 We will ask the clerk to call the roll one more time. Thank you mayor. Councilmember Newsom. Present. Councilmember Brown. Here. Councilmember Watkins. Here. Councilmember Brunner. Present. Councilmember Callentary Johnson. Present. Vice mayor Golder. Here. Mayor Keely. Here. A quorum having been established we will move to oral communications. This would be the opportunity for anyone who wishes to do so to address the City Council on any matter under our jurisdiction but not on today's agenda for a period of time up to two minutes and do we have anyone online? We do. We'll start with the gentleman here and then we'll go back and forth between here and online. Good afternoon. Hi. I haven't been here in a while. Once a year I should show up. There we go. I'll read as much as I can. We the American people should be alarmed. You should be alarmed. Alarmed enough to act when our government, mostly Democrats, those in whom we have misplaced our trust, allow and even encourage the invasion of our country at the southern border. They intend to replace or replacing the citizens here with third-world citizens with unknown agendas, lowering wages, turning this into a third-world country every day at our expense. They don't care about U.S. citizens. They do it for the resulting voting power either through reapportionment or amnesty or buying votes with welfare. I demand to know from every one of you here and now why we still have a sanctuary city status on the books that supports this invasion and what you intend to do when the migrant crisis invaders find Santa Cruz in ever larger numbers as they surely will. Who's money do you intend to spend supporting the many violent and malevolent citizen replacements among them? Is part of that measure L tax increase going to be spent on illegal invaders or potentially all of it? When will you side with the American people you are supposed to represent? The government lost all credibility during the COVID crisis with its many lies, its coercive mandates that unnecessarily harmed many in so many ways, which this body was also a part of and it still is. Although there is no emergency crisis, you still urge people on the city website, including children to get so-called COVID vaccinated, continue to urge useless mask wearing, even while congressional hearings continue exposing the lies and harm the CDC, FDA, NIH and others have caused from the very beginning with their continuous denials of their massive wrongdoing. Cesar Chavez hated the illegals. He knew they were union busters of the immigrant farm workers union, a champion. I'm not worried about the drought or the climate change, we cannot control, maybe worried about the ridiculous proposed expense and he cannot find a solution over why the government doesn't represent the people, who lies to them, spews propaganda out of every legacy media orifice and seems to want the citizens replaced and our culture extinguished. Thanks. Thank you, Mr. Phillips. We'll take the next person online. Good afternoon. Welcome to the council meeting. No, no, I'm sorry, we're taking the person online. Yeah, we're good. We'll get to you in just a second. Person online, good afternoon. Okay. Apparently not. Come on forward, James. Good afternoon and welcome. Well, yes. Good afternoon. Okay, my name is still James Ewing. You know, there's so many things going on that just aren't really talked about. I had so much fun. I took almost six pages of notes on the board of supervisors, lots of great one-liners. You know, the timer, okay. You know, it seems like a lot of people in the United States are aghast that in New York they pass legislation that for some reason they could indefinitely detain you for whatever reason they made up. And they supposedly did that in New York in the last year. So I'm just going to read this. State Department Health Services 121.25-121.63, Chapter 3 added by State of California, I'll tell you the year, Chapter 415, Section 7. Upon being informed by a health officer of any contagious infectious communal disease, the department may make measures as are necessary to ascertain the nature of the disease and prevent its spread. To that end, the department may, if it considers it proper, take possession or control of the body of any living person or corpse of any deceased person. Now, New York passed legislation very similar to that last year. But California passed that, added to stats 1995, Chapter 415, Section 7, Effective January 1st, 1996. So, 35 seconds. I don't even know. You know, I would like to say I consider myself a peaceful person, but I like this quote, you can't call yourself peaceful unless you're capable of great violence. You're not capable of great violence. You're not peaceful. You're harmless. Important distinction. Thank you. Thank you. Do we have someone else online, Ms. Wood? We'll take that person who's online. Good afternoon and welcome to the City Council meeting. Online, good afternoon. Okay, we'll take you. Good afternoon. Welcome. Hi. My name is Penny Stinson, and I'm born and raised here in Santa Cruz. In fact, my family goes back to the 1600s in Santa Cruz. Anyway, last November, last year of 23, we reserved the Friendship Garden at Harvey West for our 50th wedding anniversary. Last Thursday, my husband and I decided to go there to take a look, take some pictures, figure out how we want to lay out our event at that. Well, of course, I was blown away at what we saw there. I hadn't been there for a while. Lots of tents, mattresses, garbage bodies. I think a lot of you probably have seen that. And now the problem of the bacterial infection is shingolosis. So I also know that they had to close that area and that some events that were there were also canceled. So I called Parks and Recs immediately because I was concerned about our event. And they couldn't give me any information. I also talked to a police officer who couldn't give me any information or guarantee me that if they closed that encampment, that it wouldn't be back at our event on August 3rd. So anyway, I also was informed that if I cancel, I will link it half my money back, which is something that this problem is out of my control. It's not my problem. Anyway, so of course, I have totally stressed out and researching for other locations. And part of that, of course, is I have a tentative hold for the State Park at Henry Kell. And why I say that is because people like myself who are having to move these events, the city is losing money because of this situation. I also know that I know I am not aware of all the complexities involved in managing this difficult challenge. I also know that recreational services are under budgetary stress. I'm not just representing myself here, but my family and friends who are all disturbed after decades of supporting the development and maintenance of public spaces that are becoming unstable, spaces that us taxpayers have paid for. I'm asking that regarding the parks and recreational areas, abatement and removal up in continuous daily rather than waiting until the income becomes large, it takes tens of thousands of dollars a month to remove. Simply a longtime recreational volunteer, grandmother, and a longtime citizen, I should be able to rent a spot for a 50th wedding anniversary that is free from needles and disease. Thank you. Thank you. Ms. Wood, do we have anybody else online? It's the same person, but we'll try again. Well, we'll move on. The next person here in council, chambers. Good afternoon. Your guy came on. Excuse me. Okay. You can follow my instructions. It's your turn. Okay. So, yeah, I'm just making sure that person gets to speak. You don't have to make sure that. Okay. So, I don't care what you've got to say, Fred. You're just a lying scumbag. So, fuck you. So anyway, so I'm here because there's a- Excuse me. I don't give a crap what you've got to say. I'm going to give my test to the council. Council's in recess. Okay. Fuck you. Wait, actually. Yep. There's one. Council is back in session following a brief recess. We're still under oral communication. Let me make sure that we all understand how oral communication works. You can address the council on any matter under our jurisdiction, but not on today's agenda for a period of time, not to exceed two minutes. The way the city's protocol manuals indicate is that it is my obligation to make sure that the council meetings are conducted in a way on both sides of the dais such that there is a level of respect, courtesy, and decency to each other, and I will continue to uphold that. Do we have someone else online? Is that person ready to go? I believe so. Okay. We'll take the person online. Okay. Good afternoon. Good afternoon. I'm not aware of that. There we go. Hello? Good afternoon. You're addressing the city council at this point. Greetings, Council. This is Bradley Snyder. I wanted to mention about North Pacific Avenue across from, I think it's, I believe it's 2030. It might be 3020 North Pacific Avenue. There's this large plastic sheet that's up against the hillside on the left if you're going north, almost at the intersection of River North Pacific. It's very unsightly according to a resident and probably other residents at the apartments directly across from it. And I just thought I'd mention, because I guess I promised I would, to that individual who lives across from it. Yeah, and just some kind of information about how temporary that is would be nice. Yeah, I'm sure when public commentary drags on, you know, you kind of feel like I've never heard a comment that was too short. So I'll just cut off there and I'm much else to say thanks. Bye. Well, thank you so much. Appreciate it. Next person with us in council chambers. Good afternoon. Hi. My name is Caitlin. I'm both a UCSC student and probably a permanent resident at Santa Cruz. I recently learned that this council has plans to approach the UCSC Chancellor to build a public safety training center. I am extremely worried about this. The UCPD has terrorized students and citizens two times in the past month and we need no strengthening of them whatsoever. And as citizens, we deserve to know where you are going to build it, what money you're going to use for it, and if my literal tuition dollars are going to pay for it, thanks. Thank you. Anyone else online? Next person in line in chambers. Good afternoon. Members of the community and members of the city council, first of all, you have to be thick-skinned if you're a politician these days because there is a thing called the First Amendment even in these chambers. Admittedly, there are limits. If you feel threatened, like you're being assaulted, file a charge with the cops. Don't recess the meeting and declare that the implication is that there's going to be punishment for people who are saying fuck you, Fred Keely, which is constitutionally protected and indeed politicians are often, properly or improperly, the focus of this kind of hostility, I think legitimately in some cases and perhaps in this case. I've spoken to you about this issue before. This concerns the lack of survival shelter, but raids continue outside. The police chief Escalante, I call them armed camp trashers. They're robotically destroying homeless survival communities under the camping ban, which this council and earlier council passed, but there are no shortage or shelter options as required for the majority of the homeless folks. So it's being done both unconstitutionally and illegally. Mayor Keely, I'm the city mangler of Matt Huffaker and I use the word mangler advisedly because I believe that Matt has a lot of power in this community and that these raids could not continue without his acceptance of them. In fact, his authorization of them, he could certainly stop them if he wished. We have no walk-in shelter, but we punish sleepers outside. So those in oversized vehicles, so-called, are driven out of the city with the tier three RV shelter full, gone by dawn, tier two programs, and punishing those with old vehicles. And I have more to say, but I'll pass this around. Thank you. Do we have anyone else online, Ms. Wood? We'll take the next person in line. Cool. So because of the theft by the city of people's survival gear, which happens every day, Foonabamp just spent another $800 to replace the stuff that the city stole. Now we see the brutality of sending people in the Pogonip so that they can stand in the Pogonip with no toilets, no hand-washing station, or they have to go to the bathroom, and of course then they become ill, and then they get diarrhea, and then that washes down, because that is the city and the county's direct responsibility for that epidemic. Also, we are organizing this protest here specifically because of the nationwide campaign to make it illegal to be homeless, and this data would be Senate Bill 1011. If Martin versus Boise is overturned in the Grant's Pass versus Gloria Johnson case in the Supreme Court to be heard on the 22nd of April, that will mean that the illegal stuff that you currently are doing will be just wide open, and just as you had mentioned before in meetings with me and others at the diner, you will have concentration camps, and you will be placing our homeless people in those camps, and particularly in Camp Roberts, and once the homeless are removed, as you know, there's 67% of America as a paycheck away from homelessness right now, that's likely to get worse once the genocide that you support in Gaza sparks an international war, which looks like what Biden's fixing on, and the Gulf of Hormuz is shut down, gas goes to $10 a gallon, half America lives on the street, and that is why the CIA, through Joe Lansdale and the CISRO Institute, have a nationwide campaign to round up the homeless. In Kentucky, that organization was able to get a law introduced where not only is it illegal to live outside in Kentucky, but you can shoot homeless people if you wish if that law passes. Thank you very much. Thank you. Anyone else online, Ms. Wood? Next person in line. Seeing and hearing none, we will move on. We are finished with oral communication. We will move on to item two. This is a mayoral proclamation declaring February as Black History Month. I would have asked Council member Watkins and Council member Brunner if they would be kind enough to jointly make this presentation. And Ms. Johnson, if you would come on up, that would be helpful as well. Thank you, Mayor. And thank you for being here. I will kick it off, and then I'll hand it over to my friend and colleague. So on behalf of our mayor, this proclamation, whereas National Black History Month in February is a special opportunity to gain a deeper understanding of African American history to acknowledge the centuries of struggle for equity, equality, and freedom, and to honor the many Black leaders who have contributed to the progress of our nation. And whereas the mission of the National Association for the Advancement of Color People, the NAACP, the nation's oldest, largest, and most widely recognized grassroots-based civil rights organization founded in 1909, is to ensure the political, educational, social, and economic equality of rights of all persons and to eliminate race-based discrimination. And whereas the Santa Cruz branch of the NAACP was founded in 1949 to address local housing issues and has worked for decades throughout Santa Cruz County to promote equal economic opportunity, criminal justice reform, environmental and climate justice, civic engagement, and education, including awarding scholarships to high school students for post-secondary education. And whereas the Santa Cruz branch of the NAACP and President Elaine Johnson play a vital role in our community, organize annual community-wide events, provide advocacy and support, and facilitate community connections from which other groups and organizations have sprung, such as the Santa Cruz County Black Health Matters Initiative. And I will hand it over. Whereas this year's National Black History Month theme explores the varied history and life of African-American arts and artisans, and whereas the Santa Cruz County Black Health Matters Initiative has focused needed attention and developed community partnerships to address the social determinants of health in our local Black community and ensure a whole community is not just surviving but thriving. And whereas United Way of Santa Cruz County Applied Survey Research, Santa Cruz County NAACP Black Health Matters Initiative, Lended Bridge, and Santa Cruz County Black Coalition for Justice and Racial Equity Advisors, Santa Cruz Black Commission, Santa Cruz County Black Health Matters Spotlight, an initiative that shares data on the social determinants of health impacting the historically underserved Black African-American population here in Santa Cruz. And whereas acknowledging and understanding the struggles for social justice, racial equity, and equal rights in the Black African-American community in Santa Cruz can strengthen the insight of all of our residents regarding the issues of human rights, the continuing struggle against racial discrimination and poverty, and the great strides that have been made in the efforts to eliminate the barriers to equality for minority groups. Now therefore, on behalf of Fred Keeley, the mayor of the city of Santa Cruz, we hereby proclaim the month of February 2024 as Santa Cruz Black History Month in the city of Santa Cruz with special recognition to the Santa Cruz NAACP United Way and Black Health Matters Initiative and all the other Black organizations that are working so hard in our community to keep uplifting the Black community and also to support and engage in the many groups and leaders in the community for their contributions, strength, character, and perseverance, all of which enrich our lives. Thank you. Ms. Johnson, you are recognized. And a little bit speechless, which is not the norm. But I'm really taken by each and every word here. I want to thank you, Mayor Keeley and everyone here for partnering with the NAACP to continue to do the work that we need to do in Santa Cruz County. So the playing field is level for everyone to have a safe space to not just live but at the table. So I just want to thank you all for the hard work that you do and for your leadership and allowing me to stand in my leadership because as we know, there are some days that are not easy, you know, being in this role. But I know that you have my back front and my sides. So thank you. Ms. Johnson, thank you for everything and the NAACP for your great work. Thank you. We are on Item 30, Mission Rail and Trail Project. State your point of order. Let me ask. First time I've had that question, so let me check in. These are generally items where the council just receives a report or makes a presentation. There's no council action contemplated. Okay. Okay. So that's the reason. Okay. I understand. Thank you. We're on item, pardon me? No. Okay. We're on Item 3. This is Zero Mission Rail and Trail Project. We have Ms. Blakesley from the Regional Transportation Commission who will be making a presentation. Good afternoon. Good afternoon, Council Members and Mayor Keely. I'm Grace Blakesley of the Santa Cruz County Regional Transportation Commission. I'm here today to provide you with information about the Regional Transportation Commission Zero Emission, Passenger Rail, and Trail Project. I will first provide you with some brief background on the Santa Cruz Branch rail line and its context within Santa Cruz County. Some of you and members of the public may be very familiar with the Santa Cruz Branch rail line, but it may be new to others and other members of the council and public. Next slide, please. The Santa Cruz Branch rail line is a continuous transportation corridor that spans approximately 32 miles from the community of Pajaro in southern portion of the county and in northern portion of Monterey County to Davenport north of Santa Cruz. The branch line has been used since the mid-1870s with current freight and passenger excursion services. The branch line corridor provides a unique opportunity for the transportation needs of Santa Cruz County. With this vision in mind, the Commission purchased the branch rail line in 2012, bringing it into public ownership. And over the course of the next decade, the Commission completed several planning studies, including the 2015 Rail Transit Feasibility Study, which analyzed a range of transportation service options using the publicly owned Santa Cruz Branch rail line. And later the Transit Corridor Alternatives Analysis and Rail Network Integration Study was completed in 2021, which identified electric passenger rail as a preferred alternative that provides the greatest benefit to the county. In 2022, the Regional Transportation Commission directed staff to solicit proposals to develop the project concept report and environmental documentation for passenger rail on 22 miles of the branch line, as well as completing development of the remaining segments of the Coastal Rail Trail between Santa Cruz and Pajaro. 17 miles of the Coastal Rail Trail projects have been constructed and are under development as separate projects, as you know, two segments are one completed and one underway in the City of Santa Cruz. The Zero Passenger Rail and Trail Project contract was awarded to HDR Engineering and the project kicked off the first task in October 2023 after successfully securing TERSIP cycle 6 and Measure D funding. Next slide, please. The Zero Emission Passenger Rail and Trail Project proposes a new high-capacity passenger rail service, thank you, and stations on approximately, as I mentioned, 22 miles of the Santa Cruz Branch rail line from the City of Santa Cruz in the north to Pajaro just south of Watsonville. As mentioned, the project also includes 12 miles of Coastal Rail Trail segments 13 through 20 from Real Del Mar through the community of La Selva Beach, the City of Watsonville, and also a portion within the City of Santa Cruz that concludes the Capitola Tressel reach. So on this map you can see in the blue is the stent of the passenger rail project that's included in the project for concept report, and the green are the portions of the Coastal Rail Trail that are included in the project concept report. So this project aims to take advantage of the publicly owned rail right-of-way to provide passenger rail service, as I mentioned, to the most populated areas of Santa Cruz County and to the greater region. Rail passengers will be able to bypass Highway 1 and local arterials that are highly congested and provide high-quality connections to key destinations within the county. The Coastal Rail Trail segments will also provide the dedicated and bicycle pedestrian facility that, among other benefits, also serves the proposed rail stations. So the project concept report will look at conceptual rail transit vehicle technology, rail transit ridership, revenue forecast, will also evaluate the rail infrastructure, look at rail corridor safety assessment, for example, how the rail and trail interface as well as grade crossings, and also, importantly, I said at a conceptual rail and trail alignment that will be to help to inform the project description that's evaluated in the environmental document for this project. Next slide, please. Here's our schedule. The project concept report is anticipated to be completed in Spring 2025, and as I mentioned, it's going to define and evaluate and develop a project build concept that will advance to the future tasks of this project, the next step being the environmental document, and then project approval right-of-way and final design, which are the steps created prior to construction. So you can see here, we have the project concept report on the top line, as I mentioned, expected to be completed in 2025, then an alternatives analysis improved as part of that, and then preliminary engineering following at the same time as the environmental analysis from 2025 through 2027, and looking for project approval around 2028. The subsequent design and right-of-way will follow with an expected end date of 2032. Next slide, please. So as I mentioned, the first milestone in the project concept report phase includes what we call a preliminary purpose and need statement. The preliminary purpose and need documents the needs as well as the constraints that drive the development of transportation improvements in this study area, which is our rail corridor, and it helps to summarize the priorities and the development of alternatives and establishes really the fundamental purpose for this project. Next slide, please. Let's see. Okay. The project development team, which consists of the consultants team and staff from the cities of Santa Cruz, Watsonville, Capitola, and the County of Santa Cruz, as well as the Transportation Agency for Monterey County, the Santa Cruz Metropolitan Transit District, and RTC staff supported the development of the preliminary purpose and need statement for the zero-emission passenger rail and trail project, and we've been working on that as a team over the last two months. The project development team's input is really critical in developing this purpose and need statement that is inclusive of all of the needs of these various stakeholders in our community. And on January 11th, the project development team recommended this purpose and need statement to the commission. We wanted to make sure we thank the City of Santa Cruz staff for their attendance and participation in the project development team. So the preliminary needs here are shown on this slide. I am going to read through them because I think it's important for us to hear them and for support community dialogue around this. The current state of Santa Cruz County's transportation infrastructure, as many of you know, is very strained and can be an effective in serving the community at times. The existing transportation network is also insufficient at times to help us grow our local economy and improve our environment and our public health and to improve equity and better quality of life for our residents. So in summary, what's been identified as the preliminary project needs are listed here. It's the need to have a diverse transportation needs, excuse me, diverse transportation solutions that are needed. We need to have a diverse transportation that will address slow transit travel times. We need to address the deficiencies in roadway travel and the insufficient alternative travel options. We need to address vehicle miles traveled and greenhouse gas reduction mandates. And then also address the missing linkages and safety concerns of our existing bicycle and pedestrian facilities in Santa Cruz County. And this informs what is then the next slide, the project purpose. So the fundamental purpose of this project is to support and improve equitable multimodal transportation options in Santa Cruz County. And the elements of the project purpose are to provide increased access to convenient, accessible and reliable public travel options. To improve transit connections to community activity centers that support the local economy and provide better access between housing and jobs. To integrate with plans for future land use. To reduce transit travel times and improve transit system reliability overall. To enhance bicycle and pedestrian connectivity and safety. To promote alternative transportation modes. To provide a critical link between the cities of Watsonville and Santa Cruz and communities in between as an alternative to the congested roadways. And as mentioned to reduce vehicle miles traveled and greenhouse gas emissions. Next slide please. So the commission and his project partners are committed to meaningful public engagement in addition to presenting to you this afternoon. Staff has provided presentations to the city of Watsonville, the city of Scots Valley and the city of Capitola and we'll be right in presentation. I know well as our presentation to our RTC in January. So in order to engage with the community, the project team has scheduled various opportunities some which occurred a few weeks ago and then there's also an online ongoing virtual open house available still it's still available. And we had fairly good attendance at both the meeting in Watsonville as well as in live Oak on February 12th and 13th and we've had good engagement with our website so far. So the feedback that we get will be used to inform the development of the purpose and need and as well as the ongoing project development and to continue to encourage engagement with the public. Next steps next slide please. All right. So in terms of the specific project concept report that's the step that we're at right now and I know sometimes the language is not familiar to everyone but this is how we're referring to the step of the project and it's really to define the project for everybody moving forward. So we are here at developing the project purpose and need statement and looking ahead. The next will be coming forward later in the summer we'll be looking at conceptual alignments and what that means is really the alignment for the rail as well as the trail alongside it within the Santa Cruz branch rail line. That will be coming at the end of the summer and we'll take that out to the public and bring that back to you as well for input. Then we'll refine the conceptual alignment based on the input and start to look at stations, layover facility and maintenance locations that would be required to support that and then come up with a draft project project concept report as well as the preliminary cost estimates. We know I'm on a before I move on actually I wanted to mention on the project look ahead another key component that we're working on right now and we'll be coming forward in the summer is looking at the vehicle type and that's really important for informing the alignments in the infrastructure so that will be something that we'll be bringing to you as well in the summer. That's all I got for you today. I welcome your questions and your input and we look forward to your continued engagement in the project. Well Ms. Blakely thank you very much for the presentation. I'm going to recognize Council Member Brown who plays no small part in all of this for her comments and observations. Well I guess I will say a few words. I don't really have questions and that's largely because I get to talk to you and hear from you at the RTC meetings but also you make yourself accessible as does our staff and I'm just so thrilled that we are at this point where we really are seeing a timeline for bringing this project to fruition. It's been a long time coming. The work that you all have done in the context of you know major political debate over this and machinations it's just really incredible and your ability to be nimble. I also want to comment and I forgot to total up the have the totals in my head but the amount of money that your staff at RTC City of Santa Cruz the county as well have brought into our community for this project is phenomenal and so I just really appreciate you being here and helping to kind of share that with the public and my colleagues and look forward to continuing the work. Council Member, thank you. Thank you for your framework. Let me see if there are any questions, comments for Ms. Blakesley from other Council Members, Ms. Brunner first and then we'll move our self down the line. Thank you so much for that update. It was great to hear about the timelines and where the project is trending and what's happening next and the website I found has been really informative so I just have a comment of thank you as this is explored and moves further in in the process you know the potential to connect with the California State Rail network is huge and all the other benefits that are outlined that you brought up is great and thank you for providing that presentation and update. Thank you so much Ms. Blakesley. I had the opportunity to see a version of this presentation at the Metro meeting last week and I just want to thank you for your work and just say as a member of the Metro Board I look forward to working with you working with the RTC it will take that partnership for us to be successful in the future of public transportation in our community so thank you so much. Thank you for the Metro staff participation as well in the PDT. Very good. Other questions, comments? Let me ask if there's anyone with us today who wishes to make comment on this item. I didn't make the comment on the previous presentation but I'm I can on this one. Okay it's the way it is. My name is still James Ewing. So the clerks have the most important room most important job in the room they are the historians boy there's a lot of stuff to talk about with that but as far as what is zero emissions I don't think a cat walking across the street is zero emissions. This whole whatever zero emissions are based upon I could be wrong but right now it's based on carbon dioxide and my understanding is on planet earth that's at 0.4 percent that's less than half a percent that's actually extinction level so to reduce it is to increase the extinction level. So I think that easily beguiled easily beguiled folks with the best of intentions often aren't providing that. That's I would have loved to have talked about number two but hey it's the way it is. Thank you. Thank you Mr. Ewing. Anyone online? Anyone? Yes there's one. We'll take the person online good afternoon. Hello Fred. Hello council. I was actually this is Brad Snyder again I was actually with Mike Opposner when we went before the CTC and got this rail line granted to the county. I was the only one dressed like like the mayor and Mr. Newsom at that time everybody else was wearing casual attire. We were made to wear these kind of silly engineers caps by Micah which I objected to but you know went through with it. My main objection at the time was the maintenance of the trestles which I didn't think the county could really manage to do and I think this is a beautiful way for them to you know to use the line. One thing I've noticed about the north county part of the line going up to Davenport it terminates at the cement plant. It would be great if that could be used but it's in great disrepair. I've I've hiked along the length of it and it needs the beach trees to be cut and and you know all kinds of time it's very very time it's damaged you know but being able to access Wilder Ranch, Panther Beach, Barney Dune Beach, Davenport Beach via rail transit I think would be really beautiful but I'm very much in support of this. I think I think linking up via rail is a very good thing for the county and yeah it's how do I how do I end this. Thank you so much for letting me speak. Thank you. Well thank you for your consistent support of this over the years. Very much appreciated. Anyone else wish to address the council on this item? Anyone else online? This is an informational item. We'll move on to the next item we are on. Recording in progress. All right. We'll move on. Presiding officers announcement. I have none. Let me go to statements of disqualification. Any member have a statement of disqualification? Ms. Brown? I need to recuse myself on item 8. This is the Affordable Housing Project funding as it is in close proximity to my residence. Very good. Thank you. Any other Yes, Ms. Bruner. Item 7 as it relates to my employment. Very good. Thank you. Any other disqualification statements? Thank you for that. Any additions or deletions to the agenda? Ms. Wood, do we have any? No, we do not. Very good. Thank you. City Attorney report on closed session. Mr. Condati. Yes, thank you. Mayor Keely, members of the City Council. Councilman in closed session this afternoon in the courtyard conference room to discuss the following items of real property negotiations. First item, property at 1010 River Street, location of the Polygon Theater property owner or the tenant, rather, a jewel theater company. The Council received a report from its negotiator, economic development director, Bonnie Lipscomb. There was no reportable action. Second item, 1520 K1 Pacific Avenue, which is a kiosk on Pacific Avenue. The business location is Na Na Eritrean Foods. Again, received a report from its real property negotiator. Third item, 49B Municipal Wharf. That is the location of Olita's Cantina and Grill. Received another report from its real property negotiator. The next item, 121 Soquel Avenue, location of Oswald restaurant. Again, report from economic development director. Lastly, the property at 401 Upper Park Road, which is the De La Viega Golf Clubhouse owner, De La Upper Park Incorporated Council received a report from its negotiator. There was no reportable action on these items. I will note that Councilmember Bruner recused herself from items two and four on the closed session agenda. Thank you. Council meeting calendar, anything to draw to our attention? No, ma'am. Thank you very much. We are on the consent agenda. For those of you unfamiliar with it, we will take up items five through 11 inclusive on one motion. What we will do is give an opportunity for Council members to either pull an item, ask a question, or make a comment. I'll give the public the same opportunity. I'm going to start on my right with Mr. Newsome, work my way around, Mr. Newsome on the consent agenda. Thank you, Mickey. I just want to make a comment on item number seven and item number eight. Go ahead and make those comments. Thank you. On item number seven, I'm very excited to see this on our agenda. I want to thank Director Lipscomb and asset and development manager McCormick for bringing it forward. This item deals with the downtown pops program, which is a program that is designed to lower barriers to entry for businesses looking to open a brick and mortar store in our downtown. This program has been one of several valuable tools that has been utilized to revitalize downtown and has helped lower the vacancy rate in our downtown by 6% to its current rate of 3.8%. So I'm really excited to see that another business will be moving from a short-term six-month lease to a longer-term five-year lease that is being facilitated by this program and I'm very happy to support this agenda item. On agenda item number eight, I'm also very excited to see this on our agenda. This item seeks to provide funding through state grants for a project that will provide 51 units of much needed affordable housing in our community and will be right on the edge of my district. So I'm very happy to support this agenda item and want to thank Director Lipscomb again and Housing and Community Development Manager Duit for bringing it forward. Thank you. Ms. Brown. I know there are people here to speak on item nine. I'm not sure if it needs to be pulled, but I think maybe just to be safe, I'm going to ask that we do that. Pull the item? Yeah, item nine. That's the Coastal Conservancy Grant. Very good. Ms. Watkins. I'll just say I associate myself with the comments made by my colleague. Council member Newsom on the two items that he referenced. Very good. Thank you. Madam Vice Mayor. Ms. Countar Johnson. Thank you. I wanted to comment on item 11. Please proceed. Just want to acknowledge and thank the Public Works team for their work on the Neri Lagoon Security Fencing Project. This is just a treasured asset in our community and so thank you for your hard work. Thank you. Ms. Brunner. I had a quick comment on item eight that pursuing this grant is an opportunity for more affordable housing in our city and I'm really glad to see that there was active effort towards that for this project. It has grown from a seed of an idea to this point, so thank you so much for the work thus far. I look forward to more. Thank you, Council Member. I have no items on this. How we will proceed is let me ask the public if you have comments. Let me say that other than item 11, because we will take up item 11. Oh, excuse me. My apology. Thank you for saying that. It was item nine, right on the list that says pulled. Very good. We'll take up item nine as a freestanding item, but let me ask if there's comments on any of the other items. Anyone want to make comment? No? Well, what's going on today? Good afternoon. Hello. My name is still, excuse me, James Ewing. I was just talking to an acquaintance that normally calls on the phone. Let's go. So the consent agenda item. I know the rules seem to change all the time. Item number five, the minutes. So I'm sure that the clerks were paying attention, but something was kind of misspoke. I was talking about the Environmental Protection Agency Bank in reference to our water system. And then the very interesting conversation interview that the plant Tucker Carlson had with Vladimir Putin. So I think the clerk's job is very difficult, particularly in the county of Santa Cruz. Oh my goodness. When you review their minutes, it's like, wow, maybe these are some of the reasons why it's so challenging. So I could go into detail that we're operating on six different legal jurisdictions or fictions. You know, we have the original U.S. Constitution that established a republic, a republic. Only lasted 13 years. We have our corporate constitution. We have maritime abnormality law. We have common law. We have the corporate charter city law. There's a document on that. You know, any city with a city manager, you guys don't have the powers that the people who elected you think you do. How's that for polite? And God's law. I appreciate the smile. I'm doing the best I can. So I don't know. I probably missed some opportunities before, but I'm glad that I actually spoke up and got some changes. I would have loved to have spent two minutes on the presentation for this month. I probably will bring that up the next time we're here. So thank you. Thank you, sir. Do we have anyone online? This is what, sir, good afternoon again. Mr. Phillip, good afternoon, sir. Just as a stand why you did not give people three minutes to comment on regular agenda items, as it states, is the sort of normal time in your council member ham book. I know you're empowered to raise or lower the time limit, but I didn't see you even mention it or it's not in the agenda. They just assumed it's two minutes. It's become this standard and it isn't supposed to be the standard in the council ham book. It says three minutes is the standard. You must, I guess, not like to hear what the public has to say. Anyway, as regards item seven, in my opinion, none of the reasons stated for converting this pop-up shop to a permanent lease have any validity or merit whatsoever. It should not make any difference whether the proprietor is a woman or not. It should not make any difference if the proprietor is a queer or not. It should not make any difference if they are a minority or not. But reading this, it appears that you, meaning the city, those are very much the deciding discriminating factors, both in the initial renter selection of this location and in this long-term lease extension. Some people think that discrimination is the denial of privilege based on personal characteristics, but assigning privilege based on personal characteristics is precisely as bad and is an awful cultural Marxist thing for you to do. You seem to take, as a matter of fact, pride in your discriminations. How very strange. This is more of the discriminatory moony code poison of health and all policies in action. I've only been to the shop. I'm mocked by the shop. Probably has plenty of interesting products for children. Perhaps some I'd rather not see. I don't know, haven't been in there. However, they have facilitated a large gathering drag queen story time event with amplified drag queen dialogue discussion of a large display of queer symbols by those in attendance in front and targeting influence directed at extremely young children on the public sidewalk in front of the store in Pacific. I questioned that whether those kinds of events are in the interest of the larger community for that to continue now and even make a permanent event location. I sure hope not. In my opinion, LGBTQ anything directed at young people under the age of puberty is a harmful and coercive influence that reminds me of pedophilia directed at those vulnerable and impressionable young who are unable to evaluate such and is inappropriately confusing, undeveloped children and is a recent damaging cultural revolutionary process at work. And otherwise I wish them luck as a business. Thanks. Thank you sir. Anyone else wish to come in? Take up a motion on items five through 11 minus item nine on one motion. I'd like to with the consent. Motion seconded by Mr. Newsome debate or discussion seen and hearing none. The clerk will call the roll. Council member Newsome. Aye. Council member Brown. Aye. With the exception of item eight, which I am recusing. Council member Watkins is not present. Council member Brunner is not present. Council member Callentary Johnson. Aye. Vice Mayor Golder. Aye. Mayor Keely. Aye. I want to give, I want to be able to record. I apologize. Your vote on the consent agenda. Yes. Item nine. You counsel member Watkins. Thank you. The consent agenda is adopted. Let's take up item nine, Coastal Conservancy Resilient Grant Program for the Santa Cruz War for Resilience Upgrade and Improvement Projects. Ms. Brown, you asked that this item be taken up separately. Thank you, Mayor. I just want to make a couple of comments. We did receive communication from Don't Morf the Wharf folks and they related concerns about the use of this grant funding related to process and substance. And we received in response to that, which was very helpful. I don't know that it's been more widely circulated and I did want to give an opportunity to just hear a bit about the concerns specifically related to public engagement. I'll say that I recognize in the response you highlighted the many times that this has been on our public agenda. However, those opportunities were not really framed as input into particular priority projects and so I'm not sure that the public necessarily would see that as such and so the extent to which that opportunity has been extended is kind of a question for me and I guess I just want to hear a little bit more about how you're thinking about given the lack of what I would consider to be somewhat of a lack of public engagement thus far, how we will address that moving forward. There's some information in here at specific question I have for example is public engagement going to be included in the consultant's scope of work and to what extent will the input around those priorities really be able to affect what's selected and how we move forward. I also want to say that part of that, the comments that we received suggested that a lot of these projects are not necessarily related to the structural integrity of the wharf which we know is so critical and we've been told we need an EIR so we can get funding to do that. So I'm just wondering how you see like where is that I know that's a little bit out of the scope here but these projects meeting the real immediate needs of the wharf. I know that was a lot but it just would be great to hear a bit about that so folks in the in the public can better understand and as myself included. Thanks. Let me see is this working okay yeah and Dave McCormick with economic development project manager on the wharf and on this grant kind of where to start there's a lot a lot there to unpack. So as you mentioned the entire sort of wharf master plan involved a lot of community engagement including 4 different hearings this past fall through that process the entrance gates in the eastern promenade were always we're always studied and analyzed and put forward as near-term projects. Both of those are included in this grant application and have been on the the city's unfunded CIP list throughout the last 8 years or so since 2016 at various times and in various descriptions and I think most recently lumped into the wharf rehabilitation projects and the implementation of the wharf master plan in the CIP. So with those with that direction the grant was put forward to include those elements beyond that the the boat landings serve evacuation purposes as well as emergency a potentially emergency port services should we have a road a land-based cutoff from service from you know supply deliveries and things like that. This is sort of becoming a a common feature in some areas San Francisco recently completed a terminal just for that purpose for emergency supply for their city and which is a very similar sort of setup. The the particular projects that were selected for this grant were really put forward from a much broader menu including wharf master plan and maintenance work that we put forward to the coastal conservancy and then they evaluated based on their climate ready program and the grants they had and their legislative mandate so they kind of went through the list with us looked at the ones that they thought best fit and then recommended we put together an application based on those and the available funding that they had. So this is sort of a collaborative effort with the conservancy based upon the projects that they felt had the the best merit and we're both aligned with their project goals. Let's see from there I'm trying to think of the just how this work and the funding for the work under this grant intersects with the structural work that we know absolutely needs to happen on the wharf. Right so thank you thanks for the reiterate. No problem. So yeah the the particular the projects put forward in the grant actually have two phases right so there's the initial construction work at the east prominent or the east parking lot which will shore up an area that is sort of known repeated weaknesses. It wasn't designed for today's vehicles so the wharf crew is constantly having to go out there and patch the the pavement as we you know car tires punch through the decking mainly because the joys and things that were spaced underneath aren't an appropriate spacing for the loads that it has to handle. Additionally the weakness in the deck members and the additional loads causes the the joys and things to crack underneath the deck which weakens the overall sheer of the wharf. So reinforcing the outer edge of the the east parking lot which is really the only amount that we could fund with this grant and overall east parking lot rehab is a much more significant project. We do believe that it will make a significant dent in and reinforcing the sheer in that part of the wharf which is opposite some of the largest buildings on the wharf so really important improvement there and then the where the entrance gates are yes it sets the table for the entrance gates relocation which is a priority project based upon the entire master plan and effort but it's also a crucial point where the waves tend to crash before they hit to the beach they hit their sort of peak height near shore at that point and there the engineering report for the wharf master plan included a number of pilings and deck work that needed to be done there so rather than potentially lose access at the approach due to wave damage and things like that they gives us the ability to shore up that area help protect some of the utilities that have been repeatedly lost in recent storms you know fire lines plumbing impacts stuff like that that is in this vulnerable place so we are sort of addressing two critical areas had we known the end of the wharf would suffer the damage it did this past winter we might have prioritized that more but on the plus side this grant also provides an abundance of engineering planning and permitting funds which allow us to actually proceed with the design and the engineering needed to expand these promenade develop the boat landings to a shovel ready site or I mean shovel ready stage and redesign the end of the wharf in line with the master plan to widen it reinforce it it's lateral strength and and ideally our hope is that it will cover the sort of design and engineering needed to to fix up what's damaged now so we have to kind of evaluate that see where the bids come in but the hope is that this funding will help us bring all of those to a state where we're ready to bring in more money and move these projects forward but the crucial part about it is that though this design stage leads to design development and so that's an early stage of construction document development where you take a master plan concept and you translate it into preliminary construction drawings and it's at that point that we expect to have community engagement where we talk through the the sort of the details bringing the concepts down to earth visualizing how some of the things might play out in real life what sort of visitor amenities we can sort of weave into these broad high-level concepts to make them more exciting and interesting to the community and really expand upon the community outreach and the discussions that were done in the master plan to get to something that's more concrete and can lead to an actual improvement thank you for your responses very thorough very helpful and I appreciate your willingness to step up on the spot further by the council anyone wish to testify on this item thank you mr. newing good afternoon excuse me it's still james ewing maybe i reread maybe i misread the information on this but it was my understanding from when i read it that over half of this eight million dollars in funds was basically going to work towards improving the parking lot which seems to be quite different than what this gentleman shared about some of the emergency work that is going to be done so maybe i'm incorrect about that but as far as priorities as to what i've been here a couple times when this warf project has been talked about and when you add something new to something that's existing it allows you to have a brand new structural integrity and increase the strength of the rest so what i recall is probably at least five or six individuals stating that they would sue whoever i guess the city the warf whoever owns that if these changes were made and so maybe that's why the more the repairs weren't done it's my understanding that these some of these polls and what is that 4,500 only five percent are damaged that is amazing that it's lasted a hundred years so i'll have to reread the information because it was just i was very glad to hear what the various things that are actually going to be done because i'm expecting some pretty crazy fun weather in 2024 so thank you thank you mr anyone online miss wood thank you good afternoon good afternoon mayor kealy advice mayor gold and council members jillian greensight i'm speaking for don't morph the warf none of what apparently was responded to to our letter which was submitted yesterday around midday was available for the public i checked the agenda before i left home so that wasn't very helpful what i'd like to say on behalf of our group is that we went to all of the hearings there were actually five because the historic preservation commission had two hearings and at every hearing it was stated that the wolf master plan and the eir don't worry it's just a placeholder that when individual products sorry projects come forward the public will have many opportunities to engage in a discussion and the end product the end project may look very different from what it does in these documents i think it's pretty clear that that was a that is not going to happen that there have been discussions with the california coastal conservancy and they've come up with these projects that are going ahead and i feel that's a a violation of the public process and the the public input during the whole eir process was a very unsatisfactory and it seems that this is the plan going forward right now given the damage to the end of the wolf since words like access for underserved communities and health in all policies is being used to promote this proposal this grant proposal it would seem pretty obvious that the place that needs to be the money needs to be spent on is the end of the wolf because access for underserved communities is the sea line viewing holes and right now they are roped off so i would think that a re examination of this grant application should be done given the reality of the storm damage the fact that some of the money that's going to be spent from the city will be to narrow the parking bays is it's not going to be popular there is a lot to be addressed with this moving of the parking gates and we the public expected to be way able to weigh in not when it's being designed but on the project itself and that is apparently not going to happen unless you direct staff to change this grant application so that it will handle the issues that are really of a media concern and one last comment is that if you read the engineering report the engineers are the biggest damage to the wolf the roadway the substrate are the garbage collection trucks from the city and that was recommended 10 years ago thank you that that be changed thank you anyone else who should comment on this matters back before the council miss brown i would like to ask a follow-up question because um this garbage truck thing has come up now this this question many many times and i keep forgetting to ask and so while we have an opportunity i i'd like to hear about that is there some discussion about a different way of managing doing waste management so that those trucks aren't out on the wharf it it does regardless of how we shore it up there is kind of significant impact from that and so i'm i'm asking now i have a chance right i mean she's absolutely not wrong the garbage trucks the particularly the weight of the garbage trucks is highly impactful to the pavement and is an issue that needs to be resolved the master plan recommended and its proposal is to replace the existing garbage collection with a pneumatic system so essentially what they have in certain hospitals and and on cruise ships and stuff where it's kind of like a bank tube where you put the trash in a tube and it sucks it off site we have been in conversations numerous times over the past you know at least since my tenure uh and before that uh with company you know memios who creates these systems and has reportedly had over 30 years of success with no major issues or or you know jams or anything like that and they've been in contact with the boardwalk as well who have talked about potentially offsite collection my understanding is that there are certain members in in refuse and stuff who have concerns about it the other thing is the capital cost of replacing it particularly we know that utilities and stuff under the wharf are remain vulnerable and need an overall upgrade memios has suggested that they're open to a sort of technology as a service where you they would foot the capital cost and we would pay them or our tenants would pay them over time we haven't yet received a proposal for what exactly what that looks like but it is calm ongoing comms are conversations about this there's still unknowns to work out but with the master plan approved it's certainly something we can look into more as we have capacity um but it also is something that you know is uh is uh sort of cutting edge new technology that um does need a bit more vetting before it's ready for uh for us to present to the council for consideration mr brown through there nope i would say one more thing actually there at the we also looked at the possibility of doing a sort of a dumpster chain like they do at the harbor where they bring uh multiple dumpsters out to the parking lot and would load it on land the problem with that is really it's a staffing issue neither refuse or the wharf crew have the capacity uh to do that on the regular because it it takes a staff of at least two um you know most of a day to make that happen um and we just don't have the resources at the moment unfortunately matters back before the body is there a motion there's a motion to move is there second by miss brown under discussion miss brunner i just didn't know no the matters back before the body um i had a question go ahead um given some of the public comment that we heard um talk about what that re-examination of a grant application involves is it possible i know that oftentimes there are deadlines or things like that where we're in the process so in this case the grant was awarded on the 15th uh so the coastal conservancy board has approved uh the grant and we're just awaiting a contract um for signature uh we could potentially go back to them to realign it to another thing but it would be a whole new decision of their board uh with multiple months of delay and given that the the program has a a two-year target performance period it would significantly eat into our capacity to deliver the projects if we were to delay it further um but as i mentioned it does provide the resources to do the design and engineering planning to correct the issues at the end of the wharf uh and so you know with that we'll be able to continue moving forward on the the you know the larger repair and and overhaul and look for funding with that those that plan in in hand my next question is um this grant is was applied for specific areas of the wharf and so now that we've had damage at the end of the wharf can you speak a little bit about funding for that part of the wharf right and unfortunately we're looking at you know in part due to you know the delay with the master plan uh we're not hitting a an ideal window for state funding you know we're looking at the state budget that has a potential shortfall over 70 billion dollars a lot of the pots that we counted on and we're hoping to rely on over the past few years are getting narrower um but we are uh Travis Beck is actually here uh from Parks and Rec and can can speak to it um and i believe they've been working on a plan for the immediate stabilization and such mr. Beck good afternoon thank you mayor Keely um council members yes we are working on a plan for immediate stabilization and permanent repair of the damage at the end of the wharf and that we experienced elsewhere throughout the wharf and we're fortunate to be able to tap into several potential pots of funding we have filed a claim with our insurers we have wave wash insurance on the wharf and so we're in the process of getting that claim adjusted um if disasters are declared for the recent storms we may be able to benefit from state and or federal funding for a disaster relief um and then as a third alternative we will be including in our department um capital investment program request for the year a request to make up a gap in funding that would be needed to do those repairs so we're in the process now of doing the initial engineering on the short term stabilization of the working towards a plan for the permanent repair thank you sir other questions yes one more question thank you for your patience everyone um can you also speak a little bit about the um difference between a project and project design i mean there was concern about being able to weigh in and having public engagement on project versus project design right what that means so the master plan levels are usually much more conceptual uh they you know they identify the idea of an eastern promenade or they identify the idea of a terrorist overlook but they don't often get into the very detailed design where you're looking at you know how do you actually make those connections how do you actually present um the the furnishings and the fixtures and the the actual engineering and all those details what are the the amenities and the you know interpretive elements and all of those things that might make a space actually rich and inviting and functional um and so when you go to design development you're looking at taking that master plan concept and you're bringing it into something that can be constructed and so uh as we sort of see it uh there'll be opportunities for community engagement as we start that process as we get into uh developing alternatives and potential modifications of the concept to make it you know financially feasible to make it um functionally buildable and to sort of flesh out the types of features that might make it you know more usable and enriching for the public and so there's a very real likelihood that some of the designs that are in the or concepts that are in the master plan will be modified and changed to one that actually gets built uh the idea is that it will be less than or equal to what was studied in the IR we're not looking to go over and above anything that was already studied at an environmental impact level but we are looking to make it uh you know really an amenity that the entire community can get behind uh so there'll be those opportunities there'll also be an extensive permitting process uh for all of these projects each of those are opportunities to engage with the various mitigation measures the trade-offs the regulations that we have to deal with and there are opportunities for public comment so we expect to have a public process to kick off design development and we expect to have a public process related to all the permitting thank you for clarifying um that distinction how many concepts would you say are currently there so in the in the grant proposal here we've got the the wharf interpretive plan so that's an opportunity to chime in on what are the important stories that we want to tell about the wharf who are the groups that haven't had their story involved you know the fishermen that were excluded during world war two or before that in the chinese exclusion act perhaps how do we uh tell that story through art or through exhibits or through interpretive panels all of that is an opportunity for public engagement uh the east promenade is it just a bike path with fishing alongside or does it have gathering areas does it have you know exhibits and other features that people really want to engage with and those opportunities along it you can almost imagine having sort of david swings and gathering places there's a lot of different opportunities that the public can kind of brainstorm and come up with ideas that we can look at in the actual plans and then the boat landings you know we'll be looking at how do we uh create those so that they're universally accessible how do they provide the functionality that the boat uh boat rentals and the kayaks need how do we make it accessible for people to land at the wharf from their own launch on a different site all of these details are opportunities for public engagement for modification of the concepts and then of course the end of the wharf which now we have a whole new set of questions around there will be a big opportunity there to look at what was in the master plan and then look at what's happened to the dolphin and the east side and how do we reinvent that uh to really provide the gathering place and the destination that that everyone wants thank you so much i appreciate all that detail and will the city website on the about the wharf be updated with information and the community meetings yes as we have time capacity and we get rolling we will be updating that information and making it as available as best we can thank you thank you for the questions debate or discussion click we'll call the roll can i just get confirmation on the move and the second thank you yes thank you can i make one comment really quickly um i just want to say that i you know while i share the concerns about public engagement um you know i'm going to be voting yes on this in this case i feel like um these are all projects that are in the master plan and this is an opportunity for funding that we are just not going to see again anytime soon certainly not from the conservancy which is not going to have money into the state budget crisis so um i i do i'm i'm with you on the question of public engagement and i want to really highlight that for you know as we move forward that the public is really given the opportunity and invited specifically to talk about these questions um as on on specific projects so thank you click we'll call the roll council member newson hi council member brown hi council member walkman hi council member brunner hi council member calentari johnson hi vice mayor golder hi mayor keely hi motion passes and so ordered we're on item 12 this is a public hearing on the second reading and final adoption of an ordinance on temporary use of certain adjacent public street and outdoor areas for eligible businesses miss you good afternoon good afternoon rebecca unit economic development manager uh the item today is the second reading and final adoption for our ordinance that extends our temporary permits for outdoor dining on private property this extension goes through may 31st of 2025 um it's only focused on private property because we've got the parkland program already in place um and we're currently working with the council subcommittee on some uh streamlined changes to our permanent um ordinances related to private property outdoor dining spaces so um with this extension we're hoping that this gives the businesses a year long transition period while they obtain those approvals and we're hoping to bring those changes within the next couple months here for approval comments by council members this is a public hearing item this would be the opportunity for anyone who is with us today in chambers or online to make comment on this item good afternoon sir uh item closely enough but i i'm going to talk about the public outdoor dining i don't know if i could i was from the last time we talked about this it seemed like part of it was the public of also outdoor dining anyway i would just i'm going to read my letter i wrote anyway there is no longer a covet emergency and there hasn't been for the longest time it's made longer by repeated no justification extensions by the state and yourselves far in excess of nearly every state in the union in effect this is another at least ideologically and unnecessary extension of emergency essentially in terms of the public uh uh parklets essentially you are auctioning off the public right of way for money money paid to the city government to the benefit of a very few businesses and and its purposes to enrich the city government and not to the benefit of the public at large who's right away you intend to remove and abuse eventually forever by your logic there is no limit to the public right away you intend to remove any business with money can apply secure exclusive use and prevent public access demanding payment for services on previously public property it removes public parking and the general public's right to occupy public spaces by issuing these exclusive public property use permits the ordinance interferes with the free market those businesses who have the money and available public space to expand do so at the market share expense of those who may not have either there are always vacancies somewhere in the dining space across the city and those with more tables will take business from those with less it is not so clear the presence of extra tables automatically means there are more diners increasing revenue and total but only more so for those businesses who can expand at the expense of others in general this continues the fear mongering campaign of the covid scare the lies and fear mongering of the pandemic still has people wearing masks even outside even alone in cars which we know don't protect anyone as well as the live social distancing while being outside dining might in the days of the pandemic be a somewhat safer alternative that day is over and the sooner people return to normal behavior the better outside dining alternatives reinforce the now debunked fear narrative most all people were never at risk levels the government did and continues to profess exclusive use permits of public property should exist only where it is in the public interest to have them for instance a snack bar permit at the lighthouse is an example of such since retail is far away parking space is converted all over the city to outside sidewalk dining to any business with required cash is not government is not a for-profit growth business public property is not in essence for the benefit of the government public property is owned by the public the vast majority of which are now being denied such by this ordinance the abuse of public property to enrich the government and the selective few will need to cease fairly soon thanks thank you mr. Phillips greetings counsel Bradley Snyder again um I have a little bit to say about these uh can't hear me can you what in the wide wide rural sports all right very good uh all right any other okay I don't know do we should comment further sir yeah I do uh we're going to talk about I wanted to talk about the uh the the street uh you know the the use of uh use of the sidewalk at Biricino right there by the library is probably the most egregious example of where the the sidewalk has created impediments for people with handicaps using a sidewalk and for pedestrians and you know so you have to literally walk in the street to avoid it and so you know uh you know these were an emergency measure and you know everybody likes you know the Champs Elyse and Paris and you know Paris is a city of 2.2 million people so uh I'm not in favor of extending this although uh I'm sure you will and uh you know it's it's not inherently bad but it's kind of like the bicycle bicycles that as soon as you put them out there they became a hazard hazard to pedestrians a hazard to uh you know the the people riding them or riding them irresponsibly on the sidewalks directly at people and you know just like the jump bikes you know I feel like eventually they're they're going to go away and when they do you know how long is it going to be before you replace them with something else so um again thank you well thank you very much I'm happy to move the recommendation there is a motion by councilmember Watkins and a second by councilmember Brunner you may open on your motion I just want to say I appreciate the work and I think it's a really great benefit to our community and I'm happy to support the second reading of the ordinance Ms Brunner thank you I just um also want to say thank you very much to the team the city staff Rebecca unit that has worked to get us to this point it's ongoing to clarify with the comments from the public this is not regarding parklets public parklets sidewalk or street outdoor seating areas this is for businesses that have private property maybe part of their parking lot that they're using for outdoor seating areas and that's what this is to give them an opportunity to um for the city side to work through some new policy um there's public safety legislation and other rules to work through and to support um this benefit to um the community to be able to sit outside so this is for public property but I did have a quick question for Rebecca unit um regarding the public property and um the temporary public parklets that you see um around the city for example Birikino that was mentioned can you speak to where that is yeah great question so our permanent parklet program came into effect last year so we opened applications last June we have active applications from the businesses that you see out there that still have temporary temporary parklets set up so we're reviewing those and working with them to get their permanent parklets approved we learned through this process that our streets are very different road heights are different and so that can be challenging for some of the design aspects so we've been working through that and working to transition them to their permanent models thank you um I'm happy to support this motion to extend for another year for the debate or discussion seen here none the clerk will call it roll council member Newsome I Brown I Watkins I Brunner I Calentari Johnson I Vice Mayor Golder I Mayor Keely I motion passes and so ordered we're on item 13 this is a Jobe employment incentive loan agreement uh between the uh city and the the economic development and housing operation and Jobe aviation let me see if Ms. Lipscomb would like to make some opening comments on this item good afternoon good afternoon mayor members of the council it's my pleasure today to present this item to you and I also wanted to acknowledge that we do have in the audience a member from Jobe and so Dan Coughlin who is the head of special projects is here today and then online we also have George Kevork who is head of state and local policy for Jobe been working closely with both of them over the last year and sort of you know relocating you know into Harvey West and on this agreement this participation agreement and loan agreement so really happy to have them here today and have Jobe in our in our community I do have a brief presentation great I will go ahead and share my screen and then Julie has been great I have a one minute video that we were testing and hopefully we'll be able to get get that going in just a second and Julie I think I need you to stop sharing so the Jobe employment incentive loan agreement is the item that is before you today and specifically I'll start with just a minute of background on Jobe Jobe is an aeronautical technology company developing an all-electric aircraft with zero emissions intended for commercial operations you'll be able to transport a pilot and four passengers at speeds up to 200 miles per hour while also having the ability to take off and land vertically it's going to have ride sharing networks which is one of the things we're pretty excited about in Santa Cruz particularly with our highway 17 and having some alternative modes of transportation and it really fits with our community values Jobe does of providing a sustainable solution to today's challenges of congestion and climate change. Jobe purchased the former poly facility and as you know prior to that it was Plantronics in Harvey West in November of 22 consisting and the site is a pretty large expansion for Jobe previously they were in about 23,000 square feet so the new facility is 162,000 square feet and expanding they also have some property across the street and are looking at other expansions on campus so they relocated their corporate headquarters just in this last year. Jobe currently employs over 250 individuals who reside in the city of Santa Cruz and just to put that in context they have somewhere between I think 13 to 1400 employees in California and close to 1700 globally. Jobe's requested the city's financial assistance to establish an employment center by providing a loan of up to $500,000 and I'll talk a little bit more about the details of that in a minute for the purchase and acquisition of certain equipment which will be paid or forgiven over time if certain conditions are met related to job creation and retention and that's really the crux of what this agreement is about is the job creation the creation of local jobs in our community the growth of those jobs in our community and this incentivizes up to 250 jobs so one of the main goals of the incentive agreement is consistent with our education and workforce goals in our ED strategy to connect local residents with high quality jobs that offer economic opportunities within our community so providing Jobe with incentives to establish and expand their employment center in the city will help diversify the city's economy create job for residents and stimulate additional tax revenues to the city now I'm going to stop sharing just briefly so that Julia can show this is just a one minute video related to the topic I chose to work at Jobe to work with one of if not the strongest engineering teams in the world we're used to moving in a couple of different ways we use a car we have to go on the road what happens if we can take half the time to go from A to B how does that change what you can do or who you can impact if we can pull this off we unlock this cascading effect of potential the amount of time that we can all get back as people and the time that we can then give to our communities and to our friends is such a good dream and I really want to be a part of making that dream a reality we're also helping to shift aviation industry from the current fossil fuel based propulsion to something that's actually sustainable we're definitely changing the world as for sure the helicopters are noisy the sound of the jb aircraft flying I think I just heard it nothing a lot of amazing achievements here look like magic but yet it has all the team efforts and in the spirit of reinventing possibility if you love what you do you never work a day in your life and I love this and I do work really really hard but it's not work the people here are amazing I mean every morning I get out of my bed I'm excited to come to work I'm excited to interact with everyone my family was like this is the first time I've seen you happy going to work it's sort of something real like how nice the people are how genuine they're really your their job the drive the passion the spirit the intelligence and the commitment to do things right for one common goal I don't know if you would ever see that somewhere else thanks Julia so as you can see people really enjoy working at jovi and that's really what this is all about is growing growing jobs in Santa Cruz in order to successfully bring this quiet aerial transportation to market jovi will need to attract and retain retain employees with a diverse set of skills and perspectives in order to scale their manufacturing capabilities and expand their current operations in addition to providing competitive cash and equity compensation they also offer a compelling vision and an opportunity to positively impact their communities they're working on a work growth growth strategy they also have entrepreneurship we've had the opportunity to talk through their training program and some collaborative efforts going forward we're actually one of the last items that you heard today for the ASIC grant a component of it that will come back to you if that grant is awarded is a workforce development component and it's a partnership with digital nest and Santa Cruz works to be able to actually place nesters or digital nest graduates into Santa Cruz tech companies so we're really excited about that opportunity and so that's something that will come forward to you in the near future jovi has a strong commitment to investing and just like the programs I was talking about they're really open to creative and new ideas and collaborations here in Santa Cruz they also employ full-time technicians machinists construction workers quality assurance inspectors engineers managers and support personnel so those are the sort of the range of the jobs a lot of their jobs locally here in the headquarters research and engineering a lot of those jobs are really important really quality of life jobs here in Santa Cruz and that's one of the things we're really excited about briefly want to just tie this into why we're here and why we're supporting this employment incentive loan agreement and it really ties into sort of the core of what we do in economic development and in our and ties back to our economic development strategy so recently we came to you with an update on a few elements in our economic development strategy a couple the other areas that we support are really industry clusters and technology and innovation is one of those high growth areas in Santa Cruz that has been identified as one of our nine leading industry clusters in Santa Cruz but the context for that is important and part of the context is looking at our commuting snapshot of what are the jobs we have here in Santa Cruz and where how do our residents work how many of our residents work in Santa Cruz and how many have to commute and so just putting that in the context of Joby and other major companies that have a lot of growth potential for being able to grow jobs in Santa Cruz for Santa Cruz residents is really important so only a third of our Santa Cruz working residents those that actually are employed in Santa Cruz are employed in the city 58% are employed in county but 67% of Santa Cruz residents just looking at it from a different angle have to go outside our city for employment and that's true for a lot of the tech jobs that a lot of the Santa Cruz residents and workers are going to the Bay Area are going to San Francisco because those are where those tech jobs and those also those high paying jobs that allow them to afford to live in Santa Cruz so being able to create those jobs here all the different levels within Joby is really important so the strategies and implementation actions in our economic development strategy really support the really strengthening Santa Cruz strengths as well as sustaining those strengths retaining and expanding existing businesses and major employers and pursuing these opportunities to attract industries that have that high pension potential for growth and that's really what Joby is so technology and innovation is one of those real growth sectors that we see you know one of the challenges we've had in the past this is the third participation agreement we've brought forward to Council some of them were some time ago so Council may not be as familiar with them but some of you may remember Harmony Foods was one another major employment growth and employer in Santa Cruz and then that sort of cutting-edge ten years ago we had the opportunity to provide a participation agreement with zero motorcycles to keep them in in the in the area for their very sort of cutting-edge powertrain all-electric technology so that was an exciting really opportunity the public purpose and I do want to mention that because this is considered an economic development subsidy is to promote the general welfare of the city and its residents by creating new full-time jobs expanding the range of employment opportunities and generating other city revenues therefore enriching the quality of life within the city of Santa Cruz we will have a report that will be posted on our website it's already there and we will be updating that each year for the life of this agreement and that's part government code section so I want to briefly just go through the proposed terms the city would make a forgivable loan to Joby and an amount not to exceed 500,000 that will be done over a series of years each year is capped at no more than 100 employees over a net base so the first year we're establishing what the existing employment is and then we look at that growth over the year and verify that it's a new employee in in the Santa Cruz location and that it's been retained for a year and so from that standpoint forward we would issue a loan up to a hundred thousand depending on how many new employees were created in that year and then it goes towards specific uses and I'll go into that in just a minute the annual employment survey is the mechanism for us to verify that is included in one of the attachments to the agreement it's very detailed and so if you have any questions about that feel free to ask at the end of the presentation so for each new full-time employee the city would disperse approximately 2000 so I just want to clarify that this money is not going to the employees again it's going for the purchase of specific equipment but that is sort of the metric that ties it back to the jobs that are being created and then we'll have tranches of 50 so we're not going to one year if they have 10 employees we're not going to write a disbursement loan disbursement check of 20,000 we'll wait till there is at least 50 so if one year there's not at least 50 it will roll over into the next year and then they'll have that opportunity in the next year to generate that 50 so that's how that works so the loan proceeds may be used for eligible expenses which include testing manufacturing and safety equipment and communication security and other facility related equipment and this will also there'll also be a security agreement so if there is a default that will be those that equipment will be available to the city they'll also have the opportunity to repay the loan the agreement will require reimbursement of specified amounts to the city if there's reduction in employment over the course of that five-year disbursement period or to if the company relocates at Santa Cruz headquarters prior to 2038 the proposed agreement and promissory note includes a security interest which I already mentioned to really just as a to secure that loan amount as an additional sort of fail safe in total the agreement provides incentives for up to 250 new full-time employees that would be employed at the Joby facility in the city of Santa Cruz and I did want to clarify what does that mean when this world of remote work so what that means for Joby the remote policy that means at least three days each week physically at the Santa Cruz location some might be more but it's a minimum of three days forgiveness of the loan is contention upon Joby's meeting specific performance benchmarks including its continued presence in the city of Santa Cruz during the life of the loan and the 10-year period afterwards as well as increased employment retention during the specified period in the agreement so just briefly on the fiscal impact the proposed employment incentive loan agreement results in a commitment up to 500,000 from the city's economic development trust fund based on current projections as anticipated in the current projections or their employment growth is anticipated that the funding will be dispersed over a three to four-year period as I mentioned earlier if Joby moves or relocates during that period following the loan disbursement prior to 2038 Joby we will be obligated to reimburse the city for a percentage of loan funding based on a pruated basis so for example if they leave in 2035 they will pay more to the city than if they leave in 2037 funding for the agreement has been included already it's in our approved budget and the fiscal year 24 economic development budget and so the recommendation before you is in the staff report it's that the city council authorizes city manager to execute an employment incentive loan agreement in a form approved by the city attorney and other related documents including a promissory note with Joby in order to provide assistance in the form of a loan an amount up to 500,000 based on employee job generation and retention and I'm happy to answer any questions that you have miss Lipscomb thank you very much for that let me start around this time I'll start on my left miss Bruner questions comments please thank you thank you for that presentation and what an interesting agenda report to read through and I certainly haven't seen anything like that but I have a couple questions and one you I think you've partially answered about has this been done before and it sounds like this is the third time this has come as an opportunity or a potential investment into a company and employment and to creating more opportunities yeah I'd say this is the third time since I have been here that we have had like a participation agreement where we typically do have other and that's also specifically related to job generation I will say it's a pretty frequent tool for many cities across the country and it's just in Santa Cruz on the size of our city it's it's an infrequent tool for us mostly related to our budgetary and and and frankly also the opportunities we have to attract major employers like this to a community of our size that and and as I was kind of researching information I did see that other places do that but it's like you said so infrequent here and so that you answered why I mean clearly money is an issue and I know that we received some correspondence from the public questioning the five hundred thousand dollars it's coming from not the general fund but the economic development trust fund can you just speak a little bit to that money and what it's used for sure so the economic development trust fund was created during the process when the redevelopment agency was being dissolved about 12 years ago and it was specifically created by the city council in order to continue economic development opportunities in the community and and that includes both physical capital improvement infrastructure and major development projects that have the potential to return economic benefit and quality of life to the community and the residents of Santa Cruz so for example in the past different projects that we have done related to that have been some of our programs even during the pandemic you know our micro loan program that we created the emergency loan program and grant program some of our major initiatives that we funded at the city through economic development have been funded through the economic development trust fund also we've been able to move some major initiatives forward like the marine sanctuary exploration center other projects like that utilizing our economic development trust fund some of our programs including our facade improvement grant program some of some many of the things we do because we're really you know as a city of our size recognize the importance of our general fund going to a lot of the core services having that dedicated funding stream specifically for that purposes does allow us to move forward on many of those initiatives that are important to the community thank you that's helpful and another question regarding in this proposal how would it ensure Santa Cruz residents are our new employees there versus another city or a county resident or someone commuting three days a week to Santa Cruz for these new jobs yeah so it is a job generation you know traction and retention it is not a specific requirement that they have to be Santa Cruz residents however I will say that Joby already has 250 residents that are employed at Joby that's one of the reasons we have such detailed information in the agreement about verifying that they're new jobs they're not this is not a relocate from another Joby area to Santa Cruz for an existing employee this is the creation of new jobs and one of the things that Joby has has expressed throughout this throughout this discussion and partnership has been the importance of growing the Santa Cruz team and recognizing that that community and their working groups benefit from living locally and working locally so the focus is on Santa Cruz residents they're you know targeting and outreaching they currently have a fairly robust program working with recent graduates university students and many of their Joby teams so I think their projections are that a good percentage of their opportunities will go out to Santa Cruz residents and that there is a qualified pool of residents living in Santa Cruz who will actually be have the skill set already that will actually be available to apply for these jobs and will certainly be broadcasting that through all of our networks and Santa Cruz works as well thank you um it was interesting to see the variety of jobs also outside of just engineering or what you know some of the the the side the video showed um for example there are food there's chef or food food jobs that people have and many other worlds and so that's interesting and and speaking into reaching out to find out more about the culture of Joby and the diversity that exists there as well and that's all really important glad to see that investment um at that level and can you speak to why Joby and why not someone else and other yeah I can and first I would just like to say as you reminded me of one example from when we first toured the new facility when Joby moved in um is we walked through and we went through their kitchens and we talked about actually the connection which since has has moved forward with our local farmers market and being able to source and Joby's vision for their food program and providing for the growth that they were seeing for their employees in the future and so I'm being able to source from local farms and working with our farmers market so that was a really important early connection and just an example of the impact of a major employer like this and what they can have in our community great thank you and and my last question why Joby um if you could speak to that versus other local businesses it's really about the two things both the the size of the of the employer I mean purchasing 160 000 square foot facility um with a projection of 250 jobs so the impact specifically on that in our community is of a is of a very significant scale so already Joby with the purchase of the facility in Harvey West is among our top you know 15 property tax payers in the community and so as a result of their investment in Santa Cruz the city and frankly the county and our schools will be greatly benefiting from that property tax revenue and then the additional benefit of having up to 250 new jobs in our community has direct or indirect sales tax benefits to us as well average per capita sales tax revenue for Santa Cruz resident is about four thousand dollars so even if only a portion of those you know new jobs and I imagine it'll be the majority of those new jobs but even if only a portion of those our residents will see you know receive I would say 100 to 200 000 really benefit increase once we fully realize those additional jobs in the community. Thank you. Ms. Colantar Johnson has recognized. I have comments is this the appropriate time okay thank you so much for the presentation just I think this is an amazing opportunity for us to deepen our relationship with this very innovative company that is in our home it was brewed in the garages of you know at our mountains and I think that's just such a sweet and amazing story and you know we have an opportunity with with this partnership to impact not just our region the nation and quite possibly the world you know there's alignment with our commitment to climate response with what Joby is doing there's alignment with growing our youth with the the internship in the pipeline program that you described so I just I see this as a mutual and reciprocal investment in each other Joby investing in us and us investing in Joby so I'm I'm very excited about it thank you for bringing it to us and thank you for the work Mr. Coughlin. And I just wanted to add to that because you raised such an important element of and goes back to Councilmember Brunner's question as well of why Joby is that because they're a major employer with such a you know a potential for growth globally and impact on climate change you know just around the world their ability and just that connection with Santa Cruz and the fact that they started here you know we've seen a couple of major impactful tech companies you know start here and leave over the years our goal in this partnership one of the major goals in this partnership is that at the very beginning they are so invested in Santa Cruz that they are never leaving you know this is not going to be the Plantronics that leaves this is not going to be the Netflix you know and the Seagate this is going to be Joby and Joby's commitment to Santa Cruz. I just have a couple comments thank you for everything that you've said so far and thank you for bringing this to us and I just want to take this moment to reflect that we have to consider like land use and oftentimes we hear we need housing housing housing and we do but we really do have to keep our industrial areas industrial and I think this half a million dollars well it is a lot of money for me in the scope of things it's not that much and it's kind of a small token gesture to a big business like Joby and I think that if that's all our city can afford to invest to create these jobs we absolutely should be doing this I've had the opportunity to tour both here and down in Marina and I see people working you know that are there with high level college degrees like you know the rocket scientists sitting here and then people with just high school diplomas going in and they're all treated with great respect I know people that are working at all the facilities and they have benefits and stock options and meals provided in a gym and all sorts of things that you know I don't get working at the schools and many of us don't get and so I think they've proven to be you know a responsible employer the kind of in company that we that aligns with our values and I'm glad we can offer offer this and hopefully create some great jobs for people thank you. Well I'll keep my comment short but I feel like it was about a year ago I think Bonnie you and I had talked about this concept so it's really great to see it here before us today I think I'll just associate with the comments that were previously made in regards to how important this is and building livable wage jobs supporting our industry innovation all of what has been said really makes a ton of sense and I know one of the things that we talked about was wanting to make sure we're building our own workforce and so however we're maintaining a commitment to that in terms of communication with education institutions and making sure that we have high growth high wage jobs that are available for our local community is wonderful and I look forward to five years from now and seeing Jovi Excel and Santa Cruz on the map for supporting and retaining a business like this so pleased to have it here before us thanks for your work to getting us this far and yeah very exciting. Thank you I do have a couple of questions but since we're in the moved into the comments portion I'll make a couple before I ask the questions so first I want to say I absolutely love Jovi I'm thrilled that you're here I think this is an example of you know really a high road employer and those are the employers that we want in our community they are good jobs you know investment in the facilities and you know get good jobs those are my goals for our city and I also feel that when we are making a gift of public funds that we have a responsibility to be as clear about what those benefits will be and so I hear a lot and I'm inclined to you know I just my own analysis of you know what's happening in the economy and Jovi's commitment makes me feel positive about that however without requirements you know without anything codified in an agreement we can't be sure that any of that's going to happen and this is not about Jovi's motives or I'm not suggesting that I think everybody's in this for the right reasons with positive intentions but I having said that brings me to my couple of questions one back around to this question of a local workforce and you know workforce development in our community I know that one agreement isn't gonna be the magic the magic that gets us to you know the job you know getting the jobs and skills match that we need for people in our community but it is a piece and so I'm wondering if you did you talk about any local hire requirements at all and if not why not it just feels to me like that that would really help with an assurance that the priority is not to attract new people into the community who are going to need housing and right I'm not that I'm I'm not saying that we need to keep people out of our community but if the goal is local hire and and those opportunities then can you know what what metrics what you know what outcomes or we're not really we don't have anything specific about that just kind of the hope so that's one question comment can we and can we answer can I sure sure yeah so it's both low a priority local hire but also local jobs jobs in our community that our residents have an opportunity to apply for and have the opportunity they're working over the hill they're working in San Francisco to apply for the job locally so we we do believe in a lot of the conversations and we did have conversations early on about can we put in place some local hire and and the back and forth and we had some great legal teams involved on sort of fair hiring practices and different things it ultimately we decided not to put that piece in there but do have a strong emphasis in the agreement that you know the the emphasis in the and the incentive and the goal of this is to be able to provide job opportunities for local residents so we're going to be doing everything we can to work with Joby and promote those programs and I think it comes back to those apprenticeship opportunities and some of the internships and having Joby so involved in our community that everyone's aware locally of all these great opportunities and that there's opportunities from the through the education you know from high school you know through the college both Cabrillo and University to be engaged and have employment opportunities where they can make that transition straight into full-time employment thank you yeah it's there's a lot of pieces elements to that and I get it that this one agreement isn't the the thing that we need to that we need to do to get make that happen but the other question that I have then is related to the question about high road jobs the my understanding from reading the link that you provided in the agenda or was it in the agenda report or in the documents maybe in the agreement that the average annual wage standard that you were using is that the 45,045.3k annually that because I'm trying to understand you said you reference the document say they need to pay the annual average wage in Santa Cruz County as listed in on the website and what I see is 45,000 dollars a year that's the average wage in Santa Cruz County folks is that I that is missing something here you it's possible that I'm not intentionally but it's possible that the link maybe not be correct however the intention is to link to the which is updated annually the consumer price specific to our area for the average wage and up to 120 percent of that so they have a range and a certain number of employees that have to meet that threshold because we're really trying to look at high growth jobs and livable wages for our community got it I'll just say I'm looking at the US Bureau of Labor Statistics site employment and wages data viewer for the private sector which was the link and when I look at annual wages per employee I see 45,300 a year just in the link you gave us so if that's the if that's the standard we're going to have a whole lot more people who don't have can't afford housing in our community I just want to put it out there and again this is not to suggest that um yeah I'm not supportive of Joby but I feel like um that's something that we ought to be thinking about as well thank you thank you yeah my comments will be brief I just want to associate myself with the comments of my other colleagues and thank director Lipscomb for bringing this forward I think this would be a great investment for our community um as been said it will help deepen our relationship with Joby and it will provide 250 good jobs in our community with benefits and more people in our community will receive a good paycheck and benefits such as health insurance thank you this would be the opportunity for anyone who wishes to address the council on this item do so good afternoon sir anyway um yeah what a wonderful thing that Joby has you know bought the building over here and uh certainly they'll have some high-tech high-paid jobs over there and it's really great I'm in no position to really judge what it costs for a city government to get in good with a new potentially large employer but I'm going to take the other side here just for a second one page and um you know I'm going to well take the other side to double the advocate here giving away possibly $500,000 to Joby doesn't seem like an effective use of taxpayer funds Joby has already committed to being in Santa Cruz for instance paying over 25 million for the property Joby will hire anyway as a growth company if successful setting the timeline for counting new hires retroactively seems like we're paying for a hiring incentive for some people that are already hired as well as for people they would hire anyway if you think giving $2,000 to a company is going to cause any company to hire anyone I think is really naive employees are very expensive and nobody's hiring anybody who isn't worth it and in fact they need to be worth it and a lot more do you think Joby is going to pay more for employees than they normally would in exchange for $2,000 I think again you're naive or be hell bent to flush the people's money I was reading it has to be at least 71,000 a year average or half the employees something like that it's nothing for a high-tech manufacturing design worker that's not an incentive they'll pay that for high-tech people a $500,000 interesting stack of dollar bills is 179 feet high if you think giving Joby $2,000 per employee hired starting at some baseline time in the past and some to stay in Santa Cruz until 2038 I would suggest the decision to leave what would have nothing to do with that and would be a trivial consideration as they lose nothing they would just give the money back or if they don't you get collateral of equipment with little or no value at some future time this isn't one of those spend the money into your budget considerations where some department needs to spend all their money so they will get another trunk next year is it anyway my memory goes back to late 60s early 70s where SFO helicopter went bankrupt starting a commute service to cross the bay sending the common shares to zero including my shares they will either be a big success or if they won't you know $500,000 giveaway or not only went by by because they got by HP for $3 billion if Joby gets an offer like that I doubt your $500,000 of you know contributions going to be any consideration not to sell or insist on staying here as a condition of sale if memory serves me right the economic development department rated the public trust fund as a loan used for residential development at the old outdoor world site while that was an awful abuse of funds of questionable galley considering the source of protected funds they're going to get paid back there's nothing about this that makes it a loan in any sense except the laughable kind loans get paid back and carry interest thank you sure thank you very much do we have anyone online we do George Kivork also has his hand raised and George is from Joby so Mr. Grover if you would like to make comment please feel free to do so at this time thank you Mr. Mayor and thank you Council for considering this motion really appreciate the opportunity as Ms. Liskom explained we've spent the last year making sure that the agreement and the private partnership event that we enter here together would be for the public interest they have combed over and made sure that the protections are there in place this agreement is critical and really appreciate the opportunity because as Joven Arcio who is a Santa Cruz resident a native as many of you mentioned grew this company there we believe ourselves to be proper stewards of both the community and the environment which is at the core of Joby aviation but importantly from the business sense of protecting the cities and investment this agreement is forward-looking over the next four years and as Bonnie mentioned we also have an additional four years on top of that so we put a very long-range timeline of us not going anywhere for the next 10 years to commit ourselves to Santa Cruz this is the gesture while major commitment from the city it's also a gesture to the entire aam universe aviation and ecosystem that Santa Cruz will continue to remain as the epicenter of innovation whether it comes into a genome you know gene mapping or surfboard developing or now electric aviation this is really a sign that the city is committed to this and will really cement itself in this sort of global marketplace as well and ultimately it protects itself by making sure that we will pay the snow back if we do ever if we do ever not meet those targets or metrics or default in any way or those numbers are reduced with an interest rate that is preset over the next several years so again i want to thank the staff who have been very diligent and thorough in evaluating this and i want to thank the the council for its consideration and appreciate your time thank you sir miss bush anyone else online we'll take the next person online good afternoon good afternoon council bradley snider again um joe b is an interesting company uh plantronics uh where it uh is headquartered was an interesting company Lockheed martin it doesn't seem very active in the county anymore uh but when you look at the economics of the county uh really the big uh the big uh actor is the university and second to that is the hospitality industry and a very far distant third are companies like joe b now you're giving a company whose uh ceo has a uh a share stake of over a billion dollars purportedly giving them five hundred thousand dollar loan that's that's great do it i'm for it yeah uh you know on the other hand you look at joe b joe b is a a tilt rotor aircraft which happens to have an electric uh power plant you know battery a battery and so it's got a short range like an electric vehicle you know i see potential for joe b uh having uh you know use as a say emergency um you know first responder type uh circumstances uh fires things like that uh however uh you know they're also they also have many limitations and you know they are again they're a tilt tilt rotor aircraft uh about about 28 tilt rotor aircrafts have been developed by mainly by bell other other you know other uh companies uh mill the russian one that makes the huge huge helicopters all the different are there basically uh you know somewhere between a tilt rotor and say a helicopter but as mr um uh garret phillips pointed out uh they they are like attack they they're intended as a short hop taxi and um you know that that that idea has been tried and uh you know i i think i think they're great technology i also have seen uh you know uh not catastrophic failures but i have seen videos of failures i know some of the people that work at joe b and um you know uh making them safe is a very very uh let's just say um essential thing thank you thank you miss wood someone else we'll take that next person online good afternoon good afternoon mayor uh vice mayor golder and city council members and uh compliments to uh the staff and bonnie's crew in working with uh joe b aviation to come up with this agreement many of you with a why why isn't public entity giving money away to a local business and the answer is it's an investment in the future uh i've been into joe b's uh site in marina i've met with their employees uh i've toured the facility that was a former plantronics site remember plantronics it was founded in santa cruz 50 years six 56 years ago and it put it put santa cruz on the map do you remember there was a man on the moon and who worked on a plantronics headset where they were wearing a plantronics headset i think joe b uh founder uh joe ben has a commitment to santa cruz he was born here raised here uh went to school in stanford and came back to santa cruz to to make uh joe b its home uh i think there's a question that needs to be answered by anybody in public the public private partnership is based upon trust and when you have trust the relationship blossoms so the investment for 500 thousand dollars for an employment contract agreement is an opportunity to invest in the future the university will will enjoy the benefit of those young students coming into the community and looking for a place to work and they can turn to joe b um there's if you go down to the marina site uh joe b's marina site the hub of energy in that building is amazing and i think this is the type of company that we want in santa cruz so i hope hardly on behalf of the santa cruz county chamber of commerce support this thank you thank you very much anyone else matters back before the council be glad to entertain a motion i'll move the recommendation motion by council member walkins and a second by council member cal entire johnson you may open on your motion i think um it's all been said really in terms of what this means and what this could be and will be hopefully for our future in our community and the investment in our workforce and our community and and thriving in the future so i'm happy to support this uh loan and look forward to it's coming into fruition for the debate or discussion mrs brunner thank you um i also um i think that investing in this more economic job opportunities for our residents is um us investing especially in one of these top identified sectors and to me that's really important and um if the metrics aren't met the money's paid back with interest and i really see this as an investment in um not just a partnership and investment but investment in our people to create more opportunities so thank you for this creative um economic development um proposal for the debate or discussion mrs brown just a quick comment i um i want to say um our last speaker spoke about trust and relationships and i i absolutely um have a high level of trust in joby and the relationship that you're building with the city and um appreciate that so much and and if i was going to support an economic subsidy like this it would be for joby however i i can't just in principle uh do that today so um i just want you to know it's not a reflection of the how i feel about your your work um thanks for the debate or discussion very briefly uh i had an opportunity as i think if not every member of the council certainly the vast majority of the council members say go to your facility down in marina and i'll tell you this very brief story i promise it will be brief um i'm driving down there i turn on to the airport road uh i'm heading to joby i'm about a quarter of a mile away and comes three black suvs large uh turn right in front of me we go to the place we were directed to uh about 15 people pile out of these cars i parked my little crappy honda crv right next to him i get out of the car uh and i'm introduced to the mayor of detroit and his traveling party and i thought to myself we better step our game up because i guess this isn't the only big city mayor that's taking a tour down there so i say it lightly but i mean it's sincerely any hook we can put in you we want to do that to keep you here and uh nurture this relationship every day so thank you for what you're doing clerk will call the roll councilmember newson i brown no walkins i bruner i calentari johnson i vice mayor golder i mayor keely hi motion passers-in-sort thank you all very very much this brings us to the end of our agenda mr kandadi do we have further business we do not miss what do we have further business we do not a motion to adjourn would be in order the vice mayor moves is walking seconds with deep regret the whole side so those in favor signify by saying i oppose areas and so what would we stand adjourned a little equity here let others