking at it like we're looking at others But we hadn't selected it. We hadn't gone far down that road of going forward with it So we did get a question for the media and as you read in the newspaper many of you We said that you know, we we've looked at it in a very cursory way. We don't know if we can get site control We don't know if we want to pursue it. So I just want to make that that clear. So so yes, it's been out there Yes, it was in the paper, but it is we are not recommending a site today And then also I just want to elaborate because when you use the the term we when you say we as that's city county This is not a you know when we think of this as a partnership So that's where I just want to make sure when that was released They are also looking at locations and inspecting them as well It's really a partnership between the county of santa cruz the city and also the cities of capitol and scott's valley For a north county partnership. So while the city and county are working on this very closely So are the other cities as well. Okay. Thank you for that. So I'd like to turn it over to principal management analyst Susie O'Hara for the presentation Thank you, mayor terrasis, and I'm pleased to be here to provide this update As assistant city manager tina shell mentioned We really are focusing today on a progress update and when I wanted to Go over with the slides is we included in the staff report and an update on operator solicitation Program model budget and funding model as well as location and citing what I want to focus on today Is bringing us back to kind of the overarching values and guiding principles that we have been working under kind of the compass that we have Directed ourselves towards as we walk through this process As you can see by today's discussion and leading into today to today's discussion This has been a challenging process With a lot of wonderful opportunities as well as a lot of Challenges and I think as we move through the process Continuing to focus on those guiding principles and checking in on those often is going to be important for our council and our and our partnerships as well so with the With the update we'll be talking about the guiding principles Giving a progress update as well as talking about next steps So for the first section the operator solicitation Really the guiding principles under this area are We really intend and this is the city and the county and the other jurisdictions as well the scots valley and capitol To not only contract with a nonprofit operator But really focus deeply in conversation and dialogue with those that have experience with Serving our homeless populations Running shelters on developing a best practice model for our community We have been very successful in doing that and we have a ton of interest With our nonprofit community as well as under other partners in our community To help build the model and so we really wanted to have that engagement Alongside having ultimately a contract to run the the program So we also will be using the letters of interest that were submitted to compare and contrast staffing models prepared budgets Services and partnerships and we're in the process of doing that now So where are we where do we stand with the operator solicitation? We have received three letters of interest all from very highly qualified applicants So that's wonderful news. We're very pleased to report that Not only is there strong interest in running the program as I mentioned But through looking at their LOIs are also a strong interest in engaging cooperatively among the government Nonprofit faith and business communities to build a successful model So our intention around our guiding principles has been translated very effectively into those LOIs And I think our nonprofit community has heard that and understands that This week we're going to take a deeper examination of the budget and staffing models To really understand what the costs are going to be around this We budgeted for the LOI basically what we have budgeted on a monthly basis for the river street camp That's a city-run operation. So when you translate that over to a nonprofit operator, you know, there's differences in costs And so we're evaluating those now So with regard to the program model, I really wanted to Go back again over those guiding principles because I think it's important for the community to hear As we're thinking about citing this program really what how we plan on running it So first all first of all we plan on maintaining the river street camp program model In terms of neighborhood compatibility into phase two and phase three With strong onsites and off-site security Shuttle service no walk on walk off 24-hour staffing model and so that's really a fundamental aspect of how we plan on Ensuring that there's neighborhood compatibility with phase two and phase three Maintain river street camps low barrier to entry pets partners and possessions welcomed Those are some of the barriers that people face When entering into shelter and so we want to maintain as low barrier as possible as we can And then increase shelter bed capacity from our current winter shelter and add day services So what we've also heard from Our respondents to the LOI is that there is a need to phase in how many beds that we have just from the perspective of We're moving quickly We have high expectations as to the program model and we really need to be working with them to phase in those that bed capacity as well So in terms of the budget and funding model We do need to reach agreement with the homeless action partnership jurisdiction So that's the city the county as well as scott's valley and capitolah That year round shelter is a priority for north county funding We expect that the funding model should be proportioned the same as the north county winter shelter And you can see those proportions the county at 51 percent City at 35 scott's valley at seven and capitol at six And then also actively seek local state private funding sources. I mentioned in the The staff report that there is good news at a at the state level and that will be a big You know aspect of our next steps is thinking about how to capitalize on that available funding So progress update as it relates to the program model budget and funding model With the three lois that we've received the annual budget is estimated at approximately 1.3 million So that's a number that um, we're still, you know actively Looking at there will be ongoing negotiations with the respondents as well as who we end up selecting But we think based on what we've heard from the lois at about 1.3 million is is where we're going to be at with the the annual budget We took that information to the HAP executive committee last week And we did reach agreement on a few things one is on prioritizing Year-round shelter from the HAP members which staff was present So we did hear from the city of capitol at scott's valley Watsonville and and from the county as well that year-round shelter is a priority We had agreement to work towards it the fund funding the year-round shelter And did very positively hear tentative budget support from the cities And we're waiting for the county's commitment at this point and then also Very soon beginning evaluation of the governor's may revise to assess the funding potential As I just mentioned and beginning to dialogue with local partners Non-profit faith business on local funding potential as well So the guiding principles around the siding I think we talked briefly about this leading up to the presentation But focus on sites with public control. So we have more access and greater access in terms of being able to quickly turn around the project Fully evaluate the site feasibility So there's a lot of considerations that need to be taken into consideration as we Think about whether a site is is feasible including the startup and preparation costs Infrastructure and utility requirements and then the potential capacity at the site Once we understand if a site is feasible then we would go and conduct the community outreach and engagement to ensure that The the questions around neighborhood compatibility are being addressed adequately so In terms of a progress update as of may 7th Armory is unavailable. We've reported that out at the last meeting continued to evaluate Feasibility of the other sites that we've already already identified and looking at other sites We you know, we're aware of the metro site through this recommendation from county We had just very preliminary discussions as to feasibility. So we're we're at this point We're not making a recommendation on any site today as the mayor and and Tina mentioned as well So as far as next steps and this is all happening with great haste finalize the operator contract negotiations and budget reach agreement with the haptic jurisdictions on the funding model Again engage with our state representatives on the governor's budget We are recommending that the mayors send a letter To support the governor's may revise budget to brown and assemblymember stone as well as some senator monning Just determine fully determine the siting feasibility and options and then report back to you on june 12th with actionable items And that's my presentation Keep that back up the recommendations. All right. Any any questions at this time? You want to have discussion from the here public comment first and then go to discussion? Okay, so why don't we do that? Thank you again for your patience We're going to go to to you the public and have you speak first and then we'll deliberate so If you'd line up to my left and ma'am please begin you have two minutes to speak I just say something real quickly. Hold on one second I just just for the purposes of the discussion and so our discussion Just for the purposes of discussion And so our discussion is actually steeped in truth as opposed to Rumored that was started by a letter sent by a particular individual I just want to state real quickly that the county staff was the one that suggested the park and ride site first Not the city that neither the county or the city staff had decided at this point To actually propose this site to either the council or the board of supervisors So I just want people to know that before they speak and of course we want to hear all of you speak At you know at this time, but just keep that in mind. Please with your comments because you know We are I guess just don't put us in in your bullet sites I'm sorry just a brief I would love to hear also comments on um, you know, if we're going to have A homeless shelter that works in this in the city or county where if you have any ideas where that might be that I think the council would love to hear that as well Okay, sorry for all that that, you know, we're asking you now you can tell us what you'd like, right? You don't have to my next visit. I'll bring a recommendation. Yes, so please you have two minutes. Okay. Good afternoon council members. Mayor Trazos My name is Kristen Rinovich and this is my son Vigo and my son Nico who with all due respect I realized you're not considering locations right now, but they left school early and Came and sat for almost two hours to experience city government and to have a I have to I have to say that we are we live at 30 61 Salisbury Drive We share our back fence with the Soquel park and ride lot The way things currently are my boys don't leave the yard Because of the unsavory foot and auto traffic that already go through our neighborhood In the time that I've lived at 30 61 Salisbury Drive. I've been under lockdown three times Once you all remember the felon from the hospital. So I think three times is a little bit much in your neighborhood It's no secret that the gang activity in the Soquel quarter right there We're in our neighborhood has really increased lately. There's been quite a bit of Really scary gang activity happening in that area To add to All these dangers that we're trying to raise our children in in the city and county To add that homeless element to our backyard would make our Just our own personal yard unsafe for my kids, you know, let alone going outside of the yard I know all of you probably if you don't have children you have children in your lives And I would hope as we discuss this issue further And consider all the locations that you would consider how it would be to raise kids that are not safe even in their own yard When you share a back fence with a proposed homeless facility But thank you very much. Thank you. Are you are you gonna be here for a moment? I'm gonna I have something I'll give to your two sons. Yeah. Love to stay. Okay. Okay. Next speaker, please Hello, I'm Vinnie Hansen. I'm a retired educator and author The proposed site at the parking ride. I think is a bad choice Because of its proximity to a number of schools These are not city schools They are county Schools, so I'm not really quite sure why the county put this forward This proposed site is 423 feet from a preschool It's a two-minute walk over the overpass of the freeway to reach A service center for autistic children You cross the street. You're at green acres elementary school, which is actually a five campus school It serves the green acres elementary It serves a charter school. It serves a preschool It serves a homeschooling program and a head start And if a person walks down Soquel it is probably an eight minute walk to harbour high So I do not feel this is a good location for a homeless shelter. Thank you Thank you. Next speaker, please Hi, Dan Friedman So I wanted to say that once you recommend a shelter site, I think it'll be too late So I'm here to argue that the park and ride site is the wrong site for a homeless shelter The green acre elementary school campus, which was just spoken about comprises of five schools Has open access to children's bathrooms Plenty of garbage and recycling bins readily available in a huge playing field where homeless have already been found sleeping on occasion Although the google map shows it's 0.7 miles away from the park and ride just walking through walking across to a A parking lot Is less than a quarter mile away um, I also want to speak to the fact that the Park and ride site is under and much of the surrounding area is under county jurisdiction The county sheriff who does not have the manpower on patrol per square mile that the santa cruis city Please have the emergency response time will often be delayed for any problems stemming from a 24 7 homeless shelter at the park and ride Um Note here So it seems to me, you know that um Oh, this is it. I wanted to say like is there any legal you talk about the any of these sites being temporary Is there anything legally that would prevent you from extending it from a three year outer limit to another three years or 30 years? You say it's temporary But what legal uh reassurance do we have that it is would be temporary if you pick the park and ride site Thank you. Thank you, sir. Next speaker, please Hi, i'm geoffrey ellis live in santa cruis gardens, which is the neighborhood just east of prospect heights and Unincorporated santa cruis county Uh, i'm really concerned about the consideration of the park and ride for a homeless shelter I think uh, in addition to the obvious, uh, the park and ride is used for parking and riding for for commuting, but um Beyond that it's only a couple of minutes walk from dominican oaks, which is uh elderly housing and some of our most, you know, vulnerable community members live there And and to me that that makes the site not or a homeless shelter not compatible with with the neighborhood in addition to Other facilities have already been discussed or or in the emails to council Cooperation is great between city and county when when i was at the county This morning i i told them that this is county jurisdiction and this should not happen Without public input to the county and a decision from the county government and they all Kind of nodded their heads like yes, that's how it's going to be I don't understand how city council could make this decision in itself and and i certainly hope you do not do that Thank you Thank you, sir Let me let me just say that the city council won't make this on its own So i appreciate that comment though Okay, sir your next speaker If you'd speak to the microphone, please, uh, my name is kirby wilkins I taught well over 30 years at cabrillo college Followed the whole development of pogo nip and i'm involved with a group of families building the community right at the base of Pogo nip And we are naturally concerned about the future of pogo nip. So i was here to talk to that point Which sounds like it's not worth taking your time up with right now But i since i was here i thought i would Express the concern for what it would mean to pogo nip just as an open space if One of the proposals that came up several weeks ago was to use pogo nip So i just wanted to be clear that There's a considerable concern about a number of families Trying to set up this community right at the very base of pogo nip which involves A very diverse community of people young people adults disabled folks And others and the, um, organic garden which will be very much a part of sanitary. So I just want to say i was here for pogo nip and i realize now that's inappropriate, but there it is And I guess everybody else is on the other subject here. Okay. Thank you. Let's on the same subject. So next speaker, please Hello, there. My name is chris lewis. Um, I live near the emeline complex Um, and I'd like to talk about the emeline option or not option is the case maybe Um I'm here looking for representation Council member norian said don't put us don't put us in your bullet sites Well, who am I gonna talk to right? You're my city council. I need you Right. My daughter needs you my daughter is three and a half She's learning to ride her bicycle Right She has to she has Been pedaling around people visiting the methadone clinic Right. I want her I want those people to get methadone. Right. I'm not saying that but the emeline Area is already impacted Right. I'm not talking about nimbyism. I'm saying that we're taking our share of the load Right. We're already doing it Right. Um Vice mayor whatkins said I I'm pulling for the children earlier right who's pulling for my daughter Right She shouldn't have to be told by me What a used needle looks like or what human feces looks like and to pedal around it on her bicycle That's not a place to go up Council member cronus. Well, where could it be and the answer is any not residential district Right. It's very simple we We have industrially zoned areas in the county That is where this should go It is not a case of distance if we are going to bust people to and from then distance is not the deciding factor Right. We have industrial areas. It does not need to be in a residential area where families and children grow Right. These are the people That will look to you for representation Right. These are the people of Santa Cruz Right. And I know the time is going down, but my daughter is worth longer than two minutes. Right I will not I just how do I explain this to her like this is almost abdication of responsibility that I read in the newspaper I know that that says oh, you know Um, we just have bad options. We just have bad options. So we're just gonna have to pick a bad option Right. That's not something I can tell my daughter You can continue and wrap it up. Thank you Right There are bad options because all I've seen are bad options Right, but it doesn't mean you have to pick one on an arbitrary timeline Right. There's made up by the council. It doesn't have to happen on the timeline that's being suggested Right. There are industrial zones. Use them. Please and please city council I know that it's not just you but please represent me and represent the people that voted for you. Thank you, sir Next speaker, please Can you put on the overhead So this morning instead of going to work in my busy downtown shop I spent some time on google maps trying to explain my name is susan pappas and I happen to live at on salisbury drive my 10-foot fence which I built myself To get people from coming and jumping over my fence to play with my dogs during the day But's up to the soquel park and ride So that little yellow line that I have on your handout is my fence Their fence their fence and their fence that all have small children A surgery center a six complex with babies in it a daycare center and 30 houses 10 of which have children under 10 There is no road access other than to fall into The area of the green area um The only access that people have is to either run into the bushes or get on the freeway If they're trying to escape which has happened. How many times have we been on lockdown? We happen to have all of the we have private road. No road maintenance. No police service We call daily over all the um the um RVs that are parked on our street that are illegally parked there every day because there's no police activity to come and call them off and we have All kinds of reasons why we're in such a small neighborhood that doesn't get any support now To have them just because it's a convenient parking lot that is owned by the county Doesn't mean you could just drop and place people that need services that we don't even have now In our community. We don't have health care services that are needed mental health It's everywhere and I call up johne Come here johne. Oh, okay johne Is a widow who lives next to me? Who lost her husband to a gunshot because The son and mother did not get services that are needed for mental health So the widow is on the street looking at the yellow line at the end That would be her house next to my house that is unsupported by any structure other than woods open woods that we call Weekly for encampments. She's worried about her house burning down She already lost her husband because of services that weren't available to county people We can't see this happen again. Our neighborhood is broken enough We will not Tolerate this in our neighborhood. Our neighborhood says no Thank you. Thank you next speaker, please Hello, my name is andy werner. I've uh lived in this neighborhood since 1973 I've seen a lot of changes Including the park and ride being built which is no longer used as a parking ride But a lot of people park there and if you just eliminate the parking Uh, that's going to create some problems One of the reasons uh it would is because the benican hospital, which is the biggest employer in the area Doesn't have enough parking for its people right now They're contracting with a graveyard to have actual parking light in the graveyard Oakwood cemetery for their personnel And I know they've been negotiating with the transit district to see if they might Purchase parking spaces or rent them in the parking ride But that aside, it's just a very bad location for it I personally have a wife who's disabled from a stroke I still work part-time and i'm not always around and she's kind of fearful She'd be totally helpless against somebody who would break in We already have uh transients coming there Some in some cases RVs and some cases they've actually cut the fence and Going down the bushes. I have called the sheriff many many times because of that reason And in other words, we're already impacted and this would be much more of an impact And i'm also wondering Okay, the people are here in in that location. Where are they going to go? They're miles away from any services that they would utilize Probably a couple miles from downtown santa Cruz if they choose to take the bus I don't think all of them will be on the shuttle Some of them will try to come by bike by bus and it's really a heck of a An intersection. I don't know if you guys probably live in a city of santa Cruz You know river street and uh in highway one This is actually more complex, but it it gets terrible gridlock at certain times of the day Cops aren't going to be able to get there ambulances aren't going to be able to get there Well, dominicans right there they they probably could walk him to the emergency room But it's just a place that offers nothing for these people They're going to have to go far away and they're going to try to come And it's a little bit difficult to find the entrance to the park and ride And I can foresee them walking through the neighborhood like people do even now And uh Again, I go with my neighbors totally against this and I hope the county will listen to thank you Can we get the next speaker, please Good afternoon council. My name is mike pappas co-owner of uh trial of connection better known as susan's husband Most of you probably saw my wonderful email this morning Uh, it was not meant in any disrespect whatsoever, but it was meant to be direct and that is usually how I deal with situations My backyard does back up to the park and ride When I said that the sheriff's probably answered her phone. Hello, mike. I wasn't joking I do call two three times a week andi and I are pretty much a sheriff's around town My last stop before I go into my driveway is to the park and ride I checked the changeling fence. You'll see the back boards have all been replaced I've been strengthened on what two by six is two by 12s metal studs They constantly come through they kick the boards out. They cut the fence. I'm picking up trash left and right Not the right location guys. I don't have your solution. I wish I did I don't know what to tell you on that part But we know that this is not the location for us Thank you. Thank you Next speaker, please Hi, my name is christina moreto and I am co-owner of a property that butts up against the poganib And this is a property where my son who is developmentally disabled is going to be living My concern about having an encampment in this area is number one There is only one way to get to it and it's a tiny little road That goes right up past our property Our fences are right up against it. So that you know, we're concerned with the vulnerable population You know being in danger, frankly and You know, I'm very sensitive to the homeless situation And understand that I think that there are a lot of like People who need places to stay and are willing to abide by the rules But that this encampment will actually draw other people who are doing, you know Who are going to be more involved in drugs and you'll be more violent So that really is a primary concern of ours and that there was a report that stated that there are no neighbors That go up against the poganib. Well, we're the neighbors. So there are people that live there Thank you. Next speaker, please Good afternoon. Thank you for having me. Kevin Herbst. I'm the managing director for shamanad resort in spa I'll pass on the redundancy here. You've heard it I've just I've always told my staff and people around me my children come with solutions So it's all been said already not a great location economic impact other impact to the area Thank you for your stewardship of the community. I'm the steward of a 200 acre parcel off of paul sweet I already deal with the program and the problems Call upon me for help in Finalizing this and whatever I can do for you and whatever shaman I can do for the community. Thank you. Appreciate that Next speaker, please Hello, my name is susan geype and I've been a resident of this county for 40 years And I'm here to deeply implore you not to consider pogo nip as what as the temporary location I've hiked there for 30 years in the last 20 years. I hiked there weekly And my main concern is fire danger last august a friend of mine and I were hiking in pogo nip And we saw smoke in the distance and we went over and there was a homeless camp It looked like it had been abandoned that morning and the fire had not been put out And it was going out into the grasses and small trees And it was really frightening and I called 911 and the fire department came But in my opinion pogo nip is a jewel and a treasure. It's a very sensitive ecological system And I've talked to the rangers over a number of years and they've done tons of work in trying to weed out Illegal homeless camps and we've seen huge bags black garbage bags of trash that are waiting to be hauled out And we've when we've come across the camps. There's been a lot of debris clothing metal bark pike bike parts And um, I just think it would be a tragedy to lose and compromise pogo nip because it's just such a beautiful ecological environment And I'm personally as a single woman. I hike with a friend there a lot, but I I don't feel safe hiking alone I've seen some of the people coming out of homeless camps that Really scare me and I've heard they go back there and do drugs and deal drugs and One guy had a big pit bull that totally frightened me So I I Agree with the gentleman who encouraged you to consider industrial parks industrial not parks, but industrial Properties for the camp and I have great sympathy for all the people who have neighborhoods Are in neighborhoods close to the park and ride And so anyway, I really ask you not to consider our jewel and our treasure of pogo nip. Thank you. Thank you Next speaker, please Afternoon, my name is Jessica and I live at 3 1 1 5 palsuit road Which is one of the three houses actually on palsuit on the park and ride side of the graveyard And it wasn't uh more than a handful of years ago that Before on the graveyard. There was no parking overnight signs. I believe the shaman odd was actually partially responsible for getting those No overnight parking before those signs were we basically had a homeless camp up and down that street RVs campers camper vans abandon vehicles All the time and they would encroach up into my house now for my job. I get home several nights a week after one in the morning There's no lighting on that street and when I would get out of my car. There were several times that I was approached by people It's terrifying My I do have security cameras, but they don't come on until you get to a certain amount So then I started Arming myself with two mace cans every time I get out of my car When those uh no overnight parking signs went up the problem a lot of it went away. It's not great, but it's Night and day to what it was before And i'm just terrified that i'm gonna have those problems again and be terrified to get out of my car when I get home from work Thank you. Thank you Are there any members of the public other than those that are standing that like to speak to the side? If you just stand to your left just so I know account sir, you can begin Hi, I'm Doug Wilson. I live on Salisbury And i'm totally opposed to having a camp you know area I've looked at the map and there are lots of areas Below um off club drive Out in the open about a mile from where the current um homeless shelter is on Costco near Costco When I drive by there And look at the trash And the junk I just don't want that in my neighborhood Thank you. Thank you next speaker. Please Hello, my name is Teresa Souvenier and i'm one of the owners of 335 golf club drive This is my daughter Hannah Hannah will be living there eventually and our properties on that small little road that leads up to the Pogonip And our farm uses the water from the creek that runs through that area for our organic farm I am all for services for the homeless, but I believe moving A large number of people to live in the Pogonip would be an environmental disaster It's a beautiful nature area people have said It's enjoyed by the entire community including hikers bikers You see Santa Cruz students and faculty and of course the wild animals and birds It's my understanding the city has focused many resources in the past cleaning it up Uh, I've read an article several years ago Tons of a garbage was removed and has really um Cleaned it up so it could be the wonderful refuge it is today So I urge you as you're looking at your options to make sure you understand that the Pogonip is a jewel and um I I just think it would be a disaster. I'm worried about the fire danger My daughter's going to be living the little road that dead ends to the Pogonip, which I believe is the only entrance To it. Um, I also saw an online document that Christina referred to earlier saying the pros and cons of the four Areas and under the Pogonip it said there were no neighbors So I believe somebody asked that that be changed. I don't know if it's been done But um, we have a family living there right now and we'll be building houses with um to serve our developmentally disabled kids So thank you Thank you. Next speaker, please Hi, my name is Jim LaTorre and for the last 15 or so years My wife Kathy has run the secret garden preschool, which is the preschool there in the area I don't want to um, I mean you certainly have heard enough Conversation about how inappropriate it is But I would hope that you guys would consider when and if you were to consider an area for a homeless shelter That you would certainly take uh into consideration all of the things that are already mentioned Along with certainly are concerned of 57 families and 13 employees um So I um, I have all the confidence in the world in you Understanding the the nature of the issue. I am sympathetic to the homeless situation in our town. I Hope that you guys can do something about that And I um, I wish you the best of luck, but make sure you consider everything that you can when determining a Place for your your work. Thank you so much. Thank you. Next speaker, please Hello council members. My name is Jason Booth. I live at 435 Demy Elaine. We've spoke before I didn't plan to speak today. I just planned on watching but uh, chris crone mentioned talking about different possibilities and Needs to say uh driving around town. I Had my eye open for different places that might be an option. I don't know if these have any Possibility, but I thought I mentioned them because uh, we only have so many eyes in the community There's a place that's uh, directly adjacent to sanitary gymnastics. I think that's off of You'll have to look it up, but uh, there's a fenced area there that looks like it's totally Not being used obviously owned by somebody But uh, it's a it's a fairly Large size area that's fenced off that might be something to look at. There's also an area In almar, which would probably upset a lot of people so off of almar But it's a triangle right next to the railroad tracks that is not occupied But something to consider again that that one might cause some issues Also, uh, I don't know if council members have gotten the videos and things and letters that we've sent in From our road, but definitely would be worth taking a look at The gentleman that was talking earlier about it being Looking at commercial areas. I hope he wasn't speaking of our neighborhood Our neighborhood is commercial ag, but it's generally agricultural and very very residential So looking at the zoning by itself Would be a mistake in that our neighborhood is very very family tied very very Community structured And I hope you take that into consideration when it comes to the point of making a decision I know that you guys are in a very very difficult position And you have a lot of things to look at But uh, please do consider us when you think about it along with everybody else that's been speaking today Thank you. Thank you next speaker. Please Hello, um, I am also a resident on demilane. Um, our street has Um, hardworking families tons of children I spoke at your last meeting giving many reasons why demilane is a bad choice for this because of the families The children the detouring tours from wilder ranch the extreme weather the far proximity of town The mountain lions I wasn't able to touch on the fact that there is a family that lives directly on the property of the proposed property um There are two hardworking parents with two school age children What will happen to them and where will they go? Um, you need to find a place away from all of the santa cruz county residents or drop the program altogether You will be bringing the homeless into whatever location you recommend and whatever problems result will be on your shoulders Thank you next speaker. Please Hello, my name is christina lupano and I live in the city of santa cruz. Um I don't think any neighbor should actually share the burden of a homeless camp I still need to understand how this Council has come to a conclusion that we have to have a homeless camp First of all, there was an example that I believe 15 years ago santa cruz have done Had opened an homeless camp that became like a tragedy afterwards I think I was in one of these meetings before and i'm not sure who has mentioned the first Homeless camp that was open 15 years ago And then it kind of turned into a nightmare and the police couldn't even go in And clean it and keep it under control. So i'm not really sure why This is has become a decision second of all Um, I saw some of the numbers. I don't want to talk about location because apparently location is not on the agenda today But I saw some of the numbers on the slides that said that um, it would cost as operation cost will cost like 1.3 million a year Does that include emergency call and um, you know sheriff and police and firefighting and Dominican hospital with their emergency coming in and removing people and taking people into the hospital and things like that Because 1.3 million dollars to run a shelter for 100 and plus 50 plus people It sounds like it's not enough honestly um The other thing that I wanted to say is that um You know, there's been also um other community in united states like Seattle or Portland that has started an homeless shelter in their cities Did any of these studies were reviewed and understood? Why do we think that we can actually keep it under control? I think it's Seattle right now who has an A huge problem with the homeless shelter that they open. Why do we think that we can do better in sienna cruz? Thank you. Thank you next speaker, please Next speaker, please Ed Silvera I want to make a Comment that the the last speaker We definitely support what she said Actually, it should really be focused. There was significant discussion there I'm ed silvera representing Friends of the la viega and the surrounding residents of the la viega park Now, I know we're hearing for now. The la viega is not being considered But we're not going for that We find it interesting that the national guard is in the process and letting you know that they're building buildings And talking and asking around with the planning department and and everywhere No one seems to have an interest about what are these buildings are going to build Are they going to build golf course houses up there with their surplus land across the street? This council has no interest on what they're going to be building up there or why in the middle of a city park Well, we're requesting that this council look into it city manager too when he gets around to it The point is We have a serious concern regarding this not for now up into la viega park And we don't we don't really care about hearing that for years they bust people up there in the winter time when it was cold well What it comes down to is what it did it directed a lot of people They didn't want to get up at six in the morning in the cold And they made that park their little center in a situation and having a more of an impact isn't going to help its situation especially with fires And we were overwhelmed with was stacked up debris up in that park trees crisscrossed Not enough money for the fire department to deal with the issue And we think that it's time that there's put some energy There's been some needs to be some energy to clear up the park For more fired issues from homeless encampments. It's already started fires and one at the national guard itself Which has cleared some land recently about five acres We're taking this very seriously and we'd like to thank you too Especially members that we voted for in the branch of 40 area that doesn't seem to really give a damn Thank you, sir. Next speaker, please Good afternoon. My name is jeff rollings and I live over on solsbury drive I'll echo some of the comments most all the comments that my neighbors have made but a couple of reasons why I think The terrible idea to put a put a shelter in that area is in part The the infrastructure of that of that community is So inferior. I've just Diverted a sewer lateral for example Sewage system there is 70 years old. It was installed in 1943. It's not designed for the type of commercial Workload that's gonna it's gonna hit it were there to be hundreds of people living nearby Suggestion I think paving lighting The ability for people to the lack of roads is always a problem the ability of people to Quote-on-quote escape on foot Is real morise ainsworth comes to mind. He was able to escape from law enforcement for hours before emerging on english drive With a standoff for six hours You can just that a random gulch area is just prone for people jumping into I'm concerned of two small children that live there suggestions for other ideas I think there needs to be some sort of law enforcement presence nearby 17th avenue has a substation performance food services is leaving There's a huge warehouse complex with a massive transportation area that cannot how that would be a large open space for people If we're talking about demaeo lane, what about round tree on the other side of town? Where there's a where there's the county facility with law enforcement There are many other options. They just shut down the bus stop At the surgery center at paul suite road. I think it's still available for the 17 express But it's not available for the local transportation So there's going to be a bunch of people there that would be isolated and I think it would be a terrible Location to consider the salisbury drive, but thank you very much. Thank you next speaker, please Hi council, I was here a couple meetings ago to talk about emeline drive And I guess because something was in the paper that's kind of dropped off the radar, but here I am back again I wanted to mention the goodwill bargain barn building which has recently been vacated It's a pretty big building and has some large parking structure area around it So if you're looking for alternate sites, I don't know if it's I suppose it is Goodwill property But if you're looking for partners, they they seemed that they would be Compassionate the other thing I wanted to ask is during the presentation It says return on June 7th with actionable options But before that you mentioned wanting to Partner with the community that may be involved and get their buy-in and take time to discuss You know, it's it's may 22nd I don't know how much buy-in and talking and Cooperation you can get from any community Site you choose in three weeks and I guess I'm I'm confused as to why this is moving so quickly. It seems to be moving quicker than our ability to Slow down and take some time and look for you know, it's like looking for a house you can buy a house tomorrow It may end up being the wrong house So if you take more time and look around and You know look at many houses you find the house that works for you and I I just hope you guys Possibly I don't know what the rush is exactly if if river street has to be closed or if it's a budget Situation is there an answer there? Does anybody know why it's if you pause for a second We'll answer that question. I've been writing some of these questions. Okay, great. Thank you Next speaker, please Name's surge cag. No, I'm not gonna speak to which site you're gonna choose The I was one of the respondents for the letter of interest I hear what everyone's saying that safety for children and absolutely. I think that that's My goal and you know the Whoever does the the program that has to be the safety for children is number one I've run a lot of different programs and meeting the neighbors and them having my cell phone number is just part of how you do business It's People need whatever their needs are they need to be addressed. You know that you have to answer to a lot of people too um, I think being creative and having a lot of Collaboration will be able to answer Different all everybody's needs as much as possible That just doing the shelter doesn't mean it needs to be an unsafe neighborhood I don't think those are equatable things. Um, I'm more about numbers and about you know the Talking about schools and unsafe schools and stuff like that Like there there is a family shelter that's over on coral street too Like they do go together kids and homeless people like they interact There are groups of people that are criminals and there are groups of people that substance use and mental health and all that And you still have to make plans to be able to deal with that the talking about running buses in and out so that the The neighborhood's not impacted Well, that that's the plan for the thing and the question to the neighbors of the river street is how impacted have they been I've heard that they have not been impacted. So I definitely hear that safety should be number one I absolutely agree with that. Um, I don't think a shelter makes safety not possible I thank you next speaker My name is linda weaver and um, I want to thank you for for trying to find the solution at least part of it Comes in pieces. I think I was a volunteer at the winter shelter program And I know for a fact that when that closed people were put back onto the streets or in the parks People who are making progress because they were getting support because they were getting services Have deteriorated. I know that for a fact so, um, I just encourage you to um I encourage you to um move forward Diligently, I hear all of the concerns. Um, but to also know that a lot of this is mental health There just has to be some sort of solution I wanted to ask you whether You were looking into the state funding for perhaps shared housing Maybe part of the problem is Looking at it is such a large Facility in the old days back in the 70s They used to have shared housing for folks that needed supportive services And I don't know whether any of the money that's coming from Sacramento or anywhere else could be used for that, but I would encourage you to look into it Thank you. Thank you Are you here to speak to item number 12, sir? Speaker number 12. I'm no, are you here to speak to item number 12? We're on item number 12 We're not on public comment yet. I understand that. Okay. Just want to make sure please you have two minutes Yeah, name is pat kiddles Santa Cruz um with regard to the homeless have um I have compassion for them, but I also feel like um Some expectations have to be put on them. I spent a lot of time um Dealing with removing non-native vegetation in the local wild lands and I see stuff that um is So disgusting and you want to puke frankly it's utterly disgusting And What I mean, it's bad enough just on a city street where anytime you see a bunch of homeless people There's going to be a lot of trash in their wake It is it asking too much for these people I'm speaking right now to anybody that's watching me who is a homeless advocate Or a homeless person who wants to be helped You've got to do something for yourself And picking up after your trash is certainly the rock bottom bare minimum that you can do for yourself And you shouldn't be asking anything from anybody else until you can at least pick up your own trash That's not asking too much You know what? You know you can unfortunately you could write it down and pass it you know pass it through us But we've already commented unfortunately. Okay, but we'll be available to send an email if you like and we'll review it Um, are there any members of the public that would like to speak to item number 12 anyone who hasn't spoken already? Okay, see none. We're going to bring it back to the council. There was a couple questions that I wrote down Maybe I'll put those out first One gentleman asked if a site is looked identified. Can it be extended beyond the recommended Temporary period or would there be some additional permitting required? So if we if once a site is identified, can you Automatically extend it even further without any sort of additional process So permitting is really site specific And I I would not be able to address that based on you know, generally speaking But from the perspective of the declaration of the shelter crisis that the council took a few months back You know that we do have some leeway with permitting and especially around a temporary facility. So I think The intention though around the phasing is to ensure that each phase And you know, that's part of the reason why we're Bringing this and having you know, some urgency around this is we are hoping and fully expect to Maintain those timeframe promises that we make to the community So as it relates to phase two, we would expect to have that open only into only until we Build and start to operate phase three And those again our Commitments that we've kind of discussed up. Do we have do we know those are the same commitments? They're shared by the county as well for the same timelines Well, I think generally speaking the commitment that we're trying to make together is to implement the permanent shelter and how we phase Moving into that really depends on the site that's available and being able to find an operator and also having the budget available Thanks So I would just say that if anything was or to be selected and there's a time period that's identified If it were to be extended I guarantee it would come back to the council before done. It wouldn't be something that would be arbitrarily extended So there would be a process that would happen to answer that question The second one was is there is it a budget question regarding continuing the use of the river street shelter? And I'll ask the city manager that The the challenge with respect to the the the current shelter facility and I think I think there's a lot of misunderstandings about what we're talking about because I think people Probably pictured the homeless shelter on coral street Is what the envision is what's being proposed to be moved and that's just not the what what is being proposed to be moved The the current river street shelter is a completely new model. It's it's completely different then then And also some of the members of the public point to do some some encampments that happened years and years ago Which yes had at serious problems. So so that's not what is is being Envisioned let me just say the question was is it a budget question regarding continuing the river street shelter, right? so Yes, so with respect to the river street shelter, which again is a different operating model The the issue with that is a couple things one is that the city alone cannot fund. It's a regional It's a regional shelter facility for the entire region It happens to be in Santa Cruz, but this is the city the this is the regions the Shelter facility and Santa Cruz hosts these regional services right now And at the cost that it's operating. It's not cost effective It is a lot of money for a small level of capacity and we have you know Couple of thousand homeless individuals in our county and about 300 shelter beds And so part of the goal here is to increase shelter capacity So that we have fewer people as many people pointed out who are who are out In encampments and already creating a lots of public safety and public health Issues so the idea is to increase capacity so we can Reduce that impact on the community and also at the same time Assist individuals to perhaps get getting out of homelessness So it would be yes, there is a there there is a To the question is there a budget question regarding it? Yes, there there is it is a budget question You can't just continue without right right. Okay. Just want to make sure that was clear Um, I I'm gonna I just want to say something I I wrote something out And I just want to bring it up because I think it's critical right now We've had this at these discussions And as we've heard over many months And through the recommendations of the homeless coordinating coordinating committee I don't think there's any escaping a required regional response to address the need for emergency emergency shelter at this time And I'm proud of the city efforts that have engaged partner agencies in this. I think Susie O'Hara has kind of really taken a lead in this as well as all the other city staff that have gone out there And kind of set something up to move this forward as well as the city staff and actions to really try something new I mean, I think this is just really we we were at a place where we could not continue Operating the same way with some of the impacts we're Experiencing downtown and throughout our city We are now at a critical critical point in time We're a firm public commitment by our partners is required if our region is to continue to make progress To address this Mental health challenges in our downtown to address homelessness and the actions by some Who have overburdened our public safety and park staff here in the city We have critical decisions to make as a region about where we go from here And this will require a strong commitment to address these challenges through the funding of a cost And operationally effective interim shelter If we are to proceed in addition to the next steps recommendations that are here, I would ask the council to authorize Need to draft a correspondence on the council's behalf to our county partners can confirm their support for increasing emergency shelter capacity on a year-round basis as outlined in the report by staff And requesting their support both respect to the contribution Contributing a fair share of funding and to collaborate and make a recommendation with respect to the site evaluation and decision making process I would ask that we get a response by mid-june so that city staff can formulate decisions about the fate of the river street camp And also to ensure our own budget solvency in terms of how we've Taking this on and really looking for some long-term solutions that are sustainable In my opinion with a regional commitment Our county and city can make a determination about the status of the river street camp And how it might transition towards a cost and an operationally effective facility with the full support of partner agencies Without it. I think we're in a position where we have to decide where we want to go from here And so for me The recommendations that are there Are good ones, but I think we also need to get a little bit more clarity as far as the the level of our partnership as I mentioned There's some sort of Communication that's authorized through our discussions here I do like the outreach in terms of To the governor and elected officials and I and I know we had action on this earlier in the year to have some sort of public outreach in terms of legislative affairs And I I know we have legislative Staff members in sacramento currently that work for the city I think we should really be also looking at engaging them on this very issue in terms of where we can do this and not Just rely on a correspondence and so I think right now as we have our discussion I think we are at a point where we need to really kind of hone in where we want to go because We did make a commitment as far as this temporary use at the um shelter on river street to address the benchlands and If we are to continue we really have the council have to you know decide where we go and what direction Without a partnership. Um, we I think we're we we can't continue and so that's that's really the question I I'd like to second that motion to can't make a motion. Oh, I'm sorry Okay, I would like to move the motion that I could not possibly repeat everything that you just said But I would like to um make a motion that we do send a letter to the county asking for more clarification On their commitment to move forward And may I make a comment why I support that? Okay, so I make that motion. I don't know if someone would like to second it Yeah, I mean I'll I'll put it out there and the reason I want to second it is we had a county supervisor Specifically john leopold send a letter that surprised everybody You know and sent a letter basically Warning people about a plan that wasn't even a plan Um, and that was really too bad Um, because I think it you know It's it's sent an alarm out that didn't need to be sent Because it was something that first of all, I just want to state that it was the county staff That came up with this location as an idea And it was communicated to city staff and neither staff was ready to even present this to us as a possibility Whether it was to the board of supervisors or to the city council So to have a supervisor send that letter out was a bit shocking I have to say and I think it just it scared people when it didn't need to scare people Because we're not even at that point yet where that proposal was coming to us So that's why I support the idea of a letter because what I'm finding at my experience is I'm seeing staff at county willing to think of new ideas and willing to maybe partner with us But I'm not necessarily seeing a board of supervisors who's willing to do that I'm seeing a couple supervisors like I see Ryan Coonerty who's been trying to work with us on this But I'm not really hearing from the other members of the board to get clarity on whether We should continue having our staff spend their wheels and research these issues So, um, I second the motion and I just want to you made the motion I'm sorry We've been meeting since uh, you know one one o'clock today So, um, the other thing I just want to mention, you know, somebody got up and said it's simple Just put this in an industrial area And I just want to say that it's not simple for staff because they have looked at industrial areas As a city, we don't have the power to just point out a piece of land and say that's it That's where we're putting our homeless shelter. Um, there's property rights. There's people who own the land Um Yeah, there's property there's property rights involved. So someone who owns that You know, we have to ask their permission to be able to be able to use that and so I just want to give kudos to the staff. They have looked at those Possibilities they have looked at industrial areas. The last thing they want to do is propose something that You know is going to make a neighborhood unhappy. So I just want to say they have tried and I want all of you to know that too So, you know, we will go back to the drawing board There are a couple of suggestions that people had that I think I saw them writing, you know Very very much taking notes about those ideas. So they'll go back to that drawing board But I I really just want to stress that, you know, we have thought of those possibilities and You know, we've found buildings that are empty But if the owner isn't willing to lease the building to us, we can't use it. So Um, just just to know it isn't easy. Unfortunately I just want to say that also This is about the commitment in terms of funding and coordination to identify sites We're not even at the point of like identifying if there is a location. So I think that's the first issue that needs to be addressed Um, but I do want to make sure that we know that we're looking at these recommendations here as well as the one to have Direct correspondence on The issue is from our county partners as well. Is that part of your motion? Yes, that is Okay Council member chase um, I I appreciate the the motion on the floor because I'm not going to begin to speculate what exactly happened in this process between county and city staff working on this diligently for months And somehow it getting miscommunicated or not communicated to supervisors where we were in the process So I I think it's really important that we do get clarity from the elected officials so that we understand are we all moving forward On the same page and in good faith to pursue this because I agree With the mayor's point which has been made many many many times Something like this cannot be done without collaboration. We don't have enough resources. We are clear that we need a shelter here there's plenty of data to show that um, and This really I think that we do have to understand who we're working with and what the rules are of agreement on this and how we Plan to proceed because absent that we are spinning our wheels. So I Will support the recommendation. I also want to say I absolutely appreciate that people are I appreciate council member crone's question about Do you have proposed solutions because I think it is important that we Not just talk about our concerns, but always think about what solutions we have and Literally every solution and proposed site that's been suggested has had opposition. Uh, and so it is uh It is a fantasy to think that we are going to find a site that doesn't So we just have to be really clear that there's going to be opposition regardless of where the site is And it's about us doing our due diligence to make sure that we create the safest and most responsible Place for that to be knowing we need a shelter And just to clarify too And just in terms of language, this is a universal we this is a partnership and it's us as in terms of a regional solution So when we talk about these things, it's hard because we're up here at the council and we've we've been actually having several opportunities to have these discussions and I without any sort of clarity as far as whether or not there's agreement I feel like it's important that we kind of maybe You know revert to getting that that commitment to decide if we're going to continue this discussion And so when you say use the we I assume that's what you meant Yeah Is there any other council member crone? um, thank you. I I wanted to say excuse me. Um Send a letter also. I think that's a great idea. Um, I'm just a little bit. I was a little bit, um mildly Returbed quizzical. Um, why a camp someone said why a camp? Why a homeless shelter? Um, because people need a place in in their community Um, these are our sons and our daughters and our mothers and our fathers who are homeless right now And they are part of this community. I think the council has realized this And and also I think if you go out, uh, I don't know if the person's still here If you go out to the the camp on river street, you know, you can go in and you can see, um, that it is well maintained and, um That it seems to be working out and it is a camp Uh, and it is serving people 50 to 60 people, uh, each night. I wanted to, um Push back a little bit on rachel's comment about, um, uh You know what? The perfect site finding if we did find the perfect site that there is a crisis a homeless crisis There's a crisis in this community and we are looking for a homeless shelter. I just wanted to get a sense from the city attorney Um, concerning eminent domain if the perfect site was came up Can this council use eminent domain if it's in the public interest? Yeah, there there is an eminent domain process that uh, could be utilized it is it can be a very, um, lengthy process but it starts with um establishing public public necessity as um, uh, council member crone was mentioning, um, and Kind of the process is a resolution of public necessity And there are several elements that would be required under the under the statutory scheme Including the project for which the property is to be acquired as deemed necessary The property is considered necessary for the interests of the public The project is located where it will offer the greatest public benefit with the least private detriment And an offer to purchase the property has been made and then as part of that there's a there's a process in terms of engaging with the property owner and, um Going through an appraisal process and and things like that, but that that is um an available avenue And don't get me wrong. I think that we you know, this council would not just you know, willy-nilly, um be be, um Identifying properties and saying oh, that's the one And also in the eminent domain process you always compensate people It's not it's not taking their property away without you know, just compensation It's usually 15 percent over the asking price as far as I know. Thank you Thank you. Is there any other comments from council? Vice Mayor Watkins Thank you for the presentation and for the community members to come and speak in Their opinions about this complex issue. I appreciate the comments That have been previously made by my colleagues up here in terms of clarity and expectation And helpful in terms of navigating how to move forward I just wanted to make sure I had clarity on one of the slides, which is the budget funding model And I'm wondering if you wouldn't mind going over sort of the concept and where we're at with that again Just to make sure I'm I heard you correctly if that's okay. Sure sure Yeah, so the the high level concept is that the north county jurisdictions that are part of the HAP Would be translating the winter shelter model to a year around shelter model and there has been a great deal of Um progress on developing this proportionality. It's based on population and that's um has been the funding model for a winter shelter for How long? Yeah, and so the the theory is as we translate from just winter shelter to a year around shelter We would use that same proportionality and that's what we have requested for consideration at the HAP And did you say if I can for clarity? Excuse me That you've had commitment from some of the jurisdictions or you have not at this point So um when we met with HAP last week It's obviously staff there and as um each jurisdiction goes through their budget process ultimate decision goes to those governing bodies But what they did signal from a staff level is that there is you know a priority around Moving forward with the year around shelter and that the cities in particular We're going to do their their best to come up with the money Obviously, that's a very small portion scott's valley and capitol of the of the larger funding models So they also signaled to the city in the county to come up with a recommendation and actually you know Ensure much like you are suggesting That we're really clear on our partnership and then go back to them with the recommendation for funding from the cities Thank you Any other discussion I'd just like to also kind of bring this point up and that um, you know We're talking about you know timelines as far as our kind of the emergency shelter that's on river street and The the language and we'll I'll have or shall restate the motion um in a minute, but Assuming what what happens if there is no uh commitment on this what happens to the river street shelter in terms of You know our funding do I mean I even understand from the question We don't have budget to continue beyond our current deadline So, you know do we do you come up with a proposal in terms of how to wind that down? Yeah, so I think the do you want to go martin? He can add to it So I think um the intention for the next meeting is to provide those alternatives and based on What we understand from the county with with the letter from the city council We'll be able to make recommendations around a few alternatives and a wind down alternative is something that we'll have to consider On the 12th and in addition to other alternatives if we do Have some success with the county around siding as well as budget and other you know the program model as well And then because it came up in terms of even though we're not talking siding here We're just looking at commitment first Would it be appropriate this time to talk a little bit about like some of the criteria that the staff is using to Identify what locations you might consider So I think that really is Based on our our overall guiding principles with with regard to the siding Um, it's obviously a very complex issue as councilmember norion and others talked about Um feasibility, um, there are many different aspects of the feasibility discussion Um, and so we look at the feasibility um predominantly around cost and whether it's even remotely Possible to have a temporary camp at the site Neighborhood compatibility is part of that as well Understanding the proximity of neighbors. I'm looking at the current uses in that area zoning and permitting There's many different layers in terms of feasibility and how we look at that that criteria, but overarching concern is how do we How do we find a location that we have some control around and that's what's really brought us to this question about publicly Own facilities Okay, I guess one of the points that came up Was the idea of the proximity to schools and you and I do you think that's a fact it should weigh against a particular location I just want to make sure that and you know in terms of how you should look at it that there's you know one We want to not have facilities near a school or even some of the recreational facilities We already see sometimes the impacts that have happened in certain parts of our City I know that there are also areas in a rural basis. Maybe they are publicly owned outside of the city that should be considered We've had some You know recommendations for you know within the city, but it'd be good to get a mix of different places That are out there I know the homeless and I'll I'll ask some of the people that were on the homeless Committee that looked at this this was intended to be a regional one that's located You know mid county is what was I understood to be the recommendation that came out or okay. Well, then you can clarify that Never had a specific location or a regional facility that was centrally located I think it was what the language was and no, okay Well, then maybe you could talk a little bit about how you talked about geographically It's serving a geographic group. Well, I wasn't on the committee. So I don't know Right, but I would like those that we're on the committee to speak to that Sure. What we've talked about with the with the county in so far as phase three is to create these You know navigation centers and we've talked about having them spread throughout the county Um, and you know possibly having you know, three or so Uh, Watsonville, you know, they also are discussions. They're having similar issues as well Again, this navigation model is a completely different model than what we've had thus far um, but the idea is to have regional models, uh, and uh, not just in the city But you know, perhaps in your north county mid county and south county Or the discussions and in this particular case, the other thing that's important to just recognize is that The reason why we're looking for an interim facility is because with respect to a north county facility We have identified a site and we are in the process of Acquiring, you know doing the appraisal and with the property acquisition because ultimately what we want to do is to Moving to an appropriate facility, which would be a building not necessarily an encampment So these are just intern measures to get us to that and we are making progress on the more permanent solution But that's going to take a bit of time And uh, just to address the the proximity to the school issue This did come up when we were talking about the armory and um The superintendent of the Santa Cruz city schools district Did send a letter to the neighbors that were concerned about the armory Suggesting that she didn't have concern about proximity to schools And I'm not suggesting that would be the opinion of the council But also wanted to be really clear that This type of shelter would serve families and families in the school district as well and just for for you know All those that are considering this to take that into consideration as well So I I think we'd want to you know coordinate and collaborate with the school districts and Both the coe and the Santa Cruz city school districts around siding as well Well, we've actually experienced that the river street camp is actually that security and safety has actually improved around the shelter Um, because there's just 24 hour security in the facility and around the facility. So it's actually improved conditions Okay, I'd like I mean for I know I had one of the subcommittee members that isn't on the homeless committee That commented about the direction that came up and I just was curious You know, is this consistent with the the recommendations from the homeless subcommittee in terms of what we're doing now In regard to what? The phase two discussion that we're at on the on the agenda right now Yes, okay Oh, should I go ahead and repeat the no I was just want to make sure that confirming that we're being consistent with the recommendations of the homeless subcommittee I would say we are. I mean we didn't necessarily See this in phases like we're doing because we wanted, you know, we wanted to institute it more quickly because You know as days went on just the amount of homeless people we're seeing just has been increasing rapidly and so Um, we felt we needed to I guess as a council increase our our timeline And then the geographic location that came up in terms of having multiple locations It did no it definitely did come up. Um, it wasn't the absolute requirement But you know, I mean some people think the ideal would be to have A shelter say up in the santa cruz mountains a shelter in mid county something in the city You know, watsonville already has shelters So, um, you know, and I just wanted to mention somebody said well, why do we need these shelters? I mean what we find is when people get stabilized and go into them all of those calls for service that they were causing For ambulance calls for police calls the same police officer sometimes would have contact with the same homeless person Three times in one evening because the homeless person is trying to find a place to sleep And each time a call comes to ask the homeless person To leave and so there are some real pragmatic reasons for doing this There's a human humanitarian reason and also there are cities who no longer can enforce Any of their ordinances related to people who are homeless, you know, camping out And doing other activities because the courts are now saying if you don't have a place for folks to go You can't enforce these ordinances and so we didn't want to get to a point either Where we weren't able to enforce our own ordinances because we didn't have a place for people to go So there's pragmatic reasons and there's humanitarian reasons for us to come to the conclusions that we did And i'll say too that uh while we didn't come up with specific locations We did absolutely recommend a regional approach that this would not be something that would be the responsibility of any specific jurisdiction But actually all the jurisdictions really needed to come to the table on this if we were going to have a solution because it's not Our jurisdictional issue. It's at least a regional issue and as we know by the numbers It's clearly a state issue and in many cases a national issue I guess looking at the way that this is unfold and we have one in the incorporated watsonville area one in the That's you know being led by you know, basically, you know, our staff has been investigating that the city one I think I think this kind of direction is really kind of see where we are going to move forward to See what our next steps are so I um I would like to ask at this point to have the motion restated Okay, so in addition to the next step recommendations that are up on the screen right now The council authorizes the mayor to draft a correspondence to our county partners To confirm their support for increasing emergency shelter capacity on a year round basis is outlined by staff And requesting their support support both with respect to contributing A fair share of funding and to collaborate and make a recommendation with respect to the site evaluation and decision making response Decision making process. Excuse me And with a response by mid june So the city staff can formulate decisions about the fate of the river street camp And i'll hand this to you clear I'll hand this to you. Um, just one point of clarification. It would be nice to get the letter back before the council meeting on june 12th So do you want me to site a specific date june 11th? No, we need to do an agenda for Thursday. Maybe the wednesday before You give me a date. No, yes Um, it's hard to give direction on june 6th or june 7th requesting a response by june 6th Okay, that's optimistic, but We can try I have a question for the maker of the motion The the language around fair share is pretty subjective So we might want to consider Fair share is related to what was just Fair share. Yeah, whatever. I mean, I I'm just suggesting that I think we're all gonna have different opinions including the other Members. Do you have a suggestion for something else other than that? So, I mean, uh, did you Yeah, I mean, I think what we would recommend is that we that we use the you know The winter shelter funding formula that we've been using it's it's been well established for many many many years So are we seeking an agreement on the specific recommendation for the hap breakdown of Funding yes, okay And recognizing that, you know, I guess we all have constraints too So I think, you know, if we have a fair formula that we all agree on We can certainly work on the on the cost side of it and also on identifying additional funding As well So it's it's not like we're forcing everybody to come up with sort of a fixed dollar amount They may not necessarily be able to Afford but if we can get a commitment towards Using a formula that's fair that's established in that one and then secondarily to Recognizing that we'll have to Provide additional funding. Okay. So just a suggestion. So maybe to say um, there's support both with respect to Funding and just say to funding As it pairs to saying to fair share or a formula funding or blah Okay, it's fair share funding as described in our guiding principles. So you want to keep it? Okay And we'll we'll craft it in the letter. Oh, yeah, we'll do the letter. We'll craft it. Okay. All right. I'm open to and I It's a detail and you can take care of it in the editing, but this is just going the supervisors, correct So we can't commit them to what scott's valley and capitol are going to do but I think we can just say um Generally assumed on the existing Hap formula for division of cost or something like that Just because in a letter maybe as opposed to the motion and okay, all right And because without that commitment nothing moves forward. Yeah, so I just want I also I haven't been a part Direct part of these conversations. My understanding is informal conversations with the various jurisdictions Are headed in this direction. So this isn't going to come Okay, and then the other piece was once we get a response you will also know by june 12th You'll give recommendations on either way what the statuses of the the emergency river street shelter in terms of that impact Is it appropriate to say if there is well, I'll just leave it at that Okay, is there any other discussion? Okay, we have a motion on the floor and a second all those in favor. Please say aye. Aye Those opposed that passes unanimously. All right Hey, we're not done Okay, so the next item is number 13 and that's the meeting calendar Anything up for the meeting calendar to report No, we have um, yeah, I'll ask uh city manager burnall. No, no, I think it's it's up to date What size it's up to date the calendar. Okay the calendar changes. Okay Um, and then there was also a kind of an update from marcus pimentel regarding the budget that has some background There's going to be a public meeting may 31st. That's not on our agenda that regarding the budget And okay, so moving on um We have not um covered oral communications yet Is there any member of the public here to speak to oral communications? Okay, any member i'm going to wait just a little bit Couple minutes Maybe 60 seconds Any member of the public that would like to speak to oral communications? This is a time for you. This is a time for any member of the public who would like to speak to any item That's not on today's agenda. Yeah, thanks. I'm glad glad you asked the question No problem. You have Thanks for your patience too Good evening mayor and council members. I am uh, Heather Sawyer I'm the chair for the city's equal employment opportunity committee And i'm here on behalf of the ee oc To request um city council to submit a letter supporting the adoption of north america's urban libraries councils Statement of commitment to racial and social equity The uh City's equal employment opportunity committee ee oc was established in 1986 to support any affected affirmative action program Its current mission is to confirm the city's commitment to maintaining a work environment free from unlawful discrimination and harassment for all current and prospective city employees The santa cruz public libraries is currently contemplating adopting the urban libraries council Statement of commitment to racial and social equity It's okay with you. I'd like to read that Um, can you start the time? Yeah. Yeah, you you can finish it if you can we did you had some time Okay, thank you So the north american urban libraries council statement of commitment to racial and social equity serves as a baseline upon which santa cruz public libraries will build policies and actions that make the communities serve More inclusive and just the statement reads as follows as leaders of north america's public libraries We are committed to achieving racial and social equity by contributing to a more just society in which all community members Can realize their full potential our libraries can help achieve true and sustained equity Through an intentional systemic and transformative library community partnership Our library systems are working to achieve equity in the community serve By eliminating racial and social equity barriers and library programs services policies and practices Creating a maintaining an environment of diversity inclusion and respect both in our library systems and in all aspects of our community role Ensuring that we are reaching and engaging disenfranchised people in the community and helping them express their voice Serving as a covener and facilitator of conversations and partnerships to address community challenges Being forthright on tough issues that are important to our communities Libraries are trusted venerable and enduring institutions central to their communities And an essential participant in the movement for racial and social equity So the eeoc has reviewed the statement And in this time of political and social divisiveness the eoc strongly supports the intent expressed in the statement And requests that the city council submit to the library board a letter in support of the adoption of the statement The reason why i'm here is because this just came up last week's Committee meeting and it's possibly going to the june 7th library joint powers board Tend to so tentatively june 7th or august 2nd. So we want it to come forward now Absolutely. Hey, I um, I wanted just to ask you When maybe i'll ask our board member for the library board um city manager bernal How did this come up where the the board was contemplating putting this on the agenda for um action This particular item. Yeah, um, you know, i'm not i'm not familiar with it. I haven't really So We had our regular eeoc committee meeting last week. Um, Amy Sherman who is the vice chair is also a librarian and brought this forward And this was an item that we thought Um They requested that I come forward and present this on behalf of the committee or the eeoc committee to ask for I guess did the eeoc put put this on the library board agenda? No, this this is something that just falls in line with what the committee Yeah, it hasn't been to the library board. Okay. Yeah, I mean I support it And if I guess it's not enough time to put on agenda, but I mean if everyone's I'll work with heather. Yeah, that was gonna be if I could those could be my point We can't take action now because exactly agenda. Um, I'll personally write a letter. I think that would make sense and All of this is very much reflected in the kind of initiatives our library has already undertaken in so many ways So I think it's kind of consistent with our library practice our library system practice But we can't authorize Yes, and I understand that we just thought we would maybe I'll get a letter out Before the library deadline make sure that the city manager gets it Okay, so that closes our oral communications. We have one more item Here on our open session and that is Provide opportunities for council members and the city manager to report on actions or external boards or committees That occurred since the last city council meeting. I'll start. Yeah, I'll go Councilmember crown. Do you have anything come back to me? Okay You could do lrdp Um, I just want to mention a few events. They weren't really committee assignments, but uh, several of us were at the gala greatsa Yeah Which was Fantastic, and I've never seen sandlands of park as full And just incredible for any event ever It was wonderful and the city of santa cruz was a sponsor of this and got fully recognized and very much appreciated Then there's also at the museum of natural history. The art of nature is a wonderful exhibit. That's a I think, you know, the museum proper is the property of the city. Um, the museum Association runs it, but I've really if you haven't gone to this in the past. It's a wonderful exhibit and then Um On the I'm a representative to the league of california cities regional division and we had a meeting on monday last monday evening And top of mind for everyone was defending sp1 for all the representatives from all the cities in our region and the Uh topic was how are the many many many different ways that we can let the public know the benefits of sp1 I think mark mentioned it in his comments about Something in public works weaker That just try to say this is made possible by sp1 So metro is having an event On thursday may 31st in the morning 10 to 11 at pacific station And it's going to be celebrating the bus and paratransit vehicle purchases made possible by sp1 and measure d and those of you who are familiar with the metro system know that they They're due for about 60 new buses that are past their useful lifetime But we were able to buy a few because of sp1 and measure d So they want to promote that and again just raise the visibility because as you know, that's a risk of repeal in the fall So, um, again, uh, that's uh thursday may 31st 10 to 11 at pacific station promoting the benefits of sp1 Ready chris or you i'm gonna keep going Okay, councilmember chase Um, so I want to report out on the housing blueprint subcommittee We had a really really well attended event at loud nelson. There was over 200 people Some faces that we've seen many times before but a lot of faces that we haven't and really incredible activities interactive presentations that were set up by staff and was a very very successful event We got a lot of great feedback and a lot of surprising information that we received from folks And then a lot of things that have confirmed things that we've been hearing For a while, so I just wanted to highlight what a great event that was and that I think it accomplished what we were trying to do I don't think I have any other things to update on Nope, that's it. That's my breath Well, I actually don't have anything to report Related to any of the interagency boards and commissions and jpa is that I serve on right now but I did want to say that um councilmember matthews and I went and Had a wonderful time trying to listen to a band in alusha I'm one of our sister cities And um, we had a great time and um, you know, despite some technological challenges. We um, We got to communicate across a considerable distance So that was really awesome. And I also want to say happy birthday to isabella maria terrazas Oh, I know it was cute Oh, so um, unfortunately, I was sick a lot the last couple of weeks, but I did manage to Um, uh, see the housing fair up at uc santa cruz. So every year my interns with my um, uc santa cruz position partner up with many city Agencies to host a housing fair up on campus for students who are planning on moving Who are living on campus moving off campus and trying to make their experience as smooth as possible We have property managers. They can talk one on one with them But we also had our fire department. We had waste management and code enforcement up there as well So students can know what to do, you know, for instance a student that approached me a couple years ago And said we have a hole in our living room. What should we do? So that was kind of the the impetus to have me ask code enforcement to be part of the housing fair And they've been there the last few years waste management explained to students about the need to order a cart That's actually big enough for their garbage because that's an issue that comes up a lot during the year So it was um, really successful a lot of students were able to make it and It's the fifth year in a row that we've held this and we get really good feedback from students that it's really helpful. So Um, maybe in next year, I'll remember to let all of you know ahead of time if any of you want to drop by for it I'll bring up one thing before we turn it over to Do you want to go first? I just can go brief. We have our ad hoc budget committee. It's uh, Consistent council member brown vice mayor walk-ins and myself and I tell you it's been a really, um a really engaging and educational experience working with um, the um finance director mark Marcus pimentel and his staff. He's really been Really supportive about increasing our outreach and engagement with the public We um, we have a coordinated campaign and we've identified lots of different opportunities to reach out Leading up to our june 6 budget. So I wanted also mentioned that on may 31st There's going to be a public meeting at I believe the police community room And there's a flyer for that to provide, um, you know a budget Presentation and answer questions We'll also be gathering questions as we go along from community members that we've had contacts with And um, I think it's uh, going to be a different budget process this year We're going to have a one day budget hearing on june 6 And I think that um, there was a memo that was left at your table from marcus that kind of outlined some of those things But I just want to express appreciation for working with the committee members. I think it's been going really well That's just to fill it out. Just finish. Um, you know the LRDP committee has not met since our last council meeting as far as I know We are meeting this week Thursday And I'm kind of excited because I put an item on the agenda But that this agenda item won't be taken up until june meeting, but I pose the question How can we get to 19 500? How can we have everybody save face and you know do a team approach here City working with the university and going to sacramento or whatever it takes to get to that 19 500 can they contemplate that can they think that that would be an okay thing the other thing I wanted to alert the What's that Well, and no more. Yes, and no more And the measure 69 is right now before the students they started voting last thursday and measure 69 Is a really significant Issue concerning transportation the loop bus the metro bus what the students pay into the system right now It's so funny. It's like in 2000. They were paying 350 Matt Miller I saw him today at the jump bike thing and he graduated a few years ago And he said it was 750 he remembers per quarter right now It's 111 dollars per quarter per student. They're asking the students to pay about 192 to 200 By 2022 it's become a big issue on campus There wasn't much talk about it before it came up and I was concerned about that so I'm very concerned A if it's going to pass B If students know what they're getting from their transportation monies There really hasn't been what I would call a robust debate around on on campus about this issue But I'm holding my breath to see where it shakes out. I have a feeling that we might be disappointed in them not supporting it Because it's either not widespread enough or because there's active opposition on campus Okay, thank you chris So, um, we held a 911 center board meeting since our last council meeting And uh, did a couple of things approved the budget, uh, which includes About a seven percent increase to the member agencies including the city We updated our sexual harassment policy and also heard from the Auditor who did a the annual audit and gave the agency a clean report We also had a meeting of the operations board of the Monterey Bay power And noteworthy items or the approval of a request for offers for a local renewable generation and energy storage project and that's Really interesting because we might have some project at the city That might be eligible for some of that funding including some of our solar projects and some energy storage projects that we're looking at Trying to create Here in the city And then finally one of the other things that was interesting about the meeting is we agreed the operations board agreed to To hold remote meetings where we through skype Here at the city of santa cruz. We can have members of the public attend In the conference room and be involved with the meetings and also because it's such a large area Uh and in the meetings it takes like an hour just to get to the offices and then an hour to get back Uh, and so the board agreed to try to have these remote meetings to for the convenience of the board members as well as the public So they're going to try it to see if we can have these remote skype meetings You mean the board members and the public would participate remotely or the board members? Yes, so like santa cruz member agencies could could be here in santa cruz Uh via spike a skype and then and and members of the public And it'd be with video feed kind of a meeting. Are there any agencies that do that? Um, you know, I'm not sure if I know there are any that seems here But there should be I mean all these meetings you drive all the way to monoray for whatever I'm just curious. Yeah It was really uh all the time, you know, and and the people in from san veneto county and all of the other places that People are coming from, you know, we all just show up and think wow So, um, it's great to hear that you're doing that. Yeah, I decided to try it You know at least at least to try it and see if it works out and see if it can be successful. So We might even televised planning commission meetings sometime and be a model. Thank you Well, you know, we do have one more item to recess to you for closed session So we're going to go back to do that then we'll adjourn the meeting from there Okay, so thank you. Um, we'll Uh leave this portion of the meeting and finish