 Good evening, everybody. Welcome to the 6 p.m. session of the October 2nd, 2018 meeting of the Santa Cruz City Council. I'd now like to ask the clerk to please call the roll. Thank you, Mayor. Council Member, it's Crohn. Here. Matthews? Here. Member Chase will be absent. Brown? Here. Arroyan? Here. Vice Mayor Watkins? Here. Mayor Tarraza? Here. So there are two items on tonight's agenda. We're going to start with the green business and green building, builders recognition. And then we'll have, after that, advisory body interviews for the Charter Amendment Committee. So I'd like to now turn it over to the green business and program for presentation. Good afternoon, Mayor Tarrazas and council members. I appreciate the time to make this presentation to council on behalf of the green building program. The City of Santa Cruz has demonstrated continued dedication to responsible and sustainable building practices by providing green building review for over a decade with over 600 reviews this calendar year to date. A green building program identifies projects developed and completed by forward thinking members of the community. The award process recognizes projects utilizing the highest standards for techniques and construction and design. Today I'm pleased to present three new awards for achievement and exceptional design. Since the start of the program, the city has recognized 83 projects with green building awards. Next slide, please. Please join me in recognizing award number 84 for 512 Second Street, owner Adriana Gupta, architect Tim Lorenz and builder Max Schultz. At this time, I would like to share a short description of the first project receiving an award today. This project went far beyond the requirements for an addition remodel. Note the owner specified pervious pavers at the lot entrance increasing onsite water retention. Slide, please. The EV charging station will reduce vehicle related greenhouse gas emissions and a solar lit path improved site access and night safety. Extensive materials reclamation and domestic made products will reduce building supply chain impacts. Mayor Tarazas, it would be an honor if you would present the awards. Accepting the plaque this evening, Adriana Gupta, owner and Max Schultz, builder, will you both please come forward. The architect Tim Lorenz had personal business this evening and could not attend. So this is for Adriana. Nice guys. Next slide, please. Please join me in also recognizing award number 85 for 252 Third Avenue. Owner and architect, Sarah Kane and builder, Scott Milrod. At this time, I would like to share a short description of the second project receiving an award. This project went far beyond the requirements for a new home. In her design, owner and architect Sarah Kane used existing shading and planted new west facing deciduous trees to provide natural protection against overheating. Next slide, please. Next slide, please. Oh, yes, sorry, go back one. Yeah, this, the engineered stone countertops and engineered timber eye joist are examples of project materials repurposed from recycled building materials. Next slide, please. The photovoltaic panels installed help offset daytime electric loads and the rainwater catchment and storage system ease the water use intensity of the home. In our terraces, it would be an honor if you would present the awards. Accepting the plaque this evening, owner and architect, Sarah Kane, will you please come forward? And also builder, Scott Milrod. Next slide, please. Please join me in also recognizing award number 86 for 555 Pacific Avenue. Ownership Green Valley Corporation architect, Swenson Architecture and builders, Swenson Builders. At this time, I would like to share a short description of the third project receiving an award. This 94 unit development went far beyond the requirements for residential mixed use project. The Swenson architectural team specified tuned shading overhangs to help passively retain interior comfort. Next slide, please. Reclaimed wood finishes complement the modern building facade while efficient radiant floor heating uses energy resources wisely. Next slide, please. Efficient energy star appliances reduce reliance on our district water and further reduce energy use while electric vehicle charging provides occupants options for lower impact personal transportation. Mayor Tarasas, it would be an honor if you would present the awards for this project. So accepting the plaque this evening, Jesse Swenson for Green Valley Corporation. Jesse Swenson, it's Jesse Nichols. Jesse Nichols, excuse me. Jesse Nichols. Gotta get a photo, Tim, I'm gonna take a picture. And Jeff Hock. You're gonna hold that thing up for a while. I thought we were missing something. Thank you. In closing, I wanna remind our community that the city of Santa Cruz is still a leader in the push towards a new era of sustainable communities which are also affordable. We have chosen to recognize the importance of quality in our built environments. This is especially important as we enter the era of neutral energy and positive energy buildings. Green Building Program is motivated by our leadership role and will continue to inspire innovation through engagement with the creative minds within our own community as we work together for a secure future. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you for all being here. And it's exciting that we began the meeting recognizing community members and businesses that go well beyond and above the help our community achieve to live up to its values. And I wanna thank you, Kurt and everyone in the planning department for all the work you do. Do you wanna make a, no? Okay, thank you. Okay, thank you. So thanks again everyone for being here tonight. We're gonna move on to our one general business item this evening. There'll be no oral communications or other items that will be heard at this meeting. And just as background, on August 14th the city council directed the establishment of the Charter Amendment Committee which will be comprised of seven direct appointees by the city council and six at-large members selected by the city council. In addition to the seven appointees which the city council has already made we received 13 applications for the six at-large spots. Tonight we'll be hearing from candidates for these six spots and we'll make final appointments to the committee at our next council meeting on October 9th. I'd like to first give some background. We'll call up applicants to the lectern in alphabetical order. Each applicant will be given three minutes to address the council. Once you speak you may leave or stay to listen to the other applicants at their conclusion. Once council members have received and reviewed the applications and we've had an opportunity to read them over the last week. So really this meeting is a time for you to introduce yourself personally to amplify the descriptions you've provided in the applications, your qualifications, relevant backgrounds and motivations. And additionally the meeting is mostly informal to allow the council to get to know you. So we'll begin, first of all if there's any council questions before we start. No? No? So we'll start by inviting up Steve Bossworth. Can you just leave it to him? You can use the mic, this mic on the, no the one on the lectern. Okay, thank you. You can start the time. Thank you. My name is Stephen Bossworth. I'm looking forward to the possibility of perhaps being appointed a member of this committee. I was born and raised in Michigan, but I have, as a result of going into the Peace Corps, spent two years in West Africa in Ghana. And as a result of that, I ended up doing my postgraduate study in Britain. As a result of that, I met my English wife and I got my PhD from the University of London and taught at the university level for over 20 years there. During the time I was there, we had a job exchange with a member of staff at Cabrillo. So I had the pleasure of it being introduced to Santa Cruz and my children and wife loved it as well. She took painting there and is still an enthusiastic oil watercolor painter. Most recently, I've been, had been, before I just retired, I've taught in the Eastern Mediterranean in Cyprus at the universities there. I've, my discipline has been political philosophy and political science. And as a result of living all these different places and studying comparative politics, of course I have a lot of ideas about what might help make the institutions of the city council more efficiently democratic and more likely to produce people who will make wise decisions. And so I would relish the possibility of participating in the dialogue that will occur on this committee, looking at various ideas, including the ideas that have brought it forward in the first place, the election of the mayor, the reintroduction of electoral districts or wards. The particular item that I would like to be discussed at some stage is the consideration of an electoral system that would not waste the between 38 and 50% of the votes that are wasted by the existing system. But those kind of details are in that little piece of paper leaves an outline of that. All that will take thought and careful discussion. And so I look forward to the possibility of answering any questions if you would like to ask any questions of me now. Thank you. Generally, this is your opportunity to speak but time's done. Any questions? Council Member Cron. Would you consider the rank choice voting system one of those mechanisms where it wouldn't waste 30 to 80% of the votes? It would waste fewer votes, but it would still waste some. The other flaw in it is it has the possibility of eliminating the most preferred candidate instead of a candidate that is elected. So there's some flaws there. It's a bit more complicated and also a little bit less informative and discerning than the evaluative proportional representation system that I would like to propose. Thank you. Council Member Brown. So this is a question that I might ask of all candidates. Just, so this is a charter review committee and there's a particular set of issues that we put forward to potentially be discussed among others. So in terms of, I consider it a serious matter to change our city's charter. And so I just, I'm wondering if you have any thoughts about that, if you've read the charter. Yes, I have read it. And yes, I think as they go, I mean it's one of the normal organizations super city in the United States there's various varieties and the manager council one is one of them. I myself don't see any particular flaw in that general outline. I only would want the council to really be more exactly representative of the citizens of Santa Cruz which is possible by this method. And that's with or without the reintroduction of districts. Thank you. I'd like to now invite up Patrice Boyle. Good evening. Since fortunately this is not a commission for public speaking I'm just going to read this because I'm a little bit nervous. I have lived here in Santa Cruz for 31 years. I have, my name is Patrice Boyle. I've lived here in Santa Cruz for 31 years. I have founded and run as a sole proprietor to small businesses for the past 16 years. I am a thoughtful and compassionate employer and business person. Currently I employ about 50 people here in Santa Cruz in the city of Santa Cruz. During my time I moved here to work at Bonnie Doon Vineyard as the general manager in 1987. During that time we grew the company at a rate of 25% year over year for 13 years. As you might imagine in order to sustain that sort of growth, that rate of growth I learned the benefits of and the requirements of embracing change and changing systems. And to be ready to accurately anticipate which systems need to change and which systems can remain in place. Because we here, Santa Cruz, we are no longer the Santa Cruz of 1952 or 1987. The needs of the city are expanding. Some of the systems that sustain it and that make it work I think need evaluation and renewal. Santa Cruz is a world-class place with an embarrassment of riches and we need to take care of it. We want, I know everyone here wants to take care of it. I am a creative and hardworking person and as someone who works in a continually social environment I work well in a team. I'm a board member of the DTA, a co-founder of the Alliance for Women Entrepreneurs in downtown and a co-chair of the Homeless Garden Project's capital campaign to move to Pogonip. The Homeless Garden Project Move to Pogonip is a project I've been working on for 17 years. I welcome the opportunity to be on this commission. I think it would be fascinating and I think it's a really wonderful thing to be doing just to be reviewing things and to be looking at them I mean from a selfish point of view I relish the idea of learning about it. We all know that change is inevitable but when we can adeptly manage that change it can be welcome and beneficial as well. Thank you. Thank you, Patrice. Any questions? Okay, Council Member Krug. Yeah, thank you. And I like the collaboration part and the conflict management skills training that is in your resume. Just wondering, you said I am a creative advocate for the betterment of the city and I'm not to put you on the spot, but to put you on the spot, could you give an example of being a creative advocate for the betterment of the city? Well, I just, most recently, the Alliance for Women Entrepreneurs is very creative and it gives voice to the women who work and live downtown. It is really, we started out with mostly, I would say retail entrepreneurs but we are embracing and enlarging that to include people at what we call second floor, third floor. So the doctors, the lawyers, the office people who are down here as well. We wanna show people that yes, Santa Cruz, downtown Santa Cruz does have challenges but there are a lot of people here in downtown women who are embracing the challenges and working to creatively change them. So it's a very open environment. We're trying to renew the neighborhood of downtown, have eyes on the street. So people, we're all, we know each other and we can depend on each other but also just to create, to change the, I think we think we can change the environment. Okay, thank you, Patrice. Thanks. Okay, I'd like to invite up Bill Brooks next. Hello, my name is Bill Brooks. I've lived in Santa Cruz since 1959 and I think this commission, I would be well suited for the experiences if I had. I graduated from Santa Cruz High School. I worked without the Cabral for about a year and then got a good job at Sylvania Electronics when they were where Plantronics is now and actually worked in purchasing and flew all over the country talking with suppliers and what did that teach me? Good listener, compromise to achieve goals for the company and for everybody. I left Sylvania, went to San Jose State University, I got a degree in accounting and personal management, now it's HR. And in 1971, I went to work at UCSC as the Bursar, College Eight, the Environmental Studies College. The Bursar is a financial administrative head of the college and I managed all non-academic personnel, which is about 50 people. I held this position for nine years and had a wide range of course of experiences even at Berkeley with the president's office on budgets and staffing and things like that. I worked with a wide variety in diverse group and I learned to be a good listener to folks that had all kinds of different opinions. In 1980, I left, I became a real estate broker, I listed and sold houses in all the neighborhoods of Santa Cruz and about 1990, I kind of transitioned into being a full-time infill developer. I built homes, subdivision town homes, condominiums and some commercials and I might say I've won two green building awards. Here again, that makes you a good listener. I've worked in almost all of the neighborhoods and know the diverse neighborhoods and I can work well and have worked well with a wide variety of people in all these neighborhoods. The committee I see has, of course, to look at, do we need an elected four-year mayor? The analysts will look at the complexities of the mayor job and my depth of professional management skills and work well to determine if a full-time mayor is a good fit for Santa Cruz. The committee's also gonna look at district elections. The analysis will look at to determine if the neighborhoods are better served with a council person from the neighborhood area. And I would say that I'm sort of semi-retired now so I've got the time to put into it and I would like to pay back to the city that has been good to me. So, any questions? Thank you, Bill. Any questions? Council Member Brown. Thanks for being here and putting your name forward. So you mentioned the directly elected mayor and district elections as to, and those are two of the key elements of potential charter change. Are there other elements of, at least in the, what we've laid out as a council and or other ideas that you have that you also are interested, excited about exploring? Well, the committee, as I understand, is gonna look at those two items specifically for the charter change. And I think that there's a lot of data that's gonna flow into there to make a decision. I mean, a mayor could be right or maybe not right. And same with the district elections. I watched what happened in Watsonville when they did it and I thought it was a pretty well thought out process and they ended up doing it. So all I'll say is that I'll consider all options carefully and thoroughly. Council Member Cron. Good to see you, Bill. Hi. Just wondering, we'd have to get into a long discussion but why four year term instead of a two year term? I think that the mayor is very much like the city manager. And there's continuity in practice and in the people that you deal with. And I have no real, I think two years might be a little soon to transition out of this. I listened to the mayor, I think it was Santa Clara give that discussion and I agree with what she said that sooner get your feet on the ground and all of a sudden you're cycled out. And I think two years might be a little short. I'm open to looking at what other folks like but I think four years would be good but no more than four years. Thanks. Okay, thank you. I'd like to now invite up Sylvia Karris. Evening. You all know the written me. Writing helps me organize and clarify what I wanna say and not misuse your time. So I really like using email. Beyond what I wrote in my application, I moved to Santa Cruz in the early 1980s. My son had chosen UCSC, met his wife there, they now live Mid County. I'm originally from Boston. You'll hear a little of that in my speech. I like walking as transportation. I live just up the rink and steps, five minutes from right here. I like to read, I like to think. In the past I've done some traveling on my own in India and Asia. My favorite country is Bhutan. And I've traveled as a presenter and an advocate to meetings on other continents and in the United States. The World Summit on the Information Society, World Psychiatric Association, the American Public Health Association. I've served here on the commission for the Prevention of Violence Against Women. And with Catherine Byers helped implement the Americans with Disabilities Act in the city. I surprised myself a bit by completing and actually sending in my application. I've heard council's pride in being a charter city. I was curious. I have a willingness to explore, to test and challenge. I have no opinions yet about these questions. This service is a way for me to continue to be connected. If you have questions. Refinish your presentation. Okay, thank you, Sylvia. Are there any questions from the council? I have one about in your application. It said we're, make sure that local control was emphasized, what do you mean by that? Well, I hear council talking about relationship with the county and how important it is that the city values and when the discussions of the community support program priorities and the core priorities, those discussions, people, council members kept saying, but the city's emphasis needs to be, so that's what was in my mind when I wrote that. Council member Narayan. Other speakers have mentioned specific things like term limits or the, you know, should the mayor be directly elected? Do you have any specific areas you're looking at that why you wanna be on this committee? Are you just kind of coming with an open mind or? Pretty open. The only piece of this at all that I know, that I've looked at it is the ranked choice voting. When that was, I think before council discussion, I have questions about that. I really don't know, like to learn. Great, thank you. Thank you, Sylvia. Kate, I'd like to now invite up Gus Ceballos. Once again, my name is Gus Ceballos. I am born and raised here in Santa Cruz. I live about a block away and I consider myself an every man and even though I am an every man here in Santa Cruz, I love the city and I'm still engaged in the community. Number one, my wife is a small business owner. She recently started her business. Number two, I actually am a program director for the seniors council of Santa Cruz County. So I am involved in a lot with the senior community. And number three, I am a Latino, okay? And I will get to that in a little bit why it's important to me. So even though I didn't write a speech, there are a couple of things that I wrote down in my questionnaire that I'd like to point out, okay? So number one, I wanna reflect the 21st century sensibilities and build a strong foundation for Santa Cruz's future. So what I mean by that and I'm gonna tip my hat here, I would like accountability from the leaders of Santa Cruz. So accountability, they need support. So budgets, staff, salary, that is all things that we can work upon because right now if you go and you ask an every man, why is there a problem? Why are they unsatisfied with the city? They don't really know who to point fingers. They point the fingers at the mayor. And we really know that the mayor does not run the city by itself. It's a collaboration. So at least with this, we can pinpoint who's gonna be accountable for four years at least, I believe, okay? Another thing that I wrote down here, I'm ecstatic for the potential of this committee and the changes it can make. Number one districts, 33% of Santa Cruz is Latino. When I saw the email, we had 13 people apply for this. I think only two were of color and only one Latino. So that's what, six, 7% representation in a city in which 33% of the people have a voice. So I feel that me being born and raised, oh, I'm sorry, oh, I got 30 seconds left. Me being born and raised here in Santa Cruz, I can actually provide a voice for the people who for very, very long have not felt engaged. And especially the youth of today. If they can see someone fighting for them, it's gonna bring them up and they're gonna become more involved. So thank you. Thank you, guys. Are there any questions? Council, Council Member Crown. Have you seen, I'm just thinking of Latino representation in the city of Santa Cruz. Somebody sent me a map recently with all the basic dots of Latino voters. Do you see, I don't know if you've looked at a map like that, but could there be a Latino majority district in Santa Cruz or are people to spread out? Historically, I'm not, everyone knows the beach flats has been Hispanic since the mid-70s. I believe that over time that population has grown over to the sea bright area. That is not up to me. That is up to this committee. If it decides to go to districts and hopefully it will be fair and my voice will be heard. Thank you, guys. Thank you. At this point, I'd like to invite up Jaime Garfield. Or Jamie Garfield, excuse me. Hi, Mayor Tarazas and City Council members. My name is Jamie Garfield. I've lived here in Santa Cruz for almost 40 years. I retired just a few years ago along with my husband from working over 30 years at Staff of Life after graduating from UCSC. I have the time and intense interest I think is needed to devote to this charter review and recommendation process. I've always been interested in our election systems in fair and equal representation, in voter engagement and turnout. For three years, I was a national leader in an effort to overturn Citizens United and end the corrupting influence of big money in politics. Here in Santa Cruz, we passed AJR-1 and legislation and five other states. Also, I was involved in the California Clean Money Campaign for the Disclose Act, which finally passed last year and enables voters to see who the actual top three donors for a proposition are. For about a year, I was involved locally with the group Yes on Ranked Choice, an effort to gather signatures for a ballot measure to establish a ranked choice system here in Santa Cruz. For many years, I've studied the profoundly more democratic and representative outcomes of ranked choice voting that ranked choice voting can produce. Once people understand how it works, they tend to see its value. Among the recommendations of the Santa Clara Charter Committee, I noticed that ranked choice voting was mentioned. My understanding is that considering a change from at large to district elections may in part be because of a concern regarding the California Fair Voting Rights Act. According to Fair Vote, however, this is not likely a concern for us. So the question really needs to be, what is the best system for fair representation here in Santa Cruz? We need a thorough evaluation to determine what, if any, changes should be made. The demographics and layout of Santa Cruz are unique, and so we need our own study. And I would very much like to contribute to that process. I've also always, 30 seconds, is that what that is? 20 seconds, okay. I've always also thought really proud about how Santa Cruz has a rotating mayoral seat, and that it's not elected at large. My understanding is that over the years, this method has ensured against a singular, powerful individual, and instead encourages sharing amongst the council members and enhances a respect for, I have so much more to say. You could finish up the sentence if you'd like. Yeah, I mean, I really think that not only do we need to evaluate fair representation, but also what system will allow for an environment of respect and friendship. Thank you. Any questions? That's an overcurrent. You were talking about when you said Gail's gonna buy new machines, you mean Gail Pellerin in your application? Yeah, and that was like a year or two ago, so I think it's coming up a year. When you say with RCV requirements, what are those? Well, the voting machines need to be ones that enable ranked choice voting. Thanks. So I think she was sounding very open to that when she came to one of our meetings. Thank you. Thank you. I'd like to now invite up Joe Guio, former mayor. Yes. To time, mayor. Yes, good evening to you all. It's a different side of the podium here. The application gives you a lot of my background, but very quickly I was born at Hanley Hospital, which is now the parking lot of the dream in. My family roots go to the wharf and to the agricultural industry up the North Coast. I can't stand fish now, but I do do something with plants, as I think many of you are aware of. I have been, I went to San Jose State, got my degrees there, recently began teaching high school at Mountain High School in Hayward. And when Harbor High School was to open, which was 50 years ago, today, this year, I was one of the original faculty. I have also, as indicated, have been in the horticultural industry now for 65 years. I'm still doing it. And I have also served on the city council for three terms and two terms as mayor. As part of that, I've served on boards such as the LAFCO and Transit District, which gives you a lot of interplay of people, which is important and all of that. But also more particular to this particular assignment, I was very involved in instrumental in getting the charter streamlined. I wouldn't call it revised. The original charter, 1948, had a lot of specifics in it. And so part of our goal was to make it more broad and more flexible. For example, it listed all of the boards and commissions that there were and their makeup and their duties. That made it very impossible to make any changes without putting it on the ballot. And so one of the outcomes of this, oh, I would say streamlining of the charter, was to make more generic, so that the commissions were removed specifically and just gave the power to the council to establish them and to do away with them as was needed. There were other things such as the charter said, $50 a month for each council member, $100 for the mayor. Made that more generic by tying it to the general law requirements or restrictions on what you should be paid. There were a lot of other things. We desexed the language and it became a problem. What are we gonna be called? Are you gonna be called council members or council people or whatever it is? And council members became the term that is included in the charter. Out of that process came about eight amendments, as I recall. Oh my God, that were put before the people and we did later ones as well. So what I will bring to this process. Yeah, I'd like if you could wrap it up. Yeah, I am. I would bring the experience, the knowledge, the background and most importantly, the institutional memory of what has gone on in the past. Thank you. Are there any council member questions? Council member Cronin. Thank you for applying and thank you for being here. I just had that conversation with the Sentinel Reporter. They still don't call us council members. They still haven't gotten that in their booklet. Do you see anything on this charge that we put together that's not here that you think might- Absolutely, and I wish I was gonna speak to that but time doesn't go by rapidly. And that's to do that people don't realize that the school history is part of the charter. And the makeup of the school board and is part of the charter's establishment. And the question that we were discussing in one of the processes we went through with the different times it was done was is it fair the way the board is now established? Three members, it's been changed over the years but three members come from outside the city, three within the city and one at large. And but there are two separate districts and it is possible and it has happened that a majority of the board, elementary, dealing with the elementary issue does not live in the city. And the council at the time we were beginning to do this one questioned the fairness of that. And the school board was, we had met with the subcommittee of the school board and they were receptive to it but then we were deadlines and the earthquake came along and stuff like that. And it sort of got locked because there was no institutional memory that this was an issue that should be discussed and should be charged a charge of this committee. Thank you, that's really fascinating history. Any, I have a quick question. When you met last time to streamline the charter, how long did you meet and what would you say was the duration? It wasn't long because we dealt with the city attorney and just a group of three of us and which made recommendations to the council. Then they would put on the ballot and as I indicated all the times that we did that they were passed unanimously, not unanimously but by majority of the electorate. Thank you, are there any other questions? Thank you, thank you for applying. Thank you. Okay, I'd like to now invite up Timory Gordon. Mayor, council, thanks for having me. My name is Timory Gordon. I'm a Santa Cruz native local business owner with nine employees and I'm raising a family here. After high school, I attended Cabrillo and then eventually transferred to Rhode Island School of Design receiving a degree in industrial design. This is important for two reasons. The foundation of my education is in creative problem solving. And the second is after living many other places from east to west, I chose to come back to Santa Cruz, start a business and raise a family here. My creative problem solving in this community goes beyond the built environment projects of Nielsen Studios that you may know of most recently Abbott Square which is a great community contribution. It's a way of thinking, it's creative problem solving is a way of thinking of approaching challenges and of thinking outside the box. I've used these skills as an arts commissioner for years on several small study groups in the city regarding the river development, wayfinding and many other topics to help make the city a better place. My most recent contribution was as part of the short-term rental subcommittee. I believe my reputation is one of fairness being a good listener and rational decision maker. In our business, the ultimate goal with our clients is to help them make calculated decisions to reach their goals. I bring that same commitment here to you today, asking for position on this committee so I can help explore these topics thoroughly and honestly ensure our city's best future. Thank you. And I'm also super concise. Thank you, Timmery. Are there any council member questions? When you say principle and then slash designer, what does principle mean? Is that you own your business? Yeah, my husband is Christian Nielsen of Nielsen Studios and I'm the other half behind them. So we're 50-50 owners and yeah, some. Council member Brown. Brown. I'm not council member Brown. Did you say Brown? I said Brown. I thought you said Crown. Sorry. Okay, now I did say Brown. I said certainly council member Brown. Let me do that again. Council member Brown. So I appreciate your ideas about how to work collaboratively and engage in real problem solving. I'm wondering if there are any particular aspects of the committee's charge that you're interested in district elections at large. We have some other issues that we discussed during our, when we were making the decision to establish this committee. Right. I don't want to say I come with an agenda on any one of those particular topics other than, I'm really interested in exploring them all thoroughly with the idea that I may have a certain opinions. I fully recognize, but I don't necessarily feel like they are 100% the only way. And what's interesting to me about being part of this subcommittee is that just in listening here and knowing who you all chose that everybody brings a really interesting perspective and background. And so I feel like I'm going to learn a lot and be really great contributor to some really important decisions to help Santa Cruz be its best self. Any other questions? Okay, thank you, Timmery. Thank you. Okay, now I'd like to invite up Denise Holbert. To Rosas and members of the council. I find myself here tonight applying to serve on the charter amendment committee because all of my adult life, I've been an activist and an observer of the political process in Santa Cruz. I've had the privilege of working in county government as an analyst for two county supervisors and I've served on the county planning commission for 23 years as a third district commissioner. And I'm still on the county planning commissioner as a alternate, I just can't seem to get off it. And as you know, many of those years were filled with very contentious issues. So I think my problem solving abilities are really put to the test there. I also have extensive experience in the political area, playing a leadership role in countless local political campaigns for candidates as well as ballot measures. At the present time, I am working on a ballot measure, measure G for the sales tax. I won't list all my other experiences. You do have a list that I've submitted on my application. I believe I have a good understanding of how our local government operates. I understand how difficult it is to carry out the duties of an elected representative, the time required to attend meetings, read massive reports in short periods of time, respond to constituent problems, and then there's the financial burden. I also believe it is critical if we are to have a truly representative council that we must make sure the opportunity is not just for an exclusive view, but is available to all members of the city. Having worked in a staff position in local government for many years, I'm also aware of the wear and tear on the support staff that runs the city day to day. The decisions made by this committee and finally the council and finally the electorate will have a major effect on staff as well. As an activist, I know the transparency in government is necessary to engender trust. It is important that good citizen outreach is inclusive. The task before the committee requires the members to work with each other, the staff and the community. It requires committee members to keep an open mind on all the issues. If I am chosen to be on the committee, I will do my homework. I will keep an open mind on all the issues, remembering that the goal is always to devise the best way to deliver good government. Any questions? Thank you, Denise. Council Member Cron. Thank you, Mayor. Loving history, I didn't know you grew up here. And you... Yes, I did. Yeah, I've known you for a while and I didn't know that. You mentioned that the population grew from 25 to 64,000 since you were younger and now you put that into context. Could you, of this charter committee, and what might that mean as far as... I'm not sure what it means. You mentioned in your application, I was wondering what you were getting at. But I mean that nothing stays the same, you know? That things do change and we have to possibly make accommodation for that. No, yeah, I'm just thinking about population and growth and if this charter committee... If you have more time, I'll talk to you about it. Thank you. Thank you, any other questions? Okay, thank you, Denise. Thank you. Thank you. I'd now like to invite up Christina Horne. Good evening, Mayor and Council Members. My name is Christina Horne and although I will confess to having a somewhat embarrassing level of wonkish interest in each and every one of the issues that will be discussed by the committee, I will direct my comments to the topic of at-large versus district elections. I come to you without a strong opinion on the issue and with my eyes and ears wide open. I have read and agreed with opinions put forth by the League of Women Voters, the National League of Cities, as well as proponents of each electoral system. Both sides have strong and cogent arguments. The cities of Sunnyvale, Morgan Hill, Santa Clara, Fremont and Menlo Park have either changed to district elections or are considering doing so in the next election cycle. The city of Santa Barbara switched from district elections to at-large elections back in 1968 and then switched back to district elections in 2014. Santa Monica is presently defending itself against a legal challenge brought forth by plaintiff's citing violation of the California Voting Rights Act that would have the city transition to district elections immediately. No matter how one may feel about the issue, what seems apparent to me is that ideally we should arrive at a community consensus opinion on this before the question is forced by a lawsuit when we can have a clear vision on what is best for Santa Cruz without the fear of threatening and overwhelming legal costs clouding our judgment. When the city of Palmdale tackled this question back in 2015, they ended up settling a CVRA legal case that forced district elections and led to the obligation to pay $4.5 million in plaintiff legal fees plus interest in addition to paying their own lawyers. I think for Santa Cruz is part of this needs to be avoided at all costs. It is also important to note that while the experiences of other cities are illustrative and it is a great foundational exercise to examine the actions of other municipalities that may have gone before us on this topic, it is imperative to arrive at a solution that is Santa Cruzian in nature. What works for Santa Barbara or Sunnyvale may not make sense for our city. As a member of the charter committee, I would strive to work with other members to achieve consensus around a homegrown solution that reflects the unique demographics of our city as well as the collective consciousness of our electorate. I'd like to end by emphasizing that I meant what I said in my application and that's namely that the strongest outcomes are those that are derived from the collaborative work of a diverse group of stakeholders. Honoring, respecting the opinions of others and working to achieve consensus would be central to a successful committee. Thank you. Thank you, Christina. Are there any council member questions? Council member Cron. I'm just, if Santa Cruz was ever forced to create districts, what would be the reasoning for that, from what you've looked at? I think that there have been several lawsuits. I think there's been a total of 22 that have been put forth since the California Voting Rights Act was put into place. You're saying it's a fairness issue that there's certain groups being left out? Yeah, well, absolutely. And one of the issues that I've sort of come to understand a little bit better since I've just been doing very preliminary research is that these lawsuits that are brought forth by usually different groups of either voters or constituents that are representing either a minority group or, and it can be minority in a different sense. It could be sort of socioeconomic, ethnic, what have you, can get quite costly and can spin out of control quite rapidly. So, you know, what I found so interesting about the case of Santa Barbara in particular is, I'm sorry, Santa Monica is that voters had resisted this transition from at-large district elections twice since the city implemented this in 1946. They had voter referendums in 1975 and 2002. And so Santa Monica is really fighting quite aggressively to basically say, okay, state of California, if you think that this is so important then mandate it at a statewide level. And in the meantime, we're gonna fight for our unique municipalities' interest in preserving the at-large. Thank you. Council Member Brown. Just a follow-up question. So I think it's trying, getting at Council Member Crohn's question. If, just based on, and I'm not trying to push and it suggests that you are advocating for districts in any way or that you're, so I just wanna be clear about that. But I'm just trying, it's a question that I genuinely want to try to get answered and so I'm looking for all kinds of perspectives and knowledge about this. If, I mean, clearly there are underrepresented populations underrepresented on this city council. And so I'm just trying to figure out how, if at all, that might be addressed through kind of a spatial solution, right? So that's organized geographically because like Council Member Crohn, I've looked at the map and so I'm just, it's an open question and I'm wondering if you've thought about that. If you have anything. I agree it's an open question and I have thought at length about sort of the dynamics behind, depending on your preferred pronunciation, gerrymandering or gerrymandering. And I think that to have, you know, some educated eyes on the topic that is, you know, not afraid of sort of data-driven research and empirical research that that would only sort of enhance the outcome. Thank you. Uh-huh. So I'd next like to invite up Keshav Kumar. Good evening city council members. My name is Keshav Kumar and I'm here tonight because I'm applying to be on the Charter Amendment Committee. A little bit about myself. I am a third year senior at UC Santa Cruz and I'm hoping to make Santa Cruz my long-term home. I come from Mount Shasta, California. So I'm coming from the much smaller side from a town that has a population of about 5,000. And so the politics here are very different and each opportunity I've had to get involved in our local governance has been an opportunity for me to learn, which is what I hope to do by serving on this committee. I understand the weight of this committee as I will be taking into considerations issues that have long-term effects on our cities is very, very, very serious. Topics including directly electing our mayor, holding district elections and compensating city council members will require sensitivity and special attention. I believe my role in the community as a student as well as an aspiring policy analyst with previous work experience in local governance will be an asset to this committee. Recently, across the state of California, several small and medium-sized cities have shifted to district elections. In general, according to the League of California Cities, lawsuits alleging the California Voting Rights Act is not being followed have caused over 80 cities in our state to move away from out-large city council elections and towards district elections. The city of Santa Cruz is in a fortunate situation of having time on our side. By considering every aspect of a transition to district elections, we can better understand the effects they would have on our community. Rather than a 45-day deadline that generally accompanies the demand letter, we have an opportunity to consult with other cities on their experiences and use them as case studies to understand if district elections are right for us. If they are right or if they are wrong, that gives us an opportunity as a committee and with the city council support to advocate to the city for what we believe is the best solution for our city. If we're considering a shift towards district elections, I also believe consideration of changing the method of selecting a mayor is crucial. My experience working under Mayor Chase last year allowed me to see firsthand the scope of the mayor's office as well as the experience of working around council members allowed me to see the workload, the amount that's expected of just a council member. And so I think with that in mind, there is a lot of serious topics to be considered apart from the highlighted ones, including council compensation. Finally, I believe my experience as a policy analyst, again, will be a huge asset to the committee. I'm really hoping to turn this into someone previously said doing my homework. I wanna make sure that we can look to other cities what's been done, what the process has been for them and use those as our case studies to make sure that we're doing everything that we are on solid footing. Thank you so much for your time. Thank you. Are there any council member questions? Council Member Brown. Thank you for your presentation. Given your interest in further exploration of district elections and your very accurate acknowledgement of the potential for lawsuit, I'm wondering if you in the initial look that you've taken at these issues, if you have been able to identify any particular vulnerabilities within the city of Santa Cruz for such a lawsuit, just what some of those might be? I mean, I think we all could identify some, but just wondering what year you're thinking about. Yeah, if I can, I'd like to answer in a more open way. I can't, we went over it with Christina Horne's sort of testimony to the city council, but one thing that I did wanna add to what we've already heard is that I don't think we can name a city that's actually fully survived the lawsuit. I think that it puts the city in a pretty difficult financial situation if the lawsuit is actually raised. And so what I'd spoken about previously, which is using this committee as a first step rather than an end all be all to then advocate to the larger community to ensure that we're all on the same page, both insiders with city government as well as folks who may not know as much about this issue. Any other questions? Council Member Cron? No, but I appreciate his academic approach to the committee, so thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Okay, next I'd like to invite up David Schumann. How you guys doing? Great. I apologize for the voice. I was joking with one of my young UCSC employees. I said I sounded like Bobby Brady and they looked at me and had no idea what I was talking about, so. Mayor Jarazas and city council members, thank you very much for the services you provide on behalf of our city. Yours is often a very thankless job, but I can definitely testify that it is essential to how the city functions. As a brief bio, my name is David Schumann. I'm a veterinarian and I've owned a small animal hospital in downtown Santa Cruz for over 19 years. Again, I apologize for the voice. Want to put it on pause for a second? Do you want some water? No, it's been like this for, it's a souvenir. Got it, okay. My wife and I have two children. One is currently a freshman at Santa Cruz High and the other is a seventh grader at PCS. I've resided in Santa Cruz for 24 years and over the years that I've lived here, I have participated in various civic engagements on the latest civic engagement that was as a co-chair during the campaign for bond measures A and B where we asked voters to approve spending over $200 million to rebuild the infrastructure of the Santa Cruz City Schools. I am very interested in joining the Charter Amendment Committee. I do not believe that our current mode of governments is broken or outdated, not at all. In fact, I believe it has served us very, very well for decades and many great things have been accomplished because of it. I also believe that our city has changed. Well, we are no longer a large town and we no longer have large town problems. I think instead we need to see ourselves as a small city and we have small city problems. And so it's with this in mind that it seems very reasonable and prudent to explore possible ways to adjust how our city is actually governed. Although I've mulled over this committee subject for many years, I actually do not have very dogmatic views on the best ways to accomplish improvements or changes if they're even needed. It is very possible that our current way is absolutely the best way for our city and that there's no tweaking. There's nothing that's really needed but I do believe the conversation is essential of only for our own long-term prosperity. I'm very eager to join as both a participant, a researcher and a listener as any changes to the charter would hopefully include the input from all participating parties. I'd like to say lastly that we live in an amazing place and our popularity is creating a very dramatic and fast change within our city. I commend Mayor Tarazas for creating this opportunity where a community can examine itself with the goal of improving the lives of all of our citizens. Thank you. Thank you, David. Are there any questions from council? First time, first time? Thank you. Okay, I'd like to now invite up Noah Thoran and Noah will be the final applicant that we'll hear from this evening. Since I'm last, I'll try and make this quick. So hi, I'm Noah Thoran. I'm originally from San Diego. I'm a recent graduate of UCSC. I graduated just this June with a major in studying economics and I minored in stats. Basically, what I'm coming here before you today is as a wonk and an advocate for students. A lot of my time spent at UCSC was spent trying to advocate for students to get more involved in city politics. I helped get a student appointed to the UCSC ex-officio position on the Metro Board and I wanna keep bringing student voices to committees like this. This is why I'm applying here. I've also got experience in student government, rewriting government documents and analyzing and picking out for every little detail and that's something I really wanna bring to city politics. I also really wanna make this place my home even if it's just for the next couple of years and I wanna give back to the city that's given me so much in the last four years. Specifically, the issues that have me interested are making what is essentially a district with UCSC in it and a lot of other things. Well, not a lot of it, sorry. The district containing UCSC, concentrating students like that has dramatic effects and I'd be interested to see what other cities have experienced when they've concentrated groups like that into one district. I'd also really like to get the council to be more accessible to students and recent graduates to get ideally a student on the committee or recent grad or on the council. Not myself personally, but raising the compensation would definitely help people, both support themselves financially and participate in city council while being a full-time student and I think that's something that would be really valuable but that's all I have to say, any questions? Thank you, no. Are there any council member questions? How did you hear about this position and also how do you think the city could outreach more or in a better way to bring students into local government? I heard about the position through my roommate and I think that there's a lot of outreach that could be done. When I was chair of my branch of the student government, brought some city council members including Mike Rockin and Cynthia Chase to speak to a group of student government students to talk about the issues of the day and how students can get more involved and I think coming to campus would be great. Students, I understand, do really have to reach out and that's something that I'm trying to do with this. I'm trying to come as a recent student and as a get for students to the council to say, here's what I say, here's what my friends say, here's what my colleagues say, so on, yeah. Any other questions? Okay, thank you, Noah. Thank you for being here this evening. No worries, have a great night, y'all. Hey, thank you and I'd just like to say I wanna thank each of the 13 applicants who came here this evening for the interviews. I know coming on a Tuesday evening to do this is time out of your day, time away from family. I wanna personally thank each of you for being here this evening. And just as background, the council will be continuing to review the applications as well as kind of mull over what we've heard this evening. At the October night meeting, that's one week from today, we'll be making decisions on who those appointments will be for these six seats. So there'll be a vote in the afternoon and then you will receive notification directly from the city in regards to those appointments. I can tell you now, if it hasn't been made public already, it may be in the packet, but in alphabetical order, the direct appointments to the committee were David Baskin, Cathy Calfo, Rachel Dan, Leslie Lopez, William Al, Chris Reyes and Glenn Schaller. So those are the direct appointments and then there'll be six appointments that will come through this process here this evening. And you're welcome to reach out to council members. Council members may be contacting you for any of the discussions, but I am just very much impressed with everyone's not only interest, but knowledge, but your sense of contributing to Santa Cruz and your service. So again, thank you. My deepest thanks for you being here and applying for these positions. Thank you. Yeah, are there any other council member questions or comments before we conclude this evening? Council Member Naroyan. So at the actual meeting where we choose six folks, how will that work? I think that it'll go a lot along the lines of how we handle our advisory appointments in terms of they'll be open for nominations. Maybe I'll even ask the clerk if she could kind of explain the process like we've done for the advisory appointments. We had planned on doing it exactly like that, where I think you started at one end and worked your way down for nominations and then you did the votes. And so you envision we'll probably have, each person will have six nominations will go through. And then we would tabulate the number of votes for each nomination. And once someone reaches a majority, they'd be appointed. Like if we go from Sandy to Chris, then it would be if all of us mentioned the same person. You don't have to repeat it. If someone's nominated and it's one of your audience, you'd be nominating someone who has not been already nominated and then you'd go through the process. All right, so we take the nominations first, okay. And could we give folks what day exactly? That's Tuesday, October 9th. It'll be in the afternoon session. We're still working on our Tuesday agenda. I'll maybe ask again the clerk. I mean, I think it'd be sometime after two o'clock that we would do this. And it might be later in the afternoon because it'd be part of our general business. Probably before four o'clock, I imagine. It'll be after I imagine two o'clock and before four o'clock. If I could pinpoint it down to a particular time. Council Member Matthews. Two things, thank you all. This is a really incredible, impressive, people who care a lot and have a lot to offer. So thank you. I just have a question on the process because there will be so many appointments compared to our normal commission appointment. All the nominations will be put on the floor and then we'll go along and for next choices. There will be opportunities where, so many good applicants that we'd have to go. I see multiple rounds probably going through. I'm just trying to do the math. Well, I'm thinking what we would have is we would, like I would envision that each person would go through and make a nomination. You don't have to make a nomination for all six, but you can make nominations for two. And if something's on the floor, then we would go through and have a vote. And we don't always have to start with me. That's true. I mean, it's fine, but. No, no, it was just, I think, pointed out this side, but it could be either side. Go start somewhere. Start maybe with, we'll flip a coin. Okay, I want to thank everyone for being here this evening. This meeting is now adjourned and I appreciate your presence and have a good evening. That's great. Good group.